Dongbo Zhang
University of Exeter, Graduate School of Education, Faculty Member
- Bilingual Children's Reading Development, Second Language Reading, Second Language Acquisition, Applied Psycholinguistics, Multi- & Bilingualism & Biliteracy, Home Literacy Environment, and 19 moreTeaching English As A Foreign Language, Teaching Chinese as a foreign language, Morphological processing in a second language, Derivational Morphology, Reading Comprehension, Lexical Inferencing, Morphological Awareness, Home Literacy, Heritage Language, Literacy, Reading Development, Language Transfer, Applied Linguistics, Teaching English as a Second Language, Chinese, Language Planning, Compounding, Biliteracy, and Derivationedit
- Applied linguistedit
Grammatical and vocabulary knowledge (i.e., breadth and depth) are widely acknowledged as key predictors of reading comprehension in a second language (L2). However, it remains unclear how different aspects of vocabulary depth may... more
Grammatical and vocabulary knowledge (i.e., breadth and depth) are widely acknowledged as key predictors of reading comprehension in a second language (L2). However, it remains unclear how different aspects of vocabulary depth may independently contribute to L2 reading comprehension and how learners' proficiency may moderate the relative contributions of vocabulary knowledge. Based on the Lexical Quality Hypothesis and the Reading Systems Framework, this study investigated 238 L2 Chinese learners who were college-level students in China, using a set of reading-related tasks. The results showed that (1) vocabulary breadth and grammatical knowledge independently contributed to L2 reading comprehension with grammatical knowledge being a more deciding factor; (2) different aspects of vocabulary depth (i.e., polysemy and synonymy), over and above vocabulary breadth and grammatical knowledge, played an independent role; and (3) more importantly, lower-proficiency learners relied more on vocabulary breadth whereas higher-proficiency learners made more use of vocabulary depth during text-level comprehension.
Research Interests:
We investigated a technology-based tool for teaching English letter-sound correspondences with bilingual children learning phonologically and typologically distant languages: English and Chinese. We expect that learning about print at the... more
We investigated a technology-based tool for teaching English letter-sound correspondences with bilingual children learning phonologically and typologically distant languages: English and Chinese. We expect that learning about print at the phoneme level may be particularly challenging, given children’s experience with the morphosyllabic language of Chinese. This randomized-controlled study with 90 kindergarteners examined the effects of an iPad-based supplementary reading program compared with a control condition. The See Word Reading® program utilized picture-embedded cues for teaching phonics within lessons directed at the letter, word, and text levels. Measures of decoding, word reading, and spelling were taken at the pretest, posttest, and follow-up for both groups. Results showed better gains in word reading for the reading group, indicating the positive impact of this supplementary reading tool. Further, data collected online from the app showed that different types of letter-sound pairings were more challenging to learn, including pairings that are inconsistent and with phonemes that are specific to English.
Research Interests:
Recognition of individual words serves as an initial basis for comprehension of a written text; yet there are complex word-to-text (WTT) integration processes underlying the comprehension. This study focused on two components of WTT... more
Recognition of individual words serves as an initial basis for comprehension of a written text; yet there are complex word-to-text (WTT) integration processes underlying the comprehension. This study focused on two components of WTT integration, that is, syntactic parsing and semantic association, and assessed how syntactic and semantic network knowledge differentially predicted two types of text comprehension (literal vs. inferential) in second language readers. Participants were 229 adult learners of English language as a foreign language at a Saudi University. A battery of tasks was administrated to measure their reading comprehension, syntactic knowledge (grammatical error correction), and semantic network knowledge (semantic association), together with working memory and vocabulary knowledge/size. Multiple regression analyses showed that both syntactic and semantic network knowledge significantly predicted reading comprehension (disregarding the type of comprehension), controlling for working memory and vocabulary knowledge. Syntactic knowledge, as opposed to semantic network knowledge, was a significant, unique predictor of literal comprehension, whereas a converse pattern was found for inferential comprehension.
Research Interests: Reading Comprehension, Second Language Reading, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Vocabulary Knowledge, Relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension, and 5 moreInferential Comprehension, Vocabulary Depth, Grammatical Knowledge, Word-to-Text Integration, and Arabic-speaking students
This study compared how distinct lexical competences, including lexical knowledge as well as processing skills at both word/lexical and sublexical/ morphological levels, collectively and relatively predict reading comprehension in adult... more
This study compared how distinct lexical competences, including lexical knowledge as well as processing skills at both word/lexical and sublexical/ morphological levels, collectively and relatively predict reading comprehension in adult learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). The participants were 220 Arabic speaking EFL learners in a Saudi university. A battery of paper- and computer-based tests was administered to measure the participants’ lexical competences, reading comprehension ability, and working memory. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that over and above working memory, both lexical and sublexical knowledge were significant and unique predictors of reading comprehension, and sublexical processing efficiency, as opposed to lexical processing efficiency, predicted reading comprehension significantly. In addition, among the measured lexical competences, lexical knowledge was the strongest predictor, and the two knowledge variables collectively had a far greater influence on reading comprehension than did the two processing efficiency variables. These findings are discussed in light of the lexical basis of text comprehension.
Research Interests:
This scoping review explores the causal relationship between morphological instruction and reading development in young L2 learners by synthesizing 12 primary studies published between 2004 and 2019 (N = 1,535). These studies focused on... more
This scoping review explores the causal relationship between morphological instruction and reading development in young L2 learners by synthesizing 12 primary studies published between 2004 and 2019 (N = 1,535). These studies focused on reading English as the target language and involved participants between kindergarten and Grade 12 from four countries (China, Egypt, Singapore, and the USA). Findings suggested that (a) morphological instruction led to consistent and positive gains in L2 children's morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge, and the effect sizes (Cohen's ds) ranged from small to large; and (b) the relationship between morphological instruction and other outcomes such as phonological awareness, word reading accuracy, word reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehension was inconclusive. Notably, transfer effects of L2 English morphological instruction on novel word learning in English or on reading development in an additional language were only examined and observed in four primary studies. Discussion was provided regarding future instructional and research design.
Research Interests:
Little research has been conducted on self and peer assessment (hereafter, SA and PA) in Chinese language education in the United States, despite the fact that both forms of assessment have multiple benefits for language learning and it... more
Little research has been conducted on self and peer assessment (hereafter, SA and PA) in Chinese language education in the United States, despite the fact that both forms of assessment have multiple benefits for language learning and it is argued they should be an integral component of language teachers' repertoire of classroom assessment. Particularly, little is known about Chinese language teachers' perceptions of SA and PA and their classroom SA and PA practices. To address this knowledge gap, this study aimed at exploring Chinese language teachers' perceptions and implementation of SA and PA and establishing a ground for future research in this field. Using a qualitative methodology, we interviewed ten K-12 Chinese language teachers in US schools. By examining the interview responses of those teachers, this study revealed some important findings. Notably, all the teachers realized the benefits of SA and PA for student learning. Yet, there was rare use of them in most teachers' classrooms. We discussed this gap by drawing upon the probed responses of the teachers as well as our inferences. The findings of this study inform SA and PA of Chinese language in K-12 classrooms and professional development for Chinese language teachers in US schools.
