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This research study explored the changes in and effects of TED talks on Chinese postgraduate students’ English speaking performance and speaking anxiety over a period of 10 weeks. In this research, TED talks were used as a learning mode to provide a quasi-realistic sociocultural context for speaking English. 166 students from the experimental group using TED talks and 156 in the conventional mode participated in the quasi-experiment. They made eight-minute oral presentations and answered the 12-item English Speaking Anxiety Scale prior to and after the experiment. Analyses of the data revealed three major findings: 1) both the experimental and control groups did significantly better in English speaking performance and became significantly less anxious about speaking English over the 10-week period, 2) the experimental group did significantly better in move structure and were significantly less anxious about speaking English than the control group at the end of the 10-week period, and 3) the learning modes had a significant effect on students’ move structures of oral presentations but had no effect on their oral presentation performance and English speaking anxiety. These findings support the benefit of supplementing EFL (English as a foreign language) teaching and learning with TED talks and other similar virtual situated learning. Thus, the present study not only contributes to the current literature, which is short of studies on the effects of technology on SL/FL teaching and learning and the dynamic characteristic of the emotions associated with SL/FL learning, but also suggests that virtual situated learning like TED talks should be incorporated into SL/FL teaching and learning.

The present research investigated the quasi-causal relationship between foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) and English performance in relation to gender and discipline via cross-lagged regression analyses. A total of 934 freshmen from a well-known state-owned university in Beijing answered the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale and a background questionnaire at the beginning and the end of a term. Their English test scores in both phases were also collected. Results demonstrated that FLCA was significantly negatively correlated with English test performance for all students. Another major finding was that the overall FLCA, low self-confidence in speaking English, and worry about English classroom performance impacted the students’ test performance differently, depending on gender and discipline, so did test performance impact different aspects of FLCA. These findings show that FLCA is a primary cause for test performance, while the latter is not necessarily an important cause for the former.

The present mixed-method study examined the foci and effects of peer and machine feedback on the revisions of Chinese university EFL learners’ English argumentative essays. The data included Draft 1, peer feedback (PF), PF-based Draft 2, machine feedback (MF), MF-based feedback, questionnaires, and interview recordings. The main findings were: (a) peer feedback was primarily concerned with content errors, while machine feedback mainly involved non-content errors, (b) significant differences occurred in errors of most types between Draft 1, PF and PF-based Draft 2, and between Draft 1, MF, and MF-based Draft 2, (c) the intake of ‘introducing a new topic in Conclusion’ was a powerful predictor of PF-based Draft 2 scores, and (d) the participants generally moderately considered peer and machine feedback to be useful. Based on the findings, some implications are discussed on how to better implement and enhance the quality of peer and machine feedback.

As a highly important affective variable, motivation has always been a focus of research in second/foreign language (SL/FL) learning and proved to play a critical role in SL/FL learning. Even so, considering the complex and dynamic nature of SL/FL motivation, it always deserves research. Guided by the newly proposed framework of L2 Motivational Self System (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009), the present mixed-method study hence explored Chinese English majors’ L2 motivational self. One hundred and one English majors from a prestigious university in Beijing answered the questionnaire and 15 of them were interviewed in the present study. Analyses of the data revealed the following main findings: (1) the participants were generallyhighly motivated to learn English, had vivid images of themselves as proficient English users in the future, had positive appraisals of their L2 learning experiences, and had a moderately good perception of their ought-to L2 self, (2) senior students reported having significantly higher ideal L2 self and held more positive attitudes towards English learning experience. Based on these findings, some pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

With globalization, intercultural communication plays an increasingly more important role in various fields, including business, transportation and education. It is the same with intercultural sensitivity (IS), a critical component of intercultural communication. Though much research has been done on IS, little can be found on effects of demographic, linguistic and psychological factors on learners’ IS simultaneously in the same context. Little research can be found on IS in learners of languages other than English either. For these reasons, the present study investigated the predicting effects of linguistic, psychological and demographic variables on university international students’ intercultural communication sensitivity when immersed in the Chinese culture. One hundred and sixty-seven international students studying in a Chinese university in Beijing answered the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale, the Willingness-to-Communicate in Chinese Scale as well as the Demographic Questionnaire, and self-rated their proficiency in Chinese. Analyses of the data revealed the following main findings: (1) the participants were generally (fairly) sensitive, confident, attentive and enjoyable in intercultural interactions and respected cultural differences when communicating with people from the Chinese culture, (2) interaction engagement, interaction confidence, and overall intercultural communication sensitivity were significantly positively related to the participants’ ability to effectively communicate with people from the Chinese culture; interaction engagement was also significantly correlated with the participants’ openness to the Chinese culture, and (3) ability to effectively communicate with people from the Chinese culture and use of Chinese were powerful positive predictors for intercultural communication sensitivity. These findings imply that intercultural communication sensitivity is closely related to learners’ linguistic, psychological and demographic variables. Based on these findings, some implications were discussed.

