Applied Linguistics

Concerns about the need for assessing multidialectal listening skills for global contexts are becoming increasingly prevalent. However, the inclusion of multiple accents on listening assessments may threaten test fairness because it is not practical to include every accent that may be encountered in the language use domain on these tests. Given this dilemma, this study aimed to determine the extent to which accent strength and familiarity affect comprehension and to provide a defensible direction for assessing multidialectal listening comprehension. A strength of accent scale was developed, and one US, four Australian, and four British English speakers of English were selected based on a judgment of their strength of accent. Next, TOEFL test takers (N = 21,726) were randomly assigned to listen to a common lecture given by one of the nine selected speakers, and respond to six comprehension items and a survey designed to assess their familiarity with various accents. The results suggest that strength of accent and familiarity do affect listening comprehension, and these factors affect comprehension even with quite light accents.

Gary J. Ockey

Robert French

From One to Multiple Accents on a Test of L2 Listening Comprehension

Journal Article Lexical Bundles and Disciplinary Variation in University Students' Writing: Mapping the Territories Get access Philip Durrant Philip Durrant Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Applied Linguistics, Volume 38, Issue 2, April 2017, Pages 165–193, https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amv011 Published: 17 April 2015

Philip Durrant

Lexical Bundles and Disciplinary Variation in University Students’ Writing: Mapping the Territories

Abstract One of the most powerful and enduring ideas in written discourse analysis is that genres can be described in terms of the moves which structure a writer’s purpose. Considerable research has sought to identify these distinct communicative acts, but analyses have been beset by problems of subjectivity, reliability, and the time-consuming need for multiple coders to confirm analyses. In this article, we employ the affordances of Generative Pre-trained Transformer 4 (GPT-4) to automate the annotation process by using natural language prompts. Focusing on abstracts from articles in four applied linguistics journals, we devise prompts which enable the model to identify moves effectively. The annotated outputs of these prompts were evaluated by two assessors with a third addressing disagreements. The results show that an eight-shot prompt was more effective than one using two, confirming that the inclusion of examples illustrating areas of variability can enhance GPT-4’s ability to recognize multiple moves in a single sentence and reduce bias related to textual position. We suggest that GPT-4 offers considerable potential in automating this annotation process, when human actors with domain-specific linguistic expertise inform the prompting process.

Danni Yu

Marina Bondi

Ken Hyland

Can GPT-4 learn to analyse moves in research article abstracts?

GPT-4能学会分析研究文章摘要中的步骤吗？

Abstract This study explored the relationship between linguistic features and the rated quality of letters of application (LAs) and argumentative essays (AEs) composed in English by Chinese college-level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. A corpus of 260 LAs and 260 AEs were analyzed via a confirmatory factor analysis. Latent variables were EFL writing quality, captured by writing scores, and lexical sophistication, syntactic complexity, and cohesion, each captured by different linguistic features in the two genres of writing. Results indicated that lexical decision times, moving average type-token ratio with a 50-word window, and complex nominals per clause explained 55.5 per cent of the variance in the holistic scores of both genres of writing. This pattern of predictivity was further validated with a test corpus of 110 LAs and 110 AEs, revealing that, albeit differing in genre, higher-rated LAs and AEs were likely to contain more sophisticated words and complex nominals and exhibit a higher type-token ratio with a 50-word window. These findings help enrich our understanding of the shared features of different genres of EFL writing and have potentially useful implications for EFL writing pedagogy and assessment.

Xiaopeng Zhang

Xiaofei Lu

Wenwen Li

Beyond Differences: Assessing Effects of Shared Linguistic Features on L2 Writing Quality of Two Genres

超越差异：评估共享语言特征对两种体裁二语写作质量的影响

This article reports on the findings of a large-scale cross-sectional survey of the motivational disposition of English language learners in secondary schools and universities in China. The total sample involved over 10,000 students and was stratified according to geographical region and teaching contexts, selecting participants both from urban and rural locations. The investigation aims to present a balanced overview of the general level of L2 motivation in China through the lens of the L2 Motivational Self System (Dornyei 2005, 2009). The wealth of data obtained in the survey provide solid empirical description of the main features of language learning in China, and the detailed information presented in the study can also serve as a baseline for future research conducted to investigate temporal, social, and geographical variation and evolution.

Chenjing (Julia) You

Zoltán Dörnyei

Language Learning Motivation in China: Results of a Large-Scale Stratified Survey

中国语言学习动机：大规模分层调查结果

Ursula Lanvers

Teachers Reflecting on Boredom in the Language Classroom: Mirosław Pawlak, Mariusz Kruk, and Joanna Zawodniak

《语言课堂中的教师对无聊的反思：Mirosław Pawlak、Mariusz Kruk 和 Joanna Zawodniak》

Abstract In the current era of artificial intelligence, programming and coding have become crucial skills for students to navigate the constantly changing technological landscape. As technology increasingly influences various aspects of our lives, the ability to comprehend and interact with programming languages gains greater importance. However, there is limited research that examines the role of teachers’ and students’ linguistic and multimodal repertoires in facilitating programming education. This paper aims to investigate how a primary-level information technology teacher utilizes various linguistic, semiotic, and technological resources to teach programming to students. The study’s data is collected from a focussed observation in a primary information technology classroom in Hong Kong. Multimodal conversation analysis was employed to analyse the classroom data, which is triangulated with the analysis of video-stimulated-recall-interviews using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings illustrate that when engaging in programming tasks, teachers can employ a diverse range of multilingual, multimodal, and programming resources to enhance students’ programming skills. This article introduces the concept of ‘transprogramming’, which expands upon the idea of translanguaging as a theory of language. This concept of transprogramming acknowledges that programming languages and computational representations are not separate entities but are instead components of a larger linguistic and semiotic environment. The findings emphasize the importance of teachers incorporating diverse funds of knowledge in the classroom to enhance students’ capabilities in constructing and comprehending representations of programming codes during their engagement in programming activities.