Research Interests:
The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize the findings in the literature on the relative contribution of two types of linguistic knowledge (i. e., vocabulary and grammatical knowledge) to L2 reading comprehension; and to... more
The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize the findings in the literature on the relative contribution of two types of linguistic knowledge (i. e., vocabulary and grammatical knowledge) to L2 reading comprehension; and to discuss the possible factors that might have led to the complexity and incongruity of the research findings. Nineteen studies were identified for this review through a systematic process of selection, and were analyzed in terms of the relationship of vocabulary and grammatical knowledge with L2 reading comprehension and their relative significance. The result of this review showed that there was no clear evidence supporting which type of linguistic knowledge is more contributive than the other; and the inconclusive findings might be attributed to the variations in the design of the studies. Two factors emerged, including participants' language proficiency and construct definition, operatio-nalization, and measurement. Some considerations for future research are suggested. Reading comprehension is a constructive process whereby the reader creates a mental representation of the meaning of a text while multiple factors-text, reader, and activity-mutually interact (RAND Reading Study Group 2002). In this process, the reader first accesses word meanings, integrates pieces of syntactic information, and builds local and global coherence (i. e., the text base model; Van Dijk and Kintsch 1983); this is followed by connecting and integrating information from the text with the reader's relevant prior knowledge, which allows deeper comprehension (i. e., the situation model; Van Dijk and
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The authors examined the complexity of the simple view of reading, focusing on morphological decoding fluency in fourth‐grade readers of English in Singapore. The participants were three groups of students who all learned to become... more
The authors examined the complexity of the simple view of reading, focusing on morphological decoding fluency in fourth‐grade readers of English in Singapore. The participants were three groups of students who all learned to become bilingual and biliterate in the English language (EL) and their respective ethnic language in school but differed in the home language they used. The first group was ethnic Chinese students who used English as the dominant home language (Chinese EL1); the other two groups were ethnic Chinese and Malay students whose dominant home language was not English but Chinese (Chinese EL2) and Malay (Malay EL2), respectively. The measures included pseudoword decoding (phonemic decoding), timed decoding of derivational words (morphological decoding fluency), oral vocabulary, and passage comprehension. Path analysis showed that oral vocabulary significantly predicted reading comprehension across all three groups, yet a significant effect of morphological decoding fluency surfaced in the Chinese EL1 and Malay EL2 groups but not the Chinese EL2 group. Multigroup path analysis and commonality analysis further confirmed that morphological decoding played a larger role in the Chinese EL1 and Malay EL2 groups. These findings are discussed in light of the joint influence of target‐language experience and cross‐linguistic influence on second‐language or bilingual reading development.
Research Interests:
The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize the findings in the literature on the relative contribution of two types of linguistic knowledge (i. e., vocabulary and grammatical knowledge) to L2 reading comprehension; and to... more
The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize the findings in the literature on the relative contribution of two types of linguistic knowledge (i. e., vocabulary and grammatical knowledge) to L2 reading comprehension; and to discuss the possible factors that might have led to the complexity and incongruity of the research findings. Nineteen studies were identified for this review through a systematic process of selection, and were analyzed in terms of the relationship of vocabulary and grammatical knowledge with L2 reading comprehension and their relative significance. The result of this review showed that there was no clear evidence supporting which type of linguistic knowledge is more contributive than the other; and the inconclusive findings might be attributed to the variations in the design of the studies. Two factors emerged, including participants’ language proficiency and construct definition, operationalization, and measurement. Some considerations for future research are suggested.
Research Interests:
This study examined the contribution of the constructs of orthographic processing (orthographic choice and orthographic choice in context), syntactic processing (grammaticality and sentence integrity), and verbal working memory (two... more
This study examined the contribution of the constructs of orthographic processing (orthographic choice and orthographic choice in context), syntactic processing (grammaticality and sentence integrity), and verbal working memory (two reading span indicators) to written Chinese composition (narration, explanation, and argumentation) in 129 fifteen-year-old L2 learners. A matrix task was also administered as a control task to tap cognitive flexibility. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis with written composition as a latent variable revealed orthographic processing and working memory as two significant, independent contributors, whereas the unique contribution of syntactic processing was not significant. Subsequent SEM analysis with narration, explanation, and argumentation as separate endogenous variables found varied patterns of the contribution of each latent predictor to written composition in different genres. These patterns are discussed in light of the importance of attention to learners’ developmental stage and genre-sensitive measures to capture the psycholinguistic and cognitive underpinnings of written composition in L2 Chinese.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Background: While much is known about how morphological awareness (MA) contributes to reading development, little attention has been paid to how reading may conversely affect MA development, particularly in readers of Chinese in a... more
Background: While much is known about how morphological awareness (MA) contributes to reading development, little attention has been paid to how reading may conversely affect MA development, particularly in readers of Chinese in a bilingual/multilingual setting.
Methods: The study adopted a cross-lagged panel design. Young bilingual readers of Chinese were measured in MA, word reading and reading comprehension – all in Chinese – twice from Grade 3 to Grade 4.
Results: Path analysis revealed that Grade 3 MA significantly predicted Grade 4 reading comprehension after controlling for the autoregressive effect. Over and above Grade 3 MA, Grade 3 reading also significantly predicted Grade 4 MA. Subsequent analyses, however, revealed disparate developmental patterns between those with Chinese and English, respectively, as their home language.
Implications: These findings, while supporting reciprocity of developmental relationships between MA and reading, also suggested that the pattern of relationships can vary as a function of students’ target language experiences in a bilingual/multilingual setting.
Methods: The study adopted a cross-lagged panel design. Young bilingual readers of Chinese were measured in MA, word reading and reading comprehension – all in Chinese – twice from Grade 3 to Grade 4.
Results: Path analysis revealed that Grade 3 MA significantly predicted Grade 4 reading comprehension after controlling for the autoregressive effect. Over and above Grade 3 MA, Grade 3 reading also significantly predicted Grade 4 MA. Subsequent analyses, however, revealed disparate developmental patterns between those with Chinese and English, respectively, as their home language.
Implications: These findings, while supporting reciprocity of developmental relationships between MA and reading, also suggested that the pattern of relationships can vary as a function of students’ target language experiences in a bilingual/multilingual setting.
Research Interests:
Though pedagogical beliefs have been identified as critical factors in the success of technology integration, very few studies have included them in technology-adoption models. The present study revises the Technology Acceptance Model... more
Though pedagogical beliefs have been identified as critical factors in the success of technology integration, very few studies have included them in technology-adoption models. The present study revises the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by adding teachers’ pedagogical beliefs, and tests the revised model among university-level English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in China. Specifically, the revised model examines how teachers’ constructivist and/or transmissive pedagogical beliefs influence four key constructs of the TAM: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward use, and intention to use. Survey data were collected from 202 Chinese EFL teachers and analyzed using path analysis. The revised model showed a good model fit. The results indicated that the sampled teachers’ pedagogical beliefs were more constructivist-oriented than transmissive-oriented, and that the former type of beliefs had a significant positive influence on three of the above-mentioned TAM constructs (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and attitude toward use). Teachers’ transmissive pedagogical beliefs, on the other hand, did not have any significant impact on their attitudes toward information and communication technology (ICT) or their perceptions of its usefulness, though such beliefs did significantly affect their perceptions of how easy ICT was to use. Implications of these findings for teacher education and professional training are discussed.
