Jun Lei | Ningbo University (original) (raw)

Papers by Jun Lei

International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 2022

This study investigated the effects of interactional, motivational, self-regulatory, and situatio... more This study investigated the effects of interactional, motivational, self-regulatory, and situational factors on university students' online learning outcomes and continuation intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from 255 students taking a business course at a university in southern China. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that while family financial hardship caused by COVID-19 was a marginally significant negative predictor of students' learning outcomes, learnercontent interaction; instructors' provision of e-resources, course planning, and organisation; and students' intrinsic goal orientation and meta-cognitive self-regulation were significant positive predictors with the latter two sets of predictors mediating the effects of learner-instructor and learnerlearner interactions, respectively. Multinominal logistic regression analyses showed that learnerinstructor interaction, learner-content interaction, and private learning space were significant positive predictors of students' intentions to continue with online learning, but learner-learner interaction was a significant negative predictor. These findings point to the differential effects of various types of interactional and situational factors on learning outcomes and continuation intentions, and the instructor-and learner-level factors that mediate the effects of learner-instructor and learner-learner interactions on learning outcomes. They contribute to our understandings of emergency online learning and provide implications for facilitating it.

System, 2022

While there has been much research on language learner identity in traditional face-to-face class... more While there has been much research on language learner identity in traditional face-to-face classrooms, less attention has been paid to learner identity construction and its influencing factors in the blended learning environment. To bridge this gap, this study adopted a case-study approach to investigate six Chinese university students' learner identities constructed in the online and offline sessions of a blended English for academic purposes (EAP) course focusing on collaborative writing. Data included class observations and recordings, history logs on the writing platform, and semi-structured interviews. Different types of learner identities were identified from participants' verbal characteristics in offline classroom discussions (i.e., Group Leader, Spokesperson, Summarizer, and Follower) and from their writing revisions on the online writing platform (i.e., Industrious Contributor, Prudent Reader, Procrastinator, and Cooperative Writer). Both individual and contextual factors were found to influence the construction of learner identity in the blended learning environment for collaborative writing. The study also found that some students maintained their learner identities across the two cohesive learning sessions of the blended course whereas others did not. These findings provide implications for course design, pedagogical practice, and materials development.

Studies in Continuing Education, 2019

Although scholarly publishing is increasingly institutionalised as a graduation requirement or ex... more Although scholarly publishing is increasingly institutionalised as a graduation requirement or expectation for doctoral students around the world, there has been little systematic investigation of institutional policies on doctoral publication. This study aims to fill this lacuna by critically examining a Chinese university's publication requirements and rewards schemes for its doctoral students, and supervisor and doctoral student perspectives on them. The primary sources of data included institutional documents and interview data collected as part of a longitudinal multiple-case study of doctoral publication at a top Chinese university. Drawing on neoliberalism as a conceptual lens, the study reveals that, while the institutional requirements and rewards schemes are characterised by market rationalities and privilege managerial over professional values and practices, the supervisor and the doctoral students prioritise internal motivations (e.g. learning, contributing knowledge to the local community) over external material and symbolic rewards for publishing. These findings suggest that such publication requirements and rewards schemes may have unintended distorting effects on doctoral students' scholarly publishing practices, learning experiences, and professional autonomy, and should be closely scrutinised.

Publications, 2015

Although a large body of literature has suggested that doctoral supervisors play an important rol... more Although a large body of literature has suggested that doctoral supervisors play an important role in their students' attempts at scholarly publishing, few studies have focused specifically on what roles they play. This study sought to address this gap by zooming in on the various roles a group of Chinese doctoral students found their supervisors playing in their scholarly publishing endeavors. Our analysis revealed four important roles played by the supervisors: 'prey' searchers, managers, manuscript correctors and masters. The results showed that the supervisors not only facilitated the doctoral students' publishing output, but also fostered their apprenticeship in scholarly publishing and the academic community. However, the results also unveiled a general unavailability of sorely-needed detailed and specific guidance on students' early publishing attempts and some supervisors' limited ability to correct students' English manuscripts. These findings underscore the important contributions doctoral supervisors can make to their students' academic socialization. They also suggest a need for external editorial assistance with doctoral students' English manuscripts and ample opportunities for their scaffolded initiation into the tacit conventions and practices of scholarly publishing.

