Development and validation of a genre-based second language (L2) writing self-efficacy scale

Writing self-efficacy serves as one of the essential motivational factors in L1 and L2 writing, which has been measured by a series of scales in L1 and L2 contexts. However, the issue of task specificity was not resolved appropriately. This study aims to tackle this issue by entailing the genre characteristics of L2 writing tasks through developing a genre-based L2 writing self-efficacy scale with pertinent items. The new scale was designed with reference to the available research into writing self-efficacy. Its factorial structure was examined by structural equation modeling. Convergent validity and discriminant validity of the scale were examined by taking into consideration the average variance extracted and composite reliability for each individual factor involved in the scale, whereas the predictive validity of the scale was computed through regression analysis. Results show that the genre-based L2 writing self-efficacy scale demonstrated sound psychometric qualities. Theoretical and pedagogical implications of these research findings are discussed

Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English

Since 2003, RTE has published the annual “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English,” and we are proud to share these curated and annotated citations once again. The goal of the annual bibliography is to offer a synthesis of the research published in the area of English language arts within the past year that may be of interest to RTE readers. Abstracted citations and those featured in the “Other Related Research” sections were published, either in print or online, between June 2019 and June 2020. The bibliography is divided into nine subject area sections. A three-person team of scholars with diverse research interests and background experiences in preK–16 educational settings reviewed and selected the manuscripts for each section using library databases and leading empirical journals. Each team abstracted significant contributions to the body of peer-reviewed studies that addressed the current research questions and concerns in their topic area

The Use of This + Noun by Korean EFL Writers: Focusing on Shell Nouns and Nominalization

The study investigated the use of this + noun as a textual device for creating cohesion and constructing stance in corpora of argumentative essays in English written by Korean university students and native speaker students. Focusing on the uses and distributions of shell nouns and nominalizations within the demonstrative construction, the study examined how they differed in the two corpora. In addition, the study identified major patterns of inappropriate use of this + noun by the Korean student writers. Results showed that while the Korean university students made much less use of this + noun for text reference, their use of shell nouns was less successful in creating cohesion and incorporating stance in ways valued in academic writing. Moreover, the limited range of general nouns used in the construction indicates the Korean writers use of shell nouns was often habitual rather than strategic. This paper concludes by discussing pedagogical implications of the findings

Exploring Scientific Discourse on Marine Litter in Europe:Review of Sources, Causes and Solutions

Marine litter is a transboundary environmental issue that affects all the world’s oceans. Marine litter research is a young discipline but one that has exploded during the last five years. However, the increased knowledge of sources and underlying causes to marine litter, as well as knowledge regarding solutions, lack systematic review and synthesis. This study reviews the scientific discourses around plastic marine litter in Europe, and more specifically, in Norway and Denmark, and explores emerging discourse coalitions. Four main thematic storylines on the source-cause-solution causal relationship, as well as two emerging storylines within marine litter research, are found. This study concludes that in order to secure sustainability of solutions and to avoid risk transformation and greenwashing, more interdisciplinary research, including life cycle assessment, is needed. The data set contains three elements: *Full sample* contains all data (both excluded and included articles. Coloums can be sortet and filtered to focus on specific topics. Analysis concept based on PRISMA *Timeline* harvest relevant data from 'full sample' for table 4 in the article. Cross year topic-counts are used for figure 3 in the article. *Storyline-connections* harvest relevant data from 'full sample' for figure 3 in the articl

A Study on Identity Construction of First Person Pronouns in Academic Papers from the Perspective of Evidentiality

The first person pronoun plays an important role in identity construction, however, there is few study on it from the perspective of evidentiality. This paper took the first person pronouns as evidentials, and conducted a comparable analysis on the frequency of them and the identities they constructed in academic papers between soft and hard sciences, aiming to find the differences between different discourse communities and explore their preferences for academic identity construction. The results showed that both fields prefer to use plural and subjective cases of first person pronouns, and they both prefer to construct the authorial identity of “researcher”, but scarcely construct the authorial identity of “responsible person”. Researchers in hard science use less evidentials than researchers in soft science, and they prefer to use evidentials “we” and “statement”, which weaken the authorial identity. Evidentials that embody authorial identity, including singular first person pronouns and “participation” evidentials, account for higher proportion in soft science than those in hard science