Research Interests:
This study examined the similarities and differences in the functioning of component processes underlying first language (L1) and second language (L2) word reading in Chinese. Fourth-grade Chinese children in Singapore were divided into... more
This study examined the similarities and differences in the functioning of component processes underlying first language (L1) and second language (L2) word reading in Chinese. Fourth-grade Chinese children in Singapore were divided into L1 and L2 reader groups based on whether they used Mandarin or English as their home language. Both groups were administered a battery of tasks that assessed their orthographic processing skill (OP), phonological awareness (PA), morphological awareness (MA), oral vocabulary knowledge, as well as the ability to decode characters and multi-character compound words. Separate Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analyses showed that in the L1 group, over and above all other variables, both OP and MA, as opposed to PA, were significant predictors of word reading, whereas in the L2 group, OP and PA, as opposed to MA, predicted word reading. Multiple-group SEM analysis further revealed that the effects of OP and MA were significantly larger in the L1 than in the L2 group, whereas a converse pattern was found for PA. These findings are discussed in light of the linguistic and language-to-print mapping properties of Chinese as well as the influence of L1 and L2 learners' differential experience on how they learn to read in Chinese.
Research Interests:
This study examined internal and external factors affecting pedagogical use of technology among 47 K–12 Chinese language teachers in the United States. Path analysis of the survey data was used to examine the relationships between the... more
This study examined internal and external factors affecting pedagogical use of technology among 47 K–12 Chinese language teachers in the United States. Path analysis of the survey data was used to examine the relationships between the teachers’ instructional use of technology, on the one hand, and on the other, their perceptions of three internal factors (i.e., technology’s usefulness, its ease of use, and subjective norms) and one external factor (i.e., facilitating conditions). The results showed that these teachers’ pedagogical use of technology could be predicted by two of the three internal factors (i.e., perceived usefulness and subjective norms) and by the external factor. Additionally, the external factor was found to have a significant influence on both perceived ease of use and subjective norms.
Research Interests:
Considering the dual-level representation of meaning in print in Chinese, this study differentiated between morphemic (i.e., morphemic awareness) and sub-morphemic (i.e., graphomorphological awareness) dimensions of morphological... more
Considering the dual-level representation of meaning in print in Chinese, this study differentiated between morphemic (i.e., morphemic awareness) and sub-morphemic (i.e., graphomorphological awareness) dimensions of morphological awareness and examined their concurrent contributions to text comprehension in fourth grade Chinese readers in a multilingual context where Chinese literacy only has an ancillary function. Structural Equation Modeling analysis revealed that while both dimensions of morphological awareness were significant independent contributors to word reading and vocabulary knowledge, only morphemic awareness significantly predicted text comprehension over and above the two word-level skills. On the other hand, significant indirect effects of both graphomorphological and morphemic awareness were found on text comprehension; in addition, those indirect effects were found to be mediated by vocabulary knowledge or jointly by word reading and vocabulary knowledge. These findings were discussed in light of the centrality of meaning in text comprehension and possible contextual variation in the functioning of different dimensions of morphological awareness in Chinese reading development.
Research Interests:
This study examined the impact of providing access to word pronunciation on the assessment of L2 Chinese learners’ vocabulary knowledge. Chinese heritage learners (HLs) and foreign language learners (FLs) studying in American universities... more
This study examined the impact of providing access to word pronunciation on the assessment of L2 Chinese learners’ vocabulary knowledge. Chinese heritage learners (HLs) and foreign language learners (FLs) studying in American universities undertook a computer-based test in which they had first to select a picture that represented the meaning of a target word presented in characters only, and then answer the same item presented in both characters and pinyin (i.e. the alphabetic system to facilitate the pronunciation of characters). The provision of pinyin substantially increased the test reliability for both groups of learners but the differences between the no-pinyin and pinyin conditions were less marked for FLs than HLs. In the no-pinyin condition, the groups showed no significant score difference, whereas in the pinyin condition, HLs significantly outperformed FLs. The proportion of HLs who successfully corrected their original choices following provision of pinyin was also notably higher. These findings suggest that provision of pinyin impacted the two groups differentially. Implications for vocabulary knowledge assessment for different types of Chinese learners are discussed.
Research Interests:
Word Associates Format (WAF) tests are often used to measure second language learners' vocabulary depth with a focus on their network knowledge. Yet, there were often many variations in the specific forms of the tests and the ways they... more
Word Associates Format (WAF) tests are often used to measure second language learners' vocabulary depth with a focus on their network knowledge. Yet, there were often many variations in the specific forms of the tests and the ways they were used, which tended to have an impact on learners' response behaviors and, more importantly, the psychometric properties of the tests. This paper reviews the general practices, key issues, and research findings that pertain to WAF tests in four major areas, including the design features of WAF tests, conditions for test administration, scoring methods, and test-taker characteristics. In each area, a set of variables is identified and described with relevant research findings also presented and discussed. Around eight topics, the General Discussion section provides some suggestions and directions for the development of WAF tests and the use of them as research tools in the future. This paper is hoped to help researchers become better aware that the results generated by a WAF test may vary depending on what specific design the test has, how it is administered and scored, and who the learners are, and consequently, make better decisions in their research that involves a WAF test.
Research Interests:
This intervention study examined the effect of English morphological instruction on the development of English as well as Malay morphological awareness and word reading abilities among Malay–English bilingual fourth graders in Singapore,... more
This intervention study examined the effect of English morphological instruction on the development of English as well as Malay morphological awareness and word reading abilities among Malay–English bilingual fourth graders in Singapore, where English is the medium of instruction. The intervention group experienced semester-long instruction in English derivation; the control group was taught with their regular English curriculum. Both groups were tested with derivational awareness and derived word decoding tasks in English and Malay at the end of Grade 3 prior to the intervention (pre-test) and at the end of the first semester of Grade 4 right after the intervention (post-test). There was no significant difference between the two groups on all tasks at pre-testing. Significant intervention effects were found on the development of English abilities in that the intervention group's performance gain was significantly greater than that of the control group on all English tasks except the derived decoding fluency task. More important, such intervention effects were also evident with some Malay tasks. These findings provide empirical evidence that supports the benefits of morphological instruction to bilingual children's reading development and a possibly causal effect of cross-linguistic transfer of morphological awareness from English to Malay.
Research Interests:
This longitudinal study examined the contribution of morphological awareness to English as a Second Language (ESL) reading comprehension. Young Chinese-speaking ESL learners completed twice with a one-year interval the same set of tasks... more
This longitudinal study examined the contribution of morphological awareness to English as a Second Language (ESL) reading comprehension. Young Chinese-speaking ESL learners completed twice with a one-year interval the same set of tasks that measured derivational awareness, vocabulary breadth, fluency of reading derived words, and passage comprehension. Structural Equation Modeling analyses revealed that at both Time 1 and Time 2, morphological awareness had a significant direct effect on reading comprehension over and above vocabulary knowledge, and such an effect became stronger over time. A significant indirect effect of morphological awareness on reading comprehension was also observed at both times. However, how the indirect effect was achieved varied across times. Longitudinally, Time 1 morphological awareness failed to significantly predict Time 2 reading comprehension over and above Time 1 reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge; however, an indirect effect through the latter two variables was significant. This study indicates an increasingly important role of morphology in ESL reading comprehension, and highlights a need of explicit teaching of morphology to facilitate ESL learners' reading development.