The present research explored how foreign language listening anxiety (FLLA) affected Chinese university students' English listening test performance and how proficiency and gender mediated the effects of FLLA on the latter. Two different populations from two universities in China answered the 20-item Foreign Language Listening Anxiety Scale (FLLAS) as well as a demographic questionnaire and took an English listening test. Analyses of the collected data revealed the following major findings: (a) Five latent factors underlay the FLLAS, (b) when working alone, FLLA significantly negatively predicted students' English listening test performance, and (c) when working with proficiency and gender, English proficiency level, gender and FLLAS2 (proficiency in English listening) significantly predicted students' English listening test performance. These findings confirm the negative effects of FLLA on students' English listening test performance. They also indicate that English proficiency and gender mediate FLLA's effects on the latter, with English proficiency not only directly but also indirectly affecting the latter.

Despite the plethora of research on speaking anxiety, most studies focus on speaking for general purposes in various bilingual contexts, particularly ESL/EFL (English as second/foreign language) contexts. Little research has been done on anxiety when speaking English for academic purposes in bilingual students. Even fewer studies are available on the interaction between academic oral communication (AOC) anxiety and expectancy-value beliefs —important concepts of language learning motivation. Hence, the present longitudinal study examined the interaction of expectancy-value beliefs and AOC anxiety in bilingual Chinese postgraduate students when learning academic oral English. In addition to interviews, a set of matching questionnaires on AOC anxiety and expectancy-value beliefs were collected from 74 Chinese postgraduate learners of English in week 2 (phase 1) and week 14 (phase 2) of a 16-week semester. Analyses of the data revealed the following major findings: (1) One-third to half of the participants experienced AOC anxiety and had low expectancy of themselves about AOC, and more than half of them held high attainment, intrinsic value, utility value and cost value of AOC in English, (2) significant increase occurred in expectancy but not in AOC anxiety or any value over the semester, and (3) expectancy was a great negative predictor for AOC anxiety in phase 1, while expectancy, intrinsic value and cost value were powerful predictors for the latter in phase 2. Based on these findings, some implications for teaching and learning AOC to bilingual students are discussed.

The present longitudinal survey study explored changes in and effects of foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) and listening anxiety (FLLA) on Chinese undergraduate students’ English proficiency over a semester in the COVID-19 context. A set of 182 matching questionnaires was collected from first-year undergraduate English as a foreign language learners at two time points of a 16-week semester. Analyses of the data revealed the following major findings: (1) the participants experienced high levels of FLCA and FLLA both at the beginning and end of the semester, neither of which changed significantly during the semester, (2) FLCA and FLLA were highly positively related to each other, (3) FLCA and FLLA significantly predicted students’ self-rated proficiency in listening and speaking English, and (4) confidence in using English, efforts and motivation to learn English and interaction with instructors and peers mediated FLCA and FLLA to exert effects on students’ self-perceived proficiency in listening and speaking English. These findings indicate that the learning environment is critical in influencing the levels of and changes in FLCA and listening anxiety and that these two types of foreign language anxiety are serious issues in the pandemic foreign language learning context.

This study explored teaching anxiety and teacher foreign language anxiety (FLA) in 151 Chinese college English teachers in relation to their individual characteristics. Analyses of data collected from mixed-form questionnaires revealed the following major findings: (a) Major causes for teaching anxiety were concern about classroom teaching, research, other work and promotion, and interest and confidence in teaching, and major sources for teacher FLA were apprehension of speaking English, fear of negative outcomes, and confidence in English competence; (b) the participants of various backgrounds suffered from varying degrees of teaching anxiety and teacher FLA; (c) gender, age, educational level, English proficiency, and experience of visiting/studying in English-speaking countries significantly affected the participants’ teaching anxiety and teacher FLA levels; and (d) anxiety seriously affected the participants’ work and life. Evidently, anxiety is an important issue faced by university language teachers and needs to be further researched and seriously handled.