Kevin W H Tai

Transprogramming in the primary-level programming lessons: reconceptualizing translanguaging in the era of artificial intelligence

初级编程课程中的跨编程：人工智能时代的语言转换再概念化

Abstract This study investigated the size of meaning-recall vocabulary knowledge and its variations across word-frequency and second language (L2) proficiency levels. Despite the extensive research history in determining lexical coverage and thresholds for effective L2 use, much of the evidence is based on measures of meaning-recognition vocabulary knowledge. Using a latent-trait approach, we calculated the probability that learners could recall the meaning of each word in a vocabulary size test. Differences in vocabulary size between recognition and recall formats were analyzed across word-frequency bands and L2 proficiency levels. Results indicate that most learners struggle to recall the meanings of word families beyond the second-most frequent band. Moreover, the gap between meaning-recall and meaning-recognition vocabulary sizes was substantial and expanded as word-frequency and L2 proficiency levels decreased. These findings contribute to defining realistic L2 vocabulary teaching goals and selecting appropriate teaching methods. Construct-irrelevant measurements lead to a misunderstanding of L2 lexical proficiency, emphasizing the importance of test format selection according to the developmental stages of learners’ vocabulary knowledge.

Akira Hamada

Yuko Hoshino

Masumi Kojima

Kazumi Aizawa

Tatsuo Iso

Yuichiro Kobayashi

How many L2 word meanings can learners recall? A latent trait approach to vocabulary size estimation

学习者能回忆出多少第二语言词汇意义？词汇量估计的潜在特质方法

Abstract Vaccine hesitancy remains one of the greatest challenges for global health. Previous research has shown that the recruitment of rational processes is increased in hypothetical decision-making scenarios when the underpinning information is presented in a foreign language. We investigate whether vaccine campaigns could benefit from this Foreign Language Effect (FLE) in order to overcome vaccine hesitancy. We conceptually replicated a recent study on COVID-19 vaccine campaigns (Freeman et al. 2021) to assess whether information can more successfully reduce vaccine hesitancy when presented in a foreign language as well as how other factors, such as language proficiency, impact the FLE. Based on a survey of 436 participants, we conclude that there may be the potential to lower vaccine hesitancy among individuals with English as a foreign language by presenting information in English, rather than in their native language. Conversely, participants who are native speakers of English and negatively predisposed against the COVID-19 vaccine react more negatively to information they read in a foreign language compared to their native language.

Monika S Schmid

Karen Roehr-Brackin

Overcoming COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: An investigation of the Foreign Language Effect

克服COVID-19疫苗犹豫：对外语效应的调查

Abstract The fascination with crime, as evident from its extensive coverage in novels and on television, remains a topic of interest for the general public. This fascination often elicits responses rooted in deeply held values and can significantly impact individuals. Consequently, people’s attitudes toward interrogations, trials, and punishments may be strongly influenced by the discourse surrounding crime as portrayed in fictional texts. The primary objective of this article is to contribute to the body of research that has delved into the influential role of ideology in shaping narratives centred on crime stories. Specifically, through a linguistic analysis of transitivity and appraisal patterns in the first episode of the TV series When They See Us, this study addresses two fundamental research questions: 1) What does a transitivity analysis of process and participant types reveal about the construction of ‘a criminal character’ and how may this contribute to a presupposition of guilt? 2) What can an Appraisal analysis tell us about the evaluative portrayal of ‘a criminal character’ and how may this contribute to a presupposition of guilt? The aim is to provide insights into how the discursive representation of specific social groups, exemplified here by black Hispanic teenagers, simultaneously reflects and influences public perceptions, particularly when the discourse emanates from authoritative figures.

Leanne Bartley

Piergiorgio Trevisan

‘We can fix this. Let’s get you out of trouble, son’: an analysis of the transitivity and appraisal patterns in the Netflix TV show <i>When They See Us</i>

“我们可以解决这个问题。让我们帮你摆脱困境，孩子”：对Netflix电视剧《当他们看见我们》时态和评价模式的分析

Abbreviation	Appl. Linguist.
Journal Impact	3.78
Quartiles(Global)	LINGUISTICS(Q1)

ISSN	0142-6001, 1477-450X
h-index	125
Top Journals	Yes

Publication Information	Publisher: Oxford University Press，Publishing cycle: ，Journal Type: journal，Open Access Journals: No
Basic data	Year of publication: 1980，Proportion of original research papers: 100.00%，Self Citation Rate:8.30%， Gold OA Rate: 26.50%

Applied Linguistics

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