Research Interests:
Using a Chinese Word Associates Test (WAT-C), this study examined the vocabulary depth of second language learners of Chinese and its contribution to the learners' reading comprehension. Results showed no significant effects of word... more
Using a Chinese Word Associates Test (WAT-C), this study examined the vocabulary depth of second language learners of Chinese and its contribution to the learners' reading comprehension. Results showed no significant effects of word frequency , word class (i.e., adjectives vs. verbs), and type of association relationships (i.e., paradigmatic vs. syntagmatic) on learners' WAT-C performance. More important, vocabulary depth was found to be a significant and unique predictor of reading comprehension over and above vocabulary size. On the other hand, the relative contributions of vocabulary depth and size depended on what types of texts were read and what comprehension skills were assessed. Specifically, for the long passage comprehension task with questions testing literal comprehension, vocabulary size was a more important predictor, whereas for the short passage comprehension task with questions testing inferencing, vocabulary depth was a more important predictor. These findings were discussed in light of the different levels of lexical complexity between the short and long passages and the different cognitive processing demands the questions of the two comprehension tasks placed on learners. Key words: Chinese as a second/foreign language, reading comprehension, vocabulary depth, vocabulary size, Word Associates Test
Research Interests:
This longitudinal study examined metalinguistic awareness in bilingual word reading development among Malay–English bilingual children in Singapore. Participants were assessed with the same tasks twice with a 1-year interval from Grade 3... more
This longitudinal study examined metalinguistic awareness in bilingual word reading development among Malay–English bilingual children in Singapore. Participants were assessed with the same tasks twice with a 1-year interval from Grade 3 to Grade 4 in phonological and morphological awareness and derived word decoding in both English and Malay. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that both types of metalinguistic awareness significantly predicted derived word reading in both languages. Subsequent cross-lagged panel modeling found construct-level transfer facilitation effect from Malay on English for phonological awareness but conversely from English on Malay for morphological awareness. Neither type of metalinguistic awareness exerted a transfer facilitation effect on word reading. These findings shed light on the developmental mechanism of cross-linguistic transfer in biliteracy acquisition.
Background In spite of considerable advancements in our understanding of the different factors involved in achieving vocabulary-learning success, the overall pattern and interrelationships of critical factors involved in L2 vocabulary... more
Background
In spite of considerable advancements in our understanding of the different factors involved in achieving vocabulary-learning success, the overall pattern and interrelationships of critical factors involved in L2 vocabulary learning – particularly, the mechanisms through which learners regulate their motivation and learning strategies – remain unclear.
Aims
This study examined L2 vocabulary learning, focusing on the joint influence of different motivational factors and learning strategies on the vocabulary breadth of adolescent learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in China.
Sample
The participants were 107 tenth graders (68 females, 39 males) in China.
Methods
The data were collected via two questionnaires, one assessing students' motivation towards English-vocabulary learning and the other their English vocabulary-learning strategies, along with a test measuring vocabulary breadth.
Results
Structural equation modelling (SEM) indicated that learning strategy partially mediated the relationship between motivation (i.e., a composite score of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation) and vocabulary learning. Separate SEM analyses for intrinsic (IM) and extrinsic motivation (EM) revealed that there were significant and positive direct and indirect effects of IM on vocabulary knowledge; and while EM's direct effect over and above that of learning strategies did not achieve significance, its indirect effect was significant and positive.
Conclusions
The findings suggest that vocabulary-learning strategies mediate the relationship between motivation and vocabulary knowledge. In addition, IM may have a greater influence on vocabulary learning in foreign-language contexts.
In spite of considerable advancements in our understanding of the different factors involved in achieving vocabulary-learning success, the overall pattern and interrelationships of critical factors involved in L2 vocabulary learning – particularly, the mechanisms through which learners regulate their motivation and learning strategies – remain unclear.
Aims
This study examined L2 vocabulary learning, focusing on the joint influence of different motivational factors and learning strategies on the vocabulary breadth of adolescent learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in China.
Sample
The participants were 107 tenth graders (68 females, 39 males) in China.
Methods
The data were collected via two questionnaires, one assessing students' motivation towards English-vocabulary learning and the other their English vocabulary-learning strategies, along with a test measuring vocabulary breadth.
Results
Structural equation modelling (SEM) indicated that learning strategy partially mediated the relationship between motivation (i.e., a composite score of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation) and vocabulary learning. Separate SEM analyses for intrinsic (IM) and extrinsic motivation (EM) revealed that there were significant and positive direct and indirect effects of IM on vocabulary knowledge; and while EM's direct effect over and above that of learning strategies did not achieve significance, its indirect effect was significant and positive.
Conclusions
The findings suggest that vocabulary-learning strategies mediate the relationship between motivation and vocabulary knowledge. In addition, IM may have a greater influence on vocabulary learning in foreign-language contexts.
ABSTRACT
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Within the Structural Equation Modeling framework, this study tested the direct and indirect effects of morphological awareness and lexical inferencing ability on L2 vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension among advanced Chinese... more
Within the Structural Equation Modeling framework, this study tested the direct and indirect effects of morphological awareness and lexical inferencing ability on L2 vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension among advanced Chinese EFL readers in a university in China. Using both regular z-test and the bootstrapping (data-based resampling) methods, the study found that morphological awareness contributed to L2 vocabulary knowledge directly and indirectly through the mediation of learners’ lexical inferencing ability. It was also observed that morphological awareness made no significant unique or direct contribution to reading comprehension after adjusting for vocabulary knowledge; its indirect effects on reading comprehension, however, were significant, both through the mediation of vocabulary knowledge alone, and the multiple mediations of lexical inferencing ability and vocabulary knowledge.
Research Interests:
This study examined young Heritage Language (HL) learners' home literacy environment and its impact on HL word-knowledge development, focusing on a group of Chinese–English bilingual children learning to read in Chinese as a Heritage... more
This study examined young Heritage Language (HL) learners' home literacy environment and its impact on HL word-knowledge development, focusing on a group of Chinese–English bilingual children learning to read in Chinese as a Heritage Language in the United States. A home literacy survey revealed that parents mostly used HL to talk to children, while learners preferred to use English or a mixture of English and HL to talk to their parents. Learners' HL reading practice at home showed a schoolwork orientation. There was a significant positive correlation between parents' language use and learners' HL vocabulary breadth; learners' schoolwork-related reading practice was also positively correlated with HL word knowledge. However, no significant relations were observed between independent and shared reading unrelated to schoolwork and learners' word knowledge. These findings are discussed in relation to the importance of school materials in HL literacy development and a possible threshold of frequency of schoolwork-unrelated reading that has to be passed for learners to be benefited.
Research Interests:
Since Singapore became an independent republic, careful language-in-education planning that caters to the economic, social, and political development of the country has never been abated. A notable case in point is the constant reviews... more
Since Singapore became an independent republic, careful language-in-education planning that caters to the economic, social, and political development of the country has never been abated. A notable case in point is the constant reviews and reforms of the curriculum of Chinese language (CL), a school subject required of ethnic Chinese children, to respond to gradual home language shift from CL toward English, which is the medium of instruction, in the country. In 2008, a differentiated Modular Curriculum (MC) began to be implemented in all primary schools. We were subsequently commissioned by the Ministry of Education to evaluate the MC. We analyzed CL teaching materials, observed and coded CL classes, and engaged students and CL teachers through various methods. In this chapter, based on student surveys as well as a teacher survey and focus group discussions, we report some evaluation findings on how students' interest in CL learning and use changed, how the MC and its underlying principles were perceived by teachers, and what difficulties and challenges teachers experienced under the MC. Based on the findings, we discuss the interface between sociolinguistics, curriculum innovation and reform, and language policy and planning; and underscore boundary crossing in curriculum and program evaluation toward evidence-based language-in-education planning.