To understand motivation for learning German among Chinese college students in in-China and study-abroad (SA) contexts, the present study employed a mixed method to study 229 Chinese college students located in Beijing (N = 138) and Germany (N = 91). Quantitative data was collected through a 34-item questionnaire, and qualitative data was collected through 25 semi-structured interviews. The major findings were: 1) students in both contexts were largely integratively or instrumentally motivated to learn German, and 2) differences existed between the two groups in specific motivations, motivation level, and effects of motivation. These findings in return justify the need for research on motivation for learning not-so-important foreign languages like German.

This chapter examines adult CSL (Chinese as a L2) learners' intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness while studying in a university in Beijing. Seventy-four international students from various countries answered the intercultural sensitivity scale (ISS) and intercultural effectiveness scale (IES) as well as other scales in the present study; eight participants were informally interviewed. The findings indicate that the participants were moderate in terms of intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness, that intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness were generally and significantly related to each other, and that students' intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness levels were not statistically correlated with their background variables. Based on these findings, some implications are therein discussed.

Source-based writing research has received much attention in recent years, which generally shows that both novice and expert EFL (English as a foreign language) writers have difficulties in writing from sources. As many Chinese institutes of higher education attach increasingly more importance to publications in international journals, citation and plagiarism become critical issues for both student and teacher researchers as well as the institutes. Nevertheless, not much research can be found on the issues with Chinese students, especially undergraduate students. The present study thus investigated Chinese undergraduate EFL learners’ perceptions of plagiarism and use of citations in their course papers. A total of 141 students from a highly prestigious university answered an open-ended questionnaire and 97 of them submitted course papers. Major findings were: (1) the students had a (fairly) good knowledge of plagiarism and identified various reasons for plagiarism in academic writing, (2) they used summary the most often when citing from sources, followed by paraphrase and quotation, and (3) they mainly used single-source citations to primarily support their own ideas, position an author’s opinions and/or findings, and acknowledge the author’s ideas. These findings reveal a general overview of students’ perceptions of plagiarism and use of citations in their course papers, thus providing implications for formal classroom instruction of writing from sources.

This study employed a concurrent mixed method to find out whether Chinese young EFL learners (7th- to 9th- graders) were anxious, what caused them to feel/become anxious in English speaking class, how anxiety affected their learning of (spoken) English, and what differences existed in English speaking anxiety among the learners. Both quantitative (199 questionnaires) and qualitative (8 interviews) data were collected. The major findings were: (1) each grade sample was not anxious when speaking English in class. Few students were afraid to speak English, to make mistakes and to be laughed at in class, (2) the majority did not feel anxious when speaking English, a few did so due to such reasons as peer pressure, fear of making mistakes, fear of losing face, low self-confidence, little/no preparation, little practice, fear of being the center of attention, task difficulty, a limited vocabulary, poor English and wrong pronunciation, (3) anxiety seemed to have a negative effect on students’ learning of (spoken) English, and (4) differences occurred in English speaking anxiety levels, causes for and effects of anxiety among the learners in different grades.

We surveyed the practices and abilities of 103 students at 4 universities in China to write from sources in English, documenting in their first and second years of Bachelors’ and Masters’ programs (longitudinally and cross-sectionally): (a) students’ self-reported approaches to writing from sources and instruction that had helped them; (b) the frequency, accuracy, and functions of citations in samples of their course papers; and (c) their abilities to summarize a reading passage under test-like conditions. The students wrote with some proficiency in English and emerging competencies in writing from academic sources, confirming, in this context where English is a foreign language, tendencies such as nascent senses of authorial identities and patchwriting documented in prior case studies of Chinese and other students writing at English-dominant universities internationally. Limited evidence for development from the first to second year appeared in undergraduate students increasing the frequency, accuracy, and functions of their citations, moving toward the tendencies maintained by graduate students in both years’ course papers. In their second years, most students also reported greater success in acknowledging source materials and focus on formal aspects of writing course papers. Only half the students indicated they had taken courses that helped them to write from sources.

The present large-scale mixed-method study examined English language classroom anxiety and enjoyment in Chinese young students in relation to gender and grade level. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 709 primary and secondary school students from a province in south China. Major findings were: (1) Around one third of the participants felt anxious when speaking English while more than half felt joyful in the English class. The same pattern applied for male and female students and those in grades 4 to 8; (2) significant gender difference in anxiety occurred in grade 4 and that in enjoyment occurred in grade 8; (3) the students tended to be more anxious and less joyful in the English class as their grade levels increased, with grade 7 being a dividing year of the (inverted) u-curve; (4) anxiety and enjoyment were significantly correlated with each other for students in grades 4 to 8; (5) both learner- and teacher-related variables were identified as causes for anxiety and enjoyment; and (6) the students reacted differently when feeling anxious or joyful in class: When feeling/becoming anxious, they often suffered a lot (e.g., becoming dumbfounded, sweating, trembling, and not knowing what to do or say, etc.); when feeling joyful, they often became more attentive and active in class and studied English harder. It is hence clear that English language classroom anxiety and enjoyment are two independent dimensions of emotion and that fostering positive emotions facilitates SL/FL learning.

