Hypertext versus Footnotes: High School English Learners’ Online Reading Recall

This study considers forty adolescent English Language Learners who read a passage online containing additional information available through either hypertext links or footnotes. Participants were attending a special high school for English learners at the time of the study. Two versions of the text were offered, one with hypertext and the other with footnotes, and participants were randomly assigned to the footnote or hypertext condition. Answers to multiple choice questions showed no significant difference between groups in recall of the reading under the two conditions, in contrast with an earlier study of learners in higher education settings whose recall of reading with hypertext was significantly lower than with footnotes. Learners’ ratings of perceived comprehensibility of the 2 texts was also not significantly different. Additional interpretive data came from focus group interviews involving all of the participants

Language anxiety in Chinese dialects and Putonghua among college students in mainland China: the effects of sociobiographical and linguistic variables

This paper examined language anxiety (LA) in Chinese dialects and Putonghua among college students in mainland China and explored the links between their LA in the first language and a range of sociobiographical variables (i.e. gender and geographical background) as well as linguistic variables (i.e. mother tongue, age of onset of acquisition, context of learning, self-perceived oral proficiency, and frequency of use). Participants were 778 Beijing university students who speak Chinese dialects and Putonghua. Statistical analyses revealed that participants reported significantly higher levels of LA in dialects than in Putonghua across a variety of situations. Geographical background and gender had scattered effects on LA in Putonghua and in dialects. Early bilinguals whose mother tongue were both a dialect and Putonghua reported the least LA in both. Later age of onset and acquisition of Putonghua in an instructed context were linked to increased LA in Putonghua. The negative relationships between self-perceived oral proficiency, frequency of use and LA were stronger in Putonghua than in dialects. The higher levels of LA in dialects combined with their language practices in dialects suggest a relatively lower confidence in the use of dialects among in this group of highly educated young Chinese adults

The Impacts and Educational Implications of Online Reading for English Language Learners

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2013The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the current issues of online reading and English as a Second Language (ESL) literacy education. The major research format is a critical literature review. The information will be mainly collected from previous research reports and empirical studies. First of all, the rationale of the study will be introduced. The background information of new literacies theory and English Language Learners (ELL) will be presented. Next, the theoretical basis of new literacies will be analyzed. The emphasis will be the definition and features of online reading. In addition, there will be analysis about ELL students' learning characteristics. This section will consist of statistical reports and empirical studies of ELLs. Based on the learning characteristics, the challenges for ESL teachers in integrating online reading elements in classroom teaching will be discussed. Furthermore, the educational implications will be critically evaluated and presented. The limitations and future research recommendations will also be illustrated

Adolescent ELLs Improve Their Academic English while Learning about the UN Online

This action research project aimed at evaluating and revising Actionthroughwords (ATW), an online course on language learning through content for high school English language learners. Our multifaceted purpose is to help English language learners in an English language arts class to enhance their academic English language and literacy, while learning online about the work of the UN for health and peace worldwide. A teacher and nineteen students in a public high school bilingual program acted as learner-consultants, with a shift of learners’ roles to one of authority and engagement. Using a mixed design, data came from questionnaires, classroom observation, and interviews with the teacher and eight of her students. All participants responded affirmatively to the ATW site and expressed appreciation not only for the content but also for focused activities to enhance vocabulary development and grammatical awareness. Results showed students’ view of the UN was somewhat positive to begin with and became more positive over time. Participants recommended revision of ATW to make content more accessible through scaffolding and first language support and to offer additional games and videos appropriate for teenagers’ interests and modes of learning. Differentiated instructional materials and strategies integrated with the school curriculum were also suggested for future implementation of the course

Everybody Does It: The Pragmatics and Perceptions of International Chinese Graduate Students and their American Peers Regarding Gossip

Integrating natural observation, interviews, and quantitative analysis, we used a mixed design to compare the socio-linguistic judgments of international Chinese students at a private University on the East Coast of the United States (US) with those of their native English-speaking peers regarding a critical incident involving gossip. Ninety-two participants evaluated alternative sociolinguistic strategies offered in addressing the incident on semantic differential scales. Judgments by each group regarding four alternative responses were surveyed and compared. Twenty participants, ten from each group, participated in semi-structured interviews. Themes were developed through a recursive process: interpretations were validated by a bilingual bicultural expert. Several distinctions in judgments emerged. The most preferred alternative to dealing with a group gossiping about a friend for Americans was to say honestly that it made them uncomfortable while Chinese participants preferred requesting a change in topic. Such contrasts were found to be representative of underlying sociocultural values for each group. Intercultural pragmatic distinctions such as these could lead to pragmatic failure and have the potential to interfere with the development of intercultural friendship among the members of the two groups. Implications for pedagogy and developing cross-cultural insight are offered