Although prior studies have suggested the benefits of a collaborative approach to providing peer feedback in EFL writing, little is known about how students engage in collaborative peer feedback (CPF) activities. This paper reports on a case study involving five Chinese EFL students who collaboratively provided feedback on five argumentative…

This study investigates the use of formulaic sequences (FS) in academic writings of Chinese learners of English as a foreign language across different levels of studies at a public university in China. Frequency-based formulas were retrieved from a corpus of student academic texts written at five time points between Year 1 and Year 3. The…

This study evaluated the effect of a combined feedback activity (peer feedback, computer-generated feedback and teacher feedback) on students' second language (L2) writing feedback literacy. One hundred and eighty-two Chinese university students participated in this research. Findings revealed that the intervention significantly improved students'…

Exemplars are powerful in clarifying assessment criteria, and their positive impacts on criteria understanding and performance have been empirically verified. However, the implementation modes are highly varied, resulting in a complicated class context which calls for further investigation. Less is known as to how exemplar-based instruction works…

Online peer feedback has become prevalent in university writing classes due to the widespread use of peer learning technology. This paper reports an exploratory study of Chinese-speaking undergraduate students' experiences of receiving and reflecting on online peer feedback for text revision in an English as a second language (L2) writing…

This qualitative study explored the perceptions of EFL students at a Chinese university regarding collocation learning. The participating students were provided with a collocation instruction and practice component over ten weeks within a regular one-semester EFL course. The participants were 15 Chinese first-year non-English major students. The…

This article presents an ethnographic case study of pre-service teachers' transformative learning in a Culture-Writing course at a Chinese university. In recounting three stories with fieldwork data gleaned from moments of students' pre-class discussions, reflective writings, and reports on term-paper projects, this study showcases how a group of…

In order to facilitate the instruction and acquisition of EFL writing, this paper compares the uses of the light verb "get" in English writing by Chinese and L1 undergraduates by drawing on insights from the theory of norms and exploitations (TNE). Corpus pattern analysis (CPA) is conducted to analyze the data taken from two comparable…

This study explores Chinese English-major students' intertextual competence and factors shaping their ability to paraphrase in academic writing. Multiple instruments were employed to collect data from 212 English-major students at different academic levels from nine universities in mainland China. The data were analyzed to determine how a range of…

ChatGPT, the newest pre-trained large language model, has recently attracted unprecedented worldwide attention. Its exceptional performance in understanding human language and completing a variety of tasks in a conversational way has led to heated discussions about its implications for and use in education. This exploratory study represents one of…

Students completing undergraduate thesis projects rely on supervisory feedback to improve their academic writing and research abilities. Despite its critical role, supervisory feedback on undergraduate theses is under-researched. Adopting a qualitative multiple case-study approach, this study explores how students' motivation for writing the…

Symbolic competence is integral to intercultural teaching and learning, but limited research and teaching guidance exist in foreign language classrooms. This paper explores the use of critical incidents in developing the symbolic competence of advanced-level English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners at a Chinese university. Mixed methods…

Technology-mediated communication has become ubiquitous and digital multimodal learning has been increasingly integrated into second language education. Drawing on the concepts of transmediation and interpretant in social semiotic theories, this study explores the potential of digital storytelling (DST) in promoting EFL learners' willingness to…

Fifty-one learning strategies were developed and validated in this study to make language learners more knowledgeable about unfamiliar environments. The study tested the effectiveness of the strategies in improving the creativity of students. 75 university students participated in the study and they were divided into three groups: (1) students who…

The present study explores the role of writing in undergraduate education students' learning experiences in the United States. It focuses on how writing about previously significant experiences in the forms of narratives and journal entries transforms international education students' perceptions and identities and provides them with the space for…