The present research explored the effects of cultural, affective, and linguistic variables on adult Chinese as a second language learners' willingness to communicate in Chinese. One hundred and sixty-two Chinese as a second language learners from a Chinese university answered the Willingness to Communicate in Chinese Scale, the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale, Chinese Speaking Anxiety Scale, Chinese Learning Motivation Scale, Use of Chinese Profile, as well as the Background Questionnaire. The major findings were as follows: (1) the Willingness to Communicate in Chinese Scales were significantly negatively correlated with Chinese Speaking Anxiety Scale but positively correlated with length of stay in China and (2) Chinese Speaking Anxiety Scale was a powerful negative predictor for the overall willingness to communicate in Chinese and the Willingness to Communicate in Chinese Scales, followed by length of stay in China, Chinese Learning Motivation Scale, interaction attentiveness, and Chinese proficiency level. Apparently, students' willingness to communicate in Chinese is largely determined by their Chinese Speaking Anxiety Scale level and length of stay in China, mediated by other variables such as Chinese proficiency level and intercultural communication sensitivity level.

The present research examined how university students perceived a 2-week summer English immersion program organized and designated by Chinese teachers of English in a highly prestigious university in Beijing and whether their perceptions changed during the period. Data included 208 surveys and 19 informal interviews in week 1 and 207 surveys and 19 interviews in week 2 (the participants were largely the same in both weeks). Analyses of the data showed that in both weeks, most students considered the courses interesting and liked most of them for similar reasons (e.g., being interesting and having much participation), that the program improved students’ English abilities in listening, speaking, reading and writing as well as overall English proficiency, and that the program enhanced students’ interpersonal communication ability, confidence in using English, knowledge of the culture of English-speaking countries, interest in and motivation to learn English. The results also revealed that the participants tended to become more positive about the program, have a more comprehensive view of the program and assess it more objectively toward the end of the program. Evidently, the program helped the students in various aspects. To better help students, it is useful to do needs analyses prior to the program so that more acceptable courses and activities can be designed and offered.Keywords: perception, change, immersion program

As an important affective factor in language learning, foreign language anxiety (FLA) has been extensively researched. Nevertheless, not many studies have targeted postgraduate students or been longitudinal to reveal the dynamic nature of FLA. Hence, the present quantitative study examined changes in and effects of FLA on postgraduate students’ performance over a 10-week period. A total of 324 postgraduate students from a prestigious university took a pretest and posttest, answered a set of questionnaires before (phase 1) and after (phase 2) the 10-week period, respectively. Analyses of the data revealed three major findings: (1) Toward the end of the period, the respondents became significantly less apprehensive of speech communication in English and less worried about the English class, English classroom performance, and other students’ performance. Their overall English language classroom anxiety was significantly lower as well, though they became significantly more worried about tests. (2) In both phases, anxiety was largely highly related to students’ performance in English speaking, listening, reading, and writing tests as well as the overall test performance, especially speaking test performance. Nevertheless, this correlation became weaker in phase 2. (3) In both phases, foreign language classroom anxiety and achievement anxiety powerfully predicted students’ English test performance, especially speaking test performance. These results show that FLA is an important issue even for postgraduate students, affecting their test performance to varying degrees over time. Based on these findings, implications and suggestions are discussed.

The present research examined the associations between foreign language listening anxiety (FLLA) and strategy use (FLLSU) and their predicting effects on test performance of high- and low-proficient Chinese university English as a foreign language learners. 1160 first-year undergraduate non-English majors answered the battery of questionnaires and took the listening test, among whom 227 low- and 243 high-proficient students were included in the final analyses of the collected data. The findings were as follows: (1) the low-proficient group was significantly more anxious about English listening and less confident in their English listening proficiency, and employed word-oriented and less active listener strategies significantly more often than their high-proficient peers, (2) FLLA was generally significantly correlated with FLLSU for both high- and low-proficient groups, and (3) FLLSU was a good predictor for English listening test performance for both low- and high-proficient students. It is thus concluded that FLLA and FLLSU are two closely interrelated and important factors in second/foreign language (SL/FL) learning, that FLLSU is a more influential factor for SL/FL listening learning, and that proficiency greatly mediates students’ FLLA levels and FLLSU frequencies.