Research Interests:
This chapter first discusses the concept of boundary crossing and its learning potential in education and underscores the urgency of crossing a multitude of boundaries for researching, understanding, and improving language education. It... more
This chapter first discusses the concept of boundary crossing and its learning potential in education and underscores the urgency of crossing a multitude of boundaries for researching, understanding, and improving language education. It then discusses the important role of expert boundary crossers. In particular, it highlights how G. Richard Tucker, whom this volume honors, has exemplified boundary crossing through his distinguished career in applied linguistics and language education for over half a century. The chapter ends with an overview of the four parts that form this volume and brief descriptions of how the chapters in the rest of the volume, each and collectively, contribute to language education research, policy, and practice through boundary crossing.
Research Interests:
This chapter reports on a study that explored developmental interdependence between lexical competence and reading comprehension in young L2 readers of Chinese. Participants were ethnic Chinese children with English as the dominant home... more
This chapter reports on a study that explored developmental interdependence between lexical competence and reading comprehension in young L2 readers of Chinese. Participants were ethnic Chinese children with English as the dominant home language in Singapore. The same battery of tests was administered three times across a year, that is, end of Grade 3 (Time 1), middle of Grade 4 (Time 2), and end of Grade 4 (Time 3), to measure children's word decoding, oral vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension. The three waves of data were fitted to a cross-lagged panel model where in addition to its earlier performance predicting its later performance (i.e., autoregressive effect), each of the three literacy variables was hypothesized to predict the other two at an immediate later time (i.e., crossed effect). It was found that word decoding, as opposed to vocabulary knowledge, surfaced as a unique longitudinal lexical predictor of reading comprehension; this was similarly the case from Time 1 to Time 2 and from Time 2 to Time 3. Conversely, however, reading comprehension was not found to be a significant longitudinal predictor of either decoding or vocabulary after accounting for the respective autoregressive effect.
Research Interests:
As an approach of assessment as learning, classroom portfolio assessment (CPA) has received much attention in the language assessment community. In this study, ten K-12 Chinese language teachers in U.S. schools were interviewed to examine... more
As an approach of assessment as learning, classroom portfolio assessment (CPA) has received much attention in the language assessment community. In this study, ten K-12 Chinese language teachers in U.S. schools were interviewed to examine their understandings, perceptions, and implementations of CPA. Overall, corroborating the findings of previous questionnaire studies on the assessment literacy of language teachers, the participants demonstrated rather limited knowledge of CPA (i.e., a knowledge gap). In addition, while the benefits of CPA were recognized by the participants, they showed little interest in implementing it in their classrooms (i.e., a gap between teacher thinking and classroom practice). These two gaps are discussed in light of the importance of a strong knowledge base for effective implementation of CPA and external factors that may affect teachers’ motivation, intention, or decision to implement CPA. It is recommended that language teachers be provided with systematic initial training and professional development in CPA; and that contextual constraints on the implementation of CPA be recognized and support be provided to teachers to promote their professional learning of language assessment.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This chapter reports on our development and initial validation of a Word Associates Test (WAT) for assessing the depth of vocabulary knowledge of Chinese as Second/Foreign Language learners. The validation study revealed the Chinese WAT... more
This chapter reports on our development and initial validation of a Word Associates Test (WAT) for assessing the depth of vocabulary knowledge of Chinese as Second/Foreign Language learners. The validation study revealed the Chinese WAT (WAT-C) to be a reliable and valid test. Specifically, the WAT-C’s medium-sized correlations with a vocabulary size measure and its unique predictive effect on reading comprehension suggested that the test, as intended, assessed a distinct aspect of vocabulary knowledge (i.e., depth). Learners’ performance on the WAT-C was significantly better when they were informed on the number of associates (informed condition) than when they were not (uninformed condition). The scores of the WAT-C produced by three different scoring methods consistently predicted reading comprehension significantly in the informed condition as opposed to the uninformed condition. Taken together, these findings suggest that the informed condition may be preferred for administering the WAT-C. Finally, in both conditions, the All-or-Nothing scoring method, which awards a point only if all associates but no distractors are selected, consistently predicted reading comprehension significantly and uniquely, and it also tended to explain more variance in reading comprehension than the One-Point method (i.e., one point awarded for each associate without considering distractor selection) and the Correct-Wrong (i.e., one point awarded for selecting an associate as well as non-selection of a distractor). With consideration of both the strength of predictive validity and the complexity of scoring, the All-or-Nothing method was evaluated to be the best for scoring the WAT-C. Some remaining issues for the future and the implications of the reported work for instruction and classroom assessment of Chinese L2 learners are discussed.
Research Interests:
This chapter provides an overview of developments in research on testing Chinese as a Second Language (CSL), with a focus on four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and two types of language knowledge (vocabulary... more
This chapter provides an overview of developments in research on testing Chinese as a Second Language (CSL), with a focus on four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and two types of language knowledge (vocabulary and grammatical knowledge). It aims to make CSL testing research, which has almost all been published in Chinese, accessible to non-Chinese-speaking scholars who might have become interested in Chinese testing and assessment as the popularity of the language grows. It is also hoped to make scholars of CSL testing aware of the research limitations so that more high-quality research, especially original research on issues that specifically pertain to Chinese testing, could be conducted in the future.
Research Interests:
[ABSTRACT] Drawn up the Sociocultural Theory and using classroom data from CRPP's Core Project, this study examines teacher questioning discourse and its effects on student learning in Primary 5 Chinese Language classrooms in... more
[ABSTRACT] Drawn up the Sociocultural Theory and using classroom data from CRPP's Core Project, this study examines teacher questioning discourse and its effects on student learning in Primary 5 Chinese Language classrooms in Singapore. Integrating quantitative and ...
This volume brings together original papers from language education scholars from around the world to explore, exemplify, and discuss the multiplicity of boundary crossing in language education. It emphasizes the potential of boundary... more
This volume brings together original papers from language education scholars from around the world to explore, exemplify, and discuss the multiplicity of boundary crossing in language education. It emphasizes the potential of boundary crossing for expansive learning, and aims to generate new insights, through boundary crossing, into the complexity of language education and approaches to innovative practices. This volume also underscores the important role of expert boundary crossers. In particular, it aims to honor G. Richard Tucker, Paul Mellon University Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University, celebrating his distinguished scholarship on language education and paying tribute to the inspiration and mentorship he has given to the contributors of this volume to cross boundaries academically and professionally. This volume is organized into four sections, namely, language learning and development; teachers and instructional processes; program innovation, implementation, and evaluation; and language-in-education policy and planning. These sections or themes, which are necessarily cross-cutting, also represent the major areas of scholarship where Prof. Tucker has made distinguished contributions for over half a century.
