• Asia Pacific Journal of Corpus Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.1-39
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• 2023

Recent research in usage-based Second Language Acquisition has provided new insights into second language (L2) learners' development of formulaic language (Wulff, 2019). The current study examines the use of phrase-frames, which are recurring sequences of words including one or more variable slots (e.g., it is * that), in written and oral production data from Asian learners of English across four proficiency levels (beginner, low-intermediate, high-intermediate, advanced) and native English speakers. The variability, predictability, and discourse functions of the most frequent 4-word phrase-frames from the written essay and spoken dialogue sub-corpora of the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English (ICNALE) were analyzed and then compared across groups and modes. The results revealed that while learners' phrase-frames in writing became more variable and unpredictable as proficiency increased, no clear developmental patterns were found in speaking, although all groups used more fixed and predictable phrase-frames than the reference group. Further, no developmental trajectories in the functions of the most frequent phrase-frames were found in both modes. Additionally, lower-level learners and the reference group used more variable phrase-frames in speaking, whereas advanced-level learners showed more variability in writing. This study contributes to a better understanding of the development of L2 phraseological competence.

• Asia Pacific Journal of Corpus Research
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.27-39
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• 2020

This paper examines the frequency and distribution of the so-called "non-discourse marker functions" of so in essay writings produced by 200 L1 English speakers and 1,300 EFL learners in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Based on the data drawn from the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English, this study compares EFL learners and L1 English speakers' uses of so, identifying four grammatical uses, as (1) an adverb, (2) part of a fixed phrase, (3) a pro-form, and (4) a conjunction phrase specifying purpose. This study aims to show the wide variability among EFL learners with different L1s, identifying the tendency of usage both common among and specific to the sub-groups of EFL learners. The findings suggest that the learners demonstrate patterns distinctively different from those of L1 English speakers, indicating an underuse of so as a marker expressing "purpose" and an overuse as part of fixed phrases. Compared to L1 English speakers, the learners also tend to overuse so in the discourse marker functions, regardless of their L1s. The study proposes pedagogical implications focusing on discourse flow and diachronic aspects of so in order to understand its multifunctionality, although the latter is primarily suggested for advanced learners.

• East Asian Journal of Business Economics (EAJBE)
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.41-47
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• 2017

Purpose - Adult learners are easily exposed to the risk of plagiarizing others' writings when writing papers or reports. Therefore, this study investigates the research ethics of adult learners and suggests alternatives for research ethics standards in online lifelong education system. The purpose of this study is to investigate the causes of violation of research ethics and preventive measures (education program) for adult learners. Research design, data, methodology - Before establishing a research ethics education plan, it is confirmed through the empirical investigation of adult learners in undergraduate. In this study, 30 questionnaires of 5-point Likert scale were used to examine the level of consciousness of adult learners related to research ethics. Results - First, the experience of participating in ethics education and the presence of prior knowledge did not affect the prevention of research ethics violation. Second, adult learners did not learn about research ethics in the pre- college education environment and they frequently engaged in research ethics violation without guilt or consciousness. Third, the students who experienced the research ethics violation (plagiarism) were more willing to know and use the plagiarism search program. Fourth, Opinions differed according to age as to the need to enforce research ethics compliance. Conclusions - Universities should clearly and easily announce and monitor plagiarism criteria or guidelines. When adult learners are relieved of the anxiety about the possibility of violation of research ethics, a developmental and original research atmosphere will be created.

• Asia Pacific Journal of Corpus Research
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.57-72
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• 2020

This study seeks to add to the current understanding of learners' use of modality in argumentative writing. A learner corpus of argumentative essays on four topics was created and compared to native English speaker data from the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English (ICNALE). The relationship between learners' use of modal devices (MDs) and the devices' appearance in the school's curriculum was also examined. The results showed that learners relied on a very narrow range of MDs compared to those in previous studies. The frequency of use of MDs varied based on the topic and did not seem to be driven by cultural factors as has been previously suggested. Learners used more hedges than boosters on all topics, contradicting most previous studies. Curriculum was determined to have a direct correlation with MD use, and other important factors may include perception of topic and overreliance on certain MDs over others (the One-to-One principal). This research implies that learners' perception of topic should be explored further as a variable affecting MD use. Curricula should be designed based on frequency of MD use by English native speakers, and learners should receive instruction that teaches the norms of MD use in academic writing. The methodology used in the study to determine correlations between MD use and the curriculum has a wide range of potential applications in the field of Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis.

• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.9 no.3 s.23
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• pp.203-231
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• 2005

Students in East Asia have consistently out-performed their counterparts in the West in recent international studies of mathematics achievement. But some studies also show that East Asian students are more rigid in thought, and lack originality and creativity. While different theories have been proposed to account for these student performances, relatively few research studies have been done on classroom practices, potentially a major variable for explaining student performances. This paper will report on the results of two classroom studies: the TIMSS 1999 Video Study and the Learners' Perspective Study (LPS). Results the quantitative analysis of the TlMSS 1999 Video Study data show that the East Asian classrooms were dominated by teacher talk, and the mathematics content learned was abstract and unrelated to the real life. On the other hand, the characteristics of the instructional practices in Hong Kong as judged by an expert panel are that student learned relatively advanced mathematics content; the components of the lessons were more coherent, and the presentation of the lessons was more fully developed. Hong Kong students seemed to be more engaged in the mathematics lessons, and the. overall quality of the lessons was judged to be high. Results of the analysis of the LPS data also show that the classrooms in the East Asian city of Seoul were in general teacher dominated, but students were usually actively engaged in the mathematics learning. Emphasis on exploration of mathematics and practicing exercises with variation was common. It is argued that the quality teaching in the East Asian classrooms laid a firm foundation in mathematics for students, and that constitutes a necessary condition for the development of students' creativity. In order to fully develop the creativity of East Asian students, they need to be given the right environment and encouragement.

• Asia Pacific Journal of Corpus Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-21
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• 2024

This study aimed to identify target lexical bundles (e.g., on the other hand, at the same time) for argumentative essay writing and rank them in order of teaching priority for Japanese learners. Despite significant functional roles of lexical bundles in academic writing, the inclusion of lexical bundles in argumentative writing had been underexplored. Since argumentative writing skills help undergraduate students prepare for their academic careers (e.g., writing papers), the lexical bundles under this genre deserve more attention. This study first extracted 78 target bundles from L1 argumentative essay corpora (International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English: ICNALE and Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays: LOCNESS). The study then classified the bundles according to their discourse functions and semantic transparency to estimate the learnability for Japanese learners in L2 compatible corpora with the ICNALE. The results showed that learners had difficulty using the bundles with referential functions (e.g., in the form of) and semantic opaqueness (e.g., when it comes to), suggesting that the bundles in these two categories should be prioritized among the 78 bundles.

• East Asian mathematical journal
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.173-197
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to analyze expressions in the first and second grade math textbooks in elementary school in the aspect of possibilities of learners' understanding and propose proper directions for expressions in math textbooks to increase the possibilities of their understanding. The findings show that there were four types of expression errors and five types of mathematical errors in the aspects of expression method and content, respectively.

• East Asian mathematical journal
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.609-625
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• 2015

This study was subjected to 9th graders after making a conformity analysis about errors in function from a selected linear function domain learned in 8th grade, and using this we analyzed some errors learners have in the linear function domain. Learners showed the most deficiency in mastery of prerequisite facts concepts out of errors in linear functions and lack of skill in interpreting the content of the questions and technical errors occurred often as well. How the pre-service secondary school teachers prescribed these errors of linear function was analyzed from the point of problem solving strategies, accessing methods and whether or not the learner's error was used. Looking into the pre-service secondary teachers' prescription of the learners' errors in 3 fields, for the problem solving strategy a procedural strategy was used more than a conceptual strategy, and as for the accessing methods over 90% gave teacher led type explanations to the students. Also over 90% of pre-service secondary teachers did not use the learner's errors that turned up in problems.

• East Asian mathematical journal
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.303-312
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• 2007

In this paper we extract the content of homework that leads the students to independent learners, based on the study of krutetski on individual differences and consider the specific activities related with this and the extent of task performances.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.1-20
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• 2004

The findings in contrastive rhetoric research of the twentieth century have shown that different cultures have different conventions in organizing written texts. These culture-related conventions were claimed to influence English texts written by L2 learners, including Asian learners of English. However, due to the massive inflow of the American culture into Asia as well as increased exposure to English in the midst of globalization of the last decade, it is quite probable that the textual gap between the native English writers and Asian EFL writers have been reduced. The present study investigates the changes that have taken place in EFL writer's knowledge of genre-specific writing over the past decade. To this aim, this study compared four sets of application essays written by four groups of applicants (1) native American applicants in 1993, (2) Korean EFL applicants in 1933, (3) native American applicants in 2003, and (4) Korean EFL applicants in 2003. The results suggested that the disparity between the Korean EFL writers' and the native English writers' texts were becoming less noticeable at the macro-level, possibly due to Korean EFL writers' enhanced textual awareness of English genre structures Pedagogical implications are discussed.