The present research explored bilingual/multilingual students’ willingness to communicate in Chinese (WTCC) and foreign language anxiety (FLA) when speaking Chinese and their associations with self-rated proficiency in Chinese in a university in Beijing. The study recruited 167 bilingual and multilingual learners of Chinese to fill in a battery of questionnaires, 15 of whom were interviewed. Analyses of the data revealed the following major findings: (1) most participants were willing to communicate in Chinese and did not feel anxious when doing so, (2) both WTCC and FLA were closely related to self-rated proficiency in Chinese and powerful predictors for the latter, and vice versa, (3) WTCC and FLA were significantly related to and predicted each other and (4) a number of factors were identified to be causes for the learners’ WTCC and FLA. Evidently, both willingness to communicate and FLA are complicated constructs and issues of great concern even to experienced language learners, which deserve ...

Insufficient information was generated from the existing literature of cross-sectional studies about the changes of language learning anxiety, especially in technology-assisted language settings. This paper filled the gap by designing a longitudinal study of 10 weeks in which the mobile learning apps of Rain Classroom was administered to 158 postgraduate students in language class. Quantitative results were generated, using paired samples T-test and one-way repeated measures ANOVA, from the 5-point Likert scale of English Language Class Anxiety Scale, 7-point scale recall of anxiety changes across 4 weeks, pre- and post-test language performance, combined with the qualitative interview transcripts administered before and after the learning process. In consistency with prior findings, the study results produced a significant decrease in anxiety in general, corroborating the interview and the self-recalling measure results. Further, the self-recalled scale revealed a more complex pattern of anxiety with the general decreasing tendency mixed with the increasing trend between the last two weeks. This study implied that the binary approach of anxiety reduction was not sufficient for the big picture of fluctuations and variations of language anxiety. The combination of language outcome data reinforced the explanatory forces than a single-dimensional dataset.

Not much research has been done on motivation to study a second, third or even fourth foreign language though learners of such languages have been increasing. To contribute to this, the present study examined German learning motivation of Chinese university students at different proficiency levels. A total of 297 German learners at three different proficiency levels at a university in Beijing filled in the questionnaires, of whom 191 answered the open-ended question and 50 were informally interviewed. Analyses of the data revealed the following major findings: (1) most respondents at each proficiency level had limited access to and little chance to use German, liked the language, studied it (very) hard and did not think the language was difficult, (2) students at different proficiency levels studied German for similar reasons such as major study/research, further education, future career, interest in foreign language learning and German, and (3)students at higher proficiency levels perceived German to be more difficult and worked harder on it. Students at higher proficiency levels were both integratively and instrumentally more motivated to study German and had greater motivation intensity as well. It is clear that students at different proficiency levels were motivated to study German and that students at the advanced level tended to be more integratively motivated than those at the beginning level. Based on these findings, some suggestions are discussed.

As revealed by literature, anxiety and stress are complicated yet serious issues among teachers at all educational levels. Though widely studied, research on them often focuses on pre-service or primary and middle school teachers, with little research on in-service university teachers. It is especially so in China. The present study thus examined anxiety, stress and their relations with demographic variables in in-service university teachers in China. 256 teachers from various universities in China answered the Demographic Questionnaire, the Teaching Anxiety Scale and the Teacher Stress Inventory. Analyses of the data revealed the following main findings: (1) the participants were under great stress, but they were generally not so anxious about teaching, (2) teaching anxiety was generally significantly negatively correlated with age, professional title and years of teaching, while teacher stress was significantly negatively related to professional title, and (3) overall teacher stress, professional title and age were powerful predictors for teaching anxiety, while years of teaching, overall teaching anxiety and its subscales were powerful predictors for teacher stress. Based on these findings, some implications are discussed.