Research Interests:
This Element aims to address the complexity of metalinguistic awareness to achieve a thorough account of its impacts on second language (L2) reading development and promote an in-depth understanding of the factors regulating the influence... more
This Element aims to address the complexity of metalinguistic awareness to achieve a thorough account of its impacts on second language (L2) reading development and promote an in-depth understanding of the factors regulating the influence of first language (L1) metalinguistic awareness on L2 reading. It is guided by four questions: 1) To what extent do L1 phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness correlate with L2 phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness in L2 readers? 2) To what extent do phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness correlate with word decoding intralingually in L2 readers? 3) To what extent do L1 phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness correlate with L2 word decoding in L2 readers? 4) To what extent do the relations in questions 1–3 vary as a function of linguistic-, learner-, measurement-, and instruction-related factors? This Element is the first to systematically investigate the roles of distinct facets of metalinguistic awareness in L2 reading.
Research Interests:
Reading in Chinese as an Additional Language focuses on Chinese literacy acquisition, which has been considered most difficult by both learners and teachers of Chinese as an additional language (CAL). Three major areas are covered: (1)... more
Reading in Chinese as an Additional Language focuses on Chinese literacy acquisition, which has been considered most difficult by both learners and teachers of Chinese as an additional language (CAL). Three major areas are covered: (1) acquisition of Chinese characters; (2) reading comprehension subskills and reader's identity; (3) reading instruction and assessment. The first part delves into the foundation of Chinese literacy development-how to learn and teach Chinese characters. The second part examines various learners' reading comprehension subskills, as well as the evolution of learners' literacy identity. The third part explores effective instructional methods and assessment practices for CAL reading development. Theoretically, this book provides frameworks and evidence from both cognitive and sociocultural perspectives on the nature of CAL reading development. Pedagogically, the book showcases how to teach and assess CAL reading skills. Methodologically, this book includes empirical studies using both qualitative and quantitative methods. In terms of scope, the book covers a much broader spectrum of issues about CAL reading research and classroom teaching than has previously been available. Writing is also discussed in several chapters. In terms of technology, the book includes discussion on how the use of computers, the Internet, and social media impacts students' Chinese literacy acquisition. This book will help CAL researchers and educators better understand the nature of CAL reading development and become well informed about CAL classroom teaching and assessment, including the application of interactive approaches to teaching and assessing diverse reading skills.
Research Interests:
China through the Dynasties provides a quick introduction to Chinese history in a simple and engaging manner. Through the use of a conversational style of writing, and a generous spread of beautiful photographs and illustrations, readers... more
China through the Dynasties provides a quick introduction to Chinese history in a simple and engaging manner. Through the use of a conversational style of writing, and a generous spread of beautiful photographs and illustrations, readers will find this an enjoyable read. In this book, Chinese history is presented in a chronological order, starting with the earliest human activities in China and concluding with the end of the Qing dynasty. Most chapters are divided into three sections: The Dynastic Cycle, Social Development and Cultural Advancement. The Dynastic Cycle section outlines the key historical events of that period. The Social Development section summarizes the political and economic development of Chinese society in that particular period. The Cultural Advancement section introduces each period s cultural development and achievements. Through this structured approach, readers are given a broad and balanced view of each dynasty. An English summary provided at the beginning of each chapter gives readers a quick overview and highlights the key points for that chapter. Hanyu pinyin and English definitions are provided for difficult words. While China through the Dynasties is primarily planned as an intermediate/advanced Chinese language course material or as extra curriculum reading material, it can also be a good read for the layman looking for an easier way to digest Chinese history.
Research Interests:
This book brings together 13 original research papers that address emerging issues in the assessment of Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) in five major areas, including standards in CSL assessment; development of CSL tests; assessment of... more
This book brings together 13 original research papers that address emerging issues in the assessment of Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) in five major areas, including standards in CSL assessment; development of CSL tests; assessment of diverse knowledge and skills; computer-supported assessment; and CSL assessment in relation to instruction and teachers’ assessment competence. It goes beyond the psychometric testing of Chinese and provides cutting-edge examinations of the interfaces of assessment with sociology of language, acquisition, pedagogy, and modern technologies, as well as teacher education. Given its unique features and broad range of topics, the book offers an intriguing and valuable resource, not only for scholars and researchers but also teacher educators and assessment practitioners who are directly or indirectly involved in CSL assessment.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This study examined internal and external factors affecting pedagogical use of technology among 47 K–12 Chinese language teachers in the United States. Path analysis of the survey data was used to examine the relationships between the... more
This study examined internal and external factors affecting pedagogical use of technology among 47 K–12 Chinese language teachers in the United States. Path analysis of the survey data was used to examine the relationships between the teachers’ instructional use of technology, on the one hand, and on the other, their perceptions of three internal factors (i.e., technology’s usefulness, its ease of use, and subjective norms) and one external factor (i.e., facilitating conditions). The results showed that these teachers’ pedagogical use of technology could be predicted by two of the three internal factors (i.e., perceived usefulness and subjective norms) and by the external factor. Additionally, the external factor was found to have a significant influence on both perceived ease of use and subjective norms.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Psychology, Perception, Peer Assessment, Mathematics Education, Pedagogy, and 10 moreSecond Language Teacher Education, Teacher Cognition, Alternative Assessment, Language Teacher Cognition, Teaching Chinese as a foreign language, Self and Peer Assessment, Self Assessment, Teaching and Learning of Chinese as a Second Language, Classroom Based Assessment, and Teacher Assessment Literacy
Recognition of individual words serves as an initial basis for comprehension of a written text; yet there are complex word-to-text (WTT) integration processes underlying the comprehension. This study focused on two components of WTT... more
Recognition of individual words serves as an initial basis for comprehension of a written text; yet there are complex word-to-text (WTT) integration processes underlying the comprehension. This study focused on two components of WTT integration, that is, syntactic parsing and semantic association, and assessed how syntactic and semantic network knowledge differentially predicted two types of text comprehension (literal vs. inferential) in second language readers. Participants were 229 adult learners of English language as a foreign language at a Saudi University. A battery of tasks was administrated to measure their reading comprehension, syntactic knowledge (grammatical error correction), and semantic network knowledge (semantic association), together with working memory and vocabulary knowledge/size. Multiple regression analyses showed that both syntactic and semantic network knowledge significantly predicted reading comprehension (disregarding the type of comprehension), controll...
