The Impact of Different Writing Tasks on Intermediate EFL Learners&#39; Writing Performance

hamidreza fatemipour

It is academically believed that conventional methods of teaching writing could not provide satisfactorily the Iranian intermediate English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners with being fully equipped to meet the demand of their authorities while preparing their reports, compositions, essays, papers, assignments, and projects. Therefore, to introduce a desirable approach to teaching writing, researchers usually introduce task based approaches to compensate for such flaws and end such kinds of concerns. So this experimental study tried to investigate the impact of four different pedagogic writing tasks, i.e., Topic Writing (TW), Summary Writing (SW), Graphic Writing (GW), and Picture Writing (PW) on complexity and accuracy of writing performance of aforementioned learners. To this end, 120 subjects were selected as the participants of this experimental study to see which kinds of writing task can ameliorate the current condition well. For implementation the command of the study, altogether 960 written texts as documents of the pre and post test and also treatment were collected and analyzed to pinpoint meticulously the efficacy of these different kinds of writing tasks on subjects' accomplishment in their written production. The results of the study revealed the superiority of SW group for complexity and GW for accuracy of their written productions.

Theory and Practice in Language Studies ISSN 1799-2591 Volume 4, Number 4, April 2014 Contents REGULAR PAPERS Contour Tones in Igbo: 'Where They Come from' Chikelu Ihunanya Ezenwafor 661 De-egocentricity and Socialization: A Study of Hinton’s The Outsiders Dan Shi 668 The Relationship between Self-awareness and Learners’ Performance on Different Reading Comprehension Test Types among Iranian EFL Elementary Learners Mansureh Arabsarhangi and Iraj Noroozi 675 The Effects of Top-down/Bottom-up Processing and Field-dependent/Field-independent Cognitive Style on Iranian EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension Azar Hosseini Fatemi, Vahideh Sadat Vahedi, and Zari Sadat Seyyedrezaie 686 The Research of Speaking Process in Language Attention System Xianqing Liu and Jinyan Fan 694 Theoretical Analyses on How Human Cognition Is Related to Spatial Metaphor Pan Hu 700 The Relationship between Cultural Background and Reading Comprehension Hedieh Yousef, Lotfollah Karimi, and Kamaran Janfeshan 707 An Action Research Report on Promoting Learners’ Motivation in College English Intensive Reading Course in China Xiao Fu 715 Effects of the Second Language on the First: A Study of ESL Students in China Xin Wang 725 The Impact of Different Writing Tasks on Intermediate EFL Learners' Writing Performance Abdolreza Abdali and Hamidreza Fatemipour 730 A Novel Probe into College English Quality-oriented Transformation Based on the Impersonal Evaluation Criteria of College English Instruction Xiongyong Cheng 736 A Corpus-based Comparative Study of Lexical Proficiency of Writings by Majors of Arts v.s. Those of Science Ronggen Zhang 743 Strategies Employed in Translation of Tourist Guidebooks Culture-specific Items from Persian into English Masoome Rezaei and Davud Kuhi 750 Understanding the Platonic Dialogue from the Perspective of Gadamer’s Hermeneutics Chunge Liu and Xiaodi Sui 758 The Strategy of Metaphor Translation: Domestication or Foreignization Xuedong Shi 766 Delving the Relationship between Teacher Empowerment and Job Satisfaction among Iranian EFL Teachers in Tehran Aviation University Fatemeh Azimi Amoli and Maryam Youran 771 The Application of Thematic Theory in Translation Fang Wang 778 Characteristics of Economic Literature and Its Translation Jianjun Wang and Yize Fan 786 Comparison of Critical Thinking in Students Interested and Uninterested in Learning a Second Language Gholamreza Manshaee, Tahereh Mahmoudian Dastnaee, Ali Seidi, and Azam Davoodi 792 Research on Bilingual Teaching in Colleges and Universities in China Jian Li and Kunming Yao 800 Negotiation of Narratives in Postmodern Picture Book Shuxuan Wu 806 Examining the Effect of Strategy Instruction on Writing Apprehension and Writing Achievement of EFL Learners Fatemeh Mohseniasl 811 On Vocabulary Presentation Modes in College English Teaching and Learning Jun Chen 818 Analysis of Influencing Factors in Metacognition in English Writing Yingnan Liu 824 The Effect of Focus on Form on EFL Learners’ Written Task Accuracy across Different Proficiency Levels Asghar Salimi, Alireza Bonyadi, and Atefeh Asghari 829 Group-based Formative Assessment: A Successful Way to Make Summative Assessment Effective Haishen Yu and Hongmei Li 839 The Re-understanding of Edna Pontellier’s Death Limin Bai 845 A Comparison of Linguistic Errors of Iranian EFL Learners at Two Different Levels of Proficiency Bahareh Malmeer 850 ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 661-667, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.661-667 Contour Tones in Igbo: 'Where They Come from' Chikelu Ihunanya Ezenwafor Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy Abstract—Contour tones are typically predominant in tone languages operating a contour system in contrast with tone languages operating the register system. This paper examines the underlying and surface characterization of contour tones (rising and falling tones) at the lexical level in Igbo. Adopting the Autosegmental approach originally proposed by Goldsmith (1976), it reinforces the composite nature of both contours in Igbo. From the data, evidence is given that contour tones in Igbo are mere surface features which are motivated by some underlying rules that arise from the merging of tone at morpheme boundaries, historical loss of segments and the association of a floating tone. The two rules are identified are the deletion and docking rule. The manifestation of the latter is premised on the application of the former. The application of both rules is equally dependent on the fulfilment of some tone contour conditions such as presence of morpheme boundary, occurrence of contrasting tones at the morpheme boundary, similarity of vowels. The data used for this study are mostly individual words (place names and general nouns). These nouns are however morphologically derived complex words. The analysis shows that contour tones are usually induced at morpheme boundaries. Again, there is always a collapse of the contrasting tones realised on the tone bearing units (vowels) at the morpheme boundary. The morpheme boundary as used in this context and as applicable to Igbo is restricted to free morphemes. The first morpheme whose vowel is always affected by the deletion rule could start losing its original meaning overtime. Index Terms—floating tone, morpheme boundary, asynchrony, deletion and docking rules I. ETHNOLINGUISTIC INFORMATION Igbo is an indigenous language (with many dialects) spoken in Nigeria. The term Igbo is used simultaneously to refer to the language and its speakers. It is spoken approximately by about 20 million people in the South-eastern region of the country. Igbo is also attested to be spoken in Cameroon/Equatorial Guinea as a minority language by about 30,000 people (Joshua Project, 2009). It is classified under West Benue Congo subfamily of the Niger Congo language family (Williamson and Blench, 2009). Introduction Many of the world's languages are largely tonal. A tone language being one that employs the use of tone for meaning distinction in the lexical level, grammatical level or both. Tone is therefore a variation in pitch that enters as a distinctive factor in the lexicon or grammatical constructions of a language. According to Pike (1948) “A tone language is one in which contrastive pitch levels do not merely form the intonation tune of a sentence but enters as a distinctive factor into the lexical elements of the language”. In other words, tone distinguishes between the meanings of words with otherwise identical phonemic composition. Similarly, Yip (2002) opines that „a language with tone is one in which an indication of pitch enters into the lexical realization of at least some morphemes. Gussenoven (2004), equally views tone as a phonological category that distinguishes the meaning of words or utterances. Many definitions of tone however lay more emphasis on the phonemic realisation of tone at the lexical level alone. It might be the case that many tone languages apply tone at the lexical level, but there still exist languages where tone tends to apply strictly at the grammatical level alone. Over the years, there has been a tradition of classifying tone languages into register and contour tone systems based on the nature of tone. The register tone system is largely associated with the tone systems of African languages and only loosely/minimally with contour tones while Asian languages like Chinese typically operate the contour tone system. While register tone register tones are analysed as being level (maintaining a certain level of stability), contour tones are analysed as gliding from one pitch level to another, hence being unstable. More than level tones, contour tones are phonetically subject to different interpretations. While contour tones of Chinese for are seen as unitary units, contour tones in African languages are mostly seen as being composite (comprising of two consecutive level tones). "Contour tones in African languages are a surface phenomenon which needs decomposition into underlying tonal melodies. The fact that the beginning and end points are always identifiable means that contour tones can be split up into their components" (Lojenga 2012). In the subsequent sections, we give a brief review of tone in Igbo, an overview of the theoretical framework adopted, an overview of the phonological account of contour tones in Igbo, then the presentation of data and analysis and the conclusion of our findings. II. OVERVIEW OF TONE IN IGBO Igbo operates a register tone system with two basic level tones (high, low) and a downstep (a reduced high). It also has two contour tones that are not particularly distinctive. Level tones in Igbo function lexically in distinguishing © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 662 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES otherwise phonemically identical words. In other words, tone is manipulated contrastively to realize minimal pairs and sets. Below are some examples; 1) ákw 'cloth' ákwá 'cry' kw 'bed' kwá 'egg' 2) ké 'rat' k 'share' k 'boundary' ké 'male' At the grammatical level, tone is vital in differentiating relative constructions from declarative constructions. For example: Observe that the constructions in examples (3b) and (4b) are relativized by the tonal modification of the verbs mara and zuru. Tone is equally functional in distinguishing between interrogative and declarative constructions in Igbo. Consider the following examples: Note that the distinction between the interrogatives and declaratives as exemplified above is signalled by a tonal change on the 3rd person singular pronoun „O’ which bears a high tone in the declarative construction but a low tone in its interrogative counterpart. The relevance of tone at the grammatical level is also evident in associative/specific constructions (cf. Williamson 1972). The inherent tone of lexical items in Igbo often changes when moved into such constructions. The following examples are illustrative; The high tone of the first syllable in example (7b) is replaced with a low tone in the specific/associative construction to realize a „possessive’ meaning. This is equally applicable to example (8b) where this same high tone is substituted with a low tone. Two contour tones are posited for Igbo; the rising (ˇ) and the falling (ˆ) tones. There has been a long tradition of analysing these contours as composite. Though contour tones attested in Igbo, their occurrence remain relatively minimal and are not assigned much distinctive status at the lexical and grammatical level. So far, studies on Igbo contours in Igbo are largely restricted to grammatical constructions as seen in (Nwachukwu 1995, Emenanjo 1978). Emenanjo (1978) explains the occurrence of what he calls 'the high- falling-to-low tone. This tone is grammatically motivated as it always occurs on the last syllable preceding the verb in the indicative form". He buttresses his point with the following example: 9) lǔ gawara ahia 'Ulu went to market' Nwachukwu (1995) on the other hand posits the occurrence of contour tones as being induced by certain grammatical constructions (including subject relative clauses. Ugorji (2008) however presents alternative analysis on purely phonological grounds, moving away from the syntactic conditions posited earlier. We shall return to this alternative analysis in section 4.0. An important point to note is that none of these accounts are strictly geared toward individual lexical items but rather as used in specific grammatical constructions. Ugorji (2008) though includes some lexical words in form of personal names in his account. III. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 663 This work adopts a multi-linear approach as developed in Goldsmith's (1976) Autosegmental theory which has been modified over the years though the original idea has been retained. The focus of autosegmental theory is the representation of segmental and non segmental features into different layers or tiers. The non segmental features like tone are otherwise termed autosegments. This is in recognition of the fact that separate rules could apply independently to these different tiers. Vanderhulst et al (1988) explain that autosegmental phonology proposes that the standard onetiered representation (as applicable in the generative framework) be split into several tiers, each constituting a linear arrangement of segments. These segments are then linked to each other by association lines that indicate how they are to be articulated. One should observe that there is not always a neat or one- to- one correspondence between the two separate tiers (with emphasis on tone). Over the years, many African tone languages have played a vital role in the development of this theory. One of such languages which happens to be our major concern is Igbo. Igbo has been attested as a register tone language with occasional manifestation of non significant /significant contour tones; the rising (ˆ) and falling (ˇ). The problem however is on the representation of these contour tones. Whatever the case, this problem is not peculiar to Igbo but to other tone languages with the manifestation of contour tones. One of the typical arguments that often arise in the autosegmental theory is on the analysis of contours as being unitary or as underlyingly composite. This problem was of course a carried over from the generative tradition which somehow predicts that contour tones cannot occur on short vowels (assuming that sequences of features within one segment is barred). Within the autosegmental theory, contour tones could depending on the language be treated as unitary or composite. Similarly, the occurrence of contour tones on long or short vowels is language specific. While the realisation of composite contour on long vowels is less problematic, that of short vowels involves a collapse of two tones on one segment. Anderson (1978) observes that in this context, composite contour tones are not associated in a one to one fashion with the tone bearing element but rather, more than one element may in some languages be assigned to the same short vowel. This could be schematically represented thus: In this paper, we focus on the treatment of contour tones as composite. It is often argued in Igbo as in some other African tone languages that contour tones are mere surface features resulting from different underlying rules which could be language specific. This could equally be deduced from the fact that contour tones result from a situation in which the number of tones is greater than the number of syllables (Vanderhulst, 1988). As postulated by Lojenga (2012), contour tones are a surface phenomenon in African languages which needs intepretation into the underlying tones or tonal melodies. A cross linguistic study of contour tones in African languages shows that they could result from partial spreading, merger of two unlike tones across morpheme boundaries, association of a floating tone to a syllable with an unlike non-floating tone, depressor consonants, historical loss of a syllable e.t.c. Having posited a multi linear approach to the analysis of segmental and non segmental features, the loss or historical loss of a TBU does not necessitate the loss/deletion of the superimposed tone. The following example drawn from Elimelech (1976) as cited in Vanderhulst (1988) buttresses this point. In the Etsako language, the expression 'each N' (noun) involves the reduplication of the relevant N; 10) owa 'house' owowa 'each house' The underlying form of the above would be rewritten as; The surface form as seen in example (10) is derived by a deletion rule which deletes the first 'a'. This deletion rule as it seems only affects the segmental tier. Vanderhulst et al (1988) further explains that if Etsako were a language that forbade contour tones on short vowels, the low tone of the deleted 'a' will remain unassociated and therefore receive no phonetic interpretation. However, Etsako allows contour tones on short vowels. This yields a rule that associates the floating tone to the right i.e. to the segment that initiated the deletion of the tone bearing element 'a'. Below is a schematic representation; © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 664 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES The above docking rule (from left to right)of a floating tone further buttresses the point made earlier, that the loss/deletion of an element of one tier does not necessarily imply the loss of its counterpart. The emergence of a floating tone is described as tonal stability where a vowel or syllable is deleted, but the tone remains behind. As we shall see later, three of the mentioned sources of contour tones (historical loss of segment, association of a floating tone, and merger of two unlike tones across morpheme boundaries) play a vital role in the phonological account of contour tones in Igbo. IV. PHONOLOGICAL ACCOUNT OF CONTOUR TONES IN IGBO As noted earlier, Ugorji (2008) proposes an alternative approach to the investigation of contour tones which is at par with the syntactic conditions for the occurrence of a contour tone proposed by Nwachukwu (1995), Emenanjo (1978). Ugorji's analysis follows the autosegmental approach. In this section a review of this alternative proposal is briefly reviewed, bringing to light its strength and weakness. Just as in other existing literature on Igbo contours, Ugorji maintains that there are two contour tones in Igbo (the rising and the falling). He however demonstrates that these contour tones are the outcome of asynchrony between two level tones at the opposite sides of word boundary where the second word begins with a consonant. This is schematized below: (T=tone, a&β=contrasting tone values, #=word boundary) From the above representation, it could be deduced that for the occurrence of a contour, there should be "a word boundary involving a final vowel to the left; and to its right another vowel preceded by a consonant". Secondly, the tones on the relevant vowels must contrast. Note that by this assertion, Ugorji (2008) overrules the possibility of contour tones in a strict V#V boundary conditions. We shall return to this point shortly. From the posited tone contour condition, he derives two subrules for the falling and the rising tones. For the falling tone, the rule predicts that if a high tone is followed across word boundary by a low tone, a falling tone is realised, if the second word begins with a consonant. The rule is validated with the following examples: He further posits that when the initial consonant on the right side of the word boundary is substituted with a vowel, the tone condition rule is violated and it therefore cannot yield a contour tone even though other requirements are met. Consider the following example: For the rising tone, Ugorji postulates that when a low tone is followed across word boundary by a high tone, a rising tone is formed if the second word begins with a consonant. The rule is formalized thus: Concrete example: © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 665 The violation accorded to the contour tone condition in rule 2 is equally applicable here. With this overall analysis, he proves to an extent that contour tones in Igbo are definable in certain phonological contexts. He succeeds in pointing out one of the sources of contour tones in Igbo that, in a way, is one of the different sides of a coin. His contour tone conditions are anchored on the rule of merging two unlike tones across word boundaries (cf Lojenga 2010). The proposed contour tone condition falls short when extended to a larger array of data; especially of the lexicon as we shall see in the subsequent section. Such lexical items as we shall see, seem to persistently violate the proposed tone contour condition. This informs our present research which focuses on giving an appropriate phonological account of these deviating lexical items. While not jettisoning Ugorji's rules, it is clear that his tone condition does not take into account these new set of data. We therefore add to the already proposed rules as espoused in the subsequent section. V. DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS The bulk of the data used is drawn proper names (town names) which are often realised as associative constructions. Also analyzed are lexical words that are derived by compounding and reduplication. Note that the tone of words in isolation (inherent tone of lexical items) might differ when they enter into associative or derivative constructions. Our emphasis is however not on the inherent tones so less attention would be paid to that. The focus point is what happens to their tones in their present status as derived words. We propose that the realisation of contour tones on the specified lexical items derive from two rules (deletion and docking rules) at the underlying and surface levels. The deletion rule is associated with the segmental tier and the docking rule associated with the non segmental tier. Both rules seem to be interdependent. Rule 1 (deletion rule) states that when two like or unlike vowels occur across morpheme/word boundary, the following vowel assimilates the preceding one if dissimilar and consequently deletes it. This necessitates the second rule. Rule 2 (docking rule) states that a tone that becomes stranded as a result of an elided or deleted segment docks to the following TBU which motivated the deletion of its segment. The following conditions are necessary for the application of both rules;  Similarity of vowels  Existence of a clear morpheme (word) boundary  Tone contrastiveness across morpheme boundary Where there are dissimilar vowels across morpheme boundary, the left side vowel is first assimilated before deletion. Below is a schematic representation of both rules; XCX # XCX → XCXCV Where X= Tbu (V), T1/T2= contrasting tones, # = morpheme boundary, single bracket = individual word, double bracket = morphologically derived lexical item. Falling tone In the following examples, individual words and their inherent tones are first highlighted. The meaning of some lexical items however seem a little obscure (difficult to recover). Rule 1 and 2 seem to apply predominantly to the falling tone as illustrated below: 17.) g l 'name' r 'name' 18.) kw l 'domain/speaking for' © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER b 'visitor, guest' 666 19) mé( ) 'doer' 20) ch l 'bamboo' THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES ka 'surpass' → m k m 'notorious person' g 'eagle' In the examples above, observe that all occurrences of dissimilar vowels across word boundaries motivate the phonological process of assimilation which occurs before the application of rule 1. This is in fulfilment of one of the conditions which is vowel similarity. Some common features of the above examples are the existence of a morpheme boundary, tone contrast across morpheme boundaries which results in an imminent collapse of the relevant tones, and the similarity of vowels which is often induced. At the underlying level as seen in example (16), the high tone is mapped unto the vowel 'e' which becomes assimilated by the vowel 'o' and subsequently deleted by rule 1, leaving its high tone stranded. This instigates the application of rule 2 which docks the high tone (now floating) to the following vowel for the assigning of tone. As is obtained in non linear phonology, no tone is left unassigned, explaining the application of rule 2. The interpretation of these rules at the surface level results in a falling contour tone as in example (16, 17 and 18). Thus the word Nneokwa is realised as Nnokwa, Agulueri as Aguleri, and Ekwuluobia as Ekwulobia. An alternative analysis would be to posit a long vowel to bear the tones, unfortunately, Igbo does not allow long vowels. In examples (19) and (20), we the have general nouns 'omekome and achalugo'. Three morpheme boundaries are recorded in example (19) and two in example (20). In the three boundary word, rule 1 applies to the middle morpheme deleting the vowel 'a' leaving its tone floating. Rule 2 then applies assigning the floating tone to the following vowel 'o'. Same applies to the vowel of the first morpheme 'achala' at the morpheme boundary in example (20). For examples (21), the vowels involved are purely similar vowels whose similarity is not phonologically induced. With the deletion of the last Tbu 'a' of the first morpheme, rule 2 again permits the stranded tones to dock to the following realising in the surface level a falling contour tone (which glides from high to low). From the above data, it is clear that there is no violation of rules that would impede the realisation of a contour tone at the morpheme boundary of two adjacent vowels, other factors being constant. Tone stability is observed in all examples used , supporting the general idea that the two tiers should be kept separate since the loss of a component of one does not imply the loss of another. We come to the conclusion that contour tones are realised at the surface level after the application of several rules which bothers on the loss of a segment or segments (hence the deletion rule) and the association of a floating tone (docking rule). The rising tone Next, we turn to the rising tone which as exemplified below is derived from the underlying level following the deletion and docking rules. The following examples are illustrative; 22.) ime#oka 'place name' 23.) k 'conversation' át 'a type of animal' © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 667 In example (22), two contrastive tones and vowels occur at the morpheme boundary motivating the realisation of rule 1 and 2. The floating low tone as an aftermath of the deletion rule docks to the right, collapsing with a high tone which results as a rising contour tone. This same process is replicated in example (23) except that this time, the vowels occurring at the morpheme boundary are same and not induced. Observe that the three postulated conditions are fully met, aiding the application of rule 1 and 2. In passing, it is observed that the falling tone seems to be more predominant in the sample used and even Igbo in general. The down pointing arrow in examples (22 and 23)marks a reduced high. Note also that when two similar or non contrasting tones are superimposed on vowels at the morpheme boundary, rule 1 and 2 do not apply even if other conditions are met. Consider the following example: [mb ] #[ s ] → [mb # s ] 'place name' From the foregoing, we posit that the motivation of contour tones at the surface level of Igbo lexical words necessarily requires morpheme boundary condition but goes beyond it. The surface realisation of contour tones in independent lexical words could also be traced to the historical loss of a segment (deletion) and the association of floating tones as shown with the numerous examples. VI. CONCLUSION We have attempted to proffer some explanation or derive rules to account for the motivation of contour tones in some morphologically derived lexical words. The deletion and docking rules are used to explain the derivation of gliding tones from the underlying level to the surface level. Thus, the realisation of a contour tone in the data analyzed is an aftermath of an elided segment and the association of its stranded tone to the following tone bearing unit which probably motivated the deletion. These rules draw largely from the autosegmental model of tone analysis. We note that these rules do not necessarily contradict the rules postulated by previous phonological analysis of contour tones but rather complements it by accounting for a set of data that defies the already stipulated conditions. It is equally observed that the merging of tones across morpheme boundaries is restricted to free morphemes (excluding bound morphemes). On a broader perspective, three major sources are posited on a phonological scale to account for contour tones in Igbo; hence, revealing them for what they are, mere surface features to be interpreted as composite rather than unitary. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] C.U.C Ugorji. (2008). Contour tones in Igbo. Language in India. Vol:8. Issue 2 Constance, K. Lojenga. (2012). Sources of contour tones in African languages. University of Leiden, Amsterdam (hand out). David Odden. (1992). Tone: African languages. In John Goldsmith (ed.), The handbook of phonological theory. John Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Emenanjo, E.N. (1978). Elements of modern Igbo grammar. Ibadan: Oxford University Press. Green, M.M., and G.E. Igwe. (1963). A descriptive grammar of Igbo. Berlin: Akademie Verlag. Harry Van der Hulst and Norval Smith. (1988). An overview of autosegmental and metrical phonology. In Harry Van der Hulst and Norval Smith (eds.), The Structure of Phonological Rrepresentations I. Dordrecht:Foris. Joshua Project. (2009). A ministry of the US centre for world mission. U.S.A: Colorado Spri. Mike Cahill. (1994). A short introduction to autosegmental theory. SIL International. Nwachukwu, P. A. (1995). Tone in Igbo syntax. Studies in Igbo linguistics 2, Nsukka. Paul Newman. (1992). Hausa tonology: Complexities in an 'easy' tone language. A Paper Presented at the 23rd Annual Conference on African Linguistics. Pike, K. (1948). Tone languages. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. Stephen, R. Anderson. (1978). Tone features. In V. Fromkin (ed.), Tone: a linguistic survey. New York: Academic Press Limited Williamson, K. (1972). The Igbo associative and specific constructions. In K. Bogers, H, Vander Hulst and M, Maar ten, The phonological representation of suprasegmentals. Dordretch, USA: Forris Publications. 195-208. Williamson,K. and Blench,R. (2009). “Niger Congo”. In Heine,B. and Nurse,D.(eds.), African languages: An introduction. Eds.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Yip,M.( 2002). Tone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chikelu Ihunanya Ezenwafor is currently a PhD researcher in Linguistics at Scuola Normale di Superiore, Pisa, Italy. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 668-674, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.668-674 De-egocentricity and Socialization: A Study of Hinton’s The Outsiders Dan Shi Division of English Language Education, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China Abstract—The paper addresses adolescent development in Hinton’s The Outsiders as the major theme based on psychoanalytic theories. This paper aims to expound on the process of de-egocentricity and socialization of the major protagonists in Hinton’s The Outsiders. The study of young adult literature was rarely undertaken from the aspects of de-egocentricity and socialization, and Hinton’s The Outsiders was hardly systematically introduced by scholars in China. Thus, this paper will provide the readers with a new perspective of the understanding of adolescents’ coming-of-age in Hinton’s The Outsiders. Index Terms—de-egocentricity, socialization, initiation stories I. INTRODUCTION S. E. Hinton initiates her career as an author when she was still a fifteen years old high school student in Oklahoma. Her enthusiasm for reading in her childhood stimulates her to write something realistic about what the majority of children are actually doing in their daily life instead of reading “Mary Jane Goes to the Prom” ① from time to time (Hinton, 2003). Her disapproval of the biased and unrealistic depiction of children’s warm and fragrant life in traditional adolescent novels inspires her to create realist young adult fiction of class conflict and gang rivalry with the appalling facts of violence, poverty, alcoholism and drug addiction. Critics appreciate Hinton’s “unpretentious narrative style and her skillful development of plot and character” (Enotes, 2007). In her novels, Hinton depicts “the survival and maturation of her adolescent male protagonists, tough yet tender lower-class boys who live in and around Tulsa and who grow by making difficult decision” (Enotes, 2007). The colloquial language and realistic description enable the readers to have a vivid and authentic impression of her novels, and she has been regarded as “a representative writer in new realist young adult literature” (Zhang Ying & Yang Qianfan, 2005, p. 54). Irritated by the bullying of the upper-class Socs to her friend, a lower-class greaser, on their way home after class, Hinton started to figure out a story of a greaser being jumped and beaten up by the Socs while he was walking home from the movie house with no company. That is the beginning of her first novel The Outsiders which leads to significant changes in young adult literature. Hinton won a great success of this novel The Outsiders which was published during Hinton’s freshman year at the university. This novel describes the rivalry between two gangs. Namely, one is the lower-class greaser living in the East Side, and the other is the upper-class Socs which is the abbreviation for the Socials who are the West Side rich kids. The conflict between each other is portrayed from the perspective of a fourteen years old boy named Ponyboy, who exposes what he witnesses and experiences of his true life in the novel The Outsiders, displaying “a heroic story of friendship and belonging” as well as an adolescent fiction of coming-of-age (Hinton, 2003, the back cover). II. THE PROCESS OF DE-EGOCENTRICITY IN THE OUTSIDERS The paper aims to make the most of Jean Piaget’s theory of ego-centrism of childhood and adolescence to figure out the reflection of de-egocentricity which is the essence of child and adolescent development concerned in the novel The Outsiders. From the perspective of developmental psychology, the theme of coming-of-age in the novel is dug out firstly through the process of de-egocentricity analysis. A. Introduction to the Theory of Ego-centrism of Childhood and Adolescence Jean Piaget was a Swiss scholar who began to study intellectual development during the 1920s. He “combined the theory of zoology and epistemology (the branch of philosophy concerned with the origins of knowledge) to develop a new science that he termed genetic epistemology” (Shaffer, 2004, p. 218). And the term genetic epistemology is defined as “the experimental study of the origin of knowledge” (Shaffer, 2004, p. 218). He is now regarded as one of the most influential psychologists in the research of child and adolescent development. The theory of ego-centrism of childhood and adolescence is of great importance in Jean Piaget’s genetic epistemology. According to Piaget, “ego-centrism is the most striking deficiency that contributes to the other intellectual shortcomings.” He defined ego-centrism as “a tendency to view the world from one’s own perspective and to have ① This is a quotation from an interview attached to the novel. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 669 difficulty recognizing another person’s point of view” (Shaffer, 2004, p. 232). From the book The Language and Thought of the Child written by Jean Piaget (1955/1966), he laid emphasis on “ego-centric speech” of the child characterized by “repetition, monologue and dual or collective monologue” (pp. 32-33). He further pointed out the reasons why this talk is ego-centric. That is “partly because the child speaks only about himself or herself, but chiefly because he or she does not attempt to place himself or herself at his or her hearer’s point of view” (Piaget, 1955/1966, p. 32). Repetition signifies that “child repeats his or her words and syllables for the pleasure of talking, with no thought of talking to anyone, nor even at times of saying words that will make sense” (Piaget, 1955/1966, p. 32). Monologue means that “the child talks to himself as though he were thinking aloud” (Piaget, 1955/1966, p. 32). And dual or collective monologue indicates that “the point of view of the other person is never taken into account, and his or her presence serves only as a stimulus” (Piaget, 1955/1966, p. 33). He was convinced that “ego-centric speech” originated from “ego-centric thought,” indicating that “the type of thought exhibited by our children seeks to adapt itself to reality, but does not communicate itself as such” (p. 64). That is to say, “ego-centric thought” and “ego-centric speech” have kept the same step, for “although he talks almost incessantly to his neighbors, he rarely places himself at their point of view and he speaks to them for the most part as if he were alone, and as if he were thinking aloud” (Piaget, 1955/1966, p. 60). This is the major characteristic of ego-centrism in the first two stages of Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development. The four stages are “the sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years), the preoperational stage (2 to 7 years), the stage of concrete operations (7 to 11 years), and the stage of formal operations (11 years and beyond)” (Piaget, 1981). Along with the disappearance of “ego-centric speech” after the second stage, Jean Piaget (1955/1966) pointed out that “after the age 7 to 8, these consequences of ego-centrism do not disappear immediately, but remain crystallized in the most abstract and inaccessible part of the mind” (p. 141). Thus, a piece of information can be derived from the statement above: ego-centrism remains in the last two stages of Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development. Adolescents become less egocentric than younger children as they are aware of the existence of others instead of just their own. In other words, scholar believes that “adolescents have gradually abandoned ego-centrism of childhood in many aspects” (Colman, 1987, p. 31). However, from the book Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood written by Jeffrey Jensen Arnett (2001), it states that “cognitive development in adolescence also leads to a new kind of ego-centrism that is distinctly adolescent” (p. 85). What does this new kind of ego-centrism refer to? Arnett (2001) has noticed that “cognitive development in adolescence includes the development of metacognition—the capability to think about thinking” (p. 85). She indicated that “this development includes the ability to think about not only your own thoughts but also the thoughts of others” (Arnett, 2001, p. 85). Finally, she pointed out that “when these abilities first develop, adolescents may have difficulty distinguishing their thinking about their own thoughts from their thinking about the thoughts of others, resulting in a distinctive kind of adolescent ego-centrism which is first put forward by Piaget” (Arnett, 2001, p. 85). In other words, adolescents are not able to figure out whether this thought belongs to their own or others. To be more specific, one will regard other’s point of view with one’s own way of thinking. One will consider how others will think of himself or herself, while actually others are even not aware of the thought borne in this person’s mind, and it is actually the thought of one’s own instead of others’, resulting in the misunderstanding with each other. Thus, this paper will place emphasis on the adolescent ego-centrism at the stage of formal operations in relation to the novel The Outsiders. B. Introduction to De-egocentricity The concept of de-egocentricity was based on Jean Piaget’s theory of ego-centrism of childhood and adolescence. The influence of ego-centrism will diminish gradually as child and adolescent grow older. That is to say, adolescents will dispose of their ego-centrism along with their coming-of-age. As Professor Qian Weiliang from Beijing Industry University suggested that “the procedure of cognitive development in childhood and adolescence is actually a process of de-egocentricity” (Qian Weiliang, 2001, p. 68). Thus, an idea can be derived from the analysis above. The process of de-egocentricity is the essence of child and adolescent development, which is featured by the understanding of others among adolescent individuals. Children and adolescents will abandon their ego-centrism when communicating with each other, trying to appreciate others’ points of view and making themselves understood by others as well. This is how to fulfill the task of de-egocentricity characterized by mutual understanding among children and adolescents in order to realize the goal of coming-of-age. And this paper will focus on de-egocentricity of adolescents appearing in the novel The Outsiders. The Outsiders portrays the clash between two gangs, greasers and Socs, with young adults as their gang members as well as being the major protagonists in the novel. Since all the major protagonists in the novel will be placed in the last stage of cognitive development which is under the influence of adolescent ego-centrism first put forward by Jean Piaget, readers can also find traits of this adolescent ego-centrism mirrored from the words and deeds of the major protagonists in the novel The Outsiders. They have undergone a transformation through the process of de-egocentricity with the epitome of understanding of others, casting off their adolescent ego-centrism ultimately. 1. Three Greasers’ De-egocentricity The story of The Outsiders is told by Ponyboy Michael Curtis who is a member of lower-class gang greasers on the East Side. His Mom and Dad are killed in an auto wreck and he lives with his two elder brothers named Darrel Shaynne Curtis and Jr. Soda Patrick Curtis respectively. Ponyboy prefers Soda to Darrel because Darrel “hollers at Ponyboy all the time or treats him as if he was six instead of fourteen” (Hinton, 2003, p. 2). After Ponyboy being jumped by the © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 670 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Socs while walking home alone from movie house, Darrel blames Ponyboy again for not carrying a blade with him, and Ponyboy considers “he just hollers at me and I am just another mouth to feed and somebody to holler at” (p. 18). Here, Ponyboy does not understand why Darrel hollers at him, which causes misunderstanding between siblings to some extent on account of Ponyboy’s ego-centrism. He regards Darrel with his own way of thinking, failing to understand him from Darrel’s point of view. Darrel himself is deprived of his college education though he is smart and bright because of his family obligation in taking good care of his brothers and making both ends meet. He has high hopes for Ponyboy whom he believes will never fail to live up to his expectation, which is beyond Ponyboy’s understanding. Darrel’s stern attitude towards him and requirement of him are other kinds of deep love, care and affection. Ponyboy’s ego-centrism is cast off only when he finds Darrel crying with tears running down his cheeks in their reunion in the hospital. Darrel has the “same helpless and pleading look” now as he does in the funeral of their parents (p. 98). All of a sudden, Ponyboy realizes that his brother does care about him, just because “Darrel is trying too hard to make something of his younger brother Ponyboy” (p. 98). At that moment, Ponyboy accomplishes the task of de-egocentricity by realizing the importance of understanding others. During the process of transformation from ego-centrism to de-egocentricity, Ponyboy undergoes a great deal of frustration, through which he realizes the significance and value of interpersonal understanding. Casting off his bias against his brother, he manages to distinguish his thinking about his own thoughts from his thinking about the thought of his brother and succeeds in the comprehension of his brother’s viewpoint as well. Finally, he immerses himself in the smoother process of coming-of-age. Ponyboy’s ego-centrism gives rise to the breakdown of his second brother Soda. In the novel, “Ponyboy loves Soda more than he has ever loved anyone, even his Mom and Dad, for Soda tries to understand and understand everything, almost” (Hinton, 2003, p. 2). However, Ponyboy himself fails to understand Soda when he runs into difficulty. He remembers “how many times had Soda started to tell me something, only to find I was daydreaming or stuck in a book? He would always listen to me, no matter what he was doing” (p. 174). Whenever Ponyboy has a row with Darrel, Soda will be a middleman. Ponyboy does not realize what Soda feels to be a middleman. He takes it for granted that Soda does not have any problems and frustrations. His ego-centrism brings about their misunderstanding with each other. Not until Soda himself speaks his mind without any hesitation for the first time do Ponyboy and Darrel come to understand Soda’s vexations. Soda finally said, “I don’t know. It’s just…I can’t stand to hear y’all fight. Sometimes…I just have to get out or…it’s like I’m the middleman in a tug o’ war and I’m being split in half” (p. 175). Ponyboy tries to understand Soda’s distress of breaking up with his girlfriend and his dilemma towards the conflicts between Darrel and him. Ponyboy gradually attaches great importance to others instead of only to himself and begins to give up his ego-centrism which can be regarded as his process of de-egocentricity. Under the influence of Soda’s stimulating explanation, he realizes his past ego-centrism that “I had expected Darrel to do all the understanding without even trying to understand him” (p. 176). At last, three of them understand and realize, “we ought to be able to stick together against everything, and if we don’t have each other, we don’t have anything” (p. 176). The process of de-egocentricity enables them to realize the importance of brotherly affection. 2. One Soc’s De-egocentricity Unlike other Socs, Cherry Valance who is a cheerleader at school and a Soc’s leader’s girlfriend enjoys a friendly chat and shares the same interest with Ponyboy. Cherry and Ponyboy are both interested in watching the sunsets, but from different places. Namely, one is from the upper-class West Side, while the other is from the lower-class East Side. Though they belong to different classes, they can appreciate the same beautiful sunset. However, Cherry herself has her own ego-centrism. With the social background of being a Soc, her ego-centrism is showed in her farewell with Ponyboy. When she is about to leave and say good-bye to Ponyboy, she tells him that “if he sees her in the hall at school or someplace and don’t say hi” (Hinton, 2003, p. 45). That is to say, she will not accept Ponyboy as her friend in public so as to keep her status of being a Soc. Her ego-centrism is exposed even though she is amicable towards greasers in private. She is a soc after all. However, she goes through the process of de-egocentricity as well. When greasers are beaten up by Socs again and in difficulty, she comes to help greasers on her own initiative. In the novel, she tells it to Dally that “the whole mess is her fault and that she will keep up with what is coming off with the Socs in the rumble and will testify that the Socs are drunk and looking for a fight and that you fight back in self-defense” (p. 86). At that moment, Ponyboy may realize that it is not Cherry a Soc with ego-centrism who helps them, but Cherry a dreamer fulfilling the task of de-egocentricity. At Ponyboy and Cherry’s first acquaintanceship, Cherry’s impression of greasers as rough and unrefined can not be easily changed even though she and Ponyboy enjoy the same interest. That’s the source of Cherry’s ego-centrism. She thinks of greasers with her preconceptions. However, to her surprise, through the association and contact with greasers, she finds that greasers sometimes are forced to be tough in order to defend themselves against the Socs’ attack. Here, she tries to understand greasers in their shoes. Therefore, it is not hard to understand Cherry’s decision of bearing witness in court to Johnny’s self-defense in that murder. This specific case has well demonstrated Cherry’s de-egocentricity. Seeing the sunset sensationally from the West Side, she now believes that it is also very good to see the sunset from the East Side. Her de-egocentricity ends in saying “Thanks, Ponyboy” (p. 130). 3. Two Hostile Groups’ De-egocentricity This novel can be considered as the rivalry between two gangs. Namely, one is lower-class greasers with greasy long hair on the East Side, and the other is the West Side rich kids Socs which is the abbreviation for the socials. “Greasers © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 671 are almost like hoods. We steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while,” while “Socs enjoy drinking, driving nice cars, and beating up greasers” (Hinton, 2003, p. 3). Each gang has different set of values. “Greasers are more emotional, while Socs are more sophisticated” (p. 38). “Greasers usually stick together, while Socs gang up on one or two, or they rumble each other with their social clubs” (p. 29). Why is there such a gap between greasers and Socs? Their ego-centrism is part of the reason. The establishment of their own gang originates from the influence of group ego-centrism, which can be defined as a tendency to give all the priorities to the interest and benefit of their own group, failing to understand other groups’ points of view. Moreover, the group ego-centrism under the background of different social contexts is composed mainly of individual ego-centrism. The members belonging to the same group consider that they are superior to those in another group. Members in the same group can share a sense of belonging but can not help generating a hostile view towards the members in the other group, because they do not put themselves in other groups’ shoes. They just view the world and people from their own group’s perspective and have difficulty understanding other groups’ points of view, which are the exposure of their ego-centrism. However, things are changing and developing all the time. Ponyboy as the representative of greasers and Randy as the representative of Socs undergo the process of de-egocentricity so as to ease the tension between two gangs. On the one hand, according to the conversation between Ponyboy and Randy, Ponyboy has confidence in Randy that he will do the same as he does to save the kids who are being endangered by conflagration. After their friendly and peaceful conversation, Ponyboy realizes that “Socs were just guys after all” (p. 118). It is the human compassion that makes him understand that Randy will do the same thing. That is to say, the thought that both greasers and Socs are human beings enables him to understand Randy from Randy’s perspective and considers him as a friend instead of an enemy even though Randy belongs to another group Socs, which betokens his abandonment of ego-centrism in this case. On the other hand, his trust in Randy is appreciated by Randy himself as well. Finally, Randy says, “thanks, kid” instead of “thanks, grease” (p. 117). The transformation from grease to kid symbolizes Randy’s renunciation of ego-centrism as well. In this case, there are two different kinds of ego-centrism. One is from Ponyboy which refers to his misleading thinking towards Socs as dangerous enemies. The other is from Randy who used to regard greasers as unrefined low-class hoodlums and showed his contempt for them. Here, the process of de-egocentricity has been ascertained again. III. THE PROCESS OF SOCIALIZATION Socialization considered as a crucial phase in one’s childhood is another significant concept that this paper would like to attach great importance to. Through the analysis of socialization of the major characters in this paper, readers can better understand children’s long journey of coming-of-age. A. Introduction to Socialization In Jeffrey Jensen Arnett’s (2001) Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood, she considered socialization as “process by which people acquire behaviors and beliefs of the culture they live in” (p.100). Through her further analysis, this process can bring about three outcomes. The first outcome is self-regulation, which is “the capacity for exercising self-control in order to restrain one’s impulses and comply with social norms” (p. 100). Role preparation is a second outcome of socialization, which includes “preparation for occupational roles, gender roles, and roles in institutions such as marriage and parenthood” (p. 100). The last outcome of socialization is “the cultivation of sources of meaning, which provide consolation, guidance, and hope to people in confronting existential questions” (p. 100). Here, the first outcome is what will be emphasized. Another Chinese scholar thought that “socialization is a process by which human beings adapt to society and are integrated into society gradually” (Qi Lin, 2006, p. 100). The socialization discussed in this paper signifies “the process by which somebody, especially a child or an adolescent, learns to behave in a way that is acceptable to their society” (Oxford Dictionary, 2004, p. 1667). The word “way” here can be regarded as social norms which are closely related to the main theme of The Outsiders. The main protagonists undergo a complete transformation from hoodlums into promising adolescents pursuing glorious victory through valiant deed. In our daily life, “young people should always take the initiative in being accepted by their society in doing something permitted and advocated by society, prohibiting themselves from acting illegally and immorally, and when young people put the invisible regulation into effect, they actually are engaged in socialization” (Qi Lin, 2006, p. 103). That is to say, socialization means adolescents trying to comply with the social norms. It is another turning point in the development of adolescents. B. Peers as Agents of Socialization It is widely acknowledged that adults exert a significant influence on the development of adolescents. However, some psychologists, Jean Piaget among them, believe that “peers may contribute as much (or even more) to a child’s or an adolescent’s development as adults do” (Shaffer, 2004, p. 597). They consider that there are “two social worlds of childhood, one involving adult-child transactions and the other involving the society of one’s peers, and that these social systems influence development in different ways” (Shaffer, 2004, p. 597). Dr. Laurence Steinberg (2005) stated his view in his work Adolescence that “contemporary societies have become configurative cultures, in which socialization of young people is accomplished not merely through contact between children and their elders but through contact between young people of the same age” (p. 172). This paper lays emphasis on socialization of adolescents within the © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 672 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES influence of peers. Peers, with equal status, can easily communicate with each other. On the one hand, they can share their interests and values together. On the other hand, they should learn to “appreciate each other’s perspectives, to negotiate and compromise, and to cooperate with each other” (Shaffer, 2004, p. 597). The adventure peers have gone through together spurs them on to learn from others’ strength to offset their own weakness，which accompanies the development of children. The novel The Outsiders can be considered as “a heroic story of friendship and belonging” (Hinton, 2003, the back cover). The unexpected incidents taking place among peers motivate them to realize the importance of social norms, enhancing their friendship through unforgettable moral lessons drawn from their experiences, and setting up or establishing their own social values to a certain extent, which finally help fulfill the task of socialization of adolescents. 1. Socialization between Peers among Greasers In the group of greasers, Johnny Cade is the second youngest adolescent besides Ponyboy. In the novel, he is described as a gloomy boy after being beaten up badly by the Socs, “he had a nervous and suspicious look in his eyes” (Hinton, 2003, p. 11). Being deprived of family affection and care, he is portrayed as “the gang’s pet and everyone’s kid brother” in the novel (p. 12). In Social Psychology, it states that “Lacking a positive personal identity, people often seek self-esteem by identifying with a group” (Myers, 2005, p. 351). Thus, Johnny can establish his own identity in the greasers. In the group of greasers, Ponyboy and Johnny are good friends. A complete transformation has taken place between them from that special night. Seeing movies at a drive-in, Ponyboy and Johnny come across two Soc girls. They can well communicate with each other and share their interests together, and get along with Socs harmoniously. However, on their way home, the two Soc girls run into their drunken boyfriends. They must leave with their boyfriends to prevent a fight between the Socs and the greasers. When Ponyboy comes back home late at that night, his brother Darrel is getting so annoyed that he slaps Ponyboy who has never suffered from this before and runs away on a sudden impulse. Ponyboy finds Johnny again and spends that night together. To their surprise, they encounter the two Soc girls’ boyfriends who aim to beat them up. At this urgent moment, Johnny kills one of the Socs for self-defense. He and Ponyboy run away in fright and hide from the police in an old abandoned church on top of Jay Mountain with the help of another gang member. They spent several days in reading Gone with the Wind and exchanging their opinions on the poem Nothing Gold Can Stay. After days’ introspection, they make up their minds to turn themselves in to the police. On their way to the police station, they see the church on fire when a school picnic is held there, and many kids are trapped in. Ponyboy and Johnny rush into the flaming church without a second thought and save all kids’ lives. Ponyboy and Johnny are members of greasers, and Ponyboy describes them as, “Greasers are almost like hood; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while” (Hinton, 2003, p. 3). However, going through the tragedy of manslaughter, they realize the significant meaning of social norms. Their gallant behavior of saving the kids who are in danger embodies their consciousness of behaving in a way that is acceptable to society. However, “Johnny’s back was badly burned by a falling piece of timber and suffered from third-degree burns” (p. 102). The last words Johnny says to Ponyboy are, “fighting’s no good…, and stay gold” (p. 148). Johnny persuades Ponyboy to remain gold on account of Johnny’s consciousness of the harm of the fighting. Johnny fully realizes that “Ponyboy is better than the average hoodlum, and he wants Ponyboy to hold onto the golden qualities that set him apart from his companions” (SparkNotes, 2007). As well as in Johnny’s last letter to Ponyboy, he says, “it’s worth it. It’s worth saving those kids. Their lives are worth more than mine, and they have more to live for” (p. 178). Johnny senses the invisible social norms that fighting is harmful and they should stay gold, complying with the social norms at the expense of his young life, and delivers this message to his peers, hoping to get them engaged in socialization together. Abraham Maslow once said that “suffering and sorrow always accompany growth” (Goble, 2006, p. 56). Downcast and despaired as he is, Ponyboy is inspired by his friend Johnny and understands that “it wasn’t only a personal thing to me.” He should “tell their side of story” to help his counterparts “who was mean and tough and hated the world” realize that “there was still good in it before it was too late” (Hinton, 2003, p. 197). Ponyboy decides to write down what has happened to him as a lower-class greaser. Combining his own experiences with his authentic and sincere idea, his heroic story put down in a book not only stimulates his own socialization, but also enlightens his counterparts’ realization of staying gold. Socialization as a vital stage in the development of adolescence attaches great importance to the role of peers played in this process to inspire all adolescents to abide by the social norms. By doing so, the task of coming-of-age can finally be achieved. 2. Socialization between Peers among Socs Bob is a Soc killed by Johnny out of self-defense. In the eyes of the greasers, he is a hooligan jumping and beating greasers up that all the greasers exasperate him. However, from the perspective of Randy, he considers Bob as a good guy. He says, “He was the best buddy a guy ever had” (Hinton, 2003, p. 116). The death of his best friend shocks him. It is the rumbles and fights that lead to the loss of his best buddy. Bob’s death affects Randy a lot. He intends to give up rumbles and fights and determines not to let his father down again. Experiencing such a tragedy, Randy seems to realize the importance of social norms and understands why rumbles and fights would not be accepted by society. He says, “People get hurt in rumbles, maybe killed. I’m sick of it because it doesn’t do any good” (pp. 116-117). Randy perceives the immorality of the fighting and the killing between greasers and Socs. Randy sighs that “Greasers will still be greasers and Socs will still be Socs, and sometimes I think it’s the ones in the middle that are really the lucky stiffs” (p. 117). His peer’s death enables him to realize the futility of the fighting and the killing between two gangs. Each © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 673 group will not change their current status, only to pay the price for what they have done. At this moment, Randy gets himself involved in the process of socialization. 3. Socialization between Peers among Two Hostile Groups Ponyboy and Randy can be called friends to some extent. Randy, the Soc who witnesses his best friend being killed by Johnny, is sick and tired of rumbles and fights. Being astonished to learn Ponyboy’s heroic story, he gets into a conversation with Ponyboy frankly. What Ponyboy has done leaves a question mark to him about whether he would have saved those kids or not if he had been there. Randy as an adolescent is puzzled about this moral dilemma. He cannot choose the correct answer by himself. Through the communication with Ponyboy, Randy is properly guided by Ponyboy’s viewpoints and values. Ponyboy says, “You would have saved those kids if you had been there, and you’d have saved them the same as we did” (Hinton, 2003, p. 117). The statement suggested and predicted by Ponyboy looks like a beacon light illuminating the way ahead for Randy. Under the inspiring remark from Ponyboy, Randy is convinced that he would do the same as Ponyboy do and be a hero himself. Maybe he is not a hero like Ponyboy, but just a hero behaving in a way that is acceptable to society. IV. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DE-EGOCENTRICITY AND SOCIALIZATION De-egocentricity is characterized by the understanding of others among adolescent individuals, which is the reflection of adolescents’ internal coming-of-age, while socialization signifies the consciousness of social norms to behave in a way that is acceptable to society, which is observable external behaviors of coming-of-age. It can be comprehended that the understanding of others suggests interpersonal relationship which reflects adolescents’ internal change of their coming-of-age, and the consciousness of social norms have a direct bearing on the adolescents’ visible moral behaviors in the society which can be regarded as external change of their coming-of-age. They are interactive, interdependent and complementary. The internal change of adolescents’ coming-of-age is conducive to the maturity of adolescents’ intelligence and mentality, while the external change of it is beneficial to the standardization of adolescents’ social behaviors. The balance of de-egocentricity and socialization is indispensable to the healthy development of adolescents. V. CONCLUSION Young adult literature was usually analyzed from the perspective of narrative structure, the archetype of major protagonists and culture (Rui Yuping, 2004). However, this paper, through a psychoanalytic study of Hinton’s The Outsiders, reveals the crucial process of young adults’ de-egocentricity and socialization so as to establish their own values and fulfill the task of coming-of-age, which reflects the major theme in young adult literature. With the combination of the theories of de-egocentricity and socialization, the study of The Outsiders provides a new perspective for the research of young adult fiction. In particular, this paper discusses de-egocentricity and socialization of major protagonists in Hinton’s The Outsiders, indicating that the essence of adolescent development is to undergo de-egocentricity so as to better understand others and socialization so as to raise social norms consciousness. The interaction between de-egocentricity and socialization exposes adolescents’ achievement of coming-of-age and reveals the major theme of the novel “a heroic story of friendship, belonging” and development (Hinton, 2003, the back cover). This research into young adult literature from psychoanalytic aspect is only the tip of the iceberg, and more and more studies of Hinton’s The Outsiders from different perspectives need to be carried out. I hope that the analysis in this paper is conducive to a profound understanding of Hinton’s The Outsiders and renders the readers a deeper comprehension of young adult literature as a whole. REFERENCES [1] [2] Arnett, J. J. (2001). 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[9] Piaget, J. (1981). The principle of genetic epistemology (X. D. Wang Trans.). Beijing: The Commercial Press. (Original work copyright 1972). [10] Qi, L. (2006). The idea of television culture. Shanghai: Fudan University Press. [11] Qian, W. L. (2001). Comment on Piaget’s concept of children’s egocentricism. Journal of Beijing University of Technology (Social Sciences Edition), 2(2), 67-71. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 674 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES [12] Rui, Y. P. (2004). Studies of American initiation stories. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press. [13] Shaffer, D. R. (2004). Developmental psychology: Childhood and adolescence (6th ed.). China: China Light Industry Press. [14] SparkNotes. (2007). The outsiders: Important quotation explained. Retrieved October 25th, 2007, from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/outsiders/quotes.html. [15] Steinberg, L. (2005). Adolescence (7th ed.). New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. [16] Zhang, Y., & Yang, Q. F. (2005). On the romantic colour in Hinton’s new realist works. Journal of Jilin Normal University (Humanities and Social Science Edition). 33(1), 54-58. Dan Shi was born in Ningbo, China in 1986. She received her MA in English Language Studies from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong in 2009. She is currently a PhD Candidate majoring in English Language Education in the Faculty of Education at The University of Hong Kong. Her main research areas are classroom discourse analysis and study of American initiation stories. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 675-685, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.675-685 The Relationship between Self-awareness and Learners’ Performance on Different Reading Comprehension Test Types among Iranian EFL Elementary Learners Mansureh Arabsarhangi Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, Garmsar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Garmsar, Iran Iraj Noroozi Department of Language Teaching and Translation, Varamin-Pishva Branch, Islamic Azad University, Varamin, Iran Abstract—This research was conducted on the basis of emotional intelligence in Goleman’s model in which the correlational relationship between self-awareness as one of the variables consisted of three clusters: emotional self-awareness, accurate self-assessment, and self-confidence, and learners’ performance on different reading comprehension test types including true & false, cloze test, multiple-choice, and wh-question form, as another variable was investigated. According to the results of data analysis through the regression and ANOVA tests, the null hypotheses were rejected and the correlation of the variables was proved. Index Terms—affective domain, Emotional Intelligence (EQ), self-awareness, reading comprehension test, EFL learners I. INTRODUCTION Despite the more emphasis on cognitive aspects of learning, it is a multi-dimensional process with three domains: cognitive, behavioral and affective. According to some researchers, “The affective domain, arguably the most complex, is rooted in the emotional life of the student” (Friedman, 2008; Friedman & Neuman, 2001; Picard, et. al., 2004). Neuman and Friedman (2010) referred to critical components of affective domain as; values, attitudes, ethics, and selfawareness (para. 2-3). Corcoran and Tormey (n.d.), compared the Gardner’s model of Multiple Intelligences to Goleman’s model of Emotional Intelligence in terms of affective domain and pointed that “work on Emotional Intelligence is more focused on the affective domain than that of Gardner” (p. 3). According to Daniel Goleman (1995), “emotional competence (or competency) is the ability to manage our emotions in a positive manner in any situation by thinking before we react, by recognizing the emotions and strengths of others, and by using this knowledge in a productive manner” (as cited in Honigsfeld & Lupeke, 2010, p. 19). According to Honigsfeld and Lupeke (2010), “the development of the four language skills — listening, speaking, reading and writing — through meaningful, learnercentered activities may be enhanced by addressing emotional competencies as well.” (p. 19). Some disabilities in reading comprehension success according to Logsdon (n.d.), were the written material beyond their current independent reading skill level, having limited prior knowledge about the content or having limited vocabulary knowledge, and the lack of awareness of how the reading material is structured (para. 1). Although it is obvious that reading ability especially reading comprehension is a multifactor process which required investigating the affective aspects especially learners’ emotion and self-awareness as much as cognitive aspects, unfortunately there were not sufficient researches studying emotional domain. In other words, to study learning as a metalevel of human mind which according to Hannula (n.d.), considers cognition and emotion “as two sides of the same coin” (para. 5), the way ends in cognition or a little different; thinking about cognition or metacognition. To consider above studies with more emphasis on affective domain of reading comprehension, the researcher discussed the problem of present study: the relationship between learners’ self-awareness and their performance on different reading comprehension test types. Since the researcher worked on one of the emotional competencies on the basis of Goleman’s Model; self-awareness with three components: emotional self-awareness, accurate self-assessment, and self-confidence, in relation to learners’ performance on different reading comprehension test types, the research findings must answer these questions and reject the null hypotheses appropriately: Q1. Is there any relationship between learners’ emotional self-awareness and their performance on different reading comprehension test types among Iranian EFL elementary learners? Q2. Is there any relationship between learners’ accurate self-assessment and their performance on different reading comprehension test types among Iranian EFL elementary learners? © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 676 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Q3. Is there any relationship between learners’ self-confidence and their performance on different reading comprehension test types among Iranian EFL elementary learners? H0 1. There is not any relationship between emotional self-awareness and learner’s performance on different reading comprehension test types among Iranian EFL elementary learners. H0 2. There is not any relationship between accurate self-assessment and learner’s performance on different reading comprehension test types among Iranian EFL elementary learners. H0 3. There is not any relationship between self-confidence and learner’s performance on different reading comprehension test types among Iranian EFL elementary learners. According to Rinkevičienė and Zdanytė (2002), “It is important for teachers to make learners aware of the processes involved in language learning and to help them find environments that suit their needs best” (p. 96). Rinkevičienė and Zdanytė (2002) believed that raising the learners’ awareness through the processes of learning is a crucial key for the development of autonomous learning. Candy Lawson believed that “our thoughts and emotions can strongly affect motivation” (para. 8). According to Illinois State Board of Education, self-awareness “enables individuals to handle their stress, control impulses, and motivate to persevere in overcoming obstacles to goal achievement”. As this study focused on self-awareness which is according to Goleman (1998), “key to realizing one’s own strength and weakness” (p. 6), one of the significance of this study was emphasizing the important role of self-awareness in learners’ selfassessment, as well as dealing with the relationship between learners’ self-awareness and their autonomy and motivation in learning environments. The most crucial limitations and delimitations of present study mentioned below. 1. This research is solely conducted for Iranian EFL elementary learners, and all of them are studying English in Garmsar IranMehr institute in Iran and not other institutes or other cities. 2. In this study, the researcher considered English language as foreign, instead of second language because learning English language in Iran is limited to scholastic environments like institutes and schools and is not utilized for communication in the society. 3. The researcher opted for adult learners in elementary level because they have a larger expanse of population in comparison with adolescent elementary learners in IranMehr institute (Garmsar, Iran), and also they are more capable to participate in psychological procedures, for example filling out a self-awareness questionnaire. 4. The design of this study is descriptive because the writer could not find any valid treatment for it. 5. There were a limited amount of peer reviewed articles and related to or discussed the proper aspects of selfawareness and reading comprehension. Therefore, the researcher utilized the relevant information about the variables of this study. II. MAIN TEXT A. Review of the Literature What is emotion? According to Jenkins et al. (1998), “Emotions are central to human life; they are subjective and are made up of short-term emotions, long term moods and very long term emotional dispositions of personality” (Jenkins, Oatley & Stein, 1998, as cited in Erasmus, 2007, p. 6). Emotion and Learning. Hammond et al. believed that “It is critical to recognize the important link between emotions, thought, and action. Moreover, it is important to teach our students that emotions can be managed, regulated, and controlled to some degree (p. 90). According to Hammond et al., learning how to manage emotions are important in the classroom in terms of their impact on learning and on the other hand raising learners' emotional intelligence to make them successful. They also believed that teachers can support students “in developing their self-confidence by helping them learn to identify what they are thinking and how they are feeling when they make decisions” (p. 92) and they “should be aware of and sensitive to the different ways children respond to and display emotion” (p. 92). According to Candy Lawson, “Emotions and learning occur in the brain. Learning means acquiring knowledge or skills. Learning requires thinking. Our thoughts influence how we feel. How we feel influence how we think. The connections between emotion and learning are bi-directional and complex” (para. 25). Lawson quoted from Priscilla Vail, an expert of learning that “emotion is as on-off switch to learning” (para. 3). Emotional intelligence competencies. Self-awareness is one of these emotional competencies which consisted of three components: emotional awareness, accurate self-assessment, and self-confidence. Boyatzis, Goleman, and Rhee (1999) believed that “The organization of the competencies under the various constructs is not random; they appear in synergistic clusters or groupings that support and facilitate each other” (as cited in Stys & L. Brown, p. 15). According to Honigsfeld and Lupeke (2010), “The aligned summary of three theoretical constructs related to emotional intelligence is presented in Table I” (p. 19). © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 677 TABLE I. ALIGNMENT OF THEORIES ON EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE Gardner’s Multiple Goleman’s Six Seconds Intelligences Emotional Competencies Self Science (2 out of 9) Know Yourself Self Awareness (Recognition): Legitimizing self knowledge as Intrapersonal Intelligence Understanding oneself and having Developing emotional self subject matter insights into one’s own thoughts, awareness, accurate self Becoming aware of multiple actions and emotions (selfassessment, self confidence feelings understanding) Self Management Choose Yourself (Regulation): Developing a trusting attitude Developing self control, trustworthiness, towards others. conscientiousness, Enhancing self-esteem adaptability, achievement drive, initiative Interpersonal Intelligence Social Awareness Understanding of others and one’s (Recognition): Showing empathy, relationships to others — social service orientation, organizational skills awareness Relationship Management Give Yourself (Regulation): Developing others, Disclosing thoughts and feeling influence, communication, conflict management, leadership, change catalyst, building bonds, teamwork and collaboration Self-awareness and its components. Daniel Goleman, maintained that self-awareness (i.e., knowing one’s emotions) is foundational to emotional intelligence and described it as being “aware of both our mood and our thoughts about that mood.” and consisted of three components: emotional self-awareness, accurate self-assessment, and self-confidence. Emotional self-awareness, according to Goleman (1998) defined as: “Recognizing one’s emotions and their effects”, accurate self-assessment means “Knowing one’s strengths and limits”, and self-confidence described as: “Sureness about one’s self-worth and capabilities”. According to Grayson (n.d.) “Emotional self-awareness is the ability to recognize one’s feelings. It is not only the ability to be aware of one’s feelings and emotions, but also to differentiate between them, to know what one is feeling and why, and to know what caused the feelings” (p. 6). Anderson and Lux (2004) argued that “an adequate account of autonomy must include a distinct requirement of accurate self-assessment, which has been largely ignored in the philosophical focus on agents’ ability to evaluate the desirability of acting on certain impulses or values” (p. 279). According to Anderson and Lux (2004) “there is a distinct requirement of accurate self-assessment, which is connected more with executing a task than with evaluating its desirability” (p. 279). According to Hargreaves ( n.d.), “To become effective learners, young people need to develop a strong sense of selfworth and confidence in their abilities. They need to learn to take responsibility for their own learning and performance, and demonstrate persistence and resilience in the face of obstacles or setbacks (para. 32). Reading comprehension test types. According to R. Day and Park (2005), there are six different types of comprehension: Literal comprehension, Reorganization, Inference, Prediction, Evaluation, and Personal response. R. Day and Park (2005) believed that there are five forms of reading comprehension questions: Yes/no questions, Alternative questions, True or false, Wh- questions, Multiple-choice. According to Fletcher (2006), “the measurement issues are complicated, reflecting the complex, multidimensional nature of reading comprehension” (p. 323). Self-Awareness and Reading Comprehension. Regarding these studies, the researcher administered four different types of reading comprehension tests to a group of Iranian EFL elementary learners. The reading comprehension tests of this study consisted of: Multiple-choice, True or False, Cloze- test, and Wh-question. Goleman (1998) referred to the relationship between self-awareness and performance and claimed that “The first of the three Self-Awareness competencies, Emotional Self-Awareness, reflects the importance of recognizing one’s own feelings and how they affect one’s performance” (p. 6). According to Alexander and Jetton (2000); Biancarosa and Snow (2004), “Reading ability is multidimensional, influenced by many cognitive, affective, physiological, psychological, social, and emotional factors (as cited in Yribarren, n.d., p. 1). Some researchers believed that good readers have confidence in their ability to read and understand what they read and they have a sense of themselves as good readers and enjoy reading (Ylvisker, Hibbard & Feeney, n.d.). Barton (Sep., 1996) in terms of the relationship between reading and emotional awareness claimed that “Readers learn about emotions from stories and emotional awareness helps readers understand stories.” Hisken (2011) regarding the role of self-esteem and self-confidence in reading ability believed that: Students with low self-esteem tend to have lower reading abilities because they do not feel confident enough to take risks in their reading. They are not confident enough in themselves or their ability to try new genres, authors, or types of reading materials. (p. 7) B. Material and Method © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 678 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Participants. The subjects of this investigation were English language elementary learners. The participants of the study were 50 adult Elementary Iranian EFL learners at the age of 15 to 30 selected from English language learners of IranMehr institute (Garmsar, Iran). Instrumentation  Placement test. The English Unlimited placement test (Written test, Cambridge University Press, 2010) consisted of 120 multiple-choice questions, 20 at each level from Starter to Advanced was administered to 70 learners at the age of 15 to 30 who registered in adult elementary level of IranMehr Institute. 50 subjects with appropriate scores (16-35), were selected as participants by the researcher.  Self-awareness questionnaire. The self-awareness questionnaire consisted of 39 close questions (13 questions for each cluster) adapted from online questionnaires developed by some researchers (Silver & Claret, B. Davies, Downing, T. Ziv, and self-analysis questionnaire retrieved from www.evh.org.uk) that translated to Persian and must be answered by the respondents. All measures in this self-awareness questionnaire used a 5point Likert scale from 0 = Never to 5 = Always.  Reading comprehension tests. The researcher administered four different reading comprehension test types: Multiple-choice, True or False, Cloze- test, and Wh-question. These tests, each one consisted of 20 questions, adapted from online standardized tests developed by some organizations (university of Victoria: English Language Centre, Cambridge ESOL Reading Comprehension Exercise: Key Test of English (KET), English File 1, extra reading material: Oxford University Press). Procedure. Firstly, the English Unlimited placement test was given to 70 learners who registered in IranMehr Institute (Garmsar, Iran) and 50 elementary subjects at the age of 15-30 and with average scores of 16-35 were selected. After homogenizing the subjects, and estimating the reliability of the self-awareness questionnaire and four different reading comprehension test types by piloting the tests with 10 elementary subjects, the researcher conducted the Persian self-awareness questionnaire and four different reading comprehension tests to the 50 participants. Finally, the data gathered from these two scores (reading comprehension tests and self-awareness questionnaire) were analyzed for each person. Design. The design of this study was quantitative and descriptive and a correlational relationship between variables instead of causal relationshipwas investigated. Since the researcher worked on one of the competencies of EQ in Goleman’s model, the method of this research was ex post facto. C. Results and Discussion Testing Assumptions. The research questions raised in this study have been analyzed through the regression analysis, thus the assumptions of interval data, normality, linearity and homoscedasticity should be met (Field, 2009). The data are measured on an interval scale. The assumption of normality is also met. The ratios of skewness and kurtosis over their respective standard errors are within the ranges of +/- 1.96 (Filed, 2009). TABLE II. TESTING NORMALITY ASSUMPTION SC ASA ESA Cloze Wh-question TF MC N Statistic 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 Skewness Statistic -.354 -.320 .239 -.452 -.196 -.178 -.761 Std. Error .337 .337 .337 .337 .337 .337 .337 Ratio -1.050 -0.950 0.709 -1.341 -0.582 -0.528 -2.258 Kurtosis Statistic -.495 .948 .255 -.605 -.920 -.137 -.275 Std. Error .662 .662 .662 .662 .662 .662 .662 Ratio -0.748 1.432 0.385 -0.914 -1.390 -0.207 -0.415 According to the regression model, ANOVA test (Table II & Table III), and the existent assumption of linearity and homoscedasticity(Scatter Plot 1 & 2), learners’ scores on the Cloze test could predict about 50 percent of their emotional self-awareness (R = .70, R2 = .49), but the other types of reading comprehension tests were not entered into the regression model and the assumptions. TABLE III. MODEL SUMMARY EMOTIONAL SELF -AWARENESS THROUGH READING COMPREHENSION TESTS Model R R Square 1 .702a .492 a. Predictors: (Constant), Cloze b. Dependent Variable: ESA © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Adjusted R Square .482 Std. Error of the Estimate 6.162 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 679 TABLE IV. ANOVA TEST OF SIGNIFICANCE OF REGRESSION MODEL EMOTIONAL SELF -AWARENESS THROUGH READING COMPREHENSION Model Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig. Regression 1767.735 1 1767.735 46.563 .000b 1 Residual 1822.285 48 37.964 Total 3590.020 49 a. Dependent Variable: ESA b. Predictors: (Constant), Cloze Q-Q Plot 1. Emotional self-awareness through reading comprehension tests. Scatter Plot 2. Assumption of homoscedasticity self-awareness through reading comprehension tests. As displayed in Table V and Table VI, the MC test, TF, and Cloze test, in order, were the best predictors of learners’ accurate self-assessment, in other words, MC, TF and Cloze together could predict 73 percent of learners’ accurate selfassessment but the assumptions of linearity and homoscedasticity were not met (Scatter Plot 3 & 4), which means the results can only be applied to the population from which the sample is selected. In research question 2, Wh-q was not entered into the regression model. TABLE V. MODEL SUMMARY ACCURATE SELF-ASSESSMENT THROUGH READING COMPREHENSION ESTS Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .778a .605 .597 5.512 b 2 .842 .709 .696 4.785 3 .858c .736 .719 4.603 a. Predictors: (Constant), MC b. Predictors: (Constant), MC, TF c. Predictors: (Constant), MC, TF, Cloze d. Dependent Variable: ASA © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 680 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES TABLE VI. ANOVA TEST OF SIGNIFICANCE OF REGRESSION MODEL ACCURATE SELF -ASSESSMENT THROUGH READING COMPREHENSION TESTS Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Regression 2235.312 1 2235.312 73.572 .000b 1 Residual 1458.368 48 30.383 Total 3693.680 49 Regression 2617.735 2 1308.867 57.175 .000c 2 Residual 1075.945 47 22.892 Total 3693.680 49 Regression 2718.955 3 906.318 42.772 .000d 3 Residual 974.725 46 21.190 Total 3693.680 49 a. Dependent Variable: ASA b. Predictors: (Constant), MC c. Predictors: (Constant), MC, TF d. Predictors: (Constant), MC, TF, Cloze Q-Q Plot 3. Accurate self-assessment through reading comprehension tests. Scatter Plot 4. Assumption of homoscedasticity accurate self-assessment through reading comprehension tests. According to regression model and ANOVA test (Table VII & Table VIII), learners’ scores on Wh-q, TF, and MC tests, in order, were the best predictors of their self-confidence, in other words, MC, TF and Cloze together could predict 73 percent of learners’ self-confidence, and Cloze test was the only excluded variable. The assumptions of linearity were not met which means the results can only be applied to the population from which the sample is selected but the assumptions of homoscedasticity were met (Scatter Plot 5 & 6). © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES TABLE VII. MODEL SUMMARY SELF -CONFIDENCE THROUGH READING COMPREHENSION TESTS Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .777a .604 .596 6.490 2 .838b .702 .689 5.695 3 .857c .734 .717 5.431 a. Predictors: (Constant), Whq b. Predictors: (Constant), Whq, TF c. Predictors: (Constant), Whq, TF, MC d. Dependent Variable: SC TABLE VIII. ANOVA TEST OF SIGNIFICANCE OF REGRESSION MODEL SELF -CONFIDENCE THROUGH READING COMPREHENSION TESTS Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Regression 3088.444 1 3088.444 73.332 .000b 1 Residual 2021.556 48 42.116 Total 5110.000 49 Regression 3585.887 2 1792.943 55.290 .000c 2 Residual 1524.113 47 32.428 Total 5110.000 49 Regression 3753.043 3 1251.014 42.409 .000d 3 Residual 1356.957 46 29.499 Total 5110.000 49 a. Dependent Variable: SC b. Predictors: (Constant), Whq c. Predictors: (Constant), Whq, TF d. Predictors: (Constant), Whq, TF, MC Q-Q Plot 5. Self-confidence through reading comprehension tests. Scatter Plot 6. Assumption of homoscedasticity self-confidence through reading comprehension tests. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 681 682 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Reliability Indices. The K-R21 reliability indices of the tests employed in this study are displayed in this study. They range from a high of .97 for the cloze test to a low of .56 for the MC test (Table IX). TABLE IX. K-R 21 RELIABILITY INDICES N Mean Variance Self-Confidence 50 43.00 104.286 Accurate Self-Assessment 50 42.08 75.381 Emotional Self-Awareness 50 41.14 73.266 Cloze 50 13.40 15.755 Whq 50 13.64 7.092 TF 50 12.54 6.539 MC 50 14.34 8.637 K-R21 0.96 0.93 0.92 0.97 0.88 0.73 0.56 III. CONCLUSIONS According to the results of data analysis which were drawn from this study, it can be claimed that the findings were in agreement with theoretical framework of this study which was on the basis of Goleman’s model of EQ (1995), and because of focusing on self-awareness as one of the important component of Goleman’s theory and its association with reading skill, the present study might help to extend the previous studies in this domain. Also it might be claimed that the findings of this study predicted and indicated that there was a correlational relationship between self-awareness and reading comprehension. However, there were some exceptions, such as lack of assumptions of linearity and homoscedasticity in data analysis of research question 2 and 3 which according to Field (2005) means that the regression model can be perfectly used to draw conclusions about the data gathered from the present sample and it cannot be generalized to other populations. Despite the previous studies which dealt more with all of the competencies of EQ as a whole concept, in present study, the focus is more on self-awareness competency of EQ in Goleman’s model and investigating its relationship with reading comprehension. In present study, self-awareness as a personal and emotional competence was described in terms of affective domain of learning rather than cognitive domain. The results might lead to an appropriate example of association between learners’ competence (self-awareness) and their performance through learning English language. Since this study focused on self-awareness which is according to Goleman (1998) a key to becoming aware of one’s own strength and weakness, another benefit of this study might be for learners to accurately assess their own performance and recognize their abilities and disabilities through learning process. The crucial aim of this study was to discuss the importance of the role of learners’ self-awareness in development of autonomous learning, since according to Kohonen (1991), “Raising the awareness of one’s own learning and gaining an understanding of the processes involved is thus another important key for the development of autonomous learning”. One of the best implication of this research is for teachers to support the learners’ emotions and feelings in addition to improve their cognitive ability, in order to make a motivational environment of learning in their classes. Suggestions for Further Research Regarding the result of this study which supported the purpose of investigating the relationship between selfawareness and learners’ performance on different reading comprehension test types, according to findings which showed that there is a relationship between variables of the study, and considering the limitations of present study, the researcher suggested some related topics for future research directions. 1. According to this study, it may be claimed that learners’ self-awareness is related to their performance in reading comprehension tests. It seems that more researches are required to investigating the significant effect of different levels of self-awareness on learners’ performance on reading comprehension tests. 2. The researcher proposes the investigation of the role of emotional self-awareness in reading comprehension of different genres of short stories. 3. The procedures of this study can be utilized in other settings such as universities and schools. 4. Replication of this study can be done for Iranian EFL learners at different levels of language proficiency. 5. The line of this research may be followed on the role of self-awareness in speaking or writing tasks, because this paper was done only in reading comprehension tests. 6. The researcher calls for implementing another study with larger numbers of participants who include genders, males, and females. APPENDIX. SELF-AWARENESS QUESTIONNAIRE © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 683 Always =5 Emotional Self-Awareness1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Almost Always= 4 Often =3 Sometimes =2 Rarely =1 Never =0 I always know which emotions I am feeling and why I realize the links between my feelings and what I think, do, and say I recognize how my feelings affect my performance I can recognize the situations that trigger my emotions I have a good understanding of what are my values and my goals I am aware of situations that cause me to think negatively I am aware of the impact my moods have on other people I am able to express my emotions in an appropriate manner I do not lose control when I am angry I always know whether or not I am happy I can say when I get upset I accept my emotions as my own I am realistic about myself and others Accurate Self-Assessment I am aware of my strengths and weaknesses I am reflective and try to learn from experience I am open to candid feedback, new perspectives, continuous learning, and self-development I am able to show a sense of humour and perspective about myself I am not defensive in receiving new information or perspectives about myself I compensates for my limitations by working with others with the necessary strengths I make career choices to leverage opportunities to learn new things or broaden my Experiences I seek out opportunities to broaden my repertoire of capabilities when I encounter a challenging problem, I try to solve it by myself I solicit honest critiques I can set personal goals and monitor progress toward these goals I am open to ongoing growth and development by learning from my mistakes and experiences I am introspective Self-Confidence I feel confident to work without the need for direct supervision I believes myself to be among the most capable for a job and likely to succeed I present myself in an assured, forceful, impressive and unhesitating manner I assume significant personal or professional risk to accomplish important goals (e.g. challenging powerful others with an unpopular point of view) I speak out for a course of action I believe in even when others disagree I can voice views that are unpopular and go out on a limb for what is right I am decisive, and able to make sound decisions despite uncertainties and pressures I consider myself an effective person, capable of taking on challenges and master new tasks I have personal presence (i.e. I stand out in a group) I am the best student in my reading class I appreciate what I have I stick to my principles I do not worry about what others think about me I speak positively about myself ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my dear supervisor professor, Dr. Iraj Noroozi, for his support and guidance, patience and encouragement, and immense knowledge throughout my thesis. My sincere appreciation also goes to my dear and honorable advisor professor, Dr. Ahmad Mohseni for his careful and precise attention to this piece of work. I am extremely grateful to the staff and all the teachers of Iran Mehr institute, especially, Mrs Ghezlou for their help in sample selection and data collection of this study. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 684 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] Alexander, P. A., & Jetton, T. J. (2000). Learning from text: A multidimensional and developmental perspective. In M. L. Kamil, P. B. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 3, pp. 285–310). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Andereson, J. & Lux, W. (2004). Knowing Your Own Strength: Accurate Self-Assessment as Requirement for Personal Autonomy. 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Department of Education and Professional Studies, University of Limerick, Plassey Technological Park, Limerick. Retrieved on 2013, July 10 from http://www.nuigalway.ie/dern/.../41_roisin_corcoran_and_roland_tormey.pdf Darling-Hammond, L.; Orcutt, S., Strobel, K., Kirsch, E., Lit, I., Martin, D., With Contributions From James Comer, M.D. Feelings Count: Emotions and Learning. Learning classroom, Session 5. Stanford University School of Education. Day, R. R. & Park, J. (2005). Developing reading comprehension questions. Reading in a Foreign Language Volume 17, No. 1, April 2005. ISSN 1539-0578. Erasmus, C. P. (March 2007). The role of Emotional intelligent in the adaptation of adolescent boys in a private school. Master of education dissertation. University of South Africa. Retrieved on 2013, January 22 from http://www.Uir. unisa.ac.za/bitstream/10500/2203/1/dissertation.pdf Field, A. (2009). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS.3 rd ed. SAGE. London. Friedman, B. D. (2008). How to teach effectively. Chicago, Ill. Lyceum Books, Inc. Friedman, B. D. & Neuman, K.. M. (2001). Learning plans: A tool for forging allegiances in social work education.” Journal of Teaching and Learning in Social Work, 21(3/4), 123 –138. Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. NewYork Bantam Books. Goleman, D. (1998). The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace: An EI-Based Theory of Performance (Chapter Three). Cherniss C. & Goleman D. (Eds.). Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. Retrieved from http://www.eiconsortium.org. Fletcher, J. M. (2006). Measuring Reading Comprehension. Department of Psychology University of Houston. SCIENTIFIC STUDIES OF READING, 10(3), 323–330 Copyright © 2006, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Grayson, R. (n.d.). Emotional Intelligence: A Summary. Retrieved on 2013 from http://www.visionrealization.com. Hannula, M. S. (n.d.).The Metalevel of Cognition-Emotion Interaction. University of Turkumarkku.hannula@zpg.fiAddress: Kuusikallionkuja 4 C 3302210 Espoo. Hargreaves, A. (n.d.).Emotional intelligence: Research summaries. Retrieved on 2013, March 2 from http://www.journeytoexcellence.org.uk/resourcesandcpd/research/summaries/rsemoti. Hisken, L. J. (December, 2011). The Correlation Between Self-esteem and Student Reading Ability, Reading Level, and Academic Achievement [Abstract]. University of Central Missouri. Honigsfeld, A. & Lupeke, S. (2010). Share the value of exploring emotions while teaching English: Emotional Reactions. Language Magazine. Retrieved on 2012, December 17 from http://www.languagemagazine.com. Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). Illinois Learning Standards: Social/Emotional Learning (SEL): Goal 1- Develop selfawareness and self- management skills to achieve school and life success (PDF). Retrieved on 2013 from http://www.isb.net/ils/social-emotional/standards.htm. Jenkins, K.; Oatley, K.; Stein, N. L. (1998). Human Emotions: A Reader Introduction. Malden, Massachutes: Blackwell. Lawson, C. (n.d.).The Connections Between Emotion and Learning. Retrieved on 2013 from http://cdl.org/resourcelibraryarticles/connect-emotions.php. Logsdon, A. (n.d.). Understanding Reading Comprehension Problems. Learn about Reading Comprehension Problems and Strategies to Improve. Retrieved on 2013, April 24 from http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/readingstrategies/a/Understanding-Reading-C. McNair, C. L. (2011). A Comparison of the Effect of Two Strategies on Adolescent Reading Comprehension and the Relationship between Reading Ability and Reader Self-Perception (ProQuest Dissertation & Theses). Retrieved on 2013 from http://www.udini.proquest.com. Neuman, K. M. & Friedman, B. D (2010). Affective Learning: A Taxonomy For Teaching Social Work Values. Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, Volume 7, Number 2 (Fall 2010). Copyright 2010, White Hat Communications. Retrieved on 2013, April 3 from http://www.socialworker.com/jswve. Picard, R. W., Papert, S., Bender, W., Blumberg, B., Breazeal, C., Cavallo, D., Machover, T., Resnick, M., Roy, D. & Strohecker, D. Affective learning – A manifesto. (2001). Technology Journal, 22(4), 253- 269. Rinkeviciene, I. & Zdanyte, J. (2001). Changing Roles in Language Learning. Current Issues of Cultural and Spiritual Stys, Y. & L. Brown, S. (March 2012). A Review of the Emotional Intelligence Literature and Implications for Corrections. Research Branch Correctional Service of Canada. Development. Research papers. Akademija. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 685 [29] Talebinejad, M. R. & Rezai Fard, Z. (September 2012). Islamic Azad University, Shahreza Branch, Isfahan, Iran. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 3, No. 5, pp. 844- 850, September 2012 © 2012 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. [30] Ylvisaker, M.; Hibbard, M. & Feeney, T. (n.d.). Tutorial: Reading Comprehension. Retrieved on 2013 from http://www.projectlearnet.org/tutorials/reading_comprehension.html . [31] Yribarren, L. (n.d.). Adolescent Reader’s Self Perceptions of Affective Factors Related to Performance on Standardized Test. (dissertation). Retrieved on 2013 from http://www. udini.proquest.com. Mansureh Arabsarhangi is an MA graduated in ELT major from Garmsar (Semnan) Azad university. She has taught English courses in Damavand (Tehran), and Garmsar (Semnan) institutes of Iran. Her major interests are psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics. Iraj Noroozi is an associate professor in TEFL graduated from the Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch. He has been the head of the English department for two consecutive years and has also been the head of the faculty of the literature and humanities at the Islamic Azad University, Varamin-Pishva Branch for three years. He has published six course books under the title of general and specialized English for the university students and has developed twenty articles in the realm of language learning and teaching. He has conducted four research projects thus far as well. He has also the command of the French and German languages. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 686-693, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.686-693 The Effects of Top-down/Bottom-up Processing and Field-dependent/Field-independent Cognitive Style on Iranian EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension Azar Hosseini Fatemi English Department, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran Vahideh Sadat Vahedi (corresponding author) Islamic Azad University, Qaenat Branch, Qaenat, Iran Zari Sadat Seyyedrezaie Department of English Language Teaching, Aliabad Katoul Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran Abstract—The present study aimed at exploring the effects of top-down/bottom-up processing and field-dependent/field-independent cognitive style on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension. That is, it was attempted to find firstly, whether FI learners would perform better when taught through top-down or bottom-up reading instruction model; secondly, whether FD learners would perform better when taught through top-down or bottom-up reading instruction model. Two intact classes including 40 Iranian freshmen EFL students with the same level of reading proficiency tested through reading section of TOEFL test participated in this study. One class was randomly assigned to top- down reading instruction model and the other to bottom- up approach. The study consisted of three stages. At first stage, Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) was administered to determine the distribution of subjects along the spectrum of FD/ FI in each group. Then, the treatment was run and finally, both groups received a reading comprehension posttest. The data were analyzed using two independent samples t-tests. The results revealed that FI learners outperform their FD counterparts in bottom- up group. Moreover, the results showed that FD learners were more successful than FI ones when taught through top- down reading instruction model. In light of these findings, the researchers offered recommendations for further research and for EFL reading educators. Index Terms—field-independent, comprehension field-dependent, top-down/bottom-up instructional model, reading I. INTRODUCTION The most important skill for second language learners in academic context is reading (Lynch& Hudson, 1991, cited in Grabe, 1991). Thus, it can be concluded that perhaps the most fundamental skill to be taught in Iranian academic context, where English is taught as a foreign language, is reading comprehension. Therefore, there is a need for EFL teachers to know about the different approaches they can use while teaching reading comprehension. Top-down and bottom-up processing are two approaches discussed in reading research and literature (Abraham, 1985; Field, 2004). Top-down processing, According to Paran (1996), top-down processing also known as concept-driven model emphasizes on contextual factors such as socio-cultural knowledge and proceeds from whole to part. In other words, top-down processing happens when the reader activates his/her world knowledge to facilitate comprehending the text. On the other hand, in bottom-up reading model, the written or printed text is the centre of attention and reading proceeds from part to the whole. Readers usually use their knowledge of lexical items, structural points and phonological patterns to decode the text meaning. According to Gough (1972), in bottom-up model, the reading process proceeds in serial fashion, from letter to sound, to words, to meaning. Due to the importance and significance of top-down and bottom-up processing as revealed by previous studies (e.g. Abraham, 1985; Field, 2004; Tsui & Fullilove, 1998); a great deal of studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of top-down and/or bottom-up processing in learning different skills, and their application in EFL classroom. One of the most interesting features discussed in relation to top-down and bottom-up processing is cognitive style. The field-independence/field-dependence (FI/FD) cognitive style has received the greatest attention in second/foreign language research. Zhang (2004) defined FI/FD as a reflection of the extent to which an individual uses external or internal cues for performing tasks. FI/FD is typically referred to as a variable of cognitive style - a pervasive, stable, and bipolar characteristic affecting the process of perception, thinking, and problem solving (Chapelle, 1988). A FI person perceives analytically, analyzes and isolates relevant details, detects patterns, and critically evaluates data; while FD © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 687 one perceives holistically, tends to get lost in the stimuli and is unable to distinguish salient points. FI/FD describes two contrasting ways of processing information along a continuum from extreme field-dependence to extreme field-independence. “FI subjects trust internal cues, and this is associated with a greater aptitude for restructuring, i.e. for imposing organization on received information. FD subjects, on the other hand, place their trust in external cues, and tend to accept percents of symbolic representations at face value” (Tinajero & Paramo, 1997, p. 199). The studies conducted in the domain of cognitive styles (field-dependent and/or field-independent) have considered the effect of cognitive styles on academic achievement (Dwyer & Moore, 1995); the relationship between attitudes toward computers and cognitive styles (Altun, 2003); and the effect of cognitive styles on reading comprehension tasks (Davey, 1990). Although some studies have been conducted on top-down / bottom-up processing, and cognitive styles separately, relatively few efforts have been made in considering both variables in learning specific skill. This study attempted to fill this gap and find whether there are any statistically significant differences between reading comprehension scores of field-dependent and field-independent learners who are exposed to top-down vs. bottom-up reading instruction model. To fulfill the purpose of this study, the following research questions were addressed: 1. Is there any statistically significant difference in reading comprehension scores of field-dependent and field-independent learners who are exposed to top-down reading instruction model? 