The present study explored the interrelations between foreign language (FL) reading anxiety, FL reading strategy use and their interactive effect on FL reading comprehension performance at the tertiary level in China. Analyses of the survey data collected from 1702 university students yielded the following results: (a) Both Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS) and Foreign Language Reading Strategy Use Scale (FLRSUS) had important subcomponents, (b) more than half of the students generally did not feel anxious when reading English, and were confident in and satisfied with their English reading proficiency. Meanwhile, (c) more than half of them moderately used different types of reading strategies such as planning, checking and confirming, predicting and assessing, when reading English, (d) compared with their female peers, male students felt significantly more anxious when facing reading activities, less satisfied with their English reading proficiency, and used specific analyzing and planning strategies significantly less often during a reading activity, (e) FLRAS was significantly inversely related to FLRSUS, and both were significantly correlated with the students’ FL reading comprehension performance, and (f) FLRAS (overall FL reading anxiety), FLRAS1 (general anxiety about FL reading), and FLRSUS2 (predicting strategies) were good predictors of FL reading comprehension performance. Based on the findings, some implications are discussed. 5 1 65 85 4 Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching

The present study examined the writing processes of 20 L1 writers and 20 L2 writers on a course task of writing a narrative in a Chinese university naturalistic setting, as well as the challenges they encountered and their coping strategies during the processes. Analyses of the data collected via questionnaire, journal and semi-structured interviews revealed that (1) both L1 and L2 writing processes were nonlinear and cyclical, involving a constant interplay of thinking, writing, and revising throughout the process, (2) though having a lot in common, the two groups differed in many aspects regarding the foci of concern during the process of writing the narrative, (3) both groups encountered common challenges as well as those peculiar of their own writing during the composing process, and (4) both groups were resourceful learners. Based on these findings, some suggestions are discussed.

The present case study investigated university students’ academic and linguistic gains during a semester-long exchange program abroad. Thirty three third-year English majors from a Chinese university answered a battery of questionnaires and 13 of them participated in semi-structured interviews both prior to and after the program. Analyses of the data showed that the participants gained greatly from the exchange program both academically and linguistically. Based on the findings, some implications about exchange programs are discussed. vol.3 no.4 505 522 Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching

The study reported in the present paper focused on the expectations of and concerns about the impending semester-long study abroad of students from a prestigious Chinese university. Data were collected via questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Analyses of 33 questionnaires and 15 semi-structured interviews yielded the following main findings: (1) the participants joined the exchange program for various motivations such as improving English, experiencing the host culture and broadening their views, and cultivating cultural awareness, (2) they held fairly high expectations from the exchange experience. They hoped to benefit from the experience in every aspect such as enhancing English proficiency, becoming more mature and independent, and interacting more effectively with people from diverse cultural backgrounds, (3) they, to varying degrees, believed that the exchange experience would be valuable to their academic and personal life and their future career, and (4) the majority participants had worries and concerns about their stay abroad such as culture shock, classroom participation, intercultural interaction, and language barrier. Consequently, the paper suggests an orientation or program should be provided by the home university to prepare students better for their study and life abroad prior to their sojourn.

This paper reports on a study of syntactic errors in English essays composed by Chinese university students. Thirty undergraduate non-English majors across disciplines produced 90 essays on three tasks during eight weeks, and answered a self-developed questionnaire at the end of the course. Analyses of the data resulted in the following main findings: (1) Among the ten types of syntactic errors, errors in tense and voice were the most frequently occurring type of errors, (2) the errors generally tended to decrease across tasks, (3) the syntactic errors of various categories were generally inversely correlated with the students’ writing performance, and (4) the errors were caused by diverse reasons, of which carelessness and the differences between Chinese and English were considered the most crucial.

Although the interactive effects of different variables in language learning have increasingly become the focus of recent research, the interaction of such variables as personality traits, self-esteem, language class risk-taking and sociability has not been much investigated. Hence, the present study explored the predicting effects of these variables on Chinese EFL learners’ performance in English at the tertiary level. A 68-item survey involving 934 first-year undergraduate non-English majors revealed that: (1) the majority were moderately extroverted, moderately inclined to anxiety and fears, and moderately prone to be influenced by social desirability but tended to be dependent and gentle; the participants were moderately satisfied with themselves and believed they were good and worthy; and the majority were moderately risk-taking and sociable in English class, (2) personality traits, self-esteem, language class risk-taking and sociability were generally significantly correlated with one another and with the students’ performance in English, and (3) overall self-esteem, language class risk-taking, language class sociability, and two personality variables – P (psychoticism) and L (lie) proved to be powerful predictors for the students’ performance in English. As such, personality traits, self-esteem, language class risk-taking and sociability are important factors affecting language learning outcomes.

Perceived to be two important affective variables, anxiety and motivation have been found to be highly correlated to second/foreign language acquisition. In order to examine the relationship between foreign language anxiety, English learning motivation, and performance in English, the present study investigated 980 undergraduate students from three universities in China who answered a 76-item survey. Analyses of the data revealed that (1) the respondents generally did not feel anxious in English and were moderately motivated to learn English, (2) foreign language anxiety and English learning motivation were significantly negatively correlated with each other, and (3) both foreign language anxiety and English learning motivation were significantly correlated with students' performance in English. Among the scales, foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCAS), intrinsic motivation (IntrinM), instrumental motivation (InstruM), fear of being negatively evaluated (FLCAS1), and interest in foreign languages and cultures (IFLC) proved to be powerful predictors for the latter.