Research Interests: Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing, Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, and 9 moreSecond Language Reading, Comprehension, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Vocabulary Knowledge, Relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension, Inferential Comprehension, Vocabulary Depth, Grammatical Knowledge, and Arabic-speaking students
This book series investigates several critical issues embedded in fundamental, technical, and applied research in the field of Chinese as second language (CSL) learning and teaching, including learning mechanism in the brain, technology... more
This book series investigates several critical issues embedded in fundamental, technical, and applied research in the field of Chinese as second language (CSL) learning and teaching, including learning mechanism in the brain, technology application for teaching, learning and assessment. The book series discusses these issues from the perspectives of science (evidence-based approach) and technology. The studies in the book series uses the methods from the fields of linguistics (such as corpus linguistics and computational linguistics), psychological and behavioural sciences (such as experimental design and statistical analyses), informational technology (such as information retrieval and natural language processing) and brain sciences (such as neuroimaging and neurolinguistics). The book series generally covers three main interdisciplinary themes: (1) fundamental investigation of Chinese as a first or second language acquisition, (2) development in Chinese language learning technology, and (3) applied research on Chinese language education. More specifically, the book series involves seven research topics: language transfer mechanism in Chinese as a second language factors of Chinese as a second language acquisition in childhood cultural influence on Chinese acquisition information technology, corpus teaching material design teaching strategies and teacher training learning models assessment methods Series Editors: Cheng, Chin-chuan, University of Illinois & Academia Sinica & National Taiwan Normal University Chang, Kuo-En, National Taiwan Normal University Executive Editors: Sung, Yao-ting, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan Li, Ping, Pennsylvania State University, USA Editorial Board: Chu-Ren Huang, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China Yen-Hui Audrey Li, University of Southern California, USA Chin-Hui Lee, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA Catherine McBride-Chang, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China Brian MacWhinney, Carnegie Mellon University, USA Charles Perfetti, University of Pittsburgh, USA Alain Peyraube, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France Li-Hai Tan, University of Hong Kong, China Ovid Jyh-Lang Tzeng, Academia Sinica, Taiwan William Shi-Yuan Wang, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China Joël Bellassen, Ministère de l'éducation nationale & Institut national des langues et civilizations orientales, France Please contact Lawrence Liu (e-mail: Lawrence.Liu@springer.com) for submitting book proposals for this series.
Research Interests:
Bilingualism is becoming more common worldwide, and it remains a central educational policy in Singapore. In this document, we review research related to bilingualism and literacy development and achievement. Following an ecological... more
Bilingualism is becoming more common worldwide, and it remains a central educational policy in Singapore. In this document, we review research related to bilingualism and literacy development and achievement. Following an ecological framework, we outline known factors contributing to literacy achievement and discuss findings from bilingual research regarding these factors. We conclude with recommendations for educational practice informed by the research literature. Section 1: Background and Introduction It has often been said that bilingualism is the cornerstone of Singapore’s education system. As a polyglot nation with citizens who speak Malay, Tamil, and Mandarin, the English language was chosen to be the language of instruction in Singapore. Thus, students in school who learn in English, while also maintaining proficiency in a mother tongue, are by definition all bilingual. But what does it mean to be bilingual? To know two languages is the simple answer, but this does not conve...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This chapter provides an overview of developments in research on testing Chinese as a Second Language (CSL), with a focus on four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and two types of language knowledge (vocabulary... more
This chapter provides an overview of developments in research on testing Chinese as a Second Language (CSL), with a focus on four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and two types of language knowledge (vocabulary and grammatical knowledge). It aims to make CSL testing research, which has almost all been published in Chinese, accessible to non-Chinese-speaking scholars who might have become interested in Chinese testing and assessment as the popularity of the language grows. It is also hoped to make scholars of CSL testing aware of the research limitations so that more high-quality research, especially original research on issues that specifically pertain to Chinese testing, could be conducted in the future.
Research Interests:
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Routledge via the link in this record
Research Interests:
This study was sponsored by a fellowship to the first author from the Michigan State University College of Education, and the MSU Graduate School.
Research Interests:
The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize the findings in the literature on the relative contribution of two types of linguistic knowledge (i. e., vocabulary and grammatical knowledge) to L2 reading comprehension; and to... more
The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize the findings in the literature on the relative contribution of two types of linguistic knowledge (i. e., vocabulary and grammatical knowledge) to L2 reading comprehension; and to discuss the possible factors that might have led to the complexity and incongruity of the research findings. Nineteen studies were identified for this review through a systematic process of selection, and were analyzed in terms of the relationship of vocabulary and grammatical knowledge with L2 reading comprehension and their relative significance. The result of this review showed that there was no clear evidence supporting which type of linguistic knowledge is more contributive than the other; and the inconclusive findings might be attributed to the variations in the design of the studies. Two factors emerged, including participants’ language proficiency and construct definition, operationalization, and measurement. Some considerations for future resea...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Prior studies (e.g., Li & Walsh, 2011) found that language teachers did not use technology fully despite its possible facilitating function in language teaching. Through a survey and group discussions, this study explores pre-service... more
Prior studies (e.g., Li & Walsh, 2011) found that language teachers did not use technology fully despite its possible facilitating function in language teaching. Through a survey and group discussions, this study explores pre-service Chinese-language teachers' perceptions of the internal and external barriers to their instructional technology use. The respondents (N=47) expressed five main types of external barriers: a) lack of technology, b) difficulty in accessing the available technology, c) lack of technical support, d) lack of proper assessment, and e) negative parental attitude. The two main internal barriers identified in this research were a) negative attitude originating from teachers' pedagogical beliefs, and b) lack of technology-related knowledge. The findings of this study should be of practical use in the future design and implementation of professional development aiming at improving language teachers' use of technology in teaching.
Research Interests: Psychology and Perception
The growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has changed the dynamics of education, as self-directed learning, especially on mobile devices, is as accessible as ever. Despite the near infinite amount of information... more
The growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has changed the dynamics of education, as self-directed learning, especially on mobile devices, is as accessible as ever. Despite the near infinite amount of information available for students outside of school, the classroom remains the most critical aspect of student’s growth. Teachers now play crucial roles in engaging ICT’s full potential to create an environment of meaningful learning to develop students’ critical thinking skills. Preparing Foreign Language Teachers for Next-Generation Education concerns itself with the integration and study of new technologies in foreign-language education. Featuring theoretical and empirical chapters related to the confluence of teacher-education, teacher cognition, and innovative technologies, it provides engaging insight into foreign-language teachers’ perceptions and the influence of those perceptions. This publication is quintessential to foreign-language teachers, administrators, policy makers, students of education, programmers, and developers.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This intervention study examined the effect of English morphological instruction on the development of English as well as Malay morphological awareness and word reading abilities among Malay–English bilingual fourth graders in Singapore,... more
This intervention study examined the effect of English morphological instruction on the development of English as well as Malay morphological awareness and word reading abilities among Malay–English bilingual fourth graders in Singapore, where English is the medium of instruction. The intervention group experienced semester-long instruction in English derivation; the control group was taught with their regular English curriculum. Both groups were tested with derivational awareness and derived word decoding tasks in English and Malay at the end of Grade 3 prior to the intervention (pre-test) and at the end of the first semester of Grade 4 right after the intervention (post-test). There was no significant difference between the two groups on all tasks at pre-testing. Significant intervention effects were found on the development of English abilities in that the intervention group's performance gain was significantly greater than that of the control group on all English tasks except the derived decoding fluency task. More important, such intervention effects were also evident with some Malay tasks. These findings provide empirical evidence that supports the benefits of morphological instruction to bilingual children's reading development and a possibly causal effect of cross-linguistic transfer of morphological awareness from English to Malay.
Research Interests:
In this article, we describe Chinese language instruction in Singapore primary school classrooms and discuss its relationship with the official discourse in Chinese education. We use a classroom coding approach to examine whether there... more
In this article, we describe Chinese language instruction in Singapore primary school classrooms and discuss its relationship with the official discourse in Chinese education. We use a classroom coding approach to examine whether there are similarities and differences between the classroom instructional practices in 2 streams and to explore whether the goals and principles of the official discourse are achieved
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This study examined socio-psychological factors and language maintenance and shift among an American Chinese community.Results showed there was significant difference between first-and second-generation Chinese in their perceptions of the... more
This study examined socio-psychological factors and language maintenance and shift among an American Chinese community.Results showed there was significant difference between first-and second-generation Chinese in their perceptions of the ethnolinguistic vitality of ...
