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Effect of Talk on English as a Foreign Language Writing Development and Language Learner Identity: A Study of Chinese College Students

Received: 14 September 2021     Accepted: 30 September 2021     Published: 12 October 2021
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Abstract

Writing is regarded as a huge challenge for students who study English as a foreign language (EFL). Confronted with the poor writing performance of Chinese students, researchers have been exploring the effective approaches to teaching EFL writing. "Talk for writing" is a widely studied field in countries such as the UK and New Zealand. However, reliable literature in this domain is scarce in China, and most of of it is short-term or unstructured research. Thus, this article aims to explore how (EFL) writing development and language learner identity are affected by talk, a process derived from social constructivism, entailing expounding, exchange, negotiation, reflection, and development. The 18-week longitudinal study applied a "talk for writing" approach to college English writing classes with 74 English-major students from a higher vocational college. This research, employing both quantitative methods and qualitative methods, yielded rich and dynamic results. (1) The quantitative data indicated that the "talk for writing" approach improved students' academic writing attainment on the whole. Particularly, the cohort of so-called "modest writers" benefited the most from it. Moreover, this approach, to a large extent, exerted a positive impact on the reconstruction of students' language learner identity. (2) The qualitative data identified the types of talk that supported writing and provided evidence for the ways in which talk supported students' ability to generate ideas, to use talk as oral rehearsal in preparation for writing, and to improve their linguistic accuracy. It also gave insights into students' views on this approach. Also, this approach developed students' engagement, motivation and confidence in English writing and delineated the negotiating trajectories of students' language learner identity.

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 9, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20210905.13
Page(s) 258-268
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

EFL Writing, Talk for Writing, Language Learner Identity, Chinese College Students, Strategic Talk, Evaluative Talk, Constructive Talk

References
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  • APA Style

    Xuexing Li, Hongquan Yang, Han Yan. (2021). Effect of Talk on English as a Foreign Language Writing Development and Language Learner Identity: A Study of Chinese College Students. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 9(5), 258-268. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20210905.13

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    Xuexing Li; Hongquan Yang; Han Yan. Effect of Talk on English as a Foreign Language Writing Development and Language Learner Identity: A Study of Chinese College Students. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2021, 9(5), 258-268. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20210905.13

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    AMA Style

    Xuexing Li, Hongquan Yang, Han Yan. Effect of Talk on English as a Foreign Language Writing Development and Language Learner Identity: A Study of Chinese College Students. Int J Lang Linguist. 2021;9(5):258-268. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20210905.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20210905.13,
      author = {Xuexing Li and Hongquan Yang and Han Yan},
      title = {Effect of Talk on English as a Foreign Language Writing Development and Language Learner Identity: A Study of Chinese College Students},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {9},
      number = {5},
      pages = {258-268},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20210905.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20210905.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20210905.13},
      abstract = {Writing is regarded as a huge challenge for students who study English as a foreign language (EFL). Confronted with the poor writing performance of Chinese students, researchers have been exploring the effective approaches to teaching EFL writing. "Talk for writing" is a widely studied field in countries such as the UK and New Zealand. However, reliable literature in this domain is scarce in China, and most of of it is short-term or unstructured research. Thus, this article aims to explore how (EFL) writing development and language learner identity are affected by talk, a process derived from social constructivism, entailing expounding, exchange, negotiation, reflection, and development. The 18-week longitudinal study applied a "talk for writing" approach to college English writing classes with 74 English-major students from a higher vocational college. This research, employing both quantitative methods and qualitative methods, yielded rich and dynamic results. (1) The quantitative data indicated that the "talk for writing" approach improved students' academic writing attainment on the whole. Particularly, the cohort of so-called "modest writers" benefited the most from it. Moreover, this approach, to a large extent, exerted a positive impact on the reconstruction of students' language learner identity. (2) The qualitative data identified the types of talk that supported writing and provided evidence for the ways in which talk supported students' ability to generate ideas, to use talk as oral rehearsal in preparation for writing, and to improve their linguistic accuracy. It also gave insights into students' views on this approach. Also, this approach developed students' engagement, motivation and confidence in English writing and delineated the negotiating trajectories of students' language learner identity.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Effect of Talk on English as a Foreign Language Writing Development and Language Learner Identity: A Study of Chinese College Students
    AU  - Xuexing Li
    AU  - Hongquan Yang
    AU  - Han Yan
    Y1  - 2021/10/12
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20210905.13
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    JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-0221
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20210905.13
    AB  - Writing is regarded as a huge challenge for students who study English as a foreign language (EFL). Confronted with the poor writing performance of Chinese students, researchers have been exploring the effective approaches to teaching EFL writing. "Talk for writing" is a widely studied field in countries such as the UK and New Zealand. However, reliable literature in this domain is scarce in China, and most of of it is short-term or unstructured research. Thus, this article aims to explore how (EFL) writing development and language learner identity are affected by talk, a process derived from social constructivism, entailing expounding, exchange, negotiation, reflection, and development. The 18-week longitudinal study applied a "talk for writing" approach to college English writing classes with 74 English-major students from a higher vocational college. This research, employing both quantitative methods and qualitative methods, yielded rich and dynamic results. (1) The quantitative data indicated that the "talk for writing" approach improved students' academic writing attainment on the whole. Particularly, the cohort of so-called "modest writers" benefited the most from it. Moreover, this approach, to a large extent, exerted a positive impact on the reconstruction of students' language learner identity. (2) The qualitative data identified the types of talk that supported writing and provided evidence for the ways in which talk supported students' ability to generate ideas, to use talk as oral rehearsal in preparation for writing, and to improve their linguistic accuracy. It also gave insights into students' views on this approach. Also, this approach developed students' engagement, motivation and confidence in English writing and delineated the negotiating trajectories of students' language learner identity.
    VL  - 9
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Foreign Languages and Preschool Education, Beijing Institute of Economics and Management, Beijing, China

  • Department of Foreign Languages and Preschool Education, Beijing Institute of Economics and Management, Beijing, China

  • Department of Foreign Languages and Preschool Education, Beijing Institute of Economics and Management, Beijing, China

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