This study investigated the interactive effects of English-speaking anxiety and strategy use on oral English test performance of high- and low-proficient Chinese university EFL learners. In total, 1092 first-year undergraduates answered the English-speaking Anxiety Scale (ESAS), the Oral Communication Strategy Inventory (OCSI) and other questionnaires, and took the English-speaking test. Based on test scores, data gathered from 178 low- and 214 high-proficient students were used in the study. The results were: (1) the low-proficient students were significantly more apprehensive of negative evaluation and speech communication than their high-proficient counterparts. Meanwhile, they deployed social affective, fluency-oriented, meaning-negotiating, and message reduction and alteration strategies significantly less frequently while message abandonment strategies, nonverbal strategies and strategies of attempting to think in English significantly more often; (2) ESAS and OCSI scales were significantly interrelated for both groups, and (3) both ESAS and OCSI were good predictors for English-speaking test performance for both groups.

This study examined Chinese university learners’ anxiety in German language classrooms in at-home and study-abroad contexts. About 138 learners from a university in Beijing (at-home context) and 91 learners from a university in Germany (study-abroad (SA) context) participated in the present study. The participants answered a Background Information Questionnaire and the 21-item German Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. Of the survey participants, 10 at-home and 15 SA learners were interviewed. The major findings were (a) around one third of the learners in both contexts reported feeling anxious in German language class; (b) listening, speaking and writing were reported by both groups to be their sources of anxiety in class, and (c) differences existed between the at-home and SA students in anxiety level, causes for anxiety and relationship between anxiety and German test performance. These findings further justify the need for continuous research on this issue. Based on these findings, some implications are discussed.

This article reports the results of a study of the unwillingness to communicate, and anxiety of Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in English language classrooms. A 70-item survey of 547 first-year undergraduate non-English majors revealed that (a) Most of the students were willing to participate in interpersonal conversations, but many of them did not like to risk using/speaking English in class; (b) more than one third of the students felt anxious in their English language classrooms, and they feared being negatively evaluated and were apprehensive about public speaking and tests; (c) their unwillingness to communicate and their foreign language anxiety correlated significantly with each other and with their self-rated English proficiency and access to English; and (d) many of the variables of interest were good predictors of the students' unwillingness to communicate and of their foreign language anxiety, which were also powerful predictors for each other.

This paper reports on a study on orai English test anxiety in Chinese undergraduate EFL students at different proficiency levels. Data collected from a 34-item survey observations, and interviews revealed that (1) the majority of the students felt at least somewhat anxious about oral English tests, (2) the more proficient students tended to be less anxious, (3) oral English test anxiety negatively affected students' test performance, (4) a multitude of variables contributed to oral English test anxiety, and (5) most students felt helpless about being anxious about oral English tests. Based on these findings, some suggestions and implications are discussed.

During recent decades, both institutions of higher education and university students of the world are trying to become international by offering or gaining some form of international education, which has caught the attention of increasingly more researchers (Jackson, 2004; Trenchs-Parera, 2009). As East Asian students have increasingly become the majority of international students on university campuses (Xia, 2009), Chinese institutions of higher education have also been recruiting more and more international students. Nevertheless, research on international students in China has been scarce. The present interview study aimed to document the challenges Korean students had while studying full-time in a prestigious university in Beijing. Interviews with 10 senior Korean English majors revealed that they confronted a series of academic, linguistic and cultural challenges while studying in the university. Based on this finding, some implications are discussed.

This paper reports on the result of a study on Chinese university EFL learners’ foreign language writing anxiety in terms of general pattern, effect and causes. 1174 first-year students answered the 26-item Foreign Language Writing Anxiety Scale (FLWAS) (Young, 1999) and took an English writing test, 18 of whom were invited for semi-structured interviews. The results showed that 1) FLWAS had three principal components—low confidence in English writing (FLWAS1), dislike of English writing (FLWAS2) and English writing apprehension evaluation (FLWAS3), 2) the whole sample, as well as male and female students, were generally confident in and liked English writing, and were not apprehensive of having their English writing evaluated, 3) significant differences existed between male and females students, and among different proficiency groups in all the FLWAS scales, 4) foreign language writing anxiety significantly negatively affected students’ performance in the English writing test, and 5) a number of factors contributed to the students’ foreign language writing anxiety.