Research Interests:
That the Chinese IT industry has been recurrently plagued by the deficiencies of the Chinese writing system has been well known. In this paper, we provided an examination of the complex factors involved in the process of streamlining the... more
That the Chinese IT industry has been recurrently plagued by the deficiencies of the Chinese writing system has been well known. In this paper, we provided an examination of the complex factors involved in the process of streamlining the total number (TN) of Chinese ...
In this paper we intend to provide a review of pinyin input experiment studies in Chinese literacy instruction in China and to inform the current reform of Chinese education in Singapore. We first provide a brief account of some major... more
In this paper we intend to provide a review of pinyin input experiment studies in Chinese literacy instruction in China and to inform the current reform of Chinese education in Singapore. We first provide a brief account of some major pinyin-based methods for ...
Research Interests:
ABSTRACTThis study examined transfer facilitation effect of first language morphological awareness on second language lexical inference ability among Grade 6 Chinese-speaking English as a foreign language learners in China. A set of paper... more
ABSTRACTThis study examined transfer facilitation effect of first language morphological awareness on second language lexical inference ability among Grade 6 Chinese-speaking English as a foreign language learners in China. A set of paper and pencil tests was administered to measure children's morphological awareness and lexical inference ability in both Chinese and English. Results showed that the contribution of Chinese morphological awareness to English morphological awareness was larger for compound words than for derived words. In addition, the indirect effect of Chinese compound awareness on English compound word meaning inference was significant, but that of Chinese derivational awareness on English derived word meaning inference did not achieve significance. These findings confirmed that cross-linguistic transfer of Chinese morphological awareness was responsive to the linguistic distance between Chinese and English.
Research Interests:
... Issue Date: Apr-2006. Citation: Paper presented at LangScape Conference, Singapore, 2006. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10497/2906. ... Files in This Item: File, Description, Size, Format. CRP8_04RES_Conf05(LangScape)_ZhangSilver.pdf,... more
... Issue Date: Apr-2006. Citation: Paper presented at LangScape Conference, Singapore, 2006. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10497/2906. ... Files in This Item: File, Description, Size, Format. CRP8_04RES_Conf05(LangScape)_ZhangSilver.pdf, 201.92 kB, Adobe PDF, View/Open. ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This longitudinal study examined metalinguistic awareness in bilingual word reading development among Malay–English bilingual children in Singapore. Participants were assessed with the same tasks twice with a 1-year interval from Grade 3... more
This longitudinal study examined metalinguistic awareness in bilingual word reading development among Malay–English bilingual children in Singapore. Participants were assessed with the same tasks twice with a 1-year interval from Grade 3 to Grade 4 in phonological and morphological awareness and derived word decoding in both English and Malay. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that both types of metalinguistic awareness significantly predicted derived word reading in both languages. Subsequent cross-lagged panel modeling found construct-level transfer facilitation effect from Malay on English for phonological awareness but conversely from English on Malay for morphological awareness. Neither type of metalinguistic awareness exerted a transfer facilitation effect on word reading. These findings shed light on the developmental mechanism of cross-linguistic transfer in biliteracy acquisition.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Psychology, Multilingualism, Psycholinguistics, Vocabulary, Adolescent, and 6 moreMedicine, Learning, Motivation, Humans, Female, and Male
Research Interests:
In an attempt to clarify the multi-layered complexities inherent in biliteracy development, this chapter addresses two overarching questions: How are previously acquired sub-skills assimilated in learning to read in later acquired, or... more
In an attempt to clarify the multi-layered complexities inherent in biliteracy development, this chapter addresses two overarching questions: How are previously acquired sub-skills assimilated in learning to read in later acquired, or additional, literacy; and how assimilated skills enhance reading sub-skills development in later acquired literacy? By comparing the requisite facets of phonological and morphological awareness for reading acquisition in Chinese and English, we made specific predictions regarding cross-linguistic contributions of previously acquired metalinguistic awareness to reading sub-skills development in later acquired literacy. We report two empirical studies conducted to test those predictions. The first study focused on the intra- and inter-lingual relationships in oral vocabulary knowledge, phonological awareness, and decoding skills in Chinese heritage language learners in the US. The second study examined cross-linguistic relationships in morphological awareness and lexical inference in Chinese children learning English as a Foreign Language in China. Findings from the studies are discussed in light of systematic variations in L1-induced facilitation that are attributable to task demands, linguistic distance between two languages, and L2 grapheme-language mapping experience.
Research Interests:
This chapter reports on a mixed-methods study that examined how factors intrinsic and extrinsic to teachers influence their pedagogical use of modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Chinese Language (CL) education.... more
This chapter reports on a mixed-methods study that examined how factors intrinsic and extrinsic to teachers influence their pedagogical use of modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Chinese Language (CL) education. Three-hundred-eleven primary school CL teachers in Singapore participated in an online questionnaire survey that addressed four ICT-related variables: competence to use ICT, availability of resources and support, perceived usefulness of ICT, and pedagogical use of ICT. The results show that the four variables were significantly correlated, and teachers' pedagogical use of ICT was predicted significantly by all the other three variables. To supplement the questionnaire survey, Focus Group Discussions (FGD) were conducted on a randomly selected sample of the teachers who participated in the survey. Teachers reported local (e.g., ICT facilities and resources) as well as global (e.g., national high-stake examinations) factors that determined how ICT-m...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This scoping review explores the causal relationship between morphological instruction and reading development in young L2 learners by synthesizing 12 primary studies published between 2004 and 2019 (N = 1,535). These studies focused on... more
This scoping review explores the causal relationship between morphological instruction and reading development in young L2 learners by synthesizing 12 primary studies published between 2004 and 2019 (N = 1,535). These studies focused on reading English as the target language and involved participants between kindergarten and Grade 12 from four countries (China, Egypt, Singapore, and the USA). Findings suggested that (a) morphological instruction led to consistent and positive gains in L2 children’s morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge, and the effect sizes (Cohen’s ds) ranged from small to large; and (b) the relationship between morphological instruction and other outcomes such as phonological awareness, word reading accuracy, word reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehension was inconclusive. Notably, transfer effects of L2 English morphological instruction on novel word learning in English or on reading development in an additional language were only examined a...
Research Interests:
In this paper, we describe Chinese language instruction in Singapore primary school classrooms and discuss its relationship with the government policy of language in education. We use a classroom coding approach to examine whether there... more
In this paper, we describe Chinese language instruction in Singapore primary school classrooms and discuss its relationship with the government policy of language in education. We use a classroom coding approach to examine whether there are similarities and differences between EM1 and EM2 classroom instructional practices and to explore whether the goals and priorities of the policy are achieved at the level of implementation. Specifically, we examine how Chinese classrooms of the two different streams are socially organized, what pedagogical activities are carried out, what knowledge or capabilities are emphasized and how they are classified. Based on the findings, we discuss the major features of Chinese language instructional practices in the two streams in relation to the policy goals and priorities, and highlights some implications for policy implementation and pedagogic reform in Singapore and internationally.