| Author: | Liao, Jun Wei |
| Title: | A comparative analysis of the English academic writing proficiency of students who graduated from conventional universities in Mainland China and students who graduated from English as a Medium Instruction (EMI) universities in Mainland China |
| Advisors: | Sampson, Nicholas Alistair (ENGL) |
| Degree: | M.A. |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Subject: | Academic writing English language -- Rhetoric -- Foreign speakers English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of English |
| Pages: | 58 pages |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Although English courses are compulsory in the universities of Mainland China, these English courses are College English Test (CET) driven within the English for General Purposes (EGP) curriculum (Gao & Bartlett, 2014) and they overlook the English academic writing (Cai, 2013; You, 2004; W. Zhang & Luo, 2004). However, there are several novel English as a Medium Instruction (EMI) universities providing English academic writing trainings to their undergraduates. Academic English writing training is a crucial part of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) genre. These EMI universities provide English courses within EAP genre. Lexical competence is a crucial factor of the general quality of second language (L2) writing (Engber, 1993; Laufer, 1994; Laufer & Nation, 1995). Firstly, this study aims to examine whether the English academic writing proficiency of students graduating from EMI universities (Group 2) is significantly greater than those graduating from conventional universities (Group 1) based on their academic lexical competence. In this study, the academic English lexical competence are determined by lexical variation (LV), lexical sophistication (LS) and lexical density (LD) based on the framework of Laufer and Nation (1995) by a statistical quantitative analysis of MANOVA. Secondly, a qualitative study is conducted by semi-structure interview to investigate and compare the experiences, comments, feedbacks and suggestions between Group 1 and Group 2 towards their undergraduate English curriculums. As a result, the quantitative study indicates that there is no significant difference of the academic lexical competence between Group 1 and Group 2. However, the qualitative approach demonstrates that Group 2 are more familiar and more confident with English academic writing than Group 1. Overall, EAP is suggested to the undergraduate English curriculums in Mainland China. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
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| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5149.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 1.3 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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