Ethics & Behavior, 2014

This study examines Chinese undergraduates' perceptions of plagiarism in English academic writing... more This study examines Chinese undergraduates' perceptions of plagiarism in English academic writing in relation to their disciplinary background (i.e., hard vs. soft disciplines), academic enculturation (i.e., length of study in university), and gender. Drawing on data collected from 270 students at two universities in China, it finds clear discipline-based differences in participants' knowledge of plagiarism and perceptions about its causes; an enculturational effect on perceived acceptability of and condemnatory attitudes toward plagiarism, with senior students being less harsh than their junior counterparts; and complex interactions among disciplinary background, length of study, and gender. Furthermore, it reveals conceptions of (il)legitimate intertextuality (i.e., textual borrowing) differing from those prevalent in Anglo-American academia and clearly punitive stances on perceived plagiarism. These results suggest the need to take an educative rather than punitive approach to source use in English academic writing.

Language Policy, 2013

This article reports a case study of an undergraduate English-medium program at a major universit... more This article reports a case study of an undergraduate English-medium program at a major university in mainland China. The study critically examines the language ideology, language management, and language practices revolving around the focal program. The data sources included national and institutional policy documents related to English-medium instruction and interviews with both professors and students in the English-medium program and its parallel Chinesemedium program. Drawing upon Spolsky's language policy framework for ''sensitizing concepts'', qualitative analyses of the data revealed gaps between policy rhetoric and ground-level reality in the implementation of the focal program. Notably, institutional measures intended to enhance the quality of English-medium instruction were found to function as gate-keepers of access to English and potential benefits accruing from English proficiency. These findings add to our understanding of how medium-of-instruction policies in higher education are complicit in perpetuating and accentuating inequalities in Chinese society.

SAGE Open

English-medium instruction (EMI) has become increasingly popular in higher educational institutio... more English-medium instruction (EMI) has become increasingly popular in higher educational institutions across the world due to the prominence of English and the internationalization of higher education. Nevertheless, limited research to date has investigated its impacts on content learning through objective measures. The present study addresses this gap by examining whether students taught in English at a university in China perform differently in a business course from their counterparts taught in Chinese and how English-taught students’ English proficiency and academic ability (as measured by grade point average) relate to their EMI academic outcomes. The study employed a quasi-experimental design and adopted inter-translated versions of the same syllabus, textbook, class materials, and exam paper for the English- and Chinese-medium classes. It found no significant differences in students’ academic outcomes (i.e., total score, assignment, participation, and final exam) between the En...

Journal of English for Research Publication Purposes, 2020

Scholarly publication has drawn increased research attention over the past two decades or so. The... more Scholarly publication has drawn increased research attention over the past two decades or so. The extant literature has focused primarily on the experiences and practices of non-native-English-speaking (NNES) novice scholars publishing in English. An implicit assumption underlying the predominant focus on NNES scholars is that compared with native-English-speaking (NES) scholars, NNES scholars are thought to face additional challenges and be at a disadvantage in international publication and should therefore be the focus of research .

IRAL: International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 2014

This study investigates whether English-medium instruction (EMI) has an impact on Chinese underg... more This study investigates whether English-medium instruction (EMI) has
an impact on Chinese undergraduates’ English proficiency and affect in English
learning and use. A cross-section of 136 sophomores and juniors were drawn from
an English-medium and a parallel Chinese-medium program. Data included:
(a) participants’ scores on two national standardized English proficiency tests;
(b) their English-related affect as measured by three scales adapted from Gardner’s
(2004) Attitude/Motivation Test Battery; (c) their perceptions of EMI in Chinese
tertiary education elicited with a survey developed by the Chinese Ministry of
Education (2006), and (d) interviews with 10 focal students from the Englishand Chinese-medium programs. Results showed no statistically significant effect
of medium of instruction on English proficiency or affect in English learning
and use. However, extent of satisfaction with EMI, perceived necessity for EMI,
and perceived increases in study burden had statistically significant effects on
the outcome measures. Additionally, prior English proficiency was the strongest
predictor of subsequent English proficiency and English-related affect. These
findings raise concerns about the quality of the focal English-medium program
and point to students’ perceptions of EMI and prior English proficiency as crucial
influences on further language learning and use.

