Relationship between socio-cultural writing strategy use and language proficiency among Chinese tertiary English majors

Chili Li; Xiaoxue Wang; Xuyuan Hu; Zhenru Shang; Long Qian

doi:10.54475/jlt.2022.012

Authors

Chili Li School of Foreign Languages, Hubei University of Technology https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2163-9105
Xiaoxue Wang School of Foreign Languages, Hubei University of Technology
Xuyuan Hu School of Foreign Languages, Wuchang Shouyi University
Zhenru Shang School of Humanities, Wuhan University of Engineering Science
Long Qian School of Humanities, Wuhan University of Engineering Science; Faculty of Humanities, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54475/jlt.2022.012

Keywords:

Chinese English majors, socio-cultural writing strategies, language proficiency

Abstract

This paper aims to report on the results of a study on the use of socio-cultural writing strategies as well as its correlation with second language proficiency of a group of Chinese tertiary English majors. To this end, 306 English major students were randomly invited for participating in a questionnaire survey, and 12 of them were purposively sampled for a semi-structured interview. The collected quantitative data were subjected to descriptive analysis as well as Pearson Correlation test. The quantitative results show that the respondents orchestrated a wide range of utilizing socio-cultural writing strategies, of which they had a high level of using role-mediated strategies, followed by a medium-to-high level in deploying sign-mediated strategies, rule-mediated strategies, tool-mediated strategies, and community-mediated strategies respectively. Pearson Correlation test reveals a significantly negative correlation between a dimension of community-mediated strategies (peer interaction) and the surveyed population’s NMET (National Matriculation English Test) scores, and a significantly positive correlation between a dimensional (task requirement) and overall rule-mediated strategies and the participant’s TEM-4 (Test for English Major Band 4) results. These results were further reflected in the qualitative data. The findings of this study shall shed light on teaching English writing to English majors in the Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) context and others.

Author Biographies

Chili Li, School of Foreign Languages, Hubei University of Technology

Chili Li holds a doctoral degree in applied linguistics. He is currently associate professor of applied linguistics at the School of Foreign Languages, Hubei University of Technology, China. His research interests include teacher development, L2 motivation, learning strategies, learner beliefs, and others related to second language acquisition and language teaching. His works appear in System, Frontiers in Psychology, Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, and Springer Nature.
Email: lichili@hbut.edu.cn
Xiaoxue Wang, School of Foreign Languages, Hubei University of Technology

Xiaoxue Wang is a research student at the School of Foreign Languages, Hubei University of Technology, China. Her research interests are but not limited to applied linguistics, and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
Email: 1197572323@qq.com
Xuyuan Hu, School of Foreign Languages, Wuchang Shouyi University

Xuyuan Hu is an English Instructor at the School of Foreign Languages, Wuchang Shouyi University, China. Her research interests are but not limited to applied linguistics, language learning strategies, and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
Email: 779392896@qq.com
Zhenru Shang, School of Humanities, Wuhan University of Engineering Science

Zhenru Shang is an English Instructor at the School of Humanities, Wuhan University of Engineering Science, China. Her research interests are but not limited to applied linguistics, and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
Email: 1194100312@qq.com
Long Qian, School of Humanities, Wuhan University of Engineering Science; Faculty of Humanities, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Long Qian is an English Instructor at the School of Humanities, Wuhan University of Engineering Science, China. His research interests are but not limited to applied linguistics, and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). His works appear in Frontiers in Psychology and others.
Email: long.qian@connect.polyu.hk

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