Writing in English as a foreign language within higher education in Vietnam : an investigation of the genres, writing processes and perceptions of ten Vietnamese students

Increasing numbers of Vietnamese students write in English as a foreign language for university and employment purposes. This research study explored the writing of ten higher education students in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In the first of its kind in Vietnam, the study establishes the types of writing or genres, in English, that participants had undertaken over their life course. Although participants reported a significant standardisation of genres at lower levels of education, they had been expected to produce a wider range of genres at either undergraduate or MA level, or for employment purposes. This included the need to write for research, science and business purposes. Participants were generally ill-prepared to take on these writing challenges. The findings indicate that a form of genre needs-analysis and genre pedagogy at undergraduate level could be implemented to support English language teachers and students to scaffold writing activities and to help prepare graduates for the type of writing expected of them within MA-level courses and employment. The participants valued assignments and writing that helped them to develop their thinking; they appreciated learning to write in a way that would be useful for employment and academic study and were motivated by gaining high scores and receiving positive feedback from teachers. Having the opportunity to write about familiar topics in a more creative way was also highly regarded. Participants felt they had experienced challenges when they first engaged in critical thinking, when they had to brainstorm for ideas and when they wrote introductions. During writing activities, participants positioned themselves and their arguments as Vietnamese citizens with a sense of pride and loyalty to their national identity. Participants were audience aware and used only material that would be deemed socially and politically correct within Vietnam. Many features of the sociocultural context played a role in the genres participants had written, the writing processes they engaged in and their perceptions of writing activities. The prevalence of English as a lingua franca and international research-writing conventions were evident. Traditional teaching approaches and grammar-based assessment and testing practices within Vietnam also featured significantly in participant’s experiences of writing in English. These structural forces, as well as other historical, cultural and political realities presented themselves more evidently than personal or idiographic in the writing experiences and writing processes of the participants

A Study of the Use of Lexical Cohesion in Chinese Postgraduate Writing at a UK University

As a key feature in the creation of coherent texts (Tanskanen, 2006), lexical cohesion is of critical importance for students’ academic performance. Chinese students, whose writing is the subject of this thesis, have been identified as lacking awareness of lexical cohesiveness in English academic writing (Zhang, 2000). In order to inform EAP pedagogy for them, this thesis used a corpus-based approach to conduct in-depth investigations of lexical cohesive devices used in Chinese postgraduates’ writing at a UK university. Based on Halliday and Hasan’s model (1976), an analytical framework for the analysis of lexical cohesion was developed in two corpora, incorporating a new sub-category of lexical cohesive device alongside modifications of existing categories. One corpus consisted of 52 module assignment samples (17,538 words) allocated into four marking-scale groups (failed, pass, merit and distinction), the other corpus comprising 45 dissertation excerpts (19,148 words) divided into five functional-section groups (introduction, literature review, methodology, findings/discussion, and conclusion). Applying this framework, manual analysis of the corpora identified homogeneities of lexical cohesion as context sensitivity, topic-based use of lexical cohesion, dominant use of repetition, and use of modifiers to indicate lexical cohesive relations, suggesting the value of context-based pedagogy and the need to teach complex lexical cohesive devices with exemplars. The results of the ANOVA test and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test suggested a significant difference in the use of lexical cohesion between the marking-scale groups due to fewer repetition pairs identified in the merit group, and no statistically significant difference in overall the use of lexical cohesion among the functional-section groups although the function of each section influences the use of certain lexical cohesive devices. Several factors are proposed as influencing the use of lexical cohesion: topic variety, writers’ choice and function of texts, indicating the complexity of both applying and teaching lexical cohesion in academic writing

Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English

Since 2003, RTE has published the annual “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English,” a list of curated and annotated works reviewed and selected by a large group of dedicated educator-scholars in our field. The goal of the annual bibliography is to offer a synthesis of the research published in the area of English language arts within the past year for RTE readers’ consideration. Abstracted citations and those featured in the “Other Related Research” sections were published, either in print or online, between June 2020 and June 2021. The bibliography is divided into nine sections, with some changes to the categories this year in response to the ever-evolving nature of research in the field. Small teams of scholars with diverse research interests and background experiences in preK–16 educational settings reviewed and selected the manuscripts for each section using library databases and leading scholarly journals. Each team abstracted significant contributions to the body of peer-reviewed studies that addressed the current research questions and concerns in their topic area