Higher Education, 2014

With the relentless internationalization and marketization of higher education in the past decade... more With the relentless internationalization and marketization of higher education in the past decades, English has been increasingly adopted as a medium of instruction at universities across the world. Recent research, however, has shown that despite its various optimistically envisioned goals, English-medium instruction (EMI) is not without problems in practice. This article reports a case study of an EMI Business Administration program for undergraduate students at a major university of finance and economy in mainland China. Informed by Spolsky's language policy framework, the study made a critical analysis of national/institutional policy statements and interviews with professors and students to uncover EMI-related language ideologies, language practices, and language management mechanisms. Findings evinced a complex interplay of these three constitutive components of language policy in the focal EMI program and revealed considerable misalignment between policy intentions and actual practices in the classroom. These findings raise concerns about the quality and consequences of EMI in Chinese higher education. The article concludes with recommendations for further research on EMI policies and practices in China.

Language Learning , 2012

This article reports on a mixed-methods study of Chinese university students' knowledge of and at... more This article reports on a mixed-methods study of Chinese university students' knowledge of and attitudes toward plagiarism in English academic writing. A sample of 270 undergraduates from two Chinese universities rated three short English passages under different conditions, provided open-ended responses to justify their ratings, and completed a written questionnaire. The rating tasks were designed to determine their ability to recognize two forms of intertextuality (i.e., unacknowledged copying and paraphrasing) generally regarded as plagiarism in Anglo-American academia. The questionnaire was administered to collect self-appraisals of competence in source use and to assess declarative knowledge of intertextual practices that match typical Anglo-American definitions of blatant and subtle plagiarism. Qualitative and quantitative analyses revealed that a minority of the students recognized the two forms of plagiarism and generally took a punitive attitude toward the detected cases of plagiarism. Further quantitative analyses found that discipline, self-reported competence in referencing, and knowledge of subtle plagiarism were consistently significant predictors of successful plagiarism detection. These findings raise questions about some culturally based interpretations of plagiarism and point to the need to take a nuanced approach to plagiarism in L2 writing.

Foreign Language Testing and Teaching, 2020

In reading assessment, teachers need to provide reading materials of suitable text complexities f... more In reading assessment, teachers need to provide reading materials of suitable text complexities for students on expected proficiency levels. However, it is a challenging task for teachers to evaluate and adjust the text complexity of source texts. While a large number of technology tools are now available to help with text adaptation, few attempts have been made to investigate teachers蒺 use of such technology tools in their practices. This article reports on a questionnaire survey on 168 Chinese college English teachers蒺 behavior in text adaptation, their use of technology, and the factors influencing their technology use. Results indicated that teachers had problems in their practices of text adaptation, such as weak awareness and inadequate modifications; and unfortunately, technology was yet not effectively employed to help the teachers solve these problems. Teachers蒺 technology use was affected by many factors. Perceived usefulness seemed to be a major enabler, while perceived ease of use, subjective norm, facilitating conditions, and attitude towards use tended to obstruct teachers from using technology. Based on the results, suggestions are provided for the development of technology tool, English teacher education, and future research as well.

System, 2016

Research on plagiarism has largely left English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) teachers out of the p... more Research on plagiarism has largely left English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) teachers out of the picture. This study set out to bridge the gap by comparing how 142 Chinese university EFL teachers and 270 undergraduate students viewed exemplars of unacknowledged copying and unattributed paraphrasing, two forms of intertextuality generally regarded as plagiarism in Anglo-American academia. More than half of the teacher participants had overseas academic experience. Quantitative and qualitative analyses found that the participants , though understanding plagiarism in English academic writing differently from Anglo-American academia, clearly disapproved of recognized cases of plagiarism. The analyses also revealed that greater knowledge of and harsher stances on both types of transgressive intertextuality were associated with wider exposure to and more experience in English academic writing. Furthermore, the participants had more similar un-derstandings of unacknowledged copying than of unattributed paraphrasing and took harsher stances on the former. These findings highlight complex and nuanced un-derstandings of plagiarism and point to the crucial role of academic socialization in shaping knowledge of and attitudes toward plagiarism.

Ethics & Behavior, 2015

This study examines Chinese undergraduates’ perceptions of plagiarism in English academic writing... more This study examines Chinese undergraduates’ perceptions of plagiarism in English academic writing in relation to their disciplinary background (i.e., hard vs. soft disciplines), academic enculturation (i.e., length of study in university), and gender. Drawing on data collected from 270 students at two universities in China, it finds clear discipline-based differences in participants’ knowledge of plagiarism and perceptions about its causes; an enculturational effect on perceived acceptability of and condemnatory attitudes toward plagiarism, with senior students being less harsh than their junior counterparts; and complex interactions among disciplinary background, length of study, and gender. Furthermore, it reveals conceptions of (il)legitimate intertextuality (i.e., textual borrowing) differing from those prevalent in Anglo American academia and clearly punitive stances on perceived plagiarism. These results suggest the need to take an educative rather than punitive approach to source use in English academic writing.