This paper reports a study on anxiety in Chinese undergraduate non-English majors at three different proficiency levels. By way of survey, observations, reflective journals and interviews, the study revealed that (1) a considerable number of students at each level felt anxious when speaking English in class, (2) the more proficient students tended to be less anxious, (3) the students felt the most anxious when they responded to the teacher or were singled out to speak English in class. They felt the least anxious during pair work, and (4) with increasing exposure to oral English, the students felt less and less anxious about using the target language in speech communication. Based on the findings, some suggestions for future research are proposed.

The present paper reports on the findings of a study on the general patterns of Chinese university students’ foreign language learning anxiety and motivation and their relationships to the students’ performance in English. Analyses of 1697 questionnaires revealed that 1) the whole sample, as well as male and female students, reported a medium or even low level of foreign language anxiety and a moderate or even high level of English learning motivation; 2) more than 60% of the respondents reported to be at the low level of foreign language anxiety but at the mid level of English learning motivation. And the differences among students of low-, mid-, and high-level foreign language anxiety and English learning motivation were all statistically significant; 3) the students’ foreign language anxiety and English learning motivation were significantly correlated with each another, and the students’ performance in English; and 4) external motivation, intrinsic motivation, test anxiety, motivation intensity, academic achievement, personal development and going abroad were powerful predictors of the students’ performance in English.

Though blended learning had been continuously adopted in an Academic English Writing course (AEW) in a key university in Beijing, no attempts had been made to describe this new learning environment or investigate its effectiveness and impact. To fill in the gap, the present paper describes and evaluates blended learning in this AEW course in terms of course design, material development and presentation, assignment submission and grading, student involvement, teacher reflection, and student evaluation. Results showed that the students highly appreciated and benefited from the blended learning employed in the course in varying ways: it helped increase student-student and student-teacher interactions, reduce or even eliminate communication anxiety, motivate them to become (more) independent and autonomous learners, and enhance their academic English writing ability, and so on.

This paper reports on the results of a study of Chinese EFL learners’ personality traits and motivation in relation to their contributions to achievement in English at the tertiary level. An 88-item survey involving 934 first-year undergraduate non-English majors revealed that: (1) the participants were generally moderately extroverted, moderately prone to become anxious and be influenced by social desirability. Nevertheless, the majority reported to be dependent and tender-minded; (2) the majority of the participants reported to be moderately motivated to learn English; (3) the personality traits were significantly related to all or many of the motivation measures; and (4) most of the personality and motivation scales were significantly correlated with the students’ attainment in English, among which, language requirement, intrinsic motivation, psychoticism and lie were good predictors of the latter.

The present study examined how undergraduate students from a prestigious Chinese university perceived the teaching and learning of English for general academic purposes (EGAP) reading and writing courses. Analyses of 951 questionnaires revealed that most participants generally (strongly) believed that learning general academic English was closely related to their major study, reported being motivated to learn general academic English, and expected to improve their academic English reading, writing, listening and speaking skills from EGAP courses. The study also showed that they had consensus about the requirements and teaching and learning foci of general academic English in spite of their concerns about academic English, and that students of more demanding and more academic EGAP courses tended to have a better understanding of general academic English. Based on the findings, some suggestions are discussed.

The present study explored foreign language anxiety and strategy use in relation to their interactive effect on the students’ performance in English. The participants were 934 Chinese undergraduates who completed a 71-item survey. Complicated statistical analyses (e.g., correlation analyses, regression analyses and structural equaling model) were run on the data, which show that 1) nearly one-third of the students experienced anxiety in English class, 2) the participants mainly reported a medium use of both cognitive and metacognitive strategies, 3) foreign language classroom anxiety, cognitive strategy use, and metacognitive strategy use were all significantly correlated with one another, and 4) all the measured variables produced a significant effect on the students’ performance in English. Based on the findings, some implications for teaching and learning of English are discussed.

This paper reports the results of a study of changes in risk-taking and sociability in Chinese university EFL class over a term. A 10-item survey involving 934 first-year undergraduates revealed that: (1) the students generally did not like to risk using English and were moderately sociable in English class both at the beginning and toward the end of the term; (2) the participants became significantly more risk-taking in English class over the term; (3) male students reported being significantly more risk-taking than their female counterparts both at the beginning and toward the end of the term; and (4) language class risk-taking and sociability were significantly correlated with each other and the students’ performance in English both at the beginning and toward the end of the term. As such, some implications for teaching and learning of English are discussed.