2. Is there any statistically significant difference in reading comprehension scores of field-dependent and field-independent learners who are exposed to bottom-up reading instruction model? II. LITERATURE REVIEW A reading model is a theory of what is going on in the reader’s eyes and mind during reading and comprehending (or miscomprehending) a text” (Davies, 1995, cited in Škudienė, 2002, p. 59). Models of the reading process which are called top-down and bottom-up try to explain and predict reading behavior. They are the bases on which reading instructions are built. According to Swaffer, Arans, and Byrnes (1991), a top-down model which focuses on the importance of background knowledge, builds global comprehension while a bottom-up model which emphasizes the linguistic clues, builds literal comprehension of a text. Top-down models of reading seems not to be useful for language learners at elementary levels because, as Carrell and Eisterhold (1983) argue, "knowledge of a minimum of 5000 words is essential to make top-down processing possible" (Škudienė, 2002, p. 59). In contrast, bottom-up models cannot be useful at the advanced language learners because students have the capability to decode graphical input automatically (Škudienė, 2002) Some studies have focused on the notion of top-down/ bottom-up processing in academic context (Abraham, 1985; Field, 2004). Wasilewski (2009) conducted a study to reveal the importance of reading process and strategies utilized by the readers of a foreign language when processing the written text. Moreover, Škudiené (2002) examined which model of reading (top-down or/ bottom-up) is emphasized during pre-, while-, and post-reading activities for intermediate English language learners. The results of this research exhibited that most of the pre-reading and while-reading activities were based on top-down models while post-reading instruction was interactive with more emphasis on bottom-up models. Top-down or bottom-up instruction has close relationship with cognitive style of learning. According to Xu (2011), cognitive learning styles include "focuser and scanner, serialists and holists, divergent and convergent thinkers, field-dependence (global leaner) and field-independence (analytic learner)" (p.414). Among these pairs, the most important one is field independence and field dependence, which has been explored greatly in relation to L2 learning. In another study, Dwyer and Moore (1995) examined the effect of cognitive style on students' achievement. The result showed the superiority of the field independent learners on tests measuring different educational objectives. They concluded that cognitive style had a significant association with students’ academic achievement. The performance of children with different FD/FI cognitive styles in tasks of attentional functioning was examined by Guisande, Pramo, Tinajero, and Almeida (2007). They found that FI children displayed better performance than FD children on all tests except the Digits Forward Test. Also, in a study done by Davey (1990), 56 field-dependent and 55 field-independent students in grades six through eight were evaluated on reading comprehension tasks which were different in memory load and cognitive restructuring requirements. The results showed that field-independent readers performed better than field-dependent readers on tasks with high memory demands and requirements for efficient restructuring. Moreover, Yaghoubi (1994) conducted a research aimed at examining whether, and to what extent, there was a relationship between FD/FI cognitive styles and foreign language proficiency of Iranian EFL students. The study revealed that FI learners outperformed FD ones in language classes, and that FI cognitive style was conducive to language learning. Accordingly, Liu and Reed (1994) examined different learning strategies used by sixty-three field-independent (FI) and field-dependent (FD) international college students in a hypermedia assisted language learning setting and found that FI was conducive to language learning. In another study, Fehrenbach (1994) compared the cognitive styles of thirty gifted and thirty average secondary-level readers and found that both groups used the same reading strategies but with differing frequencies. In his study, Shalbafan (1996) noticed that previous studies concerning © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 688 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES the relationship between field dependence/field independence cognitive style and second/foreign language learning (S/FLL) had demonstrated that, while field independent individuals were successful at analytic and deductive language learning activities, field dependent learners showed their superiority at induction and communication. Shalbafan (1996) aimed at investigating whether the findings of previous research could be generalized to Iranian EFL learners' writing ability. The results indicated that, regarding the form of a writing task, field independent students outperformed their field dependent counterparts. The results also revealed that regarding the content of writing, field dependent students performed better than field independent students. III. METHOD A. Participants The participants of the present study were 80 Iranian male and female EFL freshman students chosen out of 100 students based on their scores in reading section of TOEFL test. The EFL students were from two Islamic Azad universities. The participants having passed reading posttest 1 and 2 shared the same linguistic background. The participants aged from 18 to 24 years old. In this study, the participants were randomly assigned into two groups. There were 40 students in one group benefiting from top-down reading instruction model and 40 students in the other group benefiting from bottom-up reading instruction one. Classes were held 2 hours a week for the duration of 4 weeks. All classes had the same material, namely the same reading texts were used for both groups. B. Instrumentation a. Reading Proficiency Test In order to determine the reading proficiency level of the participants for the sake of homogeneity, the reading section of TOEFL test was used. b. The Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) To identify participants' FD/ FI cognitive style, the GEFT instrument developed by Witkin, Oltman, Raskin, and Karp (1971) was used. The reported reliability of GEFT is 0.89 (Foel & Fritz, 1994). " Among all the various instruments that have been introduced for assessing the cognitive style of field–dependence/ independence, this test has been the most common instrument applied by the researchers" (Alavi & Kavyanpanah, 2009; Yousefi, 2011, cited in Hamed Mahvelati & Mukundan, 2012, p. 108). This test consists of three sections; the first section includes 7 figures and is designed for practice. The second and third section each has 9 figures. The students were required to recognize the common geometric shapes hidden in a larger complex design. The cut- off point was determined based on Case's (1974, cited in Hamed Mahvelati & Mukundan, 2012) criteria. That is, the students scored 1/4 SD below the group mean score were accounted as fielddependent and those scored 1/4 SD above the group mean score were called field- independent. The learners whose mean score was between 1/4 SD below and 1/4 SD above the mean were labeled as field- intermediate subjects and thus were excluded. c. Reading Comprehension Test A reading comprehension test was used in this study, one as a pretest to assure the equality of two groups prior to the instructional treatment and the second time, as post- test to determine the impact of two instructional treatments after their implementation. C. Procedure In the present study, the data were collected through different stages. At the beginning of the experiment, the reading section of a TOEFL test was administered to determine the learners' level of reading proficiency and select highly homogeneous students. On the basis of this test, two groups of 40 participants were selected, one group received top-down and the second one bottom-up reading instruction model. Then, the participants were asked to answer GEFT to determine their distribution along the continuum of FD/ FI. Moreover, the reading comprehension posttest was preadministered to assure that the learners in each group had the same reading proficiency level. During the experiment, the two groups received the instruction for 4 weeks, which was aligned with the ongoing university program. Both groups were taught by the same teacher since the teachers' individual and methodological characteristics might affect the results. After the tutorial, the reading comprehension test was administered to the two groups (top- down/ bottomup). The results of this posttest, once gathered and analyzed statistically, provided the answer to the proposed research questions. D. Data Analysis In the present study, students' cognitive style (FD/ FI) and the reading instruction models (top- down vs. bottom- up) were considered as independent variables; while the participants' reading comprehension scores were accounted as dependent variable. Through using descriptive and inferential statistics, the data were analyzed. To address the first and second research questions, two independent samples t- tests were used. IV. RESULTS © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 689 The current study attempted to investigate the effects of top-down/bottom-up processing and field-dependent/field-independent cognitive style on Iranian EFL learners’ reading comprehension. To answer the research questions, after scoring the tests and tabulating the scores for each subject, the data were put under a series of statistical analysis. First of all, to show the distribution of participants along the spectrum of FI/ FD in each group, the results of the administration of GEFT are presented in Table 1. FI 22 TABLE 1: THE DISTRIBUTION OF PARTICIPANTS ALONG THE SPECTRUM OF FI/FD Group 1 ( top- down reading instruction) Group 2 ( bottom- up reading instruction) FD FI FD 18 17 23 Based on the above classification, the participants were divided into two main groups (top-down/bottom-up reading instruction), each group included field independent/field-dependent learners. Additionally, in order to show that subjects were homogeneous in two main groups and there was no significant difference between them prior to the experiment, the reading achievement test was pre- administered before they stated the experiment. The results of Homogeneity of Variance for each group are summarized in Table 2. TABLE 2 TEST OF HOMOGENIETY OF VARIANCES FOR TOP - DOWN/ BOTTOM - UP GROUP Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig. Top- down group .002 1 38 .967 Bottom- up group .623 1 38 .435 As it is clear, the performance of FI subjects was not statistically different from the FD ones in top- down reading group (P= .96> .05) and bottom- up reading group (P=.43> .05). This means that subjects in each group started out the experiment with equivalent reading background knowledge. To answer the first research question of the study stating that whether there is any statistically significant difference in reading comprehension scores of field-dependent and independent learners who are exposed to top-down reading instruction, the participants' scores on the reading comprehension posttest were gathered and tabulated. Table 3 and Figure 1 represent a better picture of the performance of FD/ FI learners in top- down group. TABLE 3 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF THE PERFORMANCE OF FD/FI LEARNERS IN TOP _DOWN READING GROUP 95% Confidence Interval for Mean Std. N Mean Deviation Std. Error Lower Bound Upper Bound Minimum field independence 22 10.90 1.90 .40 10.06 11.75 8.00 field dependence 18 12.44 2.09 .49 11.40 13.48 9.00 Total 40 11.60 2.10 .33 10.92 12.27 8.00 Figure 1. Maximum 14.00 15.00 15.00 FD/FI learners’ reading comprehension mean scores (top-down group) According to the above descriptive results, the mean score of FI subjects differs from the FD ones'. To see whether this difference is statistically significant or not, an independent sample t- test was also run (Table 4). TABLE 4 INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T-TEST FOR EQUALITY OF MEANS (TOP -DOWN GROUP) t-test for Equality of Means( top-down group) 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference T df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference Std. Error Difference Lower Upper reading score -2.42 38 .020 -1.53 .63 -2.81 -.25 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 690 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES The results revealed that FD learners performed significantly better than FI ones in top- down reading instruction group (t=2.42, p= .02< 05). To answer the second research question of the study stating that whether there is any statistically significant difference in reading comprehension scores of field-dependent and field-independent learners who were exposed to bottom-up reading instruction model, the descriptive statistics are shown in Table 5 and Figure 2. TABLE 5 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF THE PERFORMANCE OF FD/ FI LEARNERS IN BOTTOM -UP READING GROUP 95% Confidence Interval for Mean N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Lower Bound Upper Bound Minimum Maximum field independence 17 13.05 1.02 .24 12.52 13.58 10.00 14.00 field dependence 23 9.82 1.23 .25 9.29 10.35 8.00 13.00 Total 40 11.20 1.97 .31 10.56 11.83 8.00 15.00 Figure 2. FD/FI learners’ reading comprehension mean scores (bottom-up group) On inspection of mean scores, one can infer that FD/ FI learners performed differently on reading achievement posttest. Its implication is that FI learners, as it is envisaged performed better than their FD counterparts. To check whether this difference is statistically significant, an independent sample t- test was performed (Table 6). TABLE 6 INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T-TEST FOR EQUALITY OF MEANS (BOTTOM - UP GROUP) 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference Std. Error Difference Lower Upper reading score 8.790 38 .000 3.23274 .36779 2.48819 3.97729 The results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of FD/ FI learners (t=8.790) at the end of the experiment meaning that FI subjects did outperform the FD ones in the reading comprehension posttest. V. DISCUSSION The present study was an effort to investigate the possible effect that different types of reading instruction (top-down vs. bottom-up) and cognitive style of field dependence vs. field independence might have on learners reading performance during the course of the study. It attempted to empirically reveal that the type of instruction and classroom tasks can be very influential on accelerating learners' reading achievement especially when they are interwoven with individuals' cognitive style. To achieve the purpose of the study, two research questions were raised at the onset. Regarding the first research question, it was found that FD subjects outperformed their FI counterparts taught through top- down reading instruction. One justification can be that according to Brown (1994, p.160), FD learners have " the tendency to be dependent on the total field such that the parts embedded within the field is perceived more clearly as a unified whole". This is in line with top- down model which processing initiates with general knowledge of subject and continues to connect new information with previous ones. It might explain why FD learners seem to be less successful in tasks where concentration on small details is required. This finding is consistent with Salmani Nodoushan's (2006) view that learners' cognitive style (FD/ FI) is crucial in benefitting from a specific teaching method. It is in sharp contrast with the theoretical view of those researchers who claim that there is no significant relationship between learners' cognitive style (FD/ FI) and L2 learning (Hamed Mahvelati & Mukundan, 2012). In addition, the above finding is not also in line with Dyer and Osborne's (1999) view so far as they claim that the students' cognitive style of FD/ FI does not affect the effectiveness of teaching methods. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 691 The second result of this study showed that FI learners gained higher scores in reading achievement test in comparison with their FD counterparts when exposed to bottom- up reading instruction. one explanation can be that FI individuals have the ability of " perceiving a particular, relevant item or factor in a field of distracting factors" (Brown, 1994, p.160). Hence, FI learners can easily focus on details in a given task/ text. This might be one reason for the success of FI learners in bottom- up reading instruction where the brain begins with externally received information and analyze them in detail. Concerning the superiority of FI learners to FD ones, the finding is consistent with some researchers' view (Clark & Roof, 1988; Salmani Nodoushan, 2006) that FI learners perform better than FD ones in the learning tasks which require analysis and attention to details. On the whole, the findings of the present study supported the findings of Sudzina (1993), Abu Romman (2005) researches. They reported that the academic achievements of learners can be enhanced when students' cognitive style is matched with the teaching methods. They are also consistent with Daoud's (2008) claim that the only factor affecting individuals' language learning is matching instruction with learners' cognitive style. However, the findings of the present study is not in line with El-Koumy's (2001) study which showed that students' achievement in reading comprehension increases when there is a mismatch between learners' cognitive style and teaching method. Furthermore, it should be born in mind that the contradictory findings of some studies regarding the effectiveness of top- down and/ or bottom- up reading instruction can be due to the fact that learners' other individual differences have been neglected in most of these studies. VI. CONCLUSION Concerning the first research question which dealt with investigating whether there is any statistically significant difference in reading comprehension scores of field-dependent and field-independent learners who were exposed to top-down reading instruction model, the obtained findings through independent samples t-test revealed that FD learners performed significantly better than FI ones in top-down reading instruction group. This result supports the findings of Simonson (1985) and Miller (1997). In their studies, they found out FI learners were more proactive and usually had a strong self-concept, tended to solve problems through intuition and analyze data in details, As opposed to FD learners, who perceived objects as a whole. Concerning the second research question, stating that whether there is any statistically significant difference in reading comprehension scores of field-dependent and field-independent learners who were exposed to bottom-up reading instruction model, an independent sample t-test was conducted. The result revealed that FI learners performed significantly better than FD ones in bottom-up reading instruction model. Consistent with interactionist and cognitive views of language development, the above findings highlight the important role of attention. Put it simply, when a text is given to both field-dependent and field-independent learners, while the field-independent ones consider it analytically and focus on details, the field-dependent learners mostly pay attention to its global aspect and focus on comprehension of the content. The findings of this study are in line with a study done by Shalbafan’s (1996) who examined the relationship between field-dependence/field-independence cognitive style and second/foreign language learning revealing that while field-independent learners were successful at analytic and deductive language learning activities, field-dependent ones showed their advantage at induction, communication, and perception of materials holistically. These findings seem to have important implications for L2 teachers and learners. As for teachers, if they know their students’ cognitive style of field dependence/independence and learn more about the effective ways to help both groups improve their learning processes, they can change and adapt their teaching methods to the needs of the learners more effectively. The findings of this study can also help language learners by encouraging them to learn more about their own individual cognitive styles and hence, improve their strengths and overcome their weaknesses. There are some limitations need to be considered when interpreting the findings of this study. First, this study included only the Iranian EFL learners. A more comprehensive study including other nationalities and/or learners will enhance our understanding of the effects of top-down /bottom-up processing and cognitive styles on reading comprehension. Secondly, to increase the external validity of the study findings, replication is needed in different settings with diverse populations. It also needs to be emphasized that this study used only Witkin, Oltman, Raskin, and Karp (1971) FD/FI as an indicator of cognitive style. Other cognitive style inventories could be used to examine the interrelationship between reading skill and cognitive style in a broader context. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] Abraham, R. G. (1985). Field independence /dependence and the teaching of grammar. TESOl Quarterly, 19, 689-702. Abu Romman, S. (2005). The effect of match/mismatch of teaching –learning styles on secondary stage students’ achievement in English in Jordan. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Amman Arab University for Graduate Studies, Jordan. Altun, A. (2003). The relationship between teacher trainees’ attitudes toward computers and their cognitive styles. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 2(1). Retrieved July 5, 2013 from http://www.tojet.sakarya.edu.tr/archive/v1i2/arif3.htm. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 692 [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Brown, H. D. (1994). Principles of language learning and teaching. Sanfrancisco: Prentice Hall. Clark, H. T., & Roof, K. D. (1988). Field dependence and strategy use. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 66, 303-307. Carrell, P. L., & Eisterhold, J. C. (1983) "Schema theory and ESL reading pedagogy”. In P. L. Carrell, J., Devine, & D. E. Eskey (Eds.), Interactive approaches to second language reading. Cambridge: CUP. Chaplle, C. (1988). Field independence: A source of language test variance. Language Testing, 5(1), 62-82. Daoud, J. (2008). 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(2001). The effect of matching versus mismatching instructional approaches with cognitive styles on EAP students' achievement in reading comprehension. Proceedings of the 7th EFL Skills Conference. The American University in Cairo: CACE. Fehrenbach, C. R. (1994). Cognitive style of gifted and average readers. Roeper Review, 16(4), 290-292. Field, J. (2004). An insight into listeners’ problems: Too much bottom-up or too much top-down? System, 32, 363-367. Foel, N. A., & Fritz, R. L. (1994). Association of cognitive style and satisfaction with distance learning. Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, 33, 46-59. Gough, P. B. (1972). One second of reading. In J. F. Kawanagh & I. G. Mattingley (Eds.), Language by ear and by eye. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Grabe, W. (1991). Current developments in second language reading research. TESOL Quarterly, 25, 375-405. Guisande, M. A. Paramo, M. F. Tinajero, C., & Almeida, L. S. 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Does field independence relate to performance on communicative language tests? Manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, 3(3), 79-85. Shalbafan, K. (1996). On the role field dependence/field independence in Iranian EFL learners’ writing ability. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Tehran. Simonson, M. R. (1985) Persuasion: Five studies dealing with the relationships between media, attitudes, and learning style . (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 256 337.) Škudienė, V. (2002). A comparison of reading models, their application to the classroom and their impact on comprehension. Studies about Languages, 2, 94-98. Sudzina, M. (1993). Educational psychology applications. In T. Graves (Ed.), Cooperative learning and preservice teacher education. Cooperative Learning, 13(3), 32-35. Swaffar, J. K., Arans, K. M., & Byrnes, H. (1991). Reading for meaning. Integrated approach to language learning. N Jersey: Prentice Hall. Tinajero, C., & Paramo, M. F. (1997). “Field dependence / independence and academic achievement: A re-examination of their relationship”, Educational Psychology, 67, 199-212. Tsui, A. B. M., & Fullilove, J. (1998). Bottom-up or top-down processing as a discriminator of L2 listening performance. Applied Linguistics, 19(4), 432-451. Wasilewski, J. (2009). Contemporary understanding of the reading process and reading strategies used by ESOL learners while reading a written discourse. Humanising Language Teaching, 4, 145-159. Witkin, H. A., Oltman, P., Raskin, E., & Karp, S. (1971). A manual for the embedded figures test. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologist Press. Xu. W. (2011). Learning styles and their implications in learning and teaching. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 1(4), 413-416. Yaghoubi, R. (1994). The relationship between field-independent/field-dependent cognitive style Persian students and their English language proficiency. Unpublished master’s thesis, Allameh Tabatabaii University, Iran. Zhang, L. F. (2004). Field-dependence/independence: Cognitive style or perceptual ability? Validating against thinking styles and academic achievement”. Personality and Individual Differences, 3, 1295-1311. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 693 Azar Hosseini Fatemi, assistant professor in TEFL, is the head of Department of English, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran. Her areas of interest include issues in second language teaching and learning. Vahideh Sadat Vahedi is the faculty member at Islamic Azad University, Qaenat branch, Qaenat, Iran. She is a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics at Ferdowsi University, Mashhad, Iran. She received her M.A. degree in English language teaching from Alzahre University, Tehran, Iran in 2006, and she also got the B.A. degree in English language and literature from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran in 2006. Her areas of research include applied linguistics, Anxiety in EFL learning, and CALL. She has presented and published several articles in international conferences and journals. Zari Sadat Seyyedrezaie received her BA in English language and literature from Zahedan University, Iran. Then she received her MA in TEFL from Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch in Iran. She started her Ph.D at the University of Mashhad in 2012. She has presented some papers in International conferences in different countries and also published some papers in international journals. Her major areas of interest are English testing, evaluation, and language teaching methodology. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 694-699, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.694-699 The Research of Speaking Process in Language Attention System Xianqing Liu College of International Studies, Southwest University, Chongqing, China Jinyan Fan School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China Abstract—Speaking process and language attention are hot topics in current psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics separately. By the example of Levelt’s Speaking: From Intention to Articulation, taking Talmy’s theory of language attention system as a guide, this paper explores how attention is represented in speaking process. Index Terms—attention, message, prominence, focus, topic I. INTRODUCTION Language attention is one of the hot topics in current cognitive linguistics. For the research of language attention, it is now from singleness to system, and the language attention system of Talmy (2007; forthcoming) is formed in this research background. The process of speaking is one of the focuses for both psychologists and psycholinguists and Levelt (2008) is the most excellent one. Although Talmy and Levelt have got remarkable achievements in their own research field, they are still limited on the following aspects. 1) Talmy’s research is mainly involved the constitutive factors of language attention system, while for the interactive process that how the speaker by help of this system to produce expressions, and, how the listener, based on those expressions to allocate his attention to language is seldom concerned. 2) What Levelt cares for is how attention monitors the production of language in the cognitive psychological process of speaking, while the leading and the distribution of language on attention are hardly neglected. This paper, taking Levelt’s process of speaking as the object of study and Talmy’s attention system of language as the theoretical guide, explores how attention is represented in the process of speaking from the cognitive perspective. II. THE PROCESS OF SPEAKING In our study, the process of speaking refers to the psychological process that the speaker produces one utterance and the hearer understands it. From the perspective of the psychological relationship between attention and language, the process of speaking is involved at least the following two aspects. A. The Monitoring of Attention on Language Production The topic of the monitoring of attention on language production interests many psychologists. Mainly, there are three monitoring theories: the editor theory, the spreading activation theory and the perceptual loop theory. Among the three theories, the perceptual loop is the most popular, which argues that monitoring can have the speaker discover speech mistakes, and self-repairing is the explicit manifestation of it. Similarly, Ferreira & Bailey (2004) thinks that, reparandum, suspension point, and edit term are typical non-fluent utterances. For the cognitive process of speaking, Levelt (2008, p. 2-8) takes (1) as a case to explain how the speaker monitors and repairs his own utterance. (1)… Academic1: [e:m]…would you say Othello was [e:]…a tragedy of circumstance…or a tragedy of character. (lapse) Student: I I don’t know the way…play WELL enough sir. … We analyze this case from Student firstly. 1) We all know that, the question that Academic1 asked Student about “Othello” is not because of Academic1’s short knowing on the play himself; on the contrary, his aim is to know how much Student knows about the play. 2) Both Academic1 and Student know their own role in the dialogue. 3) There is a detail, which is the key to produce the above utterance. That is, Academic1 does not notice that his partner (academic2) asked Student an almost same question “Would you call Othello a tragedy of circumstance or of character?” five minutes ago and Student’s reply “I don’t know much about Othello, so I couldn’t say.” is to show that he is incapable of  This research is financed by Chongqing Normal University No. 2011XWQ18. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 695 this question. We secondly analyze this case from the psychological process which Student produces the utterance. He chooses“I”as the beginning. Because of his inward anxiousness, and the effective information he can not find, he has some waver so he utters two “I” continuously, then he keeps silence for a long time. Here “I” is the experiencer, and the choice of “I” strictly limits the speaker’s following choice, that is, to choose a verb to realize the subject role of “I”. The verb “know” represents the state of knowledge. If “don’t” is ignored, “Othello” as the object of “know” can be seen as Student’s state of knowledge about Shakespeare’s plays. Thirdly, we will analyze the situation in which the mistake “way” is produced. In order to activate the word “way”, Student should be thinking its meaning, for instance, he may think “I don’t know the way”. If we are right, “way” should not appear in the surface structure of the utterance here. At the same time, “way” should not be the part of the meaning of the utterance expresses here. This can be inferred from the answer which Student gives to academic2. It is obvious that at least Student knows that the question that Academic1 asked is related with plays (This is also inferred from his repair that “play” for “way” later, while he does not know so much about this question). So we are sure that this mistake is produced in the situation that Student is anxious and awkward, at the same time, it is because of the similarity of “way” and “play” on pronunciation. To some degree, it is homonymic with “play”, but not because of the blending of “WELL” and “play” in spelling. Now the question is why Student can discover and repair his mistake by himself without any cue from Academic1, Academic2 and the context. In fact, for Student, noticing the mistake of “way” is not sudden. It is because his attention performs a monitoring function for the utterance of the speaker in the cognitive and psychological process of speaking. After the speaking of “way”, Student pays attention to the inconformity of meanings between the word and the meaning what he wants to express immediately. So after the short halt, he quickly repairs his mistake by “play. According to Kormos (2006) and Caroll (2008), all the theories of the process of the language output are same in the following points: 1) The output of language includes four stages—the concept formation, the constitution, the pronunciation and the self-monitoring. 2) The operation of the four stages obeys the order of the arrangement here. 3) The basic working mechanisms of language output are activation and spreading. Levelt (2008) thinks that the blueprint of the speaker and the cognitive process are formed by the following components: (a) Conceptualizer, (b) Formulator, (c) Articulator. The concrete operation of this model can be summarized as that the Conceptualizer produces the preverbal message, the preverbal message is put into the Formulator, the Formulator produces the internal phonetic plan, the internal phonetic plan is put into the Articulator and the Articulator produces the language which we can hear. On the other, the speaker can monitor his utterance by his speech comprehension and audition system, and then he may discover, repair and correct his utterances. B. The Leading and Distribution of Language on Attention The study of language and attention is mainly focused on psychology, psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics. Psychologists mainly construct the related theoretical frames around attention. What the psycholinguists care for is the monitoring function of attention on the process of speaking. While for the cognitive linguists, what interests them is the language’s leading and distribution for language user’s attention. Talmy (2007; forthcoming) argues that there is a wide attention system in language, and it is because of this attention system which distributes different attention to the different parts of language expressions. For the speaker or the hearer, consciously or unconsciously, the quite a few factors in language can influence the language user’s attention distribution. And these factors can have the language user increase or decrease his attention on one or more aspects of language expressions. Carroll (2008) claims that the prosodic factors of language include accent, intonation and frequency. As a matter of fact, the prosodic factors still include halt, tone, tune-pattern and gestures and so on. Talmy (forthcoming) thinks that, speech sound as one of the important factors constructing the attention system of language is mainly presented on the strength and the length of speech sound. For instance, when the accent is on one morpheme or word, the speech sound of that morpheme or word will be strengthened and at the same time, the attention of distribution of that morpheme or word will be increased. The longer of the speech sound of a morpheme or a word, the attention of distribution of that morpheme or word will be increased also. (2) My son is also going to PARIS. (3) They promised they would phone me. Nevertheless/But they never called back. In (2), the accent is on “PARIS”, so it gets more attention. In (3), the meanings of “Nevertheless” and “but” are almost same, but because the sound of “Nevertheless” is longer than “but”, so it gets more attention distribution. Talmy’s argument that language can influence language user’s attention leading and distribution is perfectly used by the speaker and the hearer in Levelt’s language process of speaking. From the perspective of the speaker, why Student produces the utterance of (1), that is “I don’t know the way…play WELL enough sir” is because: 1) Academic1 does not notice that his partner once asked Student a similar question, and Student has told Academic2 that he is not familiar with that question and he is incapable of it. 2) If Student tells the truth to Academic1 straightly, then both Student and Academic1 will be awkward. 3) The capitalized “WELL” here means that in his answer, the student adopts an accent on it. Then, what is the purpose of this accent? Simply speaking, Student © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 696 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES does not express his meaning directly, but adopts accent, one factor of language attention system to adjust the attention distribution of Academic1, that is to say, the speaker has the one which should not be accented originally accented, his purpose is to have the hearer distribute more attention on that word. How does Academic1 infer the implication of this special language form? First, sound is one of the important constructing factors of language attention system, which can influence the hearer’s attention distribution. Second, what the speaker gives an accent to “WELL”, which should not be accented originally is the speaker’s unconscious use of the sound factor of language attention system. Finally, the hearer can also make use of the language attention system in order to realize the leading and the distribution of language on attention. In the case of (1), the hearer, that is Academic1 will get a full of surprise, because he can, of course notice that “WELL” is accented, which should not be in normal situation. Then, we are sure that the hearer will focus his attention on “WELL” quickly. According to Langacker’s (2012) “moving window of attention” theory, here “WELL” is regarded as rhythmic focus appearing in the current attention window and it gets focus attention distribution. In the end, after a quick thinking, from the present situation, Academic1 will infer the implied meaning of “WELL”, then corrects his own mistake. In the following section, we will discuss the language leading and distribution on attention from the aspects of the generation of message, the show of the salience, the production of focus and the choice of topic. 1. The generation of message Levelt (2008) holds that the communicative intention is the mother of speech act and he argues that the biggest communicative intention of speaker is to have the hearer understand his intention. In the process of communication, the aim of communication can be shown by various means, and each mean needs the speaker to find new expression. This process involves the thinking of the communicative intention, the choice of related expression, and the arrangement of the order of the related information, expression and the other complex factors. Kecskes (2010) points out that, the verbal communication is not fluent like the description of the current theories of pragmatics. When he talks the status of the speaker and the hearer in the process of speaking, Kecskes (ibid) argues that the speaker and the hearer act as different individual but the same important communicators appear in the process of communication. Kecskes (ibid) thinks that what the two aspects of a speaker to generate an utterance and a hearer to understand an utterance depend on is the most accessible and prominent knowledge in the former context. According to Levelt (2008), the first step of the production of speech is the generation of preverbal message and he thinks that preverbal message is the primary stage of communicative intention. The fact here is obvious that by his speaking, the speaker has the hearer see his intention. Since the communicative intention exists here, the speaker will choose the expressions which include the communicative purpose. Then it is concerned the choice of words, sentences and utterance rhythm. We know that these choices certainly need the speaker’s attention resource, and at the same time, we know that a speaker’s attention is limited, so in definite time he can only have limited attention to notice some parts of a certain language, so in utterance expression system, only one or a few parts is in a higher activation. The concrete generation of message in the process of speaking is formed by macroplanning and microplanning. The former divides the communicative intention into a series of targets and sub-targets and it also chooses proper information for each sub-target and the result of output is speech act. On the microplanning, the speech act should also take into consideration of perspective, the format of proposition, the design of information structure, including topic, focus, and the distribution of new information. In order to satisfy the requirement of message, the speaker must master some special language skills so that the communicative intention can be realized at utmost. The information choice of macroplanning needs quite a lot of plans, memories, searches, inference, and all the activities need the speaker’s attention resource. Similarly, microplanning also need the speaker’s attention resource. As a matter of fact, in the psychological process of Levelt’s speaking, for the generation of message, including all the ways of the message producing, all the language mechanisms of having utterances into activation, they are all related with prominent mechanisms of expressions, and all the prominent mechanisms are interlinked with all the constructing factors of language attention system of Talmy, so to most of degree, Levelt and Talmy’s researches have great similarity in cognition. For example, from the perspective of semantics, the semantic component of a message is not with or without, but it is a degree of activation or prominence. The prominence in Formulator is realized by all kinds of lemmas, the details of modifiers and ways of word order. At the same time, the thematic related concept of a message will be different because of its importance, prominence and centrality. So, in the process of speaking, the speaker will place some relation on foreground, and the other on background. For example: (4) Mary received the book from Tina. (5) Tina gave the book to Mary. According to Talmy’s attention system of language, “Mary” in (4) will get more attention distribution than “Tina”. “Tina” in (5), on the contrary will get more attention distribution than “Mary”. So, in a language situation, the speaker not only chooses the role of expression, but also decides which role in the foreground, and, which one in the background. The component of foreground is usually called nuclear (Nooteboom & Terken, 1982). The nuclear component usually bears the main grammatical function, while the non-nuclear, the sub-grammatical function. In a word, in the process of the generation of message, the choice of roles, the decision of foreground or background © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 697 and the giving of main grammatical function and sub-grammatical function, they are the fact that the speaker and the hearer consciously make use of the attention system of language to realize the different attention distribution on language components. 2. The show of the salience Levelt (2008) argues that, in the process of speaking, when the speaker introduces the new entity into discourse, for the hearer, the new entity has new value, and then, it gets prominence on concept. Of course, the entity which has existed in discourse may also have new value if it gets prominence. Suppose there is a dialogue between Tom and Mary. In the dialogue, what they first talk is three boys (Jack, John and Williams), now then change to the argument that the three boys argue with a girl (Alice), after introduction the main character “Alice”, Tom may speak (6). (6) Alice pestered JAck, then she insulted JOhn, and finally she hit WILliams. In (6), “Jack”, “John” and “WILliams” are there in the discourse, but they still get pitch accent separately. After their experiment, Nooteboom & Terken (1982) point out that, for the hearer, the same thematic role may get different reference. In (6), why “Jack”, “John” and “WILliams” get pitch accent separately is because they are the victims of “Alice” and that is the one which this sentence emphasizes. In order to mark this new referential meaning, the speaker has it be prominent by pitch accent and by this way, he can have the hearer give more attention distribution on it. If the thematic role is same, and the reference does not change, the speaker will not have it be prominent. In (6), “Alice” is used as the agent of the action, and it is not accented in the second or third time, no matter its first beginning is accented or not. So we can say that as anaphoric way, a pronoun should not get pitch accent, but we should notice that if the reference of a pronoun has some change, the anaphoric pronoun can also be prominent and be accented. (7) Alice went after Jack, and then hE chased hER. In (7), “Alice” and “Jack” are replaced by “he” and “her” separately, but they still get pitch accent. This happens because their references are changed, so they should be distributed more attention. In the process of speaking, the prominent component of a message does not only refer to the referent item, but also a predicative component if it has new value. Besides the phonation, there are some other prominent ways, including not only morphology, syntax, context, discourse, but also the cultural differences. The cognitive linguists call these prominent means as figure and ground, profile and base, trajector and landmark and foreground and background. In the process of speaking, both the speaker and the hearer will make use of these cognitive mechanisms of language consciously to realize the different prominence to the different parts of utterances, which can have the utterances get different attention distribution. 3. The production of focus The phenomenon of focus is involved phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics and so on. So, we can say the study of focus is the ideal experimental field among the interface of phonology, syntax, information structure, semantics and pragmatics. On the one hand, it is concerned the interaction among the factors of phonology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics and so on. On the other, it can also help us to know their functions of all the factors in the complex interactive process. From the process of speaking, because the speaker’s attention scope is very limited, so in the plan of the output of one utterance, the speaker can only design one or a few concepts. This is the same to the hearer. Jackendoff (1972) thinks that the focus of a sentence is the one in which the speaker supposes that is the formation which he can not share with the hearer. The example is in (8). (8) “What does Tom write?” Based on the of focus, Grosz，Joshi & Weinstein (1995) study further and advocate focus center. They think that focus center refers to the focus which the speaker establishes in present discourse and they also think that a speaker’s focus center may not be the same as the hearer. In the process of speaking, Levelt (2008) also proposes a concept of new focus. In Levelt’s study, the new focus refers to the part of a discourse that the hearer is caring for now but not in the past. For example, in (9), “JOHN” is the new focus, which is also called by Levelt as prosodic focus. Compared with “Mary”, the hearer may distribute more attention to “JOHN”. (9) Tom saw much of Mary recently. But yesterday he visited JOHN.” According to Talmy’s (forthcoming) theory, the attention system of language itself distributes different attention to the different part of language, in which some factors of the attention system will increase the attention distribution to language expressions, while the others may decrease the attention distribution. So, in the process of speaking, the focus information should get most distribution of attention by the usages of some mechanisms in language attention system. On the one hand, most of the means of the focusing realization are the important factors of Talmy’s language attention system. On the other hand, the means of the focusing or the mechanisms which lead to different attention distribution interest quite a few scholars. For example, Langacker (2008) thinks that the semantic functions of the subject and the object in a same sentence are different. The semantic polar, which bares the subjective function is called as Trajactor (TR), while the one which bares the objective function is called as Landmark (LM). According to Langacker (ibid), the semantic relation between TR and LM is not equal. Generally speaking, TR refers to the focus or the more prominent one, while LM refers more to the background participant. So in the normal word order of a sentence, TR (subject) © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 698 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES appears first, while LM (object) later. (10) John ate all the chocolate. (11) All the chocolate was eaten by John. In (10), “John” is the focus participant (TR), the agent, while “chocolate” is the second participant (LM), the patient. In the traditional grammar, (11) is the passive form of (10) and the semantic value of (11) and (10) is equivalent. While the cognitive linguist, on the contrary, does not agree. According to the cognitive linguist, there are obvious differences of the semantic value between (11) and (10). In (11), “all the chocolate” is figure, while in (10), it is ground. That is to say, the nonfocus of “all the chocolate” in (10) is realized as semantic focus in (11). From the perspective of attention system of language, “all the chocolate” in (11) will get more attention distribution than it in (10). 4. The choice of topic As a special foregrounded component, “topic” is always an important and hot issue in the study of linguistics. Hockett (1958) advocates the terms “topic” and “comment” firstly. He thinks that topic is the beginning of information, while comment is the purpose of an utterance. Until today, the scholar can not get an agreement on the definition of topic. Some of them regard it as a grammatical concept, while the others take it as a pragmatic concept. Some of them say that topic is formed by sentence topic and structure topic, while for the other, it is about utterance topic or discourse topic. Pedersen (2011) and Krifka (2007) think that, the unsymmetrical double parallel and the laterality evolution of human head can find the cognitive motivation in topic-comment and foreground-background. When a speaker chooses certain of information to express his communicative intention, he will make best use of ways to absorb the attention of the hearer. Among those various ways, to choose a referential entity as topic is an important one. (12) Judie is married to Peter. If the speaker’s intention is to tell the hearer about “Judie”, he may choose (12) to express. In (12), “Judie” is topic. The hearer will store the new information (being married to Peter) to the address of “Judie” in the discourse model. If there is an accessible address for “Peter” in the discourse or out of the discourse, the hearer will store the information of “Peter” to the address of “Peter”. When the speaker takes “Judie” as topic, his intention is only to store the new information under the address of “Judie. He may hope that the hearer concentrates his attention on “Judie” but not “Peter”. For this process, Levelt (2008) shows us the following procedure to explain. (13) IF the goal is that the hearer store the information under address X, THEN assign topic status to X. We here can interpret the design of (13) from the following two aspects. Firstly, because of the explicit question of the dialogists, such as in (12), it is “Is your sister married?” Second, what is the reason of the prominence of the communicative event? In the process of the choice of topic, generally speaking, if the agent is a man, it is much easier to be used as topic than the nonhuman theme. The bigger and moving objects are easier to be topicalized than the smaller and stative objects. In the speaking process, the prominent items are usually be topicalized and placed at the beginning of an utterance by the speaker in order that the hearer can understand that this utterance is around this topic at the very beginning, and then, the hearer may distribute more attention to it. What here we should point out specifically is that, when these prominent items are introduced into the discourse, the speaker does not give them prominent marks. On the contrary, the rheme which is used to state the topic, that is, the items containing new information can be prominent. (14) I have a sIster. She is mArrid. In the first part of (14), it brings a new reference to the hearer’s focus attention. Because this reference is not accessible for the hearer in the former discourse, the speaker uses the complete “sIster”, and at the same time, he gives “sIster” a rhythmic prominence. By this way, the hearer establishes a new address in the discourse for the new reference. In the second part of (14), the reference is now the topic and it exists there in the speaker’s current focus, so the speaker adopts its short form “She” not the complete one, and at the same time, it does not have the rhythmic prominence. On the contrary, the theme “mArrid” gets prominence, because it is the new information now. Hockett (1958) argues that in English or the familiar European language, generally speaking, a topic is the subject of a sentence, while the comment is as object. So he claims that the sentence topic is consistent with the grammatical subject of a sentence. Givón (1979) also claims that in the developing process of grammar, the subject of a sentence is derivate from grammaticalized topic. After a reference in the message of a speaker is topcalized, it will have advantages in the grammatical encode. In the normal situation, a speaker will place the topic of a sentence on the place of the grammatical subject or at the beginning, that is to say, to settle it on the topic place. Being similar with the choice of the topic in the process of speaking, in the attention system of language, Talmy (forthcoming) thinks that, for a language expression, the different grammatical role it bears, the different place it occupies, it will get different attention distribution. The grammatical role and word order are also the important constructive factors of language attention system. Generally speaking, for a word, if it is at the beginning, as the topic and the subject, it will be prominent than the language expression in the place of object, and for the object, the direct object is more prominent the oblique. Talmy (forthcoming) argues that it follows this order: subject>direct object>oblique. (15) The landlord rented the apartment to the tenant. (16) The tenant rented the apartment from the landlord. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 699 Both “The landlord” in (15) and “The tenant” in (16) are in the place of topics, coincidence with e the subjects. Both “The landlord” in (15) and “The tenant” in (16) appear as figure, so the attention they are distributed in their own sentence is more than “the apartment”, which is in the place of comment, being used as object and ground. III. CONCLUSION The conclusion of this study is as follows: 1) What psycholinguists care is the monitoring function of attention in speech production, while what cognitive linguists care is the language’s leading and distribution for attention. 2) In the process of speaking, these two aspects are not independent completely; the former is the basis of the later. 3) In the complex psychological process of speaking, the cognitive linguist provides motivation proof for the achievement of the psycholinguist from the language perspective, which proves once more the cognitive linguist’s claim that there is a similarity between the cognitive mechanisms of man’s language and the others. 4) The theoretical achievements of both psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics can draw lessons from each other and develop together. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] Carroll, D. W. (2008). Psychology of Language. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research. Ferreira, F. & K. Bailey. (2004). Disfluencies and Human Language Comprehension. Trends in Cognitive Science, 8, 231-237. GivÓn, T. (1979). On Understanding Grammar. New York: Academic Press. Grosz, B., J, A. Joshi & S. Weinstein. (1995). Centering: A Framework for Modeling the Local Coherence of Discourse. Computational Linguistics, 2, 203-225. Hockett, C. F. (1958). A Course in Modern Linguistics. New York: Macmillan. Jackendoff, R. (1972). Semantic Interpretation in Generative Grammar. Cambridge: MIT Press. Kecskes, I. (2010). Socio-cognitive Approach to Pragmatics. Journal of Foreign Languages, 5, 2-20. Kormos, J. (2006). Speech Production and Second Language Acquisition. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Krifka, M. (2007). Functional Similarities between Bimanual Coordination and Topic/Comment Structure. Interdisciplinary Studies in Information Structure, 6, 13-55. Langacker R W. (2012). Access, Activation, and Overlap: Focusing on the Differential. Journal of Foreign Languages, 1, 2-24. Langacker, R. W. (2008). Cognitive Grammar: A Basic Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Levelt, W. J. M. (2008). Speaking: From Intention to Articulation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Nooteboom, S. & J. M. B. Terken. (1982). What Makes the Speaker Omit Pitch Accents? An Experiment. Phonetica, 39, 317-336. Pedersen, E. E. (2011). Cognitive Foundations of Topic-comment and Foreground-background Structure: Evidence from Sign Languages, Cospeech Gesture and Homesign. Cognitve Linguistics, 4, 691-718. Talmy, L. (2007). Attention phenomena. In D. Geeraerts & H. Cuyckens (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press264-293. Talmy, L. (Forthcoming). The Attention System of Language. Cambridge: MIT Press. Xianqing Liu was born in Chongqing, China in 1976. He received his M. A. in College of International Studies, Southwest University, Chongqing, China. He is currently a lecturer in the School of Foreign Languages & Literature, Chongqing Normal University and a Ph. D candidate of Southwest University, Chongqing, China. His research interests include cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition. Jinyan Fan was born in Sichuan, China in 1979. She received her M. A. in College of International Studies, Southwest University, Chongqing, China. She is currently a lecturer in the School of Foreign Languages & Literature, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China. Her research interests include cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 700-706, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.700-706 Theoretical Analyses on How Human Cognition Is Related to Spatial Metaphor Pan Hu School of Foreign Language, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210097, China Abstract—Cognitive structures and processes are part of human mind, which emerges from a brain and nervous system inside of a body that exists in a social and physical world. This article deals with the theories on human cognition and spatial metaphor, centering around their close relation on the basis of the understanding of spatial world, cognitive maps, spatial learning and development, navigation. Furthermore, the cognitive imageries of spatial metaphor is demonstrated in figures. With the knowledge of the spatial cognition of the world, five cognitive natures of spatial metaphor which are non-arbitrary, creativity, systematicity, multidimentinality and sociality are discussed. Index Terms—human cognition, spatial world, imagery, spatial metaphor I. INTRODUCTION Aristotle (1954) defines metaphor as “the application of an alien name by transference either from genus to species, or from species to genus, or from species to species, or by analogy, that or, proposition”. Aristotle’s theory on metaphors, to an abstract extent, has influenced experts and scholars for centuries. Lakoff (1980) classifies metaphors into three categories in his famous book Metaphors We Live By: Structural Metaphor, Ontological Metaphor and Spatial Metaphor. A spatial metaphor, also called orientational metaphor, is a metaphor in which concepts are spatially related to each other, as in the following ways: up or down, in or out, front or back, on or off, deep or shallow, central or peripheral and so on. One may talk and interact easily with people in the same virtual room, and may use other means to communicate with people in other locations. Spatial concepts make use of human beings' capabilities to understand quite complex relationships between objects and ideas. Spatial representations are used frequently to convey one or more attributes of the information objects to the user: sorting, grouping and so forth. When users move, use or create objects in space they communicate some relationship either to the system, to some other users or to themselves. The primary advantage of space is that there is more "room" to put objects in and that not the whole space is always "in front of the user". Objects can be moved closer or farther away and the metaphors of the room, the house or the city provide container metaphors for objects that are easy to understand. This type of space is therefore useful to organize larger collections of objects. The main advantage of spatial user interfaces based on real life metaphor is in the ability to communicate a spatial relationship easily to other users. Indeed people are used to navigate in real life spatial environments based on very vague descriptions and facts. They are also generally used to memorize relationships of objects in spatial terms. People might communicate about the location of documents even more naturally and will see how this feature is relevant. Why do people spontaneously use spatial metaphor in their daily life? How does the spatial world where people live in affect people's thinking and speaking? In the rest part of the article, the analyses will be displayed and the answers to those questions will be provided. II. HUMAN COGNITION AND SPATIAL WORLD According to human’s cognition, the world consists of two great parts. The first part consists of the entities such as objects, events, processes, and the other part is the background environment of the study of cognition: its acquisition, storage and retrieval, manipulation, and use by humans and other intelligent creatures. In a word, the world is composed by the concrete part and abstract part. Human cognition of spatial world is to understand the spatial relations and systems in the world by using the elements of cognition including sensation and perception, thinking, imagery, reasoning and problem-solving, memory, learning, and language. Both cognitive structures and process are belonging to the mind, which originate from the brain and nervous system inside a body that exists in a social and physical world. Spatial cognition is involved in human’s finding and understanding of the spatial properties of the world such as location, size, distance, direction, shape, pattern, movement, and inter-object relations. A. About Spatial World The two terms sensation and perception seem the same but in fact there is a subtle difference between them. A person will give a first response to the stimulation from various forces in the world and this response made by the nervous  The paper is a project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (Code 20110101) © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 701 system is called sensation. A person senses the world around him by some concrete sensing actions including vision, hearing, smelling, tasting, pressure and texture, temperature, limb position and movement, and physical senses such as gravity and body acceleration. So we can say sensing is the first action taken by a person to learn the objective world. Perception is the active acquisition or cognitive concepts of knowledge about the self and the world obtained by human beings through the senses; in other words, perception is the result of sensing the world. By the methods of sensing and perceiving, human beings get an overall understanding of the world and induced the characteristics of the perceived world as we take different stands to observe the world and the world perceived from several points-of-view, and all of these perspectives are the accesses to the whole world; there is repeated information in the world that means an object or phenomenon may have more than one representations in the world and the repeated information can either help or hinder our understanding of the world; persistence of the quality of objects, events, and background maintain what they originally are even as observing conditions vary; human beings tend to find out meaningful, familiar objects and events to observe and explain and neglect those without meaning and observing value. B. Cognitive Maps Cognitive Maps, also called "mental maps" are internal representations of the world and its spatial properties stored in memory. One of the reasons why human beings are more advanced than other animals is that cognitive maps are the proper feature belonging to human beings and shared among groups. Different from a cartographic map in the head, cognitive maps have some natures of their own. First, cognitive maps cannot be observed from a constant perspective and considered as a unitary representation because it is not completely integrated. They consist of discrete pieces and hierarchically organized pieces (Piaget & Inhelder 1967). Landmarks, routes and regions are always employed to describe spatial metaphor and these pieces are determined by physical, perceptual, or conceptual boundaries. Also it is necessary to pay attention to the multiple levels of pieces differing in status, relation of containment between levels, pieces within a level not completely connected, hierarchies revealed by patterns of errors or times to respond to questions about and also the relative locations of places within and between pieces. In addition, spatial information in spatial metaphor cannot well be modeled by metric geometries and the emotional associations or connotative meaning should be found out. Second, what we see or read may not be correspondent to the cognition in the mind. That is to say there are distortions in cognitive maps. From the distortions and after the relative comparison between the distortions and the accuracy of spatial knowledge, we can employ the following methods to eliminate the distortions of cognition. The first method is finding out the internal correspondence to physical measurement. The second is finding out whether the correspondence is the default idea of most people and the third is realizing the applications of the distortions in our daily behaviors. Here are some examples: 1. Two objects are aligned geographically ST1: South America is thought to be due south of North America when it is actually southeast. 2. Intersections and barriers make the actual distance between places seem larger. ST2: Over a fence and across a children's playground, you can get to the post office which is next to my house. 3. Turns are neglected sometimes and curve is considered straight. ST3: The leave flied to the sky. C. Spatial Learning and Development Learning and development are both changes in human’s cognition or behavior that results from practice or experience. The difference is that the former is permanent and the latter is a systematic change in the content and process of cognition over time, from the children’s learning, imitation, maturation and growth to an adult. Spatial knowledge is acquired from direct sensorimotor experience, maps, models, photos and drawings, movies and videos, verbal and written language, virtual spaces, etc. Child psychologist Piaget is known for a qualitative "stage theory" of cognitive development of children. He pointed out that a person’s cognition changes from concrete sensorimotor space in infancy to abstract spatial reasoning in adolescence (Piaget & Inhelder 1967). The acquisition of the world of any one is from ego-centric to allocentric. That means he learns himself first and then understands the surroundings. The information obtained from the environment has to be processed in the human’s mind and it provides an alternative theory of continuous and quantitative development. This process is called frame of reference by Piaget (1967). We can conclude from Piagetian theory that landmark knowledge is a unique pattern of perceptual events that identify a place; with the landmark decided, the route can be explored which means the sensorimotor routines that connect ordered sequences of landmarks; sometimes we will reach the goal directly or indirectly by detouring, shortcutting and creative navigation. D. Metaphorical Navigation Navigation is a very abstract concept in human’s mind and it is a coordinated and goal-directed route formed in the brain from the experience. Metaphorical navigation helps us to follow a route we have selected unconsciously to the destination we need to go. It consists of two components: locomotion and wayfinding. Locomotion is originally a term in physics indicating the movement of the object. But in the metaphorical cognition, it refers to the guidance through space in response to local sensorimotor information in immediate surrounds. To really understand the concept, we will © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 702 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES find support surfaces, avoid obstacles and barriers, follow beacons, move through openings and choose one of the modes: crawling, walking, bikes, cars, planes, etc. this is just a vivid comparison. Its real indication is before we understand a spatial metaphor, we need to find the possible routes or methods to analyze it and be immune to the other disturbing elements. As for wayfinding, it is planning and decision-making in response to nonlocal information, undertaken to reach goal. And to take this point in, we should figure out route-choice, destination scheduling and orientation to non-perceptible features, giving directions. Navigation is a term used in the voyage but now it is used in the understanding of spatial metaphor. There are two fundamental processes of orientation during navigation. First, we base the cognition on the landmark to reach the goal; second, if there is no clear landmark, we can firstly observe the integrating information that is to say the context in which the spatial metaphor is located. Navigation is carried out via skills that vary in their demands on attentional capacity and relatively automatic skills do not demand much attention, such as locomotion in "normal" environments, following familiar routes to work, etc. The third, when seeing the clues of the author’s emphasis, we demand focused attention on the skills used by him and this is also the feature of navigation on sea. III. IMAGERY OF SPATIAL METAPHOR The term imagery belongs to cognitive scope, referring to the representation of sense perceptions in brain. Imagery can result in the situations and matters one has experienced sometimes appear in the brain. However not everything can leave behind all the details including features, frames and so on in the human’s brains for a long time, usually human will forget a great part of these details after a while. So it is actually a frame without details which can be called abstract analogy that stay in the memory. Psychological research shows that the representation of information and meaning does not entirely depend on abstract symbols and concrete descriptions but is greatly influenced by imagery. Imagery can be kept for long in memory and altered and deformed in mental space so as to make thinking, reasoning and expressing easier. Image schema proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) lays emphasis on the physical experience and schemic functions of imagery, but imagery, also called sensory imagery is a similar sense without the stimulus of outside. A. Salience The people’s understandings of a matter vary when different focuses are chosen. As we describing X is similar to Y, we can say “X resembles Y” or “Y resembles X”. in spite of the same structures, the two sentences differ from each other on semantics. The former implies “X” is the focus and “Y” the background, i.e. X is the salience. On the contrary, in the latter sentence “Y” is the salience. Here is another pair of examples, X is above Y. Y is below X. A different salience may lead to different semantics. People’s cognition can influence semantic structure and utterance. The same situation may remain different imageries in the brain because of different observing angles and methods. ST4: A cup is on the table. ST5: On the table is a cup. The two sentences, although having totally same elements, select different salience. ST1 emphasizes a cup and ST2 on the table. B. Base and Profile The formation of imagery needs a base and a profile. Profile is indeed the meaning of the word. Each imagery imposes a profile onto a base which is the background or cognitive domain of predication (meaning) and a profile is the focus or salience designated by the expression. For example, when nephew is discussed, it is put into a base-kinship network. Naturally nephew is a profile as the following Fig 1. Figure 1. Base and profile of nephew © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 703 As for the base-profile relationship in spatial metaphor, TR (trajector) and LM (landmark) should be counted in. Spatial verbs involve a time process of an object. An object’s movement contains both space and time domains so the concept of verbs may also be represented as dynamic imageries. For instance, the meaning of come develops with time (t) and trajectory is approaching landmark. Fig 2, 3, 4, 5 share same parameters as shown below. s=space t=time : TR (trajector) =he : LM (landmark) =Shanghai ST6: He will come to Shanghai. Figure 2. Dynamic imagery of ST6 ST7: He is in Shanghai. Figure 3. Base-profile relationship of ST7 ST8: He is away from Shanghai. Figure 4. Base-profile relationship of ST8 ST9: He is gone. Figure5. Dynamic imagery of ST9 ST7 and ST8 are only the results of movements and ST9 is a base-profile structure. Besides the elements needed to describe meanings, the causes of different images in the same situation mainly rely on another parameter—selection. C. Selection © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 704 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Selection means selecting the aspects to be observed and expressed. Language users cannot express all the aspects of a thing but select one aspect that interests him most. And each profile belongs to one cognitive domain. ST10: Could you please lift the suitcase up to the fourth floor for me? (space domain) ST11: Up to summer vacation Chinese elementary students have been busy. (time domain) IV. COGNITIVE NATURES OF SPATIAL METAPHOR With the knowledge of how human cognition is related to the spatial world, it is not hard to understand the cognitive bases or physical natures of spatial metaphor. Based on the investigation into the words and sentences which contain spatial metaphor, some characteristics are observed to be applicable both to English and Chinese. In this chapter, these natures will be analyzed in detail. A. Non-arbitrary The embodied motivation for metaphor provides a natural, non-arbitrary reason for why people regularly construct the asymmetrical metaphorical mappings they do, to better understand many abstract concepts. People do not necessarily learn to form metaphorical representations only from their embodied experience, because their expression with the language itself will help them to tacitly infer, via generalization, many metaphorical concepts. But it is clear that there are important links between people’s recurring bodily experiences, their metaphorical projections of these image schemas to better structure many abstract concepts, and the language used to talk about these concepts. B. Creativity As a branch of linguistics, spatial metaphor is also characterized by creativity. The capability of operating linguistic mechanism can make human beings create innumerable expressions and meanings from limited regulations and linguistic elements. Meanwhile metaphors play a key role in people’s experience; as a result, as human beings have mentality, they are equipped with the organism that can interpret the past in their memory, the future they will participate in and the world they encounter. Two approaches have been recognized to make spatial metaphor creative, one of which is the associative meanings of vehicles. The spatial words “up” and “down” have more than two or three variants, as is shown in TABLE 1. WORDS up down TABLE 1 VARIANTS OF "UP" AND "DOWN" VARIANTS upright, upstanding, rise, high… low, low-down, decline, stoop, abyss, fall… The variants of “up’ and “down” are all derived from the general concept “GOOD IS UP” and “BAD IS DOWN”. In addition, experience shows that happiness is closely linked to smile. Smile is an action that mouth stretches to the directions of ears, which bases the spatial metaphor “Happy is wide” and “I am felling expansive.” Finally the presentation of the creativity of spatial metaphor in science is worthy of discussion. Many scientific concepts are based on spatial metaphor in that the world either real or non-real is named, recognized and interpreted by metaphors. For instance, the word “high” in “high-energy particles” is based on the structural metaphor “MORE IS UP” and “high” in “high-level function” is based on “RATIONAL IS UP” and “low” in “low-level phonology” is based on “MUNDANE REALITY IS DOWN”. Therefore spatial metaphor is applied to interpreting some abstract concepts unconsciously by human beings. As a result, it is not only a linguistic property but a mental pattern which always influences people’s thought and action. C. Systematicity Systematicity of spatial metaphor should be subdivided into internal and external systems. From a micro viewpoint, each spatial metaphor has an internal system. For example, “I’m feeling up” means “I’m feeling happy”. Then which word should be used if “I became happier” needs to be expressed? Among the dynamic vertical spatial words, “rise” not “fall” is selected to match this meaning because there is a logic system in people’s mind, as shown in Fig.1 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 705 Fig. 6 Cognitive picture of rise and fall The system is logic and congruent and not separated and arbitrary. So “My spirits rose” can indicate “I became happier”. D. Multidimensionality In the preceding illustrations, vertical spatial metaphor is frequently employed. Actually the same topic in spatial metaphor can be expressed by several vehicles by use of different spatial concepts. As more intelligent animals, human beings can observe an object and a kind of phenomena from more than one dimension such as up-down, left-right, front-back and out-in. Besides, spatial metaphor, as a metaphoric concept, uses a spatial concept to describe analogically another concept but not a direct projection to the objective world. It is a refraction because the description contains many subjective elements after the mental processing. As a result, the forms of spatial metaphor vary from the angles people subjectively choose. But the subjective choices cannot be arbitrary since topics and vehicles have to share similarities at least in one aspect. Obviously creativity of spatial metaphor provides conditions for multidimensionality. In short, the multidimensionality of the objective world provides multi-angles with premise and conditions while the multi-angles present the multidimensionality of the objective world. So many topics in everyday life are the familiar abstract concepts for people and closely related to people’s lives such as happiness and anger. For these concepts it is hard to tell their exact meaning, but it can be illustrated from different angles. 1. Vertical ANGER IS UP. CALM IS DOWM. “Anger” is a kind of cognition and develops to an emotion. When anger increases, the fluid in bodies will rise and create pressure and then explode. This kind of spatial metaphor is based on the physical and mental experience. It can also be put as a metonymy theory, that is to say, it uses a physical state to represent the emotion. She blew up at me. His pent-up anger welled up. 2. Inclusive ANGER IS OUT. CALM IS IN. As mentioned in the preceding part, the conceptual metaphor of “anger” is often described as “Anger is heated fluid in a container”. So human bodies are always regarded as containers in which all kinds of emotions constantly change their states. She couldn’t contain her anger. I gave vent to my anger. Smoke was pouring out of his ears. That really set me off. To sum up, the abstract concept of “anger” can be expressed by both “up” and by “out”. Apparently each type of spatial metaphor has its own motivation and emphasis, which happens to make an overall cognitive system. E. Sociality For one aspect language is a social phenomenon. Spatial metaphors are also characterized by sociality because they are based on the same physical organism, the same cognition and the similar acceptable mentality. Although thousands © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 706 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES of languages coexist in the world, many spatial metaphors are quite similar across languages. Here are some examples between English and Chinese, as is shown in TABLE 2. TABLE 2 SIMILARITIES OF ENGLISH AND CHINESE SPATIAL METAPHOR English Chinese Set up one’s bristle 怒发冲冠 Go up in the air 怒气冲天 Smoke poured out of his ears. 七窍生烟 Spirits sink. 意志消沉 Different cultures determine the variations among spatial metaphors. Some people are greatly influenced by their traditional concept of “up-down’. But some others pay more attention to “in-out”. Similarly “active is up” and “passive is down” are acceptable in one culture but may not in another one. V. CONCLUSION In this article, how human cognition is related to spatial metaphor is studied theoretically. Before their relation is revealed, the combination of human cognition with the objective world is discussed. People sense and perceive the world from locational perspective, redundancy of information, constancy and meaningfulness. Afterwards, the world leaves behind mental maps (internal representations of the world and its spatial properties) in the mind, which make human beings get to know spatial knowledge and cognitive development with the help of navigation. With the help of figures, some sentences are analyzed in terms of their image schema, which vividly explains how human cognition affects spatial metaphor. Then the cognitive bases of some typical spatial words and their application are probed into in this article. By using some figures and tables, the five natures of spatial metaphor—non-arbitrary, creativity, systematicity, multidimentinality and sociality are generalized. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] Aristotle. (1954). Rhetoric. English version translated by William R. Roberts. New York: Modern Library. David, N. (2000). Psychology of Language. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Huang, J. (2009). The Nature of Orientational Metaphors. Journal of Hubei Normal University (Philosophy and Social Science), 4, 80-83. Jin, Y.J. (2006). On Aristotle's Metaphoric Theory. Journal of Jin Gangshan Medical College, 4, 80-84. Lackoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Lackoff, G. (1987). Woman, Fire and Dangerous Things. Chicago: The University Of Chicago Press. Lan, C (1999). Cognitive Analyses of Spatial Metaphor. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 4, 7-15. Piaget, J. (1957). The Origins of Intelligence in Children. New York: International Universities Press. Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (1967). The Child’s Conception of Space. New York: Norton. Su, D.F. (2000). Studies in Metaphor. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Tan, W. & Guo, X. (2013). A Cognitive Interpretation of Spatial Metaphor. Contemporary Continuing Education, 2, 93-96. Xiong X.L. (1999). Cognitive Pragmatics, Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Yang, Y. & Xia,R. (2011). The analysis of cognitive phenomena as pertaining to temporal spatial-metaphors and their contrasts in English and Chinese. Journal of Qinghai University(Natural Science), 3, 81-84. Zhao Y. (2000). An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Zhu, Q. (2010). Analyses on Aristotle's Metaphoric Theory. Forward and Position, 10, 145-148. Pan Hu was born in Si Chuan, China in 1978. She received her M.A. degree in linguistics from Southeast University, China in 2003. She is currently a lecturer in Foreign Language School, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China. Her research interests include teaching methodology, spatial metaphor and psycholinguistics. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 707-714, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.707-714 The Relationship between Cultural Background and Reading Comprehension Hedieh Yousef Kermanshah Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran Lotfollah Karimi English Department, Hamadan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamadan, Iran Kamaran Janfeshan English Department, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran Abstract—This study was an attempt to investigate the relationship between cultural background of Iranian EFL learners and reading comprehension. 45 Iranian language learners majoring in TEFL and English language translation from three different ethnicities in different provinces were selected through purposive sampling. All participants received three different reading comprehension sub-tests: a reading sub-test including culturally familiar topics and two reading sub-tests with culturally unfamiliar topics. The results showed that the means of all groups on culturally familiar reading tests were greater than their means on reading tests with unfamiliar contents. Index Terms—cultural background, schema, reading comprehension I. INTRODUCTION Reading comprehension as an important language skill for L1 and L2 readers is greatly influenced by many factors. Among these factors is the role which background knowledge or familiarity with the texts plays in reading comprehension. The question raised in this study was if there was any relationship between cultural background and reading comprehension. Schema theory emphasizes that reading comprehension is an interactive process between the reader’s previous background knowledge and the text. According to the theory, ESL readers’ reading comprehension is not only due to how easy or difficult a text is for them but more depends on the level of readers’ recall from their culturally familiar background knowledge and from the contextual clues about cultural origins (Carrell, 1984; Carrell, 1987; Floyd & Carrell, 1987). Generally, there are three major types of schemata, namely, formal schemata, content schemata and cultural schemata, which are closely related to reading comprehension. Carrell and Eisterhold (1983) have stated that content schema refers to the readers’ familiarity with the subject matter of the text. A study carried out by Koh (1986) to show the impacts of familiar context on student’s reading comprehension supports the notion that one’s comprehension of a text depends on how much relevant prior knowledge the reader has about the subject matter of that particular text. He has also suggested that students must be made conscious of what is involved in successful reading. Alvermann and Readence (1985) have suggested that when prior knowledge which contradicts information in the text is activated, readers may let prior knowledge override the text. Formal schema, also called textual schema (Singhal, 1998), is defined as knowledge of language and linguistic conventions, including knowledge of how texts are organized and what the main features of a particular genre of writing are (Alderson, 2000; Carrell, 1987, 1988; Carrell & Eisterhold, 1983). According to Carrell (1987) “research into formal schema suggests that texts with familiar rhetorical organization should be easier to read and comprehend than texts with unfamiliar rhetorical organization” (p. 464). Content schema, which is described as knowledge of the content (Carrell, 1983), can further be divided into two different types: background knowledge and subject matter knowledge. The former refers to the knowledge that may or may not be relevant to the content of a particular text, and the latter is directly related to the text content and topic (Alderson, 2000). The relationship between background knowledge and reading comprehension in native language has been investigated extensively. Results in this area have shown a facilitating effect on reading comprehension, in both adults and children, of having background knowledge of the topic of a text (Anderson &Pearson, 1984; Weber, 1991). Lipson (1983) compared the reading comprehension of children in relation to their religious affiliation and found an effect of religious affiliation on reading comprehension when children read texts about a topic dealing with aspects of their familiar or unfamiliar religion. Some researchers have also provided evidence for a potential role of background knowledge in reading comprehension in a second/ foreign language. Droop and Verhoeven (1996) have suggested that via reading-aloud © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 708 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES protocols, retelling, and questioning, the children's reading performance on the distinguished types of texts were analyzed. A facilitating effect of cultural familiarity was found for both reading comprehension and reading efficiency. Bernhardt (2005) findings suggested that texts which contain culturally familiar content schema are easier to process. A number of studies regarding the activation of content schema suggest some ways to EFL teachers. As Anderson and Pearson (1984) have argued that the readers are able to only fully comprehend a text if they already know quite a bit about what is in the text. Krashen (1993) has suggested two ways to activate the students’ schemata. The first, Free Voluntary Reading, is to have the students select and read texts that are of interest to them. His second suggestion is to have them read in their first language so as to build up the knowledge base necessary to understand them in the second language. II. METHOD A. Design The research used in the present study has been ex-post facto with within-subjects design. In this design the existing groups with their own specific cultural background were compared in terms of some dependent variables. That is, different groups’ scores on culturally specific section of reading comprehension tests were labeled as dependent variable. The groups were labeled independent variable. B. Participants To homogenize the sample cut from research population (Arabs=35, Kurds=32, Turks=28) a general English test consisting of 30 multiple-choice items in reading comprehension, adopted from Longman paper and pencil sample test (2011), was administered. On the basis of the test results, the population was sorted into two groups of high-level (scores above 20 out of 30) and low-level (scores below 20 out of 30). Out of high-level students, altogether 45 Iranian EFL language learners, 15 Arabs, 15 Turks, and 15 Kurds, with the average age of 22, were purposively selected as the participants of the study. They were all undergraduate students majoring in English Translation and TEFL in Islamic Azad Universities of Kurdistan, Khuzestan (Abadan), and Tabriz, Iran. The criteria for including the participants in the study were 1) belonging to one of the three aforementioned ethnicities (Arab, Kurd, and Turk), 2) having passed the course of reading I, 3) having taken reading course II, and 4) their score in the general English test administered. They were assured that the information about their ethnicities as well as their scores on the test would be kept confidential. C. Instruments 1. General reading test This test was adopted from Longman paper and pencil sample test (2011). It consisted of 30 multiple choice items. The passages were all about general topics. This test served as a placement test to identify whether the participants were initially homogenous or not so that the researchers could generalize any possible differences between the groups to the role of cultural familiarity. The reliability of this test was estimated through KR-21 method and the reliability index was estimated to be 0.76. 2. Culture specific tests for groups A reading comprehension test consisting of three culture-oriented subtests was used for collecting data. Each subtest consisted of four or five passages containing culturally specific topics such as music, wedding ceremony, way of dressing, behavior, and Nowruz (new year festival). Based on Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease, Online Readability Measurement (www.standardsschmandards.com/exhibits/rix/index.php), the readability of each of the three passages (Arabs’, Kurds’ and Turks’ culture specific passages) was measured and turned out to be 0.40, 0.48, and 0.37 respectively. According to the interpretation of this test, indexes ranging from 0.30 to 0.49 indicate the “difficult readability” level which is appropriate for college students. As the readability level of these three passages fall within this range, the reading comprehension passages (as tests) given to the participants have been suitable for their level. The reliability of each sub-test estimated through KR-21 formula was 0.80 (for Kurdish culture), 0.70 (for Arabic culture), and 0.69 (for Turkish culture) when answered by Kurd participants; when answered by the Turk participants, the gained reliabilities were 0.81, 0.75 and 0.72, and when answered by the Arab participants, the reliabilities estimated were 0.70, 0.85, and 0.72. D. Procedure After selecting the participants based on the 4 criteria mentioned in the “participants” part, the culture oriented test package was administered to the groups in different cities in three separate 30-minute sessions. In each session a part (containing a specific cultural background) of the test package was administered. To remove the effect of the tiredness of the participants there was a 30 minute-break with refreshment after each session. Ethically, to take care of the psychological security of the participants, they were assured that the results of the test or their scores were not considered as a kind of evaluation concerning their knowledge of language. Moreover, to keep them anonymous, they were asked not to write their names on the question and answer sheets. In these ways the consent of the participants was obtained. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 709 III. DATA ANALYSIS To analyze the data collected, one-way ANOVA for correlated scores (within-subjects factor/design) or repeated measures (Ary et al., 2006) was used and the results are presented as follows. TABLE (1): DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR ARAB STUDENTS Mean Std. Deviation 13.3333 1.39728 8.4667 1.30201 8.3333 1.44749 Arabic text Turkish text Kurdish text N 15 15 15 TABLE (2) MAUCHLY'S TEST OF SPHERICITY FOR ARAB STUDENTS Mauchly's Approx. df Sig. Epsilonb W Chi-Square Greenhouse-Geisser Huynh-Feldt 0.140 25.599 2 0.000 0.538 0.546 Within Subjects Effect factor1 Lower-bound 0.500 As the results in Table (2) show, the assumption of sphericity was not met (p<0.05). So, we cannot rely on the multivariate test. The “epsilon” values on the right-hand side of Table (2) are three different ways to calculate an appropriate adjustment to the degrees of freedom of the F test. Table (3) shows the revised results using each of these corrections. Source factor1 Error(factor1) TABLE (3): TESTS OF WITHIN-SUBJECTS EFFECTS FOR ARAB STUDENTS Type III Sum of Df Mean Square Squares Sphericity Assumed 243.511 2 121.756 Greenhouse-Geisser 243.511 1.07 226.517 Huynh-Feldt 243.511 1.0 9 222.817 Lower-bound 243.511 1.000 243.511 Sphericity Assumed 45.822 28 1.637 Greenhouse-Geisser 45.822 15.050 3.045 Huynh-Feldt 45.822 15.300 2.995 Lower-bound 45.822 14.000 3.273 F Sig. 74.400 74.400 74.400 74.400 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Mauchly's test indicated that the assumption of sphericity had been violated, {x2 (2) = 243.511, p< 0.05}. Therefore, degrees of freedom were corrected using Greenhouse-Geisser estimates (e = .538). The results showed that there was a significant effect of the sub-test taken, [F (1.07, 15.05) = 74.4, p = .000, p< 0.5]. That is, the participants had different performances on the three different sub-tests. To find the sources of differences, we ran a post hoc test the results of which are presented in Table (4). TABLE (4): PAIRWISE COMPARISONS 95% Confidence Interval for Difference (I) factor1 Arabic Turkish (J) factor1 Mean Difference (I-J) Std. Error Sig. Lower Bound Upper Bound Turkish 4.133 * .435 0.000 3.200 5.066 Kurdish 4.400* .349 0.000 3.651 5.149 Kurdish 0.267 0.182 0.164 -.123 0.656 As the results in Table (4) show, there has been a significant difference between the Arab students’ mean on reading test with Arabic background and their means on the other two sub-tests (Turkish and Kurdish), p = 0.000, mean differences = 4.13 and 4.40. However, the results show that the difference between the Arab students’ means on reading passages with Turkish and Kurdish passages was not significant, p = 0.164, mean difference = 0.267. Turkish text Arabic text Kurdish text © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER TABLE (5): DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR TURK STUDENTS Mean Std. Deviation 13. 1.2 8.7 1.3 8.9 1.5 N 15 15 15 710 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES TABLE (6): MAUCHLY'S TEST OF SPHERICITY FOR TURK STUDENTS Within Subjects Mauchly's W Approx. Chi-Square Df Sig. Epsilonb Effect Greenhouse-Geisser Huynh-Feldt Lower-bound factor1 0.15 27 2 0.000 0.54 0.55 0.51 As the results in Table (6) show, the assumption of sphericity was not met ( p < 0.05). Table (7) shows revised results using each epsilon values. Source factor1 Error(factor1) TABLE (7): TESTS OF WITHIN-SUBJECTS EFFECTS FOR TURK STUDENTS Type III Sum of Squares df Mean Square Sphericity Assumed 243.511 2 124.756 Greenhouse-Geisser 243.511 1.12 228.517 Huynh-Feldt 243.511 1.093 224.817 Lower-bound 243.511 1.000 249.511 Sphericity Assumed 45.822 28 1. 7 Greenhouse-Geisser 45.822 15.03 3.07 Huynh-Feldt 45.822 15.300 2.995 Lower-bound 45.822 14.000 3.273 F 74.7 74.7 74.7 74.7 Sig. 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Mauchly's test indicated that the assumption of sphericity was not met{x2 (2) = 27, p< 0.05}. Therefore, degrees of freedom were corrected using Greenhouse-Geisser estimates (e= .54). The results show that there has been a significant effect of the sub-test taken {F (1.12, 15.03) = 74.9, p= .000}. The results show that the participants had different performance on the three different tests. In order to find the sources of differences, we ran a post hoc test the results of which are shown Table (8). TABLE (8): PAIRWISE COMPARISONS 95% Confidence Interval for Difference (I) factor1 (J) factor1 Mean Difference (I-J) Std. Error Sig. Lower Bound Upper Bound Kurdish Arabic 4.3 0.435 0.000 3.3 5.07 Turkish 4.1 0.349 0.000 3.7 5.2 Kurdish 0.2 0.182 0.17 -.14 0.66 Arabic As the results in Table (8) show, there has been a significant difference between the Turk students’ mean on reading test with Turkish background and their means on the other two tests( Arabic and Kurdish), p=0.000, mean differences= 4.3 and 4.1. However, the results show that the difference between the Turk students’ means on reading passages with Arabic and Kurdish passages has not been significant, p= 0.17 and mean difference is 0.2. Kurdish text Arabic text Turkish text TABLE (9): DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR KURD STUDENTS Mean Std. Deviation 12.9 1.23 8.8 1.4 8.7 1.6 N 15 15 15 TABLE (10): MAUCHLY'S TEST OF SPHERICITY FOR KURDISH STUDENTS Within Subjects Mauchly's W Approx. ChiDf Sig. Epsilonb Effect Square Greenhouse-Geisser Huynh-Feldt factor1 0.16 26.8 2 .000 0.55 0.56 Lower-bound 0.51 As the results in Table (10) show, the assumption of sphericity has not been met (p< 0.05). Therefore, the epsilon values in Table (10) were used to adjust to the degrees of freedom of the F test and the results are shown in Table (11). © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Source factor1 Error(factor1) 711 TABLE (11): TESTS OF WITHIN-SUBJECTS EFFECTS FOR TURKISH STUDENTS Type III Sum of df Mean Square Squares Sphericity Assumed 243.511 2 121.756 Greenhouse-Geisser 243.511 1.1 226.517 Huynh-Feldt 243.511 1.093 222.817 Lower-bound 243.511 1.000 243.511 Sphericity Assumed 45.822 28 1.637 Greenhouse-Geisser 45.822 15 3.045 Huynh-Feldt 45.822 15.300 2.995 Lower-bound 45.822 14.000 3.273 F Sig. 74.900 74.900 74.900 74.900 .000 .000 .000 .000 Mauchly's test indicated that the assumption of sphericity had been violated {x2(2) = 27, p< 0.05}. Therefore, degree of freedom were corrected using Greenhouse-Geisser estimates (e= .54). The results show that there has been a significant effect of the sub-test taken {F (1.1, 15) = 74.9, p= .000}. The results also show that the participants have had different performances on the three different subtests. To find the sources of differences, we ran a post hoc test the results of which are shown in Table (12). TABLE (12): PAIRWISE COMPARISONS 95% Confidence Interval for Difference (I) factor1 (J) factor1 Mean Difference (I-J) Std. Error Sig. Lower Bound Upper Bound Kurdish Arabic 4.1 .44 .000 3.3 5.07 Turkish 4.3 .35 .000 3.7 5.2 Turkish 0.2 .19 .18 -.14 0.66 Arabic As the results in Table (12) show, there is a significant difference between the students’ mean on reading sub-test with Kurkish background and their means on the other two subtests( Arabic and Turkish), p=0.000, mean differences= 4.1 and 4.3. However, the results show that the difference between the Kurdish students’ means on reading passages with Arabic and Turkish passages is not significant, p= 0.18 and mean difference is 0.2. IV. DISCUSSION This study was an attempt to investigate the relationship between cultural background of Iranian EFL learners and reading comprehension. In doing so, a test package containing three reading sub-tests (two culturally different tests, and one culturally specific test) was administered to three groups of language learners with three different cultural backgrounds living in the same country. The data of the study were analyzed through both descriptive and inferential statistics. The finding of the present study was that ethnic language learners’ mean scores on reading test with culturally specific contents were significantly different from their mean scores on reading tests containing culturally different contents (Tables 4, 8, 12). The results in Table (1) also showed that the groups’ mean scores on reading tests containing culturally different contents were less than their means on reading tests with culturally specific items. The participants had the same performance on the reading tests containing different cultural issues. The finding is therefore consistent with the findings of many related studies (Droop & Verhoeven, 1996; Bernhardt, 2005; Pulido, 2004; SalmaniNodoushan, 2003; Sharp, 2002; Peregoy & Boyle, 2000; Bensoussan, 1998; Carrell 1984; Foo 1989; Goh 1990; Johnson, 1981, 1982). The main common finding of these researchers is that comprehension of receptive skills such as reading depends on knowledge; that is, linking what we don’t know to what we already know. So, one explanation is that background knowledge is important, and that content schema plays an integral role in reading comprehension. The result is also consistent with Gilakjani and Ahmadi (2011) who have argued that the closer the consistency between the text and the reader’s schema, the more comprehension occurs. Accordingly, it could be explained that comprehension of reading depends on specific knowledge which can link what we don’t know to what we already know. Furthermore, this finding is consistent with those of several researchers (e.g., Carrel & Eisterhold, 1983; Williams, 1987; Cook, 1997, Harmer, 2001. Nunan, 2007) who have argued that when prior knowledge, which contradicts information in the text, is activated, readers may let prior knowledge override the text and that activation of background knowledge has several implications for teachers. The results are also consistent with the findings of the studies by quite many researchers ( to name just a few, Carrell 1984; Foo 1989; Goh 1990; Bensoussan, 1998; Peregoy& Boyle, 2000) who have argued that lack of an appropriate schema that can fit within the content of the text will result in the failure to make sense of a text. Therefore, it could be © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 712 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES argued that the reading tests with unfamiliar contents, due to the lack of schema, could not help readers comprehend the passages easily. Therefore, it could be argued that language learners living within the same country may not be familiar with the cultural backgrounds of the other minority groups and consequently may not be able to comprehend reading passages dealing with cultural issues different from theirs. This finding is consistent with that of Xiao (2001) who has argued that the rhetorical patterns of a text are language specific and culture-unique and reflect the thought pattern of a specific group. V. CONCLUSIONS In this study, the main focus was laid on the relationship between cultural background on reading comprehension by making a comparison between language learners’ mean scores on reading sub-tests with culturally familiar contents, and culturally unfamiliar contents. On the basis of the findings, it can be concluded that: a. Background knowledge is really instrumental in connecting the contextual meanings with EFL readers’ comprehension. b. The ability to understand a text is based not only on the reader’s linguistic knowledge, but also on general knowledge of the world and the extent to which that knowledge is activated during processing. c. With culturally relevant information, EFL students’ prior and familiar experiences are valuable to their reading comprehension. As Floyd and Carrell (1987) suggested, the cultural-content -schema-training” (p.103) is a very powerful way to help readers’ second language acquisition. In support of Floyd and Carrell’s recommendation, localized literature may be used to activate learners’ prior knowledge through reading about their familiar local cultures (Brock, 1990). d. Conducting readers’ cross-cultural background knowledge is absolutely a powerful instructional strategy to EFL reading comprehension. e. If the unfamiliar content of a text has an effect on reading comprehension, then it must be considered as a criterion in the selection of reading materials and in the evaluation of reading comprehension. f. Background knowledge (schemata) determines the ease or complexity of understanding the text. In other words, no matter how well a reader may know a language, he or she cannot read in that language with good comprehension if the subject matter or the content of the text is one he or she knows absolutely nothing about. VI. IMPLICATIONS This study can have several implications for teachers, test designers, and language learners. EFL teachers should bear in mind that if the unfamiliar content of a text has an effect on reading comprehension, then it must be considered as a criterion in the selection of reading materials and in the evaluation of reading comprehension. Third, as Greenberg (2006) has argued EFL teachers can use extensive reading (ER) to build up learners’ background knowledge. Greenberg (2006) indicated that learners in extensive reading class should be encouraged to choose their reading materials by their own interests and proficiency levels. ER is a very learner-centered approach. Fourth, teachers can design different types of reading activities and materials to increase their students’ background knowledge. Fifth, the syllabus designers should also provide the learners with culturally familiar reading passages in order to make teaching and learning atmospheres interesting. Sixth, test designers and interpreter should know that any generalizations made about learners’ general language proficiency on the basis of the test takers’ performance on reading tests with familiar contents may not be fair and valid. Finally, as reading the passages with familiar contents is easier than the other types of the reading passages, EFL learners are strongly recommended to make use of such passages in order to develop their reading skills. VII. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY There are several limitations to the present study. The major limitation of the study was the sample size. In this study, the sample size is not large enough. With the small number of participants, the results of the study cannot be generalized to a large population. The third limitation of the study was sample selection. As it was very hard to select the participants randomly, the research had to select them through purposive sampling. Thus, the generalizations should be made with great care. VIII. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES This study has investigated the impact of cultural background on reading comprehension. This variable may influence language learners’ performance on productive (encoding) skills. Therefore, the other researchers are recommended to study the impact of cultural background on EFL learners’ writing and speaking. In this study, the participants’ major was the English language. The results may be different with students of other majors. Therefore, the other researchers are highly recommended to replicate this study with the other participants. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 713 Moreover, the other researchers are recommended to replicate the study using participants with different general language proficiency. They are also required to compare the effect of cultural background on language learners to see whether it has the same impacts on reading comprehension of EFL learners with general language proficiency. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] Alderson, J. C. (2000). Assessing reading. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Alvermann, D. E., L. C. Smith, & J. E. Readence. (1985). Prior knowledge activation and the comprehension of compatible and incompatible text. Reading Research Quarterly 20.3, 420-436. Anderson, R. C., & P. D. Pearson. 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English-Chinese Comparative Studies & Translation, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, Shanghai. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 714 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Hedieh Yousef was born in 1986 in Tehran, Iran. She completed her Bachelor Degree in French Translation in Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran and further finished her Master Degree of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in Science & Research University, Kermanshah, Iran. Now she is working as an institutor and translator in language institutes. Her main areas of interest include TESOL, TEFL and translation. Lotfollah Karimi was born in 1962 in Sanandaj, Iran. He completed his Bachelor Degree in TEFL in Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran, further finished his Master Degree of TEFL in Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran and got his PHD in TEFL in Islamic Azad University, Esfahan, Iran. He is faculty member of Islamic Azad University of Hamadan, Iran and has been teaching courses in TEFL in B.A. and M.A. levels since 1990 up to now there. His main areas of interest are research and applied linguistics. He has published several books like Fundamentals and Principles of Translation Theory and An Introduction to Morphology and articles in the field of TEFL and testing in different international journal such as World Applied Sciences Journal and Journal of Higher Education Studies. Kamran Janfeshan was born in 1966 in Kermanshah, Iran. He completed his B.A. in TEFL in Kordestan University, Sanandaj, Iran, obtained his M.A. in TEFL in University for teacher education, Tehran, Iran and further finished his PhD in TEFL in Pune University, India. Now he is assistant professor of Applied Linguistics at Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran. His primary areas of interest include foreign language teaching, language learning and assessment. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 715-724, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.715-724 An Action Research Report on Promoting Learners’ Motivation in College English Intensive Reading Course in China Xiao Fu College of Foreign Languages, Chongqing Jiaotong University, China Abstract—This study is to examine whether the implementation of motivational strategies in an intensive reading class has a positive effect, whether it helps activate their enthusiasm for and ease their anxiety of participation in language class activities, and whether it is helpful to their improvement of English proficiency. The research questions to be addressed in the study are: 1. what’s the motivation of my students in English reading? 1) Do my students have stronger/weaker integrative motivation than instrumental motivation? 2) How do the integrative and instrumental motivation relate to the students’ reading ability? 2. Can students be motivated to read, by applying motivational strategies in EFL setting? If yes, in what way can I make it as effective as possible? 1) what makes a task more interesting? 2) What causes a student to be more engaged by one project than another? 3) How can teachers design work that will keep students' attention at the same time it draws them more deeply into the process of learning? The whole process of the research was divided into4 cycles of planning, implementing and reflecting on progress. Classroom observation, teacher’s diary, questionnaire and informal interview were used as instruments to collect data for reflection throughout the research. The final results show that, motivational strategies do have some positive effects on improving the present passive situation in my English classroom. However, there are some problems arising from the action research. Index Terms—motivation, action research, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learner I. INTRODUCTION Nowadays, educational reform in China is trying to improve the education situation. In the last few years, some researchers in China did some researches on motivation in Foreign language learning, as some study on social—psychological factors and language learning, Wen (2001) did a case study on a successful and an unsuccessful English learner. Wen tried to find what are the different motivation among them. Even though there have been a lot of education-oriented publications providing taxonomies of classroom-specific motives, they fall short of offering an efficient guide to practitioners. II. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Instruments Classroom observation, reflective journal, informal interviews, and questionnaires were used as instruments to collect data in my research. Appendix A provides the details of the instrument sheets. B. The Sample Subjects for the whole study were 58 college students majoring in computer science. This class was randomly selected from one of my teaching classes for the semester. All the participants were first-year Non-English majors from the same class who had attended the university for half a year, aged from 18 to 20. Among the sample population 24 were females and 34 were males. They had learned English for at least six years before their enrolment in this university. The students have different personalities and different proficiency levels in English learning. C. Procedure Details Cycle 1: Creating the Basic Motivational Conditions Week 1—4 In the first week, I introduced myself and the requirements of the Intensive English Reading course. I also explained the aims and process of the research which I was doing with my students. My students’ support and cooperation made me go on with the research. I found that personalizing really helped to increase the students' interest levels. Carl Rogers claimed that learning would be much more effective when the facilitator does not hide behind a façade. Students showed curiosity and were inquisitive. I think that was because I gave them the chance they wanted to know more about © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 716 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES me and my life outside the classroom. It is a personal decision how much of yourself you want to give away and share with your students. Peer pressure may be one of the factors that cause them are not to be actively involved in the class. Then, I encouraged my students to do self-introduction. I encouraged them to cherish this chance. I told them as a large class, few chances would be gained if they didn’t catch it in time. Some students did it as volunteers. Other students also tried to make an attempt. They seemed to be pleased to let others know themselves and cherished this chance to show themselves in public. From their self-introductions, I got to know their receptive age, interests, and hometown; also, in some degree, their personalities. Getting to know each other was the first activity I took to generate the basic motivational conditions. In the second week, I asked them to write a composition: why I read in English? I told them it was a good way for us to reach out to. And I explained it was not extra homework, they could write either in English or Chinese. I told them English is such a beautiful language; I didn’t want them to just learn it. I also wanted to let them think about why they learn it. It is a reflective work for them. Via the students’ compositions, I found instrument motivation is much stronger than integrative motivation among my students. Most students said they learn English to pass examinations, future work, a better job, going aboard… Few students said they enjoy learning English. But I have found all students agreed that English is very import to them, though some of them said they lost interest in learning English. I checked their scores in the fist English reading proficiency test, of those who said they enjoy learning English, and found that most of them got higher scores than other students. Here is the result from students’ composition: “Why I read English”. The following are the students’ statements: 1. By learning to read in English, I hope I will be able to read English novels, English newspapers and/or magazines. (5%). 2. Learning to read in English is important in that we need to cope with internationalisation. (2%) 3. It is fun to read in English. (6.9%) 4. By being able to read in English, I hope to understand more deeply about lifestyles and cultures of English speaking countries. (8.2%) 5. Reading in English is important because it will make me a more knowledgeable person. (4.8%) 6. I am learning to read in English merely because I would like to get good grades in examinations, like CET—4. (30.5%) 7. I am taking a reading class merely because it is a required subject. (18.9%) 8. Learning to reading in English is important because it will be conducive to my general education. (35.6%) 9. I would not voluntarily read in English unless it is required as homework or assignment. (42.2%) 10. I am learning to read in English because I might study abroad in the future. (6%) Via students’ composition: “Why I read in English?”, 87.8% students said they have strong motivation in English reading, others said not.20.3% students said they read for enjoyment; 33.3% students said they read English for gaining information; 23.8% students said they read to pass the CET or other English examinations; 36.5% students said they read for their future or career. For further understanding of their motivation, I did a general surveys among them. The questions I adopted from Wallace (1998), Action Research for Language Teachers. I asked them “How would you describe your motivation?” 78.8% students said they have high motivation in English learning. 15.3% students said they don’t want to learn English at all. 6% students said they don’t know. In response to my question: “What would you say are the things that have affected your motivation over your period of study?” 37.9% students said the materials were not attractive enough. 28.8% students said they didn’t feel interested in the teacher’s way of teaching. Students’ feedback proved my hypothesize: yes, students have strong motivation to read English, though most of the motivation inclined to instrumental motivation. But it still remained a puzzle: How does the integrative and instrumental motivation relate to the students’ reading ability? Also, from the survey, I also asked them: “What would you say are the things that have affected your motivation over your period of study? Teachers/text books/fellow students/ something in you?” I heard the opinions from my students and found a problem I would plan in my second cycle: Students felt the materials were not attractive enough. I plan to add some interesting and relevant materials for them in the second cycle—Generating students motivation. At the end of the first four weeks, I reflected about the research. The relationship between teacher and students and peer relationship were improved greatly in the first cycle. But Students’ feedback collected at the end of this cycle showed that many students complained the communication between the teacher and students was so poor. As one of the students wrote, “You leave the classroom after the class is over, and we cannot find you until next class.” Yes, I had to admit the reality that I didn’t have many chances to communicate with students. It reminded me that one student telephoned me and told me that she was so depressed because she had an impediment in speech. She was nervous when speaking with people in daily life, let alone in English class. That day, I had a talk with her. The talk helped her built up her self-confidence. I noticed that she became more active and happier from then on. The students’ feedback and the above-mentioned matter made me think about the necessity of enhancing the communication between the students and me. I haven’t enough time and chance to be with the students. I thought about © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 717 using e-mails from cycle two. Also, I found my students did have motivation to learn English and they regarded English as one of their most important subjects. They really wanted to learn English well. They felt passive and demotivated; one of the reasons was concerning my teaching style and also the limited class time and abundance of text materials, I usually use instruction method for grammar and language points and so. Students got few chances to practice. In the second cycle, to help students involve participate actively and was one of the most important actions I should modify. Another problem sounded from one of my students: Miss Liqing, Zhan. She is a student who has the strong motivation to learn English. But she never answered my questions in class by volunteering herself. She said she really wanted to learn English well and she made great efforts to do so. Here are her difficulties: 1. Teacher speaks completely English in class and she couldn’t understand it all. 2. She has no chance to practice her oral English. I told her there was an English corner every Thursday but she seemed to always miss it because of the meetings. She wanted to get more chances to practice. I suggested her to talk with her roommates for half an hour every day in English. 3. She said even though she prepared for English lesson very well, she dare not volunteer at any stage. However she said it was very good that I always praised those students who answering questions and she thought I was very kind and patient. How can I maintain and protect those students’ motivation? They work very hard but they thought they are poor at English; they want to answer my questions but they dare not; they have good learning habits, yet how can I get them involved in classroom activities? Cycle 2: Generating Students’ Motivation Week 5---8 To find answers to those problems which appeared in cycle I, Questionnaire 1 was distributed to 56 students, 53 were returned to be collected. The result showed that the students thought the teacher was enthusiastic about her teaching and prepared the teaching materials carefully but they generally felt that the class was boring, and both the texts and teacher’s style of presentation were not interesting. In addition, they admitted that they needed training in reading strategies and skills. In Part II and Part III of the questionnaire, the students explained the reasons why they were not active and de-motivated in class, and they also gave some suggestions on how to make the class more interesting so that they can maintain and protect their motivation in the class. The following are the reasons they gave for being passive in class: 1.They cannot follow the teacher because the teaching pace is too fast. 2.The texts are boring, difficult to understand and have nothing to do with their real life. 3.The activities are not interesting. Some of the students gave the following suggestions for improving the lessons: 1. The teacher should explain the text in more details and give more examples of how the new words can be used. 2. The teacher should organize some interesting activities to stimulate the students’ interests in learning and force students to use English in class. 3 .The teacher should bring some up-to date articles for students to learn.  Planned actions With the problems in the first cycle in mind, the following actions were designed and acted out in the second cycle: to generate the students’ motivation. 1. The traditional teacher-centered way of teaching can be changed into the learner-centered way of learning. I should give classroom back to the students. In order to help students carry out the learner-centered way of learning, some theories of reading and the critical reading strategies and skills must be taught to them. The students can use the texts in the textbook to practice these strategies and skills. 1) Acquaint the students with the following theories of reading: A: Psycholinguistic models of reading; the bottom-up model, the top-down model and the interactive model. B: The theory of schema. 2) The following reading strategies and skills will be introduced to the students. A. Previewing: Learning about a text before really reading it. B. Contextualizing: Placing a text in its historical, biographical and cultural contexts. C. Questioning to understand and remember: Asking questions about the content, D. Reflecting on challenges to your beliefs and values; Examining your personal responses. E. Outlining and summarizing: Identifying the main ideas and restating them in your own words. F. Evaluating an argument: Examining the logic of the text as well as its credibility and emotional impact. G. Comparing and contrasting related reading: Exploring likenesses and differences between texts to understand them better. 2. Use more group activities to guide the students to learn cooperatively within each group. 3. Organize different kinds of activities to have students actively participate in classroom learning. 1) Break each text into smaller sections and ask each group to prepare only one section of the text, so that their workload can be reduced. 2) Design more questions about the texts and lead students to do more discussions in class. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 718 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 3) Set aside the first 15 minutes once each week for an activity named “News of the Week”, during which each group will take turns to report to the class important national or international new from the previous week. The purpose of this activity is to arouse their interest in reading or listening to the English news and especially to practice their oral English and enlarge their vocabulary. 4) Ask each group to find and prepare at least one English article that they are interested in, and present the article to the class. The purpose of doing this is to have students take an active part in learning as well as to bring more reading materials that they felt like reading in the class. 5) Ask each group to compile an English dictionary of their own during the next semester. By doing this, students are expected to become active in learning vocabulary. 4. Change the rule of grading so that their participation and performance in the above-mentioned activities will be counted 40% of their final grade, the other 60% will be for their final exam results. Week 5: According to my plan, I first introduced the three psycholinguistic models of reading, namely the bottom-up model, the top-down model and the interactive model, and the theory of schema to the students. They felt these strategies were very useful and said that they would try to apply them in their reading later. I felt very gratified that my introduction of the reading theories and strategies was well-received by the students. However, I also realize that this introduction should have been given at the beginning of this course. Week 6: In this week, the class was divided into 11 groups of 55 students. I then explained how each group would prepare their part of the text and how they should participate in the three activities---“News of the Week”, “An article a day” and “my dictionary”. I then divided the text we were about to study into 11 groups with a section to prepare. I announced that, in the next week, Group 1 would be the first group to explain the text followed by Group 2, 3,4, etc.; and that “news of the week” would start form Group 5 from the next week, and “an article a day” from Group 8 starting in the 9th week. The students seemed to be excited about the group work and the three activities, but some of them complained to me that this would give them too much of a burden, Though all the students agreed to have a try of this new way of learning, I still worried whether this plan could be smoothly carried out. Week 7: This was the first week for the activity of “news of the week”. There were 5 students in Group 5, who had to broadcast news to the class for the first time. Miss Liqin Zhan was one of the members in Group 5. With my insistence, she came to the front and rushed through the news she selected from “China Daily”, and then ran back to her seat without staying to answer questions from the class, I then encouraged the class to ask her questions about the news she had just read. I think this activity is really necessary because on the one hand, it can “ force” the students to participate in the class activity and give a chance to those who said “ I dare not but I really want to.” on the other hand, it can also helped the students talk more freely in front of a large audience. Then the time came for studying the text. Altogether four groups took their turns in explaining the part of the text assigned to them. I first asked them to summarize the main idea of their part of the text, then they analyzed the meaning and usage of some difficult words and sentences, and then they also raised some questions, thus a lot of discussion was generated. By the end of each group’s work, I just summarized what we had discussed and pointed out those important points that the group failed to explain. Students’ feedback: this new style of “group learning” got the students more involved in the study of the text. But some of them said they had to prepare for it for a long time. They were afraid they could not find enough time to do required preparation. Week8: This week, the students in Group 6 were more relaxed than Group 5, but they still just read the news and gave no explanation to it. I then encouraged the other students to ask them questions, I also asked some students to retell the news just read by the students in Group 6, and the whole class enjoyed this activity very much. After the NEWS activity, I spent 10 minutes explaining how they should build up their own dictionary. As for the group learning, only Group 5 prepared their part of the text very well, Group 6 made no preparation because “they had to prepare for the news”, Group 7 and 8 also did poorly because of various reasons. I had to take over their work. I felt disappointed to some extent and decided to interview some students after class. From the unstructured interview, I learned that though they all felt group learning very interesting and useful, there were, however, two main obstacles for them to make preparations for the text. First, they needed enough time to prepare, the time I gave to them was too limited to prepare. Second, they found the text too difficult to prepare. Some of them suggested me to give up the group learning and that I resume back to the old way of teaching. They also told me that they had no time to do the other two activities ---“My Dictionary” and “An Article a Week”. I decided to let the whole class take a vote on these activities in the next week. At the end of cycle, I proposed a vote on the fate of the four activities put forward by me. As a result, only the activity of “News of the Week” was voted in, all the other three activities were voted out. However, still some students wished to go on with them. Also, one of my students went to the front and said; he found the four actives were very © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 719 useful and did motivate him to study English. He said if we persisted with them, properly we would make progress. Students also told me that because they were used to “teacher-centered class”, they now liked the style of “learner-centered” and atmosphere to learn in spite that much more time has to be spent preparing before class. Though I felt very sad about the result, I still thought we should persist on with the learner-centered way of teaching style. However, I did reflect on the cycle leading to the targets for the next phase. My rational in this cycle is: With the old teaching method, the teacher would normally chew the text thoroughly and then feed the students with what s/he has chewed. Thus, the students' own ability to chew and digest has been handicapped. When they become accustomed to this way of learning, they will expect the teacher to tell them everything without being able to team and think by themselves. Therefore, the first step in this action research is to change the traditional teaching method —the teacher-centered bottom-up way of teaching reading—by introducing to them the relevant reading theories, strategies and skills. The purpose of the second step is to encourage both cooperation between the students within a group and competition among different groups so as to make the class active and the reading activities easy and enjoyable. In Step Three, activities and tasks are designed to train students to master both bottom-up and top-down reading skills. The last step, which is by no means the least and must be announced at the very beginning of the semester, is the new way of assessment which emphasizes their performance in the course of learning and hence encourages them to take an active part in the activities designed. After reviewing my teaching diary and analyzing the data I collected from the interviews, I found there are two problems which arose from this cycle. The first problem is my students seemed to feel averse to group tasks assigned to them. As I said before, they have become accustomed to teacher-centered way of learning, they will expect the teacher to tell them everything without being able to team and think by themselves. This is one of the reasons they don’t want to keep up with the designed activities. I should give them some time to adapt to the new teaching style instead of feeling disappointment by them. Another reason is from myself. I did my research to fast and gave too many tasks to my students. I need to modify my action research in cycle 3. Cycle 3: Maintaining and Protecting Motivation Week 9—12 Considering the problems in cycle 2, I planned action for maintaining and protecting students’ motivation in English reading. In this cycle, I chose to use the new Instructional Technologies because of their pedagogical potential. The tasks which I assigned to students should be specified and clearer. For instance, I just asked students to take along one article they like reading to the class in cycle 2. Instead of that, in cycle 3, I asked students to read the material with certain goals in the preparation step of each unit. That narrowed the reading materials they should read; also, it therefore made them read actively instead of passively. The details can be seen below. Before the class Before the class, I listed some tasks of material collection on certain topics, such as the things about growing up, what happened when you grow up, the people who affect you during your growing up, etc. Apart from these tasks, there were also some other tasks which deal with several key words and phrases that might be obstacles in understanding the text. The students were free to choose any of the listed tasks according to their interest. As a result, students were divided into groups according to different tasks he or she chose to collect material including text and pictures about it either on the Internet or in the library. Students had to read the material on the Internet and had to decide what the necessary information was. Then they collected the material together and edited the material. I gave them some help about how to explore on the Internet and how to find the useful information in the library. Each group of students discussed and negotiated with each other to finish the material collection. Before the class, the material each group collected were all sent to my email box so that I could organized the material in order to make a multimedia presentation in the class. In the class Step 1: warm-up In the class, the multimedia presentation was done with the help of a computer. After the presentation, the students were given chances to make further explanations and discuss the topic. Step 2: Predict After the discussion, the students were given the title and the first paragraph of the text according to which students predicted the general idea of the text. Step 3: Read Then the students, with the prediction, read the text and recorded the time taken. Step 4: Discuss After the students finished reading the text, they discussed the general idea with each other. A discussion on some specific questions based on the text was also held afterwards. The discussion made the students reread the text and helped them understand the text better. Step 5: Analyze Whereafter, the text was analyzed paragraph by paragraph including the language points and rhetoric matters. Some meanings of the new words and expressions could be guessed by the students from the context. The students and I dealt with the usage of these words and expressions together. Finally, we worked out an outline of the text. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 720 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES In the following weeks of this cycle, I kept to this way of English teaching In this cycle, I encourage the students to have constant contact with me through e-mail in English. I had students writing to me about learning difficulties and administration. I encouraged them to set their own goal in learning English, both a short goal and a long goal. I encouraged each student to make contact with a native speaker through WWW chat-lines or the ICQ international chat tool. They felt very excited about this way. I promoted self-confidence and autonomy by giving them ample choice for assignment titles. The activity of “The News of the Week” still carried on, but I decided to limit the time from 15 minutes to 10 minutes. They did “News of the Week” very well now. I demonstrated the three steps of the revised version of this activity: first, read or retell the news; second, answer questions from other students; and finally, explain some useful expressions in the news. Groups worked in these four weeks did a better job than the previous groups. I think it was all because the students were most interested in this activity, so they liked to devote their time and efforts in it. This was probably as a sage has put it---“interest is the best teacher.” For social culture input, from week 9, I gave my students 2 extra hours every Monday evening. I did an introduction to Hollywood films and western music. The only problem about this activity was that it was not in my working time. However, students showed strong enthusiasm in this way. And no doubt, in this way, students’ integrative motivation was improved. At the same time, I tried to increase the attractiveness of the course content. As I designed in my action plan of this cycle, I provided a point of entry before reading a new article. I picked a scene from a story, or an illustration or any paragraph or even page to be looked at or read in class before the actual reading. I tried to let the material to be accessible to the students and sufficiently stimulating to arouse interest and motivate them and give them a flavor of the work in terms of setting, characters, and narration etc. I encouraged pupils to predict what the story would be about or express a reaction (positive or negative) to the material. At the end of week 11, one of my classes- the sampling, the students organized a mini English speech competition and invited me as their judge. I was very pleased to do this job. More autonomy, higher motivation. They showed their autonomy to learn English, which reflected their motivation in English learning. During these four weeks, the activities I designed went smoothly and students agreed that we should continue with them. They said though they had to put more effort and time, the activities did improve their English very much. They also felt excited about using the new Instructional Technology. I asked for my students’ feedback at the end of this cycle. Some of the feedback was as I anticipated. Most students said they were motivated by the “learner-centered” way to learn. And they thought the class and the way of learning was effective. Of course, they also gave some suggestions, such as “role-play” and “video watching”. In this cycle, I mainly used teacher logs, informal student interviews, Chongqing Jiaotong university Evaluation system on Internet (http://www.cqjtu.edu.cn) and colleague’s observation to collect data. Students showed more involvement in the class activities. The time spent on their unsolicited behaviors were more than before. Here are some comments from my students:  I feel the class is more active than before, and thanks to my teacher changing the dull atmosphere.  The reading materials are so interesting and I like to “be lost in books”!  My reading desire is rising than ever before. After watching movies, I like to find the original novel to read and learn more about the western society culture.  The four actives you asked us to do have really improved my reading ability, enhance my vocabulary and made me to read more after class. Thank you!  I like your Intensive Reading Class. It gave me a chance to share what I read with my class.  I feel I got involvement in the reading section now. Also, I like group work. That make me more motivate to learn. I reflected on my action in this cycle. After I did some changes on the basis of cycle 2, the group working obviously had great improvements. The results seemed to be satisfactory as the result showed above, but some problems still arose in this cycle. The phenomenon discovered by my colleague that some students didn’t participate in the group work in this cycle drew my attention. I realized that there were more or less some students who at times didn’t do the task assigned. And I also found that some students would never do anything unless the assignment was to be checked or graded. Even more, I found that a few students didn’t prepare the material well. Some of them were very lazy and were always waiting for the other group members to collect material. Some students suggested that the group work of material collection should be graded and be given rewards. I took them along to the last cycle. Cycle 4: Rounding off the learning experiences Week 13—16 In these four weeks, the English class remained the same except for some changes which were made according to my students’ feedback and my reflection. The students’ group work of material collection was evaluated after the presentation by the students and I together. The best group was given awards such as notebooks. Accordingly, the group who did the worst job made a presentation in the class on the topic which they chose. This way turned out to be effective. The students all enthusiastically collected material. Apart from that, Role-plays, English films, and more background knowledge were added in the class. Given most of my students are interested in music according to their © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 721 self-introduction, I also taught them some English songs and introduced them to some English singers. During the activities, not only did my students do English reading but also their English speaking and listening were practiced. From then on, I really understood the importance about Increasing Learner Satisfaction and the Question of Rewards and Grades! I reflected on my fourth cycle, though students showed much enthusiasm on reading class now, one problem still arose from this cycle, actually, it took me to considering my further study. In general, motivation can be considered as either intrinsic (behavioral, needs) or extrinsic (cognitive and humanistic, reinforcement). Intrinsic motivation is generally possessed by people having a persona interest or interests in doing something and helping to set their goals. People are intrinsically motivated not because of accomplishing the activity they do brings a reward, but because doing the activity itself is a reward. Although increasing learner satisfaction and rewards in class played an important role to motivate my students, the basic question is to improve their intrinsic motivation. At week 16, in order to know the students reactions to the 16 weeks action plan, the second questionnaire—Questionnaire 2 was designed and distributed to the students. Part I of Questionnaire 2 is the same with Part I of Questionnaire 1. 56 questionnaires were distributed to the students and all of them were collected. III. RESULT Below is the analysis on the students' response to Questionnaire 2. Statement Average Point of Q1 Average Point of Q2 1 4.5 2 4.7 3 3.8 TABLE 1: AVERAGE POINTS FOR EACH STATEMENT IN PART I OF 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.1 5.7 5.0 3.6 5.4 6.2 3.7 6.1 5.7 5.7 5.6 6.7 6.4 5.5 6.2 6.8 5.9 11 4.1 12 4.8 13 4.0 14 6.6 15 5.9 5.9 4.9 4.0 5.8 5.0 Figure 1: Comparison of the Average Points of Each Statement in Part I between Q1 and Q2 From Table 1 and Figure 1 we can see that the average points of statements 1-11 in Q2 are all on the positive side of the scale above 5.0, and are all higher than that in Ql, especially between statements 1, 3, 7, 10 and 11. This result shows that the implementation of the 16-week action plan leads to the following results: 1. They found the class more intellectually challenging and stimulating; 2. They felt they had learned something more valuable; 3. They had more interest in English reading; 4. They had learned and understood the subject materials of this course better; 5. The teacher was more enthusiastic about teaching the class; 6. The teacher was more dynamic and energetic in conducting the class; 7. The teacher's style of presentation was more attractive; 8. The teacher's explanations were clearer; 9. Class materials were prepared and explained more carefully; 10. Students were encouraged more to participate in class discussions. 11. Students were encouraged more to express their own ideas and/or question the teacher. The average points in Q2 for statement 12 and 13 remained unchanged, which shows that the students still think that the texts they are learning are difficult and not very interesting. The average points in Q2 for statement 14 and 15 become lower than that in Q l and are around the neutral point on the scale, which means that the students think the supplementary materials are more helpful also more reading strategies © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 722 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES and skills are taught during the implementation of the 16-week action plan. Part III of Q2 had five open questions. The students' answers to these questions are summarized as follows. 1. Which of the above-mentioned improvements do you like best? Why? 39 out of the 53 respondents choose the "News of the Week" as their favorite activity, and the main reason is that they can learn more useful expressions. 2. What other improvements do you think should be made on the course of intensive reading? Eight of the students think that I should explain the texts in more detail so that they can understand them better; three of the students suggest I should provide more examples of how the new words in the text can be used; eleven of the students hope that I can bring more supplementary materials to class. 3. What is your general impression on this course in the past 16 weeks? 35 students answered this question, twenty-nine of whom feel that my way of teaching has greatly improved, however the texts were too difficult; the other students thought that the supplementary materials were very helpful and my lesson could be made more interesting and attractive. 4. Please make your free comment on my work or on this course. All the 53 students who answered the question were very satisfied with my teaching. They said that no other teachers would be so critical with their teaching, and no other teachers would spend so much time on the preparation of the lesson. They acknowledged that they had learned not only a lot of new words and valuable information, but also the work ethic of a responsible teacher. TABLE TWO: RESULTS OF TWO TESTS BEFORE AND AFTER THE ACTION RESEARCH Student number Average Read 1 Cloze1 Test1 Read2 Cloze2 Test2 Time1 Time2 54.29 55.80 55.04 66.96 69.82 68.39 72.46 49.38 Read1 and read2—the result of the reading comprehension in the tests taken before and after the action research respectively Cloze 1 and Cloze2—the result of the cloze tests taken before and after the action research Test1 and Test2 (%)—the result of the tests taken before and after the action research Time1 and Time2 (minutes)—time taken in the tests before and after the action research Average—the average results of the whole class The table includes the average results and some students’ results of the tests. From the table, we can see that there is significant progress both in the reading comprehension and cloze tests. It is obvious that the time taken in the second test is much shorter than that of the first test. Most students’ reading speed and reading comprehension improved after the action research. However, we can’t say their English reading ability is improved only because their motivation is increased. But anyway the results of the test give us references on the effect of using motivational strategies in an Intensive Reading class. IV. DISCUSSION A. Achievements The data collected in the first cycle suggested: most students have strong motivation in English learning. The data also showed most students have much stronger instrumental motivation than integrative motivation. However, those who have stronger integrative motivation, where found to be stronger in their reading ability as well. This conclusion is in accordance with Christine Nuttal’s opinion. Nuttal thought weak readers were in a vicious circle. Wherever a reader comes, any factor could result in other factors. For instance, student who read slower hardly enjoy reading; they couldn’t enjoy reading, so that they read as few as he could; they read few, so that they has difficulty in reading, therefore, their reading speed is slow. Nuttal explained it as the following cycle: The vicious circle of the weak reader (Nuttal. C. 1983, 167) © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 723 Moreover, Nuttal supposed that if students want to get out of the vicious circle and get into the virtuous circle, they have to enjoy reading and read much. The virtuous circle of the good read ( Nuttal. C, 1983, 167) I reflected on the result of my action research. The first research questions can be answered. Firstly, students have strong motivation for English reading, and most of them have stronger instrumental motivation like for passing examinations, getting information and for their future jobs. So that the text books authors should consider the students needs. Many students do their homework and engage in many types of learning activities, even when a subject is not very interesting. Obviously, these students share the belief of the curriculum makers that what they are being taught will come in handy. In order to inspire learners to concern themselves with most learning activities, we should find out their goals and the topics they want to learn, and try to incorporate them into the curriculum. We should supply more teaching activities with high efficiency which can be suitable for the teaching materials. Secondly, students who have stronger integrative motivation also have stronger reading ability. This phenomenon shows that one of the effective ways to improve English reading is to cultivate students’ integrative motivation. The teaching materials therefore should be interesting. Dornyei (2001) suggested using Popular culture to increase students’ motivation. In my action research, I used the Internet, multiple media facilities to play western movies and introduce the songs from western society. Obviously, this is an effective way. But the problem is that there are only 8 teaching times for Intensive Reading Class and a movie should at least use 2 and half teaching times. So I played the movies for my students every Monday evening. The time is not included in out teaching time. How to solve this problem and keep a balance between my spare time and working time is a question that needs to be considered in the future. B. Problems Arising from the Research Although most of the results confirm the aspects of the research literature and my own assumptions, there are two problems that arose from my action research which seem to be different from my assumption. The phenomenon discovered by my colleague that some students didn’t participate in the group work in cycle one drew my attention. I realized that there were more or less some students who at times didn’t do the task assigned. And I also found that some students would never do anything unless the assignment was to be checked or graded. The result is that these students actively participated in the class, but they would still not do the assignments if they were not required to be handed in. Another phenomenon that appeared in cycle two demonstrated this problem once again. Some students forgot the lessons very fast because they never reviewed the lesson after class. Some students on one hand actively participated in the tasks which were assigned by the teacher and enthusiastically participated in the in-class discussion, on the other hand they were not active learners after class to some extent. Although in cycle three of my action research, I addressed this problem to a certain extent by assigning compositions to them, I still feel this problem hasn’t been completely resolved. The two phenomena show that some students didn’t learn by themselves but learn under the teacher’s inspection. The teacher cannot force the students to learn. The learning should be active and class should be student-centered. Learning should be completed by the acquisition of knowledge construction by the learner him or herself. In my action research, I tried to make my English class more interesting through different ways in order to make my students learn actively. Nevertheless, some students seemed unaffected. The issue may result from several reasons. The first reason is connected to my students’ habit of depending on the teacher to tell them everything they should do. This habit is very common in high school. The conventional teaching style in China is teacher-centered. The teacher decides every thing in the class. Because the test scores are almost the only standard which can decide whether the students can enter university and what kind of university the students can go to, high school teachers and students pay too much attention to the test scores. That results in the students’ learning for high scores. They do not learn actively but often passively. In the long run, the students lose their ability of independent study and get into the habit of depending on the teacher. Entering university, many students face the fact © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 724 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES that nobody will tell them what they should do after class and how. Some students soon adapt themselves to the new situation. Some would do nothing because they think nobody has asked them to do anything. For this kind of students, the best way is to help them in developing good learning habits. The second reason may relate to the students’ instrumental motivation in English learning. I know some students who in the first class declared they had little interest in English learning. It may root from the learning and teaching styles in high school. In the teacher-centered classroom, the students’ aim of English learning changed into high score but not learning knowledge itself. Therefore large amount of training for the test was taken. This kind of learning can hardly be interesting. Therefore some students lost the interest in learning. By various means, some of my students’ interest in English reading had been promoted. However, in EFL learning context, there were still few students who were not affected by those means. Therefore, promoting students’ English integrative motivation is a complex and long-term work. This is also an issue needing further research. The final issue is about reward and evaluation. The feeling of satisfaction is a significant factor in reinforcing achievement behavior, which renders satisfaction a major component of motivation. Students gave suggestions in cycle 3 and they asked graded their performance, which prove the significant of rewards and evaluation. In other words, grades focus on performance outcomes, rather than on the process of learning itself. Consequently, „many students are grade driven, not to say, “grade grubbing,” and this preoccupation begins surprisingly early in life' (Covington, 1999, 127). REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] Alison, J. (1993). Not bothered? Motivating reluctant language learners in Key Stage 4: London: CILT. Argyle, M. (1969). Social Interaction. London: Tavistock Press. Benson, P. (2000). Teaching and researching autonomy in language learning. London: Longman. Chambers, G. N. (1999). Motivating language learners. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Covington, M. (1999). Caring about learning: The nature and nurturing of subjectmatter appreciation. Educational Psychologist, 34: 127-36. Daniels, R. (1994). Motivational mediators of cooperative learning. Psychological Reports, 74: 1011-22. Dornyei, Z. and Otto, I. (1998). Motivation in action: A process model of L2 motivation. Working Papers in Applied Linguistics (London: Thames Valley University), 4: 43-69. Dornyei, Z. (2001). Teaching and Researching Motivation. England: Pearson Education Limited. Ehrman, M. E. and Dornyei, Z. (1998). Interpersonal dynamics in second language Education: The visible and invisible classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Good, T. L. and Brophy, J. E. (1994). Looking in classrooms. 6th edition. New York: HarperCollins. Little, D. (1991). Learner autonomy 1: Definitions, issues and problems. Dublin: Authentik. MacIntyre, P. D. (1999). Language anxiety: A review of the research for language Teachers. In Young, D. J. (ed.). Affect in foreign language and second language learning. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, pp. 24-45. Qiufang Wen. (2001) A study between the Individual Difference and English Learning Strategies of Non-English Major in College. English Language Learning and Teaching, Beijing:23-25 Rogers, C. (1991). On becoming a person. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Ushioda, E. (1997). The role of motivational thinking in autonomous language Learning. In Little, D. and Voss, B. (Eds.). Language centres: Planning for the new millennium. Plymouth: University of Plymouth, CERCLES, Centre for Modern Languages, pp. 39-50. Wenden, A. (1991). Learner strategies for learner autonomy. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall. Wright, T. (1987). Roles of Teachers & Learners. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Xiao Fu was born in Chongqing, China in 1978. She has received her Master Degree from University of Strathclyde, Scotland in 2003. She is currently a Lecturer in College of Foreign Languages, Chongqing Jiaotong University, China. Her research interests include English teaching methods and English literature. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 725-729, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.725-729 Effects of the Second Language on the First: A Study of ESL Students in China Xin Wang Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China Abstract—Language transfer may occur in both directions: either from the first language to the second or from the second to the first. The study of language transfer is incomplete if either direction is ignored. Extensive and all-encompassing studies have been witnessed on the study of the effect of the first language on the second while it leaves us much room of investigation related to the study of the effect of the second language on the first. To fill this gap, by virtue of the theory of multi-competence, this study explored the ESL students' transfer of the second language structure to their first language through investigating the effect of English causal clause on the Chinese causal clause. The research found that influenced by the second language knowledge, the middle-level (L2) ESL learners were apt to put the adverbial clause behind the main clause in Chinese, demonstrating that language transfer was bidirectional and there existed backward transfer from the second to the first language. It was also discovered that the transfer was associated with the ESL students' second language proficiency level. Index Terms—multi-competence, English causal clause, Chinese causal clause, backward transfer I. INTRODUCTION Language transfer plays an indispensable part in the study of second language acquisition. The transfer is bidirectional: the first language can have effect on the second language and the second language can also exert influence on the first language. The former is called forward transfer and the latter backward transfer. The study of forward transfer has been the interest of linguists and researchers alike for a long time and profound studies have been carried out form various angles: Contrastive Analysis, cross-linguistic influence, resetting of parameters and many others. However, the studies on backward transfer are far from extensive. Laufer, Pavlenko and others have recently conducted relevant researches in multifaceted environments (see Cook, 2003). Also in china, some scholars have begun to pay attention to backward transfer and hence made some insightful observations. Among them are Zhang Jingyue et al. (2006) who studied the influence of English on Chinese by reexamining two "ill-translated sentences" and called it the second language effect in direct translation; Wang Gaiyan (2006) proved the existence of the effect of the second language on the first by using nominal constructions beyond IP as examples; Wu Yi'an et al (2006) made an investigation of the English features in the spoken language of four Chinese speakers of English. Yet there are few studies of the influence of the second language on the first concerning causal clause. Maybe the discrepancies between English and Chinese causal clauses have failed to be noticed by many researchers. The present study, therefore, attempts to prove the existence of backward transfer by investigating the effect of English causal clause on Chinese causal clause. II. MULTI-COMPETENCE AND THE SECOND LANGUAGE USERS Cook (2003, p. 2) put forward the notion of "mutli-competence" which refers to the "knowledge of two or more languages in one mind". The study of multi-competence is to find out how the two or more languages interact with each other in the mind of a single speaker. The two languages are neither completely isolated nor totally integrated but form an integration continuum. The integration continuum does not necessarily apply to the whole language system. Nor does it necessarily affect individuals in the same way. The integration system may also be connected with different stages of the second language development (Cook, 2003). The second language can affect the first language in at least three ways: it enhances the use of the first language; it harms the use of the first language or it is neutral to the use of the first language. The second language users are a special group of language users. Their knowledge of the second language is not identical to that of a native speaker; their knowledge of their first language is in some respects not the same as that of a monolingual either. Besides, they have different mind from those of monolinguals (Cook, 2003). So, it stands to reason to claim that ESL students have different minds both from English native speakers and Chinese monolingual speakers in that there are two languages interacting and affecting each other in their minds. As a result, the two linguistic systems may well influence each other. III. ENGLISH CAUSAL CLAUSE AND CHINESE CAUSAL CLAUSE © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 726 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Different nations have their own specific thinking pattern due to the differences from the perspective of history, geography, religion, customs and cultural background. Language reflects mind. As far as English and Chinese are concerned, English lays stress on hypotaxis the use of cohesive devices whereas Chinese on parataxis the logical relations among the parts. For example, English and Chinese display discrepancies in expressing causal relations. Causal relations play an important role in knowing and understand relations among things. English causal clause and Chinese causal clause are basic ways to show this relation. English and Chinese exhibit some differences as regards the distribution of main and adverbial clauses and whether the connectives can be used together or not. The connectives of English causal clause include mainly: because, for, since, as, now that, in that. Among them, because is most commonly used. The adverbial clause introduced by because can be placed either before the main clause or after the main clause, manifesting a flexible location. But more often than not, it is placed after the main clause to explain the reason concerned. Besides, because and so are not allowed to be used together. The connectives exploited in Chinese causal clause are mainly „因为’, „所以’, „因为… …所以… … ’ It is generally accepted that Chinese puts emphasis on parataxis, so in many contexts, the causal relations are implied instead of being expressed overtly. The adverbial clause is usually placed before the main clause. Furthermore, the connectives can either be used alone or together. When used together, that is, when „因为… …所以… …’is combined，the causal relation it designates is more highlighted and emphasized. In summary, in English, the unmarked form of the distribution of the causal clause is to put the adverbial clause after the main clause whereas in Chinese, the unmarked form of the distribution of the causal clause is to put the adverbial clause right before the main clause. While it is forbidden to use two connectives in English, it is permitted to use two connectives in Chinese. IV. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY A. Objective and Research Questions The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of the second language on the first by way of investigating the effect of knowledge of English causal clause on the use of Chinese causal clause. We try to find whether there exists the backward transfer from English to Chinese for ESL students both in syntax level and in discourse level. There are three research questions as follows: Question one: As for ESL students, does there exist backward transfer of the knowledge of English causal clause to the use of Chinese causal clause? Question two: If there is, what is the relationship between the backward transfer and the subjects' second language proficiency level? Question three: In which type of task do backward transfer occur? And why? B. Subjects Two groups of subjects were selected in the experiment. One group was composed of 40 English majors who, when the experiment was conducted, were in their third year of college in Henan University. Before being enrolled into the university, they had studied English for at least 6 years and after entering the university and majoring in English, they devoted the majority of their time learning English and taking part in activities related to English. Therefore, they could be regarded as second language users. Their English proficiency levels, marked by their TEM4 scores were classified into three kinds: the primary level (L1) was below 65 score, including 12 students, the middle level (L2) was from 66 to 79, including 22 students and the advanced level (L3) was above 80, including 6 students. The other group was monolingual native speakers in Chinese. As it was hard to find 'pure' monolingual speakers who had not studied a second language at all, we decided to choose those who had only learned English in their middle school days. At last, 30 workers from Henan University library were chosen. For this group, they spoke in their mother tongue Chinese and the chance for them to use English in their daily life and at work was next to none. C. Methodology and Procedure Because there is interaction between syntax and discourse, exclusive focus on either side will lead to incomplete or even contradictory results. In order to probe deeper into the nature of the effect of the second language on the first, we used two different types of tasks as the material in this study. The two types of tasks we used were from Wang Fei (2011). One type of task was taken advantage of to test the subjects' potential transfer from the second language to the first at the syntax level. It was composed of twenty pairs of independent sentences, twelve of which should be connected by causal connectives while the rest eight functioned as the interfering pairs. The twelve pairs were arranged in the opposite order. That is, the adverbial clause in six pairs came before the main sentence of result while the other six pairs were arranged in the opposite order to enable the students to write the sentences in either way. The subjects were required to write causal sentences in adverbial clause - first or main clause - first sequence in their mother tongue Chinese; the other type of task was designed to measure the subjects' transfer from the second language to the first on the discourse level. It consisted of six pictures which were arranged in the temporal order. The subjects were required to write a short story telling what happened to the motorcycle rider. They were told to use at least 3 causal clauses in the whole composition. The experiment was conducted in class at the end of the first term. Time needed to finish the task © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 727 was not limited. After the experiment, the data were collected. In addition, to further testify the results of the experiment, we picked out 20 subjects for interview to get knowledge of their thinking process in the experiment. D. Results and Discussion Before analyzing the data, the pairs of sentences in the first type of task that were not supposed to be connected by causal connectives would not be counted. The expected twelve pairs linked by causal connectives were picked out and signaled as adverbial clause - first or main clause - first, their frequencies were figured out and their respective percentage in the three levels were gained by dividing the total frequencies at each level. In the same token, the cause-effect complex sentences were selected and marked adverbial clause - first and main clause - first in the discourse level. To answer the first research question, regarding the ESL students' distribution of Chinese causal clauses, we calculated the percentage of adverbial clause - first and main clause - first at the three levels by Excel. The results and respective figure are presented below in Table 1 and Fig. 1. TABLE 1 THE PERCENTAGE OF THE ADVERBIAL CLAUSE - FIRST AND MAIN CLAUSE - FIRST AT THE THREE LEVELS Task types The Chinese Syntax Task The Chinese Discourse Task information adverbial clause - first main clause - first adverbial clause - first main clause - first sequencing L1 63.4% 36.6% 82.7 17.3 L2 54.2% 45.8% 75.4 24.6 L3 76.9% 23.1% 86.2 13.8 Table1 demonstrates that in the Chinese syntax task, in L1 ESL subjects, the frequencies of adverbial clause - first sentences and main clause - first sentences are 63.4% and 36.6% respectively; in L2, are 54.2% and 45.8% respectively and in L3, are 76.9% and 23.1% respectively. It is obvious that in L2, the two frequencies are nearly the same while in the other two levels, there is a big gap in between. It is likely that there exists a certain relationship between the information sequencing and the second language proficiency level of L2 subjects. Besides, we see that in the Chinese discourse level, in L1, the frequencies of adverbial clause - first sentences and main clause - first sentences are 82.7% and 17.3% respectively; in L2, are 75.4% and 24.6% respectively and in L3, are 86.2% and 13.8% respectively. It seems that in the second type of task, the frequency of adverbial clause - first is preferred to main clause - first across three English proficiency levels. To answer the second research question, finding out the relationship between the information sequencing and the second language proficiency level as well as the third question to find whether the same backward transfer effects are detectable in different types of tasks, we tested the Pearson chi-square using SPSS 18.0. The result is presented in Table 2 below. TABLE 2 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADVERBIAL CLAUSE - FIRST INFORMATION SEQUENCING AND ENGLISH PROFICIENCY LEVELS Task types The Chinese Syntax Task The Chinese Discourse Task Chi-square 6.792 0.946 df 2 2 Asymp.sig .041 .620 It is noted that ａ=0.05 means that the possibility of the existence of that relationship is 95%. Table 2 shows to us that in the Chinese syntax task, P=0.041 which is below 0.05, so the null hypothesis is rejected. In other words, it is demonstrated that there exists relationship between language proficiency levels of the subjects and adverbial clause first sequence in the syntax level; In the Chinese discourse task, P=0.620 which is above 0.05, so the null hypothesis is accepted. Put it another way, it is shown that there does not exist possible relationship between language proficiency levels of the subjects and adverbial clause - first sequence in the discourse level. In order to know exactly what kind of relationship there is between the language proficiency level and the adverbial clause - first sequence in the Chinese syntax task, One-Way ANOVA was further tested. The following table shows the result. TABLE 3 THE RESULT OF O NE-WAY ANOVA (I) level 1 2 3 (J) level 2 3 1 3 1 2 Mean Std. Sig. 95%Confidence Interval Difference Error Lower Bound Upper Bound 2.1250* 0.6815 0.021 0.3055 3.9438 -1.4129 0.8654 0.262 -3.5480 0.7086 -2.1250* 0.6815 0.021 -3.9438 -0.3055 -3.1547* 0.9786 0.006 -5.5615 -0.7366 1.4129 0.8654 0.262 -0.7086 3.5480 3.15 47* 0.9786 0.006 0.7366 5.5615 *.The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level. Table 3 shows that the mean difference between L1 and L2 is 2.1250, 95% Confidence Interval does not contain 0, © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 728 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Sig. is 0.021<0.05, showing there is statistical difference between the two levels; the mean difference between L3 and L2 is 3.1547, 95% Confidence Interval also does not contain 0, Sig. is 0.006<0.05, showing there is statistical difference between the two levels; the mean difference between L1 and L3 is -1.4129, 95% Confidence Interval contains 0, Sig. is 0.262>0.05, showing there is no statistical difference between the two levels. Therefore, it is concluded that there is the statistical difference between L1 and L 2, L2 and Level 3 but not between L 1 and L 3, meaning that the subjects in L2 perform differently from the other two groups of subjects. To make a comparison with the monolingual native speakers of Chinese, we obtain the following results in Table 4. TABLE 4 THE PERCENTAGE OF THE ADVERBIAL CLAUSE - FIRST AND MAIN CLAUSE - FIRST IN NATIVE SPEAKERS OF CHINESE information sequencing adverbial clause - first main clause - first The Chinese Syntax Task 88.6% 11.4% The Chinese Discourse Task 95.5% 4.5% From table 4, we can see clearly that the monolingual native speakers of Chinese perform differently from the aforementioned subjects in their preference to put the adverbial clause before the main clause both in the syntax task and in the discourse task. To be specific, in the syntax task, the percentage of adverbial clause - first and main clause first sequence are 88.6% and 11.4% respectively while in the discourse task, the percentage of adverbial clause - first is even as high as 95.5%. The result proves once again that the adverbial clause - first sequence is the unmarked distribution in Chinese. The striking difference between the second group of students and the other two groups in the syntax task calls for explanation. As Neisser (1984) and many scholars have pointed out that backward transfer is not a simple phenomenon that will occur to every individual but is contingent on the second language proficiency level related to a "critical threshold" (Cao Min, 2009). For L2 ESL subjects, their second language proficiency level is below the critical threshold, so they tend to transfer their second language structure to their first. According to Ellis (1985), in order to simplify the learning process and behave like a native speaker, they begin to restructure the linguistic system in their mother tongue or the second language. They act in accordance to the "least effort" principle by replacing their mother tongue structure with the second language structure. For L1 ESL subjects, though their second language proficiency level is also below the threshold level, yet it is unlikely for them to transfer their second language knowledge to their mother tongue because they do not possess enough second language resources to transfer them to their mother tongue. Just as Laufer puts it, at the primary stage of second language learning, the cross-lingual effect is basically unidirectional, namely, from the mother tongue to the second language (Cook, 2003). The second language proficiency level of the L3 ESL subjects is far above the critical threshold and they realize the differences between the information sequencing of the causal clause in the second language and in their mother tongue. Therefore, they are in the position of separating their mother tongue structure from their second language structure and are able to apply them accordingly. That is why when they are performing the two types of tasks, they are not likely to transfer the second language structure to their first language. There are also some other indications showing the existence of backward transfer both in the syntax task and in the discourse task. First, when some subjects chose the connectives to link the two clauses, they tended to choose one „因为’ or „所以’ instead of two „因为… …所以… … ’ as the native Chinese speakers did; second, many subjects thought that putting the adverbial clause after the main clause in Chinese was putting the information in focus. As a matter of fact, that is so in their second language structure; and third, many subjects blurred the difference between adverbial clause - first and main clause - first information sequencing. According to them, the two kinds of information sequencing were the nearly the same without any remarkable discrepancy. Last, as said before, Chinese language relies on the coherence among sentences; therefore, it is very common that the cohesive devices will not be used. Nevertheless, it was found that in the discourse task, the number of the ESL subjects who express causal relations without using causal connectives were next to none. The subjects' different performance in the syntax task and in the discourse task also needs to be analyzed. As noted earlier, the second language effect can be easily detected in the syntax level but not in the discourse level. The interview we conducted after the experiment showed that in the first type of task, the subjects paid more attention to the structure of the sentence and consequently they were apt to transfer the second language unmarked structure to their mother tongue. Some subjects said that they were not even fully aware that they were performing the task in their mother tongue. However, the second task was a coherent whole composed of at least six sentences, so the subjects were more conscious that they were doing the job in their mother tongue. V. CONCLUSION This paper studied the transfer of the second language to the first through investigating the effect of English causal clause on the Chinese causal clause. The results proved the existence of backward transfer. However, the potential occurrence of backward transfer is not without condition. Backward transfer is closely related to ESL students' second language proficiency level. Only when ESL students' second language proficiency level has not reached a "critical threshold" will they transfer their second language structure to their mother tongue. The second language proficiency © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 729 level of L2 subjects has not reached the "critical threshold", they are thus susceptible to backward transfer. Although the second language proficiency level of L1 subjects is also below the critical threshold, they are unlikely to transfer their mother tongue knowledge to their second language because according to Anderson (1983) they are still in an autonomous, pre-structuring stage (Cao Min, 2009). As for L3 subjects, their English proficiency level is well above the critical threshold and they are able to treat the two language system differently and use them alternately. When the backward transfer occurs, the mother tongue of the ESL students will exhibit some characteristic of their second language. So, contrast to the Chinese native speakers, the L2 subjects tend to put the adverbial clause after the main clause in Chinese causal clause. The present study, carried out in the mother tongue environment of the second language users confirmed the multi-competence theory advanced by Cook. According to the theory, the multilinguals' linguistic repertoires are a "unified, coherent, interconnected, interdependent system" (Pavlenko, 2003, p. 58). For the subjects in this study, they are second language users of English whose first language is Chinese. The two languages are neither completely separated or combined in their brain. Rather, they are interconnected and interactive. Under this circumstance, it is no doubt that they tend to transfer their second language structure to their mother tongue. However, what should be borne in mind that the main clause - first information sequencing should not be treated as errors because they are only marked forms in the subjects' mother tongue and they can be well accepted by the native speakers. That is why I deliberately avoid using the word attrition here. The present study is of great significance pedagogically. The emphasis of the second language teaching has always been on the effort to teach students to be native like. As a result, ESL students are usually advised to imitate the native English speakers in language use as well as in thinking pattern. But as Cook (2003) puts it, the second language learners have their own distinctive characteristics: the knowledge of their second language is different from that of a native speakers and the knowledge of their mother tongue is also different from that of a mother tongue monolingual speaker. Due to the fact that the two language systems interact in the single mind of a second language learner, he or she "is a person in his or her own right, not an imitation of someone else" (Cook, 2003, p. 4). Therefore, the objectives of second language teaching or learning are not to encourage the students to imitate the native speakers and pass for them. Rather, teachers should try to get the students to be familiar with the similarities as well as differences between their mother tongue and their second language so as to help them to become owners of multi-competence who can switch between the two language systems flexibly. Besides, ESL students should also improve their mother tongue proficiency level apart from spending most of time improving their second language proficiency level. In this way can they increase the ability of using the second language without losing some of the ability to use their first language. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This author is indebted to the grant of the following foundation items: Educational and Scientific "the Twelfth Five-Year Plan Project" in Henan Province (project license number: [2011]-JKGHAC-0140*), Teachers’ Educational Project in Henan Province (project number: 2013-JSJYYB-007), "the Eleventh Five-Year Plan Project" in Guangdong Province (project number: 09K-03) and the Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation of the Ministry of Education: Applicativizaton and Root Compounding in Mandarin Chinese (project number: 10YJA740044). REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Cao Min. (2009). The Effect of English Passive Voice Learning on the Use of BEI Sentence by Chinese Freshmen. MA Thesis: Southwest University. Cook, V (eds). (2003). Effects of the Second Language on the First. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Ellis,R. (1985).Understanding Second Language Acquisition. London: Oxford University Press. Pavlenko, B. (2003).'I Feel Clumsy Speaking Russian': L2 Influence on L1 in Narratives of Russian L2 Users of English. In Cook, V (eds). Effects of the Second Language on the First (pp.32-61). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Wang Fei. (2011). The Effect of Learning of Order of Information Sequencing in English Adverbial Clauses of Reason on the Use of Chinese Adverbial Clauses of Reason. MA Thesis: Northeast Normal University. Wang Gaiyan. (2006). Transference from L2 to L1 in Second language Acquisition by Investigating Nominal Constructions beyond IP. Foreign Language Teaching, 27 (5), 40-44. Wu Yi'an et al. (2006). English Features in the spoken Chinese of Chinese speakers of English. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 38 (6), 411-417. Zhang Jingyu et al. (2006). L2 Effect in Direct Translation. Foreign language Literature 2, 113-117. Xin Wang was born in Henan province in 1981. She received her M A degree in English Linguistic and Literature from Henan University in 2007. She is now an English lecturer in Foreign Languages Department, Henan University, China. Her research interest is foreign language teaching and cognitive linguistics. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 730-735, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.730-735 The Impact of Different Writing Tasks on Intermediate EFL Learners' Writing Performance Abdolreza Abdali Islamic Azad University, Roudehen Branch, Tehran, Iran Hamidreza Fatemipour Islamic Azad University, Roudehen Branch, Tehran, Iran Abstract—It is academically believed that conventional methods of teaching writing could not provide satisfactorily the Iranian intermediate English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners with being fully equipped to meet the demand of their authorities while preparing their reports, compositions, essays, papers, assignments, and projects. Therefore, to introduce a desirable approach to teaching writing, researchers usually introduce task based approaches to compensate for such flaws and end such kinds of concerns. So this experimental study tried to investigate the impact of four different pedagogic writing tasks, i.e., Topic Writing (TW), Summary Writing (SW), Graphic Writing (GW), and Picture Writing (PW) on complexity and accuracy of writing performance of aforementioned learners. To this end, 120 subjects were selected as the participants of this experimental study to see which kinds of writing task can ameliorate the current condition well. For implementation the command of the study, altogether 960 written texts as documents of the pre and post test and also treatment were collected and analyzed to pinpoint meticulously the efficacy of these different kinds of writing tasks on subjects' accomplishment in their written production. The results of the study revealed the superiority of SW group for complexity and GW for accuracy of their written productions. Index Terms—Topic Writing (TW), Summary Writing (SW), Graphic Writing (GW), and Picture Writing (PW) I. INTRODUCTION Writing is an important skill that foreign language learners should develop while learning any language. EFL learners should write reports, thesis, essays, and compositions so as to meet the demands of their authorities. Reviewing the literature of writing, we observe how different researchers confirm that writing has a pivotal function in the daily lives of people. According to Kim and Kim (2005), ''writing today has become very important in the daily lives of much of the world’s population'' (as cited in Marashi & Dadari, 2012, p. 2500). Also, in a report on writing in America’s schools and colleges by Magrath, Ackerman, Branch, and Bristow (2003) known worldwide as the College Board’s National Commission, it is observed how the authors underscored the importance of writing. Stating that ''writing is not a frill for the few, but an essential skill for the many'' (p. 11), the Commission’s report highlighted the central role that writing plays for these learners today. In spite of this importance, as writing is a challenging endeavor, learning and teaching it, is usually postponed to later stages of development at the expense of learning and teaching other three macro skills of language. To compound the problem, it is believed that inappropriateness and inefficacy of conventional approaches to teaching writing is considered as one of the important factors which lead to this undesirable state of writing of EFL learners. Therefore, it is proposed that replacing conventional approaches by task based approaches to teaching writing can improve the current weak quality of writings of these learners. Thus, the need for task based courses arose from the failure of previous approaches to language teaching. Nowadays, Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is considered as an effective approach that has the potential to improve learners’ complexity and accuracy of their writings. Nunan (2004) claims that ''the ability to use a second language would develop automatically if learners focused on meaning in the process of completing tasks'' (p. 9). Therefore, it is believed that a good way to promote effective learning is the time when students are fully engaged in practicing a language task, rather than just learning about the language. TBLT is considered as one of the latest trends whereby the learners are exposed to authentic, meaning based, and natural language for acquisition. Nunan (2004) believes that task-based learning exploits the metamorphosis process and allows the learners to grow into the language (p. 30). As a paradigm of TBLT, language is used as a tool for completing tasks rather than as a subject in its own right. Therefore, language is regarded as means to do the task rather than as an end. In task based classes which are heavily influenced by the communicative approach, students freely exchange information and use language without any illogical concern for mistakes. In these classes, learners subconsciously learn the language while performing any kinds of tasks; consequently, any language learning will be incidental. Due to these © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 731 mentioned reasons, some teachers of writing consider this approach as a very interesting and significant practice for teaching. The researchers in this study regarded task based approach as a promising approach for the facilitation of L2 writing and thus the development of writing skill at intermediate level in an Iranian context. Hence, in line with Chen and Wu (2001), and Pourdana, Karimi Behbahani, and Safdari (2010) they develop this consideration that different kinds of tasks impact on the writing performance of EFL learners differently. Thereafter, to verify this hypothesis, they tried to probe which writing task have significant different impact on accuracy and complexity performance of Iranian intermediate EFL learners' writing. II. METHODOLOGY Materials and Methods: Samuda and Bygate (2008) believe that teachers might consider the best way to arrange activities ''to motivate, channel and support learners’ efforts to learn'' (p. 75). Therefore, concerning this claim, the researchers in this study tried to manipulate the materials and procedure in such a way that well be exploited for improving the writing performance of EFL learners. To homogenize the proficiency level of 120 participants of the study out of a total of 250 male and female Iranian EFL learners studying English in Payam-e-Nour University in Khoramabad, Lorestan Province in Iran, they were asked to take part in Nelson English Language Tests 300A by (Fowler and Coe, 1976, pp. 38-41). Thereafter, the qualified participants were randomly divided into four homogeneous experimental groups and were asked to write an essay on a similar specified subject as their pre test to get two marks for accuracy and complexity of their writings before any treatments. After 6 sessions of treatment, they were asked to write another essay on a coordinated similar subject as their post test to observe whether different writing tasks impact the accuracy and complexity of writings of these EFL learners differently. It is worth mentioning that their assignments have been corrected by two experienced raters based on Weir, 1990 analytic writing descriptors (as cited in Duddly – Eavens & St John, 2005, pp. 220-221). Moreover, the students in these writing classes received written and oral feedback for the grammatical, lexical and discourse mistakes in their writings from the raters and teacher. At last, utilizing SPSS, the data were analyzed to promulgate which writing task has superior impact on accuracy and complexity of writing of these learners. III. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS Field (2009) believes that four assumptions should be met before one decides to run parametric tests: 1) the data should be measured on an interval scale; 2) the subjects should be independent that is to say their performance on the test is not affected by the by performance of other students, 3) the data should enjoy normal distribution and 4) the groups should have homogeneous variances (p. 133). The present data are measured on an interval scale and the subjects perform independently on the tests. The assumption of normality is also met. As displayed in Table 1, the ratios of skewness and kurtosis over their respective standard errors are within the ranges of +/- 1.96(ibid, p. 216). Group NELSON PreAccuracy Graphic Writing PostAccuracy PreComplexity PostComplexity NELSON PreAccuracy Picture Writing PostAccuracy PreComplexity PostComplexity NELSON PreAccuracy Summary Writing PostAccuracy PreComplexity PostComplexity NELSON PreAccuracy Topic Writing PostAccuracy PreComplexity PostComplexity N Statistic 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 TABLE 1 NORMALITY TESTS Skewness Statistic Std. Error .326 .427 .136 .427 -.611 .427 .484 .427 -.700 .427 .566 .427 -.249 .427 .628 .427 -.182 .427 -.123 .427 .615 .427 -.388 .427 -.317 .427 -.259 .427 .393 .427 .521 .427 .173 .427 .611 .427 .497 .427 .480 .427 Ratio 0.763 0.319 -1.431 1.133 -1.639 1.326 -0.583 1.471 -0.426 -0.288 1.440 -0.909 -0.742 -0.607 0.920 1.220 0.405 1.431 1.164 1.124 Kurtosis Statistic -.524 -.487 -.792 .047 .536 -.314 .296 .238 -.633 -1.025 -.819 -.661 -.294 -1.174 -.830 -.141 -.879 -.792 .319 -.513 Std. Error .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 .833 Ratio -0.629 -0.585 -0.951 0.056 0.643 -0.377 0.355 0.286 -0.760 -1.230 -0.983 -0.794 -0.353 -1.409 -0.996 -0.169 -1.055 -0.951 0.383 -0.616 By the same token, a one-way ANOVA was run to compare the means of the Graphic, Picture, Summary and Topic writing groups on the Nelson test in order to prove that the participants enjoyed the same level of general language © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 732 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES proficiency prior to the main study. As displayed in Table 2, the Levene’s F-value of 2.20 is not significant (ρ = .091> .05). This represents that the four groups enjoy homogenous variances on the Nelson. TABLE 2 LEVENE’S TEST OF HOMOGENEITY OF VARIANCES; NELSON TEST Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig. 2.206 3 116 .091 As you see the variance is not significantly different, (i.e. they are similar and the homogeneity of variance assumption is tenable). Moreover, another one-way ANOVA was run to compare the means of the Graphic, Picture, Summary and Topic writing groups on the Pretest of Writing Accuracy in order to prove that they enjoyed the same level of writing accuracy prior to the main study. As displayed in Table 3, the Levene’s F-value of 1.32 is not significant (ρ = .270 > .05). Thus, one can infer that the four groups enjoy homogenous variances on the Pretest of Writing Accuracy. TABLE 3 LEVENE’S TEST OF HOMOGENEITY OF VARIANCES; PRETEST OF WRITING ACCURACY Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig. 1.325 3 116 .270 By the same token, based on the results displayed in Table 4 (F (3, 116) = 1.77, ρ = .156 > .05; ω2 = .019 it represents a weak effect size), it can be concluded that there were not any significant differences between means of the four groups on the Pretest of Writing Accuracy. Thus, it can be claimed that they enjoyed the same level of writing accuracy prior to the main study. Between Groups Within Groups Total TABLE 4 ONE-WAY ANOVA PRETEST OF WRITING ACCURACY BY GROUPS Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F 12.092 3 4.031 1.772 263.833 116 2.274 275.925 119 Sig. .156 Another one-way ANOVA was run to compare the means of the Graphic, Picture, Summary and Topic writing groups on the Pretest of Writing Complexity in order to prove that they enjoyed the same level of writing complexity prior to the main study. As displayed in Table 5, the Levene’s F-value of 2.25 is not significant (ρ = .086> .05). Thus, based on the findings of ANOVA, researchers of the study claim that the four groups enjoy homogenous variances on the Pretest of Writing Complexity. TABLE 5 LEVENE’S TEST OF HOMOGENEITY OF VARIANCES; PRETEST OF WRITING COMPLEXITY Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig. 2.251 3 116 .086 Moreover, based on the results displayed in Table 6 (F (3, 116) = .541, ρ = .655> .05; ω2 = .012 it represents a weak effect size), it can be concluded that there were not any significant differences between means of the four groups on the Pretest of Writing Complexity. Thus, it can be claimed that they enjoyed the same level of writing complexity prior to the main study. Between Groups Within Groups Total TABLE 6 ONE-WAY ANOVA PRETEST OF WRITING COMPLEXITY BY GROUPS Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F 3.267 3 1.089 .541 233.533 116 2.013 236.800 119 Sig. .655 Before discussing the one-way ANOVA results it is worth mentioning that the four groups enjoy homogenous variances on the Posttest of Writing Accuracy. As displayed in Table 7, the Levene’s F-value of 1.70 is not significant (ρ = .171> .05). Thus, the results of the one-way ANOVA can be reported. TABLE 7 LEVENE’S TEST OF HOMOGENEITY OF VARIANCES; POSTTEST OF WRITING ACCURACY Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig. 1.700 3 116 .171 Also, the findings of one-way ANOVA reveal that the four groups enjoy homogenous variances on the Posttest of Writing Complexity. As displayed in Table 8, the Levene’s F-value of 2.14 is not significant (ρ = .099 > .05). Thus, the four groups enjoyed the same level of homogeneity of variances after treatment. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 733 TABLE 8 LEVENE’S TEST OF HOMOGENEITY OF VARIANCES; POSTTEST OF WRITING COMPLEXITY Levene Statistic df1 df2 Sig. 2.141 3 116 .099 However, after treatment the researchers investigate the value of significant difference of performance of these learners after treatment. They wanted to probe whether different kinds of tasks have different impacts on writing performance of these EFL learners; and whether while comparing and contrasting them, the findings of ANOVA show any significant difference in their writing performance. In order to carry out further analysis, the researchers managed One-Way ANOVA Posttest of Writing Accuracy and Complexity by Groups, and also Post-Hoc Scheffe’s Tests to find out which groups differ. Based on the results displayed in Table 9(F (3, 116) = 5.89, ρ = .001< .05; ω2 = .109 it represents an almost large effect size) it can be concluded that there were significant differences between means of the four groups on the Posttest of Writing Accuracy. Thus, it can be claimed that types of writing tasks have significant effect on accuracy of writing performance of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Between Groups Within Groups Total TABLE 9 ONE-WAY ANOVA POSTTEST OF WRITING ACCURACY BY GROUPS Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F 22.025 3 7.342 5.891 144.567 116 1.246 166.592 119 Sig. .001 Based on the results displayed in Table 10 (F (3, 116) = 11.7, ρ = .000 < .05; ω2 = .215 it represents a large effect size) it can be concluded that there were significant differences between means of the four groups on the Posttest of Writing Complexity. Thus, it can be claimed that types of writing tasks have significant effect on complexity of writing performance of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Between Groups Within Groups Total TABLE 10 ONE-WAY ANOVA POSTTEST OF WRITING COMPLEXITY BY GROUPS Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F 64.092 3 21.364 11.978 206.900 116 1.784 270.992 119 Sig. .000 Although the these F-values indicates significant differences between the means of the four groups on the posttest of accuracy and complexity, the researchers managed the post-hoc Scheffe’s tests so as to compare the significant difference of these EFL learners' performance. During the following discussion of the post-hoc tests; ''M'' and ''MD'' stand for ''mean'' and ''mean difference'' respectively. TABLE 11 POST-HOC SCHEFFE’S TESTS; POSTTEST OF WRITING ACCURACY BY GROUPS (I) Group (J) Group Mean Std. Error Sig. 95% Confidence Interval Difference (I-J) Lower Bound Upper Bound Picture Writing .933* .288 .018 .12 1.75 Graphic Writing Summary Writing .633 .288 .191 -.18 1.45 Topic Writing 1.133* .288 .002 .32 1.95 Picture Writing Topic Writing .300 .288 .781 -.52 1.12 Picture Writing .200 .288 .923 -.62 1.02 Summary Writing Topic Writing .500 .288 .394 -.32 1.32 *. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level. 1: There was a significant difference between the Graphic Writing (M = 17.07) and Picture Writing (M = 16.13) groups on the posttest of writing accuracy (MD = .933, ρ = .018 < .05). Thus, there is significant difference between the accuracy of Graphic Writing and Picture Writing tasks. 2: There was not any significant difference between the Graphic Writing (M = 17.07) and Summary Writing (M = 16.43) groups on the posttest of writing accuracy (MD = .633, ρ = .191 > .05). Thus, there is not any significant difference between the accuracy of Graphic Writing and Summary Writing tasks. 3: There was a significant difference between the Graphic Writing (M = 17.07) and Topic Writing (M = 15.93) groups on the posttest of writing accuracy (MD = 1.13, ρ = .002 < .05). Thus, there is significant difference between the accuracy Graphic Writing and Topic Writing tasks. 4: There was not any significant difference between the Picture Writing (M = 16.13) and Summary Writing (M = 16.43) groups on the posttest of writing accuracy (MD = .20, ρ = .923 > .05). Thus, there is not any significant difference between the accuracy of Picture Writing and Summary Writing tasks. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 734 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 5: There was not any significant difference between the Picture Writing (M = 16.13) and Topic Writing (M = 15.93) groups on the posttest of writing accuracy (MD = .30, ρ = .781 > .05). Thus, there is not any significant difference between the accuracy of Picture Writing and Topic Writing tasks. 6: There was not any significant difference between the Summary Writing (M = 16.43) and Topic Writing (M = 15.93) groups on the posttest of writing accuracy (MD = .50, ρ = .394 > .05). Thus, there is not any significant difference between the accuracy of Summary Writing and Topic Writing tasks. TABLE 12 POST-HOC SCHEFFE’S TESTS; POSTTEST OF WRITING COMPLEXITY BY GROUPS (I) Group (J) Group Mean Difference (I-J) Std. Error Sig. 95% Confidence Interval Lower Bound Upper Bound Graphic Writing Topic Writing 1.333* .345 .003 .36 2.31 Graphic Writing .433 .345 .665 -.54 1.41 Picture Writing Topic Writing 1.767* .345 .000 .79 2.74 Graphic Writing .467 .345 .610 -.51 1.44 Summary Writing Picture Writing .033 .345 1.000 -.94 1.01 Topic Writing 1.800* .345 .000 .82 2.78 *. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level. 7: There was not any significant difference between the Graphic writing (M = 16.10) and Picture Writing (M = 16.53) groups on the posttest of writing complexity (MD = .433, ρ = .665> .05). Thus, there is not any significant difference between the complexity of Graphic Writing and Picture Writing tasks. 8: There was not any significant difference between the Graphic Writing (M = 16.10) and Summary Writing (M = 16.57) groups on the posttest of writing complexity (MD = .467, P = .610> .05). Thus, there is not any significant difference between the complexity of Graphic Writing and Summary Writing tasks. 9: There was a significant difference between the Graphic Writing (M = 16.10) and Topic Writing (M = 14.77) groups on the posttest of writing complexity (MD = 1.33, ρ = .003< .05). Thus, there is significant difference between the complexity Graphic Writing and Topic Writing tasks. 10: There was not any significant difference between the Picture Writing (M = 16.53) and Summary Writing (M = 16.57) groups on the posttest of writing complexity (MD = .033, ρ = 1> .05). Thus, there is not any significant difference between the complexity of Picture Writing and Summary Writing tasks. 11: There was a significant difference between the Picture Writing (M = 16.53) and Topic Writing (M = 14.77) groups on the posttest of writing complexity (MD = 1.76, ρ = .000< .05). Thus, there is significant difference between the complexity of Picture Writing and Topic Writing tasks. 12: There was a significant difference between the Summary Writing (M = 16.57) and Topic Writing (M = 14.77) groups on the posttest of writing complexity (MD = 1.80, ρ = .000< .05). Thus, there is significant difference between the complexity of Summary Writing and Topic Writing tasks. IV. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS The motivation for the present study was the several hypotheses which were formulated regarding the effects of task activities on task performance of intermediate Iranian EFL learners. In the main, these hypotheses have received support, although in some cases these supports were limited in some cases. Hence, the researcher drew the following conclusions from the findings of the study and theoretical propositions of the related literature: The first and foremost conclusion is that task-based language teaching in an intermediate academic setting is not only possible but also effective. Students were taught and assessed following the implementation of four task-based language practices and when they were assessed at the end of the semester; their scores in the post test treatment in all four groups were higher than the scores in pretest treatment. Task-based language teaching (TBLT) improves students' writing skill and develops students' attitudes towards English. Further, the type of tasks did affect differently on the degree of the utility of them in developing writing performance. The present study supports the findings of previous research regarding the unlike impacts of writing tasks on intermediate EFL learners writing performance (e.g., Birjandi & Ahangari, 2009; Rezazadeh, Tavakoli, Eslami Rasekh, 2011; and Xu, 2009). The treatment applied in this study produced positive results in students’ performance on different writing groups' performance. The most important contribution of this study is that it provides L2 learners and L2 educators with a clear explanation of how different kinds of writing tasks affect the L2 learners’ writings performance. Also, the researchers in this article propose that writing teachers should utilize task based approach to teach in a way to help students be more proficient in writing. Analyzing findings of ANOVA indicates that students can be taught based on task oriented approaches to writing. Nevertheless, three limitations of this study should be considered. First, the study recruited students with intermediate © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 735 English proficiency. The positive effects of the present study which have been demonstrated may not be generalizable to L2 learners with different proficiency levels due to the fact that L2 writers have varying commands of the target language. Second, to date, most task-based studies have focused on oral language production. This proposes that the repertoire of relevant studies to written material is poor. Third, writing compositions for an English speaking academic audience requires writing well at the sentence level, the paragraph level, and at the organizational level. Some students were not writing because they had a problem in organizing ideas at this level. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, we thank God for giving us the strength and patience to carry out this paper and for giving us the chance to cooperate with many great people who have been our greatest support in doing this professional study. We sincerely owe our gratitude to a number of people and institutes without whose help and contribution this paper would not have come to the present shape: To all those who during our involvement in accomplishing this paper, they have been steadfast in their support and have offered much valuable advice. REFERENCES [1] Birjandi, P., & Ahangari, S. (2009). Effects of Task Repetition on the Fluency, Complexity and Accuracy of Iranian EFL Learners’ Oral Discourse. The Asian EFL Journal, 10, 3, 28-52. 2008, September. ISSN 1738-1460. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from http://tinyurl.com/qese9zr. [2] Chen, H., & Wu, X. (2001). Effect of Task Type and Task Condition on EFL Writing Performance [D]. Doctoral thesis, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. Retrieved January 2, 2013, from http://tinyurl.com/ouv7scc. [3] Duddly - Eavens, T. & St John, M. J. (2005). Developments in English for specific purposes. United Kingdom: CUP. [4] Field, A. (2009). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS.3rd ed. London: SAGE. [5] Fowler, W. S., & Coe, N. (1976). Nelson English Language Tests. Great Britain: Butler & Tanner Ltd. [6] Magrath, C. P., Ackerman, A., Branch, T., & Bristow, C. (2003). The National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges. The Neglected "R": The Need for a Writing Revolution. Retrieved March 27, 2013, from http://tinyurl.com/nxfs2by. [7] Marashi, H., & Dadari, L. (2012). The Impact of Using Task-based Writing on EFL Learners’ Writing Performance and Creativity. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2, 12, 2500-2507. 2012, December. ISSN 1799-2591. doi:10.4304/tpls.2.12.2500-2507. Retrieved March 18, 2013, from http://tinyurl.com/nwrr2px. [8] Nunan, D. (2004). Task-Based Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP. [9] Pourdana, N., Karimi Behbahani, S. M., & Safdari, M. (2010). The Impact of Task Types on Aspects of Iranian EFL Learners' Writing Performance: Accuracy, Fluency, and Complexity. IPEDR, 20, 261-265. 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2013, from http://www.ipedr.com/vol20/51-ICHSC2011-M10043.pdf. [10] Rezazadeh, M., Tavakoli, M., & Eslami Rasekh, A. (2011). The Role of Task Type in Foreign Language Written Production: Focusing on Fluency, Complexity, and Accuracy. International Education Studies, 4, 2, 169-176. 2011, May. doi:10.5539/ies.v4n2p169. Retrieved March 4, 2013, from http://tinyurl.com/knpffas. [11] Samuda, V., & Bygate, M. (2008). Tasks in second language learning. Great Britain: Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham and Eastbourne. [12] Xu, J. (2009). An Experimental Study on the Effects of Different Reading Task on L2 Vocabulary Acquisition. 2, 3, 69-79. 2009, September. Retrieved June 23, 2013, from http://tinyurl.com/m3daag6. Abdolreza Abdali was born in Iran, Lorestan Province, Koohdasht in 1976. He has BA in English literature from Islamic Azad University, Boroujerd Branch, Lorestan Province, Iran in 2000. He was also graduated from MA degree in English language teaching from Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Islamic Azad University, Roudehen Branch, Tehran, Iran in 2013. He was exempted from military services as he was recruited in Teacher Training Center. He has taught English for 20 years in high schools and universities. Hamidreza Fatemipour was born in 1966 in Mashhad, Khorasan Province, Iran. He graduated in English language teaching (Ph.D. degree) from Panjab University, Chandigarh, India in 2008. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of ELT, Islamic Azad University, Roudehen Branch, Roudehen, Iran. He has been the Dean of the Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, IAU, Roudehen Branch since 2009. His research interests are CLIL, CALL, and Reflective Teaching. Dr. Fatemipour was one of the authors of the book, entitled "Read the Press". Tehran, Iran: Shokoh-e-Andisheh, 2005. He published three papers in different Journals and presented six papers in international conferences in Iran, Spain, Japan, and Belgium. Dr. Fatemipour is a member of TELLSI, Teaching English Language and Literature Society of Iran. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 736-742, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.736-742 A Novel Probe into College English Qualityoriented Transformation Based on the Impersonal Evaluation Criteria of College English Instruction Xiongyong Cheng School of Foreign Languages, Henan University of Technology, 450001 Lianhua Avenue, Zhengzhou High & Newtech Industries Development Zone, China Abstract—Whether a novel teaching module might be realized would lie critically in adaptable teaching evaluations. Establishing a novel and multiple evaluation system is a vital means of measuring students’ learning outcomes and regulating students’ learning orientation for the sake of truly eliminating traditional education module effects, actually reflecting students’ subjectivity of putting people first, and achieving their personalization of learning. As such, this paper raises concerns about the objective criteria of current college English teaching situations based on actual college English teaching circumstances in China, i.e., the criteria of skill cultivation, cognition, and aesthetics, focusing on the criteria of practical application proficiency of college English teaching. Accordingly, the author lists various drawbacks existing in present college English education in order to further reveal the significance of transformation in college English instruction, combining the major reform initiatives of college English test-4/6 (CET-4/6) from the Ministry of Education in response to these drawbacks. On the basis of the analysis, the current paper thus attempts to pose the appropriate corrective action plan by indicating the specific directions of the future quality-oriented transformation in college English regarding further (a) strengthening the cultivation of students’ English comprehensive applied competence in listening and speaking, (b) advancing a novel computer- and classroom-based teaching model, (c) reinforcing teachers’ training program, and (d) actively and steadily pushing forward the reform of CET4/6 Internet-based tests. Index Terms—college English education, objective evaluation criterion, multiple evaluation system, qualityoriented reform I. INTRODUCTION It is well known that English has been a global lingua franca (i.e., Globish) with universal application and acceptance (Nunan, 2003; Zhang, 2008). The universality of the global language is characterized with its wide linguistic application as regards rich computer-based wording, high-tech lexicons in addition to daily communicative expressions (Ministry of Education of China [MOE], 2005). It is no wonder that the English language works as an important international working language utilized so popularly around the world (Ouyang, 2000). The latest statistics show that around 93% of the academic papers and other publications are published in different journals or periodicals and read at various seminars or workshops in English, and furthermore, the Internet is mainly dominated as well by English environment (Zhou, 2013). In particular, when recruiting new staff, enterprises or companies tend to request that college graduate applicants should demonstrate their individual abilities not only in reading and writing in English but also in English listening and speaking (Chen, 2005). The latter would be laid more and more emphasis because, for instance, in joint ventures or foreign-invested firms, oral communicative competence is even more stressed as the first and foremost essential condition(Ye, 2007). On the opposite, college graduate applicants must be really weak at these requests at this exact point (Zhou, 2013). As such, it follows that the current college English teaching program adapts to the demand of objective evaluations and the social development via transformation. II. THE EVALUATION CRITERIA OF COLLEGE ENGLISH INSTRUCTION (CEI) CEI should possess its own assessment criteria upon which college students’ actual application proficiency of the language could be scientifically evaluated (Genesee & Upshur, 1994; MOE, 2005). As college English instruction in China has experienced distinct reform phases at regular intervals, it seem to be compulsory to develop a set of objective criteria for the current college English instruction, which, hopefully, turns out to be a directive guidance to the implementation of college English instructional activities (Zhang, 2008; Zhou, 2013). A. The Objective Assessment Criteria of CEI Nowadays, the fundamental elements of contributing to the quality-oriented education are still at issue (Ng & Tang, 1997). Pursuant to the regulations by the Ministry of Education of China (MOE) and related academic discussion of late, the quality-oriented education as regards CEI is supposed to encompass morality, English language knowledge and © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 737 skills, volitional quality, affective attitude, cultural consciousness, and the sense of aesthetic appreciation and generation of beauty (MOE, 2003). For the sake of organic infusion of the elementary English language quality-oriented education into English language teaching processes, Bloom’s educational objective taxology incorporates the cognitive objectives of quality-oriented education into “emotional objective, objective of technical ability cultivation and objective of recognition”, and the mix is the “objective of aesthetic appreciation” which embodies the scientific perspective on the basis of the combination of aesthetics and linguistics in the western aesthetics (Bloom, 1997, pp.1-4). As such, attention should be paid to the gradual realization of the above-mentioned targets scientifically in our classroom practices (Black & William, 1998). When we execute our educational objectives, we should identify the basic functions of controlling instructional contents, channeling instruction, and motivating students’ realization of their new objectives in order to guarantee the all-round cultivation of students’ basic quality and continuously internalize the objectives as psychological targets (MOE, 2003). B. The Instructional Requests Issued by the MOE Apparently, the Chinese government has been attaching great importance to quality-oriented education of college English (Hu, 2005). As the Teaching Requirements for College English Course newly issued by the MOE (2003) puts it, a. CEI forms an integral part of higher education, and the college English course is one of the essential compulsory courses. College English teaching, guided by foreign language theories, should focus on English linguistic knowledge, learning strategy, and transnational intercommunication as main contents, and should also be an instructional system by integrating various teaching modes and means. b. CEI is aimed at the cultivation of students’ comprehensive application competence in English, particularly, in speaking and listening, thus enabling them to effectively conduct efficient information communication in spoken and written English in their future work and social contact. (p. 28) III. THE DEFECTS IN THE CURRENT CEI Nonetheless, the real situation of CEI is far from the proposed requirements of the MOE (Ye, 2007). In practical CEI, it seems that CEI is totally oriented towards preparing the students for CET-4/6 and nothing else (MOE, 2005). If a student can pass CET-4/6 smoothly, everything goes off without a hitch on the part of the students (Rhao, 2002). There might exist a gap between the MOE requirements and EFL teachers’ classroom practices in terms of CEI practices, so this paper attempts to fill the gap in the existing literature on the extent of teachers’ adherence to MOE requirements in CEI education. A. Most College Students’ Failure in Management with CET-4/6 The current situation of CEI in most Chinese colleges and universities does have a lot to be desired, but most college students lack passion for English due to both teachers’ and students’ tunnel vision which hinders their vision (Ouyang, 2000; Shih, 1999). Accordingly, both teachers and students are dissatisfied with the other side and are at loggerheads over the other side’s poor performance (Kang & Wang, 2003). Around 40% of those college students who take CET exams are up to the average, namely, an inversely proportional percentage of students who can pass CET-4/6 respectively, and some others can only manage with CET exams by flukes and by tricks (MOE, 2005). B. Inappropriateness of Teacher Roles in CEI Education Historically, China is a typically authoritarian country, and the Confucian stratified social hierarchy greatly affects the classroom which is thus featured with teacher-centeredness, textbook-centeredness, and grammar-centeredness (Liao, 2003). Teacher-centeredness implies that the teacher is omnipotent to everything and absolutely controls instructional contents and paces (Adamson, 1995; Ting, 1987). As such, classrooms in China have been dominated by teachers for long who are always standing and talking in front of the blackboard with students sitting in lines to listen and take notes simultaneously (Sun, 2005). The absence of a teacher role as the authority seems inconceivable and dreadful (Medgyes, 1986). In such a context, students are generally ready to look on teachers as the main source of knowledge and are accustomed to speech-dominated education (Cortazzi & Jin, 1996). The grammar-translation (GT) method was the earliest approach EFL teachers utilized in China, which focused on grammar instruction via translation and interpretation of rule after rule (Brown, 2001). Nowadays, many students in China seem accustomed to this method and hold strong interest in learning English grammar, for most of them perceive that if they understand this system, it would help them apply English more effectively (Harvey, 1985). Another teaching approach applied is the direct method, which views language as a skill or habit to be achieved by repetition and imitation (Ye, 2007). The execution of the direct method is effective in small-size classes, which is applicable to EFL beginners but inappropriate in populous China (Ye, 2007); in conducting it, the teacher role in the classroom does not change radically compared with the teacher as knowledge-giver or transmitter in the previous grammar-translation method. In the early 1990’s, the communicative language teaching (CLT) approach was introduced in China, which is aimed at encouraging students to use language as a medium in communication (Li, 1984; Ye, 2007; Yu, 2001). Not only do teachers cultivate students’ integrated English skills, they also foster their abilities of applying these skills in authentic settings (Ye, 2007). Galloway (1993) asserts that CLT can make students moderately tense in the case of the © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 738 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES consequence of classroom activities which result in various reactions and responses. In the CLT process, teachers usually perform the roles of facilitator, adviser, and co-communicator who facilitate communication in EFL, monitor student performance, and engage in communicative activities together with students (Johnson & Morrow, 1981). To Ye’s (2007) thinking, CLT implementation has been constrained by lots of factors, the two major ones being: (a) that the textbook designed for CLT breaks up the integrity of the English language, thus adding to students’ difficulty in learning EFL; and (b) that the teacher roles played in this approach are hard to assess. In the last few decades, EFL teachers have turned to the audio-lingual approach that tends to stress listening and speaking by utilizing sentence patterns as the bottom of instruction and attempting to avoid the native language (Ye, 2007). The EFL teacher role attempts to be the organizer of students’ mechanical imitation activities rather than the cultivation of English skills, causing the insufficiency of students’ flexibility in learning and competence of reading and writing (Ye, 2007). Thus, any attempt from a teacher for such simulated interactions in the classroom as pair-work, group-work, teamwork, game-plays, and communicative tasks would run the risk of resistance or even resentment from students (Adamson, 1995; Chen, 2005; Li, 1996). Though numerous EFL teachers have tried to alter dominant processes in the classroom, they fail due to frustration, losing their initiatives and acquiescing to traditional practices (Campbell & Zhao, 1993). In the teacher-centered class, there is no exchange of information since the teacher is always the master while students are passive receivers rather than active participants (Yang, 2003). Consequently, their teachers teach what is tested, and they would learn what is examined only (Kang & Wang, 2003; Li, 1996; Ting, 1987; Zhou, 2013).Teachers thus experience a special EFL instructional mode which is “time-consuming and less effective” (Li, 1996, p. 14). This sort of teacher-centeredness generates the typical environment of keen competition in lieu of cooperation so that lowachievers would be left behind eventually (Richards & Rodgers, 2000). C. Bilateral Dissatisfaction from Teachers and College Students Under such circumstances and situations, there really appears to be a pair of contradictions between teachers and students either side of whom is satisfied with the other side, with students accusing their English teachers of not being worth their salt, not performing well enough, thus leading them nowhere (Hu, 2002; Hu, 2005; Liao, 2004) . Likewise, English teachers scold the students for being lax in their moral virtues and discipline and just frittering away the precious time for fun without devoting sufficient time and energy to learning English or just fooling around at college and falling short of their parents’ expectations (Campbell & Zhao, 1993). D. Cheating in CET-4/6 Running Amuck in Many Places And what is even worse, cheating in English exams or even in CET exams runs so wild on the campus for those who are lacking in the fundamental competence in passing CET-4/6 (Cortazzi & Jin, 1996; Ting, 1987; Zhou, 2013). Some of them even engage well-paid “ringers” to sit in for the exams in their favor at the high expense (Rhao, 2002; Sun, 2005). This kind of phenomenon is bound to badly wreck the regular college English education and sets a negative example to those who are devoted to serious learning of English (MOE, 2003, 2005). In the end, more and more college students are reluctant to exert all efforts to prepare themselves for CET-4/6 exams, which tends to take the exam-takers a couple of months to delve into the drag preparation by doing simulated or synchronous exercises concerned for the sake of higher scores in grading (Huang & Xu, 1999; Liao, 2004; Nunan, 2003). Though some students go all out for the exams in every possible means, they still fail in the exams at the end, which brings about more and more students getting tired of their English lessons and gradually putting it aside and going in for something funnier on the campus (Li, 1996; Yu, 2001). E. College English Teachers’ Lack of Passionate in Conducting Lessons Simultaneously, college English teachers also get puzzled at the situation they are faced with (Adamson, 1995; Campbell & Zhao, 1993). They claim that the students deviate from the essential requests in their English learning mainly because there are too many temptations on the campus like campus love and campus cyber bars open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, attracting numerous college students who show no interest in their lessons, English included (Ng & Tang, 1997; Zhou, 2013). Likewise, they argue that the students who lag behind in academic achievements are unwilling to cooperate with their teachers in the classroom, and accordingly, in such a vicious circle, the teachers also lack enthusiasm and only do their routine English teaching perfunctorily without strictly following the curriculum issued by the MOE (MOE, 2003, 2005; Nunan, 2003; Ye, 2007). To sum up, the current college English instruction (CEI) does leave so much to be desired and the CEI teachers are supposed to take the initiative to channel CEI onto the right track and gradually bring into effect the above-mentioned CEI objectives and functions (Zhou, 2013). As such, it seems to be indispensable for CEI teachers to make all potential exertions to transform the current CEI education style, without which we would proceed to waste many educational resources in CEI education (MOE, 2005). Influenced by the present English teaching configuration, most college students would be thinking that they are forcefully required to learn this monstrous lingua franca but make no substantial progress with over ten years’ time wasted in learning the horrible language (Adamson, 1995). In order to adapt to the need of society, it is high time for and CEI teachers and corresponding educators to transform the current © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 739 outdated CEI education module, and they really have no time to procrastinate in this regard (Ouyang, 2000; Yang, 2003). IV. QUALITY-ORIENTED COLLEGE ENGLISH INSTRUCTION Although CEI in China has made outstanding achievements since the commencement of the reform and opening in 1978, there exist still numerous new problematics cropping up in a sense (Yang, 2000). Pursuant to some scholars and experts, CEI teachers are embarrassed with the situations of current college English learning and teaching in that there still exist lots of flaws and bugs in this very respect like the imbalance and low level of CEI, which renders more emphasis on knowledge but less emphasis on practical competence (e.g., Adamson, 1995; Cortazzi & Jin, 1996; Nunan, 2003; Shih, 1999; Yang, 2000). Students learned English grammatical structures and rules by rote, but they could not apply them in authentic contexts flexibly in a natural way (Widdowson, 1990). Students have become strong in grammatical structures but weak at communication competence even after numerous years of learning English (Ye, 2007) in that this case lays little emphasis on the learning of communicative skills and is viewed as generating “deaf and dumb” (Longzi, Yaba) (Ng & Tang, 1997, p. 68). As such, it seems indispensable to transform the present college English instruction into quality-oriented education for the sake of adaptation to the requirements of society. A. College English Transformation Adapting to the Right Track The urgent mission for college EFL teachers and educators to carry out is to transform CET-4/6 thoroughly, which is an effective push for CEI to be appropriately channeled onto the right track in terms of students’ communicative faculty in verbal and literal English (MOE, 2005). It goes without saying that this kind of transformation would have a positive impact on today’s college English teaching and learning (Chen, 2005). Specific measures will be taken to assure the smooth execution of the newly published the Project of the Teaching Quality and Teaching Reform of Higher Education (hereafter referred to as Project) designed on “Guidelines for the Curriculum Reform of Higher Education” since the “project designed in 1992 was felt to be inadequate in a number of ways” (MOE, 2005, p. 3). It was completed and issued in the middle of 2001, and from 2002 on, one or more colleges or universities in each province were chosen as trial districts for the new Project where the pilot colleges or universities applied their own coaching instructional materials (MOE, 2005). The proposed reform went through two phases, from completing the initial design, trial, and revision of the new national Project during the 2001-2003 period to gradually expanding new practices throughout China around 2012 (MOE, 2005). Now, the implementation of the new Project is in process all over the country before another new circle of Project reforms for higher education is made known. To all intents and purposes, transformation is established to foster college students’ perfect oral English for efficient communication on special occasions (Ellis, 1996; Rhao, 2002; Ye, 2007). The realization of such targets, however, shall surely be supported by modern multimedia resources available (Zhou, 2013). B. The Necessity and Importance of CET-4/6 and Transformation Anyhow, CET-4/6 has taken root in college English instruction in China and played an important part in pushing forward CEI implementation even if it has the defects of its qualities (MOE, 2005). Nonetheless, it is inappropriate to carry out drastic reforms on CET-4/6, for, after all, it has already established itself as an advantageous brand in China’s exam system for the past 20 years or so (MOE, 2005). Most probably, there is no better exam evaluation system that can take the place of CET-4/6 (Genesee & Upshur, 1994). Accordingly, it seems more feasible for the MOE to retain the main skeleton of CET-4/6 with minor alternation, but more emphasis should be laid on changes in contents of the test paper which shall shed luster on CET-4/6 as regards the more rational and scientific allocation of such test configurations like listening, speaking, reading, writing, and translation with heavier emphasis on listening focus and speaking in particular (MOE, 2005, Yang, 2003). C. Specific Reformative Initiatives to Be Taken in College English Education The Ministry of Education (MOE) is transforming the bachelor-level public English education, figuratively, to cleanse the Augean stables from three aspects. 1) The new issue of college English teaching syllabus: In the first place, the MOE (2005) has determined to modify the current college English syllabus, shifting the testing center from reading comprehension to listening focus. In such cases, importance would be attached to students’ functional communication which can facilitate the students’ devotion to listening to received English recording or radio programs (Ye, 2007). A dominant approach to CEI is grammar-centeredness where students are required to center on reading and writing in English via grammar-based translation at the cost of listening and speaking (Chen, 2005). The principle of grammartranslation is to make students exposed to literacy materials and get them ready to change the target language into another language (e.g., mother tongue), and when this approach is utilized, the written form of the target language is given more attention than the spoken language (Larsen-Freeman, 2000). This phenomenon seems to go against the current tendency of EFL instruction, for the competence of oral English communication in international trade is equally or even more important than being able to read and write it due to the economic development of the global scope and the rise of the information technology era (Chen, 2005). © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 740 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES The implementation of grammar-centered instruction is influenced by the designated instructional curriculum orientations since entrance exams to the postgraduate programs (i.e., MA & PhD levels) in addition to CET-4/6 are mainly based on the memory of grammatical principles (MOE, 2005). Teaching without predetermined text books is not really teaching in China (Chen, 2005; Liao, 2003, 2004; Ye, 2007). Chinese college students prefer to rely on textbooks while learning, which is their fundamental characteristic (Cortazzi & Jin, 1996) since “students hold that if they acquire what the textbook contains, they will meet all needs from the teacher and various exams” (Zhang, 2008, p. 49). As a result, Chinese college students tend to enjoy rote learning and therefore lack intellectual initiative (Cortazzi & Jin, 1996; Wedell & Liu, 1995). And after working hard for more than a decade under such a teaching module, the students are trained to memorize words and grammatical rules by rote without practical competence to manage well enough in their daily communication with a native speaker (Nunan, 2003; Shih, 1999; Yang, 2003). 2) The necessity of the modification of the current CEI mode: In the second place, reforming the current teaching mode mainly from passive to initiative stresses individual ability in comprehensive application of English (MOE, 2003). Under such circumstances, both teachers and students need to cooperate for more effective and efficient information exploration via practically interactive and mutually beneficial instructional methods (MOE, 2005). Apparently, most college English teachers are short of innovation in their teaching work mainly due to their rejection of novel things that spring up like spring bamboo shoots, such as the Internet, multimedia, and some other modern high-tech inventions (Ouyang, 2000; Yang, 2003; Zhou, 2013). As such, the previous and ongoing conventional teaching methodologies are supposed to make room for cutting-edge instructional ideations (MOE, 2005). 3) CEI embedded in the media-based environment: In the third place, it is widely known that young college students brought up in the high-tech environment are totally immersed in this lifestyle, but their teachers in class tend to bring them back to boring sermons and rote memorization (Zhou, 2013). The young students commence to lose interest in this sort of instructional method with the passage of time, which would assuredly impact on their learning initiatives (Richards & Rodgers, 2000). Accordingly, it is high time for college English teachers to generate a learner-friendly environment through innovative instructional methods that would apply to their current lifestyle and favors (Hu, 2005). The establishment of such cozy instructional atmosphere would contribute greatly to arouse the enthusiasm of young learners in that the students perceive what the teachers have done to be adaptable to their individual tastes (MOE, 2003). Simultaneously, great emphasis is placed on college students’ oral English and listening competence even in the current syllabus and curriculum, but, in most cases, the adolescent college students are exposed to Chinglish uttered by the majority of the Chinese English teachers who have never obtained any opportunity to expose themselves to Received Standard English or experienced no encounter with a native speaker (Nunan, 2003; Ouyang, 2000; Shih, 1999). 4) The alteration needed of the assessment criteria of CET-4/6: In the fourth place, it seems to be significant to transform the present assessment criteria of CET-4/6 from the original emphasis on evaluation of grammar and vocabulary to reading and listening comprehension (MOE, 2005). Undoubtedly, grammar and vocabulary learning is likewise critical during the course of English learning, which, however, should not be overstressed as it has been now (Black & William, 1998). In the CET-4/6 testing papers, the score allocation of the listening and reading sections can be increased, which, in particular, ought to become a positive reflection on routine teaching and learning activities (MOE, 2005). As such, the teachers will have to impart fundamental skills and techniques of reading and listening to their college students in class since the CET-4/6 testing system is bound to be a baton of students’ self-learning (MOE, 2003). Of late, no few statistical surveys show that basic listening is unknowingly neglected by most teachers and students in a variety of colleges and universities (Zhou, 2013). It is no wonder that most CET-4/6 exam-takers are reduced to a nonplus when they are required to listen to the native speakers as luck would have it (Campbell & Zhao, 1993). 5) Practical reform consequence of CEI as a conducive push to China’s economy: The transformation of CET-4/6 is developing steadily, and its positive consequence has already taken shape (MOE, 2005). The Ministry of Education has announced its measures respecting a series of CEI transformation, especially, the transformation of CET-4/6, drawing widespread attention from all the fields of society all over China (MOE, 2003, 2005). Nevertheless, when we discuss the transformation of CEI, we are not referring to the reform of CET-4/6 only, which, in truth, gets involved in the whole process of CEI (Zhang, 2008). As a result, the reform of CEI and CET-4/6 has to be serious and cautious which concerns the interests of every single college student (MOE, 2005). Therefore, not a few educational specialists and educators assert that this type of transformation is oriented toward the correct track concerned that surely will become another landmark in the process of the educational reform of China (e.g., Adamson, 1995; Black & William, 1998; Ting, 1987; Yu, 2001; Zhang, 2008). On a larger scale, this new round of transformation would more greatly contribute to the facilitation of young college students’ practical competence of comprehensive English, which is of epoch-making value to our social development and in-depth transformation of higher education (MOE, 2005). V. CONCLUSION In conclusion, China’s college English syllabus has chiefly experienced three phases of reform. The grammarcentered syllabus was firstly changed to communication-centeredness, which was eventually developed into listeningspeaking-centered transformation. Reviewing the process of CEI reform in China, we are to see clearly that the transformation orientation of CEI is geared to actual application competence. Nonetheless, most college EFL teachers still prefer the grammar-translation strategy. Hopefully, it is assumed that this study could push the current © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 741 transformation of college English education throughout China for the purpose of theoretical verification of students’ allround development. As such, the transformation of college English teaching should not overlook the innovative teaching module on the basis of modern multi-media like the Internet, computers, teaching software, and some other effective and efficient instructional devices and means. 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Retrieved December 28, 2013, from http://resource.ahedu.cn _22.html. Xiongyong Cheng was born in Xinyang, China in 1966. He is an associate professor in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at the School of Foreign Languages, Henan University of Technology, China. His primary research interests are EFL testing and assessment in relation to classroom instruction. He holds an MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) from Henan Normal University, China, and a PhD in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from the University of Malaya, Malaysia. His current research interests encompass EFL teaching, inter-cultural communication, teacher education, professional development, and the evaluation of curriculum implementation. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cheng was awarded the honor title “National Excellent Education Gardener” by the Ministry of Education of China in 1993. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 743-749, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.743-749 A Corpus-based Comparative Study of Lexical Proficiency of Writings by Majors of Arts v.s. Those of Science Ronggen Zhang Shanghai Publishing and Printing College, Shanghai, China Abstract—With aids of corpus linguistics technology, WordSmith Tools, Range, and other software such as Coh-Metrix, this paper attempts to give a scientific analysis on lexical proficiency of writings in placement test for vocational college majors of arts and those of science. First, there exist huge lexical proficiency discrepancies between the students, and they should be implanted more stylistic knowledge in writing and be input more original English materials to enlarge their English vocabulary size. Second, those using more referential cohesive devices and more difficult words tend to score lower in their writings, and the students should be instructed to pay attention to the surface coherence, but also to focus more attention to the global coherence. Finally, the students of arts do better than those of science in deep cohesion, and can score higher, despite that their words are usually the basic common words, suggesting that global coherence is of the greatest importance in all types of writings. Index Terms—English exposition, corpus, lexical proficiency, writing proficiency I. INTRODUCTION In the light of recent reform of China’s College English Test (CET for short) policy, the Chinese college students are required to lay more emphasis on discourse reading, textual translation and writing. The salience of textual abilities for the students becomes more and more obvious. Nevertheless, the writing proficiency of the students in CET seems to be lowering in recent years, with an average score of 40 out of 100 for each student’s writing (li, 2012). Therefore, it is urgent to enhance China’s college students’ writing abilities. Researches on relationship between lexical knowledge and L2 writing proficiency are abundant. Leki and Carson found that more proficient L2 users use a wider variety of words and more sophisticated (e.g., low-frequency) the size of vocabulary available to the writer plays an important role in L2 writing (Leki and Carson 1994). It was also found more proficient L2 users use a wider variety of words in their writing than do less proficient L2 users (Laufer and Nation, 1995). Crossley and McNamara found the lexical differences between L1 and L2 writers will highlight the restricted lexical proficiency common in L2 learners (Crossley and McNamara, 2009). Baba suggested that different aspects of L2 lexical proficiency have a differential impact on EFL learners’ summary writing (Baba, 2009). Pre-task planning condition was found to have a small significant effect on writing fluency, whereas pre-task planning condition was found to have no impact on lexical complexity and grammatical complexity(Johnson , Mercado and Acevedo 2012). Kormos discussed the role of three important individual difference factors, aptitude, working memory capacity, and motivation, in the different stages of writing and the processes of learning through writing (Kormos, 2012). In response to the above researches, this paper attempts to give a scientific analysis on lexical proficiency of writings in the placement test for college majors of arts and those of science, by using both quantitative and the qualitative methods. By adoption of the technology from the corpus linguistics, WordSmith Tools, Range, and other software such as Coh-Metrix are used in this study. Nesi and Gardner aimed to improve understanding of the writing demands placed on today's university students, by using corpus tools, such as WordSmith Tools (Scott, 2010) to analyze variation in keywords, lemmas, and clusters across genre families, disciplines, and student levels. RANGE is used to compare the vocabulary of up to 32 different texts at the same time. RANGE is designed by Paul Nation to provide a table which shows how much coverage of a text each of the three base lists (BASEWRD1, BASEWRD2, and BASEWRD3) provides. With the three base lists, RANGE can provide information on word frequency, such as TOKENS, TYPES, FAMILIES and the like(Nation, 2011). Coh-Metrix is a computational tool that produces indices of the linguistic and discourse representations of a text. These values can be used in many different ways to investigate the cohesion of the explicit text and the coherence of the mental representation of the text. From the homepage of Department of Psychology of University of Memphis (http://cohmetrix.memphis.edu/cohmetrixpr/index.html), calculated by Coh-Metrix, the Text Easability Assessor provides percentile scores on five characteristics of text, including Narrativity, Syntactic Simplicity, Word Concreteness, Referential Cohesion, and Deep Cohesion (Graesser , McNamara and Kulikowich , 2011). © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 744 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES First, narrativity tells a story, with characters, events, places, and things that are familiar to the reader. Then, syntactic simplicity reflects the degree to which the sentences in the text contain fewer words and use simpler, familiar syntactic structures, which are less challenging to process. Third, high word concreteness means that texts that contains content words that are concrete, meaningful, and evoke mental images are easier to process and understand, while texts that contain more abstract words are more challenging to understand. Furthermore, a text with high referential cohesion contains words and ideas that overlap across sentences and the entire text, forming explicit threads that connect the text for the reader; whereas a low cohesion text is typically more difficult to process because there are fewer connections that tie the ideas together for the reader. Finally, deep cohesion reflects the degree to which the text contains causal and intentional connectives when there are causal and logical relationships within the text. If the text is high in deep cohesion, then those relationships and global cohesion are more explicit. With regard to the above case, this study mainly focuses on the following points: a) What lexical features the English writings by China’s vocational college students may display. b) What differences may exist between the writings by Majors of Arts and those of Science c) Pedagogical implications of the findings. II. METHODOLOGY A. Sampling: The corpora concerned are based on the 60 pieces of students’ writings, randomly sampled among the 1600 pieces of writings from the placement test for freshmen majors of arts and those of science in Shanghai Publishing & Printing College in September of 2013. The topic of the writing is an expository composition on „No Smoking in Public Places ’, with each student given a picture in which many people are smoking at a restaurant at the time. And the writing is required to be finished within half an hour. B. Data Processing: Including scoring, concordancing, and editing, by using the software such as AntConc 3.2 , WordSmith Tools 5.0, Range 32, SPSS 19, Coh-Metrix, etc. Each piece of writing is scored through the scoring system provided by http://pigai.org/guest.php, just for reference. C. Concepts Concerned in Data Processing: FILE - file size of each text; Tokens-the running words; Types - distinct words TOKEN1, TOKEN2, and TOKEN3 belong to BASEWRD1, BASEWRD2, and BASEWRD3 within the three base lists respectively, while TOKEN4 is out of the base list (Nation, 2011). TYPE1, TYPE2, TYPE3, and TYPE4 corresponding to TOKEN1, TOKEN2, TOKEN3 and TOKEN4 respectively TTR - type/token ratio; STU1 - majors of arts; STU2 - majors of science MWL - mean word length (in characters); WLSTD - word length standard deviation Sentences - the total number of sentences in the text; MSL - mean sentence length (in words) SLSTD- sentence length standard deviation According to Templin, Type-token ratio (TTR) is the number of unique words (called types) divided by the number of tokens of these words. Each unique word in a text is considered a word type. Each instance of a particular word is a token (Templin, 1957). III. DATA ANALYSES AND FINDINGS A. Descriptive Statistics I TOKEN1 TOKEN2 TOKEN3 TOKEN4 TYPE1 TYPE2 TYPE3 TYPE4 SCORE FILE TOKENS TYPES Minimum 18.00 .00 .00 1.00 12.00 .00 .00 .00 19.00 343.00 55.00 38.00 Maximum 140.00 25.00 6.00 61.00 81.00 12.00 6.00 14.00 74.00 863.00 159.00 92.00 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER TABLE I. DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF MAJORS OF ARTS AND SCIENCE Mean Std.Deviation Minimum 86.6333 21.58779 TTR 41.41 11.0167 4.40913 MWL 3.73 .9667 1.31441 WLSTD 1.70 5.8000 8.09645 SENTENCES 2.00 53.3000 12.46187 MSL 6.56 5.6000 2.40198 SLSTD 1.96 .7833 1.18023 Narrativity 37.00 4.1500 2.94483 SyntacSimplicity 14.00 50.9167 13.56752 WordConcreteness 2.00 580.8000 115.60318 ReferentialCohesion 2.00 104.1000 21.84436 DeepCohesion 11.00 64.4167 13.09327 Valid N 60 Maximum 73.74 4.85 2.47 16.00 31.50 9.31 98.00 99.00 99.00 96.00 100.00 Mean 62.3531 4.2811 2.0307 9.6667 11.3735 4.9193 77.5667 86.8500 33.4000 29.6333 70.8000 Std.Deviation 6.18722 .21546 .19136 2.48839 3.70958 1.92132 14.19521 16.36224 25.04518 22.41063 28.95397 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 745 Table I shows, the overall writing proficiency of the 60 vocational college students is far from satisfactory, with a mean score of less than 51 out of 100 and a large score standard deviation of more than 13. What’s more, there exist huge lexical proficiency discrepancies between the students, seen from the high standard deviations of TOKENS, TYPES TTR and FILE. The vast discrepancies are also demonstrated by the great disparity between the percentile scores on five characteristics of each text, including Narrativity, Syntactic Simplicity, Word Concreteness, Referential Cohesion, and Deep Cohesion, i.e. with the standard deviation of 14.19521, 16.36224, 25.04518, 22.41063, and 28.95397 respectively. Considering the means of TOKENS and TYPES, both TOKENS1 and TYPES1 are the highest of the same kind correspondingly; and the mean of TTR is over 62.This illustrates the fact that due to the small vocabulary size of the student, most of the words in the writing are simple common words and the same word reappears very often in the same text. This result may be further confirmed by the high means of Narrativity(77.5667) and Syntactic Simplicity(86.8500). High narrativity indicates that the text is more story-like and may have more familiar words, and high syntactic simplicity means that the text has simple sentence structures and it is easier to process. Nevertheless, and the low mean of Word Concreteness(33.4000) is quite out of the researcher’s expectation, for the low word concreteness means there are many abstract words that are hard to visualize, causing the text to be more difficult to understand. In addition, the low referential cohesion (29.6333) suggests that the reader may have to infer the relationships between sentences and ideas, also causing the text to be more difficult to understand. Anyway, lower referential cohesion may result from the negative transfer of the students’ mother tongue Chinese, which further confirms their low writing proficiency. In Chinese, high frequency of repetitions of words is rather preferred, and so is low referential cohesion. B. Descriptive Statistics II TABLE II. COMPARATIVE DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF MAJORS OF ARTS AND SCIENCE Table II displays the comparative descriptive statistics for the 60 vocational college majors of arts and those of science. For one thing, there exist some differences between the two majors in TOKEN1, TYPE1, TYPES, TTR, and TOKEN4. The means of TOKEN1, TYPE1, TYPES, TTR for majors of arts are a bit higher than those of science respectively, while the situation is opposite in terms of the mean of TOKEN4. This illustrates that students of arts are more likely to use more simple familiar words and wider varieties of words in their writings, whereas those of science are more liable to use more abstract unfamiliar words. This may result from their different ways of thinking, where students of arts tend to think in a concrete way while those of science prefer to think in an abstract manner. As to the standard deviations of TOKEN1, TYPE1, TYPES, TTR, and TOKEN4, the students of arts are all lower than those of science correspondingly, indicating that the lexical proficiency discrepancy between the students of arts is smaller than that between those of science. For another thing, the means of Narrativity and Syntactic Simplicity for the majors of arts are a little lower than those of science, while it is on the contrary in view of Word Concreteness, and Referential Cohesion. This suggests that majors of science prefer to write with simple short words and with simple short sentences, and those of arts prefer to use more reference words and more complex sentences in their writings. In the end, the mean of Deep Cohesion for the students of arts (78.9) is much higher than that of science (62.7), suggests that the former are better at using connecting words and other cohesive means to make their writing more coherent than the latter. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 746 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES C. Homogeneity Test of Variance TABLE III. HOMOGENEITY TEST OF VARIANCE STATISTICS OF MAJORS OF ARTS AND SCIENCE Through comparisons between the majors of arts and those of science by One-Way ANOVA analysis, it can be seen that the scores between the two majors are not significantly different (its significance is 0.997, far greater than 0.05), which may be due to many factors, such as the students’ individual intelligence, motivation, and some other environmental factors. However, there are two variances (SLSTD and Deep Cohesion) significantly different, suggesting that the students of two majors demonstrate strong differences in sentence length standard deviation and Deep Cohesion, which has been mentioned in the above paragraph. That is, majors of science prefer to write simple sentences, while those of arts rather than use complex sentences on the one hand; the former pay less attention to the coherence of the writing, whereas the latter do better at making their writing more coherent on the other hand. D. Pearson Correlation I TABLE IV. PEARSON CORRELATION FOR MAJORS OF ARTS AND SCIENCE SEX TOKEN1 TOKEN2 TOKEN3 TOKEN4 TYPE1 TYPE2 TYPE3 TYPE4 SCORE FILE .034 -.025 -.141 .026 .095 -.084 -.084 .100 -.063 -.123 -.060 1 -.213 .049 -.177 .082 -.171 .045 -.139 -.057 -.172 -.166 -.172 .566** .408** .356** -.001 .569** .507** .346** -.108 1 .724** -.213 1 .454** -.083 -.419** .922** .381** -.130 .013 .566** .790** .049 .454** 1 -.155 -.302* .396** .694** -.162 .048 .408** .496** -.177 -.083 -.155 1 .482** -.064 -.042 .935** .054 .356** .301* .082 -.419** -.302* .482** 1 -.410** -.200 .559** .254* -.001 .150 -.171 .922** .396** -.064 -.410** 1 .445** -.075 .097 .569** .723** .045 .381** .694** -.042 -.200 .445** 1 -.019 .253 .507** .447** -.139 -.130 -.162 .935** .559** -.075 -.019 1 .058 .346** .278* -.057 .013 .048 .054 .254* .097 .253 .058 1 -.108 .164 -.166 .790** .496** .301* .150 .723** .447** .278* .164 .724** 1 -.181 .833** .464** .239 .115 .750** .388** .230 .115 .689** .983** -.118 .692** .313* .318* .198 .790** .484** .364** .244 .695** .879** .198 -.354** -.305* .116 .132 .001 .157 .224 .227 -.094 -.298* .139 -.390** .004 .285* .133 -.287* .133 .212 .221 -.047 -.152 -.106 -.180 -.052 .455** .248 -.105 .255* .360** .150 .353** .073 -.054 .374** .223 .193 .125 .274* .170 .183 .007 .236 .506** -.017 .129 .033 -.055 -.001 .180 .099 -.043 .119 .082 .108 -.043 .449** .238 -.070 -.033 .437** .098 -.084 .159 .254 .403** .010 .070 -.015 -.333** -.260* -.047 -.274* -.401** -.242 -.090 -.171 .080 .057 .084 .084 -.151 -.006 -.073 .040 -.245 .124 .014 STU STU 1 SEX .034 SCORE -.123 TOKEN1 -.025 TOKEN2 -.141 TOKEN3 .026 TOKEN4 .095 TYPE1 -.084 TYPE2 -.084 TYPE3 .100 TYPE4 -.063 FILE -.060 TOKENS -.011 TYPES -.042 TTR -.063 MWL -.177 WLSTD -.168 SENTENCES -.054 MSL -.048 SLSTD .120 Narrativity .123 Syntac .042 Simplicity Word -.071 -.025 -.177 Concreteness Referential -.069 .175 -.263* Cohesion Deep Cohesion -.282* -.145 .061 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER .154 .085 .071 -.026 .049 -.079 .002 -.256* -.243 -.413** -.408** -.326* -.348** -.403** -.422** -.409** -.651** -.394** .279* -.100 -.069 .097 .084 .270* -.053 .107 .022 -.060 .207 -.103 TOKENS TYPES TTR -.011 -.042 -.063 -.181 -.118 .198 .689** .695** -.094 .833** .692** -.354** .464** .313* -.305* .239 .318* .116 .115 .198 .132 .750** .790** .001 .388** .484** .157 .230 .364** .224 .115 .244 .227 .983** .879** -.298* 1 .874** -.342** .874** 1 .148 -.342** .148 1 -.321* -.176 .334** -.017 .121 .250 .510** .374** -.319* .121 .184 .148 .454** .411** -.150 -.097 -.270* -.366** .017 -.092 -.237 .077 -.141 .069 -.014 .271* -.008 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 747 (TO BE CONTINUED) Narrati- Syntac Word Referential Deep MWL WLSTD SENTENCES MSL SLSTD vity Simplicity Concreteness Cohesion Cohesion STU -.177 -.168 -.054 -.048 .120 .123 .042 -.071 -.069 -.282* SEX .139 -.106 -.054 -.017 -.043 .010 .080 -.025 .175 -.145 SCORE -.047 .353** .236 .082 .254 -.090 .124 -.060 -.403** .207 TOKEN1 -.390** -.180 .374** .129 .449** .070 .057 -.177 -.263* .061 TOKEN2 .004 -.052 .223 .033 .238 -.015 .084 .071 .002 .279* TOKEN3 .285* .455** .193 -.055 -.070 -.333** .084 -.026 -.256* -.100 TOKEN4 .133 .248 .125 -.001 -.033 -.260* -.151 .049 -.243 -.069 TYPE1 -.287* -.105 .274* .180 .437** -.047 -.006 -.079 -.413** .097 TYPE2 .133 .255* .170 .099 .098 -.274* -.073 .154 -.408** .270* TYPE3 .212 .360** .183 -.043 -.084 -.401** .040 .085 -.326* -.053 TYPE4 .221 .150 .007 .119 .159 -.242 -.245 .107 -.348** .022 FILE -.152 .073 .506** .108 .403** -.171 .014 -.103 -.422** .077 TOKENS -.321* -.017 .510** .121 .454** -.097 .017 -.141 -.409** .069 TYPES -.176 .121 .374** .184 .411** -.270* -.092 -.014 -.651** .084 TTR .334** .250 -.319* .148 -.150 -.366** -.237 .271* -.394** -.008 MWL 1 .455** -.264* .030 -.281* -.402** -.126 .255* .086 .050 WLSTD .455** 1 -.131 .113 -.151 -.255* -.085 -.010 -.294* .217 SENTENCES -.264* -.131 1 -.651** -.208 .034 .449** -.270* -.304* -.139 MSL .030 .113 -.651** 1 .428** -.270* -.717** .308* .150 .236 SLSTD -.281* -.151 -.208 .428** 1 .202 -.157 -.175 -.065 .071 Narrativity -.402** -.255* .034 -.270* .202 1 .418** -.391** .318* -.059 Syntac -.126 -.085 .449** -.717** -.157 .418** 1 -.357** -.098 -.096 Simplicity Word .255* -.010 -.270* .308* -.175 -.391** -.357** 1 .070 .157 Concreteness Referential .086 -.294* -.304* .150 -.065 .318* -.098 .070 1 .054 Cohesion Deep Cohesion .050 .217 -.139 .236 .071 -.059 -.096 .157 .054 1 *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed); **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) Table IV shows, there exist quite a few significant positive or negative correlations between the variances concerned. First, the two majors of students display a negative correlation in terms of Deep Cohesion (-.282*), indicating the majors of arts do better than those of science in coherence as confirmed above. Second, score positively correlates with TOKENS (.689**), TYPES (.695**), TOKEN1 (.566**), TOKEN2 (.408**), TOKEN3 (.356**), TYPE1 (.569**), TYPE2 (.346**), WLSTD (.353**), FILE (.724**); but it negatively correlates with Referential Cohesion (-.403**), SEX (-.172), and TOKEN4(-.001). This means those students with better mastering of base words and in more various wordings can score higher. However, it is surprising that those using more referential cohesive devices and more difficult words (out of the basewords list) tend to score lower in their writings. This finding partly corresponds to that of Liang, who found that due to the overuse of some surface features, cohesive ties such as pronouns and connectives do not contribute much to the coherence in EFL writers texts, and that highproficiency EFL writers’ texts tend to be globally more coherent, while low-proficiency EFL writers texts are likely to be locally more coherent (Liang, 2006). Lastly, female students score higher than male ones, as generally expected, thanks to the females’ more interest and harder work in English as usual. Third, Word Concreteness positively correlates with TTR (.271*), and MWL (.255*), yet negatively correlates with Syntactic Simplicity (-.357**), SENTENCES (-.270*), and SCORE (-.060). This indicates that those prefer to use more content words tend to use wider varieties of longer multi-syllabic words. Meanwhile, they also like to write longer and more complex sentences, but out of their expectations their writings usually result in lower scores. Fourth, Referential Cohesion negatively correlates with many variances such as TYPES (-.651**), FILE (-.422**), TYPE1 (-.413**), TOKENS (-.409**), TYPE2 (-.408**), SCORE (-.403**), TTR (-.394**), SENTENCES (-.304*), TOKEN3 (-.256*), TOKEN4 (-.243), TYPE3(-.326*), and TYPE4(-.348**). This suggests that those pay more attention to Referential Cohesion tend to use fewer varieties of lexemes and less difficult words; despite they do better in local coherence, they tend to get lower scores in writing as mentioned in above paragraphs (Liang, 2006). Lastly, Deep Cohesion negatively correlates with STU (-.282*), SEX (-.145), and TTR (-.008); while it positively correlates with TOKEN2 (279*), TYPE2 (270*), SCORE (.207), TOKENS (.069), and TYPES (.084). This indicates that, above all, students of arts do better than those of science in deep cohesion, i.e. the former, especially the females prefer to use more logic connectives in writing and can score higher, despite that their words are usually the basic common words. This finding is of especially pedagogical implication, to be further detailed in the latter part of the paper. E. Pearson Correlation II © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 748 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES TABLE V. PEARSON CORRELATION FOR MAJORS OF ARTS VS MAJORS OF SCIENCE Pearson R TOKEN1 TOKEN2 TOKEN3 TOKEN4 TYPE1 TYPE2 TYPE3 TYPE4 FILE TOKENS TYPES SCORE-ARTS .703** .518** .215 .033 .687** .550** .212 .067 .746** .728** .705** SCORE-SCI .488** .289 .490** .004 .505** .449* .481** -.351 .699** .662** .694** Syntac Word Referential Deep Pearson R TTR MWL WLSTD SENTENCES MSL SLSTD Narrativity Simplicity Concreteness Cohesion Cohesion SCORE-ARTS -.230 .001 .304 .139 -.027 .270 .093 .309 -.198 -.575** .063 SCORE-SCI .006 -.126 .389* .345 .272 .283 -.247 -.165 .077 -.234 .278 *. C ORRELATION IS SIGNIFICANT AT THE 0.05 LEVEL (2-TAILED); **. CORRELATION IS SIGNIFICANT AT THE 0.01 LEVEL (2-TAILED) Table V is a comparison of the two majors of students in terms of the Pearson correlations between score and other variances. It is easy to see that the two majors of students share many similarities in writing, such as their significant positive correlations of TOKEN1, TYPE1, TYPE2, FILE, TOKENS, and TYPES in terms of score. Nevertheless, the two majors display some discrepancy in their significant correlations of TOKEN2, TOKEN3, TYPE3, and Referential Cohesion, either positively or negatively, in terms of score. That is, on the one hand, both majors of students’ writing proficiency matches with using common words from the baseword1 list or the baseword2 list; on the other hand, students of science with higher writing proficiency prefer to use more complex words from the baseword3 list, while those of arts doing better in local coherence get lower scores in writing as mentioned above. IV. PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS A. Stylistics Stylistics is a branch of linguistics, the study and interpretation of texts in regards to their linguistic and tonal style (Widdowson, 1992). Style is classically viewed as using proper words in proper places by Jonathan Swift. Style is generated at two levels: lexical level and syntactic level ( Huang, 2005). Each style is exercised in two forms (written and oral). There is also strong iconicity in expository text construction (Xu, 2011). As mentioned above, our vocational college students’ writings display low word concreteness, that is, there lack concrete content words to evoke iconic of the reader, causing the writings more difficult to understand. Therefore, the students should be implanted more stylistic knowledge in various types of writings such as narration, argumentation, description, exposition, and the like. B. Language Transfer Language transfer refers to speakers or writers applying knowledge from their native language to a second language. Negative transfer occurs when speakers and writers transfer items and structures that are not the same in both languages (Nitschke, 2010). Corder claims that it is a generally agreed observation that many but not necessarily a11 the idiosyncratic sentences of a second language learner bear some sort of regular relation to the sentences of his mother tongue (Corder, 1981). Negative transfer occurs most often at the early stage of language acquisition, especially among L2 learners of lower proficiency. As mentioned above, our vocational college students demonstrate lower referential cohesion, which may result from negative transfer of Chinese, i.e. preferring high frequency of repetitions of words in Chinese rather than frequent using of referential cohesive devices in English. Hence, it is necessary to minimize the impacts of negative transfer of mother tongue in teaching Chinese students writing courses by inputting them more original English materials and by enlarging their English vocabulary size. C. Cohesion Cohesion is the grammatical and lexical linking within a text or sentence that holds a text together and gives it meaning. Cohesion takes place on two levels: lexical level and grammatical level. M.A.K. Halliday and R. Hasan identify five general categories of cohesive devices that create coherence in texts: reference, ellipsis, substitution, lexical cohesion and conjunction (Halliday and Hasan, 1976). As mentioned above, our Chinese students display low referential cohesion suggesting that the reader may have to infer the relationships between sentences and ideas, and also causing the text to be more difficult to understand. Despite that lower referential cohesion may result from the negative transfer of the students’ mother tongue, it may also be due to their lack of knowledge on English cohesion. As mentioned above, the score of the student’s writing negatively correlates with Referential Cohesion, confirming that the overuse of some surface features, cohesive ties such as pronouns and connectives do not contribute much to the coherence in the texts (Liang, 2006). Therefore the students should be instructed to pay attention to the surface coherence, but also to focus more attention to the global coherence, i.e. to let the writing come to the point. V. CONCLUSION This paper has attempted to investigate what lexical features the English writings by China’s vocational college students may display and what differences may exist between the writings by Majors of Arts and those of Science. First, it is found that, as expected, the overall writing proficiency of the 60 vocational college students is far from satisfactory, that there exist huge lexical proficiency discrepancies between the students, and that due to the small © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 749 vocabulary size of the student, most of the words in the writing are simple common words and the same word reappears very often in the same text. And the paper assumes that lower referential cohesion in the findings may result partly from the negative transfer of the students’ mother tongue, and partly from the students’ lack of knowledge concerned. Therefore it is suggested that the students should be implanted more stylistic knowledge in various types of writing such as narration, argumentation, description, exposition, and the like, and that they should be instructed to input more original English materials and enlarge their English vocabulary size. Second, it is also found that those using more referential cohesive devices and more difficult words tend to score lower in their writings, this partly corresponding to that of Liang, who found that due to the overuse of some surface features, cohesive ties such as pronouns and connectives do not contribute much to the coherence in EFL writers texts, and that high-proficiency EFL writers’ texts tend to be globally more coherent, while low-proficiency EFL writers texts are likely to be locally more coherent (Liang, 2006). Hence, the students should be instructed to pay attention to the surface coherence, but also to focus more attention to the global coherence, i.e. to let the writing come to the point. Finally, it is found that students of arts do better than those of science in deep cohesion, i.e. the former, especially the females prefer to use more logic connectives in writing and can score higher, despite that their words are usually the basic common words. This suggests that clarity and accuracy are the core principles in expository writings, but what’s more important, global coherence is of the most importance in all types of writings, and this further confirms the above findings. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] Baba, Kyoko. (2009).Aspects of lexical proficiency in writing summaries in a foreign language. Journal of Second Language Writing, 18, 191-208. Corder, S. P. (1981). Error Analysis and Interlanguage. Oxford University Press, UK Crossley, S.A., McNamara, D. S. (2009). Computational assessment of lexical differences in L1 and L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 18, 119-135. Graesser, A.C., McNamara, D.S., Kulikowich, J. (2011). Coh-Metrix: Providing multilevel analyses of text characteristics. Educational Researcher, 40, 223-234. http://cohmetrix.memphis.edu/cohmetrixpr/cohmetrix3.html#References (accessed 21/12/2013) Huang, A., H. (2005). Stylistic Examination of English at the Lexical Level. MA Thesis of WUT (Wuchang University of Technology, China). Halliday, M. A. K., Hasan R. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman. Johnson, M. D., Mercado, L., Acevedo, A. (2012).The effect of planning sub-processes on L2 writing fluency, grammatical complexity, and lexical complexity. Journal of Second Language Writing, 21, 264-282. Kormos, Judit. (2012). The role of individual differences in L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 21, 390-403. Laufer, B., Nation, P. (1995). Vocabulary size and use: Lexical richness in L2 written production. Applied Linguistics, 16, 307– 322. Leki, I., Carson, J. (1994). Students’ perceptions of EAPwriting instruction and writing needs across the discipline. TESOL Quarterly, 28, 81–101. Liang, Maocheng. (2006). A study of coher ence in EFL learner s written production. Modern Foreign Languages (Quarterly), 29, 284-285. Li, Y. J. (2012). Negative echoic effects of the writing topic of college English test band 4 - some afterthought of a CET4 writing rater. College English Academic Edition, 99, 273-277. Nitschke, S., Kidd, E., Serratrice, L. (2010). First language transfer and long-term structural priming in comprehension. Language and Cognitive Processes, 25, 94–114. Nation, Paul. (2011). Range program with British National Corpus list [CP]. http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/about/staff/paulnation (accessed 23/11/2013). Nitschke, S., Kidd, E., Serratrice, L. (2010). First language transfer and long-term structural priming in comprehension. Language and Cognitive Processes, 25, 94–114. Scott, M. (2010). WordSmith Tools Version 5, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Templin, M. (1957). Certain language skills in children: Their development and interrelationships. Minneapolis, MN: The University of Minnesota Press. http://cohmetrix.memphis.edu/cohmetrixpr/cohmetrix3.html#References (accessed 21/12/2013). Widdowson, H. (1992). Practical Stylistics. London: Oxford University Press. http://uastudent.com/stylistics-theoretical-issuesof-stylistics/ (accessed 21/12/2013). Xu, H., E. (2011). The Implications of Language Iconicity for the English Expository Writing Teaching -Taking LinYutang’s Human Life like a Poem as an Example. Education and Teaching Research, 25, 90-93. Ronggen Zhang, Associate professor, holds an MA degree in ESP from University of Shanghai for Science and Technology in China. His research interest lies in corpus linguistics and investigation of language teaching strategies. He is now teaching in Shanghai Publishing and Printing College. He has recently published in JCIT (Journal of Convergence Information Technology). © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 750-757, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.750-757 Strategies Employed in Translation of Tourist Guidebooks Culture-specific Items from Persian into English Masoome Rezaei Department of English Language, East Azarbaijan Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran Davud Kuhi Department of English Language, Maragheh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Maragheh, Iran Abstract—One of the major duties of every translator is to use an appropriate method in dealing with culturespecific items (CSIs). In this paper an attempt has been made to study the translation of two Iran tourist guidebooks translated by Oksana Beheshti and Amir Hassan Hakimian from Persian into English in order to analyze the strategies the translators have employed for translating CSIs based on Newmark’s model and then to explore whether most these CSIs are domesticated or foreignized. For this purpose a number of instances which are highly specific cultural references have been collected and the strategies applied by translators have been identified. According to the obtained results, the most abundant strategies used in the translation of these two corpses are Newmark’s transference with the addition of some notes. Therefore, although both domesticating and foreignizing strategies have been used, the most common strategy in the translation of these two tourist guidebooks is foreignization. Index Terms—culture, culture-specific items (CSIs), domestication and foreignization, tourist guidebooks, translation strategies I. INTRODUCTION By knowing the languages alone it is not possible to guarantee the success of translations. According to Newmark (1995, p. 79) “any old fool can learn a language … but it takes an intelligent person to become a translator”. Paluszliewicz-Misiaczek reports Bell (1991) that “apart from an excellent knowledge of both the source and the target language, which comprises vocabulary and word formation, grammar, spelling and pronunciation, the translator also has to possess so-called “sociolinguistic competence”, which helps him to understand the text within its context, to determine its functions and predict who is going to receive it” (Paluszliewicz-Misiaczek, 2005, p. 243-244). Tourist guidebooks usually include details about a country geographic location and provide some information about its tourist sites, accommodations and sometimes the costumes and culture of its people. Each cultural community has a set of habits, value judgments, classification systems, symbols, ceremonies, etc. which are often peculiar to its nationwide territory. Each word or expression may refer to a concept which is different from one language to another. According to Aixelá CSIs are “those textually actualized items whose function and connotations in a source text involve a translation problem in their transference to a target text, whenever this problem is a product of the nonexistence of the referred item or of its different inter textual status in the cultural system of the readers of the target text” (Aixela, 1996, p. 58). The translation of CSIs in tourism texts constitutes the most serious problem for a translator because he/ she needs to know the source language and the target language well and also get familiar with both cultures. Translators should be able to find a range of possibilities that include all the diversities of translation strategies which can be used to solve the problems of translating CSIs between languages (Maasoum, 2011). The present descriptive study tries to trace CSIs in translation of two tourism guidebooks and analyze the strategies the translator has employed for translating them into English and did not intend to judge the correctness of translations or appropriateness of the application of translators’ ideological presuppositions. After gathering this data the rendering choices have been noted to show either domestication or foreignization is used in the target texts. Newmark's classification of CSIs has been adopted as the theoretical framework of this study. II. CULTURE-SPECIFIC ITEMS (CSIS) IN TRANSLATION A. The Concept of Culture Culture is an extremely complex and enormous subject. It has been analyzed by different scholars and translation theorists paid a lot of attention to cross-cultural understanding. A big variety of definitions of the word culture reflect different understanding and different approaches towards this complex concept; however all of them include such © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 751 notions as customs, traditions, beliefs, habits, environment, geographical realia, national literature, folklore and religious aspects (Novels, 2012) . Newmark defines culture as “the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its means of expression” (Newmark, 1988).Vermeer states that "language is part of a culture" (Vermeer, 1989). Cultural differences exist between countries and this is partially caused by different languages that exist in different countries. Communication with someone who speaks a different language, subscribes to different values and belief structures and maintains a different outlook on life, may lead to misunderstanding and miscommunication, which in turn will lead to an undesired reaction and behavior by the receiver or consumer (Bezuidenhout, 1998). It is very important to understand culture of other people to avoid such miscommunications. These statements prove that “language and culture are inseparable, language and culture are intimately linked, language is culture and culture is language” (Risager, 2006). One language cannot express the meanings of another; instead there is a distinction between the meanings built in the SL and the meanings that must be captured and expressed in TL (Thriveni, 2001). In this regard, when people speak different languages it predisposes them to think differently. Therefore, translation is not simply seeking meanings in another language, but finding appropriate ways of saying things in another language. If we consider culture as a complex of beliefs, attitudes, values, and rules which a group of people share, then the writer of the source text assumes the beliefs, attitudes, values, and rules of the audience for which he writes. Therefore we can say every language possesses specific words and phrases for special kinds of culture-specific concepts: events, customs or objects. In order to understand the source text the translator at first needs to understand these attitudes and values and then it is possible to translate them into the TL. To sum up, translation from one language to another cannot be done without knowledge of the two cultures. B. Culture-specific Items: Definition and Types According to Newmark translation is a craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and/or statement in one language by the same message and/or statement in another language (Newmark, 1981, p. 7). However, with CSIs this often seems to be impossible as the meanings which lie beyond these expressions are always strongly linked to a specific cultural context (Terestyényi, 2011). It is not always clear which words and expressions should be considered CSIs, even in the literature of translation several names exist for these items: realia, culture-specific items and culturally bound items. In the field of translation studies realia – also culturally-bound, culture-specific expressions – cannot be easily well-defined. They do not mean only objects, but also words that signify concepts that are related to a specific culture (Terestyényi, 2011). Franco Aixelá (1996, p. 58) defines CSIs as “those textually actualized items whose function and connotations in a source text involve a translation problem in their transference to a target text, whenever this problem is a product of the non-existence of the referred item or of its different intertextual status in the cultural system of the readers of the target text”. Some scholars have classified CSIs into some categories. Newmark (1988, p. 94-95) defines culture as the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its means of expression. He described five “cultural categories” and their sub-categories that CSIs may come from. Those categories are as follows: 1) Ecology: flora, fauna, hills, winds, plains; 2) Material culture (artifacts): food, clothes, houses and towns, and transport; 3) Social culture: work and leisure; 4) Organizations, customs, activities, procedures, and concepts: political and administrative, religious, and artistic; and 5) Gestures and habits. Vlahov and Florin speak of realia and categorize these items as follows: 1) Geographical (geographic formations, man-made geographical objects, flora and fauna that is special to a certain place); 2) Ethnographic (food and drink, clothing, places of living, furniture, pots, vehicles, names of occupations and tools); 3) Art and culture (music and dance, musical instruments, feasts, games, rituals and their characters); 4) Ethnic (names of people, nicknames); and 5) Sociopolitical (administrative-territorial units, offices and representatives, ranks, military realia) (Terestyényi, 2011). III. TRANSLATION STRATEGIES FOR CULTURE-SPECIFIC ITEMS Translators use different methods or strategies to transfer the essence of the original text. According to Venuti’s major work, The Translator’s Invisibility (1995), translation of texts from one culture into another usually requires more than a simple choice of what gets translated or what does not, i.e. it requires a choice between two translation procedures, namely domestication and foreignization (Zare-Behtash, 2009). Domestication means making the text recognizable and familiar and thus bringing the foreign culture closer to that of the readers in the target culture, while foreignization means taking the reader to the foreign culture and making him or her feel the linguistic and cultural differences (Lindfors, 2001). It encourages a translation practice in which traces of the foreign are left as much as possible within the translated text. In any translation project, the initial decision between which procedures to adopt, either a domesticating or a foreignizing one, may affect the whole translation process, leading either to a TT that is easily recognizable and thus readily accessible to the target readership, or to a text that constantly reminds target readers of cultural difference (Zare-Behtash, 2009). Different scholars have analyzed the strategies and procedures involved in the translation of CSIs, suggesting various classifications of such strategies. One of the pioneers in this field was Newmark. He introduces the following translation © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 752 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES strategies for finding an appropriate equivalence for CSIs: Transference: the process of transferring a SL word to a TL text as a translation procedure (Newmark, 1988, p.81). Naturalization: succeeds transference and adapts the SL word first to the normal pronunciation, then to the normal morphology of the TL (Newmark, 1988, p.82). Cultural equivalent: an approximate translation where a SL cultural word is translated by a TL cultural word (Newmark, 1988, p.82). Descriptive equivalent: the translator uses some descriptions to clarify the meaning for his audience. Functional equivalent: applied to cultural words, requires the use of a culture-free word, sometimes with a new specific term; it therefore neutralizes or generalizes the SL word (Newmark, 1988, p.83). Synonymy: is defined as a near TL equivalent to an SL word in a context, where a precise equivalent may or may not exist. This procedure is used for a SL word where there is no clear one-to-one equivalent (Newmark, 1988, p.84). Componential analysis: is defined as comparing a SL word with a TL word which has a similar meaning but is not an obvious one-to-one equivalent, by demonstrating first their common and then their differing sense components. Normally the SL word has more specific meaning than the TL word and the translator has to add one or two TL sense components to the corresponding TL word in order to produce a closer approximation of meaning (Newmark, 1988, p. 114). Through-translation: is the literal translation of common collocations, name of organizations, and the components of compounds and perhaps phrases, which is also known as calque or loan translation (Newmark. 1988, p.84). Shifts or Transpositions: involves a change in the grammar from SL to TL. The first type of shift occurs when there is a change from singular to plural. The second type of shift is required when an SL grammatical structure does not exist in the TL. Finally the third type of shift is the one where literal translation is grammatically possible but may not accord with the TL (Newmark, 1988, p. 85-86). Recognized translation: is the official or the generally accepted translation of any institutional term (Newmrk, 1988, p.89). Modulation: in this strategy the translators try to create the message of the SL in the TL in conformity with the current norms of the TL (Maasoum, 2011). In modulation the SL and the TL may be different in terms of perspective (Newmark, 1988, p.88). Compensation: is said to occur when loss of meaning, sound- effect, metaphor or pragmatic effect in one part of a sentence is compensated in another part, or in contiguous sentence (Newmark, 1988, p.90). Paraphrase: is an amplification or explanation of the meaning of a segment of the text. It is used in an „anonymous’ text when it is poorly written, or has important implications or omissions (Newmark, 1988, p.90). Couplets, Triplet, and Quadruplet: this strategy occurs when the translator combines two or more than two different procedures for dealing with a single problem. They are particularly common for cultural words, if transference is combined with a functional or a cultural equivalent (Newmark, 1988, p.91). Notes: is additional information in a translation. In This strategy the translator should explain the meaning of the word or phrases in the note (Newmark, 1988, p.91). The classification of procedures in translation of CSIs in the light of domestication and foreignization strategies will be according to table I. TABLE I. TAXONOMIES OF PROCEDURES RELATED TO DOMESTICATION AND FOREGNIZATION STRATEGIES BY NEWMARK Domestication Foreignization Synonymy Transference Cultural Equivalence Through Translation Functional Equivalence Recognized Translation Descriptive Equivalence Compensation Shifts Notes Modulation Naturalization Paraphrase Componential analysis In this study Newmark’s classification is used as the framework to analyze the translation strategies used in translating CSIs. The instances were selected from two tourist guidebooks Travel Guide to Fars and Iran Tourist Guide, and their translations into English by Oksana Beheshti and Amir Hassan Hakimian. IV. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS This section is based on collecting CSIs from the two tourist guidebooks and then according to the above mentioned categories they are divided into the following groups: Geographical items, Ethnographic items, Ethic items, and artistic and cultural items. A. Translation of Geographical Items According to Newmark (1988) when the translators face the geographical names they should use the method of transference. Geographical names fall into Newmark’s first categorization ecology and also Vlahov and Florin’s first categorization geographical items. ‫ تپه سیلک ک‬Tappeh (hill) Silak in Kashan ‫ چ ا دا ط ی ی ک ی‬The natural landscape of Kavir (desert) ‫ ب ق‬Ghosse wind ‫ چندین قن ت‬qanats (subterranean aqueduct, used as part of the water-supply system in desert regions). © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 753 In these examples the translator transferred the SL words into the TL. For some of the examples the translator used transference with the addition of notes to explain the exact meaning of them. ‫ خت ت ی ی‬Lombardy poplars ‫ خت ت ی ی‬is a tree with a dense crown, and narrow oval. The ben has thicker trunk and gradually narrows. Slender branches cover almost the entire length of the shaft. Its scientific name is Populus nigra that means black poplar: large European poplar. Based on Oxford dictionary, Lombardy poplar is a black poplar of a variety which has a distinctive tall, slender columnar form. It arose as a mutation in Italy and is widely cultivated. It can be the best and “nearest TL equivalent” for ‫ خت ت ی ی‬in Persian. This equivalent in English can have the same sense on the reader, so the translator used Newmark’s synonymy to translate this sample. ‫ چ اگ ی ییاقی و ق اقی‬seasonal summer and winter quarters According to Oxford dictionary winter quarter means “accommodation for the winter, especially for soldiers”. ‫چ اگ‬ in English means a pasture, the land covered with grass and other low plants suitable for grazing animals, especially cattle or sheep. The nomads in Iran change their pastures according to seasonal changes. In English the translator used seasonal summer and winter quarters as an equivalent for ‫ی ییاقی و ق اقی‬ ‫چ اگ‬, however it cannot have the same connotative meaning. So according to Newmark’s statement it is not an "accurate" equivalent for the Persian word. The translator here used Newmark’s cultural equivalence. The samples show that the most abundant strategy that is used to translate geographical names is Newmark’s transference. However, for translating ‫ خت ت ی ی‬he used synonymy and for ‫ی ییاقی و ق اقی‬ ‫ چ اگ‬a cultural equivalence is used. Table II provides the strategies used while translating geographical names into English. TABLE II. TRANSLATION STRATEGIES USED IN TRANSLATING GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES Foreignization Transference + Note → 3 Transference → 1 Domestication Cultural Equivalence → 1 Synonymy → 1 B. Translation of Ethnographic Items (Food and Drinks, Places of Living, Tools and Furniture) Food and Drinks The theorist, Mona Baker, claims that culture “may relate to religious belief, a social custom, or even a type of food” (Baker, 1992). Food is an important part of certain cultures; people from one culture could be suffering from hunger and the desperate need of food, and others can eat whatever they like and as much as they want. The area of food items can be classified into Newmark’s second categorization material culture and Vlahov and Florin’s second categorization ethnographic items. ( ‫ چل ک )ب ج ک ب ک‬ Chelokabab (steamed rice with grilled lamb or beef) (‫ آبگ ت ) م ل ط گ ت گ س ند ب ح ب ت و سی مینی‬ Abgoosht ( a soup of lamb, cereals, spices, and potatoes) ( ‫ا‬ ‫ ف نج )غ ایی ا گ ت پ د ب یژ ا ک و غ ب مغ گ و و‬ Fesenjan (poultry, especially goose or duck, ground walnut, pomegranate syrup, sugar and spice) ( ‫ب گم ت‬ ‫ ل ه )غ ا ی گ تی پیچید‬ Dolmeh (a mixture of meat, vegetables and other materials wrapped in the fresh leaves of grapevine). ‫ و‬ Doogh (yogurt drink) ‫ ت سین‬ Haft-sin (the seven S’s) ‫ س‬ sabzeh (various home-grown shoots) ‫ سی‬ sib (apple) ‫ س که‬ serkeh (vinegar) ‫ سنجد‬ senjed (jujube fruit) ‫ سی‬ sir (garlic) ‫ س‬ somagh (sumac) ‫ س ن‬ samanu (a sweet, thick paste made from the juice of crushed grains of green wheat) ‫ س‬ sohan (famous local sweat). ‫ سنگک و ب ب ی‬، ‫ ت فت‬، ‫تند ا ل ا‬ ‫ی ای ا ی‬ ‫ ا ا‬ Different kinds of Iranian breads are Sangak, Lavash, Taftoon, and Barbary. ‫ خ وی‬ Caviar The examples show that it was difficult for the translator to translate food items and names of dishes. These items are left in Persian in the English version of the text. In most cases the translator, used additional translations in brackets; in this way the reader can easily understand what the words mean in the source language. For ‫ ت سین‬the translator used the Persian words in the translation to emphasis the letter at the first of each word and then brought the meaning of each item in the brackets. And finally in the case of ‫( خ وی‬Caviar) Newmark’s strategy of recognized translation is used because the term caviar is “generally accepted” in TT. Table III provides the strategies used for translating food and drinks into English. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 754 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES TABLE III. TRANSLATION STRATEGIES USED IN TRANSLATING FOOD AND DRINKS Foreignization Domestication Transference + Note → 14 Transference → 4 Recognized translation → 1 Place Names This section will analyze different strategies were used in translating place names. Place names are the sub-categories of Newmark’s second general categorization which is material culture, since they are kinds of places, housing and towns. And according to Vlahov and Florin these samples can be categorized as ethnographic items (their second category). ‫ ق خ ه‬ GhahveKhane (coffeehouse) ‫ای ا‬ eivan (a large vaulted porch opens at one end) ‫ مح ا‬ mihrab (niche or decorative panel in the wall of the mosque, showing to the prayers the direction of qibla (Mecca) ‫ت کا ف گی‬  pavilion called Kolah-farangi (“the European Hat”).(Kolah-farangi: a little garden pavilion) ‫ ب لگ‬ Delgosha (“Heart’s Ease”) Garden ‫ ب‬ Nazar (“Eye-Catching”) Garden ‫ خ ق‬ khaneqah (dervishes’ cloisters) ‫ ح ض ه‬ howz-khaneh (basement vaulted chamber arranged around a middle pool found in Iranian traditional houses and sometimes other buildings) ‫ ب ا وکیل‬ Vakil (Regent’s) Bazaar ‫ بی و ی و ا د و ی‬ biruni and andaruni (Biruni: part of the traditional Iranian house allocated for guests and accommodating the reception area, Andaruni: part of the traditional Iranian house reserved for the living quarters of the family) (" ‫اس ا‬ ") ‫ ی ا ی ای‬ Shi-razi-ish, “the town of secrets” (perhaps the place where the royal archieve had been kept before Perspolis was founded) In these samples Newmark’s strategy of transference is used with the addition of some notes. ‫ ب ا س ح ض آق‬ Sar-e Howz-e Aqa bazaar ‫ چ ا‬ Shah Cheragh ‫ام م ا‬ ‫ گ م به‬ Darb-e-Imamzadeh Bath ‫ میدا ت پ ه‬ the Tup-Khaneh Square These samples are the proper names of different places in Iran. Here the translator used Newmark’s transference but he did not give any notes to explain about the meaning of them. ‫ س بینه‬ cloakroom According to Oxford dictionary Cloakroom is a room in a public building where outdoor clothes or luggage may be left. According to Dehkhoda dictionary ‫ س بینه‬means ‫ ختکن ح‬, an area outside the bathroom where people can take off their clothes before going into the bathroom. ‫ین‬  alcove According to Wikipedia ‫ین‬ is a niche within panjdari a little higher than the ground and usually is for elders and guests. As presented in Oxford dictionary an Alcove is a recess in the wall of a room or garden. ‫ ض یح ق ای‬ silver casket According to Oxford dictionary a Casket is a small ornamental box or chest for holding jewels, letters, or other valuable objects; a coffin. Based on Dehkhoda ‫ ض یح‬is the building on the graves of religious leaders. ‫ آ ا وکیل‬ Vakil Water Cistern According to Oxford dictionary Cistern means a tank for storing water, especially one supplying taps or as part of a flushing toilet. Based on Moin Dictionary ‫ آ ا‬is a special place usually under the ground for storing water. ‫ گ م به‬ bath ‫ گ م به‬refers to a public bath used in Iran and it had many different parts. But bath is not an accurate equivalence for it. For the samples in this part the translator used Newmark’s cultural equivalent. In all these examples the English words are not accurate equivalences for the SL items. ‫ چ ی ه‬ teahouse ‫ م جد ج م س ی‬ Friday Mosque of Surian ‫ گ م ه‬ heat room According to Newmark (1988, p.84) for translation of common collocations, names of organizations, the components of compounds and perhaps phrases the translator can use a literal translation that is known as calque or loan translation. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 755 He prefers the more transparent term through-translation. As you can see for translating the compound nouns here the translator used through-translation. ‫ ک ک ک ی خ ی‬ Karim Khan’s Kiosk ‫ ک ک‬means a palace, a supreme house. The definition of kiosk in Oxford dictionary is: a light open pavilion or summer house (in Turkey and Iran). In English translation of ‫ ک ک‬the translator has chosen the term kiosk which is “generally accepted” in TT. Here the translator used Newmark's Recognized translation. In the area of places in most cases the translator used the Persian words because the names of places are among proper nouns and the translator could not find an equivalent in the TL. For most of the examples he used the Persian words and then explained about them in brackets or the glossary at the end of the book. Among the examples of this group we can talk about ‫ای ا‬, ‫مح ا‬, ‫خ ق‬, ‫ب لگ‬, ‫ب ا وکیل‬, ‫ چ ا‬, etc. The most abundant strategy is Newmark’s transference and notes. There are some other examples that the translator used different strategies to translate them. In table IV the strategies that are used for translating place names are shown. TABLE IV. TRANSLATION STRATEGIES USED IN TRANSLATING PLACE NAMES Foreignization Domestication Transference + Note → 12 Cultural Equivalent → 5 Transference → 4 Through translation → 3 Recognized translation → 1 Tools and Furniture (Crafts) ‫ ج جی‬ jajim (coarse blanket) ‫ گ ه‬ gabeh (a traditional form of carpet) ‫ من‬ Minbar (pulpit consixting of a small set of steps from where a sermon is delivered by a mullah) ‫ خ ت‬ khatam ((marquetry mosaic) consists of minute polygnos of wood, ivory and brass. Known as “beads”, these elements are formed of rods, triangular in section, glued together and then sliced. The beads are then fixed to the wood surface of the object intended for the decoration.) ‫ ک ک ل‬ kashkul (a Sufi begging bowl used by dervishes for collecting alms) ‫ ک سی‬ Korsi (a low table with a brazier underneath and covered by a thick quilt overhanging it on all sides). For these samples the translator could not find an English equivalence, so he used the strategy of transference with the addition of notes to explain the examples. ‫دا‬ ‫و‬ ‫ ف‬ lamps and candle sticks ‫ م ک یی ا پ ست ب‬ bags of lamb-skin. ‫ ا ق لی فی‬ Loom Based on oxford dictionary, loom is an apparatus for making fabric by weaving yarn or thread. In these three samples the translator used an approximate translation; the SL cultural words are translated by TL cultural words. Bag, lamp and loom are not "accurate" equivalents for ‫م ک‬, ‫ ف‬and ‫ ا ق لی فی‬. The strategy used here is Newmark’s cultural equivalent. ‫ گا پ‬ Rosewater sprinkler In this example it seems that the translator chose a word-for-word translation. The strategy used here is Newmark's through translation. ‫ ق لی‬ hand-woven carpets It is observable that the translator used some words to describe the clear meaning for the reader of the TT. The translation strategy that is used here is Newmark's descriptive equivalent. ‫ گلی‬ kilim (short-napped coarse carpet) The definition of ‫ گلی‬in Oxford dictionary is: a flat-woven carpet or rug made in Turkey, Kurdistan, and neighboring areas. In English translation of this word the translator has chosen the term kilim which is “generally accepted” in TT. So we have Newmark's recognized translation. The translator also used notes to explain the exact meaning of this item. From the examples this conclusion can be drawn that the most common strategy used for translating crafts into English is Newmark’s transference and notes. However, some other strategies are used to translate these culturespecific items. Table V provides the strategies that are used while translating crafts into English. TABLE V. TRANSLATION STRATEGIES USED IN TRANSLATING PLACE NAMES Foreignization Domestication Transference + Note → 6 Cultural Equivalent → 3 Recognized translation → 1 Descriptive Equivalent → 1 Through translation → 1 C. Translation of Ethic Items (Names and Nicknames) © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 756 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES In this section the translation strategies used in translating personal names in English versions of the two corpus of this study are examined. All these examples fall into Vlahov and Florin’s fourth categorization Ethnic items (names of people and nicknames).  Nader Shah (King Nader) ‫به یخ ک ی‬ ‫داه مح دبن خ یف – م‬ ‫ اب‬ Abu Abdollah Mohammad ibn Khafif, famous as Sheikh Kabir (“Great Sheikh”) (Sheikh: (here) leader of the Sufi order) ‫ س س ی و د‬،‫ سل له ی من ی‬ dynasties of Achaemenians, Sasanians, and Zand ‫ ق ق یی‬ Qashqai In all these samples the translator used Newmark’s transference and for some of them provided notes. Social system of a country can be related to its social classes and groups and they can have special names. These names are in group of proper nouns. Therefore the translator tried to transliterate Persian words into English. Table VI provides the strategies that are used while translating personal names into English. TABLE VI. TRANSLATION STRATEGIES USED IN TRANSLATING PERSONAL NAMES Foreignization Domestication Transference → 4 Transference + Note → 2 D. Translation of Artistic and Cultural Items (Feasts) Feasts (holidays and festivals) reflect culture, history, and religious practices of countries. Some holidays are similar to those celebrated throughout many other parts of the world, while others are unique to a country. In this section the translation of some holidays and festivals mentioned in the two corpus of this study will be analyzed. All the examples fall into Newmark’s third categorization Social Culture (leisure) and Vlahov and Florin’s third categorization Art and Culture (feasts). ‫ و‬ Nouruz (“the New Day”) ‫ یک م ی ک چک م س به ل ا گ ت‬ a small party, called shal-angosht ‫ چله به‬ chelleh-be-dar ‫ قص ست ل‬ kerchief dances For ‫ و‬, ‫ ل ا گ ت‬and ‫ چله به‬the translator used Newmark’s transference, and for the translation of ‫ قص ست ل‬he used Newmark’s through translation. Table VII provides the strategies that are used while translating crafts into English. TABLE VII TRANSLATION STRATEGIES USED IN TRANSLATING HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS Foreignization Domestication Transference → 2 Transference + Notes → 1 Through Translation → 1 V. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION It can be clearly seen from the results that the most abundant strategies employed by translators in the process of translating CSIs in the two tourist guidebooks Travel Guide to Fars and Iran Tourist Guide are Newmark’s Transference + Notes (38), and Transference (15) which rank the highest. In some cases the strategies of Through translation (5), Recognized translation (3), Cultural equivalence (9), Descriptive equivalence (1) and Synonymy (1) are used, however, the number of their appearance is not significant. As Newmark (1988) mentions, “Transference is the process of transferring an SL word to a TL text as a translation procedure”. “Transference gives "local color," keeping cultural names and concepts”. All of this bears witness to the fact that the translators tend to foreignize the cultural elements in these two tourist guidebooks. They tried to preserve the meaning of the SL cultural norms and their foreignness to the TL text and a number of SL cultural words were borrowed and introduced into the TL culture. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Aixelá, J. F. (1996). Culture-specific items in translation. Translation, power, subversion, 8, 52-78. Baker, M. (1992). In other Words. London: Routledge. Bell, R. T. (1991). Translation and translating (p. 15). London: Longman. Bezuidenhout, I. (1998). A discursive-semiotic approach to translating cultural aspects in persuasive advertisements. Retrieved November, 29, 2005. Lindfors, A. M. (2001). Respect or ridicule: translation strategies and the images of a foreign culture. Helsinki English Studies, 1, 29. Maasoum, S. M. H., & Davtalab, H. (2011). An Analysis of Culture-specific Items in the Persian Translation of “Dubliners” Based on Newmark’s Model.Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 1(12), 1767-1779 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] 757 Newmark, P. (1981). Approaches to translation (Vol. 1, p. 982). Oxford: Pergamon Press. Newmark, P. (1988). A textbook of translation (Vol. 1, p. 988). New York: Prentice Hall. Newmark, P. (1995). Paragraphs on Translation, Clevdon/Philadelphia/Adelaide: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Novels, J. H. S. (2012). VERTIMAS/TRANSLATION. Paluszkiewicz-Misiaczek, M. (2005). Strategies and Methods in Dealing with Culture Specific Expressions on the Basis of Polish-English Translations of Certain Administrative and Institutional Terms. In Proceedings from the Eighth Conference of English, American and Canadian Studies:(linguistics, methodology and translation) (Vol. 3, p. 243). Masaryk University. Risager, K. (2006). Language and culture: Global flows and local complexity. Multilingual matters. Terestyényi, Enikő, (2011). Translating Culture-specific Items in Tourism Brochures. In SKASE Journal of Translation and Interpretation [online]. 2011, vol. 5, no. 2. Thriveni,C. (2001). Cultural Elements in Translation, The Indian Perspective, Available at: http://accurapid.com/journal/19culture.htm. Venuti, L., (1995). The translator’s invisibility: A translation history of translation. London and New York: Routledge. Vermeer, H. (1989). "Skopos and Commission in Translational Activity." In Venuti, L. The Translation Studies Reader. London: Routledge. Zare-Behtash, E. (2009). A Diachronic Study of Domestication and Foreignization Strategies of Culture-Specific Items: in English-Persian Translations of Six of Hemingway’s Works/Esmail Zare-Behtash, Sepideh Firoozkoohi. World Applied Sciences Journal, 7(12), 1576-1582. Masoome Rezaei was born in Zahedan, Iran; in 1984. She lives in Zahedan. She is an M.A student of English translation in Islamic Azad University, East Azarbaijan Science and Research Branch. She received her B.A in the same major in Maritime University of Chabahar in Iran in 2007. She teaches English to students at university (Islamic Azad University-Zahedan Branch) and she is an English teacher in some institutes. Davud Kuhi, PhD in applied linguistics, is a member of English Language Department at Islamic Azad University, Maragheh Branch, Iran. He has been teaching Linguistics, Sociolinguistics and Discourse Analysis in postgraduate programs, and has been researching mainly on academic discourse issues". © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 758-765, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.758-765 Understanding the Platonic Dialogue from the Perspective of Gadamer’s Hermeneutics Chunge Liu The School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, China Xiaodi Sui The School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, China Abstract—This article focuses on Plato’s The Republic from the perspective of Gadamer’s hermeneutic understanding, which has three dimensions, that is, dialogue, effective history and hermeneutic circle. Firstly, the article introduces the general characteristics of the Platonic dialogue and Socrates’ dialectic devices in The Republic. Then, it analyzes the Platonic dialogue in The Republic from the perspective of effective history. Historical and social elements are discussed, including Socrates’s life, the democracy, the ancient Greek spirit and the sophism. Thirdly, the article explicates the Platonic dialogue in The Republic from the perspective of hermeneutic circle. The relationship of the totality and metaphysics of the Platonic philosophy and the individuality and concretization of the Platonic dialogue are discussed. Finally, the article concludes that the distinct characteristics of Platonic dialogue—being open, equal, sincere, emphasizing the dialogic process and self-understanding, applying Socrates’ dialectics—are consistent with Socrates and Plato’s pursuit of truth. Plato’s choice of dialogue as the form of writing is influenced by Socrates, Athenian democracy, Greek spirit and sophism. And finally, the individuality and concretization of the Platonic dialogue and the totality and metaphysics of the Platonic philosophy are complements to each other. All these aspects follow the dialogue, effective history and hermeneutic circle in hermeneutic understanding. Index Terms—Plato, dialogue, Hans-Georg Gadamer, hermeneutics I. INTRODUCTION: THE PLATONIC DIALOGUE Plato takes dialogue as the form of The Republic, and meanwhile Gadamer discusses the characteristics of dialogue from the perspective of hermeneutic understanding. From the perspective of Gadamer’s hermeneutics, dialogue creates openness, equality and sincerity between the participants. Dialogue does not emphasize an closed ending of statment. It is the dialogic process that matters most. What’s more, hermeneutic understanding pays attention to self-understanding. The Platonic dialogue has the general characteristics of hermeneutic dialogue mentioned above. Besides, Socratic dialectic devices of cross-examination, irony and midwifery provide methods for the Philosophical inquiry and discovery of truth and reality. Dialogue is an event in process, which aims for meaning and truth. Dialogue, according to Gadamer, is “the model for philosophical conversation” and it is carried out by “emergence of the question” and “letting meaning emerge in an „event’ of mutual understanding” (Michelfelder & Palmer, 1989, pp.1-6). In dialogue, participants view themselves as “conversational partners, engaged in a joint search for meaning and truth” (Michelfelder & Palmer, 1989, p. 6). More specifically, dialogue is conversation, communication and discussion. It involves at least two sides. To carry out a successful dialogue, participants must be fully engaged. They must be interested in the topic and try to understand the stance of the other participants and also give their own ideas. Dialogues have multiple levels in the hermeneutic understanding. It can take place within a text—between one part and another and also among different texts. It can take place between the past and the present and also among different social backgrounds. It can take place between the text and the readers and also among different readers. For example, when reading a text, people have to get the meaning of a sentence in a context—dialogue between one part and another within a text. People may also have to refer to other texts in order to fully understand the intention—dialogue between different texts. And moreover, people might need to know the social background of the author in order to acquire the deep meaning—dialogue between the past and the present. And people need to know how they really think of the text—dialogue between the text and the reader. Sometimes people need to know how others evaluate the text—dialogue between different readers. And also people need to know the backgrounds of other readers—dialogue among different social backgrounds. The process of understanding a certain text is the constant conversation between different factors mentioned above. And what people get in the end is the combination of all these factors. Based on hermeneutic understanding, the following characteristics of dialogue can be drawn. II. THE PLATONIC DIALOGUE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF GADAMER’S DIALOGUE © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 759 According to Gadamer, dialogue is an event of openness, equality and sincerity. There are two aspects concerning openness. Firstly, participants engaged in a discussion must give their own opinions and their real thought about a topic. They must open their mind to others. This willingness of participation is the premise of a dialogue. They have to get someone know what they think and why they think it in that way. If one side of a dialogue does not give their opinion, it will turn out to be a monologue, whose essence is quite different. Secondly, they must allow others to give opinions. A dialogue allows no hegemony. The right to speak belongs to all participants. Ideas may be different but there is no such opinion that is absolutely right and all the participants have to accept nor such idea that is absolutely wrong and must be condemned. The value of dialogue is to listen to different ideas and think about how can improve the opinions about a topic towards a better one. There is no best solution, just better ones. And the process of getting to a better solution requires participants to be open. Equality and sincerity can be two other statements of openness. These three aspects share the same essence as described above—the full participation of both sides in the discussion. The nature of dialogue is equal communication, mutual exploration and understanding improvement. It breaks the barriers of authority and creates a free space with open atmosphere. The openness, equality and sincerity can bring out the primitive thoughts of the participants without many scruples. Gadamer takes dialogue from the perspective of the hermeneutic understanding as a constant conversation, discussion and communication among different participants—both within and outside a text. If people want to get a full understanding, they must approach it with the attitude of openness, sincerity and equality. What really counts is the process of dialogue instead of the conclusion and everyone can improve his or her own understanding towards self and the world. Also, Gadamer takes the Platonic dialogues as the illustration of his understanding of dialogue. The Platonic dialogue is characterized with openness, equality, and sincerity. What’s more, the Platonic dialogue attaches great importance to the process rather than the conclusion and at last, self—understanding in this process is also highlighted. The Platonic dialogue of Socrates is characterized with the sense of openness, equality and sincerity, which leads to participants’ endeavor for understanding truth. In the ancient Athenian state, Socrates was greatly welcomed by the young who were in great hunger for knowledge. One of the reasons is the way he talked with other people. Unlike the discussions with sophists who were so overwhelming that other participants seemed to be intimidated, dialogues with Socrates were always under an atmosphere of openness, equality and sincerity. In The Republic, Socrates gives chance to whoever wants to speak their mind. For example, when talking about what is justice, Cephalus, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus, Glaucon and Adeimantus give their opinions one after another. Socrates gives his opinions and refutations one by one. Although not every participant is so polite, Socrates is quite competent in putting the overall situation under control and makes sure that it is open, equal and sincere. One participant who is also a sophist, Thrasymachus, seems to be so confident in his arguments that he “often tried to interrupt” and seems to “burst out” and often “laughed sarcastically” (Lee, 1987, p. 17). However, Socrates always tries to answer him politely “if we have made any mistake in our consideration of the argument, I assure you we have not done so on purpose” and “That’s because you’re so clever, Thrasymachus” (Lee, 1987, p. 17). Anyway, a good atmosphere is the premise for the successful proceeding of dialogue. Although it is not the main topic under concern, it gives the participants the feeling of openness, equality and sincerity. No matter what the reaction of other participants towards his opinions, Socrates seems to be so charismatic that he can always bring them to such open atmosphere which can encourage them to air their views. The openness, equality and sincerity are main characteristics of the Platonic dialogue and what Socrates really wants is the full engagement of the participants in the discovery and inquiry of truth and reality. The purpose of The Republic and the other Platonic dialogues is the change of Athenian ethical order, which demands a discussion instead of an ending statement. What is on Socrates’ mind is how to improve the interlocutors’ understanding towards major moral issues rather than tell them what they should do. He is fully aware that doctrines and conclusions have little effect on people’s souls. Their dogmatic opinions or traditional ideas must be changed little by little and only by the careful examination of each bit of their thought can they change what has long been held, drawing insights from the dialogue. The careful examination is the process. In discussing about what is justice, Socrates listens carefully to his interlocutors’ opinions, analyzes with them and tells what’s wrong with their opinion. But he does not give his definition about what is justice. Although later in The Republic, readers can draw the Socratic idea that justice is the PS or Principle of Specialization (Waterfield, 2008, p. 76) which means that each one does what is most appropriate for him to do, such an idea is arrived through lots of discussions and it is reached naturally. It is the process towards such a conclusion that counts most, because the process of dialogue also reflects the process of thinking, thus, dialogues with Socrates become good practice of thinking—another goal of Platonic dialogue. Therefore, people can see that Platonic dialogue emphasizes the process instead of conclusion. The Platonic dialogue aims for knowledge which is realized through dialogic communication instead of teaching. Socrates loves knowledge. But in his mind, knowledge cannot be taught. He thinks that what he can do is to lead his interlocutors towards knowledge. As different people hold different opinions, the improvement of their understanding can also be different. Again, when talking about what is justice, Cephalus and Thrasymachus harbor different ideas. Socrates gives them different instructions, whether they accept or not or to what extent do they understand Socrates’ ideas determine how much improvement they can make. What’s more, the process of giving their opinions and trying to make others understand them is also the process of self-persuasion. Ideas in the mind are not as clear as when they are spoken out. In exchanging ideas with others, Socrates, as well as other interlocutors can have a better understanding © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 760 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES what is really on their mind and whether it can persuade themselves in the first place. So, either by trying to understand others or trying to make their own ideas clear, Platonic dialogue is helpful to the participants for their self-understanding and self-improvement. From the perspective of hermeneutics, the main characteristic of the Republic and the other Platonic dialogues is their enventfulness. Generally, the Platonic dialogue in The Republic shares the general characteristics of dialogue in hermeneutic understanding. Platonic dialogue is proceeding under an atmosphere of openness, equality and sincerity. It also puts an emphasis on the process rather than the conclusion since in Plato’s mind, there is no doctrine. What one gets at last is better self-understanding and self-improvement. Those characteristics are attributable to Socratic idea that one should never end his pursuit of knowledge. For the sake of denying the uncertainty of Sophists’ technical application of dialogue as sophistry, Plato develops the dialectic dialogue. In the modern sense, dialectic has multiple meanings. It can be Marxist material dialectic. It can be Hegel’s dialectic. And it can also be sophist, Socrates’ and Plato’s dialectics. The later ones (Marxist and Hegel’s) are the development of the previous ones (Socrates’ and Plato’s). However, it should be interpreted in a more basic sense—the sophist dialectic. The early interpretation of dialectic is more or less like rhetoric or the art of debate. Rhetoric in the ancient Greek was the art or technique to debate. By the 5th century, rhetoric had become a special knowledge and there were people who taught rhetoric and the technique needed in public speaking. They taught people how to use language and how to argue in order to win. Therefore, in the original sense, dialectics means the art to argue and the main purpose is to defeat the opponent and win out. That is the main idea of the sophist dialectic or sophistry (Zhu & Fang, 2002, p. 211). The sophist dialectic is more a persuasion than an inquiry and a discovery of truth. Socrates dislikes the method of argument for win’s sake. He concentrates more on the collaboration and reasoning process with the interlocutors for the inquiry and discovery of truth (Kidder, 1997, p. 55). In this sense, the Socratic dialectic is more like a dialogue, the way of discussion by question—answer process. Socrates used three main dialectic devices in The Republic—cross-examination, irony and midwifery (Hu, 2009, p. 27). Cross-examination is the pattern in The Republic, which confines the uncertainty and ambiguity of the meaning in participants’ conversation.Cross-examination of the Platonic dialogue in The Republic is to question closely and eagerly. It forces responders to think deeply and to try to clear away any ambiguity. Sometimes, ideas people have are from either common sense or hearsays that they usually don’t doubt or just take for granted. By cross-examination, nothing is so certain and no concept is so absolute that are beyond doubt. It can help the dialogue participants—both the questioners and the responders, cultivate a spirit of query. Cross-examination is a kind of technique that the interlocutors can always take to their daily life. Not only the topic is questioned, but also other ideas which are so familiar and “right” can be under suspicion. Cross-examination is such an effective way that it conforms perfectly to the Platonic philosophy—never-ending pursuit of truth. In The Republic, Socrates asks one question after another until his interlocutors have nothing to say and have to turn to Socrates to make things clear or give up their previous ideas. Socrates applies irony as a constant dialectic device to the guidance of the participant’s understanding of knowledge. Irony is a dialectic device used by Socrates in The Republic, which means that opposite ideas are not refuted at first, but affirmed, however, with the discussion going on, the interlocutors will notice the absurdness of their previous thought that they have to doubt it and negate it. Socrates is quite modest and he always appears as an ignorant person. He will praise the sophists for their “extensive information and learning”. He encourages them to give their “wise opinion” concerning a topic and he will somewhat agree with them. Later, by discussion, the “wise people” will find the irrationality in their argument. Maybe at first, Socrates knows something wrong in the argument of his interlocutors, but he does not deny their ideas directly or instantly but give them positive responses. The initial agreement helps to create a friendly atmosphere in the first place and also shows sincerity, because it indicates that participants of dialogue are on the same boat and they want to go ahead together. The dialogue participants can dig deeper into the topic without much enmity or aversion in the first place. After all, the main purpose of the dialogue or Socrates inquiry is to arouse people’s interest and attention to think deep about the condition and purpose of their life and their souls. Socrates also applies midwifery for the purpose of helping the participant to realize the truth. Midwifery is the third dialectic device that is commonly used by Socrates in The Republic. Midwifery has two layers, the physiological one and the spiritual one (Hu, 2009, p. 66). And the Socratic midwifery is the spiritual one. In discussions with his interlocutors, Socrates would destroy some common sense or proposition which was held by people as standards in life and ethics. The Socratic dialectic made people realize that what they believed was not so reliable and even contradictory and absurd. His dialectic is to trigger new thoughts and new ideas. After the negation of the interlocutors’ previous ideas, he will lead them to new ones. However, to say that it is midwifery is due to the fact that Socrates does not give any certain conclusion to a topic. He just acts as a guide or a midwife. The generation of any idea is due to every individual himself. The discussion with Socrates may be floundering and struggling in the interlocutors’ mind and soul, but they get closer to truth and reality. They are making progress towards knowledge. The Socratic dialectic in the dialogue represents Socrates’s understanding of the process of attaining knowledge. The Socratic dialectic is the question-answer process of dialogue. The cross-examination, irony and midwifery are the main dialectic devices in carrying out the Socratic and Platonic philosophical inquiry and discovery. Unlike the sophist dialectic whose aim is to win an argument without paying attention to reality and truth, the Socratic dialectic is to focus on the more reasonable and the truer. It leads people away from opinion and to knowledge. To Socrates, an unexamined © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 761 life is one unworthy to be lived. What is always on his mind is how should one live. He would not tell his interlocutors the answers to these big questions, but invite them to discover the answers with him. By using the dialectic devices—cross-examination, irony and midwifery, he helps purify the souls of the Athenians and get rid of innocence, at the same time, developing the dialogue. III. THE PLATONIC DIALOGUE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF GADAMER’S EFFECTIVE HISTORY Gadamer’s effective history demands historical understanding of Plato’s The Republic. Effective history reminds people that writers of texts they encounter are also influenced by certain historical and cultural backgrounds. The way they write, the form they choose, the content they cover, and the techniques they use are all results of that particular background. Therefore, when people approach a text, it is helpful for them to know the historical and cultural environment of the writer and also the background of the text. Historicism should not only concentrate on the works that have been passed down, but also notice the effect of phenomenon in history (Gadamer, 2007, p. 223). Take The Republic for example. Plato’s application of dialogue as the form to convey his philosophical thought is greatly influenced by the historical and cultural environment he was in, by his respected teacher Socrates, by the democratic environment and the Greek spirit and by the sophist abuse of rhetoric. Gadamer’s effective history reveals that Plato’s The Republic cannot be cut away from the past and the tradition. Effective history is to understand the present from the perspective of the past. People’ consciousness is determined by the effective history which embodies the whole strength of tradition. People can never break away from it and the effective history extends and also limits their way of thinking. It provides the background of all their values. Writers of texts are influenced by the tradition they are in and an understanding of this tradition can help readers better understand the texts they are reading. The written language is out of the authorial control, so Socrates absolutely denies it. Socrates himself dislikes written language. He spent all his life in the high streets and back lanes, discussing issues concerning morals, politics and philosophy. He would confront anyone who he met and who acclaimed to harbor extensive information and learning. However, Socrates himself never wrote. Actually the images readers get about him are mostly through Plato’s description. Socrates is the faithful defender of oral conversation and he dislikes writing. Plato, in the Phaedrus, explained the famous Socratic indictment of writing. Firstly, writing cannot help improve memory as many may imagine it to be. On the contrary, it sows the seed of forgetfulness. Once people can get the material they want, they are not willing to put it in their mind. For example, with the invention of e-dictionary, students would not like to remember English words because they can always turn to the e-dictionary. Anyway, the process of memorizing something wants effort and understanding. Writing is such a way of increasing forgetfulness and laziness of the mind that it goes against the Socratic philosophy that people should go on constant inquiry and discovery of truth and reality by thinking deep about themselves and the world they live in. Secondly, writing treatise is not a safe way to preserve one’s thought. Treatises passed down may be misinterpreted and distorted by later incompetent readers. The original messages might be misused for bad purposes. Although nowadays some scholars encourage different interpretations of the same text, there should also be certain standards that each interpreter should follow; otherwise, the meaning of the text will be completely ruined. However, in Socrates’ mind, it was rather risky to take such an adventure as he was not willing to set a standard for others to follow. He might have thought that the safest way is to keep the ideas in mind and improve them constantly rather than set them down. Thirdly, Socrates believed that words written down are dead. They could not communicate with others. And in most circumstances, it is just a one-way communication that makes readers rely on them. When the readers have some questions, it can not answer or give any active responses. To Socrates, the mutual communication is the most important because it is more lively and open. It removes the barriers between the participants and confronts their souls directly. By carrying out dialogues, Socrates strikes the souls of his interlocutors and brings vitality and vigor to them. Therefore, the written form is dead and closed while the dialogues and conversations are living and open. For the sake of philosophical truth, Socrates relies on spoken language in the form of dialogue. To Socrates, the philosophical inquiry in the form of conversation is part of his life. He found the oral conversation is perfect for his goals and disliked writing. As a student, Plato respected and was influenced by Socrates. Socrates’ dislike for writing must have played an important role in Plato’s application of dialogue to convey his philosophical thought. Oral conversation is best for exploring truth and spreading thought. But it is instant and short-lived. Dialogue is the combination of oral conversation and writing and it fits the discovery and inquiry of truth and reality. The Athenian democratic institution is the political realization of the Platonic dialogues. The democracy in the Athenian state plays a significant role in the emergence and development of the Platonic dialogue. From the dialogues people can see the charisma of ancient Greek culture and how people lived at that time. One important characteristic of the ancient Greek culture is the democratic environment, which had also nurtured the personality and temperament of the ancient Greek people—openness, equality, pursuit of truth and tolerance. The emergence of the dialogic form lies in the democratic environment. The Greeks had great enthusiasm in taking part in the public affairs. They had formed the habit of discussion and argument. They would not accept the ideas of others easily, but doubted and argued against them until they reached the truth. Their daily conversations were dialogues and what Plato did, to some extent, is to transfer them to the paper. The development of dialogue is mainly due to two aspects. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 762 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES The Athenian democracy provided the citizens with dialectic freedom. The Athenians had large public space, including municipal administrative buildings, such as the general assembly, court, and congress hall; religious buildings, such as temples, altars and public cemeteries; and places of social and cultural activities, such as theaters, stadiums and playgrounds. The Athens’ political affairs were open to all the citizens. Every citizen had the right and obligation to take part in the state affairs and gave their opinions. Actually, the state affairs were part of their own life. All the important issues were decided by the general assembly where anyone who had capability and competence would stand out. The administrative power lay in the hands of citizens. Religious life was just as important. All the citizens were required to take part in the public sacrificial ceremony. They shared the blessing given by gods and gave sacrifices to gods. After the ceremony, they should dine together. The activity was so serious and important that those who did not participate would be deprived of citizenship. The sports and cultural activities were also open to all the citizens. From the fact that the ancient Olympic Games originated in the Athens in 776BC can readers get a glimpse of their love for sports. Amphitheaters put dramas on stage. The government encouraged people to go to the theaters by increasing the number of theaters and giving allowances to the poor. Citizens were free to give comments to the plays. From these aspects readers can see that the public places provided a platform for more open dialogues and communications. With all these public places, people had more opportunity to meet each other and discuss with each other. Their ideas can be exchanged quickly and instantly. More importantly, they were not constrained to talk about plays in the theatre, nor were they confined to talk about religion in temples. They could exchange ideas about politics or morals in theatres or other public places. It is just a matter of when they can meet, and what they want to talk about. The citizens opened their heart and talked about what was on their minds. At the same time, they were open to the opinions of others. Their awareness of equality among different citizens and tolerance of different opinions were enhanced with their spirit of pursuing truth and reality. Democracy promoted dialogues and dialogues also improved democracy. The openness was embodied in the Athenian democracy, which led to the dialogic possibility. The ancient Athenians think highly of the communication with the outside world. A lot of contemporary playwrights, philosophers and writers traveled to other states. Although Socrates had seldom been out of Athens, he encouraged his students to go out. Plato had been to many places, such as Syracuse, Egypt and Italy and so on. Communications with the outside world opened their mind and horizon and through the overseas experiences, the Athenians understood that there were other customs, faiths and values. They became more tolerant and open towards different ideas and opinions. At the same time, a lot of scholars were attracted to Athens for its democratic environment. Indeed, Athens had become a hub of intellectuals with different backgrounds which also made dialogue possible. The Athenian democracy allowed the pursuit of truth and reality. The emergence and development of dialogue is partly due to the democratic environment of the Athenian state and the open, equal and tolerant spirits of the Greek people for the pursuit of truth and reality. In turn, the dialogues and conversations of the Greek people had also increased the democracy and enhanced their awareness of the spirits of openness, equality, tolerance and pursuit of truth. The Sophists in the Athenian society, who did not care about the certainty of truth, were another factor leading to the Platonic dialogue. Sophism is another factor that triggered the emergence and development of the Platonic dialogue. The democratic environment enabled more people to take part in the administration of the state. Since all the state affairs were decided by the general assembly, the ability to persuade people to one’s own way of thinking and to win out in the general assembly was definitely instrumental to one’s political life. One of the famous politicians, Pericles, successfully persuaded the Athenians to participate in the Peloponnesian war when he made the speech on the Memorial Day (Zhu & Fang, 2002, p. 34). Rhetoric was so powerful that it was in great popularity at that time. The sophists took dialogue as the form of rhetoric for the sake of the winning of the argument. The sophists earned money by teaching rhetoric in the state and their aim was quite explicit, that is to teach their students how to win in a debate. They made use of many skills in persuading the audience. Sometimes they gave harangues to make the audience so tired that had to agree with them. Sometimes they used sweet words in order to flatter people. Sometimes they even frightened people to agree with them. Besides, the sophists played with words and concepts. They usually didn’t care about the fact and their ideas were based on phenomena and opinions. What they concentrated on is the language itself rather than reality. They relied on their senses and made them the standards of judgment. They believed that everything had two contradictory aspects and each aspect can be made reasonable as long as you acquired rhetoric. For example, one thing is big to person A, but may be small to person B as A and B may have different standards of judgment. Instead of giving the truth about bigness or smallness, the sophist rhetoric is how to make the weak points strong as they wish to. Whether the thing is really big or small is not the concern of the sophists. What counts most is how they could persuade others to believe that it is big or small. Maybe for the same thing, they could believe that it is big at one time and then small at another time. It is completely due to how they used rhetoric and they did not care about truth or reality at all. Socrates and Plato distasted this kind of argument. They thought that if one did not know the fact, how one could persuade others. Although both the sophists and Socrates applied dialogue, the latter gave it dialectic truth, while the former uncertainty. The main differences between sophist rhetoric and Platonic dialogue are as follows. Firstly, sophists aimed at wealth, fame and power in their debate. They could make use of every trick in order to persuade others to their way of thinking. Their selfish purpose blinded their minds as well as others. The Platonic dialogue is to lead people to truth © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 763 and reality. Its main purpose is to enlighten people’s souls. Secondly, the sophists argued against different ideas for most of the time. They viewed people with different ideas as enemies and they tried their best to negate the others’ ideas. The Platonic dialogue is a conversation and discussion. Everyone can have their own ideas and participants in a dialogue are cooperative towards the truth and reality. The atmosphere is friendly and results are more constructive rather than uncompromising. Thirdly, the sophists usually addressed to the public. They made long speeches and allowed no room for questions and personal thinking. They asserted that they had knowledge and all the listeners had to do was nothing but follow their ideas. In the Platonic dialogue, however, Socrates prefers to discuss with one interlocutor. Although there are lots of people around, readers can still notice that he meets the challenges one by one. His questions and rhetorical questions are one-person-targeted. By carrying out dialogues, Socrates confronted with individual soul directly (Hu, 2009, p. 96). The Platonic dialogue from the perspective of effective history is a form of dialectics. The Platonic dialogue in The Republic can be understood from the perspective of effective history. It is generally accepted that the emergence and development of the Platonic dialogue have its deep root in the tradition in which Plato lived. Socrates’ distaste for written language and preference for oral conversation made Plato combined the advantages of the two forms. The Athenian democracy and the Greek spirit guaranteed the possibility of everyday conversation and communication in Athens, which are lively sources of the Platonic dialogue. Plato was in an age when the sophism was in the heyday. Plato saw its negative effects on people’s souls and set out on a new road by using dialogue as the form for his philosophical discovery. Next, the hermeneutic circle between the Platonic philosophy and the Platonic dialogue will be explicated. IV. THE PLATONIC DIALOGUE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF GADAMER’S HERMENEUTIC CIRCLE The movement of the hermeneutic circle resides in the fact that the parts of a particular symbolic context can be understood only through their significance for the whole, yet this whole is capable of being disclosed to the readers only through the significance of its parts. Gadamer maintains that the hermeneutic circle is neither subjective nor objective, but it is the interaction and mutual effects between the text and the interpreter (Tietz, 2010, p. 78). He used the hermeneutic circle to explain the circular relation between the understanding and tradition. The tradition is something passed down from the past and people’ understanding is influenced by this tradition. The new understanding also serves as a tradition for future interpretations. This circle is constantly going on and on. The analysis of Plato’s philosophical thought and dialogic form is based on a more basic sense—the whole and the parts. The Platonic dialogue achieves the tension between the Platonic absolute and the Platonic individuality. In The Republic, the Platonic philosophy emphasizes totality while the Platonic dialogue focuses on individuality. Totality means self-sufficiency or self-containment. Totality separates one concept from another in the mind and enables them to be distinctive from existence. It is a system of specific qualities and features that delimit a certain concept and it is also a finite system which comes into being when all the separate and varied parts within this system play their roles. Carl Einstein assumes that “Totality means that the goal of all knowledge and endeavor no longer lies in the infinite, as an indefinable overall purpose, rather it is resolved in the singular, because totality justifies the concrete being of individual systems, endowing them with meaning” (p. 65). Individuality, however, is self-awareness. It stresses uniqueness and independence which indicate one’s own goals and purposes. Individuality cares the interest of the single person and strives to address the individual problem. In The Republic, Plato constructs his ideal state around two major topics: what is justice and whether justice is rewarding. With the continuing of the dialogue, other aspects regarding politics, education and psychology etc. are also discussed. The Platonic philosophy can be summarized as an inquiry to what kind of life should man live and what is the greatest happiness. In designing his ideal state, Plato keeps his eyes on the whole and his ideal state is to achieve the justice and happiness of the whole. But the dialogic form concentrates more on the one-to-one discussion. The totality of Platonic philosophy should be understood through the individuality of the Platonic dialogue and the individuality of Platonic dialogue should be interpreted by understanding the totality of the philosophical thought. In the Platonic dialogue, the process of understanding is characterized by the tension between certainty and uncertainty, and between the whole and parts. In designing his ideal state, Plato cares more about the unity, happiness and justice of the whole and pays little attention to the happiness of the individual factors in the state. However, the dialogic form concentrates on addressing individuals. If readers assume that there is some weakness in Plato’s indifference to the individual happiness in the state, then the dialogic form is a good compromise. What’s more, the whole of the Platonic philosophy acts as a guidance which leads the dialogue to move on smoothly. In order to get a satisfactory understanding of the Platonic philosophy, it is better for the readers to dig deep into the individuality of the Platonic dialogue. In order to have a better understanding of the Platonic dialogue, the totality of Platonic philosophy is better to keep in mind. The process of understanding is always from the parts to the whole and from the whole to the parts, thus fulfilling the hermeneutic circle. The Form in the Platonic metaphysics is abstract, which demands the concrete realization. Plato’s ideas of Form are quite metaphysical. The abstraction of the idea of Form is partly due to its basic characteristics. Zhu Qinghua and Fang Zhaohui assume that the Form has the following characteristics. Firstly, Form is eternal and can not be created or destroyed. Secondly, it can not be perceived by senses, but only by thought. Thirdly, only the Forms and the world of © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 764 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Forms are real. The sensible world is just like reflections in the river. Fourthly, every kind of things has a type of Form (Zhu & Fang, 2002, p. 77). The Platonic Form has three dimensions. According to Plato, Forms have three definitions (Zhu & Fang, 2002, p. 79). In the first place, Forms have an ontological definition. Plato comes up with the “theory of participation” and “the theory of imitation.” In the theory of participation, things are the way they are because they share the Form which is the origin of the kind of things. Plato gives the same kind of things a shared name because they share the Form. In the theory of imitation, the things are what they are because they imitate the Form. The Form is the prototype, the father; while the sensible things are copy, the children. What the same kind of things has is the surname—the Form. In the second place, Forms also have a teleological definition. The Form of everything is perfect, holy and eternal. Sensible things pursue their Forms. The nearer they are, the better they are. And the Forms also have their goal, which is the Form of goodness—the highest Form. So the world of Forms is hierarchical and the Form of goodness is the ultimate aim. Furthermore, Forms have a logical definition. The world of Forms is in a clear order and logic. However, the sensible world is in a chaos. Although the Form is abstract, it demands concretization in things themselves. Another idea which also seems to be abstract is that Forms are things themselves. For example, something is beautiful because it shares beauty itself; something is big because it shares bigness itself; something is good because it shares goodness itself. The “itself” is actually the Form. More characteristics of Forms are as follows. They are absolute. They cannot be both beautiful and ugly, bother big and small. They are independent. They are not in the disguise of a book, nor a hand. They do not exist in a human being, nor do they exist on the earth or in the heaven. All in all, Forms are superior to all things and decide all things. In Platonic philosophy, Forms and the world of Forms truly exist and they serve as answers to all phenomena—natural phenomena, philosophical ones and human beings. The problem of the paradox between the abstract Form and concrete things demands the form of dialogue. For all the characteristics and explanations given above, the idea of Form and its functions are still so obscure and abstract for readers to understand. But people need not to worry, for there is another method for the interpretation of such abstract philosophy. Readers can approach it from the dialogic form which is concrete. In The Republic, Plato uses three allegories to make the ideas concrete. When talking about the Forms, Plato gives three allegories—the cave, the line and the sun. Plato distinguishes between two worlds—the intelligible world and the visible world. The visible world is imaginary and the intelligible world is real. The visible world is full of opinion while the intelligible world is filled with knowledge. The sun is the king of the visible world while goodness is the king of the intelligible world. In the allegory of the sun, he compares the Form of goodness to the sun. The status of the Form of goodness in the intelligible world is just like the position of the sun in the visible world. The sun gives life to all things on the planet, helps them grow and nourishes them. So does the Form of goodness in the intelligible world. What’s more, according to Plato, the sun is son of Form of goodness, so the Form of goodness is the driving force of both the visible world and the intelligible world. In the allegory of line, Plato divides the two worlds into four levels. The first level includes reflections and images. The second level is humans, animals and natural objects or handmade objects. The third level includes objects of mathematics, such as numbers and shapes, and the fourth level is the Forms. The first level and the second level belong to the visible world while the third level and the fourth level belong to the intelligible world. The latter level is much clearer and more real than the former. And the Forms are the most real of the four levels. In the allegory of the cave, the process of coming out of the cave is also the process of becoming closer to the Form, to knowledge and to the highest principle—the Form of goodness. These three allegories have close relation to one another and they act as explanations to one another. By using these allegories, Plato makes his ideas regarding Forms more vivid and understandable. The Platonic philosophy of the idea of Forms is abstract and hard for understanding, but the Platonic dialogue makes it more concrete by using three allegories. And both abstraction and concretization are ways to explore the truth and they work as complement for each other. Readers are in the hermeneutic circle by moving between the abstract and the concrete, which is also in accordance with the exploration of truth—constant back and forth, to and fro. To Plato, truth or the highest principle can not be demonstrated, but lies in constant exploring and inquiring. From the perspective of the hermeneutic circle, the dialogic The Republic does achieve the abstract absolute. The hermeneutic circle in the hermeneutic understanding provides a perspective for the analysis of the Platonic dialogue in The Republic. The circular movement of the part and the whole can help readers better understand the relationship of the Platonic philosophy and the Platonic dialogue (here, refers to the dialogic form), discussed as followed, the totality of the Platonic philosophy and the individuality of the Platonic dialogue, the metaphysics of the Platonic philosophy and the concretization of the Platonic dialogue. V. CONCLUSION This article concludes that from the perspective Gadamer’s hermeneutics, the Platonic dialogue is the realization of the Platonic truth in the tension between the absolute whole and individual parts. The Platonic dialogue in The Republic has the distinct characteristics of hermeneutic dialogue—being open, equal, and sincere, emphasizing the dialogic process and self-understanding. Besides, the Platonic dialogue applies Socrates’ dialectics. These characteristics are in alignment with Socrates and Plato’s pursuit of truth. The emergence and development of the Platonic dialogue have historical and social reasons, which are understood as effective history in the hermeneutic understanding. Plato was © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 765 influenced by Socrates, the Athenian democracy, the Greek spirit and sophism. What’s more, as two aspects of the Platonic dialogue, the dialogic form and the philosophical content follow the hermeneutic circle and complement the understanding of each other. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] Burrell, P. S. (1916). The plot of Plato’s republic. Mind, New Series, 25, 145-176. Childers, Joseph, Gary Hentzi (eds.) (1995). Columbia dictionary of modern literary & cultural criticism. New York: Columbia University Press. Demos, R. (1937). Plato’s idea of the good. The Philosophical Review, 46, 245-275. Einstein, Carl. (2004). Totality. Cambridge: MIT Press. Gadamer, Hans-Georg. (2007). Truth and method. Trans. Handing Hong. Beijing: The Commercial Press. Hu, Xiaogen. (2009). The relationship between the Platonic dialogic style and ideological system establishment. Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press. Kidder, P. (1997). The hermeneutic and dialectic of community in development. International Journal of Social Economics, 24, 1191-1202. Michelfelder, D. P. & R. E. Palmer (eds.) (1989). Dialogue & deconstruction: The Gadamer-Derrida encounter. New York: State University of New York Press. Moors, K. F. (1978). Plato’s use of dialogue. The Classical World, 72, 77-93. Pappas, Nickolas. (2007). Plato and The Republic. Trans. Qinghua Zhu. Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press. Plato. The republic. (2008). Trans. Robin Waterfield. New York: Oxford University Press. Plato. The republic. (1987). Trans. D. Lee. New York: Penguin Books. Tietz, Udo. (2010). Hans-Georg Gadamer. Trans. Yi Zhu. Bejing: China Remin University Press. Zhu, Qinghua, Zhaohui Fang. (co-authors) (2005). The manifesto of the ideal state: The Republic. Kunming: Yunnan People’s Publishing House. Chunge Liu was born in Tangshan, China in 1988. She is currently a postgraduate in the School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, China. Her major is English Language and Literature. Her research interests include philosophy of literature and hermeneutics. Xiaodi Sui was born in Harbin, China in 1970. She received her PH.D. degree in literature from Shanghai International Studies University, China in 2010. She is currently an associate professor in the School of Foreign Languages, Dalian University of Technology, China. Her research interests include philosophy of literature, hermeneutics and western literary theory and criticism. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 766-770, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.766-770 The Strategy of Metaphor Translation: Domestication or Foreignization Xuedong Shi Foreign Language Department, Beijing Information Science & Technology University, Beijing, China Abstract—This paper studies the application of domestication and foreignization in translating metaphors. It introduces these two translating approaches, aiming to explore their uses in the metaphor translation. Following an overview of domestication and foreignization, this paper analyzes the guide lines of translating metaphors through a close study of many examples. This paper also explores the choices between the two strategies, trying to find the tendency in using the two approaches. Index Terms—metaphor translation, domestication, foreignization I. THEORETICAL REVIEW ON DOMESTICATION AND FOREIGNIZATION IN TRANSLATION HOME AND ABROAD Two translation strategies, domestication and foreignization, have given various formulations both in the past and at present. In 1813, the German philosopher Friedirch Schleiermacher proposed . There are only two methods to make a perfect translation: either the translator makes the reader move toward the author who stays at his original place or makes the author move toward the reader who stays at his original place. ( Venuti, 1995) In 1995 Veuti first coined two terms to describe these two methods in his book The Translator’s Invisibility: domesticating and foreignizing translation(Venuti, 1995). The famous representative of domestication translation is Eugene Nida, who points out the communicative function of translation, suggesting that the choice of word should adjust so that it could custom different kinds of readers. Nida lays great emphasis on reader response. He determines that it is the most essential standards to judge the quality of translation. Nida believes it necessary to make changes and adjustments to the translated text under certain conditions. Besides Nida, many other translations theorists in the west also favor domesticating strategy. Among them, Susan Bassnet proposes the equivalence of cultural functions and approves of employing domesticating to handle linguistic and cultural differences in translation. Generally speaking, Nida’s Formal and Functional Equivalences: formal equivalence focuses on providing some perception in the lexical, grammatical or structure of original text. Functional equivalence is based on the principle of equivalent effect. Studied diachronically, domestication has enjoyed great popularity among translators and translation critics in the translation history. Domestication has grown a deep root in China too. In China, the prestigious translators such as Lin Shu and Liangshiqiu are the devoted advocators of domestication theory and applied it to their translation works which enjoyed tremendous popularity among the readers. Lawrence became a central figure in the translation field since his Translator’s Invisibility went to press in 1986 in the U.S. As a deconstructionist, Venti presents a set of innovative points of view, say, cultural colonization and translator’s invisibility in his revolutionary book. According to him, the aim of work is to force both the translators and readers to know the linguistic and cultural differences of the alien articles by the violence of translation. (Venuti, 2005:41) In China, similar opinions emerged as early as the beginning of the 20th century though systematic study of translation lag behind the west. Translators such as Lin Shu and Liang Shiqiu were accused of having changed the original work brutally by many scholars, say, Lu Xun, who favored “rigid translation”-----putting forward the translation prince of faithfulness over smoothness. In modern China, the prestigious scholar Liu Yingkai points out the  This paper is sponsored by the research program “The L2 Socialization” of Beijing Information Science & Technology University. NO. 2012 JGYB63 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 767 prevalence of domestication in The Wrong Track of Translation. Liu argues that domestication translation misrepresents the original text. Sun Zhili thinks the main task of translation is to deliver the thought and style of the original text. Xu Jianping suggests that foreignization should be used in English-Chinese translation as much as possible. II. INTRODUCTION TO METAPHORS Figures of speech are the ways to make the language more colorful. So when we are using the non-literal words, we are in fact creating a imagery sense. (Richards, 2000) The following are some definitions of the two terms: A simile is a figure of speech in which two quite different things are compared because they appear to be similar in at least one characteristic. Similes are as a rule introduced by "like" or "as". (A New Book of Knowledge) Simile: A figure of speech where A is likened to B so as to exchange the two images. (A Dictionary of Literary Terms) Simile: An expression making a comparison in the imagination between two things, using the words "like" or "as". (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English) Metaphor: A figure of speech during which A is described in the form of B. The two comparison is that simile is clear while metaphor is not clear. (A Dictionary of Literary Terms) Metaphor, perhaps the most important figure of speech, points out resemblance but with no acknowledging word. (Britannica Book of English Usage) Metaphor: the use of a phrase which describes one thing by stating another thing with which it can be compared without using the words "as" or "like". (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English) Metaphor is very similar to a simile because it also makes a comparison between two different things. But metaphor is making the comparison in an unclear way rather than a clear way. It is in a sense a condensed simile, differing from the latter only in form and artistry. It requires greater ability on the part of the reader to perceive the hidden association, the insight into the person and things that are applied. Peter Newmark defines metaphor as a figurative expression and it is a single or extended text in the form of a collocation or sentence and so on. (Newmark, 2001). However, Snell-Hornby rejects Newmark's concept of the "one-word metaphor" in favor of Weinrich's definition that "metaphor is text" (Snell-Hornby, 2001). Snell-Hornby holds that the metaphor is a three dimensional text in the form of object, image and sense. (Snell-Hornby, 2001). We are going to discuss the metaphor in the text which includes an idiom, a sentence, a proverb and an allegory It is not always possible to assume correctly, especially when writer and reader come from the different cultural backgrounds and there is a gap between the writer’s rang of knowledge and experience and reader’s. For instance, in the sentence “Money is a lens in a camera”, it is not clear what the implied association is. What is the point of the resemblance between money and a lens in a camera? Our knowledge of photography tells us that a lens in a camera can reflect and record images of persons or things sharply and objectively. This leads us to the thought that money can also cause people to reveal their true feelings or characters. But the question is that just in translation, how we convey the meaning of the SL (Source Language) to TL (Target Language) correctly and vividly? Before we talk about the translation methods, we can investigate the main uses of the metaphors: Descriptive: The hallway was zebra-striped with darkness and moonlight. (A description of the bands of light and shade in the hall, like a zebra’s stripes.) Illuminative: the bubble reputation (bubble used here to imply that the pursuit of reputation is visionary ) Illustrative: In the ebb and flow of the struggle it was inevitable that one of them would go under. (the comparison of a man’s vicissitudes to the ebb and flow is to illustrate the ups and downs of the man and waves.) III. ANALYSIS OF THE METAPHOR TRANSLATION STRATEGIES Generally speaking, as we have discussed above, the translator has two main strategies of translating the metaphors: Domestication or foreignization. The former refers the translation method in which a clear and idiomatic way is used in order to shorten the strangeness of the original text for the aim language readers, while the latter method refers to the translation method in which the flavor of the original text or the foreignness is retained because of the keeping originality. Different from the different perspectives in semantics, culture and function, Newmark takes a more pragmatic approach. Because of his practical experience before, Peter Newmark gives some suggestions for translating metaphor: (1) in the TL remaking the same picture, provided it has comparable frequency and currency in the appropriate TL register; (2) Remaking the SL image with known another TL image, given it exists within the register; (3) Remaking the metaphor by simile; (4) keeping the metaphor and adding something else (5) changing the metaphor to sense; (6) giving up the metaphor if it is too often used. (Newmark, 2002). The methods of metaphor translation proposed by Shan Qichang offers five in A Coursbook in Translation Between English and Chinese (1) Literal translation and explanation; (2) Literal translation and meaning; (3)taking the metaphor; (4) Using the counterparts in Chinese to translate the English metaphor; (5) changing the source language pictures with a target language picture. (Shan Qichang, 1992). Just according these two strategies of metaphor translation proposed by Newmark and Shan, the common strategies of metaphor translation from English to Chinese are: 1) Literal © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 768 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES translation (keeping the same picture in the aim language); (2) changing the source language pictures with standard target language pictures; (3) Literal translation and explaining; (4) changing the metaphor to meaning; (5) Using Chinese counterparts to change the English metaphors Besides that, culture plays an important role in the translation of simile/ metaphor in two languages. Readers may have different understandings to the use of simile/metaphor in different cultures. Therefore, translators should realize the differences of two languages and select the best words to translate the original text into the target text, and make readers understand the meaning of simile/metaphor in the original text vividly and correctly. It is also the gist of this paper to compare the translation of simile/metaphor in two languages. Therefore, it is necessary for us to see the culture element involved in the process of translation. The in-formation theory tells us that when a language, as the channel, transmits information, the decoding process must be carried out on encoders and decoders' agreed understanding of codes. If the encoders and decoders born in different cultures have different understandings about some codes, the decoding process will meet with troubles and mistakes will appear, which sometimes may lead to the stop of decoding process. Due to different cultural background, cultural tradition, cultural customs, or cultural originality, people in different cultures will have different reactions and expressions to the same meaning. For instance, the color of red has different meanings in English and Chinese. In the West the color of red is not only the color of life, but the color of fire and blood. In the East, people think the color of red stands for happiness and auspice. In the ancient times, besides the color of yellow, the color of red also means high status or position. In addition, Chinese boys and girls will wear the red clothes in their wedding. The color of red can get rid of the bad thing and bring the good luck. Considering the elements we have mentioned above, we are going to have some examples to show what methods are domestic and what are foreignization. Example 1 Life is a yo-yo. It is a series of ups and downs. (He, 2003: 340) example 2 Police work on inner-city streets is a domestic Vietnam, a dangerous no-win struggle fought by confused ,misdirected and unappreciated troops. (Fan, 1998) Example 3 There is no rose without thorn (Guo, 1988: 211) Example 4 cast the pearls before swine. (Chen, 1989: 156) Example 5It was packed like sardines. (Deng, 1989: 164) Example 6 As poor as a church mouse.. (Zheng, 1994: 628) Example 7 “the skeleton in the cupboard” (Alexander & He, 1999: 118) Example 8 as cool as a cucumber (Feng, 1998: 163) Example 9 He himself was at once noble, romantic and Machiavellian. (Chen, 1989: 156) Example 10.If a window freeze on your screen, press Ctrl+Alt+Del (all three at the same time) Now we face the question as to whether our function is to record the words of the original or to report on their meaning. Metaphors in examples 1,2and 3 can be translated literally. The purpose of literal translation is to make the TL readers see the original meaning, characteristics and imagination, which are so helpful to understand the underlined meaning of SL. Though it is not concise enough, it is the mirror the SL. To be more specific, the purpose of literal translation is to keep the native color or flavor, the native images as well as the foreign texts so as to add color to the target language. In the example 1, Yo-yo is a kind of toy which goes ups and downs that is very similar to the uncertain life .It is crystal to the Chinese readers to master the original meaning of the metaphor . In the example 2, perhaps the public are not so familiar with the conditions of the police but they are so deeply influenced by the Vietnam War. By translating the metaphor literally, the translator can convey the real meaning of the original sentence to the Chinese readers. The proverb in example 3, the translator just translates it as the original ones, which are so vivid and picturesque to Chinese readers and effective. The reason is that both the SL readers and the TL readers share the same personal experience of the roses. Example 4 and 5 are adapted into Chinese version, replacing the SL image with TL image which is familiar to the Chinese readers. For example 3, the native speakers are so familiar with the tale from the Bile and get the idea of the metaphor. On the contrary, the Chinese readers can picture it by another house-hold proverb in Chinese dui niu tan qian (play the piano to the oxes). In the example 4, the westerners know the meaning of sardines so they have no difficulty to picture the crowded situation .On the contrary, the Chinese are so confused about them so the translator put that as sesame sauce and Chinese dumplings. Then it becomes so easy to understand .On the whole, the translators have used the different images in TL to take the place of the images in SL. In other words, a commonly-used method to translate metaphors is to change the source language pictures with another existed target language pictures, if one appears equally within the same situation. (Newmark, 1988). Susan Bassnett’s cultural equality theory emphasize that if the different cultures share the equality and there is obstacle to understand the transplanted cultural imagination, the metaphor should be translated literally .On the other hand, if there is a conflict between the SL culture and TL culture, to be more specific, they have the different cultural imaginations, the translator should do put the TL readers’ acceptance at the first place to achieve the functional equality. In this point, Sussan Bassnett,Nida and Newmark are holding the same opinion. Metaphors in examples 6, 7 and 8 are converting the metaphor to sense. In example 6, the point is that in the church © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 769 there is cupboard where so little a mouse could find a crumb. So, a church mouse presumably came to be taken symbolically for extreme poverty because it makes its home where there is no food. However, the Chinese readers are not as interested in church as the native speakers of English are. Understandably, the translation the Chinese idiom yi pin ru xi (very poor) is smooth and faithful. To the Chinese reader, the image of "a skeleton in the cupboard", may mean ugly, horrible and frightening; at the same time, the cucumber is just a kind of vegetable. They may not be able to understand the referential meanings these images carry in the metaphors. We had better translate the two metaphors as the more general meanings as zhen jing (be calm) and jia chou (dirty skeleton) which are the universal abstract concepts or an abstract concept. To example 8, the SL compares the calmed people as a cucumber which is just a kind of vegetable in the TL Chinese .So the translator has to tell the meaning of the real meaning of the metaphor. To example 9, the native Chinese readers will be at a loss to understand the meaning of Machiavellian, simply because we do not know who is Machiavellian. Still the translator assumes that it can not be understood completely, so he is making a note to identify this Italian statesman’s main characteristics. However, I have to point that too many footnotes will change the main point of the SL and be boring to read for the TL readers. To the last example, the word “freeze” is so confusing in Chinese, so the translator puts the explanation there. Then, what are the initial motivation of the translator to adapt the two different strategies? When the basic metaphorical concepts of SL and TL communities correspond, as in "Yo-yo, "Vietnam war", and “thorn rose”, the original image or the flavor is most likely to be retained and to provide the colorful comparisons between the SL and TL. The method can also makes the TL readers understand the SL with no difficulty. However, we are not expected to use the typical or local Chinese idioms to take the place of the English ones. For instance, “Two heads are better than one” can be translated as “three cobblers are not as clever as Zhu Geliang, (the symbol of wisdom in China), while the latter one is a idiom holding the Chinese culture, our preference is the former. When they come cross SL historical, geographical or folk heritage in cultural-specific metaphors as such "Machiavellian", “freeze”, “cucumber” and "a skeleton in the cupboard", the Chinese translator would try his/her best to find a proper method for him/her. The best way so far is to keep the original picture or the cultural-specific characteristics within the help of translations so that the meaning of the story generally accepted by the people of the culture finally gets across to the Target Language readers. Or it will make the TL readers feel confused about the SL. The Target Language reader’s reaction is a very important standard and the main concern in metaphor translation. When the connection of a picture is the source language is lacking in the Target Language, for example, , "as poor as a church mouse", the translator tends to adapt the metaphor into idiomatic target language expressions. When the translator feel the TL readers will fail to get the SL meaning by just literal translation, he may add something. When translating the English metaphor, particularly those embedded in proverbs, such as, "cast the pearls before swine", the Chinese translator, most of the time, looks for an equal counterpart (e.g. a Chinese couplet) to take the place of the original, although the counterpart is sometimes accurate completely. The translator "deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the foreigness of the original" (Shuttleworth & Cowie, 1997:59).It is practiced by method 1 (retaining the same image in the target language) and 3 (Literal translation plus sense and explanation) which are using the foreignizing translation strategies while method 2 (taking the place of the SL image with a typical target picture), 4 (Converting the metaphor to meaning) and 5 (Using Chinese counterparts to take the place of English metaphor) are using the domesticating translation methods. Therefore, we get three principles for metaphor translation. First, try to find the equivalent conceptual metaphors in the target language. Second, the cultural factors involve in the metaphors shall be reserved as possible as we can Third, when we translate metaphors with unique cultural features, we had better employ translation method in accordance with the purpose of the metaphors. IV. CONCLUSION Translation is a risky business; the translation of metaphors is even riskier. On studying the method of metaphor translation and the problems involved in it, we come to the conclusion that the changeable methods should be employed instead of using the fixed and contingent ones. The way in which a metaphor or can be depended on many factors. It is not only a question of whether a metaphor is available in the target language .Other factors include the significance of the specific lexical items which constitute the metaphors. Different elements such as the contextual factors of the SL text, the consideration of referential accuracy, the reader's acceptability and the pragmatic economy can decide the way whether to use foreignizing or domesticating strategy. (Newmark, 1988). There are some obstacles in the translation of metaphor, but the method of the translation of metaphor is reasonable within the common theory of translation. Domestication translation and foreignization translation have a relationship of dialectical unity and the use of them depends on the need of translation practice. Under those two translation strategies, the English metaphor translation would be more felicitous and promote communication between western culture and eastern culture, especially in China. To sum up, in translation practice, foreignization cannot exist without using some domestication; similarly, domestication cannot exist without using some foreignization. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 770 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] Alexander,L.G. (2002). New Concept English. Peking: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Bassnett, Susan. (1998).Translation Studies (Revised Edition). Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Chen, T.Y. (1989). Translation Techniques from English to Chinese. Peking: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Deng, Y.C. (1992). Language and Culture. Peking: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Fan, J.C. (1992). The Appreciation of English Rhetoric. Shanghai: Shanghai Jiaotong University Press. Feng, C.H. (1998). Practical Translation Course. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Guo,Z.Z. (1988). Translation between English and Chinese Practical Course. Wuchang: Wuhan University Press. Hatim, Basil and Mason, Ian. (1990). Discourse and the Translator. London: Longman Group UK Limited. He, S. (2003). English and Chinese Language Contrast Research. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Jack C. Richards, John Platt and Heidi Platt. (2000). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics. London: Longman Group, England. Lawrence Venuti. (1995). The Translator's Invisibility -- A History of Translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Lefevere, Andre. (1992). Traslation, History and Culture – A Sourcebook. London and New York: Routeledge. Newmark, P. P. A. (1988).Textbook of Translation. London: Prentice Hall. Newmark, P. P. (2002). Approaches to Translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Nida, Eugene A. (1993). Language, Culture, and Translating, Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Nida, Eugene A. (2001). Language and Culture. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Nida, Eugene A. (1964). Toward a Science of Translating. New York: Brill Academic Publishers. Nida, E. A. & Taber, C. (2004). The Theory and Practice of Translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Peter Newmark. (2002). Approaches to Translation. London: .Prentice Hall International (UK). Peter Newmark. (2002). A Textbook of Translation. London: Prentice Hall International (UK). Rojer T. Bell. (1991). Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice. London and New York: Longman. Samovar, L.A & Porter. (2000). Communication between Cultures. Peking: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Shan, Q.C. (2002). Chinese English Translation Techniques. Peking: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Snell-Hornby, Mary. (2001). Translation Studies: An Integrated Approach. Shanghai: Foreign Education Press. Schaffner, Christian, and Kelley-Holmes, Helen. Ed. (1995). Cultural Functions of Translation. London:Multilingual Matters Ltd. Toury, Gideon. (2001). Descriptive Translation Studies And Beyond. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Tytler, A. (1791). Essays on the Principles of Translation. London: Dent. Wilss, Wolfram. (1982).The Science of Translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Zheng, Y.L. (1994). English-Chinese Dictionary. Beijing: The Commercial Press. Xuedong Shi was born in Huhhot, Inner Mongolia, China in 1974. He received his MA degree in translation in Middlesex University, Britain, in 2004. He is currently a lecturer in the Foreign Language Department, Beijing Information Science Univ ersity, Beijing, China. His academic research mainly focuses on translation and applied linguistics. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 771-777, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.771-777 Delving the Relationship between Teacher Empowerment and Job Satisfaction among Iranian EFL Teachers in Tehran Aviation University Fatemeh Azimi Amoli Department of English, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran Maryam Youran Department of English, Payam-e Noor University, Tehran, Iran Abstract—The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teachers’ empowerment and job satisfaction. The surveys used in this study contain School Participant Empowerment Scale (SPES) measured teacher perceived empowerment, the Teacher Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (TJSQ) measured teacher job satisfaction, and the demographic survey included age, educational background and gender. SPES measured six different dimensions o f empowerment: Decision-making, professional growth, status, self-efficacy, autonomy, and impact, along with an overall total and TJSQ includes nine factors of satisfaction: Supervision, colleagues, working conditions, pay, and responsibility. The result indicated that significant correlations were found between total teacher empowerment and total teacher job satisfaction. However, there was no correlation between factor of security in job satisfaction scale and the three teacher empowerment scales of professional growth, status, and autonomy. There was also no correlation found between the teacher job satisfaction factor of recognition and the three teacher empowerment dimensions of decision-making, selfefficacy and impact. In the other hand, there are significant differences in the demographic variables of educational background and gender with regards to teacher empowerment and job satisfaction. Index Terms—teacher empowerment, job satisfaction I. INTRODUCTION A. Teacher Empowerment Due to previous researches, teacher empowerment is a field that teachers should have enough jurisdictions in the professional development process to have self-efficacy. Short (1992) stated that teacher empowerment is as a professional development process including professional knowledge base, higher teaching efficacy, and promote decision-making to meet the requirement of education. The three key issues accentuated in the study included: (a) empowerment is a learning process which grows the ability of teachers to achieve authority and let them to create a more effective learning environment, (b) teachers should obtain a higher self awareness to enhance the learning environment, and (c) empowering motivation is a factor which improve teacher’s sense of power and consequently increase self-efficacy. Whitaker and Moses (1990) expressed that five factors which enhance empowerment can be included to: (a) make a sense of self-confidence in teachers, (b) liberate teachers, foster their collaboration, and decreases alienation, (c) change bureaucracy, (d) arouse growth and renewal, and (e) improve cooperation. Blase and Blase (1994) investigated some points about the concept of teacher empowerment concentrating on professional structure, improving the teaching profession, and increase independence. On the other hand, Mahrenhoztion (1996) focused on changing old concepts, motivating teachers to become involved, making new ideas and innovations in order to grow their professional knowledge base. Blanchard and Carlos (1996) accentuated some key pinpoints. First, employees must be responsible and managers need to trust employees. Second, rewards create more motivation and enhance self-efficacy of the organization and encourage an innovation. Third, training and development is vital in the process. Fourth, the more trust, the more motivation can be predicted. According to Short’s (1992) study teacher empowerment as a professional development process containing professional knowledge base, higher teaching efficacy, self-efficacy, and increasing participation in decision-making to meet the goals of education. The three key points in the study include: (a) empowerment is a learning process increasing the ability o f teachers to achieve authority and allowing them to make a more efficient learning environment, (b) © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 772 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES teachers should have a higher self awareness and improve the learning environment, and (c) empowering teachers can enhance their motivation and improve their sense of responsibility in order to increase overall efficacy. Riley (1995) indicated that teachers are the most important resource in the school restructuring processes. When teachers have empowerment, their authority structure changes and If this can change, then empowerment can be more easily performed as well as school restructuring can be accomplished. Empowered teachers can make greater contributions, and seeing the changes that these contributions make, can further add to and sustain the momentum. B. Job Satisfaction According to Zembylas & Papanastasiou (2004), Job satisfaction is an effective feedback to the situation which a person involved at work. Thus it is a distinguished relationship between what one wants from teaching and what one discerns it is suggesting to a teacher. Thompson (1997) stated that some aspects, associated with teacher satisfaction, include salary, support from supervisor, and accessibility of resources. These and other factors of teachers’ working environment have been recognized as factors that increased teacher dissatisfaction and to teacher’s attrition. Therefore, Travers & Coopers (1996) indicated that when teachers are not satisfied with their working conditions, they are intended to leave the profession (Travers & Cooper, 1996). In a study of the job satisfaction of high school journalism teachers, Dvorak and Phillips (2001) used Herzberg’s twofactor theory to identify predictors of job satisfaction. The results of the study indicated that the teachers felt generally satisfied. If given the opportunity to return to college to start over again, 70% of the teachers indicated they would again choose teaching. Dvorak and Phillips found a mix of intrinsic and extrinsic factors predicted the job satisfaction of these teachers. Intrinsic predictors included advancement, work itself, and responsibility. In contrast to Herzberg’s theory, working conditions, salary, and job security were extrinsic factors which were significant predictors of job satisfaction for this sample. C. Relationships between Teacher Empowerment and Job Satisfaction The beginning studies about teacher empowerment and job satisfaction started in the 1990’s in elementary and high schools and the finding displayed that there was a positive relationship between teacher empowerment and job satisfaction. Short & Rinehart (1992) examined teachers in a Reading Recovery program and found a positive correlation between teacher empowerment and job satisfaction. The reason was standardized management policies, therefore, teacher empowerment, job satisfaction and responsibility enhanced. Wu (1995) examined the relationship among teacher empowerment, job satisfaction and organizational commitment in Pennsylvania and the findings displayed that when teachers distinguish empowerment, both job satisfaction and consequently organizational commitment enhances. Hatchett (1995) investigated teacher empowerment, transformational leadership and job satisfaction in Florida and result that empowerment, transformational leadership, and job satisfaction had a positive correlation. Fritsch (1995) proclaimed assertively that faculty senates and policy practices in Virginia schools had a positive perception of empowerment in teachers caused to increase job satisfaction. Likewise, Lanney (1998) studied high school teachers’ empowerment and job satisfaction, finding a positive correlation between teacher perception of empowerment and job satisfaction. Klecker (1996a) studied 180 venture schools in Ohio also finding a positive correlation between empowerment and job satisfaction. Empowerment and job satisfaction represent that these two factors could have a positive relationship. While there has been limited unification of the teacher empowerment into other areas like job satisfaction in Iran so this research used studies of job satisfaction and teacher empowerment which indicates a need for further study. D. Statement of Problem In Iran, the traditional educational system has many restrictions on the teachers. Teachers cannot change any of textbook. As a result, teachers do not have any control of the syllabus, and are cannot participate in decision-making at school. So teachers don’t feel they are empowerment and are not satisfied in their jobs. Therefore, how to empower teachers and improve their job satisfaction is an important issue in Iran. In Iran, the educational system is the assessment of students and their performance which orders what academic opportunities are available to them in school. Consequently, evaluation of teachers is assessed by variables like how their students perform, and not by other variables in the classroom. Because of this reason, teachers have not been empowered to participate in policy-making activities outside of their classrooms. Short (1992) expressed that teacher empowerment contains teachers participating in policy and decision-making, acquiring new professional skills, having approch to professional development, and performing changes. As an instructor and decision maker in the classroom, a teacher needs to enhance skills to learn and solve problems sequentially, develop educational programs and perform changes. E. Significance o f the Study © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 773 If empowering teachers increases their job satisfaction, therefore this increased job satisfaction enhances the quality of teaching and the general efficiency of schools. The traditional educational system in Iran has many restrictions for the teachers. Teachers cannot choose what kind of textbook to use even though this action is neither more helpful for students, nor can they participate in school decision-making and planning. Traditional educational concepts contain focusing on teaching and not being involved in any decision-making activities have been an obstacle to change. In order to enhance the system, it is vital to determine how job empowerment can promote change and increase job satisfaction for teachers. The results of this study can encourage comprehending to recognize relationships, strengths and weaknesses, and appropriate interference, improve the quality o f teaching and increase school efficiency. II. METHODOLOGY A. Research Design The correlational research method used in this study is related to evaluating the relationships between two or more variables. The study was used to assess randomly selected teachers of Aviation University, employing quantitative data collection techniques. B. Research Hypotheses H1: There is no relationship between total teacher and total teacher job satisfaction. H2: There is no significant difference in total teacher empowerment based on different demographic characteristics o f teachers (age, educational background and gender). H3: There is no significant difference in total teacher job satisfaction based on different demographic characteristics of the teacher (age, educational background and gender). C. Instrumentation 1. Demographic survey This survey included gender, age, school size, and educational background. 2. School participant empowerment scale Short and Rinehart (1992) designed the SPES instrument in 1992. It consists o f 38 items addressing six dimensions: Decision-making, professional growth, status, self- efficacy, autonomy, and impact. Developed to measure school participant (teacher) empowerment, the design measures several items such as trust, communication, and structures for involvement, risk taking, and critical incidents. In addition, topics such as opportunities for decision-making, control over daily schedule, opportunities for growth and development can also be empowering aspects of a teacher’s job. 3. Teacher job satisfaction questionnaire Lester (1987) designed the TJSQ to investigate teachers’ job satisfaction. This instrument has 66 items divided into nine factors including supervision, colleagues, working conditions, pay, responsibility, work itself, advancement, security, and recognition. D. Data Analysis For the investigating the hypotheses, a t-test was used to test the mean difference between two variables, teacher empowerment and job satisfaction and total teacher empowerment and total teacher job satisfaction on teachers’ educational based on background, gender, and age. III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS A. Testing Null Hypothesis One The primary null hypothesis was tested by using the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients. According to Gau (2001), If the correlation coefficient between two variables was below 0.500, there is a correlation between two variables. The results are shown in Table 1. TABLE 1. PEARSON PRODUCT-MOMENT CORRELATION COEFFICIENT OF TEACHER EMPOWERMENT AND JOB SATISFACTION TE Dimension/ DecisionProfessional Status Self- efficacy Autonomy Impact TE TJ Factors making growth Supervision .484 .307 .213 .280 .195 .405 .418 Colleagues .346 .157 .150 .205 .189 .267 .291 Working .280 .157 .195 .236 .235 .280 .293 Condition Pay .387 .381 .338 .386 .293 .267 .447 Responsibility .341 .431 .526 .578 .453 .422 .544 Work itself .396 .347 .317 .422 .323 .409 .460 Advancement .386 .274 .185 .305 .123 .338 .352 Security .190 .080 .016 .117 .054 .158 .142 Recognition .092 -.117 -.212 -.040 -.098 .021 .499 TJ Total .502 .355 .314 .429 .320 .465 .508 Note: TE= Teacher empowerment and TJ= Teacher job satisfaction © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 774 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES The results between the total teacher empowerment and total teacher job satisfaction displayed the correlation coefficient at r = .508, that is, there is a positive correlation between teacher empowerment and teacher job satisfaction. But the table 1 also represents that the teacher job satisfaction factor of security and the teacher empowerment dimensions of professional growth (r = .080), status (r = .16), and autonomy (r = .054) have no correlation with each other. Even, there are no correlation between teacher job satisfaction of recognition, the teacher empowerment dimensions of decision-making (r = .092), self-efficacy (r = -0.40) and impact (r = .021). Therefore, the primary hypothesis was rejected. B. Testing of Null Hypothesis Two Hypothesis two displays that there is no significant difference in total teacher empowerment based on different teachers’ demographic characteristics (age, educational background and gender). Table 2 indicates that the p value for total teacher empowerment is being .00 (-.769). It is below the significance level of .05, so total teacher empowerment is significantly different based on the demographic variable of educational background. Based on the higher mean, teachers who have Master degrees perceive higher empowerment than teachers who only have Bachelor degrees. TABLE 2. T-TEST (T OTAL T EACHER EMPOWERMENT BASED ON T EACHER’S E DUCATIONAL BACKGROUND) Teacher Empowerment Total Background Bachelor Master N 317 93 M 3.4156 3.4624 SD .47 .67 Sig .00 T -.769 As shown in Table 3, the p value for total teacher empowerment being .01 (t = .408). Since it is below the significance level o f .05, the total teacher empowerment is significantly different based on gender. TABLE 3. T-TEST (T OTAL T EACHER EMPOWERMENT BASED ON T EACHER’S GENDER) Teacher Empowerment Total Gender Male Female N 180 230 M 3.47 3.38 SD .56 .47 Sig .01 T .408 As Table 4 indicates, the total teacher empowerment is .287 and greater than the significance level o f .05 (F = 1.261) resulting in no significant difference between total teacher empowerment based on teacher’s age. TABLE 4. ANOVA (TOTAL TEACHER EMPOWERMENT BASED ON TEACHER’S AGE) Teacher Empowerment Age SS df MS F Total Between group 1.005 3 .335 1.261 Within group 107.791 406 .265 Total 108.795 409 Sig .287 According to Table 5, there is no significant difference in total teacher job satisfaction based on different demographic characteristics of teachers. C. Testing the Null Hypothesis Three Table 5 indicates all nine factors of teacher job satisfaction having p values greater than the significance level of .05, therefore, there is no significant difference of teacher job satisfaction based on the demographic variable of teacher’s educational background. TABLE 5. T-TEST (TOTAL TEACHER JOB SATISFACTION BASED ON TEACHERS EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND) Factor Background N M SD Sig. T Job Bachelor 317 2.89 .36 .325 1.247 Satisfaction Master 93 2.94 .30 Table 6 displays all of the nine teacher job satisfaction factors having p values greater than the significance level of .05 which represent there is no significant difference based on the demographic variable of gender. TABLE 6. T-TEST (T OTAL TEACHER JOB SATISFACTION BASED ON GENDER) Factors Job Satisfaction Gender Male Female N 180 230 M 2.97 2.85 SD .37 .33 Sig. .385 T 3.553 Based on the significance level (p < .05), only two factors (Advancement and Recognition) are significant for job satisfaction based on age as shown in Table 7. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 775 TABLE 7. ANOVA (TOTAL TEACHER’S JOB SATISFACTION BASED ON AGE) Factor Age SS DF MS F Job Between group .490 3 .163 1.299 Satisfaction Within group 51.091 406 .126 Total 51.581 406 Sig. .247 IV. CONCLUSION Teacher empowerment. Due to the comparison to other researchers, Pan (2001) investigated teacher empowerment and job satisfaction of instructors in public elementary schools in Taiwan and result that the average score of all factors of teacher empowerment was 3.57. Pan took into account the ratings of self-efficiency, professional growth, status, autonomy, impact and decision-making. In job satisfaction section, the average overall score of all scales was 3.55 using dimensional ratings of coworker relations, mental reward, the work itself, salary, promotion, and administrative leadership. Liang (2004) pointed out the relationship between teacher empowerment, commitment, and effectiveness among junior high school teachers in the capital city of Taipei. The results showed that these teachers have a high degree o f teacher empowerment and can participate in decision-making actively and being more independent. Klecker and Loadman (1996a) investigated 10,544 teachers in 307 Venture Capital schools, again in the United States and this time in the state of Ohio, finding the total mean of teacher empowerment scoring as 3.82. The highest individual dimension was professional growth at 4.19, followed by self-efficacy, status, impact, and decision-making, and autonomy the lowest at 3.08. Teacher job satisfaction. Total teacher job satisfaction was at an intermediate level of 3.01 with responsibility (3.42) as the leading factor, followed by work itself (3.16), colleagues (3.00) working condition (2.97), advancement (2.96), supervision (2.90), security (2.75), pay (2.65) and recognition (2.53) being the last. Only three factors (responsibility, work itself, colleagues) were in an intermediate level with the remaining factors were in a low level. Hsu (2002) displayed resource room program teachers at junior high schools which are accompanied with his work. Chen (2004) examined job satisfaction for junior high school teachers focusing on learning as an integrated activity in Taipei, and represented that teachers were satisfied with their work as well. Overall, the previous studies and this study displayed that teachers in Aviation University were satisfied at their job. Correlation between teacher empowerment and job satisfaction. This study has showed a significant correlation between total teacher empowerment in all six dimensions, and between total teacher job satisfaction in all but two of the nine different factors are not correlated. Pan (2001) in Taiwan found significant correlation, the same as those found by Klecker and Loadman (1998c), Lanney (1998), Short and Rinehart (1992), and Wu (1995) pointed out the significant correlation between empowerment and job satisfaction along with organizational commitment in Pennsylvania teachers, in addition, Hatchett (1995) in south Florida added transformational leadership to these variables. This significant relationship between empowerment and job satisfaction of teachers is not limited to this study or to a specific region o f the world. Davis (1994) resulted that teacher’s job satisfaction based on total teacher empowerment was not statistically significant. Planner-Hardy (1983) found there were no statistically significant relationships between the degree of involvement in district-wide decisions and job satisfaction for elementary teachers. Furthermore, Ludolph (1985) did not find any significant relationships between satisfaction and the degree of decision-making for teachers. Conversely, a number of studies found a positive relationship between teacher empowerment and teacher job satisfaction (Miskel, Fevurly & Stewart, 1979; Enderle, 1997; Rinehart and Short, 1993; Davis, 1994; Klecker, 1996). V. IMPLICATION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH Additional research is required to determine the relationship between teacher empowerment and the job satisfaction of the teachers. The future researches contain: • Replication of this study with samples including schools and English institutes • Further research to investigate factors, other than teacher empowerment dimensions that may be influential teachers’ job satisfaction. • Additional research to determine the relationship between years experience and job satisfaction. Theoretical Implications The findings from this research with English teachers were consistent with the findings from other studies with regular academic teachers which have also found positive correlations between these constructs (Klecker & Loadman, 1996b; Kim, 2002; Wu & Short, 1996). Therefore, we can conclude that the relationship between empowerment on job satisfaction is likely the same for all content area teachers. Conversely, the more empowerment decreases, the more job satisfaction also decreases. For this study, empowerment served as an internal index which the work environment © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 776 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES satisfied the teacher’s requirements and thus were indicators of satisfaction which is presented by the Theory of Work Adjustment (Dawis et al., 1968) and Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory (Herzberg et al., 1959). These theories assumed that individuals are motivated more by intrinsic factors of their work. The findings of this study display that empowerment may be an important factor that aids to overall job satisfaction. In addition, this study indicates better understanding of how these two issues are related. According to Johnson (2004) & Warr (1991), the educational literature has represented a consistent relationship between teacher retention and job satisfaction. Dawis et al. (1968) expressed that the greater the balance between the individual and his/her work environment, the greater the chance of tenure. Therefore, teacher retention ultimately may be increased. The finding of a significant relationship between the constructs of job satisfaction and empowerment in this study provided support for the suggestion that administrators and school personnel create a work environment which emphasizes teacher empowerment. Furthermore, Shen (1997) indicated work environment can be influential for teachers to control the school and teaching policies leads to greater levels of job satisfaction and empowerment and ultimately, increased teacher retention. Quaglia, et al. (1991) also displayed that school administrators are sensitive to the importance of empowerment to teacher satisfaction levels and provide opportunities for teacher participation within the school. Training should be given to administrators on the types of leadership so that this professional process will continue to express high levels of empowerment and job satisfaction and ultimately have increased teacher retention. School administrators should concentrate on creating an empowering work environment for teachers by increasing participation in decision making, providing opportunities for professional growth, fostering professional respect between colleagues, promoting selfefficacy, allowing for teacher autonomy, and welcoming teacher input on school-related issues. VI. RECOMMENDATION According to these results in Aviation University in Iran, the following recommendations are made for instructors and future researchers. For instructors. The recommendation for instructors is to differentiate between your responsibilities and what empowerment you have. One responsibility for instructors is to participate in the school’s decision-making process. In so doing, they will empower themselves and their profession, teach more effective, and reform their education more successful. The combination of developing and enhancing both professional teacher knowledge and their competency, will either promote teacher skills or the school’s performance, and can improve student learning, which leads to a better performance. For future researchers. The recommendation for future researchers is to perform research in different levels o f instruction (other than university) and in different areas. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] Blanchard, K. & Carlos, J. P. (1996). Empowerment takes more than a minute. San Francisco: Berrett Koehler. Blase, J. J. & Blase, J.R. (1994). Empowerment teachers: what successful principal do. (Report No. ISBN 0 8039 6092 I). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 377576. Chen Y. W. (2004). A Study on Job Satisfaction o f Taipei Junior High School Teachers in Integrative Activity Learning Area. Journal of Taichung Teachers College, 18(1). Davis, J. (1994). Teacher and principal empowerment in elementary schools in Eastern Washington (Doctoral dissertation, Gonzaga University, 1994). Dissertation Abstracts International, 55(4), 0811 A. Dvorak, J., & Phillips, K. D. (2001). Job satisfaction of high school journalism educators. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Scholastic Journalism Division, Washington, D.C. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED456466). Enderle, M. (1997). Decision-making involvement and job satisfaction of Accelerated School’s elementary teachers (Doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997). Dissertation Abstracts International, 59(1), 2264A. Gau, I. F. (2001). Psychology and Educational Statistics. Chicago, IL: American Psychological Association Hatchett, M. E. (1995). An analysis of teacher empowerment, transformation leadership and job satisfaction in the elementary school. Dissertation Abstracts International, 5(5(11), 4223. Klecker, B. M. & Loadman, W. E. (1996a). Dimensions o f teacher empowerment: Identifying new roles fo r classroom teachers in restructuring schools. (Report No. MSERA-SCP-96-11). Tuscaloosa, AL: Mid-South Educational Research Association. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED405304. Klecker, B. M. (1996a). A study o f teacher empowerment in Ohio’s venture capital school. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(3), 533. Kleeker, B. (1996). A study of teacher empowerment in Ohio’s Ventura Capital Schools (Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 1996). Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(02), 0533A. Lanney, N. E. (1998). The perceptions o f teacher empowerment and job satisfaction among Jackson County high school teachers. Dissertation Abstracts International, 60(4), 959. Lester, P. E. (1987). Development and factor analysis o f teacher job satisfaction Questionnaire. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 47, 223-233. Liang,w. Y. (2004). A study on the relationship o f the teacher empowerment, teaching Commitment and teaching effectiveness o f the junior high school teachers in Taipei. NNEST Newsletter, 5(2), 3-5. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 777 [15] Ludolph, J. (1985). An examination of participation in decision making and the perceptions of satisfaction for elementary school principals and teachers in the state of Illinois. (Doctoral dissertation. Northern Illinois University, 1985). Dissertation Abstracts International, 46(09), 2505. [16] Mahrenhoztion, D. B. (1996). A descriptive study of the strategies used by principals to empower elementary teachers and the extent to which the teacher perceives themselves as empowered by the use of those strategies. Unpublished dissertation. Laveme, CA: University o f LaVeme. [17] Miskel, C., Fevurly, R., & Stewart, J. (1979). Organizational structures and processes, perceived school effectiveness, loyalty and job satisfaction. Educational Administration Quarterly, 75(3), 97-118. [18] Pan, A. (2001). The study o f the relationship on teacher empowerment and jo b satisfaction in elementary school. Unpublished master's thesis, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. [19] Planner-Hardy, M. (1983). Decision involvement and job satisfaction in elementary principals. (Doctoral thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1983). Dissertation Abstracts International, 44(05), 1280A. [20] Riley, R. W. (1995). Remarks on the 1995 goals in the 2000 teacher forum [Abstract]. Retrieved January 19 2004 from: http://www.ed.gov/speeches/11.12.95.html. [21] Rinehart, J., & Short, P. (1993). Job satisfaction and empowerment among teacher leaders, reading recovery teachers, and regular classroom teachers. Education, 114(4), 570-581. [22] Short, P. M. (1992). Dimensions of teacher empowerment. (Report No. AERA-RR-924). Chicago, IL: American Educational Research Association. [23] Short, P. M., & Rinehart, J. S. (1992). School participant empowerment scale: Assessment of level of empowerment within school environment. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 52(4), 951-960. [24] Thomas, K. W., & Velthouse, B. A. (1990). Cognitive elements of empowerment: An interpretive model o f intrinsic task motivation. Academy o f Management Review, 75(4), 666-681. U.S. Department o f Education. (1995). School-based reformlessons from a national study. Retrieved January 28, 2004 from: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/Reform/pt2a.html. [25] Travers, C. J., & Cooper, C. L. (1996). Teachers under stress. Stress in the teaching profession. London7 Routledge. [26] Whitaker K. S. & Moses, M. C. (1990). Teacher empowerment: A key to restructuring. Clearing House, 64(2), 127-130. [27] Wu, Y. Y. (1995). Relationships among teachers’ perceptions of empowerment, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment in public schools. Dissertation Abstract International 55(9), 2679. [28] Zembylas, M. and Papanastasiou, E. (2004). “Job satisfaction among school teachers in Cyprus”, in Journal of Educational Administration, 42, 3: 357-374. Fatemeh Azimi Amoli is a Ph.D Candidate in Ilam University in TEFL. She is teaching English courses in some Universities and published many articles and two books. Her area of interests includes in Leadership Style, Teacher Professional Development, and Psycholinguistics. Maryam Youran graduated in TEFL in Takestan University. She is teaching English courses in Payam-e-noor University, Ilam Branch. She likes to study in syntax and discourse field. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 778-785, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.778-785 The Application of Thematic Theory in Translation Fang Wang School of Foreign Languages, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, China Abstract—The paper focuses on the application of Theme/Rheme theory in the process of translation. First the author reviews the concept of equivalence in translation and then analyzes the significance of Theme/Rheme division in representing the writer’s intention and the rhetorical activity of the text, thus pointing out the importance of preserving thematic equivalence during translation. Then the author analyzes some examples of authentic translation. Index Terms—theme, rheme, translation, equivalence I. INTRODUCTION Equivalence has been a kernel concept in translation theory, but it is also a controversial one. Wilss (2001, 134) states that “the concept of TE (translation equivalence) has been an essential issue not only in translation theory over the last 20 years, but also in modern translation studies” and “there is hardly any other concept in translation theory which has produced as many contradictory statements and has set off as many attempts at an adequate, comprehensive definition as the concept of TE between SLT and TLT”. Since 1950s, many theorists have made considerable exposition on translation equivalence. J.C. Catford defines translation as “the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL)”. He holds that “the central problem of translation practice is that of finding TL translation equivalents”. (Catford, 1965). He distinguishes textual equivalence from formal correspondence. The former is “any TL text or portion of text which is observed on a particular occasion to be the equivalent of a given SL text or portion of text” and the latter is “any TL category (unit, class, structure, element of structure, etc.) which can be said to occupy, as nearly as possible, the same place in the economy of the TL as the given SL category occupies in the SL” (ibid: 27) The concept of equivalence has been discussed in various dichotomous ways such as „formal vs. dynamic equivalence’ (Nida), „semantic vs. communicative translation’ (Newmark), „semantic vs. functional equivalence’ (Bell), and so on. According to Nida and Taber, “translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style”. He emphasizes that “the translator must strive for equivalence rather than identity.” (Nida, 1969) Translation under this type of definition contains three essential terms: (1) equivalent, which points toward the source-language message, (2) natural, which points toward the receptor language and (3) closest, which binds the two orientations together on the basis of the highest degree of approximation”(Nida, 1964). He argues that in contrast with formal equivalence which focuses on the message itself, a translation of dynamic equivalence is not so concerned with matching the receptor language message with the source-language message, but with the dynamic relationship, that is, the relationship between receptor and message should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptors and the message. II. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THEME/RHEME IN TEXT A. Text and Texture According to Halliday (Halliday, 1976), the word TEXT is used in linguistics to refer to any passage, spoken or written, of whatever length, that does form a unified whole. He defines that a text as a unit of language in use. It is not a grammatical unit, like a clause or sentence; and it is not defined by its size. It does not consist of sentences; it is realized by, or encoded in, sentences. However, Halliday (Halliday, 1976) points out that if every text consisted of only one sentence, there is no need to go beyond the category of structure to explain the internal cohesiveness of a text. But texts are usually not limited to one sentence; on the contrary, texts consisting of only one sentence are fairly rare. They do exist; there are public notices, proverbs, advertising slogans and the like, where one sentence by itself comprises a complete text, for example: No smoking. Wonders never cease! Read the herald every day. But most texts extend well beyond the confines of single sentence. So in this paper I will concentrate on those texts with several sentences to make clear its thematic progression and thematic patterns in the creation of texture. Texture, according to Halliday & Hasan (Halliday, 1976), is what distinguishes the text from something that is not a text and © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 779 therefore it is simply the quality of being a text, rather than a set of unconnected bits of language such as one might find in a collection of independent sentences used as exercises in a language text book. Halliday (Halliday, 1994) identifies the textual component of the grammar of English (and hence texture) as consisting of the features associated with two groups of resources: the structural and the cohesive, as can be seen in the following diagram (Halliday, 1994): 1. Structural Component thematic structure: Theme and Rheme information structure and focus: Given and New 2. Cohesive Component reference ellipsis and substitution conjunction lexical cohesion From this diagram it is clear that in Halliday’s point of view, the Theme systems and the information systems form the main components of texture within the sentence in English. But he also points out that the overall choice of Theme/Rheme is an important part in the creation of the texture of a text and he (Bloor, 2001) investigates the textual organization of a piece of writing by Charles Darwin and demonstrates how the interaction of Given and New information with Thematic progression underpins the rhetorical value of the discourse. Therefore, apart from cohesive ties, thematic progression is also an important means to create texture for it inherently involves the concept of cohesion (Cloran, 1995) and Halliday(Halliday, 1994) also realizes that “the choice of Theme, clause by clause, is what carries forward the development of the text as a whole.” B. Theme/Rheme and Development of Text The functions of Theme/Rheme demonstrate that they are of significance on text level. Always put in the initial position of a clause, Theme has two functions (a) it acts as a point of orientation by connecting back to previous stretches of discourse and thereby maintaining a coherent point of view and, (b) it acts as a point of departure by connecting forward and contributing to the development to later stretches. Then its significance can only be understood by seeing how it contributes to the progress of the message in texts (Yan, 1995). And in the analysis of the usefulness of the Theme/Rheme distinction in explaining methods of organization and development in different types of text, a great deal of emphasis has traditionally been placed on Theme rather than Rheme(Baker, 2000). However, the function of Rheme shows that it is also of importance in text. The Rheme is what the speaker says about the Theme. The content of N-Rheme regularly concerned information that related to the purposes of the text, of the text segment, and of the sentence and clause of which it was a part. On the other hand, the content of the Themes, even when they were separated from their main clauses by commas, regularly did not relate to the purposes of the text and text segments. Rather the content of the various Themes serve as orienters to the information contained in the clauses. (Fries, 1994) Therefore Rheme is the goal of discourse. As such, it is the most important element in the structure of the clause as a message because it represents the very information that the speaker wants to convey to the hearer. It is the Rheme that fulfils the communicative purpose of the utterance. Therefore we can see that Theme and Rheme are not grammatical notions. They have little to do with whether a given sequence is or is not grammatical. Grammatical sequences are part of the abstract system of language. In context, grammaticality does not necessarily ensure acceptability or coherence. In a text that is well formed grammatically but is ill-formed in terms of its thematics, it is difficult to see a link between the Themes of the above clauses, or even between a Rheme and a following Theme. Hence not surprisingly the text feels disjointed and lacks orientation. The individual clauses are perfectly grammatical but taken together; they are not acceptable as a stretch of discourse. So it is necessary to take account of thematic structure and thematic progression to maintain a coherent point of view in any act of communication. And in the area of Theme/Rheme analysis, it is the thematic progressions that deserve full attention. As is shown in the second chapter, patterns of thematic progression, based on the identification of the Theme and Rheme of each clause, is of great help to the development of text for it concerns where Themes come from and how they relate other Themes and Rhemes of the text and the analysis of the patterns is one way to work through the text sentence by sentence, following the unfolding of the text. As Hatim(Hatim, 2001) points out, the notion of thematic progression is a potentially useful analytical tool for unlocking texts and revealing their texture. Apart from contributing to the development of text, thematic patterns also indicate whether a rhetorical activity is embedded within, related to or unrelated to a preceding activity, and determine the existence and type of relationship between rhetorical activities. C. Theme/Rheme and Rhetorical Feature of Text If Theme is a meaningful element on the level of clause or clause complex, then we should find that the kinds of meanings that are made thematic would vary depending on the purposes of the writers. And Fries(Fries, 1995) has found that thematic progression and the experiential content of the Themes do not occur randomly and the frequencies of the various thematic progressions vary with genre type, the experiential content of the Themes varies with genre type, and the proportions of times that certain meanings are expressed thematically also varies with genre type. From his findings we can conclude that the selection of an individual Theme of a given clause in a given text is not in itself © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 780 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES particularly significant. But the overall choice and ordering of Themes, particularly those of independent clauses, plays an important part in organizing a text, providing a point of orientation for a given stretch of language and showing a writer’s rhetorical purpose. For instance, Perfetti and Goldman (Hatim, 2001) suggest that placing the main referent in subject position (that is Theme 1 becoming Theme 2, and so on) is a method favored by those who prepare encyclopedia entries, obituaries and children’s book. In a similar vein, Brown point out that a detective novel constantly thematizes time adverbials, while a travel brochure systematically uses place adverbials as Themes. Therefore, we can conclude that Theme/Rheme distinction related to translation is text-based rather than restricted to the structure of individual clause for the overall choice of Themes/Rhemes can reflect an author’s intention, the methods of organization and development of the text and the author’s rhetorical purpose. III. THEME/RHEME IN TRANSLATION PRACTICE Having noted the thematic theory in Chinese and English and the significance of thematic theory in text analysis, this part will be focused on the application of thematic theory in translation practice between English and Chinese. We will first shed light on individual clauses for the purpose of investigating how the Theme is realized in the ST and TT because it is clear that a text does not come out of nothing, but is realized by sentences, which are interwoven together to form an integrated text. The Theme-Rheme distribution and the interrelationships among the individual sentences always cast an influence on the overall organization of the text, and the thematic progressions of the whole text cannot be dealt with without taking the Theme/Rheme division of the sentences into account. It is not reasonable or feasible to ignore the application of thematic theory on clause level, from which my discussion will start. A. Application on Clause Level From the previous analysis it has been clear that both English and Chinese clauses can be analyzed from the perspective of Theme/Rheme and there are marked/unmarked Themes. In both languages the markedness of Themes depends on the mood of the clauses. Therefore in translation thematic choices of unmarked or marked elements in the clause should be treated carefully because it is a meaningful choice made by writers to orient or guide readers properly. Baker says, "Thematic choice is always meaningful because it indicates the speaker's/writer's point of departure. But some choices are more meaningful than others, because they are more marked than others" (Baker, 2000). Hence in the process of translating, Themes, especially marked Themes, are to be kept when the writer’s intention is taken into consideration. For example: 1. 在你们身 (MT)，寄托着中国和人类的希望(R)。鲁迅中共中央电比较“中国和人类的希望(UT)寄托在你们身 (R)。” (Chen，1986) Version 1: On you (MT) is placed the hope of China and mankind(R). Version 2: The hope of China and mankind (UT) is placed on you(R). In the original sentence, the prepositional phrase at the first position of the clause functions as marked Theme and the writer’s emphasis, while in the sentence of normal order, the subject is Theme and unmarked and no special emphasis can be seen. As a result, a translator should pay attention to the Theme/Rheme division in the original sentence to make clear the writer’s intention and try to keep it in the process of translation. In the first version of translation the Theme in Chinese is still the same as that in English, and the thematic structure of the source language remains unchanged in the target language. The second version is also acceptable, which, however, when compared to the first version, appears not as ideal as the first one. In this sentence, the approximated thematic equivalence adds to the more desired effect of translated sentence. From the following examples we can have a better understanding of the slight differences between the translated sentences. 2. Travel twelve and a half miles for so simple an affair I would not.(Arnold Bennett) (Chen，1986) Version 1：不愿意为了一件这么普普通通的而跋涉十英半之远。 Version 2: 为了这么一件普普通通的而跋涉十英半之远，是不的。 From the source sentence we can perceive that Arnold Bennett implies his dislike by the adjusted sentence order. As readers, we can think of the regular order of this sentence: “I would not travel twelve and a half miles for so simple an affair”, which manifests a lack of strength and impressiveness in indicating Bennett’s intended feeling for the matter of “travel”. Thus the form of the original English sentence serves as an important element of meaning as a whole. Bennett succeeds in showing his attitude by the very use of Theme-Rheme which deviates from the average reader’s expectation of the pronoun as the Theme. Consequently, a translator should be competent in discerning all these subtle differences in his process of translation, and be keen on the way that aims at producing a version which can express Bennett’s attitudinal meaning to an extent as great as possible. The above given two Chinese translation versions are understandable and acceptable, but when we take author’s intended meaning into consideration, the second version outweighs the first one in that it corresponds to the original sentence’s thematic structure, which is the main device adopted by Bennet. Thus thematic equivalence is an important aspect, the ignorance of which will reduce the expressive effect and thus cannot give a full account of the original text. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 781 This point will be illuminated in the following two examples: 3. 这个问题(T)要搞清楚(R)。邓小文 (Feng, 1995) Version 1：We (T) must be clear about this question(R). 外文出版社 Version 2：The issue (T) should be made clear(R). 北京周报 4. The mantle of your high office (T) has placed on your shoulder at a time when the world at large and this Organization are going through an exceptionally critical phase(R).(Chen，1986) Translated version 1：正全世界和本组织处于一个非常危急的时期中(T)，这个崇高职务的重落到了你的肩 (R)。 Translated Version 2：这个崇高职务的重 (T)，是正全世界和本组织都处于一个非常危急的时期之际，落到你的肩的(R)。 However, we should not follow the thematic structure too rigidly, as the comparative study of English and Chinese shows that there are differences in the realization of thematic structure in each language. As Chafe (Baker, 2000) suggests that is incorrect to translate a Chinese-style topic with an English expression such as “As for”. This is because the English expression suggests contrastiveness. 5. 对于那些恃势凌人的地区霸权行为(T)，们是坚决对的(R)。赵总理在六届人大次会议报告 (Chen,1986) Translated Version 1：We (T) firmly oppose any practice of regional hegemonism in which the strong bullies the weak (R). Translated Version 2：As to the practice of regional hegemonism in which the strong bullies the weak (T), we firmly oppose (R). From the above discussion of the first several examples, we might judge at the first sight that the first translation version of this sentence is better than the second one, since the former, from the point of view of thematic structure, resembles the original English sentence more than the second version. However, we know that the phrase “as to” denotes a comparative meaning, and it will probably suggest that “we only firmly oppose the practice of regional hegemonism in which the strong bullies the weak and our concern will not reach and influence other kind of behavior, or at least our concern to other matter weakens in degree to the practice of regional hegemonism ”, while in Chinese “ 对于” is a generalized term which might indicate “comparativeness” or not, and it depends on the very context and the speaker’s intention. Therefore the first translation is favored, although it is not very similar to the source sentence in terms of thematic structure. B. Application on Text Level Since the Theme/Rheme distinction related to translation is text-based and the thematic patterns can reflect the methods of organization and development of the text and the rhetorical activity of the text, then in the process of translating, if a translator can preserve the thematic pattering of original without distorting the target text, s/he should make an effort to present the target text from a perspective similar to that of the source text, for changing thematic patterns may change the rhetoric feature and even style of the source language text. Baker (Baker, 2000) also points out that if the elements placed in Theme position in the source text can easily and naturally be placed in Theme position in the target text, the method of development of the two texts will be the same or similar. In the following section I will discuss the situations in which similar forms in the TLT can successfully convey the meanings in the original text, while the changed form is unnecessarily used in the TLT. e.g. 6. To the eyes of a man viewing it from behind T1 , the nut-brown hair was a wonder and a mystery(R1). Under the black beaver hat (T2), surmounted by its tuft of black feathers (T2), the long locks, braided and twisted and coiled like the rushes of a basket, composed a rare, if somewhat barbaric, example of ingenious art (R2). One (T3) could understand such weavings and coilings being wrought to last intact for a year, or even a calendar month (R3); but that they should be all demolished regularly at bedtime, after a single day of permanence (T4)(MT), seemed a reckless waste of successful fabrication (Xiao，2001) The following chart can illustrate the thematic patterning of the SLT: T1(to the eyes of man…)→R1(the ..hair…) T2(under the…hat..feathers)→R2(…long locks…)(=R1) T3(one)(=T1) →R3(understand…such weavings…a month)(=R2) T4(but that they…performance)(=R3) →R4(…waste of successful fabrication ) Version 1：一个人(T1)要从后面看这栗色头发，会觉得那是一桩奇迹，也是一种神秘(R1)。这头发 (T2)罩着一顶黑色獭皮高帽子，帽子差这一束黑色羽毛，使帽子显得更高(R2)。帽子面(T3)露出一一的长头发，它们是先编一根一根的小辫子，随后又几根大辫子，再盘绕起来，就像编好在一个篓子面的灯心草(R3)。把头发弄这般模样(T4)，可算是很少见的，一个精巧的艺术的例子，虽然带点原始的风味(R4)。谁都明白(T5)，这样编好和盘好的一头发，可以经得起一，少说也经得起一整月都不会散开来(R5) 但 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 782 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 是每天到睡觉的时候(T6)，这个仅仅保持了一整天的编盘好的头发，又照例得统统散，就好像让一件功的艺术制作毫不在意地给糟蹋了(R6)。 Thematic patterning of this translated version is: T1(一个人)→R1(从后面看这栗色头发, 会觉得……也是一种神秘) T2(这头发 )(=R1) →R2(…一顶黑色獭皮高帽子…帽子 …帽子显得更高) T3(帽子面)(=R2) →R3(…长头发…一个篓子面的灯心草) T4(把头发…这般模样)(=R3) →R4(可算是很少见的…艺术的例子…原始的风味) T5(谁都明白) →R5(这样…的一头发…不会散开来)(=T4) T6 (…到睡觉的时候) →R6(…头发…统统散…好像…艺术制作..给糟蹋了)(=R5) Version 2：从后面去看 T1 ，这栗色的头发简直就是一桩奇迹，一件秘密(R1)。黑色羽饰獭皮高帽面 (T2)，露出一绺绺长发，看去是小辫子大辫在盘绕而的云髻，就像用灯心草编织的花篮虽带一点原始的风味，却算得是精巧罕见的艺术品(R2)。谁(T3)一看就会明白，梳妆这样的发式是要让它的风采经一久而不衰，或少一月而不散(R3) 但是，每天到睡觉的时候(T4)，这仅仅施展了一天魅力的云髻，又照例统统散，就好像是不在意地让一件艺术品给糟蹋掉了(R4)。 Thematic patterning in this translated version looks like: T1(从后面去看)→R1(这栗色的头发…一桩奇迹，一件秘密) T2(黑色…高帽面)→R2(一绺绺长发…编织的花篮…艺术品)(=R1) T3(谁)→R3(一看就会明白…这样的发式…不衰，或…一月而不散)(=R2) T4(但是…到睡觉的时候)→R4(…的云髻… 散..艺术品给糟蹋掉了)(=R3) Here in the original text complicated patterns of thematic progression can be found, i.e., constant Rheme, alternating thematic pattern and linear progression. As the chart illustrates, Rheme 1, Rheme 2 and Rheme 3 form constant Rheme pattern, Theme1 and Theme3 form alternating thematic pattern while Rheme3 and Theme4 form linear progression. Aside form thematic progression, the experiential contents of the constant three Rhemes all refer to “hair” which becomes the Theme in the last clause. From the analysis of thematic patterning it is clear that this paragraph is developed around the word “hair”. This makes the reader aware that first the writer mainly describes the hair because it all appears at the Rheme position. Therefore when the original text and the first translated version are compared, it is clear that it is not faithful to the original text in that it changes the core of the message from the hair to the hat, which is not the writer’s focus of message. And from the charts of thematic patterning of the two translated texts, it is clear that in the second one the Theme/Rheme position is not changed and the translator makes the target text also focused on what happens to the “hair”. Therefore it is more faithful to the original text not only in message conveyed, but also in form and style. So in this case it is unnecessary to change the thematic patterning of the original text. This is also true in Chinese-English translation. For example: 7. 天静沙•秋思元马远枯藤老树鸦(R1)，小桥流水人家(R2)，古道西风瘦马(R3)。 (T4)西 (R4)，断人(T5)在天涯(R5)。 (Huang，2003) The thematic progression in the poem is as follows: T1 (=zero Theme) → R1(枯藤老树鸦) T2 (=zero Theme) → R2(小桥流水人家) T3 (=zero Theme) → R3(古道西风瘦马) T4( ) → R4(西 ) T5(断人) → R5(在天涯) Version 1: Autumn (翁显良译) Crows (T1) hovering over rugged trees wreathed with rotten vine—the day is about done (R1). Yonder (T2) is a tiny bridge over a sparkling stream, and on the far bank, a pretty little village (R2). But the traveler (T3) has to go on down this ancient road, the west wind moaning, his bony horse groaning, trudging towards the sinking sun, father and father away from home (R3). The thematic progression of the translated version looks as follows: T1 (Crows) → R1 (hovering over rugged trees… about done) T2 (Yonder)(┈R1) → R2 (is a tiny bridge …pretty little village) T3 (…the traveler) → R3 (has to go on …father away from home). Here the original text is a poem containing five lines. And the pattern of thematic progressions is free. The most important feature is that the first three lines are Themeless and only with Rhemes made up of paralleled noun phrases. And in the last two lines, the Themes are “ ”and “断人”. By analyzing patterns of thematic progression of the poem, we can see that the first three lines function as a static picture in which the author’s focus is on the sun and the traveler. And the poem is very short and concise. However, translated version is a prose composed of three long © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 783 sentences in which the Themes are “Crows” “Yonder” and “Traveler”. Hence not only the focus of the author’s description has changed, but also the rhetoric feature and the style has changed. What’s more, in the original Chinese source poem, the objects of “crows”, “rugged trees” and “rotten vine” are parallel in description, while in the translated version, they are arranged in a subordinate order to modify the “crows”, and “the crows” is exalted to be the subject, which is the Theme, and the “rugged tress” and “rotten vine” proceed on to describe the “crows”, namely, they are the Rhemes. Then readers will probably get such an impression that the poet focuses his attention on the “crows”, which will go against the descriptive effect of the original Theme. In addition, this very first sentence presents a dynamic picture in the readers’ mind, and it adds animate power to the poem, but we know that the original poem is a quite static one, and it is just like a beautiful and sorrowful picture unfolded little by little in front of readers, and the unique effect of its vividness and touchingness lies heavily in the associative thinking by the readers themselves. In my opinion, the appealing of this poem hides in its implications of static state. The large space it leaves for readers to imagine, the more can readers connect their own life experience with it. The rest sentences more or less have the same problem. Therefore this version, which is in the form of prose, is not equivalent to the original text and the changed thematic text succeeds in making it easy for readers to understand, but fails to keep up with the key spirit of the original poem. Therefore the following translated version is much better when judged from the perspective of Theme/Rheme. Version 2: Tune to “Sand and Sky” Autumn Thoughts by Ma Zhiyuan Dry vine, old tree, crows at dusk, (R1) Low bridge, stream running, cottages, (R2) Ancient road, west wind, lean nag, (R3) The sun (T4) westering, (R4) And one with breaking heart (T5) at the sky’s edge.(R5) (Translated by Schlepp) The pattern used in the poem is: T1(=zero Theme) → R1(Dry vine, old tree, crows at dusk) T2(=zero Theme) → R2 (Low bridge… cottages) T3(=zero Theme) → R3(Ancient road… lean nag) T4(The sun) →R4 (westering) T5 (…one with breaking heart) → R5( at the sky’s edge) In this version, the Themes and Rhemes match the position of the Themes and Rhemes of the original poem. This thematic equivalence also creates a static picture in the translated version. So the two texts are equivalent not only in the image conveyed but also in the presentation of rhetoric feature and style. Therefore judged from the Theme/Rheme analysis, this translated version is better than the previous one in that the translator preserves the pattern of original text. Though the above examples show that equivalence can be achieved by similar thematic patterns, this does not mean that no adjustment can be made. Since no two languages are totally identical to each other, it is natural that thematic equivalence cannot be kept in every case. Hence Nida's concept of 'the closest natural equivalence' (1964) must be also taken into consideration in order to achieve thematic equivalence. In fact, even when similar thematic patterns can be employed in the target text, certain adjustment has to be made. And the following example can illustrate this point. For example: 8. My old friend Harrison (T1), had lived in the Mediterranean for years before he returned to England (R1). He (T2) had often dreamed of retiring in England and had planned to settle down in the country (R2). He (T3) had no sooner returned than he bought a fire house and went to live there (R3). Almost immediately he (T4)began to complain about the weather(R4), for even though it was still summer (T5) it rained continuously and it was often bitterly cold (R5). (New Concept English , Vol 3, in Xiao Liming，2001) The thematic patterns are as follows: T1 (My old friend Harrison)→R1(had lived… returned to England) ‖ T2 (He) →R2 (had often dreamed …in the country) ‖ T3 (He) →R3 (had no sooner returned than …live there) ‖ T4 (he) →R4 (began to complain about the weather) T5 (for even … summer) →R5 (it rained… bitterly cold)(=R4) Translated Version：哈利 (T1)是的旧交, 侨居地中海多 , 近返英国(R1)。哈(利 )(T2) 早已梦想本土退休, 迁往乡间定居(R2)。(T3) 国伊始, 便买一栋清雅的别墅(R3)。可是(T4)刚一住 , 就抱怨起英国的天气来 (R4); 原来时虽炎暑未尽(T5),但雨连绵,寒冷彻骨(R5)。 T1(哈利 )→R1(是的旧交…近返英国) ‖ © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 784 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES T2(哈(利 )) →R2(早已梦想…定居) ┊ T3(=zero Theme) →R3( 国伊始…一栋清雅的别墅) ┊ T4(可是(structural Theme)) →R4(刚一住 , 就抱怨起英国的天气来) ┊ T5(原来时虽炎暑未尽) →R5(但雨连绵, 寒冷彻骨)(=R4) From the analysis, it is obvious that in the SLT constant Theme progression is used to indicate that the writer’s description is focused on the person but his activities are what the writer really wants to deliver to the reader. But in the translated version, similar pattern is used only with adjustment. Personal pronoun “he” is omitted from the third sentence and thus the third and fourth clause are Themeless. This happens because Chinese is a topic-prominent language as opposed to English which is “subject-prominent”. And in Chinese the topic of a text does not need to appear in every clause for fear of repetition, hence the omission of personal pronoun “he” in the following sentences of this paragraph. However, things are not always so optimal in translation, as is shown in the following example in which even marked Theme is put at the Rheme position in the target text. For instance: 9. I (T1) strove with none (R1); for none (T2) was my strife (R2); Nature (T3 (MT)) I loved (R3), and next to nature (T4), Art (R4); I (T5) warmed both hands before the fire of life (R5); It (T6) sinks (R6), and I (T7) am ready to depart(R7). (Landor, 1775-1864, in Yang Jiang，1994) T1 (I) →R1 (strove with none) T2 (none ) (=R1) →R2(was my strife) T3 (Nature) →R3(I loved) T4 (next to nature)(=T3) →R4(Art) T5 (I) (=T1) →R5 (warmed … fire of life); T6 (It) (=R5) → R6 (sinks) T7 (and I) (=T1) →R7(am ready to depart). Translated Version： (T1)和谁都不争(R1)，和谁争(T2) 都不屑(R2) (T3)爱大自然(R3)，其次(T4)就是艺术(R4) (T5) 手烤着生命之火取暖(R5) 火(T6)萎了(R6)， (T7)也准备走了(R7)。 (杨绛译) The thematic progression of the translated version is: T1( )→ R1(和谁都不争) T2(和谁争)(=R1) → R2( 都不屑) T3( )(=T1) → R3(爱大自然) T4(其次) (=R3)→ R4(就是艺术) T5( )(=T1) → R5( 手烤着生命之火取暖) T6(火)(=R5) → R6(萎了) T7( )(=T1) → R7(也准备走了) The chart of the patterns of thematic progressions reveals that the combination of constant Theme progression and linear thematic progression contribute to the development of the original poem. In the second line “Nature” is the object of the clause and therefore it is a marked Theme. However, in the translated version, it is put in the Rheme position. If it is put at the beginning of the clause in the target text, it will affect the aesthetic effect of the poem. So the author changes it into “I loved nature” and thus makes the target poem focusing on “I” to foreground it. From this example it is clear that change may occur on local level, while on global level the two texts are similar in the overall patterning of Theme/Rheme. IV. CONCLUSION In summary, whatever thematic structure a translator employs in translation, he must make sure that the thematic patterns contribute to the cohesion and coherence of the target language text and does not distort the meaning of the original text. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 785 REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] Baker, M. (2000). In Other Words: A coursebook on translation. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Bloor, T. and Bloor, M. (2001). The functional analysis of english: A hallidayan approach. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and research Press. Catford, J.C. (1965). A linguistic theory of translation: An essay in applied linguistics. London: Oxford University Press. Chen Y.Y. (1986). Rheme segmentation with accurate and fluent translation. Chinese Translators Journal, 2, 6-12. Cloran,C. (1995). Defining and relating text segments: subject and Theme in discourse, in Hasan, 1995 on subject and theme. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Feng Q.H. (1995).A Practical Coursebook on Translation, Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Fries, P. (1994). Advances in written text analysis. London/New York: Routledge. Fries, P. (1995). On subject and theme: a discourse functional perspective. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Halliday, M.A.K. and Hasan, R. (1976). Cohesion in English. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Halliday M.A.K. (1994). An introduction to functional grammar. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Hatim, B. (2001). Communication across cultures: Translation theory and contrastive text linguistics. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Huang G.W. (2003). Formal Equivalence as a Criterion in Poetry Translation. Chinese Translators Journal, 2, 21-23. Nida, E. (1964). Toward a science of translation. Leiden: Brill Nida,E and Taber,C.R. (1969). The theory and practice of translation. Leiden: Brill Wilss, W. (2001). The science of translation: Problems and methods. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Xiao L.M. (2001).Translation Theory and Practice Series. Beijing: China Translation & Publishing Corporation. Yan, F. et al. (1995). On subject and theme: a discourse functional perspective. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing company. Fang Wang, MA in linguistics, earned in Jilin University, Jilin Province, China, in 2007. The major field is critical discourse analysis. She is now a lecturer in CUST and is studying for her Ph.D. degree in Jilin University. His main published articles include Resolving Ambiguity in Familiar and Unfamiliar Casual Speech, Exploring Teaching Beliefs in Teaching EAP at Low Proficiency Levels. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 786-791, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.786-791 Characteristics of Economic Literature and Its Translation Jianjun Wang Foreign Languages College, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010021, China Yize Fan Foreign Languages College, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010021, China Abstract—Since the system of socialist market economy established in China, the economy has experienced rapid growth and maintained a vigorous momentum in economic development during the past two decades. Meanwhile, many Western economic theories were introduced into China and applied for facilitating economic development. Therefore, the translation of economic literature plays an important role in helping to study economic theories. The paper summarizes linguistic characteristics of economic literature and puts forward the principles as well as requirements for translators in translating this kind of texts. Also, with economic development and Yu Xianghua’s translation version as a case study, the authors analyze translation approaches and strategies in terms of terminology, long sentence and diagram. Index Terms—economic literature, translation strategies, economic development I. INTRODUCTION Throughout the past 30-plus years of continuous exploration for reform and opening-up, China’s economy has developed steadily and rapidly and made great achievement including that China’s economy has risen from the sixth to the second place in the world in 2012. Since the establishment of socialist market economy, a number of famous economists and their theories, such as Wealth of Nation by Adam Smith, General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by John Maynard Keynes and Principles of Political Economy by Alfred Marshall, etc, were introduced into China and translated and studied by many Chinese scholars. For this reason, the translation plays a more important role in promoting communication and cooperation with other countries under the circumstances of global economic development. Nowadays, a lot of classical theories of economics were translated into Chinese as textbooks applied for higher education. For instance, Principles of Economics translated by Liang Xiaomin, Economic Development translated by Yu Xianghua and Chen Xuejuan, etc. Western theories of economics have developed with successful economic development amid many countries in the past decades. Of course, these theoretical results also have positive effects on our country’s economic growth. Therefore, the translation of economic theories which has a practical meaning to our economic work is of significance for those who want to study. Although there are lots of good translation works in economic theories, we still need to study the relevant translation skills and principles reflected in translated economic texts. Compared with other subjects, economic literature characterized by profound linguistic and cultural connotation, epochal feature and disciplinary limit can be easily translated with mistakes. (Huang, 2008, p.111) During translation, we need to summarize characteristics of economic texts and apply translation principles to translation practice from which we try to learn something. “A translation of dynamic equivalence aims at complete naturalness of expression, and tries to relate the receptor to modes of behavior relevant within the context of his own culture; it does not insist that he understand the cultural patterns of the source language context in order to comprehend the passage.” (Nida, 1964, p.159) Maybe we can integrate Nida’s principle with specific translation skills to discuss how to translate economic texts, what principles and approaches we can use. Mainly on the example of Economic Development translated by Yu Xianghua and Chen Xuejuan, the authors analyze the characteristics and translation approaches through the case study of bilingual texts and put forward translation strategies of economic texts. II. CHARACTERISTICS OF ECONOMICS TEXTS A. Brief Introduction to Economic Development Economic Development, written by Michael P. Todaro and Stephen C. Smith who are famous scholars in economic field, tells the differences of social economic conditions between developed and developing nations and gives the corresponding suggestion that can help developing countries to realize industrialization, poverty alleviation and economic prosperity. “The first goal is to ensure that students understand real conditions and institutions across the developing world. The second is to help students develop analytic skills while broadening their perspectives of the wide scope of the field. The third is to provide students with the resources to draw independent conclusions as they confront © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 787 development problems, their sometimes ambiguous evidence, and real-life development policy choices — ultimately to play an informed role in the struggle for economic development and poverty alleviation.” ( Todaro, 2005, p.18) B. Features of Economic Texts 1. Terminology There are a lot of terminology or technical words with specific meaning in the texts. These words and expressions loaded with special meanings are fixed and mainly used in economic texts. For example, externality (外部性), internalization (内化), present value (现值), and consumer surplus (消费者剩余), etc. Also, the words involving in expressions are simple and easy to understand. One example is closed economy. It is just made up by two simple words. On the other hand, we can find many expressions named after one’s name. For instance, Gini Coefficient, Harrod-Domar Growth Model, Lorenz Curve and Malthusian Population Trap, etc. In the expression Gini Coefficient, Gini is a name of an Italian economist. 2. Long Sentences There are many long sentences in the text. It is easy to find that in economic texts one sentence consists of several short pieces. For example, “however, in recent years, some scholars and practitioners, particularly from the developing world, argue that the impact of minimum wages on poverty is more nuanced in theory and practice, particularly when the possibility of income sharing among the poor is accounted for.” (Todaro, 2005, p.243) This sentence includes five commas used to separate each part presenting different components mainly as adverbial in a whole sentence. Although one sentence is divided into several parts, it is not hard to understand. That is to say, it is complicated in form but simple in content. This kind of long sentence has a relatively complex structure which usually consists of several clauses or expressions with lots of modifiers and definitives. Sometimes, one paragraph is just comprised of one or two sentences. Thus, it makes the whole sentence look complicated and difficult to understand. 3. Figures and Tables Figures and tables, playing an important role in economic texts, can vividly describe economic principles with least length and are popularized among economic literature. (Xie, 2007, p.75) They can clearly show the relations amid different economic variables and make complex theory or phenomenon more simplified and conspicuous. The English figures and tables are different from Chinese ones. As Economic literature always concerns about interest rates, economic growth, stocks, calculating, etc, which deal with plenty of concrete figures. (Huang, 2009, p.32) Figure refers to the graphic presentation of qualitative and quantitative data with rectangular coordinates involving horizontal axis, vertical axis and origin as well as the contents usually made by some lines, curves and numbers. Bar chart, pie chart, histogram and polygon mainly make up the figure. Also there are some pictures or irregular diagrams. Table refers to the written set of facts and numbers arranged in columns and rows. From that readers can specifically know the economic data generating by quantitative analysis. III. STRATEGIES OF TRANSLATION IN ECONOMIC TEXTS A. Translation Criteria Faithfulness is the primary consideration. The translator should be loyal to source language and then completely and accurately express the versions. In translation, it is not allowed to falsify, distort or delete source text on purpose. The second is expressiveness. A good translation work needs to be smooth and easy to understand. Except for these two fundamental factors above, we still consider normalization and specialization. Economic literature is the product of economic development. More translation works of economic literature came into being with the developed economy. Meanwhile, the problem of normalization in translation of economic terminology cannot be ignored. (Huang, 2008, p.111) In translation, particularly with regard to economic terminology, which is the core of the whole theory and has serious and specific meanings, translators are required to deeply understand its connotation and set proper translation version. Improper translation can lead to confusion of the meaning. Hence we have to attach high importance to the norm to avoid inaccurate translation. For example, CPI , an important gauge of the level of inflation, is the abbreviation of Consumer Price Index, which is translated into Chinese as “居民消费价格指数” rather than “消费者价格指数”. In the other hand, specialization is the manifestation of high-quality translation. Because of the disciplinary feature in economics, translation of terminology must be highly specialized. Common words and expressions, delivering economic problems, should be considered as terminology and show the specialization in the process of translation. (Guan, 2012, p.58) In addition, we had better eliminate the situation: one terminology with multiple translation versions. That is to say, one-to-one correspondence between one term and its translation is the good way to avoid the incomprehension caused by polysemy. Meanwhile, it can realize the unification between languages. B. Requirements for Translators Translators should not only have solid bilingual basic skills and rich experience in translation, but also have the profound background knowledge and know something about astronomy, geography, history, customs, economy, business, current affairs, literature and art. (Fu & Tang, 2011, p.173) Therefore, when we translate economic literature, it is necessary for us to learn something about economics, which can help us better understand the source language and deeply analyze the economic facts to give good translation to the readers. A translator tends to conform to translation © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 788 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES norms consciously or unconsciously in his or her translation process. By adopting the proper translation strategies, the translator conforms to various norms in the translation action, and promotes the ethical values which govern the translation norms. (Huang, 2009, p.3) Also, we need to master some translation strategies, and choose different translation approaches in translating different kind of texts. Only in that way can we make a good job in translation process. IV. A CASE STUDY OF THE TRANSLATION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT A. Terminology Translation Terminology is the important component in economics. From Economic Development, we can find a lot of terminology. How to translate terminology can be illustrated by thoroughly discussing some examples from the Chinese version translated by Yu Xianghua and Chen Xuejuan. The authors usually take the way of literal translation when translating economic terminology. For instance, translating “absolute poverty” into Chinese as “绝对贫困”, “complementary investment” as “互补性投资”, “surplus labor” as “剩余劳动力”, “capital accumulation” as “资本累” and “multiple equilibria” as “多重均衡”. The translation of many of the terms adopts word-by-word translation which reflects the theory of equivalent translation. Translation consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style (Nida & Tiber, 1969, p.12). In the first example “absolute poverty” defined by Todaro as: The situation of being unable or only barely able to meet the subsistence essentials of food, clothing, shelter, and basic health care. This term consists of one adjective used as modifier and one noun in form. We can know what the “absolute poverty” is from its definition, but it seems that we can directly translate this term in its literal meaning which can present the connotation itself, thus there is no need to consider too much about it deep meaning. Also the term “capital accumulation” consists of two nouns and we can easily know the first one “capital” just refers to a large sum of money and then we can get a proper translation directly by its correspondent meaning of the two words. Although the literal translation has predominance in the terminology translation, there are still some terms translated with the approach of free translation. For example, the term “brain drain” is translated as “人才流失”. The first word “brain” generally refers to an organ inside one’s head that controls how people think, feel and move or the ability to think clearly and learn quickly. (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 2012, p.239) However , this meaning cannot be directly used to translate, like “大脑流失” or “智力流失”. The explanation of this term is that: The emigration of highly educated and skilled professionals and technicians from the developing areas to the developed areas. So we can clearly know the word “brain” refers to the highly skilled or professional people, not just organ or intelligence. Also this term has the same Chinese translation in Oxford Dictionary of Economics with Chinese Translation (2006, p.54), which gives the definition: a pejorative description of the tendency for talented people from poor countries to seek employment in richer ones. From the two definitions, apparently it is easy for us to find the key word in translating process. The second example is “disposable income”, translated as “税后收入”. For this term, we do not think much about translation of the word “income”. What we need is to analyze the “disposable” which gives two explanations: one description is “intended to be used once or for a short time and then thrown away”, the other is “available to be used”. The Chinese name is “一次性的，用完即丢弃的” and “可使用的，可支配的” respectively. The definition — the income that is available to households for spending and saving after personal income taxes have been deducted — it is obviously that the second description is more appropriate. There are people who translate this term just as “可支配收入”，but in Yu’s translated version, he gives “税后收入” that is much closer to the definition particularly in the description — “after personal income taxes have been deducted” — in which the meaning of “after taxes deduction” cannot be better expressed just in the translation “可支配”. Hence, both literal translation and free translation approaches can be used in dealing with the terminology translation. It is necessary for us to take account of definition or connotation of one term except for its superficial meaning. Only in this way can we get a proper translation and a comprehensive understanding of the terms. B. Long Sentence Translation In the text of Economic development, there are many long sentences with complex structure which makes readers feel obscure. So it is necessary to use some translation strategies in the process of converting source language into target language. Here are two examples from the text. Example one. “If we assume that there is some direct economic relationship between the size of the total capital stock, K, and total GDP, Y — for example, if $3 of capital is always necessary to produce an annual $1 stream of GDP — it follows that any net additions to the capital stock in the form of new investment will bring about corresponding increases in the flow of national output, GDP.” (Todaro, 2005, p.112) Yu’s translation: “ 们假定在总资本存量 K 和国内生产总值 Y之间存在着某种直接的经济关系，比方说，产出 1 美元的国内生产总值往往需要投入 3 美元的资本，那么就可以说以投资的形式投入的资本净增加额将带来国内生产总值相应规模的增长。” (Yu & Chen, 2010, p.70) © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 789 First we can see it is an adverbial clause of condition with two terms which are capital stock and GDP, signifying “资本存量” and “国内生产总值” respectively. The sentence — for example, if $3 of capital is always necessary to produce an annual $1 stream of GDP — in its translation, the order is changed a little. Yu adjusted the word order and put the infinitive part first instead of word by word translation like “3 美元资本投入可以产出 1 美元 GDP”, which facilitates better understanding for learners and also can accord more with Chinese usage especially in economic texts. Example two. “In the Lewis model, the underdeveloped economy consists of two sectors: a traditional, overpopulated rural subsistence sector characterized by zero marginal labor productivity — a situation that permits Lewis to classify this as surplus labor in the sense that it can be withdrawn from the traditional agricultural sector without any loss of output — and a high-productivity modern urban industrial sector into which labor from the subsistence sector is gradually transferred.” (Todaro, 2005, p.115) Yu’s translation: “在易模型中，发达的经济体由两个部门组：一个是传统人口过剩仅能维持生存的农业部门，这个部门的一个重要特是劳动的边际生产率等于零。有鉴于此，易把这部分从农业部门抽出来但产出不会因此而有任何减少的劳动力为剩余劳动力 surplus labor 。另外一个部门是劳动生产率较高的业部门，从维持生存的农业部门中转移出来的劳动力要逐渐转移进入该部门”。 (Yu & Chen, 2010, p.72) It is a long sentence with participle structure and attributive clause. The strategies in translation, made by Yu, include: (1) Separation. One sentence should be divided into three syntactic units and several sense groups rather than translating from the first word to the end, which makes the whole sentence more expressive and fluent. Next is to integrate each part to reorganize a translation order. For the translation of “sector characterized by …”, which is the structure of using past participle as postpositive attributive, Yu had segmentation on sentence which made “characterized by zero marginal labor productivity” as a new single clause in translation instead of translating it as a pre-attribute within one sentence. Another sentence is “into which labor from …”, which is an attributive clause and Yu also divided it into two sentences in its translation. (2) Semantic extension. Lewis model indicates two sectors and Yu translated it as “农业部门” and “ 业部门”. For the second one, Yu translated it as “ 业部门” that is directly equivalent to the statement “industrial sector” from the sentence. While for the translation of the first sector’s name, we cannot find any obvious word to define its name, but Yu just translated it as “农业部门” according to the description “traditional, overpopulated rural subsistence” and the expression of “industrial sector” which is correspondent to agricultural sector. Hence, the translator used a flexible approach translating concept based on its characteristics and context. The two examples mentioned above, require the translators to have some background knowledge about economics which can help better understand texts particularly in its terminology. For the long sentences, involving several modifiers, coordinate components as well as postpositive attributives, which make translation more complicated. Therefore we have to carefully analyze the grammatical structure of long sentences and then give accurate translation by making use of some translation approaches. C. Diagram Translation Diagrams and tables are often found to make the complicated description or explanation simple, clear and conspicuous. “These diagrams adopted by Economic literature contribute to its clarity, conciseness, tidiness, conspicuousness and attractiveness.” (Huang, 2009, p.32) In Economic Development, there are many figures and tables which specifically contribute to clear economic relations for readers. Tables always include data while figures, which can simplify the textual description or manifest the complex economic phenomenon, usually include lines, curves or other irregular shapes. As for the translation, take the following example to illustrate how to translate this kind of texts. Example: The Lorenz curve © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 790 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES “Figure shows how it is done. The numbers of income recipients are plotted on the horizontal axis, not in absolute terms but in cumulative percentages. … The vertical axis shows the share of total income received by each percentage of population. It is also cumulative up to 100%, meaning that both axes are the same length. The entire figure is enclosed in a square, and a diagonal line is drawn from the lower left corner (the origin) of the square to the upper right corner. At every point on that diagonal, the percentage of income received is exactly equal to the percentage of income recipients.” (Todaro, 2005, p.206) Yu’s translation: “ 说明了构造洛伦兹曲线的方法，它以收入群体为横轴不是单独的比例，而是加总的比例。…… 纵轴表示每 1%人口的收入在总收入中所占的比例，它也累计到 100%，这意味着横轴和纵轴有相同的长度。整个形被封闭在一个方框中，从方到右方有一条对角线，在对角线的每一点，收入的比例和人口的比例是相同的。” Yu & Chen, 2010, p.127 Figures, showing the basic concepts or principles, belong to information texts. In its translation process, the title of figures should be simple and clear to highlight the features of figures. Sometimes, we may have words extension. Just like the example above, Yu translated “percentage of income recipient” as “人口百分比” rather than “收入者百分比”, because “income recipient”, corresponding to “income”, here just refers to population. Then, mainly on the basis of literal translation approach, we should concisely translate text and clearly deliver the economic facts manifested in the figure. Yu simply depicts the figure and does not have further explanations. V. CONCLUSION From the above, we can understand the significance of translating economic literature. Different texts require distinct translation criteria. In the translation of economic literature, we are supposed to think about normalization in technical words and specialization in common expressions. The translator who has the background knowledge of economics can do better in the translation of this field. From the case study of Todaro’s work — Economic Development and its translation version, the paper summarizes the characteristics reflected in economic texts and analyzes the translation strategies in Yu’s translation version, which mainly include terminology, long sentence and diagram translation. But because of various limitations, the paper cannot thoroughly discuss every characteristic and translation approach. However, we can know, for getting a good translation, what a translator needs do is to constantly accumulate specialized knowledge and keep having translation practice. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Bassnett, Susan & Andre Lefevere. (2001). Constructing Cultures: Essays on Literary Translation. U.K.: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Bassnett, Susan. (2004). Translation Studies. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Bao Mingjie & Shen Xiaoyan. (2009). Translation of Economic Words. Contemporary Economics, (11), 126-127. Bell, R. (1991). Translation and Translating. London: Longman. Black, John & He Yuchang. (2006). Oxford Dictionary of Economics with Chinese Translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Fu Yanyan & Tang Yanfang. (2011). Discussion about Translation of Economic Articles in Newspaper & Journal from the Source Texts of the 23th Han Suyin Award for Young Translators. Overseas English, (12), 173-174. Gentzler, Edwin. (1993). Contemporary Translation Theories. London: Routledge. Gile, D. (1995). Basic Concepts and Models for Interpreter and Translator Training. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Guan Zhongming. (2012). Principles in Translation of Economic Terminology. English Teachers, (2), 57-62. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 791 [10] Huang Suqing. (2008). The Analysis of the Normalization of Economic Literature Translation. Journal of Hetian Teachers College, (6), 111-112. [11] Huang Suqing. (2009). Translation Norms in Economic Literature from the Angle of the Translation Practice Principles of Economics. Hefei: Hefei Industry University. [12] Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (4th). (2012). Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. [13] Ma Huijuan. (2005). The Diversification of Translation Standards in Business Text. Chinese Translators Journal, (3), 81-84. [14] Munday, Jeremy. (2001). Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications. London: Routledge. [15] Newmark, P. (2001). Approaches to Translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. [16] Nida, E.A. (1964). Toward a Science of Translating. Leiden: E.J. Brill. [17] Snell-Hornby, Mary. (2001). Translation Studies: An Integrated Approach. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. [18] Todaro, Michael P. & Stephen C. Smith. (2005). Economic Development. Boston: Pearson Education Inc. [19] Venuti, Lawrence. (1995). The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation. London: Routledge. [20] Wang Tao. (2001). Practical Course of English-Chinese & Chinese-English Translation. Wuhan: Wuhan University Press. [21] Xie Guimei. (2007). The Translation of Figures & Tables in Economics — From the Perspective of Functionalism. Journal of Language and Literature Studies, (8), 75-77. [22] Xiu Changbai. (2008). English in Economics. Beijing: China Agriculture Press. [23] Yang Dongfang. (2009). Exploration of Culture-loaded Words. Science and Technology Innovation Herald, (14), p.220-221. [24] Yang Xiaoyan. (2010). Transformational Technique of Parts of Speech in Translation of English in Economics. Time Education, (9), 85-87. [25] Yu Xianghau & Chen Xuejuan. (2010). Economic Development. Beijing: China Machine Press. [26] Zhou Fangzhu. (2002). Principles of Translation From English into Chinese. Hefei: Anhui University Press. Jianjun Wang was born in Inner Mongolia, China. He is currently an associate professor in Foreign Languages College, Inner Mongolia University, China. His research interests include translation and intercultural communication. Yize Fan was born in Inner Mongolia, China. He is currently a postgraduate in Foreign Languages College, Inner Mongolia University, China. His research interests include translation and intercultural communication. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 792-799, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.792-799 Comparison of Critical Thinking in Students Interested and Uninterested in Learning a Second Language Gholamreza Manshaee Islamic Azad University, Isfahan Science and Research Branch, Isfahan, Iran Tahereh Mahmoudian Dastnaee Islamic Azad University, Behshahr Branch, Behshahr, Iran Ali Seidi (Corresponding Author) Islamic Azad University, Gilan-E-gharb Branch, Gilanegharb, Iran Azam Davoodi Islamic Azad University, Isfahan Science and Research Branch, Isfahan, Iran Abstract—The main objective of this study is to identify the impact of critical thinking on students interested and uninterested in learning a second language. The population consists of 2875 high school students in the city of Tehran. The sample includes 385 high school students selected through simple random sampling and the study follows a causal-comparative design. The student’s age ranges from 14 to 18 years old who had at least learned one language as a second language (English). The instruments used in this study were: 1. Questionnaire on the level of interest in learning a second language 2. Critical Thinking Disposition questionnaire. The data were analyzed by the SPSS software by using the comparisons of independent sample t-test and within subjects Anova. The results showed that students interested learning a second language have higher levels critical thinking than students uninterested in learning a second language, and female students have higher levels critical thinking than male students. Index Terms—critical thinking, interest, second language learning, motivation I. INTRODUCTION Today more than ever man is facing a huge amount of human knowledge and business and this capacity of human knowledge and business is constantly increasing every day. Although this extensive knowledge and business is easily accessible through various resources, But choosing the appropriate and on time information from the mass of information has become so difficult and requires high mental and intellectual skills. There are a variety of intellectual skills and one of the most important of them is the critical thinking skills. But what is the nature of critical thinking? Despite the consensus of experts and scientists on the importance of critical thinking and its fostering, diverse opinions have been presented critical thinking on the definition and nature of critical thinking. (Vacek, 2009; Jones, 2007). One reason is that critical thinking is a complex concept and involves complex activity and mental processes. Therefore, it is not possible to describe and measure it easily (Wilgis & McConnell, 2008; Bataineh & Alazzi, 2009). Another reason is that each researcher has defined it according to his/her own understanding of the needs of his/her research (Bataineh & Alazzi, 2009). For instance, Critical Thinking Association quoting Snyder and Snyder (2008) defines critical thinking as the process of putting thought into order, conceptualizing actively and skillfully, apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate collected or generated information through observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication as a guide for order or action. According to Halpern (2007, as cited in Stupnisky et al., 2008), Critical thinking is the use of cognitive skills that increase the likelihood of desired results it is used to describe a thinking that is target-oriented, reason-oriented and based on guidance. The aim here includes problem solving, reasoning, formulating, estimating probabilities, and decisions making. Broadly defines critical thinking as a set of cognitive skills such as identifying central issues and assumptions, evaluating an event, and inferencing result. Despite the controversy in definitions, there are a lot of overlaps such as Insight, wisdom, speculative thought, seeking reason, identifying underlying assumptions, problem solving, decision making, creativity, perception and evaluation. Hence, education in contemporary times needs to more focus on the process and critical thinking skills rather than content over the past times (Page & Mukherjee, 2007). © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 793 Some experts have considered the most important reasons for having students think critically as follows: 1) To equip students with critical thinking skills makes them aware that scientific discoveries and advances cannot guide the community alone. Instead, it is the society and its people who must control and guide discoveries and scientific advancements in the best way (Gunn et al., 2008). 1) Critical thinking enables students to effectively assess and organize the information they have gathered through books, internet and university about the current theories, criteria or standards and their methods of use and understand the amount of their correctness, value and reliability through reasoning, and thus capture them (Jawarneh et al., 2008). 2) Critical thinking develops the ability of researching, problem solving, decision making, taking advantage of different perspectives, and lifelong learning in the students. The sum of these abilities makes the students able to solve national, scientific, and practical problems (Jawarneh et al., 2008; Snyder & Snyder, 2008). 3) Critical thinking makes students not only have sufficient knowledge or information about their area of expertise, but also make decisions about the society, politics, changing global issues and ethical challenges of daily life in today's complex world, and provide precise and accurate solutions to them (Abrami et al., 2008). Although critical thinking is a relatively new term that has been proposed in the twentieth century, however, this activity is rooted in the thought of the ancient Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The philosophers generally considered critical thinking as the ability to question, examine and think about the ideas and values (Wilgis & McConnell, 2008). Since the beginning of the twentieth century, following the development of related research on teaching and learning, critical thinking was highly emphasized (Gunn et al., 2008). Hence, the acquisition of critical thinking skills has become more than ever an undeniable necessity in the job market, dealing with the physical and spiritual questions, evaluating ideas, people, policies, institutions, and ultimately facing social problems in today's world (Hatcher & Spencer, 2005). In this regard, Dewey (1964) believed that critical thinking depends on judgments and commitment to skepticism (Martin et al., 2008; Bataineh & Alazzi, 2009). Bloom et al., (1956, as cited in Page & Mukherjee, 2007) classified the cognitive domain, and believed that students should know at least three levels of critical thinking, the analysis, synthesis and evaluation and use them to enter the world of working. Piaget (1970, as cited in Gunn et al., 2008) also pointed to the growing excellency in human life and consider it as an active knowledge constructor. Similarly, in the 1980s, the emphasis was on learning and cognitive processes, resulting in the emergence of constructivist movement and has been continuing ever increasing emphasis on critical thinking since now. Research shows that, despite the importance of critical thinking as an essential tool for learning in general, students have little ability to use critical thinking skills (Martin et al., 2008). One of the other variables studied in this research is second language. Scholars have different perspectives on the relationship between language and thought. Some consider language as the basis of thought and others view language as independent of thinking. The followers of the first view believe that linguistic system develops though with its grammar and words and these elements are essential for its developing. According to Whorf (2007), language is not simply a tool of reinventing and transforming the mental idea into audio signals rather it constructs mental concepts and people view and understand nature along the lines which have been drawn by their native language. He claims that language determines the form of thought. Therefore, multilingual people who have high proficiency for each language use different models of thinking. The followers of the second view consider language and thought as separate of each other and hold that the relationship between the sound of a word and its meaning, except in limited cases such as the name sounds, is a relational contract. The meaning associated with a series of speech sounds is not innate, but it must be learned. So the main source of meaning is based on the experiences of the universe and the mind; Experiences that are non-linguistic in nature. As a result, it seems that thinking is always language independent with the ideas and concepts in involves. John Locke, the famous English philosopher also believes that the relationship between language and thought is so that thought is independent of language, but language is the outcome of thought. Assuming such a relationship, language has the fundamental role and is mean for the expression and exchange of thought (Modaresi, 2008). Critics in criticizing the view of language as the basis of thought, argue that if language was the basis of thought the deaf children who do not have language would not be able to think, while these children show a logic based intelligent behavior to the environment like hearing children when playing or doing other activities. Although each of these approaches cite specific evidence and reasons to prove their claims but the most likely relationship between language and thought can be the one which assumes that the mental state of mind is specifically rooted in resources which are distinctive of language. Just when thought is formed from the child's experiences in the world of objects, events and situations language is able to be acquired. Then, over time, a complete language system is formed through thought. Vygotsky (1978) argues that language and thought are grown separately, but language gradually becomes a powerful tool for thinking. He was speaking of a certain type of speech which he refers to as talking to self or inner speech which is different from social speech which children use when communicating with ideas. Of course the denial of language as the basis of thought does not mean that language never has a role in the content or directing an individual's thoughts. Vygotsky considers communication and social interaction as the primary functions of language, and views its role as very important in the process of child's mental development and communication with parents. In this theory, all essential human cognitive functions such as logical memory, open attention, spoken thought, speech concept formation and spoken system are in the social context and can be converted into a psychological phenomenon through enhanced © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 794 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES internalization. He extends the concept of language and cognition to the cultural dimension of development and stresses on the importance of the quality of social and cultural interaction in language development, and cultural diversity and differences (Arefi, 2003). It is clear that knowledge of language is an acquired skill not inherited and every human being can learn a language. So many people are prepared to learn a second language, especially English, because they believe that mastery in this language improves their future. While English is the most widely used language in history, it is also the language of science, technology, diplomacy, international trade and commerce. Half of Europe's trade is conducted in English and more than 66% of the world's scientists are studying through English. In addition, 80 percent of electronic stored information is in English. Even experts have concluded that a one in three person speaks English or understand it somehow. The present decade and the past half century is different to all what is known of history. Very deep and broad changes have influenced all human activities which have not had similar instances in the past. Training courses based on the transfer of constant source of information by teachers to passive students are not suitable for the present and future anymore. Brains accumulated of inflexible materials cannot grasp the complexity and dynamics of present and future. It should not be forgotten that teachers teach a group of people and every teaching process should make the student and the teacher more emotionally richer (Shamir & Michal, 2008). As Klag and Bradley (2004) has noted, factors such as the attitudes and interests of students, the curriculum, the needs of society, the mindset of the teacher and his teaching methods are effective in language learning. In this regard Hatcher and Spencer (2005) carried a research on the factors affecting English language learning and interest in English. He considered good curriculum and teaching, engaging students in the teaching and learning process, creating the suitable environment for learning, sharing teachers, administrators and parents in school decisions and the functionality of the teacher's knowledge as the most important factors creating interest and motivation for achieving the assigned objectives of learning the English language. Luk et al., (2011)’s research on brain and bilingualism showed that bilingual individuals have a stronger bordering in the cortical area both while listening to fast speech hearing slow speech. The results of studies on the relationship between bilingualism and thinking, and positive and negative consequences of bilingualism are also different and sometimes conflicting as the above views. But in fact, many researchers believe that bilingualism are connected to cognitive factors such as problem solving, creative thinking skills, divergent thinking, domain independence, and concept formation. By studying critical thinking in students interested and uninterested in learning a second language another influential factor can be identified in the interest to learn a foreign language. The significance of this issue is embedded in the point that if the hypothesis that critical thinking is seen more in the interested students, we can engage in increasing critical thinking in the uninterested students so that we might their improvement in learning English language and therefore make an innovation in the field of English language learning. Many studies have been carried out on the factors influencing second language learning and also factors influencing the problems in learning a language. With regard to the proposed problem two questions are presented here: 1. Does critical thinking have a significant impact on student’s second language learning? 2. Is there a significant difference in male and female student’s critical thinking? II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE The present study has a causal-comparative design. Participants The sample population and sampling method: The population in this study consists of all the high school students in the city of Tehran in the year 2012. The student’s age ranges from 14 to 18 years old who had at least learned one language as a second language (English) and their number is 2785. Cochran's formula was used to estimate sample size and sample size of 385 was obtained. Simple random sampling was used as the sampling method. Instruments The instruments used in this study were: 1. Questionnaire on the level of interest in learning a second language. This is a self-report scale of interested or lack of interest in learning a second language which was diagnosed by specialists in psychology and to estimate the reliability of questions, they were given to 25 students in both groups and after gathering the necessary information, it was studied through Cronbach test and it w-as known as reliable at the alpha value of 0.92. 2. Critical Thinking Disposition questionnaire. This questionnaire which is a self-report instrument that measures the tendency of critical thinking and has 33 items and three sub-scales: creativity (11 items), development (9 items), and commitment (13 items). Critical Thinking Disposition Questionnaire is made based on Facione’s Critical Thinking Scale (1990). Subjects have to determine the extent of their agreement or disagreement in a 5-degree Likert scale (from strongly disagree = 1 to strongly agree = 5). To standardize the critical thinking dispositions questionnaire, Ritks gave it to 60 agriculture students studying in second year of university. Reliability coefficient of the sub-scale was as follows: Creativity subscale = 0.75, Development subscale = 0.57, and Commitment subscale = 0.86 and a group of teachers confirmed the face validity of the scale. In addition, since this scale is based on the original work prepared by Facione, its validity is also confirmed. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 795 Procedure The present study was conducted in two phases: the first phase, making the scale of interest in second language and standardization of critical thinking disposition scale (CTDI). Second, selection of subjects, implementation of tests and study the data: Subjects were randomly selected among high school students in Tehran. Each student responded to questions during a session lasting 55-45 minutes. At the end, after the data was collected, independent t-test was used to test the hypotheses. III. RESULTS TABLE (1): THE STATISTICAL INDICATORS OF CRITICAL THINKING SUBSCALES BASED ON INTEREST IN STUDENTS INTERESTED AND UNINTERESTED IN LEARNING A SECOND LANGUAGE BASED ON GENDER Statistical indicators Options Interest in second language mean Standard deviation Female male female male 3.52 3.21 0.725 0.401 3.97 3.58 0.886 0.489 4.02 3.75 0.839 0.401 3.84 3.51 0.806 0.430 creativity development commitment Critical thinking Lack of interest in second language mean Standard deviation female male female male 1.81 2.44 0.637 0.631 1.88 0.788 2.65 0.771 2.37 2.75 0.632 0.785 2.02 2.62 0.682 0.672 The data presented in table (1) shows the average score of the critical thinking subscales in male and female students interested and uninterested in learning a second language Main hypothesis: There is a significant difference in the critical thinking aspects between female and male students interested and uninterested in learning a second language. Row 1 2 3 TABLE (2): WITHIN GROUP FACTORS Within group factors creativity development commitment The above table shows the within groups factors that include the critical thinking components (creativity, development, and commitment) Row 1 2 3 4 TABLE (3): BETWEEN GROUP FACTORS Between group factors Students interested in learning a second language Students uninterested in learning a second language female male The above table shows the between groups in two groups (students interested and uninterested in learning a second language based on gender) TABLE (4): THE IMPACT OF WITHIN GROUP AND BETWEEN GROUP FACTORS Source Sum square df Mean square f within group factors 14.92 2 7.46 103.94 Interaction of within group factors and 1.28 2 0.642 8.94 groups Interaction of within group factors and 0.323 2 0.161 2.24 gender Interaction impact 1.06 2 0.532 7.41 error 54.84 764 0.072 sig 0.001 0.001 0.106 0.001 The results of the above table show that the observed f (f=7.41) obtained from the interaction impact (within group and between group factors) when alpha is .01 and with %99 certainty the null hypothesis is rejected. The impact of within group’s factors is not significant with regard to gender but the impact of within group’s factors and groups (students interested and uninterested in learning a second language) is significant at the alpha level of .01. As a result, it can be stated that there is a significant difference in the critical thinking components of students interested and uninterested in learning a second language but these differences are not significant within groups with regard to gender. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 796 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES TABLE (5): THE IMPACT OF BETWEEN GROUP’S FACTORS Source Sum square df Mean square Intercept 3470.17 1 3470.17 students interested and uninterested in 177.78 1 177.78 learning a second language gender 1.73 1 1.73 Interaction ( groups * gender) 20.64 1 20.64 error 606.71 382 1.58 f 2184.92 111.93 sig 0.001 0.001 1.10 12.99 0.294 0.001 The results of the above table show that the observed f (f=12.99) obtained from the interaction impact of within group and between group factors (male and female students interested and uninterested in learning a second language) is significant at the alpha level of .01 and with %99 certainty the null hypothesis is rejected. As a result, it can be said that there is a significant difference in the critical thinking of male and female students interested and uninterested in learning a second language. at sex =female groups 4.50 Students interested in learning a second language Students uninterested in learning a second language Estimated Marginal Means 4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 creativity development commitment factor1 The above figure shows the average score of critical thinking aspects in female students interested and uninterested in learning a second language. As can be seen, intersected students have a higher mean in all aspects and the within group mean also shows that the interested students have a higher mean in the commitment and development aspects and uninterested students have a higher mean in commitment aspect. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 797 at sex = male groups Estimated Marginal Means 3.75 Students interested in learning a second language Students uninterested in learning a second language 3.50 3.25 3.00 2.75 2.50 creativity development commitment factor1 The above figure shows the average score of critical thinking aspects in male students interested and uninterested in learning a second language. As can be seen, intersected students have a higher mean in all aspects and the within group mean also shows that both groups have a higher mean in the commitment and development aspects than the creativity aspect. First hypothesis: There is a significant difference in the critical thinking of students interested and uninterested in learning a second language. TABLE (6) T-TEST TO COMPARE CRITICAL THINKING OF STUDENTS INTERESTED AND UNINTERESTED IN LEARNING A SECOND LANGUAGE mean Variances Leven's Test for Equal f sig 2.05 0.153 Interested in learning a second 3.81 language Uninterested in learning a 2.57 second language *Significance at the level of 0.05 t-test for Equality of Means df t sig 384 16.36 0.001* **Significance at the level of 0.01 Results obtained from table (6) shows that the critical thinking score of students interested in learning a second language is 3.81 and the students uninterested in learning a second language is 2.57. As can be seen, the mean of critical thinking in students interested in learning a second language is more than the mean of critical thinking in students uninterested in learning a second language. The results of t-test showed that the observed t is (t=16.36) at the alpha level of 0.01 and the null hypothesis is rejected. In fact, results of comparing the means indicate that it can be claimed with 99 percent certainty that critical thinking is more in students interested in learning a second language than students uninterested in learning a second language. Second hypothesis: There is a significant difference in the critical thinking of male and female students. TABLE (7) INDEPENDENT GROUP T-TEST TO COMPARE CRITICAL THINKING IN MALE AND FEMALE STUDENTS mean Female students Male students Variances Leven's Test for Equal f sig 1.58 0.127 3.71 2.73 *Significance at the level of 0.05 t-test for Equality of Means Df t sig 384 11.65 0.001* **Significance at the level of 0.01 Results obtained from table (7) shows that the critical thinking score of female students is 3.71 and male students is 2.73. As can be seen, the mean of critical thinking of female students is more than the mean of critical thinking of male students. The results of t-test showed that the observed t is (t=11.65) at the alpha level of 0.05 and the null hypothesis is rejected. Results of comparing the means show that it can be claimed with 95 percent certainty that critical thinking is more in female students than in male students. IV. CONCLUSION © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 798 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES The findings of this study suggest that critical thing in students uninterested in learning a second language is at a low level. In fact, after the first analysis of the results it was known that 1) critical thinking in students interested in learning a second language is significantly more than students uninterested in learning a second language. 2) Critical Thinking is significantly more in female students than male students. Also the descriptive results of this study indicate that female students are more interested in learning a second language which can be inferred that female student’s more interest in learning a second language can be due to their higher level of critical thinking. In the field of critical thinking components in male and female students, the group interested in learning a second language had a higher mean in all aspects. The findings of this study are in line with the results of many recent researches that suggests boosting effects of bilingualism and its impact on cognitive performance such as possible accuracy control (Bialystok, 2007) and divergent thinking skills (Konaka, 1997). In contrast, the findings of this study are not in line with study of Baker (1988) who pointed to the damaging effects of bilingualism on cognitive factors. Regarding low degrees of critical thinking in students uninterested in learning a second language, we can refer to studies of Eslami (2004) and Karimi (2010). In separate studies, they examined critical thinking skills in students and administrators and achieved fairly comparable results and showed that critical thinking skills are at a low level in their study groups. The results of Thomas (1999) study suggest that many teachers have little awareness of the concept of critical thinking and its standards which has led to the situation that they do not make the necessary effort in teaching students to develop critical thinking skill. Paul (2000, as cited in Maleki & Habibi, 2007) investigated 38 public universities and 28 private universities and stated that although all teachers have accepted the teaching of critical thinking as one of the primary goals of university, but few of them have a clear definition of this concept and are unaware of its constituent components. One possible reason for the low critical thinking of students may be that they are unaware of the nature of critical thinking and its learning skills and also teacher’s little emphasis on active teaching methods and neglecting development of critical thinking skills in the content of the formal curriculum. Thus, according to the obtained results, further research can be done in this area such as by teaching critical thinking to students and its development in them, we can increase their interest in learning the English language and thus provide an achievement in this area for them which is a new and valuable step forward in the field of teaching and learning. It is not unlikely that teaching critical thinking by teachers and their teaching methods in the classroom can also lead to their progress in other subjects as well. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] Abrami, C. P., Bernard, R. M., Borokhovski, E., Wade, A., Surkes, M. A., Tamim, R., and Zhang, D. (2008). Instructional intervention affecting critical thinking skills and dispositions: A stage l meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 78(4), 1102-1134. doi: 10.3102/0034654308326084. Arefi, M. (1382). Examining the linguistic skills of bilingual children with different cultural and economic backgrounds. Journal of Educational innovation, 2(6), 57-68. Baker, C. (1988). Key issues in bilingualism and bilingual education. Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters. Batanieh, O., & Alazzi, F. K. (2009). Perceptions of Jordanian secondary schools teachers towards critical thinking. International education, 38(2), 56-72. Bialystok, E. (2007). Cognitive effects of bilingualism: How linguistic experience leads to cognitive change. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 10, 210-223. Dewey, J. (1964). Impressions of Soviet Russia and the revolutionary world, Mexico, China, Turkey, 1929. New York: Teachers College Press. Eslami, M. (1383). Providing a model for designing and implementing programs on critical reading and its evaluation on critical thinking and analytical writing. Ph.D. Dissertation, Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran. Facione, P. A. (1990). Critical thinking: A statement of expert consensus for purposes of educational assessment and instruction. Executive Summary “The Delphi Report” Millbrae, CA, USA: California Academic Press. Gunn, T. M., Grigg, L. M., and Pomahac, G. A. (2008). Critical thinking in science education: Can bioethical issues and questioning strategies increase scientific understandings? The journal of Educational thought, 42(2), 165-183. Hatcher, D. & Spencer, L. A. (2005). Reasoning and writing: From critical thinking to composition. Boston: American press. Jawarneh, M., Iyadat, W., Al-Shudaifat, S., and Khasawneh, L. (2008). Developing critical thinking skills of secondary student in Jordan utilizing Monro and Slater strategy and McFarland strategy. IJAES, 3(1), 82-91. Jones, A. (2007). Multiplicities or manna from heaven? Critical thinking and the disciplinary context. Australian journal of Education, 51(1), 84-103. Karimi, A. (1389). The relationship between critical thinking skills and human relations of training managers. Master’s thesis, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran. Klag, S., & Bradley, G. (2004). The role of hardiness in Stress and illness: An exploration of the effect of negative affectivity and gender. British Journal of Health Psychology, 9(2), 137-161. Konaka, K. (1997). The relationship between degree of bilingualism and gender to divergent thinking ability among native Japanese-speaking children in New York area. Doctoral dissertation, New York University, New York, U.S. Luk, G., Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I., and Grady, C. L. (2011). Lifelong bilingualism maintains white matter integrity in older adults. The Journal of Neuroscience, 31(46), 16808-16813. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 799 [17] Maleki, H., & Habibipour, M. (1386). The development of critical thinking as the fundamental purpose of education. Journal of Educational Innovations, 19(6), 93-108. [18] Martin, L., Thompson, S. D., and Richards, L. (2008). Online scenarios in FCS college courses: Enhancing critical thinking skills. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, 100(2), 25-30. [19] Modaresi, Y. (2008). A review of Sociolinguistics. Tehran: Institute Humanities and Cultural Studies. [20] Page, D., & Mukherjee, A. (2007). Promoting critical thinking skills by using negotiation exercises. Journal of Education for Business, 82(5), 251-257. DOI:10.3200/JOEB.82.5.251-257. [21] Shamir A., Zion, M., and Levi, O. S. (2008). Peer tutoring, metacognitive processes and multimedia problem-based learning: The effect of mediation training on critical thinking. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 17(4), 384-398. [22] Snyder, L. G., & Snyder, M. J. (2008). Teaching Critical thinking and problem solving skills. The Delta Pi Epsilon Journal, 1(2), 90-99. [23] Stupnisky, R. H., Renaud, R. D., Daniels, L. M., Hyanes, T. L., and Perry, R. P. (2008). The interrelation of first-year college students’ critical thinking disposition, perceived academic control, and academic achievement. Res High Educ, 49, 513-530. DOI 10.1007/s11162-008-9093-8. [24] Thomas, F. (1999). About the California critical thinking disposition inventory. Indiana: Indiana center for postsecondary research. [25] Vacek, J. K. (2009). Using a conceptual approach with concept mapping to promote critical thinking. Journal of Nursing Education, 48(1), 45-49. [26] Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). The development of concept formation in adolescence. In R. van der Veer & J. Valsiner (Eds.), The Vygotsky reader. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. [27] Whorf, B. L. (2007). Language, thought and reality: Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. [28] Wilgis, M., & McConnell, J. (2008). Concept mapping: An educational strategy to improve graduate nurses critical thinking skills during a hospital orientation program. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 39(3), 119-126. Gholamreza Monshaee has a Ph.D. in psychology. He is an assistant professor in Islamic Azad University, Naiin Branch, Naiin, Iran. Currently, he is teaching psychology courses at M.A. and Ph.D level in different national universities in Iran. He has published articles in different national and international journals and presented papers in different conferences. He has also translated some psychology books into Persian. He has had some research plans over the past years and has hold psychology workshops for the university students. He is also the reviewer of some national journals. His research interests are psychology, social psychology, behavior psychology, clinical psychology, and linguistic studies. Tahereh Mahmoudian Dastnaee is a Ph.D. candidate in psychology at Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Isfahan, Iran. She is faculty member in Islamic Azad University, Behshahr Branch, Behshahr, Iran. She has been teaching psychology courses in university for more than 6 years. She has published articles in national journals. Her research interests are clinical psychology, social psychology, behavior psychology, statistical studies, and psycholinguistics. Ali Seidi is a Ph.D. candidate in TEFL at Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran. He obtained his MA in Teaching English as Foreign Language (TEFL) from Iran University of Science and Technology in 2011. He is a faculty member and head of English department in Islamic Azad University, Gilan-E-Gharb Branch, Iran. He is also a university instructor at Iran University of Science and Technology and Payam nour and Islamic Azad University of Gilangharb, Kermanshah. He has published article in different academic journals. His research interests are psychological studies, CDA, Sociocultural studies, identity, and material development. Azam Davoodi is a Ph.D. candidate in psychology at Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Isfahan, Iran. Her research interests are psychological studies, social and clinical psychology, and linguistics. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 800-805, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.800-805 Research on Bilingual Teaching in Colleges and Universities in China Jian Li School of Foreign Languages, Northeast Petroleum Institute, Daqing 163318, China Kunming Yao School of Foreign Languages, Daqing Normal University, Daqing 163712 China Abstract—Connotative development is significant in the instruction of university educational philosophy. Bilingual teaching has been considered as an important aspect of connotative development in colleges and universities. This thesis introduces the basic process of the development of bilingual teaching in colleges and universities in China. Bilingual teaching in colleges and universities in China began and gradually has become popular in colleges and universities from 2001, whose purpose is to cultivate to cultivate compound talents with both professional and foreign language ability, as well as international awareness and intercultural communicative competence. According to the survey, bilingual teaching in science, technology, economy, law etc. is more perfect, but Chinese culture, sociology, history courses almost have no bilingual teaching curriculum in universities in China. In the current globalization atmosphere, the impact of national political, economic, and cultural development influences the development of the world. Bilingual teaching in colleges and universities will play an important role in spreading the spirit of the times and cultivating students’ national consciousness. Index Terms—bilingual teaching, communication consciousness, cultivation I. INTRODUCTION Bilingual teaching involves in education in ensuring the students to pay attention to the content concerning with science, mathematics, and sociology while learning foreign language. Students like to learn knowledge in native language, and for foreign language learning they just like to learn language skills, the language teachers also possess this kind of ideas, that is to say language teaching become an only language skills teaching. Many researchers thinks bilingual program should help students to learn more in the foreign language classrooms, the linguistic goal of bilingual programs is not foreign language learning only, the students can use language skills to acquire academic knowledge in other field. This is the purpose for bilingual Education. There are some famous researches about bilingual teaching. The very popular one is in Two-Way or Dual Language Immersion Bilingual Education. These are the programs of helping native or non-native speakers become biliterate and bilingual during learning foreign languages. This program is mainly based on the principle of clear separation of curriculum by instruction of two languages. Teachers do not repeat or translate the subject matter in second language but strengthen concepts taught in one language across the two languages in a spiral curriculum in order to provide cognitive challenge (Thomas & Collier, 1997, p.23-26). The languages of instructions are alternated by theme or content area. This type of immersion is required to develop the dual language proficiency, as social language can be mastered in couple of years, but a higher level of competency is required to read social studies texts or solve mathematics word problems, roughly around 5 to 7 years (Collier, 1987). The advantage of Dual Immersion classrooms is that it can encourage students to maintain the enthusiasm of foreign language learning and to pay much attention of the function of language learning. Dual Language programs researcher point out that they are extremely effective in helping students learn English well and aiding the long-term performance of English learners in school. Native English speakers benefit by learning a second language. English language learners (ELLs) are not segregated from their peers. There are also other forms of Bilingual Education, such as they can make the students study in two different ways: Firstly, different kinds of academic subjects can be taught in second language, this need the teachers have trained bilingual in a special way, for the teachers, they can understand the question of the students in their native language, and can also answer these question in the second language for the students; and secondly, the researcher also suggested that the student should learn their writing and higher-order language skills in native language literacy classes. Skills learned in the first language can be easily changed to the second language. II. BILINGUAL TEACHING IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES In Argentina the local Elite used Irish, and there are many English-Spanish schools in Argentina. In Australia the government supports bilingual programs in school education. Take Bilingual education in the Northern Territory, for © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 801 example, in the early 1970s, Federal Government begin to support bilingual programs for Indigenous students. The government allowed most bilingual programs of two-way education. As Harris & Devlin observe, “Aboriginal bilingual education in Australia represents much more than a range of education programs. It has been a measure of non-Aboriginal commitment to either assimilation or cultural pluralism” (Harris & Devlin, 1986, p.14). The official bilingualism in Canada is English and French. The federal government likes to support to establish bilingual country in Canada. For this reason the government helps the public education systems to establish French immersion programs in Canada. But now in Canada there is still the phenomenon that school education is monolingual, it is either English or French. The second official language is introduced with a minimal amount of allocated time provided each week in the form of just one single subject. Bilingual programmes in Canada combine English, with French, or both. Different places will have different policies bilingual programmes. This is gradually being established and makes bilingual programmes exist in many places. Up to 2010, new programmes encounter the fanatical dilemma in the process of processing. Language policy in France has its own characteristic. French is the sole official language in France, difference region has provincial languages. The bilingual education programmes elective courses of regional language and French are established. Because of the French-language policy, the national government will give no funding towards any of these programmes. Hindi is official language in India, there are also 21 regional languages have co-official status, so Three-language formula of Education in India is very popular, the children in India are to be taught Hindi, English and the regional language. Schools in India have the freedom to decide which languages are taught; parents favor English-medium schools, especially in cities in India, Because English is used in Indian business and in most Indian universities English is medium of instruction. III. GENERAL SURVEY OF BILINGUAL TEACHING IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN CHINA In China many public schools of major ethnic minorities use the local language as medium of instructions, such as e.g. Uyghur or Tibetan, and Chinese is also a very important medium in school teaching. Traditionally, the textbooks there were little different from merely a translated version of the books used in the Chinese schools throughout the country; based on this purpose, teaching materials are created more with locally based content as well as in Chinese. Chinese is offered in these minority schools, the government makes efforts to make them effective. Here we talk about bilingual teaching based on the students in universities and colleges. It will not only learn some knowledge in Chinese and English as well, in order to make the students to adapt to the internationalization process. To take the research papers in resent years as an important data, to study on bilingual teaching to present bilingual teaching research status during the resent ten years, analyze the data, we get the advantages and disadvantages of bilingual teaching in universities and colleges. We found out the shortcomings of bilingual teaching in universities and colleges in China, and then get the idea about the suggestions for the further research in bilingual teaching. Bilingual teaching program focuses on the development of the students’ ability of communication not only national as well as international. Bilingual teaching in universities from the theory of connotative development of university has been written into the report to the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China that has directive significance to the institutions’ operation principles and education philosophy of higher learning. In order to realize the connotative development, universities persist in widen the vision and accelerating the development. Bilingual teaching in colleges and universities has been looked as an aspect of connotative development all the time, and it’s already become a very important evaluation. The bilingual teaching in our country begins from September 2001. The Ministry of Education proposed an idea that colleges and universities should further the development of various courses teaching by foreign language such as English in the document named Several Ideas On Strengthening Undergraduate Teaching And Improving Teaching Quality Of Colleges And Universities. However, bilingual teaching has a long history abroad. The Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics and Teaching defines it as “the use of second language or foreign languages in school for the teaching of content subjects.” (Richards, J.C. & Schnide, R., 2003) In Chinese it means “teaching by second language or foreign languages in school”. Two famous Canadian experts –M•F•Mackay and M•Seeger –wrote a book called The Introduction of Bilingual Education in which they proposed that “bilingual teaching is a kind of system used two languages as instructional medium, and one language of them often but not must be the first language of students”. These are narrow definition (the former) and broad definition (the latter) of the Bilingual teaching (M•F•Mackay and M•Seeger, 1989). Bilingual teaching in colleges and universities is an important indicator on connotative development. Connotative development of university contains not only the development trend and development pattern of schools, but also the training method and effect of students. Moreover, bilingual teaching in universities plays a positive role in training students’ academic quality and interior quality. Bilingual courses gradually began in colleges and universities since 2001.It aims to educate more inter-disciplinary talents who have professional quality and foreign language ability, and international awareness with intercultural communicative competence. At the end of last century, bilingual teaching came in vogue in Chinese colleges and universities. Until the beginning of the present century, bilingual teaching has been the hotspot in educating high-qualified talents, advancing educational reformulation, and creating education with special characteristics in © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 802 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES schools. Bilingual education in colleges and universities formed a kind of teaching model which based on immersion model and transition model. Bilingual teaching takes nature science teaching as leading course, because it has slight cultural differences and few national boundaries, and used in international communication normally. Particularly some areas that developed well abroad such as biology, life science, computer science, and medical science and so on, they all adopt English language teaching directly. Some schools even use original English venison as textbooks directly, providing an accurate picture of the forward trends of these areas and also makes students understand the international situation of the research in these fields better. In addition, bilingual teaching is expanding by leaps and bounds in the specialty of economics and management. Since the accession to WTO, China’s political, economic and legal system has been geared to international standard. This requires that the builders of the 21st century have to understand international economic development trends and laws and regulations, for economic development in China interconnecting with global economy. Therefore, not only in the course of science and engineering, but also in the courses of arts such as law, economics and management, the bilingual teaching has already developed quite perfectly. However, investigation revealed that there’re also some problems existed in these courses’ bilingual teaching. 1. Shortage of teachers. Because of the bilingual teaching in colleges and universities requires high personal qualities of teachers. Both skilled foreign languages capacity and a high level of professional quality are important. Neither of the two can be dispensed. Bilingual teaching is not equal to language courses, but the courses that learn specialized knowledge by foreign language. So, first of all, only the ones who can become the compound-type talents that skilled in foreign language and specialized knowledge can be competent for the task of bilingual teachers. 2. Bilingual teaching materials are not perfect. Many bilingual curriculum use original edition of textbooks, however, such materials are pretty difficult that both teachers and students have many questions when they teaching and learning. Some schools use self-compiled textbooks, but these ones are not fully enough in compilation system and professional knowledge. 3. The foreign languages level of some students becomes a major bottleneck of bilingual teaching. Many students’ English ability gets in the way of their bilingual courses learning. Some students are weary of foreign language learning which will inevitably have negative influence on bilingual education. The survey about courses that offered by bilingual teaching has revealed a phenomenon that there are few bilingual teaching in courses such as Chinese culture, sociology, and history. According to the survey, bilingual education system in Beijing University is complete. The arts courses that Bejing University offered such as Institute of international relations, History Department’s 11 courses, Institute of economics’ courses “Advanced Econometrics”, “economy”, “macroeconomics”, “insurance”, “Investment Bank” are all bilingual or English teaching. About 60% courses in Guanghua School of Management use original edition of textbooks in foreign languages, and there’re 34 courses used bilingual teaching in the all 64 courses of 2005-2006 academic years. And in Department of Philosophy, there are 19 courses carried out the mode that external teachers and teachers in Beijing University teach students together. The mature development of bilingual teaching in Beijing University is inseparable from school’s educational philosophy and teachers’ and students’ quality. There are also some data about bilingual courses in other universities, which enables us to see that bilingual teaching in literature and history classes really need to be developed. Referred to the universities which offer bilingual teaching courses, we can cite examples as follows: Shandong University only operates bilingual courses such as International Economic Law, Labor Law, Tourism and Culture. Community College in Suzhou University offers United States History, Social Statistics Software, Modern Tourist Reception Point, Contemporary Relations Studies; College of Politics and Public Administration offers History of Western Ethics, Management, Management Information Systems, International Politics; Institute of Foreign Languages offers Chinese Traditional Culture. Institute of Management in Shenyang Industrial University offers Project Investment and Financing; Institute of Economics offers Information economics, Business Correspondence, Commercial Banks, International Finance, Corporate Finance and other courses. These bilingual courses of liberal arts in Colleges and universities mostly focus on the areas of economics, management and law. As to philosophy courses are only available in the universities which have high level of internationalization such as Beijing University, the bottleneck is mainly concentrated in the two aspects that students’ quality and instructional resource. IV. BLIND SPOT OF BILINGUAL TEACHING IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES Bilingual teaching has been one of the most important indicators of evaluation in universities, therefore the present universities bilingual teaching is developing toward the direction of standardization, matured and systematic. But in the process of investigation we found that Chinese traditional and modern culture and the spirit of the age related courses are not in bilingual forms, including introduction to Mao Zedong thought, the Chinese characteristic socialism courses never have been taught in bilingual forms in universities. And only a few universities opened the bilingual classes about the traditional culture of China. This shows that Chinese culture, the spirit of the Chinese nation and Chinese sociology are the blind spots of bilingual teaching. Bilingual teaching researchers think these are pure Chinese literature, history and philosophy discipline, using bilingual teaching is unnecessary, just painting the lily. The reasons of the blind spot in bilingual teaching are as following: 1. Majority of university curriculum researchers think that the purpose of bilingual teaching is to absorb the international advanced idea and advanced thought, the © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 803 courses concerns pure Chinese point involved in the problem of the international idea. 2. There are some based attitude to Chinese philosophical theory and traditional culture. The theory only applies to the social system in China and it doesn’t have international significance. 3. The strong time and political color of Chinese culture make the modern philosophy and the spirit of the age become more national than international. Based on above reasons, bilingual teaching emerged some blind areas in Chinese culture, philosophy and the spirit of the age. We should consider what kind of influence that the blind areas will bring to the education of students. Now education popularizing rate in our country becomes higher and higher. In 2012 college entrance examination admit 6.85 million students with 9.15 million candidates. Admission rate is 75%. We see that college graduates have become the mainstream of social youth employed from such a high rate. So, it’s very necessary to train undergraduates’ cultural consciousness and cultural communication ability for the spirit of the age of international communication. V. SIGNIFICANCE OF BILINGUAL TEACHING IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES TO THE COMMUNICATION OF THE SPIRIT OF THE AGE With the rapid development of the world economy, globalization has brought impact to national political, economic and cultural development. China successfully entered the WTO organization under the background of globalization. It shows that China has it own harmony in the mainstream of globalization. China does not close the country to international intercourse any more, but began to move towards the world. In this process, China participate in globalization actively, its purpose is to realize the faster, better and more rapid development, realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Marx had a claim that “the communist revolution will not only a country’s revolution, but will in all civilized countries, at least in Britain, France, Germany would all happen revolution... it is a worldwide revolution, so there will be worldwide activity places.”(Marx & Engels, 1995, p. 241) Western powers in the global situation also constantly colonial expansion and modern western civilization of global communication process is consistent. The globalization process means the human social life and activity space is not limited to national sovereignty territory boundaries. The content of the globalization is not only related to trade, the financial sector, but also including political, cultural, legal and social life in all areas. The rapid development of globalization, China’s political, economic and cultural has begun to fusion in the world scope, it must be clear and definite that globalization is not homogeneous, that is, globalization is not invasion and annex, but heterogeneous, is the spread of advanced culture and identity. The eighteenth big report puts forward the overall objectives of development in our country; this paper puts forward to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as the goal of building socialism with Chinese characteristics strategy. In China the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics of thirty years, China created the Chinese miracle, China mode and China road, these beautiful Chinese stories have been attentive by the world, more and more Chinese phenomenon researchers began to pay attention to development in China. Under such a background, cultivating the students’ cultural consciousness and culturing communication ability is necessary: 1. A few years later the college students will be the main members of building socialism in the coming future, the mainstay of their cultural consciousness and cultural transmission capacity will affect the spread of Chinese culture. 2. Spreding of culture has huge influence on the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the realization of the dream of the Chinese nation’s worldwide rise. 3. The spirit of The Times of the Chinese nation is a precious spiritual wealth of the world civilization. It is also the basis of depth dialogue in the process of globalization in China and other countries. 4. Cultural consciousness and communication of university student is the premise of the realization of spreading the spirit of the age of Chinese nation. 5. Bilingual teaching in universities in China is the effective way to cultivate cultural transmission ability of university students. VI. BILINGUAL TEACHING IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES SHOULD CULTIVATE NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS OF STUDENTS As mentioned above, our country’s bilingual teaching in college ideological and political courses has a blind spot. The ideological and political theory courses have 4 required courses: introduction to the basic principle of Marxism, Mao Zedong thought, Deng Xiaoping theory and the important thought of Three Represents introduction, Chinese modern history outline, Thought morals tutelage and legal foundation. Moreover, there is the compulsory course: Situation and Policy and the elective course: Contemporary World Economy and Politics offered. According to The CPC Central Committee Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Education on Further Strengthening and Improving the High Ideological and Political Theory Course Opinion and the requirements of the scheme, from 2006 autumn began to implement the new scheme of ideological and political theory course, the purpose is to adhere to the socialist direction of education, cultivating the socialist modernization construction of the qualified builders and successors. The university thought politics theory class setting with strategic position is to achieve the teaching purpose of running an important means, but also develop the socialist builders and reliable successors of effective way. The university thought politics theory class has been centered on the socialist core value system to lead, in the practice of socialist core value system is duty-bound responsibility, in order to achieve the university education “teaching, personnel training, teach heart, teach character”. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 804 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES The universities believing politics theory class plays a positive role to help students establish the scientific worldview, the outlook on life and values, to cultivate university students’ moral consciousness, moral feeling, moral belief, moral behavior and habits, to cultivate college students’ sense of responsibility. In view of the ideological and political theory in college students’ ideology mature process function, the positive significance of suggesting open the ideological and political course of bilingual teaching lies in: 1. To learn about the world on Marxism classical theory and trends. 2. To understand foreign scholars on research situation of Chinese sociology theory. 3. To cultivate the spirit of the nation consciousness of students, strengthen the sense of pride of the Chinese nation. 4. Bilingual teaching of university ideological and political theory can also promote the development of international studies. 5. To improve the contemporary sense of spreading the spirit of the age and awareness communication ability. VII. CONCLUSION The reasons that the bilingual teaching of ideological and political education becomes the blind spot of bilingual teaching in China are as following factors: 1. No corresponding materials. The original works of the Marxism classical theories are too much difficult, and it is not suitable for teaching directly. Outline of Chinese modern history, There are no corresponding English versions of the teaching material of Thoughts of Mao Zedong and introduction to theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, situation and policy course etc. 2. Obsolete idea possesses teachers. Chinese unique characteristics of ideological and political theory system make a lot of teachers hold a view that Chinese ideological and political theory does not comply with the international development trend, there’s no practical significance to make bilingual teaching. 3. The sense of Times is not strong. The ideological and political education is based on the classical theory and philosophical history teaching as the main content, which makes students feel old and obsolete. In view of this situation, how to make bilingual teaching of ideological and political adapt to the development of times, let the bilingual teaching of ideological and political become a real time spirit communication, national international identity, Chinese modern civilization and the depth of the world civilization, is an important dialogue and urgent problem to be solved: first, organize teachers with high level to write compound teaching’s material for bilingual teaching of ideological and political, in order to solve the problem of shortage of teaching material in classroom. Second, to change the idea of teachers, make them realize in the process of Chinese economic booming the world begin to pay attention to China, Thought of Mao Zedong, Theory of Deng Xiaoping and the important thought of three represents, and the scientific concept of development have played a positive role in guiding the development in China. These Chinese characteristics socialism theories become spiritual treasure of humanity. We have an obligation to spread these thoughts to the world. Moreover, rapid economic development in China has made China become second biggest economy country and the world pays much attention to the development of China. More and more people like to know Chinese model and Chinese road. In this case, the spirit of the age has become important spiritual wealth in the world, so the cultivation of cultural consciousness of student and bilingual teaching of ideological and political for students become Chinese consciousness of the spirit of times in China. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Collier, Virginia P. (1995). Acquiring a Second Language for School. Directions in Language & Education - National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, 1, 8-25. Harris, S.G. & Devlin, B.C. (1996). Bilingual programs involving Aboriginal languages in Australia. Encyclopedia of language and education, vol 5, p. 1–14. Marx & Engels. (1995). Selected works of Marx and Engels. Beijing: people’s publishing house. M•F•Mackay & M•Seeger. (1989). Introduction to Bilingual Education.Beijing: Guangming press. Richards, J.C. & Schnide, R. (2003). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. Shanghai: Foreign language teaching and Research Press. Thomas, W.P., & Collier, V.P. (1997). Two languages are better than one. Educational Leadership, 4, 23-26. Jian Li was born in Heilongjiang, China in 1966. She received her Master degree in English Department, Harbin Normal University, China in 2002. She is currently an associate professor in the School of Foreign Languages, Northeast Petroleum University, Heilongjiang, Chi na. Her research interests include Teaching Methodology of English as a Foreign Language and American literature. Miss Li is a Managing Director of Foreign Language Institute of Daqing City China; Member of Translators Association of Heilongjiang Province China; Member of Writers Association of Daqing City China. Kunming Yao was born in Heilongjiang, China in 1966. He received his Master degree in School of Foreign Languages of University of Canberra in 2009. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 805 He is currently an associate professor in the School of Foreign Languages, Daqing Normal University, Heilongjiang, China. His research interests include Teaching Methodology of English as a Foreign Language and Second Language Acquisition and Pedagogy. Mr Yao is a Managing Director of Foreign Language Institute of Daqing City China; Member of Translators Association of Heilongjiang Province China. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 806-810, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.806-810 Negotiation of Narratives in Postmodern Picture Book Shuxuan Wu English Department, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China Abstract—The past couple of decades see the emergency and flourish of postmodern picture book, which gives more freedom and power to the reader. Therefore, the postmodern picture book has proved to be a fruitful field of study for inquiries into the narrative potential of the fixed image. This paper explores the complex narratives in postmodern picture book with a case study of White and Black. It is hoped to shed some lights on this issue. Index Terms—postmodernism, picture book, narrative I. POSTMODERNISM Our world is made of many peoples, cultures, and stories that happen simultaneously. Today's technology, with its possibilities of instant worldwide communication, has brought this knowledge of pluralistic narratives to the forefront. Postmodernism emphasizes the interconnectedness of world cultures and the tolerance needed to embrace the resulting, possibly conflicting, views (Fehr, 1997). Postmodernism flows from popular art (Stevenson, 1994). Postmodern art, because it recognizes and places value on multiple narratives, embraces multiculturalism. This postmodern multiculturalism looks at art production within "the context of its culture of origin" (Efland, Freedman, & Stuhr, (1996, p. 13). Postmodern art also recognizes and calls attention to social conditions (Efland, Freedman, & Stuhr, 1996, p. 35). Postmodernism has turned upside down the long-held views of the superiority of originality, of the avant-garde, and of the judgments of art critics. It has given the art world new perspectives and multiple viewpoints: "Appropriation, collage, and juxtaposition of meanings are in" (Clark, 1996, p. 2). In this new postmodern art world, even the ideas of copying and using coloring books are accepted. These items are seen as tools for what they can teach and for what usefulness they can hold (Clark, 1996). Postmodernism has become a part of our culture, including children's literature. Children and adults alike enjoy reading and looking at postmodern picture books. II. POSTMODERN PICTURE BOOK Postmodern picture books go out of their way to ask "What is real? The story? The page? The book itself?" (Goldstone, 2002, p. 364). This is contrary to how traditional storybooks try to suspend reality and draw the reader into their fictional world. Certain characteristics are found in postmodern picture books. While not every postmodern picture book will have all of these characteristics, often these books: 1) Do not follow a linear pattern; 2) Are self-referential; 3) Have a cynical or sarcastic tone; 4) Require the reader to make sense or meaning of the book-the reader can choose which parts to use or not use; 5) Have gaps or ambiguities in the story; 6) Are playful-may have jokes, puns or irony; 6) Have shifting viewpoints; 7) Have multiple narratives; 8) Have jokes in the illustrations that are not present in the text (Goldstone, 2002, p. 363). Intertextuality is a common post- modem picture book device. This is when a book takes two or more familiar texts and intertwines them to create a new story. A variation is to juxtapose two disparate stories to meld them into a new narrative. Only in the last 25 years have these postmodern picture books developed (Goldstone, 2002). As a practical matter, the idea of the text and pictures juxtaposed or falling off the page could not have been produced just a few years ago. The same technology that allows newspapers to routinely print color pictures has made the printing process flexible enough to produce these books. Postmodern picture books are polysemic-that is, they have or are characterized by many meanings. These books cause the reader's attention to move from place to place, from text to picture and back, in a fluid way (Mackey & McClay, 2000). Sidebars filled with additional information also slow the reader down. It is the reader's choice to explore and read this additional information or not. In this way, postmodern picture books are much like computer hypertext or television channel surfing (Goldstone, 2002). Picture books that are written from the feminist, social concern or "other- culture" perspective are also considered to be postmodern, because the issues of feminism and multiculturalism belong to our postmodern world. A postmodern picture book that looks at a social concern is Eve Bunting's Smoky Night, which is about the Los Angeles riots. Patricia Polacco's The Keeping Quilt is an example of a book from feminist viewpoint. Allanl Say's Grandfather's Journey or Ina R. Friedman's How my Parents Learn to Eat are examples of postmodern multicultural © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 807 picture books. With so many narratives and viewpoints to take in, and so many details and nuances to discover, today's readers do not read postmodern picture books as much as they experience them. This active experiencing by the reader is essential to the postmodern picture book's manifold narratives. Because the reader is forced to participate in making the narratives of the postmodern picture book, these books are "fiction about making fiction," otherwise known as metafictional. Reading a postmodern picture book then becomes a lesson in narrative construction (Trites, 1994, pp. 231-232). Adolescents especially appreciate postmodern picture books. This age group loves to "get" the inside joke (Mackey & McClay, 2000). "Many children's books wink past the child reader to the adult beyond, or wink past the adult to the child" (Stevenson, 1994, p. 33). The traditional picture book was targeted to the young reader. The postmodern picture book appeals to a much wider audience: Varying levels of reading expertise, ages, and sophistication can all enjoy such books (Anstey, 2002). It is not only the parody and pastiche of these books that has cross- generational popularity. For example, Eve Bunting's picture books, including Fly Away Home that deals with homelessness, appeal to all age categories. Postmodern art embraces all parts of a culture, including popular art. Based on critical theory, the boundaries between high and low art are considered artificial and meaningless. Seen through this lens, picture books are recognized as a viable cultural artform (Fehr, 1997). III. NARRATIVES IN POSTMODERN PICTURE BOOK Given the general consensus on the substantial weight of both pictorial and verbal narrative codes in the picture book, it is only logical that many studies attempt to give an overview of the different types of interaction between words and images in this surprisingly complex art form. With this purpose in mind, scholarship on the picture book has devoted considerable attention to the issue of „irony’. According to Perry Nodelman, words and pictures can never simply repeat or parallel each other, because of the inherent differences between verbal and visual modes of communication. Images cannot explicitly assert attitudes towards the phenomena they display, for example. They can, however, visually demonstrate attitudes, while words are incapable of directly expressing emotion through shape and color. Because visual and verbal modes of communication are subject to diverging sets of constraints, the images in a picture book can never simply illustrate the words, but will necessarily offer different types of information to the reader: „„As a result, the relationships between pictures and texts in picture books tend to be ironic: each speaks about matters on which the other is silent’’ (p. 221). Nodelman even has it that every picture book tells at least three stories: a verbal one, a visual one, and a third one that „„tends to emerge from ironies created by differences between the first two’’ (p. 2). In keeping with the contemporary emphasis on the theatrical aspects of the picture book, the kind of irony Nodelman has in mind here is in fact synonymous to dramatic irony, for the third storyline is only accessible to the reader, who therefore has an advantage over the characters within the picture book. Readers necessarily know more than the protagonists in the verbal and/or visual stories. Others think Nodelman’s thesis about the endemic nature of irony in the picture book is overstated, and that one would do better to draw up a taxonomy that could do justice to the whole spectrum of different word-image interactions in picture books, ranging from relatively harmonious concord to blatant contradiction. Thus, Maria Nikolajeva and Carole Scott have come up with the categories of symmetrical, enhancing, complementary, counterpointing and contradictory interaction. In opposition to Nodelman’s view, the first three categories allow for the possibility that words and pictures may closely cooperate in the narration of one and the same story. In symmetrical interaction, words and pictures basically repeat each other. When they enlarge each other’s semantic range, we are dealing with enhancing interaction, which may culminate in complementary interaction, when words and pictures make truly independent contributions to one and the same story line. Only the last two categories coincide with Nodelman’s concept of the inherently ironical picture book. In the case of counterpointing interaction, words and images generate meanings „„beyond the scope of either one alone’’ (p. 226), which may even go as far as downright contradiction. In this article, I would like to go deeper into the potential of word image combinations to generate stories, while contributing to the debate about irony in the picture book through a detailed analysis of David Macaulay’s boundary-breaking picture book Black and White (1990). David Macaulay knows his books are metafictional. In 1991, his book Black and White won the Caldecott medal. In his acceptance speech, Macaulay said, "The subject of the book is the book." The book even contains a warning label that it is up to the reader (not the author or the text) to construct the narrative (Trites, 1994, p. 233). Black and White presents four different and simultaneous stories on each page. Each story is illustrated in a different stylistic manner. Are the stories connected or not? It is up to the reader to decide by deciphering any or all of the available clues. The manner and order of the reading is not prescribed (Goldstone, 2002). Interestingly, many adult readers at first balk at reading Black and White. Even though the book has few words, these readers do not like the book because it is "too hard" or "too weird." They want to be passive, but this book will not allow it (Trites, 1994). When third-year preserves teachers were asked to read this book, they also initially disliked it. It made too many demands upon them as readers and caused considerable stress. They felt that it was confusing and intimidating (Anstey, 2002). Teachers often will not choose Black and White for their students for this reason. They seem to think that "hard is bad," while the children who delight in this postmodern intertextuality feel that "hard is fun" (Mackey & McClay, © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 808 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 2000, p. 196). The illustration styles match the textual narratives, with four distinct visual styles gradually intermingling and blurring, then reasserting themselves. The uses of color and line are distinct in each quadrant. “Seeing Things” is depicted in misty watercolors, with the characters defined by a few brushstrokes of naturalistic, muted color. The more clearly defined pen-and-ink lines of “Problem Parents” use black, Complex Narratives in Black and White 93 browns, and white to give a sepia effect. In the two right-hand page quadrants, colors are more vibrant, with “A Waiting Game” drawn with a broad range of colors and definite contour lines. The abstract shapes of cows and people in “Udder Chaos” use solid colors with almost no shading. Visually as well as narratively, boundaries are transgressed and transformations occur. As the visual styles blur together, the book goes to black and white, with the respective color and line styles reestablished before the end of the narratives. Each quadrant transforms as well.1 The soft-focus watercolors of “Seeing Things” give way to sharply defined words on paper scraps; the visual point of view changes energetically in “Problem Parents”; the full color but static train station comes to life through the confetti of black and white newspaper in “A Waiting Game”; and the shapes in “Udder Chaos” fragment into increasingly abstract images. Needless to say, the visual elements of the book alone are worthy of a full study. IV. TEACHING AND CHILDREN READING The adults often underrated children’s abilities to understand, much less enjoy it. They tended to think that the book is suitable for junior high readers and older. Their reliance on reading partners for collaborative meaning making, and their conclusion that such scaffolding is beyond the reach of younger children. The assumption, stated or implicit, was that re-reading was a mark of inadequacy and that “hard is bad.”Yet the young readers consistently reveal the reverse. In many cases, particularly with the grade 4 and 6 readers, their abilities to make connections across the stories arose from their attention to the visual jokes and intertextuality of the stories; their delight stemmed from their discoveries when they linked pieces of a narrative puzzle. The challenge was a large part of the fun. Re-reading was neither a chore nor a sign of inadequacy—they rightly knew that this book requires “careful inspection,” as Macaulay recommends in his warning. Jon Scieszka (1998) has suggested that adolescents are more sophisticated visual readers of his books than are adults, cueing into the visual jokes and references more attentively than their elders. Similarly, these transcripts of children and adults reading Black and White parallel his claim. Even the young children read it with intent to make meaning, and their efforts were handsomely rewarded. The wildly noisy and playful illustrations seemed to give license to young readers to play along and not worry much about interpretations; this playfulness is rewarded in rich interpretations. Scieszka (1998) also comments on the feeling of being part of what Frank Smith (1985) has called “the literacy club” through humor and parody. Recalling his love of Mad magazine and Rocky and Bullwinkle, Scieszka notes, “You knew something funny was going on there, even if you only understood half of the jokes. But it inspired you to go find out what the rest of those jokes were, and look up things that they mentioned.” Scieszka, Macaulay, and other writers who refuse to write at the lowest common denominator in humor or literary technique offer children valuable literacy lessons. Perhaps adults, with the best intentions, sometimes deprive authors of the opportunity to teach children direct and powerful reading lessons. Dresang and McClelland (1995) note that Black and White “appeals to the resourcefulness of the reader” (p. 708). In this reading event, readers’ resourcefulness was increased by the social context, which encouraged scaffolding in the construction of meaning. Just as Dresang and McClelland conclude that Macaulay’s book is “greater than the sum of its parts,” so, too, may teachers conclude that readers constructing a text together can be greater than the sum of the individuals. The lack of content direction for the reading event allowed readers to build interpretations by recursive, digressive pathways of their own making. One group of fourth-grade readers included a boy who almost immediately focused upon the “black-and-white” qualities and puns in the book, exclaiming while reading the red-boxed warning on the title page, “Hey! It’s black and white and red—black and white and read all over!” This keen observation allowed his entire group to appreciate many of the visual jokes on their first reading, as the appearance of black and white objects on the pages does indeed help readers to make connections among the stories. As readers interpreted and discussed the book, most realized the importance of the illustrations for connecting the four stories. As Scieszka noted, adolescents tend to read the illustrations in his books more carefully than do adults, and his generalization is borne out by the readers in this study. Meek (1988) discusses adults’ tendencies to make one kind of reading do for all, and that as we become more experienced in reading, we can become less skilled. Some such limitation seems to have occurred for some of the adult readers who are thoroughly grounded in a tradition of text superiority over illustrations. In an age in which reading is increasingly rooted in multimedia forms, the implications for teachers and librarians are clear. Reading teachers and librarians who wish to promote children’s reading development cannot become complacent about literacy skills gained and refined in print-based media. The need for adults to continue to learn new strategies and to re-learn old ones is essential as new forms of texts make different demands on readers of all ages. Additionally, successful teaching requires that teachers be able to appreciate and build on the depth and breadth of strategies that their students actually use. When Dresang writes of a “radical change” (1999) in the ways in which literature is presented in handheld book format, she cites Macaulay’s works as exemplars of this change. Teachers and others who promote reading need to account for these changes. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 809 Teachers are consistently surprised to learn of other readers’ preferences. In solitary reading, the reading process itself is easily taken for granted, the combination of a social situation and a text that problematizes the act of reading foregrounded the idea that the act of reading should not be taken for granted. When teachers realized that others in their groups chose to read differently, and indeed, were seriously impeded in their reading if they attempted to conform to another way of reading, they saw the implications for children in their classrooms. In the traditional text progression is left page top-to-bottom, right page top-to-bottom. Teachers, trained in graphic design, followed their attraction to the graphic style of “Udder Chaos” (bottom right quadrant), reading that quadrant first on each double page spread and then proceeding on to whichever other quadrant grabbed their eye. Teachers acknowledged somewhat ruefully that they would have discouraged a child who attempted to read the book in such order, but they also realized that their attention to the illustrations had enabled them to key in more closely to the narrative connections than they had done on their own. V. READING THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SPACES In his acceptance speech for the Caldecott Medal, David Macaulay (1991) spoke about the need for viewers and readers to discern what appears and what is “undrawn” in texts: In picture making, that which is undrawn is referred to as „negative space,’ and it is essential to read both the positive and the negative spaces together to fully understand the image. (p. 342) The ability to read what is not written in literature is a skill that can be developed quite young and is useful, indeed essential, in adult reading. Whether readers solve an Agatha Christie mystery (Mackey:1991), for example, or delight in the puzzles of a Jeannette Winterson novel, our successful reading depends in large part upon the ability to “read” what is unwritten as well as what is written. In Black and White and in other complex contemporary picture books, the interplay of illustrations and words provides rich experiences for young readers to develop this skill. An ability to select and hone details, to determine what should be part of the positive or negative spaces is also essential to well-crafted writing. Meek (1988) notes that readers need to learn what not to pay attention to, such as the publishing information on the title page. Writers such as David Macaulay and Jon Scieszka make us pay attention again, signaling by breaking title page conventions, for example, their intention to call narrative conventions into question. Macaulay’s warning about the four stories—or one story—tells us directly to expect ambiguity in this book. He teaches his readers how to think about his ambiguity and does not leave the teaching to an intermediary. The publishing information pages at the beginning and end of Black and White convey information essential, or at least germane, to the construction of meaning possible for readers. Meek (1988) notes that a reader’s move into newer, harder books depends on a tolerance for ambiguity, an understanding that patience is needed and that the author will eventually resolve the puzzles (p. 30). This tolerance marks the difference between readers who only read the same kinds of reading material and those who move on to more varied and difficult reading. Such tolerance for ambiguity in the comfortable form of the picture book may provide a bridge between traditional print forms and newer forms of reading, known or as yet unknown. Dresang and McClelland (1995) see Black and White as a link with hypertext, for example. Certainly, children raised with such challenging fiction may work easily in hypertext, and vice versa. They will develop the flexibility and alertness to cues, in text or illustrations at least, to attend to an author’s structure. The interplay of visual and textual elements, as well as auditory ones, is a common feature of multimedia presentations. Stewig (1995) notes that evidence exists that young children attend to design features, and he suggests that teachers can profitably pay attention to layout features in teaching young children (p. 176). Books such as Black and White teach us, in Meek’s words, what readers need to know. As teachers and librarians, we can teach best by letting our young readers meet such texts in situations that allow for scaffolding learning and enjoyment, without inserting ourselves unnecessarily as intermediaries, without assuming that young people need the manual to read the book. We do well to take a lesson from their use of computers—children install the program and start to play; they don’t read the manual. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Anstey, M. (2002). “It's not all black and white”: Postmodern picture books and new literacies. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 45,444-457. Clark, R. (1996). Art education: Issues in postmodernist pedagogy. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association. Dresang, Eliza T. (1999). Radical Change: Books for Youth in a Digital Age. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company. Dresang, Eliza T., and McClelland, Kate. (1995). “Black and White: A journey. The Horn Book Magazine, (Nov.–Dec.), 704–710. Efland, A., Freedman, K., & Stuhr, P. (1996). Postmodern art education: An approach to curriculum. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association. Fehr, D. E. (1997). Clutching the lectern, or shouting from the back of the hall: A comparison of modern and postmodern arts education. Arts Education Policy Review, 98, 27-31. Goldstone, B. P. (2002,). Whaz up with our books? changing picture book codes and teaching implications. Reading Teacher, 55,362-350. Mackey, M., & McClay, J.K. (2000). Graphic routes to electronic literacy: Polysemy and picture books. Changing English: © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 810 [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Studies in Reading & Culture, 7, 191-201. Macaulay, D. (1991). “1991 Caldecott acceptance speech,” Journal of Youth Services in Libraries, 340–347. Mackey, Margaret. (1991). Developing readers: Lessons from Agatha Christie. Reading, 25 (July), 25–29. Meek, Margaret. ( 1988). How Texts Teach What Readers Learn. Stroud: The Thimble Press. Nodelman, Perry. (1988). Words About Pictures: The Narrative Art of Children’s Picture Books. Athens and London: The University of Georgia Press. Nodelman, Perry. (1996). “Illustration and Picture Books,” in International Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature, Peter Hunt, ed., pp. 113–124. London: Routledge. Nikolajeva, Maria and Carole Scott. (2000). The Dynamics of Picture Book Communication. Children’s Literature in Education, 31, 225–239. Scieszka, Jon, and Smith, Lane. (1992). The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. New York: Viking/Penguin Group. Smith, Frank. (1985). Reading Without Nonsense. New York: Teachers College Press. Stewig, John W. (1995). Looking at Picture Books. Fort Atkinson, WI: Highsmith Press. Stevenson, D. (1994). "If you read this last sentence, it won't tell you anything": Postmodernism, self-referentiality, and The Stinky Cheese Man, Children's Literature Association Quarterly, 19, 32-34. Trites, R. S. (1994). Manifold narratives: Metafiction and ideology in picture books. Children's Literature in Education, 25, 225-242. Shuxuan Wu was born in Inner Mongolia, China in 1978. She received her M.A in linguistics from Ocean University of China in 2004. She is currently a lecturer in the School of Foreign Languages, Qingdao University of Science and Technology. Her research interests include SFL and children’s literature. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 811-817, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.811-817 Examining the Effect of Strategy Instruction on Writing Apprehension and Writing Achievement of EFL Learners Fatemeh Mohseniasl Department of English Language Teaching, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University Tehran, Iran Abstract—Writing as a communicative activity imposes great difficulties on EFL learners and both cognitive and affective aspects of writing have a sharing part in this complex process. The current study aimed to explore the effect of explicit writing strategy instruction, prewriting strategies in particular on reducing writing apprehension, and promoting writing performance.42 intermediate EFL students participated in this study, 28 students in two experimental groups received the treatment and the results compared to their 14 counterparts in the control group. All the participants received Writing Apprehension Test (WAT) as the pretest and posttest. They further were expected to write two expository essays at the beginning and end of the study. After administrating the pretests and posttests, the results reflected on the effectiveness of explicit writing strategy instruction and the potentials of prewriting strategies in alleviating the level of writing apprehension. Further, explicit instruction of prewriting strategies greatly optimized the writing achievement of students in the two experimental groups. The findings of the present study also suggest that the implementation of explicit strategy instruction by the teacher can make a world of difference for students in learning process. Index Terms—explicit strategy instruction, prewriting stage, writing apprehension I. INTRODUCTION Apprehension as one of the prominent affective factors has stimulated particular attention in second and foreign language acquisition and learning. One of the major reasons for this concern particularly among researchers and educators is its potential negative effects (Atay & Kurt, 2006; Ehram & Oxford, 1995; MacIntyer, et al., 1997). Moreover, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) setting like the other educational settings is experiencing the problem of anxiety in foreign language in different domains of language (Ozturk & Cecen, 2007). In this respect, Tsui (1996) believes that learning to write in a foreign language involves as much anxiety as learning the other skills. Since writing is predominantly product-oriented, it requires individual work that is students are deprived of help, support and encouragement. As the result, learners suffer a distress and anxiety associated with the writing process. More importantly, considering writing as cornerstone of language learning skill, many studies pinpoint the importance of writing anxiety as a specific type of anxiety, unique to the language particular skill of writing (Bline, et al., 2001; Cheng, et al., 1999; Daly & Wilson, 1983). Only recently, writing apprehension due to its sensitivity to EFL contexts (Masny & Foxall, 1992) calls the researchers’ attention to this phenomenon and its specific relation to the language learning. Despite the plethora of studies on writing apprehension in the first language (Atkinson, 2011; Boeing, Anderson & Miller, 1997; Clark, 2004; Daly, 1978; Daly & Miller, 1975; Faigley, Daly & Witte, 1981; Fox, 1980; Marshall & Varnon, 2009; Rankin-Brown, 2006 Reeves, 1997; Teichman & Poris, 1989), a new trend has been taken toward the study of writing apprehension in EFL context. A number of studies pinpoint the importance of investigating writing apprehension in this context (Atay & Curt 2007; Cheng, 2004; Cheng, et al., 1999; Erkan & Saban, 2010; Hassan, 2001; Lee, 2005; Ozturk & Cecen, 2007; Salem, 2007; Song, 1998). It should be noted that writing anxiety and writing apprehension are usually used interchangeably; however, writing apprehension has gained popularity in more recent research in literature (Cheng, et al., 1999). The study of writing apprehension began as a subset of research on communication apprehension. Daly and Miller (1975) coined the term writing apprehension in order to describe the tendency of a person to avoid the process of writing particularly when it is evaluated in some way (Erkan & Saban, 2010). Apprehensive students are likely to suffer from the concern about the possibility of failure, flawed performance, fear of evaluation, negative attitudes toward writing task and writing situation (Cheng, et al., 1999, Daly, 1978; Huwari & Aziz, 2011), their writing performance are mostly lifeless, mechanical, full of grammatical errors, repeated concepts and unsupported organization ( Hettich, 1994). As there is a widespread consensus among the researchers to propose the role of classroom strategies and explicit instruction on various stages of writing process (Charney, et al.,1995; Huwari & Aziz, 2011; Oxford,2002; Marshall & Varon, 2009; Masny & Foxall, 1992; Wu, 2010) specifically prewriting stage as the most crucial stage in order to mitigate the problems associated with these phenomena , the current study focused on explicit writing strategies instruction which its effectiveness on the learners’ writing performance has been highlighted by many studies ( Chamot, © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 812 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 2005; Cohen, 1996; Negari, 2011). Chamot, et al., (1990) assert that the purpose of the writing strategy instruction is to make students aware of writing process and to teach them the strategies associated with the good writing. Moreover, Chamot (2004) maintains that explicit strategy instruction essentially involves the development of students’ awareness of the strategies they use and teacher modeling of strategic thinking. Further, student practice with new strategies, student self-evaluation of strategies used and practice in transferring strategies to new tasks are involved as well. More specifically, this study emphasizes on prewriting stage since most of the students’ writing problems that teachers have control on them stem from insufficient preparation for their writing assignments (Chastain, 1988). Seow (2002) defines pre writing as “any activity in the classroom that encourages students to write. It stimulates thoughts for getting started (p, 316)”. Due to the necessity of exposing students to a variety of strategies to initiate the writing task and to encourage students to practice all the strategies and discover the one that serves them best (Kroll, 2001), three prewriting strategies namely brainstorming, concept mapping and free writing have been chosen in tandem all with the aim of generating and organizing ideas which open the mind of students and are effective at the moment of blocking and confusion. Regarding the issue of explicit writing strategy instruction and the prewriting stage as the foundation of good writing which has received only minor attention in EFL contexts (Schweiker-Marra & Marra, 2000; Stern, 1991) further, the fact that writing environment is conductive to exploring ideas and content ( Masny & Foxall, 1992) and the terror of the blank page which may be faced by so many students ( Kroll, 2001), more research appears to be needed investigating writing apprehension the role of instructional strategies in alleviating the negative consequences of this two phenomenon. II. METHOD A. Participants The participants in this study were 57 intermediate EFL learners, 16 males and 41 females in three classes in a language institute in Iran. Their age ranged from 16 to 30 with the average age of 20. To ensure their homogeneity in terms of language proficiency, TOEFL was conducted in the three classes. The results indicated that there was not any significant difference among the performance of the three groups. The participating students were all native speakers of Persian. All of whom had been learning English for more than five years. At the end of the course, 15 students were excluded from the study as they did not participate in the posttest. So, the number of the participants decreased to 42 students. There were 14 students in each of the three groups. Two groups randomly were selected as the experimental groups and the third group was considered as the control group. B. Instruments For the purpose of this study, a number of instruments were used. In order to measure the degree to which an individual feels apprehensive when writes in English, the Writing Apprehension Test (WAT) developed by Daly and Miller (1975) was used (see Appendix A). This test has been extensively used in writing researches and proven to be reliable and valid to be used in both ESL and EFL contexts with the reported Cronbach alpha above .90 (Daly & Miller, 1975; Lee & Krashen,2003; Lee, 2001; Lee, 2005). It consists of 26 statements, 13 positive statements and 13 negative statements which are answered on a five-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. Further, a “strongly agree” response to a negative question is scored as 5 and a “strongly agree” response to a positive statement is scored as 1. The scores may range from a low of 26 to a high of 130. High scores indicate high levels of apprehension. In additions, two writing topics were selected for pretest and posttest (see Appendix B) and students were offered to write two expository essays about 250 words for about forty minutes. Considering the writing performance, each writing paper was rated based on Jacobs et al. (1981, as cited in Weigle, 2002). According to Jacob et al. scale, five aspects of writing are considered in scaling each writing paper: content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanics. Moreover, a handout which included definitions of prewriting strategies, namely brainstorming, concept mapping and free writing with the different examples of them was given to the students in the two experimental groups who received the explicit writing strategy instruction as a treatment. III. PROCEDURE The instructional period lasted about twelve sessions for about one hour and thirty minutes each session and comprised of three phases. Homogeneity of the students in terms of language proficiency was established through TOEFL. The results indicated that there was not any significant difference between the performance of the two experimental groups and the control group. A. Phase One Prior to the instruction, at the first session, two experimental and one control groups received Writing Apprehension Questionnaire (WAT) as the pretest. Further, they wrote about a selected topic about forty minutes. B. Phase Two After all the students participated in the pretest, during the next ten sessions, the two experimental groups received a handout that included definitions of prewriting strategies, namely brainstorming, concept mapping and free writing. The © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 813 presentation of these strategies was in consecutive manner. Explicit teaching of writing strategy was presented to the two experimental groups following Chamot et al., guideline (1990): 1. Presenting the name and description of strategy: The teacher first capitalizing on what students already know about writing in English gave an overview of strategies before actually beginning the instruction. Then the teacher presented all the description and required information for the strategies as well as the purposes, the benefits and the significance of each one. 2. Modeling the strategy: The teacher presented the examples of each writing strategies on the board and modeled them for the students. Moreover, the teacher modeled how to rewrite the gathered information into complete sentences. 3. Make practice of strategies: During each session, the students practiced on the provided topics and rehearsed the use of each strategy 4. Guide and feedback: during the sessions, needed guide and feedback provided for the students. For the first presentation of each strategy, the instructor let students think individually for five minutes get ready for the writing, tap their imagination for information and fresh their minds and ideas. For the first practice, the students were allowed to practice the use of strategy on the board and in their notes under the supervision of the instructor. They further were allowed to verbalize their ideas in pairs or groups in order to exchange their ideas and collaborate with each other. Moreover, brainstorming and concept mapping were taught in tandem. When the students finished brainstorming about one topic “role of fast food in today life” for example, there may be a variety of ideas about it. The instructor asked the students to gather all the key terms and those phrases related to “health effect” in one category and paved the way to teach concept mapping and how to organize the ideas in the graphical representation. In addition, the students rehearsed free writing on several topics as a daily practice. The instructor taught the students to use connectors to organize the key terms and phrases into sentences to write a paragraph. Many writing practices were provided for the students in order to be able to use strategies individually and in their notes as well. The instruction for the control group conducted in the conventional form that is the flow of the course was similar to the regular writing course. The class followed the routines without receiving any instruction of strategy use in writing. The same instructor taught the students in the control group with the same hours of instruction. C. Phase Three At the last session, the three groups received the Writing Apprehension Questionnaire (WAQ) as the posttest and they wrote about a selected topic. The allotted time for writing was forty minutes. Considering their writing performance, their writing papers were scored based on Jacob et al. (1981, as cited in Weigle, 2002) by two raters. The interrater reliability for pretest and posttest were .952 and .963 respectively. According to Jacobs et al., scaling each paper was rated one five aspects of writing: content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanics. These five aspects are weighted to emphasize first content (30 points), language use (25 points), organization and vocabulary equally (20 points) and mechanics with very little emphasis (5 points).The final score for each paper was the average score of the two scores given by the two independent raters. IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS A. Test of Homogeneity of the Groups The results of one- way ANOVA indicated that there was not any significant difference between the performance of the two experimental and the control groups F (2, 39) =.117, p = .890, p <0.05. TABLE 1. ONE-WAY ANOVA TEST OF HOMOGENEITY FOR THE THREE GROUPS IN TOEFL ANOVA TOEFL Grades Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Between Groups 4.619 2 2.310 .117 .890 Within Groups 772.357 39 19.804 Total 776.976 41 B. Results on Writing Apprehension Test This study examines whether there is a significant difference between those students who received explicit instruction of prewriting strategies in the experimental groups and the other students in the control group. Considering pretests’ mean scores in Table 2, the mean score of the first experimental group showed that the participants experienced high level of writing apprehension. The second experimental group had lower writing apprehension and the participants in the control group had a moderate level of writing apprehension before administrating the treatment. After the data were collected through writing apprehension test as posttest, three Paired Sample t-tests were conducted in order to examine the effectiveness of the treatment and whether each group’s writing apprehension changed after the treatment (Table 2). considering the mean scores and the level of significance (p <0.05), there is a statistically significant decrease in the mean scores of the first experimental group from the pretest (M = 81.2143) to the posttest (M = 74.4286), p = .001, t (13) = 4.552.Therefore, it can be concluded that explicit writing strategy instruction has a positive effect on the first experimental group and there is a statistically significant improvement in terms of writing © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 814 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES apprehension. Furthermore, there is an insignificant decrease in the mean scores of the second experimental group from the pretest (M = 74.4286) to the posttest (M = 71.7143), p = 308, p = < 0.05, t (13) = 1.061.Though there is a decrease in the mean scores of this group from the pretest to posttest, the level of significance does not demonstrate statistically significant improvement. On the other hand, there is a statistically significant decrease in the mean scores of the control group from the pretest (M = 78.8571) to the posttest (M = 76.5714), p = .014, p < 0.05, t (13) = 2.853. Therefore, there is a statistically significant improvement in terms of writing apprehension which is likely due to the chance. These findings are in line with the findings of Fox (1980), Holmes and Moulton (2003), Salem (2007) and Wu (2010) who adopted process approach to writing instruction and relieved the levels of apprehension by providing a non-threatening environment in the classrooms. TABLE 2. PAIRED-SAMPLE T-TESTS OF WAT FOR EACH OF THREE GROUPS Paired differences Pair 1 Ex G1 Pair 1 Ex G2 Pair 1 CG Pretest Posttest Pretest Posttest Pretest Posttest Mean SD Std. Error Mean t Df 81.2143 7.60747 2.03318 4.552 13 74.4286 5.94480 1.58881 74.4286 7.26122 1.94064 1.061 13 71.7143 6.70738 1.79262 78.8571 3.73872 .99921 2.853 13 76.5714 5.01865 1.34129 Note. Ex G1: Experimental group1, Ex G2: Experimental group2, C G: Control group Sig.(2-tailed) .001 .308 .014 C. Results of Writing Achievements The second issue addressed in this study was whether the explicit instruction of prewriting strategies would improve students’ writing achievement in the two experimental groups. Conduction of one-way ANOVA (Table 3) showed that there was not any significant difference between three groups in terms of writing performance F (2, 39) = 1.286, p =.288, p < 0.05. Therefore, all the participants in the two experimental groups and the one control group had the same writing performance prior instruction. TABLE 3. TEST OF BETWEEN GROUPS ON PRETESTS OF WRITING PERFORMANCE ANOVA Pre Between Groups Within Groups Total Sum of Squares 238.536 3617.875 3856.411 df 2 39 41 Mean Square 119.268 92.766 F 1.286 Sig. .288 After students’ participation in the posttest of writing performance, three separate Paired Sample t-tests were run to examine each group’s writing achievement separately (Table 4). Considering the mean scores and the level of significance (p < 0.05), there was a statistically significant increase in the mean scores of the first experimental group from pretest (M = 68.7143) to the posttest (M = 81.9286), p =.000, p < 0.05, t (13) = -5.317. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant increase in the mean scores of the second experimental group from pretest (M = 62.8929) to the posttest (M = 75.8214), p =.000, p < 0.05, t (13) = -8.076. On the other hand, there was not any statistically significant difference in the mean scores of the control group from the pretest (M = 65.4286) to the posttest (M = 66.4286), p = .615, p < 0.05, t (13) = -.516. Therefore, the two experimental groups outperformed in the posttest writing in comparison to the control group. In other words, the learners’ performances in the control group were lower than the two experimental groups and there was not any statistically significant difference between the pretest and posttest of the control group (p=.615, p < 0.05). The findings of this fraction of study are consistent with the findings of Ahangari & Behzadi (2012), Chularut & DeBacker (2004), Dujsik (2008), Goldstein & Carr (1996), Ibnian (2011), Li (2007), Negari (2011), Ojima (2006), Piovesan (2007), Pishghadam & Ghanizadeh (2006), Roa (2007) and Talebinezhad & Negari (2007) who tried to provide evidence for the effectiveness of brainstorming, concept mapping and free writing as a prewriting strategies. TABLE 4. PAIRED-SAMPLE T-TESTS OF WRITING PERFORMANCE FOR EACH OF THREE GROUPS Paired differences Pair 1 Ex G1 Pair 1 Ex G2 Pair 1 CG Pretest Posttest Pretest Posttest Pretest Posttest Mean SD Std. Error Mean t df 68.7143 12.28776 3.28404 -5.317 13 81.9286 10.04194 2.68382 62.8929 8.13865 2.17515 -8.076 13 75.8214 5.77663 1.54387 65.4286 7.81482 2.08860 -.516 13 66.4286 7.81482 2.42177 Note. Ex G1: Experimental group1, Ex G2: Experimental group2, C G: Control group © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Sig.(2-tailed) .000 .000 .615 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 815 V. CONCLUSION AND PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS This study reflected on the effectiveness of explicit writing strategy instruction and the potentials of prewriting strategies in provoking the dormant thought. It shed lights on both cognitive and affective aspects of writing skill which play indispensable role in the complex process of writing. It proved the effectiveness of equipping students with the efficient composing process which resulted in positive outcomes. Furthermore, the current study supported the Chen’s statement (2007) that the impact of explicit instruction engages learners more to the dynamic internal changes in the learning process as the learners became more sensitive to the learning process and were willing to know about other stages of writing process by the end of the course. This study has some implications for language teaching and learning pertaining to the problems of apprehension, blocking and composing. The fact that writing in a foreign language imposes great difficulties on EFL learners and both cognitive and affective aspects of writing have a sharing part in it, writing instruction should be conducted in a way to be most beneficial for foreign language learners. Cohen and Macaro (2007) assert that “the ultimate goal of any language instruction is not only to teach learners for a moment but to instill within learners a sense of what it is like to be a lifelong language learner”(p.284). Furthermore, the implementation of strategy instruction in language classrooms provides true guidance and ample opportunity for learners to practice more. Therefore, language classrooms should have a dual focus on both teaching content and learning strategies. Prewriting strategies can be considered as a fruitful platform for students to generate as many ideas as possible and crystalize their dormant thought to embark on the complex process of writing. Further, students are able to overcome the problems of losing the track of mind, prepare a fair plan in order to refer to it in other stages of writing process. Its consideration by the teachers and educational designers can help students to reinforce their confidence, creativity and their performance and help students to enjoy the process of writing. APPENDIX A. WRITING APPREHENSION QUESTIONNAIRE Directions: below are 26 statements about writing. Please mark from “Strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” that best describe your agreement or disagreement with these statements. Remember that there are no correct answers; only give your honest response. Strongly Disagree Disagree Uncertain Agree Strongly Agree 1. I avoid writing. 2. I have no fear of my writing being evaluated. 3. I look forward to writing down my ideas. 4. I am afraid of writing essays when I know they will be evaluated. 5. Taking a composition course is a very frightening experience. 6. Handing in a composition makes me feel good 7. My mind seems to go blank when I start to work on my composition. 8. Expressing ideas through writing seems to be a waste of time. 9. I would enjoy submitting my writing to magazines for evaluation and publication. 10. I like to write down my ideas. 11. I feel confident in my ability to express my ideas clearly in writing. 12. I like to have my friends read what I have written. 13. I’m nervous about writing. 14. People seem to enjoy what I write. 15. I enjoy writing. 16. I never seem to be able to write sown my ideas clearly. 17. Writing is a lot of fun. Strongly Disagree 18. I expect to do poorly in composition classes even before I enter them. 19. I like seeing my thoughts on paper. 20. Discussing my writing with others is enjoyable. 21. I have a terrible time organizing my ideas in a composition course. 22. When I hand in a composition, I know I’m going to do poorly. 23. It’s easy for me to write good compositions. 24. I don’t think I write as well as most other students. 25. I don’t like my composition to be evaluated. 26. I’m not good at writing. APPENDIX B. WRITING TOPICS © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Disagree Uncertain Agree Strongly Agree 816 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Pretest A: Please write about 250 words on the following statement: Some people believe that students should be required to attend classes. Others believe that going to the classes should be optional for students. Which point of view do you agree with? Use specific reasons and details to explain your answer. Posttest B: Please write about 250 words on the following statement: Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? With the help of technology, students nowadays can learn more information and learn it more quickly. 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The relationship between language learners’ anxiety and learning strategy in the CLT classrooms. International Education Studies, 3(1), 174-191. Fatemeh Mohseniasl holds M.A. in TEFL from Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran. Her areas of interest are learning strategies, affective factors in language learning and task-based language learning and teaching. She has taught English language in language schools and institutes and designed many tasks as supplementary materials for EFL learners. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 818-823, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.818-823 On Vocabulary Presentation Modes in College English Teaching and Learning Jun Chen School of Foreign Languages, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huaian, China Abstract—Vocabulary is one of the most indispensable components in a language. The most important way teachers use to teach new vocabularies is vocabulary presentation mode, and how the new vocabularies are presented in English teaching and learning will have a great influence on the students’ EFL vocabulary retention. This paper mainly elaborates the researches on some effective vocabulary presentation modes abroad and at home in order to help college students master vocabulary presentation modes so that they can learn the new vocabularies efficiently, and improve English vocabulary teaching and learning level. Index Terms—vocabulary, vocabulary presentation modes, English vocabulary teaching and learning I. INTRODUCTION As is widely known, vocabulary is essential to a language. It is one of the three basic components—pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, and is very important to people’s communication and language learning. Just as the famous linguist David Wilkins once put that without grammar little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed (Wilkins, 1972). And language researchers and teachers have already recognized the importance of vocabulary and vocabulary teaching. According to Lawson & Hogben (1996) and Nation (1993, 2001), vocabulary acquisition, important as it is, has received scant attention in the international research agenda. However, Coady (1993) and Rott (1999) put that research done in the skill areas asserts that effective communication is a function of adequate and appropriate vocabulary acquisition rather than the learning of grammar rules. As is widely accepted, vocabulary is “of critical importance to the typical language learner” (Zimmerman, 2001, p. 5). The important role of acquiring vocabularies in foreign language learning has been increasingly recognized and emphasized in college English teaching and learning in China. According to College English Curriculum Requirement (2007) issued by Ministry of Education of The People’s Republic of China, “The requirements for undergraduate College English teaching are set at three levels, i.e., basic requirements, intermediate requirements, and higher requirements. The basic requirements are the minimum level that all non-English majors have to reach before graduation. Recommended Vocabulary: Students should acquire a total of 4,795 words and 700 phrases (including those that are covered in high school English courses), among which 2,000 are active words. Students should not only be able to comprehend the active words but be proficient in using them when expressing themselves in speaking or writing.” (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 2-4). Therefore, this is why more and more language learners, practitioners(instructors) and researchers are considering vocabulary as being a vitally important, if not the most important, element in language learning (Nation, 1990), and vocabulary instruction has been playing a significant role in the English language teaching and learning. Zhang Baicheng (2004) argues that in the process of vocabulary instruction, showing or introducing target words or lexical items to learners is called vocabulary presentation which is very important, and using appropriate presentation methods enables learners to obtain a deeper impression of and richer information about the target words to make them enter the long-term memory more easily. This study is going to review some theories about vocabulary presentation modes abroad and at home, which will be helpful for students to memorize vocabularies and have good retention of them. II. VOCABULARY PRESENTATION MODES In this part, some literature related to vocabulary presentation modes will be reviewed, which contains some researches on vocabulary presentation modes abroad and at home. A. Presentation According to the Oxford Dictionary of English (online), “presentation is the manner or style in which something is given, offered, or displayed.” And “presentation, the first stage in language teaching, is defined as “the introduction of new items, when their meanings are explained, demonstrated, etc., and other necessary information is given” (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics, 2002). According to the definitions above, presentation is the first stage in language teaching, during which new language items, meanings and necessary information are introduced. Therefore, in English vocabulary teaching, vocabulary presentation is the procedure during which appropriate modes or strategies will be used to introduce new vocabularies to the learners (students). According to Cross (1991) and Nation © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 819 (1990), presentation strategies are those that introduce the target vocabulary for the first time. These will involve either presentation of the meaning (i.e. concept) or the form. Cross (1991) put that among the meaning strategies are visual strategies like the use of pictures, body actions, real objects or video, verbal presentation strategies like definition, translation, or exemplification and audio strategies like imitation of sound or having learners listen to a tape-recording , introducing the target vocabulary items (words) to learners. B. Researches on Vocabulary Presentation Modes Abroad 1. Visual Techniques, Verbal Techniques and Dictionaries How should new words be presented in classroom vocabulary teaching? Different researchers have different answers to this question. Gairns &Redman (1986) argue that traditional approaches and techniques used in the presentation of new vocabulary items can be divided into three categories, namely visual techniques, verbal techniques and dictionaries. According to their statement, visual techniques include flashcards, photographs, blackboard drawings, wallcharts, mime, gesture, etc.. Visual techniques for the presentation of new lexical items pertain to visual memory, which is considered helpful especially with vocabulary retention. Learners can remember the presented material far more effectively if it has been presented by means of visual aids. They help students associate presented material in a meaningful way and incorporate it into their existing system of language; Verbal techniques include use of illustrative situations, use of synonymy and definition, contrasts and opposites, scales, and examples of the type. 2. 10 Ways of Presenting the Meaning of New Vocabulary Items Penny Ur (2000) offered 10 ways of presenting the meaning of new vocabulary items: 1) concise definition; 2) detailed description; 3) examples (hyponyms); 4) illustration (picture, object); 5) demonstration (acting, mime); 6) context (story or sentence in which the item occurs); 7) synonyms; 8) opposites (antonyms); 9) translation; 10) associated ideas, collocations. And these ways are often used to present new vocabularies to learners by teachers in the process of vocabulary teaching. 3. Presenting Words in Context To be specific, some researchers did studies on the importance of some vocabulary presentation modes in vocabulary teaching. Fischer (1994) compared some ways of word presentation and concluded that the way of presenting words in context is more effective than that in non-context. “The importance of context in vocabulary presentation and learning is stated as follows: what a word means on any given occasion is mediated by the many contexts in which it is used, and such contexts provide considerable input from which language users clearly pick up huge amounts of vocabulary knowledge, apart from any explicit vocabulary instruction they may receive” (William Nagy, 2002, p.64). Guessing word meaning in context is also important, which involves generalizable skills of interpreting surrounding text, predicting, and testing predictions while reading, which enhance reading skills as a whole (Coady & Nation, 1988). 4. Lexical Chunks Nattinger (1992) defined lexical chunks as multi-word chunks of language of varying length that run on a continuum from fixed phrases. And he also pointed out that such phrases will likewise enable students not to violate certain lexical restrictions, nor produce as many incongruities of register. The above studies on the modes of vocabulary presentation are about the ways or strategies of presenting new words to the learners in vocabulary teaching and learning, and about the importance of some specific vocabulary presentation modes in presenting new words to the learners. C. Researches on Vocabulary Presentation Modes at Home 1.Word Strategy, Collocation Strategy and Association Strategy Some researchers put forward several strategies of vocabulary presentation in vocabulary teaching. Leng Jie & Su Xiaojun (2009) discussed the basic principles and content of vocabulary presentation, and suggested that teachers should adopt the word frequency strategy, appropriate word strategy, collocation strategy and association strategy. 2.Empirical Researches on Modes of Contextual Presentation and Lexical Presentation Besides, some empirical researches on modes of contextual presentation and lexical presentation were conducted to test which of the two modes is better in presenting new words to the students in vocabulary teaching. Researchers like He Jianing (1998), Wang Zongyan (2001), Lu Qiaoling (2001), Zhang Ruihua & Chen Jiansheng (2003) and Wei Yanli (2007), they all did researches on the mode of contextual presentation, and found that contextual presentation is a better way of presenting new words to students and the students can master the new words by using certain knowledge of context and its clues. Wei Yanli (2007) and Zhang Ruihua & Chen Jiansheng (2003) also pointed out that contextual presentation is a better way to present new vocabularies to students than lexical presentation. Singer said, “ in a reading activity, understanding vocabulary is about 39% of a reader’s reading competence, and a reader’s ability to understand vocabulary in texts 47% relies on his or her vocabulary size, and 28% of the reading speed is used to recognize vocabulary.” (as cited in Sun Xingwen, 1998, p. 101). 3. Wordlist and Semantic Field Wordlist and semantic field play an important role in presenting new words to the learners in vocabulary teaching. He Jianing (1998) pointed out that if students want to memorize more words within a relatively short period of time, the ways of presenting words by using wordlist and semantic field will help. Zeng Jianxiang (2007) concluded that thematic clustering mode of presentation is more effective than semantic clustering mode by doing an experiment on how three © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 820 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES different modes of word presentation influence intermediate-level EFL learners’ learning of English words. Zhang Li & Sheng Yue’s study (2009) also revealed that words in semantically unrelated sets will be more helpful for memory than those in semantically related sets. 4. Presenting Words by Stimulating Guesses As for the vocabulary presentation mode of presenting words by stimulating guesses, Wang Ying (2006) made some suggestions for guessing word’s meaning from context: learners should grasp the basic vocabulary quickly in order to infer word meaning effectively, and master correct ways for the purpose of making fewer mistakes in guessing word’s meaning. Wang Xudong (2009) put forward seven strategies of learning vocabularies in context, they are using context clues directly, synonym clues, antonym clues, word association clues, repeated context, comparison context clues and affix clues. 5. Lexical Chunks “Lexical chunks are the ideal memory model, which can increase the number of words one time and help students keep these words longer in their memory in vocabulary teaching and learning.” (Wu Jing & Wang Ruidong, 2002, p. 66-70; Liu Xiaoling & Yang Zhiqing, 2003, p.51-55; Pu Jianzhong, 2003, p. 438-446). Both Yu Xiulian’s (2008) and Gai Shuhua’s (2010) empirical researches further stressed the effects of lexical chunks, that is, lexical chunks could help students with their improvement in English proficiency. And Pu Jianzhong (2003) even offered some suggestions about how to teach lexical chunks: new vocabularies should be put or presented in context and students should take key context (chunks embodying the typical colligations and collocations) into their consideration when learning these new vocabularies. III. VOCABULARY PRESENTATION MODES IN COLLEGE IN CHINA A. The Current Situation of Vocabulary Presentation in College in China Vocabulary presentation is playing a fundamentally significant and active role in English vocabulary teaching and learning in China. Researchers and teachers are attaching great importance to it, and there are an increasing number of studies on it at home and abroad. Nevertheless, the author of the paper finds that the above studies about the modes of vocabulary presentation mainly focus on the strategies of using them in vocabulary teaching and learning, the importance and influence of some vocabulary presentation modes have on children’s and English beginners’ vocabulary learning and retention. There are few researchers doing researches on vocabulary presentation modes in college English teaching and learning in China, they are as follows: In 2000, He Yin put forward that there are two problems in college English vocabulary teaching at present. One is called “inherent problems”, namely, there is no coherence in English learning between and among college, middle school and primary school. Another is “lack of proper care after birth”, that is to say, methods used in college English vocabulary teaching are not suitable for college students, the English learning to attend. He held that vocabulary teaching should be instructed in order to expand students’ vocabulary, so as to improve English learning efficiency. And he also proved that direct or explicit teaching of vocabulary is better for students to learn vocabulary than indirect or implicit teaching of vocabulary by conducting the experiment. Chai Hui and Zhang Zhen (2005) did an experiment of impact of concentrating on teaching vocabulary on students’ vocabulary, and the results show that the method to concentrate on teaching English vocabulary makes college students’ vocabulary get improvement and expands students’ vocabulary and enhance college students’ English competence in listening, speaking, reading and writing, and eventually improves college English teaching quality. Zhang Fangying (2006) pointed out, in her essay Analysis of Investigation of College Non-english Majors’ vocabulary Learning Method, that it is necessary to teach and learn vocabularies directly. Direct learning can help learners to quickly establish a certain amount of vocabulary for reading, and will help learners associate new words they encountered with words in their brain. Repeatedly, the learners eventually master the meaning and use of vocabulary. B. The Two Vocabulary Teaching or Presenting Approaches in College in China The above researches on vocabulary presentation modes are concerned with the vocabulary presentation mode of wordlist and the vocabulary presentation mode of context. This paper is going to elaborate some vocabulary presentation modes in order to help college students master vocabulary presentation modes so that they can learn the new vocabularies efficiently, and improve English vocabulary teaching and learning level as well. According to the characteristics of nature of language and the characteristics of foreign language teaching, Shu Dingfang & Zhuang Zhixiang (2004) pointed out that any form of foreign language teaching should follow these several principles: 1) system principle; 2) communicative principle; 3) culture principle; 4) cognitive principle; 5) emotional principle. On the basis of these principles, the foreign language vocabulary teaching or presenting approaches can be divided into two categories according to different teaching purposes and characteristics: one is called “direct or explicit teaching (presentation) of vocabulary”, another is “indirect or implicit teaching (presentation) of vocabulary”. 1. Direct or Explicit Teaching (Presentation) of Vocabulary The so-called “direct or explicit teaching (presentation) of vocabulary” means that vocabulary teaching or presenting is considered as a part of teaching goal, carrying on analysis, explanation and drill of the structure of the word (including its pronunciation, meaning and usage). As discussed above, there are several vocabulary presentation modes, © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 821 which are actually and essentially important in English vocabulary teaching and learning. Therefore, it is necessary to summarize some widely used vocabulary presentation modes for college English vocabulary teaching and learning according to direct or explicit teaching (presentation) of vocabulary. And direct or explicit teaching (presentation) of vocabulary includes wordlist, semantic field, lexical chunks, visual techniques, association, verbal techniques and dictionaries. Students are familiar with these methods of teaching (presentation) of vocabulary, because it is easy to be accepted by the students if these methods of teaching (presentation) of vocabulary in college English vocabulary teaching and learning. The aim of using wordlist, semantic field, lexical chunks, visual techniques, verbal techniques and dictionaries to present new words to the students is clear and easy to be completed. The biggest drawback of these direct or explicit vocabulary presentation modes is tedious in the process of English vocabulary teaching and learning. For this reason, these direct or explicit vocabulary presentation modes are suitable for beginners and intermediate learners at college. 2. Indirect or Implicit Teaching (Presentation) of Vocabulary The so-called “indirect or implicit vocabulary teaching (presentation)” is an approach which can help learners achieve the goal of expanding their vocabulary indirectly by participating in learning activities, such as reading and listening. In foreign language teaching, requirements of vocabulary for learners in various stages of foreign language learning are not the same. According to College English Curriculum Requirement (2007), “The requirements for undergraduate College English teaching are set at three levels. The basic requirements are the minimum level that all non-English majors have to reach before graduation. Recommended Vocabulary: Students should acquire a total of 4,795 words and 700 phrases (including those that are covered in high school English courses), among which 2,000 are active words. Students should not only be able to comprehend the active words but be proficient in using them when expressing themselves in speaking or writing.” (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 2-4). Therefore, it is also essential to do some researches on vocabulary teaching (presentation) for advanced learners at college. The so-called indirect or implicit vocabulary teaching (presentation) here mainly means teaching or presenting the students new words in context. “What really makes learners obtain ability to accurately understand and use words is teaching or presenting the learners new words in communication, namely, by using indirect or implicit vocabulary teaching (presentation) approach.”(Yu Caixia, 2009, p.5). “Studies show that with the gradual improvement of learners’ foreign language level, the learners will need the method „reasoning’ or „indirect or implicit vocabulary teaching (here refers to presenting new words in context)’ in their vocabulary learning.” (Li Hongmei, 2001, p.5). In 1923, Malinowski put forward the concept of context. In 1964, Halliday came up with the concept of register, which means language environment. Hymes defined context as form and context of text, setting, participants and needs and so on. Mondria and Wit-de Boer (1991) pointed out that inferring meaning of a word from its context relates to the retention of that word. In 1996, Prince considered that contextualization helps the learners to figure out, retain and use words. Cheng Anmei (2002) put emphasis on teaching vocabulary in context. Huang Wei (2006) held discussion on the application of lexical and grammatical contexts to the teaching of words. Liang Ming (2006) put that teaching vocabulary in context could improve students’ vocabulary retention. According to the theory of memory, comprehensible input can have a lasting memory. So when the learners’ English level reaches a certain stage, vocabulary teaching or presentation should be linked to the context. Context includes the article itself or conversation occurred in this article, and all kinds of social environment. Word will be meaningless without some contexts. From this point of view, the contest is very important. Teachers in college should present words in a certain context for the students to learn. A word should be endowed with life in a context. It is also the context that help the students remember words more easily and understand their usage. In a word, contextual teaching or presenting can help the students to understand the usage and various meanings of words more profoundly. Using the context to help learners understand the denotative meaning and connotative meaning of vocabularies. The students will not forget the meaning and usage of a word. An example will be given to illustrate how a word is presented in context by citing a short paragraph from an article called Time-Conscious Americans in NEW HORIZON COLLEGE ENGLISH (Book2, Second Edition, 2008) published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. “A foreigner’s first impression of the US is likely to be that everyone is in a rush—often under pressure. City people always appear to be hurrying to get where they are going, restlessly seeking attention in a store, and elbowing others as they try to complete their shopping. Racing through daytime meals is part of the pace of life in this country. Working time is considered precious. Others in public eating places are waiting for you to finish so that they, too, can be served and get back to work within the time allowed. You also find drivers will be abrupt and people will push past you. You will miss smiles, brief conversations, and small exchanges with strangers. Don’t take it personally. This is because people value time highly, and they resent someone else “wasting” it beyond a certain appropriate point.” (Zheng Shutang, 2008, p. 3). The above short paragraph is designed to present the new word “restlessly”. The students will be able to guess the meaning of the word “restlessly” in context. Because the title Time-Conscious Americans and the short paragraph all center on the topic of how Americans treat their time as if it were something almost real. From the context, the students can also know the meanings of collocations or short sentences like in a rush, be hurrying to and elbowing others as they try to complete their shopping, so the students can guess the meaning of the word “restlessly”—unable to keep still because one is nervous, bored, or impatient. Through this way, the students can not only master the meaning and usage © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 822 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES of this word but also cultivate their thinking ability. IV. CONCLUSION Vocabulary presentation is playing a fundamentally important part in English vocabulary teaching and learning in college in China. Researchers and teachers are taking great interest in it. Therefore, teachers and students are supposed to study vocabulary presentation modes and make good use of these vocabulary presentation modes in teaching and learning new words. In the meantime, more empirical researches on vocabulary presentation modes are encouraged in China in the future to further test whether these vocabulary presentation modes are effective or not in helping the students’ vocabulary retention. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] Coady, J. (1993). Research on ESL/EFL vocabulary acquisition: Putting it in context. In T. Huckin, M. Haynes, & J. Coady (Eds.), Second language reading and vocabulary learning (pp. 3-23). Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Cross, D. (1991). A Practical Handbook of Language Teaching. London: Longman. Fischer,U. (1994). Learning words from context and dictionaries: An experimental comparison. Applied Psycholinguistics, 15, 551-574. Gairns,Redman. (1986). Working with Words: A guide to teaching and learning vocabulary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. He Jianing. (1998). Empirical researches on effecs of vocabulary presentation modes on vocabulary retention. Shandong Foreign Language Teaching Journal, 2,60-63. Lawson, M. J., & Hogben, D. (1996). The vocabulary learning strategies of foreign-language students. Language Learning, 46,101-135. Leng Jie & Su Xiaojun. (2009). Strategies of preseniting words in English vocabulary teaching. Journal of Suzhou University, 6, 93-95. Liu Xiaoling & Yang Zhiqing. (2003). Lexical chunk instruction—a new approach to second language teaching. Foreign Language Education, 6,51-55. Ministry of Education. (2007). College English Curriculum Requirement, Shanghai, CHINA: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Mondria,J.& M.Wit-de Boer. (1991). The Effects of Contextual Richness on the Guessability and the Retention fo Words in a Foreign Language . Applied Linguistics, 12,249—267. Nation, I. S. P. (1993). Vocabulary size, growth, and use. In R. Schreuder & B. Weltens (Eds.), The bilingual lexicon (p. 115-124). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Nation, I. S. P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary, New York: Newbury House Publishers. Oxford Dictionaries. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/presentation?q=presentation (accessed 10/2/2014). Penny Ur. (2000). A course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Beijing, CHINA: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Richards, J. C, Platt, J., & Platt, H. (2002). Longman dictionary of language teaching & applied linguistics, Beijing, CHINA: Foreign Language Teaching and Study Press. Rott, S. (1999). The effect of exposure frequency on intermediate language learners’ incidental vocabulary acquisition and retention through reading. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21, 589-619. Shu Dingfang&Zhuang Zhixiang.(2004). Modern Foreign Language Teaching. Shanghai, CHINA: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Sun Xingwen.(1998). Reflections on the current English vocabulary instruction in colleges and universities. Journal of Sichuan Teachers College (Philosophy and Social Sciences) ,2, 101-106. Wang Ying. (2006). Improving efficiency of guessing word meaning and acquisition in context. Jiangsu Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 2,47-50. Wang Zongyan. (2001). An exploratory study of English vocabulary teaching. Journal of PLA University of Foreign Languages, 5, 1-3. Wilkins, D. A. (1972). Linguistics in Language Teaching. London: Edward Arnold. William Nagy. (2002). On the role context in first- and second-language vocabulary learning. In N. Schmitt& M. McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy (p64). Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Wu Jing & Wang Ruidong.(2002). Lexical chunks—the potential resources for English learning and teaching. Shandong Foreign Language Teaching Journal, 3,66-70. Yu Xiulian.(2008). An experimental study on lexical approach and practical English competence. Foreign Language World, 3, 54-61. Zhang, Baicheng. (2004). Elaboration theory and English vocabulary teaching and learning. Teaching Research, 4, 349-352. Zhang Li & Sheng Yue. (2009). A study of the influence of semantically-relatedness of word-sets on L2 Vocabulary Acquisition. Foreign Language Learning Theory and Practice,4,18-23. Zheng Shutang . (2008). New Horizon College English 2 (Second Edition). Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2, 3. Zimmerman, C. B. (2001). Historical trends in second language vocabulary instruction. In J. Coady, & T. Huckin (Eds.), Second language vocabulary acquisition (pp.5-19). Shanghai, CHINA: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 823 Jun Chen was born in Lianshui, China in 1977. He received his master’s degree in English Education from Xuzhou Normal University, China in 2011. He is currently a lecturer in the School of Foreign Languages, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huaian, China. His research interests include Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Teaching. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 824-828, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.824-828 Analysis of Influencing Factors in Metacognition in English Writing Yingnan Liu Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, China Abstract—Metacognition in writing is the cognitive monitoring system in the process of writing. The essence of the system is self-management and self-control of self-consciousness. It can be embodied in the process of the writer acquiring information and analyzing the information to monitor the cognitive process correctly and immediately and choosing the suitable strategy to monitor the writing, to persist in or change the method or manner. So this paper is try to make a discussion on matecognition in writing and its influencing factors, analyze the information and sum up the general features of metacognition in writing in purpose of furnishing English writing. Index Terms—metacognition, English writing, motivation, self-determination I. INTRODUCTION English writing is a process which involves various elements and is a process which is monitored by metacognition. Writing as one of students’ important skill and a way of communication, plays a significant role in English teaching and learning. A requirement of English writing ability would become one of the important criteria for qualified personal in the new century. Therefore, it is quite urgent for English teachers to help students improve their writing competence. But the present situation of writing teaching in Chinese universities is far from satisfactory. On one hand, most English teachers still focus teaching on correcting mistakes and instructing students to imitate and write according to some models rather than help the students to develop their own creativeness when the students start to learn writing. Although the students practice a lot and the teachers correct many times, the level of students’ writing seem to stay at the same. On the other hand, most of the students’ writing lack of original creation especially when they are in junior and senior. So their writing is nearly identical in though pattern and textual structure. Therefore, improving students writing ability has become one of the key tasks for English teachers. In the field of language studying, many linguists have emphasised the importance of learners' self-autonomy. Numerous empirical studies have been shown to be supportive of the importance of self-concept of ability, perceived value of the subjects, and expectations for future success as crucial predictors of academic performance. To understand the role of motivation’s influencing factor in English writing, the definition of motivation may be discussed in the first place. Motivation referred to learners' directed reinforcing effort in learning a language; which was the effort that a language learner willing to pay in the process of second language learning. Since the goal of learners may be different, some wish to become linguists, some for future job, and others wish to be identified with the foreign country. Therefore, the effort learners make may be different according to their individual goals in language learning. The former learner goals can be viewed as what Brown mentioned the instrumental orientation, which referred to acquiring language for instrumental goals, such as passing an entrance exam, communicating with foreigners. While the latter learner goals can be viewed as the integrative orientation, with which can be referred to learners' desire to be accepted or identified as members of the group of the target language, which means they were open to the new language and its people. Different learner needs and interests may result in different degree of effort they are willing to make in the language-learning process. Individual differences in their willingness and perseverance to learn a language were closely linked to achievement needs. Also, the need for achievement was composed of three factors, including the person's desire for success (or failure), the value of the task as a motivation, and the method used toward success. In other words, it was proposed that motivation including both integrative and instrumental, was highly related to the individual needs for achievement or their goals toward learning the target language. II. MOTIVATION Motivation, according to Dornyer (1998), was the "process whereby a certain amount of instigation force arises, initiates action, and persists"(p.122).as long as there is no other forces weakening it until the planned goals were reached. However, motivation can be defined as the degree to which an individual tries to learn the language because of their willingness to do so and satisfaction obtained from such activity, such definition focuses on learners' inner desire and attitude toward language learning. Furthermore, based on Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory, motivation was related to all aspects of "activation" and "intention", including energy, direction, persistence and equifinality. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 825 Motivation was classified as extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation based on the degree of self-determination. From extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation, they were classified as five categories: external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, integrated regulation, and intrinsic motivation. External regulation means that learners perform certain behaviors so as to satisfy external demands or to get external reward. These external regulated behaviors were usually experienced as being controlled or alienated. Introjected regulation, which was another type of extrinsic motivation remained quite controlling. People who were introjected-regulated mean that they performed the behaviors with a feeling of pressure, avoiding guilt, or obtaining self-esteem. For example, children may do homework not because they like it; but because they avoid being punished by teachers, or get other students' approval. Identified regulation, though still classified as extrinsic motivation, was a more autonomous form of extrinsic motivation. Identified regulation occurred when people identified the importance of some behaviors and took it as his or her own value. For example, a girl who learned English because she knew the importance of learning English, and she viewed this as her own goals in her life. The most self-determined form of extrinsic motivation, integrated regulation, referred to that people has fu11y assimilated the identified regulation to themselves. In other words, integrated regulation occurred when people taking the new regulation in their life and make it congruent with their own needs and values. Though integrated regulation and intrinsic motivation were said to be similar in some way, integrated regulation was sti11 viewed as one of the types of extrinsic motivation, since people with integrated motivation were regarded as doing behaviors out of the presumed external value which was separable from the behaviors. Intrinsic motivation occurred when someone was moved to do something for fun or challenge, instead of environmental factors. In other words, people decided to do the action or behavior because of their inherent interest toward the activity, rather than because of the external outcome. III. SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY Self-determination theory was an organismic theory focused on human behavior and its correlation to social context. Human beings were viewed as "proactive organism" whose intrinsic motivation may be either facilitated or undermined by the social context in self-determination theory. The focus of the theory was on the investigation of human beings' inherent tendencies as well as the psychological needs, which were said to be the basic elements for self-motivation and integration in personality. In self-determination theory, it was pointed out that there was close relationship between people's motivational behaviors and the social contextual factors. For example, when people feel relatedness, secure, or a sense of competence from the environment, then their motivation for doing the behavior may become autonomous instead of being controlled. In self-determination theory, motivation can be classified as mainly two types: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation referred to people doing something out of the inherent interest or joy; whereas extrinsic motivation referred to doing something because it contributed to a separable outcome. However, the two types of motivation were not opposite site of each other; instead, they were along a continuum. From motivation to external compliance, and to self commitment, they were classified as motivation, external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, integrated regulation, and intrinsic motivation. External regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, and integrated regulation were different forms of extrinsic motivation. In other word, whether people do the action out of inherent interest on the task, or out of external control, ex: getting reward, avoid of punishment, or to attain ego esteem. Dcei and Ryan proposed that human intrinsic motivations developed from three primary psychological needs: need for competence, need for autonomy (or self-determination), in which one have choice or voice for his/her own action, and need for relatedness, searching for connection with others as well as the social world. Empirical evidences supporting the idea that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can be used in predicting learners' achievement in second language learning. It was claimed that the more internalized students are in writing, the more persistent students can be, implying that students' degree of internalization may determine their long-term learning outcomes. IV. MODE OF MOTIVATION THEORY Different theories have different views in regards to the component and construct of motivation. The theories can be classified intro three groups. The first group of theories includes Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and Hull’s drive theory, both of which hold the view that stress reduction has significant impact on behavior. The second group of theories were proposed by Weiner, which includes Lewin’s field theory, Atkinson’s achievement theory and Rotter’s social learning theory. As per the three of the theories, behavior is highly dependent on the individual’s desire for success and his/her incentives to achieve the intended result. Even though these are quite different theories, they both hold the view that human beings try to understand themselves and their surroundings and that growth processes are a necessary part of human motivation. The psychoanalytic theory is from Freud’s perception of individuals, who struggles between their instinctive needs and the restrictions imposed by society. The laws of motivation stems from the analysis of this conflict between their instinctive drives and their inhibitions. Although there are studies which do not support the Freudian view, the primary © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 826 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES processes of though and functioning of the “self” have generated important hypotheses which are still valid today. The drive theory tries to explain individual’s behavior by a series of impulses which from habits. The subjects’ behavior is explained by means of a sequence of impulses or acquired behaviors which are generated from the action of certain incentives or stimuli. Hull is one of the most well-known representatives. The primary components of this theory are: First comes anxiety. It is an emotional reaction which works by means of production rejection of the agent which generates stress. The learning procedure of those individuals who are affected by this type of behavioral forces is strengthened by tasks of difficulty and reduced by more complicated tasks. Second is conflict. The “component of avoidance” is more important than the “component of approximation”, which stimulates motivational procedure. Third is frustration. This happens when the target is not reached. Fourth is the principle of social facilitation. This means the reaction of other individuals in the subject’s conduct or performance. Research on drives has achieved success in explaining the behaviors of animals with the most basic needs (for example, thirst or hunger), their reaction to stimuli, their mechanical learning process to satisfy these needs, however, in other areas, it hasn’t achieved the same degree of success. It seems quite obvious that the greatest contribution of the theory is the accurate and systematic research of motivated conduct from a purely mechanical point of view. The achievement theory is based on environmental factors such as the student’s personal experiences or their desire to achieve good performance. Students who are motivated by achievement opt for problems which pose a certain amount of challenge, make an effort to find solutions to these difficult problems before giving up. They will lose motivation if they solve the problem easily and try to find more challenging or innovative tasks. These students usually get better marks than other students with similar IQs. On the other hand, students who are motivated by the desire to avoid failure tend to select easier problems. They will become discouraged by mistakes and motivated by success. They prefer friendly classmates and respond best to tasks which pose less of a challenge. It seems that people are more intrinsically motivated when they are small and tend to engage themselves in achievement-related behaviors. However, as they grow up and reach higher educational levels, they tend to be more extrinsically motivated because of the increased significance of external rewards. It’s clear that achievement theory has made valuable contributions, however, it has also obvious limitations. It disregards the underlying values of the individual, focusing only on need achievement and not taking into account his or her personal preferences as decisive factors in task selection. Schiefele states: “Researcher of achievement motivation disregard the content to be learned. Emphasis on student performance overlooks the possibility that students come to like their subjects and learn because they value the process of being emerged in certain areas of knowledge” (1991, p.19). The social learning theory upholds that the mental process of cognition affect our behavior. Its adherents maintain that individuals learn through imitation, that they can distinguish between motivating and non-motivating circumstances, that they set up expectations related to achievement and that they perceive the world in a subjective manner. Attribution theories reflect the causes of an event, the information which affected its causal deduction, and the results of the causal attribution. Internal causes comprise IQ, physical appearance, personality, aptitude, effort and health. External causes include the difficulty of an activity, external help and luck. Ability is regarded as more constant than effort. The distinction by Heider (1958) is that between internal and external factors which determine behavior: A. Strongly Motivated Individuals Attribute their success in activities of great capacity and effort. Persist when facing failure, ascribing it to lack of effort, something which is changeable. Select tasks with average difficult as they generate more self-assessable feedback. Make great efforts, as they believe that it is what contributes to success. B. Individuals with Weak-low Motivation Engaged in few activities, as they attribute success to external factors instead of internal factors and do not regard effort as its cause. Give up quickly when facing failure, as they consider the latter as being caused by lack of capacity, which is uncontrollable. Select either easy or very difficult tasks, as they may not generate self-assessable feedbacks. Make little effort as they do not believe it is what contributes to success. The attribution theory is an obvious component of cognitive functionalism and it emphasizes the individual’s causal cognition of their motivational states. Sometimes those causes are attributed to the subject himself or herself (IQ, effort, personality, etc.) and on other circumstances, they are attributed to environmental factors (the difficulty of tasks, school and parental influence, etc.). Weiner distinguishes different types of factors which have obvious influence on the subjects’ behavior, causal antecedents, causal attributions, causal dimension, prospects of success, motivational conducts. Several investigations have emphasized the fundamental role played by individual’s opinions, beliefs and perceptions. Scholars of this field pointed out that to have a positive vision of oneself and of the learning situations is essential to attain expected performance. Learners may experience various successes and failures in a school environment which influence their beliefs and expectations, as well as their cognitive structures, thus change their frame of reference to © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 827 interpret, understand and organize the information they possess of themselves and others. Therefore, studying the students’ beliefs can provide us with insights into their conduct and academic performance. We can conclude from the above studies that we should teach our students to attribute their success to controllable factors such as effort instead of to the uncontrollable factors. This will eventually break the vicious circle of failure. The idea of re-educating students has led teachers to change the type of input provided to students. The feedback should try to establish links between the efforts the students has made to the results. Comments such as “your work has improved because you have made an effort” or “I can see you have studied a lot for the exam” can help students attribute their success to controllable factors. The humanistic theory stems from the humanistic psychology. Human beings are subjects instead of objects of study. Each person should be perceived in terms of personal conscience, which compromises subjective experience and the way in which the individual sees and evaluates him or herself. One of the most well-known humanistic psychologists states that everyone tries to reach a state of self-realisation. However, the latter can be facilitated or hindered by our interactions with others. The approval of others helps self-realisation and also our opinions about ourselves and our attitudes towards others are closely linked. V. OTHER INFLUENCING FACTORS OF METACOGNITION IN ENGLISH WRITING In addition to the above factors that we have discussed, there are also some other important factors which also play a significant role in English writing. Now, we will discuss them one by one. A. Learning Environment Autonomous language learning does not simply mean learns learn by themselves. Instead, they need external supports in the process of developing autonomy, for example, the changes of institutional mechanism which includes teachers, learning facilities, learning materials, etc. Since we are mainly concerned with developing an autonomous pedagogy in the classroom, in which teacher plays an important role, the discussion here will focus on teacher. In accordance with the concept of learner autonomy, autonomous learners need to be able to decide on their learning needs and goals, identify learning resources, choose and carry out proper learning strategies, organize the learning tasks and self-evaluate their learning results, all of which will be very hard or even impossible to be accomplished by the learners in the highly competitive learning environment infested with exams the "didactic learning modes" with the teacher as its center. In China, however, though the reform of college English pedagogy has been in practice for years, teachers seem to be still swimming comfortably in the sea of traditional English teaching, being the center of the classroom, emphasizing knowledge of English over competence to use English. The assessment system designs and implements many school-based and public examinations which can only make students to learn by rote. B. English Proficiency of Learners English Proficiency of learners is a direct factor to influence the metacognition in writing. For example, students with medium level will have a gap in comparing with the high level students in writing strategies. In answering the question “What will do when you don’t know how to carry out your writing?” Students with high level will say that they could unscramble their thoughts and find out the solutions. They may leave for a few minute and come back soon. But they will not give up. But students with a medium level will ask a high level student or teacher for help or give up immediately. Some scholars who make research on the writing and teaching find out that the responses of the high level students, medium level students and low level students will be different in writing. From the example, we know that level of English writing is not isolated from other aspects levels of English learners but closely related with them. For example, The level of reading may not only affect whether the students are able to understand the requirement of a writing task or not but also has a great impact on their understanding when they read some sample writing materials. Other aspects of English levels such as listening can also have an important influence on English writing. So in order to improve the writing level of students, teachers should not focus on the writing level itself but also make effort to improve the overall levels of students as a whole. Only by this, the writing levels of students can be improved. C. Metacognition in Native Language Writing Because Chinese is an old language which belongs to Sino-Tibetan language family, it has significant difference with English which belongs to Indo-European language family. In learning processes, listening and reading don not disturb evidently because they are input activity which receive the information passively while speaking and writing are disturbed terribly by native language as output. In writing process, the influence of the native language can not be neglect. We should decrease the negative influence and increase the positive ones to help our writing. D. The Score Criteria in Writing Tests Generally speaking, the criterion of “effectively addresses the writing task, demonstrates a well developed logical organizational structure with clearly stated main ideas and sufficient supporting details, has almost no errors of vocabulary, spelling, punctuation or syntax” is understood as correct forms of language. Students’ compositions may become the media of reflection of the students’ language levels but not a communicative tool. Some scholars argued that if teachers applied this criterion to the writing lessons, there must appear the following two questions: © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 828 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES The whole writing teaching process will become a process of correcting students’ composition, which is only to find out the mistakes and giving scores. But in the point of view of the modern pedagogy, mistake is the inevitable outcomes of the learning processes. The compositions that students hand in are the beginning of writing process. And only by correcting the content, structure and the languages repeatedly, the students’ writing ability can be improved. The writing exercise is not equals to the writing test. Using the criteria of scoring the writing test to require the writing exercise and only give a grade but do not give students time to considerate and evaluate violate the rule writing processes. Writing is not a one-off activity. It needs to be retrospect. To emphasize too much on the grammatical mistakes will make students neglect the contents of composition. Teachers give more emphasis on the surface mistakes when they explain writing, but do not concern the arrangement of the concrete, the skill of making sentences and the rhetoric skills. When students write a composition they may also not consider the communicative aims but only consider the language forms. In this case, the value of writing will be missed. VI. CONCLUSION To make a whole look at factors of metacognition in English writing, we can see that both writing activity and teaching activity must have instruction of metacognition. They effect interdependently in the learning processes of writing.Language learners should learn to recognize their learning strategies, and teachers should advise them to select the most appropriate methods for instructional environment. Successful learners can inform students who are not so successful in language learning in regards to learning strategies, techniques and skills. Through monitoring and coaching each other, students can take an active role in not only learning but also teaching. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Brown, G. (1995). Listening to Spoken English, (2nd edn). London: Longman. Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determinaton in human behaviour. New York: Plenum. Dornyer Z. (1998). Motivation in Second and Foreign Language Learning. Language Learning, 3,117-137. Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34, 906 - 911. Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: Wiley. Hull, C. (1933). Hypnosis and Suggestability: An Experimental Approach. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 22, 29–31. Schiefele,U. (1991). Interest, learning, and motivation. Educational Psychologist, 3, 17–22. Yingnan Liu was born in Jiutai, Jilin Province, China on April 14 th, 1980, who has got a degree of Master of Arts in foreign linguistics and applied linguistics from Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, Jilin Province, China in 2006. As a lecture, he teaches English intensive reading and listening at School of Foreign Languages, Changchun University of Science and Technology. Previous research interests are English Methodology. At present he focuses on Curriculum and ESL teaching. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 829-838, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.829-838 The Effect of Focus on Form on EFL Learners’ Written Task Accuracy across Different Proficiency Levels Asghar Salimi Department of English, University of Maragheh, Maragheh, Iran Alireza Bonyadi Department of English, Uremia Branch, Islamic Azad University, Urmia, Iran Atefeh Asghari Department of English, Science and Research Islamic Azad University, West Azarbaijan, Iran Abstract—One of the hotly debated areas of research in second language acquisition since 1990s has been pertained to the role of consciousness in learning second or foreign language. A review of the studies conducted on different aspects of consciousness in second language acquisition revealed there is a gap in the literature on the effect of focus on from instruction on L2 learners’ oral or written task performance across different proficiency levels. Therefore, the present study set out to fill the existing gap in the literature and investigate the effects of form-focused instruction on L2 learners’ written task performance in terms of accuracy across two different proficiency levels (intermediate and advanced). To this end, sixty learners of English studying English in an institute were randomly chosen as the participants of the study. They were randomly divided into two groups of high and low proficiency levels. The two groups were also divided into two subgroups of with and without F-O-F. All groups were taught for 15 sessions. However, one subgroup of each group received form-focused instruction while the other two subgroups did not receive the treatment. A pictorial narrative task was employed as the post-test instrument to collect the written data. The collected written data were quantified and measured according to measures introduced by Ellis (2003). The findings of the study revealed that form-focused instruction had a significant effect on the accuracy of high proficient learners. The study carries some implications for second language acquisition researchers, language teachers, and syllabus and task designers. Index Terms—focus on form, focus on forms, form-focused instruction, proficiency level, accuracy I. INTRODUCTION One of the most hotly debated issues in second language acquisition research over the past two decades pertains to the role of consciousness in second language learning. When second or foreign language learners perform on tasks, their performance in terms of three linguistic domains of fluency, accuracy, and complexity can be influenced by several factors like teacher experience, motivation of L2 learners, topic familiarity, generic features of the task, language proficiency of L2 learners, task structure, and the amount of noticing and attention to linguistic forms of the language (Rahimpour, 2008). Some SLA researchers argue that because focus on form makes SL development easier, special attention needs to be paid to form-focused instruction in the case of adult learners (Rahimpour and Salimi, 2010; Ellis, 2001, 2008, 2009; Gass, Mackey, and Pica, 1998; Long, 1996; Nassaji, 2009; Rahimpour et al, 2012). According to Ellis (2012), focus on form is based upon the claim that second language learning is enhanced if SL learners are provided with the opportunity to notice form while they are involved in meaning-focused language use. Also, Doughty (2001) argues that focus on form is distinguished from other approaches in that form-focused instruction engages SL learners shortly and probably at the same time paying attention to form, meaning, and use during a cognitive activity. A. Background of the Study Focus on form is defined by Long (1991) cited in Ellis (2012, p. 227) as “focus on form draws learners’ attention to linguistic features as they arise incidentally in lessons whose focus is on meaning or communication”. The claims made by Swain regarding noticing and its role in output hypothesis draw on the ideas proposed by Schmidt (1990) and Schmidt and Frota (1986) who claim that learners need to attend to a linguistic feature before acquiring it. Noticing can occur when second language learners are in the process of producing output realize that they do not know how to state their intended meaning (Schmidt, 1990). A particular feature of noticing is noticing the gap which takes place when learners receive corrective feedback and notice that it is different from their produced output (Swain, 1985). According to Mitchell and Myles (2004), the amount of attention that learners pay to form can affect the extent to which second © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 830 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES language input produce SL intake, i.e. new language which has been adequately processed to be incorporated into the learners’ developing language system. One of the prominent scholars in the field of SLA whose works on noticing has been very influential is Schmidt. Schmidt (1994) distinguishes noticing from awareness in SLA. According to him, noticing refers to “the process of bringing some stimulus into focal attention, i.e. registering its simple occurrence, whether voluntarily or involuntarily” (p. 17). Awareness, as Schmidt argues, refers to our explicit knowledge of language or our “awareness of rules or generalization” (p. 18). Schmidt (1994) introduced the notion of noticing hypothesis and argued that noticing is the necessary and sufficient condition for the conversion of input into intake for learning. However, he modified his hypothesis and view later and argued that more noticing leads to more learning. Such changes in the theories of second language acquisition led to the introduction of the idea of “Focus on Form” (FOF) versus the traditional view of “Focus on Forms” (FOFs) toward teaching second/foreign languages. According to Long (1991), focus on forms refers to a traditional approach in which teacher presents learners with pre-selected and sequenced linguistic items. Also, as Ellis et al (2002) argues focus on forms refers to the selection of linguistic forms in advance which is based upon structural syllabus in which a main focus is on linguistic features of the language and the forms of the language are treated in systematic, intensive manner. Furthermore, Ellis (2012) argues that focus on form is an approach which involves “an effort to cause incidental acquisition via instruction by drawing learners’ attention to linguistic features while they are engaged in communication” (p. 272). He also defines focus on forms as an approach in which “the chief goal is to help learners master the linguistic forms listed in the syllabus through making the linguistic goal of each lesson quite clear” (p. 272). Besides, one of the many variables influencing L2 learners’ language performance is proficiency level. It is one of the issues included in discussions of language learners’ performance. In general, it is expected that advanced language learners would outperform learners with lower level of language proficiency level on a given language task. The idea behind this expectation is that because advanced language learners are expected to be competent in the language; hence, they are able to perform better. The studies which have studied the issue of second language proficiency have supported hypothesis that higher second language proficiency levels promote SL learners’ awareness of linguistic features and the grammatical accuracy and indicate more correct sentence-level syntax (Savignon, 2005). These paradoxical findings in the current literature induce more studies on the degree to which second language learners’ proficiency levels in SL can affect their language and task performance. These studies and their findings support the threshold hypothesis proposed by Cummins (1976) which was suggested to explain the results achieved in the previous studies which indicated bilingual children performing at lower levels than monolingual children. B. Statement of the Problem In current SLA research as well as language pedagogy several attempts have been made to investigate different aspects of and approaches to second language acquisition (Krashen and Terrel, 1983; Swain, 1985; Schmidt, 1990, 1994; Doughty, 1991; Spada, 1997; Long and Robinson, 1998; Doughty and Williams, 1998; White, 1998; Mackey et al, 2002; Ellis, 2001, 2002; Nassaji, 2007; Rahimpour, 2008, 2010; Salemi et al, 2012). These studies have reported different and significant findings with regard to the role of different approaches to second or foreign language teaching in L2 learners’ language performance. Also, many researchers, in the past two decades, have been very interested in investigating the role of noticing and focus on form in second language acquisition (Swain, 1985; Schmidt, 1994; Harley, 1998; Doughty and Williams, 1998; Long and Robinson, 1998; Mackey et al, 2000; Ellis, 2002; Ellis et al, 2002; Leowen, 2003, 2005; Rahimpour, 2008, 2010; Salemi et.al, 2012). The findings of these studies have indicated that focus on form or form-focused instruction can have significant effects on L2 learners’ language and task performance. Furthermore, in the literature of language teaching and learning, several studies have been conducted on the effects of L2 learners’ proficiency level on their language learning and performance. However, there exists a gap in the literature on the effects of focus on form or form-focused instruction along with L2 learners’ proficiency level on their written or oral task production. Therefore, the present study was an attempt to fill the existing gap in the literature and investigate the effects of focus on form and proficiency level on EFL learners’ written performance in terms of accuracy. C. Significance of the Study Considering the plethora of studies conducted in the field of second language acquisition, it can be concluded that SLA is a burgeoning area of research. Although there have been many studies attempting to investigate different aspects of SLA, there are some kinds of gap in the literature with regard to some aspects of L2 learners’ language acquisition and performance. The previous studies undertaken to investigate the effects of focus on form instruction on L2 learners’ language learning and task performance have addressed different aspects of language learning; however, there have been few studies on the joint effects of focus on form instruction and L2 learners’ proficiency level on their language learning and oral or written task production. The purpose and significance of the present study was to conduct a research on the joint effects of focus on form and language proficiency on L2 learners’ written task accuracy and fill part of the existing gap in the literature. Moreover, the findings of the study have some implications for second language acquisition researchers, second language teachers in EFL contexts, and syllabus designers. II. LITERATURE REVIEW © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 831 A. Focus on Form Studies In a study on the effect of form-focused instruction on language learners’ accuracy, Ellis (1984) reported that three hours of instruction directed at 'wh-' questions did not enable child ESL learners to produce the structure more accurately in a communicative game. Long (1988) looked into the effects of form-focused instruction on the processes, route and rate of L2 learning as well as the ultimate level of attainment. He found that the provision of formal instruction was beneficial in both cases and hypothesized that native-like levels of communicative competence may not be achievable through exposure alone. In a study Ellis (1993) studied the impact of explicit feedback on three groups of learners receiving explicit training on Walsh morphology in three different forms. The first group received random extensive instances of the language; the second group received only rule training, and the third a mixture of rules and instances. After the experiment, it was reported that the mixed group outperformed the other two groups in a wellformedness test. Carrol and Swain (1993) also conducted a study with one hundred Spanish adult ESL learners at intermediate level on dative verbs, investigating four types of feedbacks including metalinguistic, explicit, recast, and indirect metalinguistic feedback. The groups received two feedback sessions which were followed by a recall employing tests that production tasks were elicited after every feedback session. The findings of their study showed that all the groups performed better than the control group on both recall tasks. Group which received metalinguistic feedback outperformed the others. Spada and Lightbown (1993) report a study aimed at investigating the contribution of form-focused instruction and corrective feedback in the context of a communicative program to the development of interrogative constructions in the oral performance of ESL learners in Canada. Results seem to lend further support to the hypothesis that classroom instruction has a positive effect on learners' proficiency both in the short and the long (5 months) term. Nagata (1993) studied the effects of explicit corrective feedback on 32 junior students learning Japanese passive structures, verbal predicates, and particles. The first group received what was missing not expected, and the second group received the same type of feedback in addition to the metalinguistic explanations. The results of the study proved significant differences between the performances of two groups and group B outperformed group A on the particles, but not on the verbal predicates. Dekeyser (1995) and Robinson (1995, 1996) reported upon the effects of implicit and explicit focus on form to see which type of corrective feedback is more effective. The results of the studies showed that explicit focus on form instruction led to more beneficial effects than did implicit learning. Long (1983) in an influential paper concluded that "there is considerable evidence to indicate that SL instruction does make a difference" (p.374). The results of eleven carried out studies proved that instruction was advantageous 1) for children as well as adults, 2) for both intermediate and advanced levels, and 3) acquisition rich and as well as acquisition poor environments. Ellis (2002) reviewed eight form-focused instruction studies. He concluded that form-focused instruction can contribute to the acquisition of second language. He argued that form-focused instruction involving extensive instruction directed at simple structures was more likely to succeed in developing implicit knowledge. Sanz (2003) studied the effects of explicit metalinguistic and implicit feedback on 28 Spanish freshmen on pronouns. The results of the study revealed improvement in their ability with no difference between the L2 groups. Leowen (2003) studied and examined the effectiveness of incidental focus on form in promoting SL development. Seventeen hours of naturally occurring, meaning-focused L2 lessons were observed in 12 different classes of young adults in New Zealand. The results of the study showed that second language learners were able to recall most of the linguistic information one day after the form-focused instruction and half of the time two weeks later. Han (2002) investigated a small-scale study of eight sessions studying the effect of recast on second language development on verb tense. One group received recast as the treatment on their erroneous utterances while the other received no recast. The result of the study showed that learners receiving recast led to more L2 learner awareness of target language forms and they had considerable improvement in the tense consisting of oral vs. written performance. Additionally, individualized attention, consistent focus, developmental readiness, and intensity were identified as necessary conditions to facilitate recast in the study. According to Izumi and Bigelow (2000), noticing led to learning as well, but this was facilitated by the type of task being used to produce noticing, since in order to encourage learners to notice the discrepancies between their own output and reformulated output, reformulation can be used to increase their awareness which in turn influences language development. Baraidi (2002) investigated the existence and short term use of recasts among English native speaker and Japanese non-native speaker students. The results of the experiment revealed that recasts do occur and that they are used in the short term. The findings of the study presents that recasts are obviously of some use to second language learners. White (1991) using an intact group design investigated the effect of formal instruction plus corrective feedback with three other groups who received no instruction. After the treatment the group with formal instruction showed more accuracy in written as well as oral test. Rahimpour and Maghsoudpour (2011) conducted a study to investigate teacherstudents’ interactions in task-based and form-focused instruction. The participants of their study were two groups of intermediate English learners. They reported that form-focused instruction led to more teacher-student interaction than task-based approach. Abdolmanafi (2012) investigated the effects of form-focused instruction on the learning of relative clauses. To this end, intact university classes of English learners were divided into three groups receiving different forms of instruction. Accuracy of the target form was measured by two distinct tasks of sentence combining test and grammaticality judgment test. The results of the two tests show improvement of all three groups, the focus on form treatment group outperformed the other two on both tests, however. The findings of the study also suggest that learners’ attention to the analysis of form in detail facilitates the learning of relative clauses. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 832 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Rahimi and Riasati (2012) investigated the effect of explicit instruction of discourse markers on the quality of oral output. The participants of their study were forty Iranian EFL learners both male and female. The participants of the study were randomly assigned into two groups of twenty. The participants of the control group who attended the speaking course did not receive any explicit instruction on discourse markers, while the participants in the experimental group who attended the same course, were explicitly instructed on discourse markers. The experimental group received five sessions of explicit instruction on discourse markers, taking 20 minutes of the class time. Their findings indicated that the learners of the control group who received implicit instruction on discourse markers didn’t employ discourse markers very often in their speech. While, the participants in the experimental group, who were explicitly instructed on discourse markers, employed discourse markers very often in their speech. They finally concluded that explicit teaching of discourse markers to learners in the experimental group was effective on the final oral production of language learners. Rahimpour, Salimi, and Farrokhi (2012a) investigated the effect of intensive and extensive focus on form on EFL learners’ written accuracy. They randomly chose forty learners of English as the participants of their study. The participants of the study were randomly divided into two groups. They employed a pictorial narrative task as the means of data collection. They found that there were significant differences between the performances of the two groups in terms of accuracy. Rahimpour, Salimi, and Farrokhi (2012b) studied the effects of intensive and extensive form-focused instruction on L2 learners’ oral task performance in terms of accuracy. They randomly chose forty learners of English as the participants of their study. The participants of the study were randomly divided into two groups. A pictorial narrative task was employed as the means of the data collection. The results of the study revealed no differences between the performances of two groups in terms of the accuracy in oral narrative task. However, the result of statistical analysis for the delayed post-test in focused intensive task was significant. Rahimpour, Salimi, and Farrokhi (2012c) studied the effects of planned and unplanned form-focused strategies on L2 learners’ oral task performance in terms of accuracy. The participants of their study were sixty learners of English with pre-intermediate proficiency level. The participants were randomly assigned into three groups of planned, unplanned, and control. All the groups were taught for twenty sessions with different strategies. The findings of their study indicated that there were differences between the performances of the three groups in terms of accuracy of oral task production. Salemi et al (2012) studied the effects of explicit and implicit instruction and feedback on the development of Persian EFL learners’ pragmatic competence in suggestion structures. The participants of their study included 100 EFL learners of intermediate language proficiency level who were randomly assigned into four experimental and one control groups. The experimental groups attended in two twenty-minute successive sessions. The participants in the study in different groups received the following instructions and feedback types. The first experimental group received explicit instruction and explicit feedbacks, the second experimental group received explicit instruction and implicit feedbacks and the other two experimental groups were instructed through implicit-explicit and implicit-implicit instruction and feedbacks, respectively. The findings of their study revealed that the learners participating in explicit-explicit method of instruction performed better than the learners of the other groups. B. Proficiency Level Studies Among several variables which can affect language learners’ performance, the level of proficiency language has been one of the variables which have been considered in investigating learners’ performance. It is expected that learners of high proficiency level would have better performance on language tasks. This is because high proficient learners are expected to have high competence in language; therefore, they can outperform other learners who are of low proficiency level. There have been some studies on the effects of proficiency level of language learners on their task performance (Carrell and Connor, 1991). Cumming (1989) investigated the effects of proficiency level on composition writing second language learners on different types of written task. In his study he employed different tasks namely, argument, summary and letter writing tasks. He found that proficiency level of language learners had significant effects on their written task performance. In another study, Carrell and Connor (1991) studied the effects of second language learners’ proficiency level on written task performance. They employed narrative and argumentative writing tasks in their study. They also reported significant differences between language learners’ proficiency level and their task production. According to Savignon (2005), the findings of studies conducted on language proficiency of learners and their language and task performance support the idea that second language learners of high proficiency levels have higher awareness of grammatical accuracy and demonstrate more accurate language performance. Some other studies (Cenoz and Valencia, 1994; Lasagabester, 2000; Sanz, 2000) investigated the effects of proficiency level o bilingual language learners on acquisition of third language, i.e. English. The findings of these studies indicated that learners with a good proficiency in two languages could learn English as a third language better than the others. The findings of these studies are in agreement with the threshold hypothesis (Cummins, 1976). Cummins (1976) offered the threshold hypothesis to explain the findings of the former studies which showed that bilingual language learners perform at lower levels than monolingual language learners. According to this hypothesis, bilinguals need to obtain a specific proficiency level before any cognitive benefits become evident. In fact, as it is stated in this hypothesis, there are some thresholds for bilingual second language learners. The first threshold is bilingual children who have low levels of competence in both languages, they are called limited bilinguals. This can lead to negative cognitive effects. The second threshold refers to bilinguals who have age-appropriate competence in one of the languages. In such bilingual statue one language will be somewhat weak and therefore the cognitive effects are neither positive nor negative. The third threshold is © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 833 bilinguals who have age-appropriate competence in both languages. They are also known as proficient bilinguals. These bilingual language learners are likely to demonstrate positive cognitive effects (Cummins, 1976). There are other studies which have examined the acquisition of specific features in a third language. Klein (1995) investigated monolingual and multilingual learners’ acquisition of specific properties in both lexical learning and syntactic learning. She reported that the multilingual learners outperformed the monolinguals in acquiring specific features of the third language. Also, Fewell (2010) investigated language learning strategies and language proficiency in EFL Japanese university students. He compared differences in language learning strategies use and English language proficiency levels. He found that the selection of language learning strategies can be a crucial source of learners’ success or failure in their language performance. Among several variables which can affect language learners’ performance, the level of proficiency language has been one of the variables which have been considered in investigating learners’ performance. It is expected that learners of high proficiency level would have better performance on language tasks. This is because high proficient learners are expected to have high competence in language; therefore, they can outperform other learners who are of low proficiency level. There have been some studies on the effects of proficiency level of language learners on their task performance (Cumming, 1989; Carrell and Connor, 1991). Cumming (1989) investigated the effects of proficiency level on composition writing second language learners on different types of written task. In his study he employed different tasks namely, argument, summary and letter writing tasks. He found that proficiency level of language learners had significant effects on their written task performance. In another study, Carrell and Connor (1991) studied the effects of second language learners’ proficiency level on written task performance. They employed narrative and argumentative writing tasks in their study. They also reported significant differences between language learners’ proficiency level and their task production. According to Savignon (2005), the findings of studies conducted on language proficiency of learners and their language and task performance support the idea that second language learners of high proficiency levels have higher awareness of grammatical accuracy and demonstrate more accurate language performance. Some other studies (Cenoz and Valencia, 1994; Lasagabester, 2000, Sanz, 200) investigated the effects of proficiency level o bilingual language learners on acquisition of third language, i.e. English. The findings of these studies indicated that learners with a good proficiency in two languages could learn English as a third language better than the others. The findings of these studies are in agreement with the threshold hypothesis (Cummins, 1976). Cummins (1976) offered the threshold hypothesis to explain the findings of the former studies which showed that bilingual language learners perform at lower levels than monolingual language learners. According to this hypothesis, bilinguals need to obtain a specific proficiency level before any cognitive benefits become evident. In fact, as it is stated in this hypothesis, there are some thresholds for bilingual second language learners. The first threshold is bilingual children who have low levels of competence in both languages, they are called limited bilinguals. This can lead to negative cognitive effects. The second threshold refers to bilinguals who have age-appropriate competence in one of the languages. In such bilingual statue one language will be somewhat weak and therefore the cognitive effects are neither positive nor negative. The third threshold is bilinguals who have age-appropriate competence in both languages. They are also known as proficient bilinguals. These bilingual language learners are likely to demonstrate positive cognitive effects (Cummins, 1976). There are other studies which have examined the acquisition of specific features in a third language. Klein (1995) investigated monolingual and multilingual learners’ acquisition of specific properties in both lexical learning and syntactic learning. She reported that the multilingual learners outperformed the monolinguals in acquiring specific features of the third language. Also, Fewell (2010) investigated language learning strategies and language proficiency in EFL Japanese university students. He compared differences in language learning strategies use and English language proficiency levels. He found that the selection of language learning strategies can be a crucial source of learners’ success or failure in their language performance. III. RESEARCH QUESTION AND HYPOTHESIS The present study aimed at investigating the following research question and research hypotheses: RQ: What are the effects of form-focused instruction on L2 learners’ written task accuracy across different proficiency levels? H0: There aren’t any significant differences between form-focused instruction and L2 learners’ written task performance in terms of accuracy across different proficiency levels H1: High proficient L2 learners will outperform low proficient learners in terms of accuracy with form-focused instruction. H2: Low proficient learners receiving form-focused instruction will outperform low proficient learners receiving without form focused instruction. IV. METHODOLOGY A. Participants The participants of the study were sixty learners of English who were randomly chosen as the participants of the study. They were studying English in Iran National Language Institute, Miandoab Branch. Thirty of them were © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 834 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES intermediate and thirty were of advanced proficiency level. The participants of both intermediate and advanced level groups were divided into two subgroups of fifteen. One of the subgroups in each proficiency level received formfocused instruction while the other subgroup did not receive without form-focused instruction. B. Data Collection Instrument In order to collect the written data for the purpose of the study, a pictorial narrative task (Appendix 1) was employed as the means of the data collection. According to Skehan and Tavakoli (2005), a narrative task refers to the stories based upon an ordered set of picture prompts which are given to learners to elicit their task and language performance. It was tried to find the picture prompts which were clear and long enough and appropriate for the proficiency level of the learners of the study. At last, the task employed in the study had previously been used by other researchers (Rahimpour, Salimi, and Farrokhi, 2012) as a valid task. C. Procedure The main purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of form-focused instruction on L2 learners’ written task performance in terms of accuracy across different proficiency levels. Sixty learners of English attending conversation courses in Iran National Language Institute, Miandoab Branch were randomly chosen as the participants of the study. Thirty of them were of intermediate and thirty were of advanced proficiency level. The participants of both intermediate and advanced level groups were divided into two subgroups of fifteen. One of the subgroups in each proficiency level received form-focused instruction while the other subgroup did not receive form focused instruction. The participants of the study attended in 15 sessions of instruction. Interchange 2 book was used as the instructional material for intermediate level participants. For participants of advanced level passages 1 book were used as the instructional material. The participants received treatment on the past tense reference in English which was the form under the focus of study. Two experimental groups in each proficiency level were instructed in accordance with the principles of formfocused instruction while the other two groups which were considered as the control groups of the study did not receive form-focused instruction. At the end of the experiment, the participants of all groups were given a post-test. The posttest involved a pictorial narrative task which made them compose an essay on the task given. That is, the participants were asked to narrate the story of the picture prompts. The collected written data was analyzed and quantified according to the measure for accuracy introduced by Ellis (2003) which was error-free T-units per T-units. D. Testing Instrument The collected written data from the participants was measured according to the element of written production of accuracy. The raw scores of the participants are presented in the appendix part of the thesis in table 1. The table involves the raw scores of the participants of both advanced and intermediate proficiency level groups with and without focus on form in terms of accuracy. V. DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS Table 1shows the mean differences of accuracy of low proficient learners with and without form-focused instruction. TABLE 1. THE MEAN DIFFERENCES OF ACCURACY OF LOW PROFICIENT LEARNERS WITH AND WITHOUT FORM -FOCUSED INSTRUCTION Proficiency level N Mean Std. Deviation Intermediate +FOF 15 0.34 0.043 Intermediate -FOF 15 0.28 0.047 According to the presented in table one, it was indicated that low proficient learners receiving form-focused instruction outperformed low proficient learners who did not receive form-focused instruction in terms of accuracy of written task performance. That is, low proficient learners with form-focused instruction produced more accurate language (0.34) than low proficient learners without form-focused instruction (0.28). Figure one vividly shows the mean differences of low proficient learners with and without form-focused instruction. Figure 1. The mean differences of accuracy of intermediate learners with and without form-focused instruction © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 835 Besides, the results of Independent Samples T-test for comparing the means of accuracy of low proficient learners with and without form-focused instruction are presented in the following table. TABLE 2. INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T-TEST FOR THE MEANS OF ACCURACY OF INTERMEDIATE LEARNERS WITH AND WITHOUT FORM -FOCUSED INSTRUCTION Levene’s Test for T-test Equality of Means Equality of Variances F Sig. t df Sig (2Mean Std. Error tailed) Difference Difference Equal variances assumed 0.037 0.85 3.37 28 0.002 0.05 0.01 Equal variances not 3.37 27.85 0.002 0.05 0.01 assumed Table 2 indicates the results of statistical analysis of Independent Samples T-test to test the third hypothesis. The results indicated that there was a trend toward significance between the performances of low proficient learners in terms of accuracy of written task performance with and without form-focused instruction. Moreover, table three shows the results of Post Hoc Tukey test for the comparison of means of accuracy of low proficient learner with and without form-focused instruction. TABLE 3. POST HOC TUKEY TEST FOR THE MEANS OF ACCURACY OF LOW PROFICIENT LEARNERS WITH AND WITHOUT FORM -FOCUSED INSTRUCTION 95% Confidence Interval (J) Focus on Mean Difference Form (I-J) (I) Focus on Form Std. Error Sig. Lower Bound Upper Bound Int+FOF Adv+FOF -0.1260* 0.03 0.002 -0.21 -0.03 Adv-FOF -0.0320 0.03 0.76 -0.11 0.05 Int-FOF 0.0560 0.03 0.33 -0.03 0.14 The data presented in tables 2 and 3 indicated that there was a slight difference between the performances of low proficient learners in terms of accuracy of written task production with and without form-focused instruction. That is, low proficient learners receiving form-focused instruction outperformed low proficient learners who did not receive form-focused instruction in terms of accuracy of written task performance. Therefore, our null hypothesis was accepted and our third hypothesis claiming “low proficient learners receiving form-focused instruction will outperform low proficient learners receiving without form focused instruction” was rejected. Table 4 shows the differences of the means of accuracy of high and low proficient learners with and without formfocused instruction. TABLE 4. THE MEAN DIFFERENCES OF ACCURACY OF HIGH AND LOW PROFICIENT LEARNERS WITH AND WITHOUT FORM -FOCUSED INSTRUCTION Proficiency level N Mean Std. Deviation Advanced +FOF 15 0.46 0.12 Advanced -FOF 15 0.37 0.10 Intermediate +FOF 15 0.34 0.043 Intermediate -FOF 15 0.28 0.047 According to the data presented in table 4, it was revealed that high proficient learners receiving form-focused instruction produced the most accurate language (0.46) and the low proficient learners who did not receive formfocused instruction produced the least accurate language (0.28). Figure 2 clearly indicates the mean differences of accuracy of high and low proficient learners with and without form-focused instruction. Figure 2. The mean differences of accuracy of advanced and intermediate learners with and without form-focused instruction. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 836 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES According to the above figure, it is evident that FOF effectiveness has a positive relationship with the proficiency of L2 learners. As proficiency develops, FOF becomes more effective. VI. DISCUSSION Regarding the effects of form-focused instruction on accuracy of low proficient learners with and without formfocused instruction, the data provided in tables 4.8 and 4.9 and figure 4.3 revealed that there was no significant difference between the performances of low proficient learners in terms of accuracy of written task production. That is, the learners of low proficiency level group receiving form-focused instruction slightly outperformed the low proficient learners who did not receive form-focused instruction. Therefore, our null hypothesis was accepted. The findings of the present study in terms of accuracy of the low proficient learners with and without form-focused instruction are in line with Ellis (1984), Sanz (2003), and Rahimpour et al (2012b). Sanz (2003) studied the effects of explicit metalinguistic and implicit feedback on 28 Spanish freshmen on pronouns. The results of the study revealed improvement in their ability with no difference between the L2 groups. Rahimpour et al (2012b) studied the effects of intensive and extensive form-focused instruction on L2 learners’ oral task performance in terms of accuracy. The findings of the study indicated that there were no differences between the performances of the two groups in terms of the accuracy in oral narrative task. However, the result of statistical analysis for the delayed post-test in focused intensive task was significant. However, the findings of the study in terms of accuracy of low proficient learners with and without form-focused instruction ran against the findings of Spada (1987), Long (1983), Leowen (2003), White (1991), Abdolmanafi (2012), Rahimi and Riasati (2012), Rahimpour et al (2012c), and Salemi et al (2012). White (1991) using an intact group design investigated the effect of formal instruction plus corrective feedback with three other groups who received no instruction. After the treatment the group with formal instruction showed more accuracy in written as well as oral test. Abdolmanafi (2012) investigated the effects of form-focused instruction on the learning of relative clauses. To this end, intact university classes of English learners were divided into three groups receiving different forms of instruction. Accuracy of the target form was measured by two distinct tasks of sentence combining test and grammaticality judgment test. The results of the two tests show improvement of all three groups, the focus on form treatment group outperformed the other two on both tests, however. This study also suggests that learners’ attention to detailed analysis of form facilitates the learning of relative clauses in this context. Salemi et al (2012) studied the effects of explicit and implicit instruction and feedback on the development of Persian EFL learners’ pragmatic competence in suggestion structures. The participants of their study included 100 EFL learners of intermediate language proficiency level who were randomly assigned into four experimental and one control groups. The experimental groups attended in two twenty-minute successive sessions. The participants in the study in different groups received the following instructions and feedback types. The first experimental group received explicit instruction and explicit feedbacks, the second experimental group received explicit instruction and implicit feedbacks and the other two experimental groups were instructed through implicit-explicit and implicit-implicit instruction and feedbacks, respectively. The findings of their study revealed that the learners participating in explicit-explicit method of instruction performed better than the learners of the other groups. Considering the findings of the present study, it can be concluded that proficiency level and form-focused instruction can be influential on L2 learners’ written task performance in terms of accuracy, especially when learners are of high proficiency level. Since, according to the results and findings of the study, high proficient learners pay more attention to the forms of language than learners which are of low proficiency level. This could be attributed to the nature of competition between form and meaning. At elementary or low proficiency levels it seems that the learners need to pay attention to both meaning and form simultaneously resulting the low rate of accuracy. VII. PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS The present study and its findings have some implications for second language acquisition researchers, language teachers, and syllabus designers. For SLA researchers, the findings of the study can add to the current literature of SLA and provide some insights for other researchers in the field of second language acquisition. For language teachers, the findings of the present study can contribute them to provide learners of different proficiency level with different strategies of instruction in order to help them acquire the greatest amount of language proficiency and improve themselves. For syllabus designers, this study can provide them with some insights into how to design syllabus and tasks which are appropriate for language learners’ proficiency level and allow teachers to use them creatively with different strategies of instruction. REFERENCES [1] [2] Abdolmanafi, S. J. (2012). Effects of form-focused instruction on the learning of relative clauses. The Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 8 (1), 192-210. Braidi, S. (2002). Reexamining the role of recasts in native-speaker/non-native speaker interactions. Language Learning, 52, 142. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] 837 Carrell, P. L. and Connor, U. (1991). Reading and writing descriptive and persuasive texts. The Modern Language Journal, 75(3), 314-324. Carrol, S. and Swain, M. (1993). 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(2000). „Bilingual education enhances third language acquisition: Evidence from Catalonia. Psycholinguistics, 21, 23 – 44. [47] Sanz, C. (2003). Computer delivered implicit vs. explicit feedback in processing instruction. In B. Van Patten (Ed.), Processing instruction: Theory, research, and commentary. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. [48] Savignon, S. J. (2005). Communicative Language Teaching: Strategies and Goals. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 635-651). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. [49] Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 11, 129-158. [50] Schmidt, R. (1994). “Implicit Learning and the cognitive unconscious: of artificial grammars and SLA”. In N.C. Ellis (Ed.), Implicit and explicit learning of Languages (pp. 165-209). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. [51] Schmidt, R. , and Frota , S. ( 1986 ). Developing basic conversational ability in a second language. In R. Day (Ed.), Talking to learn (pp. 237 – 326). Rowley, MA: Newbury House . [52] Schmidt, R. , and Frota , S. ( 1986 ). Developing basic conversational ability in a second language. In R. Day (Ed.), Talking to learn (pp. 237 – 326). Rowley, MA: Newbury House . [53] Spada, N. (1997). Form-focused instruction and second language acquisition: A review of classroom and laboratory research. Language Teaching, 30, 73-87. [54] Spada, N., and Lightbown, P. (1993). Instruction and the development of question in the L2 classroom. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15, 205-221. [55] Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In S. Gass and Madden (Eds.). Input in second Language acquisition (pp. 235-253). Rowley, MA: New bury House. [56] White, R. (1988). The ELT Curriculum: Design, Innovation, and Management. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. [57] White, L. (1991). Adverb placement in second language acquisition: Some effects of positive and negative evidence in the classroom. Second Language Research, 7, 133-161. Asghar Salimi is a PhD in applied linguistics from University of Tabriz. He has been teaching English for over 10 years. He is currently a faculty member and assistant professor of applied linguistics at the University of Maragheh. He has presented and published more than twenty papers in different national and international conferences and journals in different countries. His main areas of interest are task-based learning and teaching, syllabus design, and Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Alireza Bonyadi was born in 1964 in Urmia, Iran. In March, 2011, he earned his PhD in Teaching English as a Second Language from faculty of education university of Malaya, Kualalumpur, Malaysia. Presently he is the Head of English Department at Science and Research Branch of IAU, Azarbaijan-e-gharbi. He has published several research papers in scholastic journals some of them have been listed below: (2003) Translation: Back from Siberia. Translation Journal. Vol.7, No. 3, July. (2010) The Rhetorical properties of Schematic structures of Newspaper Editorials: A comparative study of English and Persian editorials. Discourse and Communication. (2011) Linguistic nature of presupposition in newspaper editorials. International Journal of Linguistics Vol. 3, No. 1. His research interests include Discourse Analysis, Translation Studies and Language Teaching methodology. Dr. Bonyadi is presently an academic member of faculty of humanities in IAU, Urmia, Iran Atefeh Asghari is an M.A in TEFL. She holds an M.A from Islamic Azad University, Urmia Branch. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 839-844, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.839-844 Group-based Formative Assessment: A Successful Way to Make Summative Assessment Effective Haishen Yu Hebei Normal University for Nationalities, Chengde, Hebei, China Hongmei Li Chengde No. 12 Middle School, Chengde, Hebei, China Abstract—In this study, I mainly examine the effectiveness of group-based self-assessment of exam review with regard to improvement in comprehension. Furthermore, I also examined students’ perception of this method. Some students worked collaboratively to review an exam through group-based formative assessment activity, while the other students reviewed the exam without the group-based formative assessment activity. All of them retook the exam with the same content with scrambled response options. The result shows that students exposed to the group-based formative assessment method demonstrated an improvement of over 10% in their test scores, whereas scores for students in the control group (class two) improved by only 2.4%. In other words, students subjected to the group-based formative assessment method performed significantly better than the control class. The results of the student survey also favored the group-based formative assessment activity. Index Terms—group-based formative assessment, examreview, effectiveness I. INTRODUCTION Recently, more and more educatiors began to recognize the important role of assessment in the process of learning. However, not all the people have understood the meaning and the purpose of assessment. Cizek (1997) defined the assessment as “the planned process of gathering and synthesizing information relevant to the purposes of (a) discovering and documenting students’ strengths and weaknesses, (b) planning and enhancing instruction, or (c) evaluating progress and making decisions about students”(p. 5). From this definition, we can have an understanding of the purpose of assessment. However, according to Torrance and Pryor (1998), many teachers they interviewed “seemed to regard „assessment’ as a distinct activity from „teaching’ … rather than to benefit themselves and/or their pupils” and “assessment was perceived as a formal activity oriented to producing valid and reliable summative measures of performance”(p. 43). Surely assessment can be regarded as the summative measurement or evaluative method of the student’s learning and achievement. But, assessment can play more important role in the learning. That is the formative use of assessment. Many people still do not fully understand the formative assessment, so there is a need to show an explanation of formative assessment. In this essay, I will make a discussion on formative assessment. In the first part, I will make a literature review of formative assessment. Next, the combination of formative assessment and summative assessment will be discussed. Finally, I will make a study to examine the effectiveness of group-based formative assessment with regard to students’ improvements in comprehension. II. THE LITERATURE REVIEW OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT A. The Concept of Formative Assessment Formative assessment is generally defined as the process “taking place during a course with the express purpose of improving pupil learning” (Torrance and Pryor, 1998, p. 8). According to Bell and Cowie (1999), formative assessment is “the process used by teachers and students to recognise and respond to student learning in order to enhance that learning, during the learning” (p. 198). Carol (2002) regard formative assessment as a diagnostic use of assessment to provide feedback to teachers and students over the course of instruction. Black (2003) reclaims the extend definition of formative assessment, “assessment for learning is any assessment for which the first priority in its design and practice is to serve the purpose of promoting pupils’ learning” (p. 3) . B. The Key Components of Formative Assessment According to McCallum (2000), key components of formative assessment can be described as: regular planned „assessment incidents’; regular pupil self-assessment; feedback for learning; adjusting teaching to take account of the results of assessment. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 840 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 1. Regular planned „assessment incidents’ McCallum (2000) has shown the evidence that regular and planned assessment incidents are part of formative assessment. If teachers were made more conscious of the pupil organization and lesson structure, they could make even short interactions more formatively useful. Assessment incidents are focused on small group tasks seems reasonable; Open-style activities offering the opportunity for collaboration are more useful; McCallum (2000) argues that an overt listener-observer/note-taker role is essential to learn about how and what pupils know, understand and can do. But the teacher also needs to use questions to provoke thinking. „Observe, wait, listen, question’ is a useful sequence to follow; Assessment incidents need to be systematically planned and carried out several times a week. 2. Regular pupil self-assessment Black and wiliam (1998) states that the link of formative assessment to self-assessment is not an accident-it is indeed inevitable. McCallum (2000) claims that regular pupil self-assessment is an important part of formative assessment. Black and wiliam (1998) emphasize the importance of training the students’ self-assessment ability. “For formative assessment to be productive, pupils should be trained in self-assessment so that they can understand the main purposes of their learning and thereby grasp what they need to do to achieve” (Black and Wiliam, 1998, p. 141). They also claim “self-assessment by pupils… is in fact an essential component of formative assessment” (Black and Wiliam, 1998, p. 141). Self-assessment should involve both reflection on one’s learning strategies and analysis of one’s work. 3. Feedback for learning Sadler (1989) assert that the feedback about the students’ efforts in learning has three elements- the desired goal, the evidence about their present position, and some understanding of a way to close the gap between the two. The teacher should focus feedback on tasks and the learning strategies used by students; the teacher should use descriptive feedback that gives details of why answers are correct or wrong; the teacher should also consider of the public/private and oral/written dimensions of feedback and how feedback could be tailored to individuals. Bell and Cowie (1999) stress that feedback is an essential component of formative assessment interaction (Clarke, 1995; Sadler, 1989 cited by Bell and Cowie, 1999) 4. Adjusting teaching to take account of the results of assessment The purpose of formative assessment is to promote the students’ learning through the feedback from both the teacher and the students. In order to achieve this purpose, the teacher must adjust the teaching from time to time to close the gap between the students’ desired goal and their present position. According to the feedback teachers should adjust their teaching way from delivery of learning to guiding and coaching students own learning activity. C. The categories of formative assessment According to Bell and Cowie (1999), two forms of formative assessment has been using by the teachers and students in the classroom. That is planned formative assessment and interactive formative assessment. “The process of planned formative assessment was characterized by the teachers eliciting, interpreting and acting on assessment information” (Bell and Cowie, 1999, p. 203). The assessment was planned by the teacher before the class. In order to realize the purpose for promoting the students’ learning, the teacher should elicit the question at the beginning of the class, and then collect the information about students learning according to their feedback, so the teacher can determine his action on the content of the class. The process of this assessment can circle around during the whole class. Interactive formative assessment always takes place during student-teacher interactions. The details of interactive formative assessment are not planned and cannot be anticipated. According to Bell and Cowie (1999), the process of interactive formative assessment involves the teachers noticing, recognizing and responding to student thinking during the interactions. In order to realize the purpose for promoting the students’ learning, the teacher should notice the students’ problem during their interaction, and then recognize that some teaching is required, so the teacher will resolve the problem as a response. Bell and Cowie (1999) state that the main distinction between planned and interactive formative assessment are the degree and type of planning done by the teachers and the purpose of the formative assessment. The teachers can make a detailed plan for the planned formative assessment in advance of a lesson. They can make a plan of the specific activities in the class, such as what kind of information to get; how to get the information. This kind of formative assessment is more formal. The planning of interactive formative assessment is not so concrete. The teachers can just prepare to notice and recognize the students’ ideas and plan to respond to them. It can not be anticipated because it usually happens during the halfway of the lesson. Sometimes the teachers have to change the purpose and plan of that class. So it is more intuition.The purpose of planned formative assessment is to gain the information about the progress of the learning from all the students in order to promote the learning. This is the initial purpose of the lesson. The purpose of interactive formative assessment is to reconcile the learning of individual students. The purpose of interactive formative assessment evolves or emerges from what was happening in the lesson. III. THE COMBINATION OF SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT AND FORMATIVE ASSENMENT Assessment techniques have long been used to monitor student learning by educators. These techniques are often used in the form of summative assessment, which consists of examinations of student learning. Summative assessment “generally takes place after a period of instruction and requires making a judgment about the learning that has occurred” © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 841 (Carol, 2002, p. 9). The goal of summative assessment is to “measure and communicate pupil performance for the purpose of certification and accountability” (Torrance and Pryor, 1998, p. 8). Summative assessment is used to summarizs students’ achievement, usually in the form of grades. (Bloom, Hastings, & Madaus, 1971). The original purpose of summative assessment was to differentiate among students with regard to level of achievement (Wininger, 2005). However, assessment can serve many purposes in educational settings. Formative assessment provides feedback about learning progress in order to improve learning and instruction to both student and teacher. Wininger and Norman (2005) defined Formative assessment as the measurement of student progress before or during instruction for the purpose of modifying instruction and improving student performance. Reviews of studies on formative assessment reveal that classroom use of formative assessment results in substantial learning gains (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Fuchs & Fuchs, 1986). Formative assessment is both a measure of student achievement and a means for instructors to assess their instructional practices and for students to monitor their own learning strategies, with the goal of increasing student performance (Wininger & Norman, 2005). There are mainly two distinctions between summative assessment and formative assessment. First, the main distinction between the two types of assessment is the purpose of the assessment. Summative assessment is for certification and accountability and the purpose of formative assessment is to improve the students’ learning. Second, the two types of assessment are carried out in different time. “Summative assessment is generally considered to be undertaken at the end of a course or programme of study” (Torrance and Pryor, 1998, p. 8). Formative assessment generally happens during the process of the course or learning. Wininger (2005) proposed a combination of assessment techniques through formative summative assessment . According to Wininger, formative summative assessment entails reviewing exams with students so that they get feedback about their comprehension of concepts. Wininger evaluated the synthesis of summative assessment and formative assessment in an empirical way with very promising results. Wininger (2005) found that his method of reviewing exams with his undergraduate psychology students, which prompted analysis and critical thinking, was regarded favorably by the students and resulted in greater retention of concepts. IV. PROVIDING EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK BY GROUP-BASED SELF-ASSESSMENT The over use of summative assessment without student feedback have been criticized by researchers during the past few years. It means that the practice of giving exams for the purpose of assessment without providing feedback on the examination material is denounced. Wiliam &Black (1996) states that a notable feature of formative assessment is feedback—both to the instructor and to the student—about the learning process. We think of feedback as essential for learning. D. Royce Sadler(1989) tried to show why students so often failed to improve, even when teachers provided accurate feedback. Sadler (1989) argued that it was insufficient simply to point out right and wrong answers to students. Feedback is very effective for students to close the gap between their current and expected performance. Biggs (1998) suggest that formative assessmentis a very effective practice to enhance student learning. Black & Wiliam (1998) and Fuchs & Fuchs (1986) have proved that formative assessment can be more effective to improve student performance. Sadler (1989) wanted to develop evaluative expertise in students so they could become proficient at monitoring their own learning. Student self-assessment is not about saving teachers from the work of grading papers. It can be a deeply principled practice that serves both metacognitive and motivational purposes when used in a way that develops student thinking. Self-assessment makes students more conscious about their own learning and inhance the relationship between teacher and student. Klenowski (1995) reports that students are more clearabout the assessment criteria and became more reflective in their judgments. Students are more interested in teacher comments and feedback than in grades. According to Harton, Richardson, Barreras, Rockloff, & Latane (2002) and Woody, Woody, & Bromley (2008), collaboration is very effective to increase students’ performance. Harton, H. C., Richardson, D. S., Barreras, R. E., Rockloff, M. J., & Latane, B. (2002) made a study about an interactive learning technique in several undergraduate psychology classes and found that students’ performance greatly improved in content- focused discussions with other students. Crooks (1988) claims that students’ collaboration ability may also increase motivation, develop self-evaluation skills and improve interpersonal relationships. In the first stage of this study, I mainly examine the effectiveness of group-based self-assessment of exam review with regard to improvements in comprehension. Futhermore, I also examined students’ perception of this group-based formative assessment method. V. METHOD A. Participants Participants were 83 students who are studying in a middle school in a small city in North of China. They are from two classes (class one with 41 students and class two with 42 students) of Grade Eight. The course of English for Class one met on 8:10 a.m. from Monday to Friday, and Class two’s English class met on 9:05 a.m from Monday to Friday. The period of each class is 45 minutes. The same English teacher taught both classes. The students (43 girls, 40 boys) had an average age of 14. All students attended the first exam and the review day, and all completed the postreview exam © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 842 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES (administered one week after the exam review day). The postreview examination in each class included questions based solely on the materials covered in that former exam. B. Procedure Students (in both calss one and two) took the first English exam (during each semester, students usually take four exams as summative assessment to evaluate teachers’s teaching and students’s learning by the school) consisting of multiple-choice, vocabulary and grammar, cloze, reading comprehension and writing. The exam content spanned two units. This exam was the students’ first in the class. When giving each exam, the English teacher told the students that the exam will be reviewed om the next class. The teacher used group-based formative assessment method in the 8:10 class (class one) . The teacher divided the students into groups of 4 or 5 persons. Each group was ensured to include at least 1 person at each grade level for the exam. There was at least 1 person 1 with a Pass, 1 with a Good, 1with an Excellence in each group. The teacher askeded students to work cooperatively and to consider the ideas of each group member before reaching a final answer. In each review class, students have 30 minutes to complete the activity and then were given the correct answers for all questions. For the 9:05 class (class two) , the teacher gave each student a copy of his or her own exam and at the same time, the correct answer was given to the students. The teacher instructed students to use their notes and books to answer all of the questions from the exam. The teacher instructed students to ask questions for clarification or understanding. They also received the same amount of time (30 minutes) to go over the exams. Students took the same exam again one week after the reviewing of the exam. All the students of the two classes did not know that they would retake the exam before the class in which they took it. However, the 8:10 a.m. class received the group-based formative assessment method argue that the 9:05 a.m. class may have known about the retake from the 8:10 a.m. class, so that students in the 9:05 a.m. class have time to study for the retake briefly. In addition, to be fair to the 9:05 a.m. class, they did receive the group-based formative assessment method after the retake. C. Measures The effectiveness of the group-based formative assessment method was measured through two ways: postreview tests and anonymous surveys of student opinions. 1. Postreview test To measure learning and undersdanding of key knowledge related specifically to the exam review sessions, the teacher asked the students to retake the exam one week after the review day. The options of the response on the retake exam were scrambled, but the exams were exactly the same in content. 2. Student surveys In order to assess whether the group-based formative assessment exam review activity useful and enjoyable for the students, students at 8:10 ( class one ) completed surveys anonymously after the retake of the exam. Six scaled questions and one open-ended question for general comments were included in the surveys. (see Table 1) TABLE 1. MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS FOR STUDENT EVALUATION OF GROUP -BASED FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY Questions M SD 1. Review the exam in groups helps me to understand. 4.51 .55 2. I like discussing and learning with classmates. 4.12 .97 3. I think there is a chance to ask questions during the review. 4.27 .78 4. Review the exam in groups is a worthwhile use of class time. 4.32 .65 5.I want to study in groups for the next exam 4.18 .96 6. I would like this group-based formative assessment activity in other classes. 4.34 .81 Note. The scale ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) and 5 (strongly agree). VI. RESULTS A. Quantitative Analysis of Student Learning The average scores for each class on the initial administration of the exam were 78.2 for class one and 79.1 for class two. Average scores on the retake were 88.3 for class one and 81.5 for class two. There were no significant differences between the two classes on the initial exam administration. However, students (in class one) who received the group-based formative assessment method scored significantly higher on the retake. They made an improvement of over 10% in their exam scores, whereas scores for students in class 2 improved by only 2.4%. In other words, students subjected to the group-based formative assessment method performed significantly better than the control class (class two). B. Student Surveys The results of the student survey also favored the group-based formative assessment activity. As shown in Table 1, students rated the group-based reviews favorably and similarly in terms of their overall usefulness. Students also indicated a high and similar level of interest in having more exam reviews after the review activity. Students’ responses in the survey indicated that they believe that the group-based formative assessment method made them become more clarified and understanding about the exam items. Students also found that they have made a good use of class time with this © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 843 method and that they expect this type of feedback being used in other classes. VII. DISCUSSION This study shows that formative feedback can also come from other students. In this study, students worked collaboratively to review an exam through group-based formative assessment activity. With regard to undersanding of key knowledge, The students who participated in the group-based formative assessment activity performed distinctively better (on average) on the retake of the same material exam one week later than they did on the initial test. In contrast, students without participating in group-based formative assessment activity did not show a significant increase in the undersanding of key knowledge on subsequent individual retests. Furthermore, a significantly greater part of students retained or increased their knowledge after the group-based formative assessment activity. These findings are especially promising on consideration that the students who were mot motivated for learning theknowledge in the review of the exam. On students’ enjoyment of the group-based formative assessment activity, students rated the activity very positively in helping them form closer relationships with their classmates. Moreover, students also have a stronger desire to work in the form of study groups in other subjects because of the group-based formative assessment activity. Therefore, the group-based formative assessment activity was proved to have a positive effect on students’ interactions and students’ motivation to participate in collaborative learning activities. The design of this study still have some limitations. It is difficult to know whether students who made improvement on the retake of the exam had gained a deeper understanding of the material or had only memorized the answers. Because the original exam and the retake of the exam (given one week later) were composed of the same questions with only scrambled orders of the answers. Therefore, a test of the same material using different questions might be a more useful measure of learning. The group-based formative assessment method has the potential to serve additional purposes beyond enhancing student learning. The teacher can receive feedback about the gaps in teaching methods or student learning. Shepard (2005) states that our aim should be to establish classroom practices that encourage peer assessment, regard errors as opportunities for learning, and promote shared thinking. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] Biggs, J. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning: A role for summative assessment? Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 5, 103-110. Bell, B. (2000). Formative assessment and science education: a model and theorizing. In Millar,R.; Leach, J. & Jonathan, O. (Eds.), Improving science education: the contribution of research.(pp48-61), Bukingham: Open University Press. Bell, B & Cowie, B. (1999). Researching formative assessment. In Loughran, J. (Ed.), Researching teaching: methodologies and practices for understanding pedagogy. (pp198-214)London: Falmer Press. Black, P.; Harrison, C.; Lee, C.; Marshall, B. & Wiliam, D. (2003). The Nature and Value of Formative Assessment for Learning. London: School of Education, King’s College. Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80, 139-148. Bloom, B. S., Hastings, J. T., &Madaus, G. F. (Eds.). (1971). Handbook on the formative and summative evaluation of student learning. New York: McGraw-Hill. Boston, Carol (2002). The concept of formative assessment. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 8:9. Cizek G. J. (1997). Learning, achievement, and assessment: constructs at a crossroads. In Phye,G.D. (ed.), Handbook of classroom assessment: learning, achievement, and adjustment. California: Academic Press, Inc. Crooks, T. J. (1988). The impact of classroom evaluation practices on students. Review of Educational Research, 58, 438-481. Drouin, Michelle A. (2010), Group-Based Formative Summative Assessment Relates to Improved Student Performance and Satisfaction. Teaching of Psychology, 37:114-118 Crumrine, Tom & Demers, Chris. (2007), Formative Assessment: Redirecting the Plan. The Science Teacher,74, 6:64-68 Fuchs, L. S., & Fuchs, D. (1986). Effects of systematic formative evaluation: A meta-analysis. Exceptional Children, 53, 199-208. Harton, H. C., Richardson, D. S., Barreras, R. E., Rockloff, M. J., & Latane, B. (2002). Focused interactive learning: A tool for active class discussion. Teaching of Psychology, 29, 10-15. Klenowski, V. (1995), Student selfevaluation process in student-centered teaching and learning contexts of Australia and England. Assessment in Education, 2, 145-163. Linn, R. L., & Gronlund, N. E. (2000). Measurement and assessment in teaching (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. McMillan, J. H. (2001). Classroom assessment: Principles and practice for effective instruction (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Sadler, D, R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design on instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18(2), 119-144 Shepard, L. A. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4-14. Shepard, L. A. (2005). Linking formative assessment to scaffolding. Educational Leadership, 9,66-70 Stiggins, Rick. (2005). From Formative Assessment to Assessment for Learning: A Path to Success in Standards- Based Schools. The Phi Delta Kappan, ,87, 4: 324-328 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 844 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES [21] Torrance, H. and Pryor, J. (1998). Investigating Formative Assessment. Teaching, Learning and Assessment in the classroom. Buckingham, Open University Press. [22] Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. [23] Wexley, K. N., & Thornton, C. L. (1972). Effect of verbal feedback of test results upon learning. The Journal of Educational Research, 66, 119-121. [24] Wiliam, D., & Black, P. (1996). Meanings and consequences: A basis for distinguishing formative and summa tive functions of assessment? British Educational Research Journal, 22, 537-549. [25] Wininger, S. R. (2005). Using your tests to teach: Formative summative assessment. Teaching of Psychology, 32:164-166. [26] Wininger, S. R., &Norman, A. D. (2005). Teacher-candidates’ exposure to formative assessment in educational psychology textbooks: A content analysis. Educational Assessment, 10, 19-37. Haishen Yu is a lecturer of English at Hebei Normal University for Nationalities, in Chengde, Hebei, China. He received his Master of Education from Waikato University in New Zealand in 2004. He has worked with ESL students for 15 years. His research interests include second language acquisition, Applied Linguistic and critical pedagogy. Hongmei Li is a teacher of English at Chengde NO. 12 Middle School in Chengde, Hebei, China.She received her Bachelor’s degree of English from Hebei Teachers’ University in 2000. She has been teaching English for over 10 years. Her research interests include second language acquisition and Cooperative Learning. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 845-849, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.845-849 The Re-understanding of Edna Pontellier’s Death Limin Bai College of Foreign Languages, Hebei United University, Tangshan 063009, China Abstract—Kate Chopin’s The Awakening is one of the feminist classics in American literary history. Since its publication in 1899, the novel The Awakening has aroused controversy. Among the heated controversies is the female protagonist’s death. The previous discussions on the death of Edna Pontellier are either too reductive or absolute.The primary focus of this thesis is to reexamine Edna’s death. Darwinism shook the self-importance of man; nineteenth-century feminist discourse evoked feminine independence and self-identity; Nietzsche denounced the validity of God. On the basis of these, this thesis concludes that Edna’s death is neither a punishment nor an escape, but a triumph. Index Terms—Kate Chopin, awakening, death Since its publication in 1899, the novel The Awakening has aroused controversy. The changes of the ideological concerns have brought the changes of the nature of these discussions. “In retrospect the early attacks on the book seemed quite simple, a matter of moral condemnation of its main character that was supposed to represent important American values” (Toth, 1990, p338-344). Edna Pontellier’s free thoughts and behaviors were not accepted at that period. The attacks on the book were too harsh for Chopin to continue her writing career, and even ended the discussion on the book for almost half a century. Since 1960s, many critics have begun to reread the book and presented various understandings on it, and Emily Toth was one of earliest Chopin scholars who made a great contribution to the revival of Chopin and her works. With her biography Kate Chopin: A Life of the Author of The Awakening (1990), Emily Toth more than any other American deserves credit for having nourished the Chopin revival. In 1968 there were four articles on Chopin’ work; in 1970 there were twenty-five; in 1975 there were forty-one. Chopin’ time had, indeed, come. By 1988 four books on her writing had appeared. Cathy N. Davidson, current editor of American literature, notes in her foreword to Kate Chopin Reconsidered that she sees “almost as many submission on Kate Chopin as on any other author. I have done a quantitative analysis, but it certainly seems that we receive essays on Chopin with nearly the same frequency as those on Melville, James, and Faulkner....In less than a generation, she has gone from obscurity to canonization”(qtd in Lynda, 1992, pix). Therefore The Awakening has been ranked into one masterpiece of the literary mainstream. The study on Kate Chopin’ The Awakening may fall into three phases. The first phase was in the year 1899. In this year the novel The Awakening was published, and The Awakening was commented lots of times in almost all the newspapers and in as much magazines as it could. The initial comments were generally negative but commentators still showed that they appreciated Chopin’s writing ability, and at the same time they insisted the strong negative attitude toward the novel’ moral points. The second phase was from the 1950s to 1970s. During this period, Chopin’s The Awakening was renewed. For example, Edmund Wilson (1962) thought that The Awakening was “beautifully written,” but Chopin expressed her anticipation toward D.H. Lawrence in her novel The Awakening (p590). Chopin was finally accepted academically in the 1970s. During this period, the dominant approach to the novel was feminist, which caused the extensive readings on The Awakening, thus creating the focused theme that a strong-minded and independent woman seeking her own identity together with the roles both as wife and as mother. Most understandings derive of what Suzanne Wolkenfeld (1976) calls “the feminist fatalism of presenting Edna as the victim of an oppressive society” (p221). Ringe Donald (1976) more positively, sees her as “a solitary, defiant soul who stands out against the limitations that both nature and society place upon her, and who accepts in the final analysis a defeat that involves no surrender” (p206). Besides, a lot of critics began to emphasize the important position of The Awakening. They argued that The Awakening’s importance should be recognized from the phases of both romanticism and realism. Fletcher (1966) cites The Awakening as “an excellent example of the fiction written during the transition from romanticism to realism” (p117-132). Eble (1956) notes that “it anticipates in many respects the modern novel” (p262). The third phase started from the early 1980s and extended into the 21st century. During this period, the dominant approach to the novel is still feminist. The themes of woman’s self-identity and free sexuality were a main focus in the exploration of The Awakening. From 1980s to the early 1990s the study on Chopin’ work boomed. More papers on Chopin were filed and the central theme of papers on Chopin became increasingly clear in their feminist direction. As critic Margit Stange (1998) asserts, “self-ownership” was central to the project of nineteenth-century feminism (p506). Jennifer (2004) claims that “In life, under the irresistible realm of ideology, Edna could exist only in a female role of limitation. In death, she symbolically enters the realm of nature as she wades into „the sea’, and becomes enfolded in its vast space of innumerable waves. Heroically, Edna escapes oppressive ideology, but tragically, does so only in death” (p72). In The Economics of the Body in Kate Chopin’ The Awakening John Carlos Rowe situates Edna Pontellier with “the new economics of speculative capitalism” in Chopin’s times, and argues “A woman’ rebellion will involve much © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 846 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES more for Chopin than merely the assertion of her naked self; that rebellion will require a thorough transvaluation of the modes of production that govern both the psyche and the economy of late-nineteenth-century capitalism” (qtd in Lynda, 1992, p121). In the 21st century, the study on Chopin seems to reach a new height. Numerous academic papers are published each year which explore Chopin’s works from psychological perspective, aesthetical perspective, philosophical perspective and etc.. The studies on Kate Chopin and The Awakening have a relatively shorter history in China. Since the 1990s, more and more readers have begun to pay attention to Kate Chopin’s works, especially her masterpiece The Awakening. A large number of papers on Kate Chopin and The Awakening are also published in the last two decades. The study on Kate Chopin’ The Awakening in China can be divided into two phases. The first phase was from the mid 1980s to 1990s, during which period, Kate Chopin’ works were dug out and reread. Several Papers were published, such as Liujuan’s “Awakening or Disillusion? —The Awakening of American Women Writer Kate Chopin (1985)”, Xie Jianxin’s “Chopin and her The Awakening” (1987), and etc.. The earlier studies of this phase focused on the author’ life experience and American history and therefore provided plenty of background information about Kate Chopin and the book The Awakening for the later studies. However Kate Chopin and The Awakening didn’t receive enough attention at that time. The second phase started from the mid 1990s and extended into the 21 st century. During this period, the study on Kate Chopin and the book The Awakening developed in both depth and scope. Many critics began to read this book from different perspectives. There are mainly four perspectives. One is feminist, which centers on the heroine to illustrate women’s seeking of selfhood and fight for freedom and equality against the patriarchal society. The representative scholars are Jinli and Qin Yaqing, who have published several articles on Kate Chopin, such as “Ameican New Feminine Awakening and Rebellion: Kate Chopin and The Awakening” (1995). More than 15 papers are published in different periodicals. Another perspective is the psychoanalytic, which is on the basis of Freud's theory to elaborate The Awakening and analyze the heroine's psychological development and changes, The example is Miao Lingling’s “Freedom Pays—Explaining The Awakening from Freudian Perspective” (2004). The third is Emerson’s Transcendentalism, which expounds the elements of transcendentalism in the novel and accordingly illustrates the awakening process from seeking self to realizing spiritual perfection demonstrated by the protagonist Edna, such as Sun Quanjun’ The Re-explaining The Awakening from Transcendentalism Perspective (2006). The Fourth is philosophical, which adopts German philosopher Nietzsche’s philosophical thoughts such as “Will to Power” and “Superman” to affirm the instinctual impulse of human beings, and illustrates Edna’s awakening activities in accordance with Nietzsche’s thoughts. One of these studies is Jiang Lifu and Shi Yunlong’s “Edna: Typical Embodiment of “Will to Power” —Rereading The Awakening and Explaining Nietzsche’s Opinions of Women” (2006). Most of the studies on Chopin’s The Awakening focus on Edna Pontellier’ life and women’s social situations in the 19th century. Some critics discuss the ending of the book—Edna Pontellier’ death, but their discussions on the death of Edna Pontellier are either too simplistic, reductive or absolute. Therefore a thorough and comprehensive study on the Edna Pontellier’ death needs to be conducted. The analysis of Edna’s death is of great significance to understand the ending of the novel. In this thesis I try to reinterpret Edna’s death from the feminist perspective, and accordingly I will explore the meaning of Edna’s death based on naturalism, feminist theory and Nietzschean philosophy. I hope to show that Edna Pontellier’ death is neither a punishment nor an escape, but a triumph. Naturalism is based on social Darwinism. Darwin claims the world is a product of evolution. His theory denies the Judeo-Christian story of the creation of the universe by God in six days, as expressed in Genesis, the first book of the Bible and the semi-divinity of humankind by connecting human beings to the animal world. Edna’s “awakening” to the fact of the Darwinian nature of the cosmos alerts her to her freedom from the dictates of God and gods, and also points out the gendered bias of the natural processes of life. To think of the children, and further to submit oneself fully to Darwin’s ideologies of survival, is ultimately to give oneself over to a natural process which we have little control and which ultimately controls us. Darwinism offers only an illusory freedom. A world without deities seems to offer the possibility to reshape our lives at will: this is what Edna believes is open to her at first. However, she finally finds that the door into the world is locked and she has no key only because she is a female. The path out of this dilemma is to reassert control in the only way we know how: through taking our own life. Edna insists that she would give her life for her children; but she wouldn’t give herself, and she doesn’t want anything but her own way. The Darwinian sea, where all life began, is also the Darwinian natural impulses that demand that women should be the re-creators of the species. The sea is the representative of that character and sexuality here. And here the return to the sea maybe finally overwhelms and engulfs Edna, while Edna still bravely swims in the sea finally in the end of the novel as a rebellion for her feminine freedom. Edna’s death is as natural as her subordinate position in society, which doesn’t mean she was punished to die due to the social morals. Her death is a celebration of Darwinian self. This is where Edna’s Darwinian self comes into its own and she is beginning to realize herself as an individual. She is not one of the herd but an independent person. In a radical rewriting of Darwin, while still an endorsement of his basic principles, Edna’s activities are a feminist attempt to renegotiate the survival of the species on a more egalitarian basis. She rejects the role of mother-woman, because in this role she sees the creation of an illusion by Nature herself. The love of a mother for her children is seen by Edna as a dangerous creation by Nature, as Doctor Mandelet points out: © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 847 “The trouble is that youth is given up to illusions. It seems to be a provision of Nature; a decoy to secure mothers for the race. And Nature takes no account of moral consequences, of arbitrary conditions which we create, and which we feel obliged to maintain at any cost” (Chopin, 1993, p111). Chopin’s fiction expresses a complex mixture of influences while her own commentaries suggest that she sees herself as a naturalistic thinker for whom only non-contingent natural forces are of true significance. As a stylist, Chopin despises plot devices and tendentiousness. Scientific theories are her passion and she likes to have her own Darwin, Huxley and Spencer near at all times. These theories of the writing of texts are transformed by the arguments of Charles Darwin in his The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871). William Schuyler reports that “the subjects which . . . attracted [Chopin] were almost entirely scientific, the departments of Biology and Anthropology having a special interest for her…The works of Darwin, Huxley, and Spencer were her daily companions” (qtd in Seyersted, 1979, p117). Kate Chopin has been considered a “quasi-anthro-logical” writer with an “almost scientific detachment” (Gilbert, 1983, p16-17), and at times it seems that The Awakening is a parable of post-Darwinian woman. Naturalism provides for a style of writing that allows sexuality to enter the novel without disrupting it. With Darwin, an approach to life which stripped away the layers of religious and mythological significance became intellectually respectable. Darwin’s major finding was that humanity was not a special creation at all: “man” was not made in God’s image but was biologically lost to the beasts that surrounded him. This naturally allowed naturalist to take full sight – without God a fully secularized literature and a fully naturalized human being seemed not only possible but unavoidable. Darwinism is a crucial influence on Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. The famous sentence of Edna’s emerging individuality powerfully conveys this: “In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her” (Chopin, 1993, p57). The path out of this dilemma is to reassert control in the only way she can choose through taking one’s own life. Thinking of the children is a reminder that we listen to the genetic calls for reproduction which we are unable to resist except through the process of death itself. Because the burden of Nature falls on one sex to a much greater extent than the other, women necessarily have to bear a heavier burden. Since Edna struggles in a Darwinian world, she can apparently, either accept her destiny to be the vehicle of Nature or reject it through death. Edna insists that she would give her life for her children; but she wouldn’t give herself, and she doesn’t want anything but her own way. The Darwinian sea, where all life began, is also the Darwinian natural impulses that demand that women should be the re-creators of the species. The sea is the representative of that character and sexuality here. And here the return to the sea finally overwhelms and engulfs Edna, while Edna still bravely swims in the sea finally in the end of the novel as a rebellion for her feminine freedom. Edna’s death is as natural as her subordinate position in society. “Nineteenth-century feminist discourse was an oppositional ideology, a resistance to obstacles to female fulfillment. The patriarchal ideology of nineteenth-century society required women to be objects in marriage and in motherhood, existing as vessels of maternity and sexuality, with little opportunity for individuality” (Jennifer, 2004, p53). Under the influence of the Darwinism, Kate Chopin makes her heroine realize herself as a human being in the universe, and then with feminist discourse Edna allows her to seek her self-identity in patriarchal society by experimenting with the ideal and alternative roles in turn, which embodied respectively by the female characters in the novel, Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz. Gilman (1966) argues that “each woman has had the same single avenue of expression and attainment,” and that “all other doors” are “shut” (p79).Therefore Adele Ratignolle becomes a perfect mother-woman representative shaped by the patriarchal social ideology, while Mademoiselle Reisz, as Peggy Skaggs (1974) states, “an identity built altogether upon selfhood and art is inadequate” (p352), realizes that she refutes the patriarchal ideal female image and accordingly she channels her feminine roles into her music. However, Edna cannot insist her female roles unaccepted by the patriarchal social ideology just because that she realized her self-awakening as a equal individual. Therefore even though “all other doors” are “shut” (Gilman, 1966, p79), neither like Adele Ratignolle who submits to the patriarchal ideology nor like Mademoiselle Reisz who chooses the alternative feminine role to elude the dominant patriarchal ideology, Edna adopts the oppositional role of “free-woman”, which threatens violently the patriarchal society. Edna bravely, even with death, faces the conflicts caused by her fight for her self-identity. “She went on and on. She remembered the night she swam far out, and recalled the terror that seized her at the fear of being unable to regain the shore” (Chopin, 1993, p115). Here the shore is the symbol of her original state before her awakening, and she has ever hesitated to keep her original state, while now she totally gives up and she just goes on and on without looking back. So Edna’s death is not an escape, but a feminist rebellion. Louis Althusser (1998) defines ideology as an “imaginary relation to the real relations of existence” (p299). Women obey the requirements of marriage and motherhood, and exist not as the individuals but as attachments of men. Women should subject themselves to men and the patriarchal ideology. Chopin’s The Awakening embodies the conditions of sex inequality in the late nineteenth-century, and at the same time try to explore a road for women to seek their selfhood and freedom. Darwinism shook the self-importance of man, nineteenth-century feminist discourse evoked feminine independence and self-identity, and Nietzsche denounced the validity of God. Apollonian and Dionysian are the two terms from Nietzsche in his book The Birth of Tragedy to designate the two central principles in Greek culture. The paradox of © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 848 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES Apollonian and Dionysian indicates the two life principles. In contrast to the typically Enlightenment view of ancient Greek culture as noble, simple, elegant and grandiose, Nietzsche characterizes it as a conflict between two distinct tendencies - the Apollonian and Dionysian. The Apollonian in culture he sees as the principle of individuation with its refinement, sobriety and emphasis on superficial appearance, whereby man separates himself from the undifferentiated immediacy of nature. Immersion into that same wholeness characterizes the Dionysian, recognizable by intoxication, non-rationality and inhumanity; this shows the influence of Schopenhauer’s view that non-rational forces underlie human creativity. Nietzsche describes how from Socrates onward the Apollonian had dominated Western thought, and raises German Romanticism as a possible re-introduction of the Dionysian to the salvation of European culture. Nietzsche used the names Apollonian and Dionysian for the two forces because Apollo, as the sun-god, represents light, clarity, and form, whereas Dionysus, as the wine-god, represents drunkenness and ecstasy. Nietzsche associated the Apollonian tendency with the instinct for form beauty, moderation and symmetry. The Apollonian corresponds to Schopenhauer’s principium individuation. Everything that is part of the unique individuality of man or thing is Apollonian in character; all types of form or structure are Apollonian, since form serves to define or individualize that which is formed; thus sculpture is the most Apollonian of the arts, since it relies entirely on form for its effect. Rational thought is also Apollonian since it is structured and makes distinctions. Dionysus, on the other hand, represents tumult, flux, and disorder. The Dionysian instinct is one of irrationality, violence, and exuberance. The Dionysian, which corresponds roughly to Schopenhauer’s conception of Will, is directly opposed to the Apollonian. Drunkenness and madness are Dionysian because they break down a man’s individual character; all forms of enthusiasm and ecstasy are Dionysian, for in such states man gives up his individuality and submerges himself in a greater whole: music is the most Dionysian of the arts, since it appeals directly to man’s instinctive, chaotic emotions and not to his formally reasoning mind. The paradox of Apollonian and Dionysian indicates the two life principles. In The Awakening, the people around Edna represent either the Apollonian image or the Dionysian image respectively. Typically Robert is the one of the representatives of Apollonian image, while Victor is the one of the representatives of the Dionysian. Ultimately Edna is unable to perfect the Nietzschean ideal--to reconcile the Apollonian and Dionysian in her life. The reason lies in that the Apollonian emphasizes the discreet limitation, illusion and patriarchy while Dionysian emphasizes nature, maternal responsibility. Both of them are inclined to the patriarchal society, and therefore they can not realize the reconciliation on Edna. Simultaneously it indicates that Nietzschean philosophy is masculine. Therefore Edna begins her own journey with a vision as Chopin (1993) describes “A certain light was beginning to dawn dimly within her, - the light which, showing the way, forbids it.” (p17). For this vision Sandra Gilbert has described in her “The Second Coming of Aphrodite: Kate Chopin’s Fantasy of Desire.” Gilbert (1983) asserts Chopin’s projection of “a feminist and matriarchal myth of Aphrodite/Venus as an alternative to the masculinist and patriarchal myth of Jesus”--and her alternative could add a feminist dimension as well as a feminine cast member to the Nietzschean script of Apollonian and Dionysian reconciliation (p44). From this perspective Chopin tries to “outdo Nietzsche through a kind of metaphysical transgendering of genders”, though the outcomes are a little “ambiguously rendered for certainty” (Bradley, 2005, p57). Therefore we need a standard, which, belonging to the masculine triumph standards, could not more compellingly illustrate the feminist triumph. Again let’s turn to Nietzsche to define that standard. Edna, however, “denies not only God but the equally patriarchy reaffirmed by Nietzsche’s words. If she is indeed freeing herself from both spiritual and cultural anchor, Edna demonstrates, in the expansiveness of her denial, a plenitude of terror, ambiguity, and seductiveness” (Bradley, 2005, p57-58). Sandra Gilbert (1983) points out that Edna, “neither perfected nor corrupted … is still swimming when we last see her” (p58). Edna is like some new-born creature, opening her eyes in a familiar world that she has never known, which evidences the Nietzschean concept of eternal recurrence, though the death will follow certainly. While the 19 century’ feminine “encounters terror, ambiguity, and seductiveness and stays safely ashore”; Chopin’s Edna “leaves the shore and swims to meet them” (Bradley, 2005, p58), thus illustrating that Edna Pontellier’ death is neither a moral punishment nor a feminine escape, but a feminist triumph. While the 19 century’ feminine “encounters terror, ambiguity, and seductiveness and stays safely ashore”; Chopin’s Edna “leaves the shore and swims to meet them” (Bradley, 2005, p58), thus illustrating that Edna Pontellier’ death is neither a moral punishment nor a feminine escape, but a feminist triumph. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Althusser. Louis. (1998). “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses.” Literary Theory: An Anthology. Malden: Blackwell Press. p299. Bradley. Patricia L. (2005). “The Birth of Tragedy and The Awakening: Influences and Intertextualities.” Southern Literary Journal. Issue 2. p57-58. Chopin. Kate. (1993).The Awakening. New York: Dover Publication. Inc.. p17- p111. Eble. Kenneth. 1956 .“A Forgotten Novel.” Western Humanities Review 10:261-269. Fletcher. Marie. (1966). “The southern woman in the Fiction of Kate Chopin.” Louisiana History 7. p117-132. Gilbert. Sandra M. (1983).The Second Coming of Aphrodite: Kate Chopin's Fantasy of Desire. Kenyon Review 5. p16-58. Gilman. Charlotte Perkins. (1966). Women and Economics. New York: Harper & Row. Inc.. p79. Jennifer B. Gray. (2004). “The Escape of the „Sea’: Ideology and The Awakening.” Southern Literary Journal. Issue 1. p 53-72. Lynda S. Boren; Sara deSaussure Davis. (1992). Kate Chopin Reconsidered: Beyond the Bayou. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University press. pix. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 849 Ringe. Donald. (1976).“Romantic Imagery” In The Awakening. ed. Margaret Culley. New York: Norton Critical Edition. P206. Seyersted. Per. (1979). A Kate Chopin Miscellany. Natchitoches LA: Northwestern State University Press. p117. Skaggs. Peggy. (1974).“Three Tragic Figures in The Awakening.” Louisiana Studies 13. p 352. Stange. Margit. (1998). “Personal Property: Exchange Value and the Female Self in The Awakening.” Contexts For Criticism. Mountainview: Mayfield Press. p506. [14] Toth. Emily. (1990). Kate Chopin. New York: William Morrow and Co.. Inc. p338-344 [15] Wilson Edmund. (1962). Patriotic Gore. New York: Oxford University Press. p590. [16] Wolkenfeld. Suzanne. (1976). “Edna’s Suicide: The Problem of the One and the Many.” In The Awakening. ed. Margaret Culley. New York: Norton Critical Edition. P221. [10] [11] [12] [13] Limin Bai was born in Shenyang, China in 1977. She received her master’s degree in English Language and Literature from Nankai University, Tianjin in 2007. She is currently a lecturer in the College of Foreign language, Hebei United University, Tangshan, China. Her research interests include American and British literature, culture, translation and English education. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 850-856, April 2014 © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.4.4.850-856 A Comparison of Linguistic Errors of Iranian EFL Learners at Two Different Levels of Proficiency Bahareh Malmeer Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Iran Abstract—This descriptive case study aimed to analyze syntactical, morphological and lexical errors produced by Iranian EFL learners at two different levels of basic and elementary. The proposed hypothesis predicted that there exist considerable differences between the errors produced by the participants with respect to their origin (interlingual, intralingual or developmental errors) as well as the type of error (lexical or grammatical). To this end, four Iranian EFL learners at basic level and four at elementary level, attending English language classes at Iran Language Institute were chosen using purposeful sampling. A test of proficiency was administered to ensure the participants in each group are homogenous regarding the level of proficiency. The participants’ performance in both oral and written activities as well as planned and unplanned ways were meticulously observed and recorded by the researcher in a six-month period. In addition to observation, data were also obtained through interviews and tests given at intervals of every two months to investigate any potential change. The qualitative data were coded, categorized and interpreted cyclically. It was concluded that learners at higher levels of proficiency produced more developmental and intralingual errors than learners at basic levels. Also learners at basic levels produced more interlingual errors. In addition learners at basic levels produced more grammatical errors than learners at elementary levels. On the other hand, learners at elementary level produced more lexical errors. Index Terms—interlingual errors, intralingual errors, developmental errors, lexical errors and grammatical errors I. INTRODUCTION In the field of second language learning, errors which are the results of lack of knowledge (i.e. lack of competence) have been treated in various ways ranging from complete ignorance to avoidance at all costs. Fortunately, these days, errors are no longer perceived as signs of bad language and learners as criminals committing them. In fact, errors have recently received considerable attention as signs of progress in learning a second language and many instructors and researchers believe that errors are invaluable evidences that tell us much about the underlying system of individual learning. Cordor (1967) asserted that errors provide the researcher with evidence of how language is learnt and also those they serve as devices by which learners discover the rules of language. The procedure of data collection in error analysis is of prime importance as it can influence the result of error analysis to great extend. Lococo (1976) reported differences in the number and type of errors in samples of learners’ language collected by means of free compositions, translation or picture composition. Eliss (2008) lists some of the factors that need to be considered in collecting a sample of learners’ language asserting that “unfortunately, many EA studies paid little attention to these factors with the results that they are difficult to interpret and impossible to replicate” (p.47). These factors include: proficiency level, other languages, language learning experience, medium, genre, content, planned and unplanned. II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Identification and Types of Errors The definition of error is somehow difficult since different definitions have been presented by various scholars. The chief problem is the criteria which should be considered to determine whether an item can be labeled error or not. According to Eliss (2008), theses criteria may range from grammaticality (i.e. well-formedness) to acceptability. Cordor (1967) makes a distinction between Errors and Mistakes and he defines errors as deviations as a result of lack of knowledge and mistakes as performance phenomena, reflecting processing failure and as a result of memory limitation and lack of automaticity. Errors can also be classified as Overt or Covert. While overt errors are easy to spot because of clear ungrammaticality, covert errors happen when the sentence is correct at the surface level but do not mean what the learners intended them to mean. Another issue regarding the criteria for defining errors is whether “infelicitous uses of L2 should be considered erroneous. There are instances where a learner produces a form that is grammatical (i.e. conforms to the norms of the © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 851 code) but this may not be the form preferred by native speakers of the code. While there are different classification of errors proposed by different scholars, Cordor’s (1974) frame work for describing errors is more promising. He classifies errors according to their systematicity. 1. Presystematic Errors occur when the learner is unaware of the existence of a particular rule in the target language. These are random. 2. Systematic Errors occur when the learner has discovered a rule but it is the wrong one. 3. Post systematic Errors occur when the learner know the correct target language use but uses it inconsistently (i.e. makes a mistake) In addition to the framework proposed by Cordor (1974), other sources of psycholinguistic errors have been identified by Richards(1971): 1. Interference Errors occur as a result of „the use of elements from one language while speaking another. 2. Intralingual Errors „reflect the general characteristics of rule learning such as faulty generalizations, incomplete application of rules and failure to learn conditions under which rules apply. 3. Developmental Errors occur when the learner attempts to build up hypothesis about the target language on the basis of limited experience. B. Steps in Error Analysis Since error analysis was one of the first methods used to investigate learners’ language, it achieved considerable popularity in the 1970 and there have been many attempts to make the procedure of error analysis systematic. Whilecritics of EA believe that there is no way of investigating avoidance within EA framework, many scholars still believe that the study of error can pave the way for future understanding of how the underlying system in learners mind work. Eliss(2008)explains the steps for conducting error analysis: According to Eliss(2008), “the first step in carrying out an EA is to collect the a sample of learners language. The sample could consist of natural language use or be elicited either clinically or experimentally. It could also be collected cross-sectionally or longitudinally. The second stage involved identifying errors in the in the sample”. Cordor distinguishes errors of competence from mistakes in performance and argues that EA should investigate only errors. Cordor also proposed a procedure for identifying errors by reference to normal, authoritative and plausible interpretations. Eliss (2000) defines “the third stage as description. Two types of descriptive taxonomies have been used: Linguistic and surface strategy. The former provides an indication of the number and proportion of errors in either different levels of language or in specific grammatical categories. The fourth stage Is an attempt to explain the errors pscholinguistically. Errors can result from transfer, intralingual and unique processes”. C. Empirical Studies According to Eliss (2008, p.63), “In 1960s and 1970s, Error Analysis went temporarily out of fashion, as a result of perceived weakness in procedure and its scope. However some work in EA continued and, recently, it has had something of rebirth with the advent of computer based analysis of learner language and it continues to be practiced”. Eliss (2008) lists some recent EA research chief among them is the study conducted by Felix (1981) and Pavesi(1986) in Which they compared the language produced by instructed and naturalistic learners. Bardovi-Harling and Bofman (1989) investigated the differences between a group of learners who successfully passed the Indiana University Placement exam and a group who failed to do so. They examined the nature of the errors which the two groups produced in one part of examination –written compositions- and found unremarkably that the pass group made fewer overall errors than the non pass group and the major differences were in the number of lexical and morphological rather than syntactical errors. In 1975, Burt conducted a research in which he asked non-expert native speakers to judge comprehensibility of different corrected versions of 300 sentences containing multiple errors. The results of the study revealed that subject found versions in which global errors had been corrected more comprehensible than versions in which local errors had been corrected. In another study, Albrechtsen , Henriksen and farch(1980) had 120 non-expert adult native speakers(e.g. hotel workers in UK:180 British sixth formers) to listen to samples of oral language taken from Grade 10 Danish learners of L2 English and rated each sample using bipolar adjective scale(e.g. easy to understand, difficult to understand).the results of the analysis revealed that the oral texts containing few errors (syntactic as well as lexical) and few communication strategies received positive evaluation. Frequent use of communication strategies had greater negative effect than the number of errors. Some researchers have investigated the effect of task design and implementation on learners’ production.Foster and Skehan (1996) calculated the percentage of error free clauses as a general measure of accuracy in their study of tasks. This measure involved examining each clause to determine whether it contained an error. Mehnert(1998) computed the number of errors per 100 words. Crookes (1989) calculated the percentage of target like use of plurals while Skehan and Foster (1997) examined target like use of vocabulary. Eliss (2008) states that “none of these studies included any report of the kinds of problems with error identification, casting sme doubt about reliability of the accuracy measures they employed”. Eliss (2008) presents a summary of selected evaluation studies. For example in 1987, Santos, selected 40 university professors in physical science and asked them to rank 4 written compositions; in two of them, 5 errors of the marked to © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 852 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES unmarked kind were inserted and in the other 2, 5eroors of the unmarked to marked kind. The subjects were also asked to underline each error and assess the degree of irritation it aroused. The result of the study revealed no significant difference in rankings of the compositions. Overall unmarked to marked errors were found to be more irritating than marked to unmarked errors. Syntactic errors were also found more irritating than morphological errors. D. Statement of the Problem Unlike summative tests, which deal with decision making and generalisibilty of test scores, formative assessment aims at identifying the points in which students have difficulty mastering and helping them overcome these obstacles. It is needless to say that teachers and stakeholders are the ones who benefit the most if they can discover more about the underlying system of learning and development of interlanguage in learners learning a second language. While the actual process of learning which is happening in learners mind can’t be observed and investigated directly, Errors, which are the explicit manifestations of the learning process, can help us do so. As Lantolf and Poehner (2008,273) stated “assessment and instruction are a single activitythat seeks to simultaneously diagnose and promote learner development by offering learner mediation, a qualitatively different support from feedback”. Unfortunately, inability to diagnose the causes of errors and the possible obstacles in the process of learning makes such mediation and feedback unhelpful. In fact, one of the factors that causes failure to learn can be defined as lack of attention to nature of errors produced by learners; errors which seem to have a repeated pattern in every stage of learning and can be exploited as an aid for providing the most appropriate feedback on the process of learning. E. Purpose of the Study While there have been countless numbers of EA studies, “unfortunately, many EA studies paid little attention to factors that need to be considered in collecting sample of learners language” (Eliss, 2008). These factors include learner factors (proficiency level, other languages, language learning experience), language sample (medium, genre, content), and production (Unplanned, planned). The purpose of this study is to address this problem by considering all these relevant factors. Another major problem is that the “majority of EA studies have been cross sectional rather than longitudinal, thus making it difficult to determine accurately the different errors that learners produce at different stages of their development”(Ellis,2008). The present case study which is longitudinal in nature addresses this problem and investigates the changes in nature of errors over a long period of time (six months).In addition; the purpose of this study is to gain a deep understanding of the types, causes and origins of errors produced by Iranian EFL learners at two different levels of proficiency (basic and elementary) and to compare the findings so as to be able to define the patterns of change in the nature of errors produced during the process of learning and come up with some suggestions which should be considered while presenting the new points in classrooms. The following research question was raised in this study: 1. Do learners’ errors produced at two different levels of basic and elementary differ with respect to their origin (interlingual, intralingual or developmental errors) as well as the type of error (lexical or grammatical) III. METHOD A. Participants In this descriptive case study, four Iranian EFL learners at basic level and four at elementary level, attending English language classes at Iran Language Institute (Kermanshah Branch) were chosen using purposeful sampling to guarantee the richness of data. The participants, who were within the age range of 14-30, consisted of 2 male and 2 female within each group (basic and elementary). They were all studying The ILI English Series developed by Iran Language institute. B. Instrumentation This qualitative study used a test constructed by Iran Language Institute as a pretest in order to make sure that all participants in each group are at the same level of proficiency. This study also took advantage of both participant observation in which the observer took part in class activities like the other students and observer observation in which the observer only observed the ongoing process of class room. In addition to pretest and observation, semi-structured interviews and consecutive written tests were used in the ongoing process of data collection. Data were recorded both by the observer taking notes and by a tape recorder. C. Procedure To conduct this longitudinal study, participants were purposefully chosen so as to ensure that data would provide an in-depth understanding of the issue concerned. A test of proficiency whose reliability and validity had been proven in Iran Language Institute was used as a pretest to guarantee the equivalence of participants in each group regarding their level of proficiency (Basic and Elementary).During these six months the participants, who were actually the learners attending their English class two times a week, were observed and their performance was recorded meticulously by the observer. Errors produced by learners who were involved in the process of learning were recorded, analyzed with regard to its origin and type, and classified. Every two months, a written test accompanied with an interview was administered to the learners in which they were required to produce sentences in the target language and their written and oral © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 853 production were analyzed carefully. Finally, all data obtained were classified and coded to show any possible trend or change in the type and origin of errors produced by learners at these two different levels of proficiency. D. Design This is a case study which is longitudinal in nature and aims at providing a thick, in-depth description of a phenomenon in a long period of time. In order to have a comprehensible view of the research, the process of data collection continued until saturation happened and the data didn’t reveal any new pattern or findings. The longitudinal design of the study helped researcher get a better understanding of the differences and possible patterns of change which paved the way for a full comparison of the groups. E. Data Analysis As in qualitative studies, data analysis was the most demanding section of the study due to the cyclical nature of the data collection and qualitative nature of the findings which required a meticulous investigation of each error produced by learners considering different criteria. The challenge was to make sense of massive amount of data, reduce the volume of information and construct a framework for communicating what the data reveal. To this end the data obtained using multiple instruments were organized and described using the most pertinent features. The data, then, were interpreted answering why questions and explaining the possible reasons. For the interpretation of the data, the researcher used the experience and knowledge attained during years of teaching English as a foreign language along with the experiences of two other raters experienced in the field of foreign language teaching. The validity of the findings was enhanced through the triangulation of the multiple data obtained using different sources of data collection. IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A. Errors at Basic Level According to Origin Errors produced by learners as basic level were recorded and classified based on their origin (interlingual, intralingual or developmental errors). At basic levels, about 43 percent of all errors originated in the learners mother tongue obviously due to the fact that students had no other system to rely on while engaging in the process of learning a second language. about 28 percent of the recorded interlingual errors were the results of a comparison between word order of the first language and the second language. Another frequent interlingual errors recorded was the use of indefinite article „a’ before the nouns beginning with a vowel which was in turn due to the fact that such distinction did not exist in the learners’ mother tongue. Other interlingual errors were the omission of „to’ between two main verbs and of course many lexical errors produced as a results of comparison between the first and second language. While 43 percent of errors produced by the participants at basic levels were classified as interlingual, 38 percents of all errors recorded were judged to be developmental by all the raters. Chief among these developmental errors was the omission of third person singular„s’ which didn’t originate from the learners’ mother tongue since it has no equivalent in their native language. Another frequent developmental error recorded was the omission of plural„s’ endings. This error seemed to be sign of the fact that learners didn’t understand the necessity of addition of such item to the plural nouns. This error obviously didn’t arise from their native language as far as such a distinction between plural nouns and singular nouns exists in their native language. Not surprisingly, only 19 percent of all errors produced by the participants were considered to originate from the second language. This was basically due to the fact that basic learners did not enough exposure to the second language system in order to make overgeneralizations. Some example of intralingual errors were the addition of „to be’ verbs before the main verbs in simple present tense or the omission of „to be’ verbs in present continuous tense. Table 4.1 illustrates the most frequent errors produced by Iranian EFL learners at basic levels with respect to their origins: Origin Interlingual Errors Intralingual Errors Developmental errors TABLE 4.1: CLASSIFICATION OF ERRORS AT BASIC LEVEL BASED ON THE ORIGIN Error A frequent Example Word Order Nouns/adjectives replacement (A girl beautiful) Omission of indefinite article „an’ (she is a adorable teacher) Omission of „to’ between verbs (I prefer stay home) Us of „for’ before simple form of the verb (For feel better, you should go on vacation) To be verb +a main verb (I am go)3 (Iam go) Omission of “to be” before a verb + ing (Iwatching TV) Omission of third person singular12 ( she play tennis with her friends) Omission of plural “s”5 (all my friend are tall) Omission of “to be” before a verb + ing (I watching TV) B. Errors at Elementary Levels According to Origin Errors produced by participants at elementary level were also described and classified considering the origin of errors (interlingual, intralingual or developmental errors). As predicted, the types of errors recorded by the researcher at this level during a period of six months were considerably different with respect to the frequency and origin of them. While © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 854 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 43 percent of all errors at basic levels originated in the learners’ mother tongue, at the elementary level 41 percent of all errors were judged by the raters to be developmental and 35 percent of them were classified as intra lingual by the raters. An example of developmental errors is the wrong usage of words with different parts of speech. Participants frequently made errors due to the fact that they could not differentiate between the actual parts of the speech of the words. In addition, many of the errors recorded reveal the fact that the participants used a grammatical tense wrongly mainly due to the fact that either they had not understood the real use of the tense or they felt more comfortable with the tenses the had learnt earlier. In addition to developmental errors, 32 percent of all errors were judged to be intralingual resulting from the comparison of the earlier learnt items with newly presented items. It is needless to say that the meticulous analyses of such intralingual errors will yield valuable information about the underlying system of the learners’ interlanguage and they should not be considered as ill forms of language that should be prevented at all costs. Much of the data obtained surprisingly supported the idea of U- shape learning in which learners first seemed to a master a linguistic item and then after returning to their earlier state of learning for a short time, they cold produce the linguistic structures correctly. This process simply reveals that learners are constructing their interlanguage through testing hypothesis about the structure of the target language. In comparison with the Percentage of developmental and intra lingual errors, only a few of the recorded errors in the data obtained could be classified as interlingual. The most repeated example of which were errors resulting from the comparison of lexical meaning of two items in the first and second language. Table 4.2 illustrates the most frequent errors produced by Iranian EFL learners at elementary levels with respect to their origins: Origin Developmental Errors Intra lingual Errors Interlingual Errors TABLE 4.2: CLASSIFICATION OF ERRORS AT ELEMENTARY BASED ON THE ORIGIN Errors A frequent Example Wrong usage of words with different parts of 1.nouns instead of verbs: ( He applause me) speech 2.adjectives instead of nouns)they’re the same long) 3.adjaectives instead of adverbs( he writes slow) Wrong usage of grammatical structures 1.present tense instead of past tense( I go last July) 2.past instead of present perfect( I studied English since last summer) Use of auxiliary verbs in present perfect (She has eaten sushi, does she?) Addition of „ly’ to make adverbs (He walks fastly) Fast +ly =Fastly ( I waited there Longly) Long+ ly=Longly Wrong addition of „er’ and „more’, „est’ and ( she is more happy than her sister) More + happy = more happy „most’ for comparatives and Superlatives (she is the most pretty girl in class) The most + pretty = the most pretty Lexical translation of items in 2 languages (her height is as tall as mine) ‫ا ست من ق د ب ل ندی ب ه او ق د‬ C. Comparison of the Errors at Two Levels After description and classification of errors at each level, this section illustrates the similarities and difference of the types of error recorded at each level. As illustrated in the bar graph 4.1, Participants whose demand of the second language were at basic levels produced more interlingual errors chiefly due to the fact that the system of the first language was the only one learners could rely on while dealing with the second language. While 43 percent of errors produced by basic levels were interlingual, only 24 percent of errors were interlingual at elementary levels where students could rely on their knowledge of second language.Table 4.3 illustrates the Percentage of the errors at both levels of basic and elementary regarding their origins (Interlingual, Intralingual, and Developmental) TABLE 4.3: THE PERCENTAGE OF ERROR AT BOTH LEVELS BASED ON THEIR ORIGIN Origin Interlingual Errors Intralingual Errors Developmental Errors Basic Level 43% 19% 38% Elementary level 24% 35% 41% Regarding the intra lingua errors, learners at elementary levels produced more errors than learners at basic levels(35% at elementary level and 19% at basic level) all the evidence supports the idea that as learners’ level of proficiency improved, they depended less and less on the their knowledge of first language. Moreover, 41 percent of errors at elementary levels and 38 percent of errors at basic levels were classified as developmental errors, supporting the idea that at both levels learners produced errors simply because they were engaged in the process of learning. Bar graph 4.1 illustrates the percentages of errors at both levels based on their origins: © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 855 Bar graph 4.1 the Percentages of Errors at Both Levels Based on Their Origins D. Investigation of Research Question This study aimed at investigating if learners’ errors produced at two different levels of basic and elementary differ with respect to their origin (interlingual, intralingual or developmental errors) as well as the type of error (lexical or grammatical errors). Data was collected through multiple instruments and classified by three different raters. The interpretation of data revealed the fact that errors produced by the learners at two different levels of basic and elementary varied greatly regarding their origins. Learners at basic levels produced more interlingual errors, but as their proficiency in English progressed, they produced less and less interlingual errors and errors recorded at higher levels could be better classified as either intralingual or developmental. The findings also revealed that learners at basic levels produced more grammatical errors than lexical errors. Many of the errors produced at elementary level were lexical reflecting the learners’ attempt to use the lexical items in their appropriate context. Chief among these lexical errors were the wrong usage of collocations (using correct proposition after verbs) and lexical errors resulting from the literal translation of words in native language to the target language (e.g. saying „the bird’s house’ instead of the „ the bird’s nest). Such examples may support the idea that in fact some of the errors produced at higher levels of proficiency is due to the use of compensation strategies. Further studies may investigate the relationship of the two. V. DISCUSSION As stated before, this qualitative case study investigated the types and origins of errors produced by Iranian EFL learners at two levels of basic and elementary. The results revealed that, in general, learners at elementary levels produced more developmental and intralingual errors than Erooros resulting from the transfer of information from the first language. On the other hand, learners at basic level produced more interlingual errors. Moreover, participants at higher levels produced more lexical errors than grammatical errors while participants at basic levels had more grammatical errors. Conclusively speaking, no one can deny the importance of teachers’ awareness of the nature; causes and types of errors produced by learners at any level as far as errors are the overt manifestations of the underlying system of learners engaged in the process f learning. Although the results obtained from a case study in nature are not as generalizable as the results obtained from quantitative studies, they can provide rich, thick description of an unknown phenomenon which paves the way for further analysis. The results of this are of great value since they can aid stakeholders in the process of learning by providing guidelines on which they can base their feedback to the students leaning. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Albrechtsen, D.B.Henriksen, and C.Farch. (1980) Native Speaker Reaction to Learners’ Spoken Interlanguage. Language Learning 30:365-396. Bardovi-Harling,k. and T.Bofman. (1989). Attainment of Syntactic and Morphological Accuracy by Advanced Language Learners, Studies in second language acquisition: 11: 17-34. Burt,M. (1975). Error Analysis in the adult EFL classroom, TESOL Quarterly9:53-63. Cordor, S.P. (1967). The Significance of Learners’ Errors, International Review of applied Linguistics, 5:161-169 Cordor, S.P. (1974). Error Analysis in J.P. Allen and S.P. Cordor (eds), The Edinburgh Course in Applied Linguistics, Volume 3.London: Oxford University Press. Crooks,G. (1989). Planning and Inter language Variability, Studies in Second Language Acquistion11:367-383. Ellis, R. (2008). the study of Second Language Acquisition, Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York. Felix, S. (1981). the Effect of Formal Instruction on Second Language Acquisition, Language Learning31:87-112. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 856 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES [9] Foster P. and P. Skehan. (1996). the Influence of Planning on Performance in Task Based Learning, Studies in Second Language Acquistion18/3299-324. Hornberger, N. H. (eds), (1997). Encyclopedia of Language Education, vol.7, Language Testing and Assessment. New York: Springer, 273-284 Lantolf, J. P. and Poehner, M. E. (2008a). Dynamic Assessment. In Shohamy, E. and Hornberger, N. H (eds), Encyclopedia of Language Education , VOL.7 Language Testing and assessment, Newyork, Springer,273-2. LoCoco V. (1976). a comparison of Three Methods for the collection of L2 Data : Free Composition, Translation and Picture Description , Working Papers on Composition8:59-86. Mehnert U. (1998). the Effect of Different Length of Time for Planning on Second Language Learning , Studies in Second Language Acquisition20:52-83. Richards, J. (1971). a Non Contrastive Approach to Error Analysis, ELT Journal 25: 204-219. Santos, T. (1987). Markedness Theory and Error Evaluation: an Experimental Study, Applied Linguistics 8:207-218. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] Bahareh Malmeer holds an M.A. in TEFL from Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, and Iran. She has extensive experience of teaching English as a foreign language. She is an English teacher for Iran Language Institute and also Jahad La nguage School. Her research interest includes material development and evaluation as well as SLA. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Call for Papers and Special Issue Proposals Aims and Scope Theory and Practice in Language Studies (TPLS) is a peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to promoting scholarly exchange among teachers and researchers in the field of language studies. The journal is published monthly. TPLS carries original, full-length articles and short research notes that reflect the latest developments and advances in both theoretical and practical aspects of language teaching and learning. We particularly encourage articles that share an interdisciplinary orientation, articles that bridge the gap between theory and practice, and articles in new and emerging areas of research that reflect the challenges faced today. Areas of interest include: language education, language teaching methodologies, language acquisition, bilingualism, literacy, language representation, language assessment, language education policies, applied linguistics, as well as language studies and other related disciplines: psychology, linguistics, pragmatics, cognitive science, neuroscience, ethnography, sociolinguistics, sociology, and anthropology, literature, phonetics, phonology, and morphology. Special Issue Guidelines Special issues feature specifically aimed and targeted topics of interest contributed by authors responding to a particular Call for Papers or by invitation, edited by guest editor(s). We encourage you to submit proposals for creating special issues in areas that are of interest to the Journal. Preference will be given to proposals that cover some unique aspect of the technology and ones that include subjects that are timely and useful to the readers of the Journal. A Special Issue is typically made of 10 to 15 papers, with each paper 8 to 12 pages of length. A special issue can also be proposed for selected top papers of a conference/workshop. In this case, the special issue is usually released in association with the committee members of the conference/workshop like general chairs and/or program chairs who are appointed as the Guest Editors of the Special Issue. The following information should be included as part of the proposal: • • • • • • • • Proposed title for the Special Issue Description of the topic area to be focused upon and justification Review process for the selection and rejection of papers Name, contact, position, affiliation, and biography of the Guest Editor(s) List of potential reviewers if available Potential authors to the issue if available Estimated number of papers to accept to the special issue Tentative time-table for the call for papers and reviews, including o Submission of extended version o Notification of acceptance o Final submission due o Time to deliver final package to the publisher If the proposal is for selected papers of a conference/workshop, the following information should be included as part of the proposal as well: • • • • The name of the conference/workshop, and the URL of the event. A brief description of the technical issues that the conference/workshop addresses, highlighting the relevance for the journal. A brief description of the event, including: number of submitted and accepted papers, and number of attendees. If these numbers are not yet available, please refer to previous events. First time conference/workshops, please report the estimated figures. Publisher and indexing of the conference proceedings. If a proposal is accepted, the guest editor will be responsible for: • • • • • Preparing the “Call for Papers” to be included on the Journal’s Web site. Distribution of the Call for Papers broadly to various mailing lists and sites. Getting submissions, arranging review process, making decisions, and carrying out all correspondence with the authors. Authors should be informed the Author Guide. Providing us the completed and approved final versions of the papers formatted in the Journal’s style, together with all authors’ contact information. Writing a one- or two-page introductory editorial to be published in the Special Issue. More information is available on the web site at http://www.academypublisher.com/tpls/. A Comparison of Linguistic Errors of Iranian EFL Learners at Two Different Levels of Proficiency Bahareh Malmeer 850 (Contents Continued from Back Cover) The Impact of Different Writing Tasks on Intermediate EFL Learners' Writing Performance Abdolreza Abdali and Hamidreza Fatemipour 730 A Novel Probe into College English Quality-oriented Transformation Based on the Impersonal Evaluation Criteria of College English Instruction Xiongyong Cheng 736 A Corpus-based Comparative Study of Lexical Proficiency of Writings by Majors of Arts v.s. Those of Science Ronggen Zhang 743 Strategies Employed in Translation of Tourist Guidebooks Culture-specific Items from Persian into English Masoome Rezaei and Davud Kuhi 750 Understanding the Platonic Dialogue from the Perspective of Gadamer’s Hermeneutics Chunge Liu and Xiaodi Sui 758 The Strategy of Metaphor Translation: Domestication or Foreignization Xuedong Shi 766 Delving the Relationship between Teacher Empowerment and Job Satisfaction among Iranian EFL Teachers in Tehran Aviation University Fatemeh Azimi Amoli and Maryam Youran 771 The Application of Thematic Theory in Translation Fang Wang 778 Characteristics of Economic Literature and Its Translation Jianjun Wang and Yize Fan 786 Comparison of Critical Thinking in Students Interested and Uninterested in Learning a Second Language Gholamreza Manshaee, Tahereh Mahmoudian Dastnaee, Ali Seidi, and Azam Davoodi 792 Research on Bilingual Teaching in Colleges and Universities in China Jian Li and Kunming Yao 800 Negotiation of Narratives in Postmodern Picture Book Shuxuan Wu 806 Examining the Effect of Strategy Instruction on Writing Apprehension and Writing Achievement of EFL Learners Fatemeh Mohseniasl 811 On Vocabulary Presentation Modes in College English Teaching and Learning Jun Chen 818 Analysis of Influencing Factors in Metacognition in English Writing Yingnan Liu 824 The Effect of Focus on Form on EFL Learners’ Written Task Accuracy across Different Proficiency Levels Asghar Salimi, Alireza Bonyadi, and Atefeh Asghari 829 Group-based Formative Assessment: A Successful Way to Make Summative Assessment Effective Haishen Yu and Hongmei Li 839 The Re-understanding of Edna Pontellier’s Death Limin Bai 845

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