Ibérica, Journal of the European Association of Languages for Specific Purposes, 2019

Research on scholarly publishing has focused predominantly on bi/multilingual researchers' experi... more Research on scholarly publishing has focused predominantly on bi/multilingual researchers' experiences and practices of publishing in English with scant attention paid specifically to their motivation and language choice for bi/multilingual publishing. Drawing on data collected from 318 Chinese university faculty members, this study examines bilingual researchers' motivation (i.e., interest value, utility value, cost, and ability self-concept) and language choice (i.e., first language only, English only, or both English and first language) for publishing their research articles, and factors that may influence their motivation and language choice. Mixed-design ANOVAs revealed clear language-, discipline-, and overseas experience-based differences in their motivation, and complex interactions among language, discipline, and overseas experience. A multinomial logistic regression found significant effects of disciplinary background, overseas experience, and perceived ability to write English research articles on participants' choice of publishing in Chinese only or in both Chinese and English. These results provide some evidence against the seemingly unstoppable spread of English as the language of publication and the widely-held view of utility as the single most important driving force behind it, and point to a complex and multidimensional picture of Chinese researchers' motivation and language choice for scholarly publishing.

Publications, 2015

Although a large body of literature has suggested that doctoral supervisors play an important ro... more Although a large body of literature has suggested that doctoral supervisors play
an important role in their students’ attempts at scholarly publishing, few studies have
focused specifically on what roles they play. This study sought to address this gap by
zooming in on the various roles a group of Chinese doctoral students found their
supervisors playing in their scholarly publishing endeavors. Our analysis revealed four
important roles played by the supervisors: ‘prey’ searchers, managers, manuscript
correctors and masters. The results showed that the supervisors not only facilitated the doctoral students’ publishing output, but also fostered their apprenticeship in scholarly publishing and the academic community. However, the results also unveiled a general unavailability of sorely-needed detailed and specific guidance on students’ early publishing attempts and some supervisors’ limited ability to correct students’ English manuscripts. These findings underscore the important contributions doctoral supervisors can make to their students’ academic socialization. They also suggest a need for external editorial assistance with doctoral students’ English manuscripts and ample opportunities for their scaffolded initiation into the tacit conventions and practices of scholarly publishing.

Language Policy, 2014

This article reports a case study of an undergraduate English-medium program at a major universit... more This article reports a case study of an undergraduate English-medium program at a major university in mainland China. The study critically examines the language ideology, language management, and language practices revolving around the focal program. The data sources included national and institutional policy documents related to English-medium instruction and interviews with both professors and students in the English-medium program and its parallel Chinese-medium program. Drawing upon Spolsky's language policy framework for ''sen-sitizing concepts'', qualitative analyses of the data revealed gaps between policy rhetoric and ground-level reality in the implementation of the focal program. Notably, institutional measures intended to enhance the quality of English-medium instruction were found to function as gate-keepers of access to English and potential benefits accruing from English proficiency. These findings add to our understanding of how medium-of-instruction policies in higher education are complicit in perpetuating and accentuating inequalities in Chinese society. Keywords English as a foreign language Á English-medium instruction Á Language policy Á Language ideology Á Language practice Á Language management Á Medium of instruction

Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2020

Collaboration has been found to facilitate comprehension of challenging academic texts. Following... more Collaboration has been found to facilitate comprehension of challenging academic texts. Following the Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) model implemented in primary and secondary school classrooms, this researching EAP practice paper detailed the development of a three-stage teaching method to facilitate Chinese first-year college students' comprehension of research articles. The three-stage teaching method consisted of individual reading, group discussion, and collaborative reflection. Drawing on the discussion and interview data from one of the reading groups, this study revealed their comprehension processes and collaborative use of strategies activated by the three stages. Specifically , results showed that the students prepared themselves for collaboration at the first stage, successfully constructed meaning collaboratively at the second stage, and modified their comprehension at the final stage. Implications and limitations of the three-stage teaching method for collaborative academic reading are also discussed.

Studies in Continuing Education, 2020

Although scholarly publishing is increasingly institutionalised as a graduation requirement or ex... more Although scholarly publishing is increasingly institutionalised as a
graduation requirement or expectation for doctoral students
around the world, there has been little systematic investigation of
institutional policies on doctoral publication. This study aims to fill
this lacuna by critically examining a Chinese university’s
publication requirements and rewards schemes for its doctoral
students, and supervisor and doctoral student perspectives on
them. The primary sources of data included institutional
documents and interview data collected as part of a longitudinal
multiple-case study of doctoral publication at a top Chinese
university. Drawing on neoliberalism as a conceptual lens, the
study reveals that, while the institutional requirements and
rewards schemes are characterised by market rationalities and
privilege managerial over professional values and practices, the
supervisor and the doctoral students prioritise internal
motivations (e.g. learning, contributing knowledge to the local
community) over external material and symbolic rewards for
publishing. These findings suggest that such publication
requirements and rewards schemes may have unintended
distorting effects on doctoral students’ scholarly publishing
practices, learning experiences, and professional autonomy, and
should be closely scrutinised.

ELT Journal, 2014

Research and discussion on plagiarism have focused predominantly on ESOL students with little at... more Research and discussion on plagiarism have focused predominantly on ESOL
students with little attention paid to ESOL teachers. This article reports a
study of Chinese university English lecturers’ knowledge of and stance on
two intertextual practices (i.e. unacknowledged copying and unattributed
paraphrasing) regarded as plagiarism in Anglo-American academia, and,
consequently, in the wider international academic community. Drawing on 117
Chinese university English lecturers’ ratings of three short English passages and
open-ended justifications of their ratings, the study found that around two-thirds
and two-fifths of them recognized unacknowledged copying and paraphrasing
as plagiarism, respectively, and held clearly punitive attitudes towards detected
plagiarism. It also revealed that while there was a broad consensus of opinion
about unacknowledged copying, understandings of unattributed paraphrasing
appeared divergent and ambivalent. These findings not only call into question
essentialized views of plagiarism that stereotype cultures as either condoning
or condemning plagiarism but also suggest a need to raise Chinese university
English lecturers’ awareness about Anglo-American notions of plagiarism.

International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 2022

This study investigated the effects of interactional, motivational, self-regulatory, and situatio... more This study investigated the effects of interactional, motivational, self-regulatory, and situational factors on university students' online learning outcomes and continuation intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from 255 students taking a business course at a university in southern China. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that while family financial hardship caused by COVID-19 was a marginally significant negative predictor of students' learning outcomes, learnercontent interaction; instructors' provision of e-resources, course planning, and organisation; and students' intrinsic goal orientation and meta-cognitive self-regulation were significant positive predictors with the latter two sets of predictors mediating the effects of learner-instructor and learnerlearner interactions, respectively. Multinominal logistic regression analyses showed that learnerinstructor interaction, learner-content interaction, and private learning space were significant positive predictors of students' intentions to continue with online learning, but learner-learner interaction was a significant negative predictor. These findings point to the differential effects of various types of interactional and situational factors on learning outcomes and continuation intentions, and the instructor-and learner-level factors that mediate the effects of learner-instructor and learner-learner interactions on learning outcomes. They contribute to our understandings of emergency online learning and provide implications for facilitating it.

System, 2022

While there has been much research on language learner identity in traditional face-to-face class... more While there has been much research on language learner identity in traditional face-to-face classrooms, less attention has been paid to learner identity construction and its influencing factors in the blended learning environment. To bridge this gap, this study adopted a case-study approach to investigate six Chinese university students' learner identities constructed in the online and offline sessions of a blended English for academic purposes (EAP) course focusing on collaborative writing. Data included class observations and recordings, history logs on the writing platform, and semi-structured interviews. Different types of learner identities were identified from participants' verbal characteristics in offline classroom discussions (i.e., Group Leader, Spokesperson, Summarizer, and Follower) and from their writing revisions on the online writing platform (i.e., Industrious Contributor, Prudent Reader, Procrastinator, and Cooperative Writer). Both individual and contextual factors were found to influence the construction of learner identity in the blended learning environment for collaborative writing. The study also found that some students maintained their learner identities across the two cohesive learning sessions of the blended course whereas others did not. These findings provide implications for course design, pedagogical practice, and materials development.

Studies in Continuing Education, 2019

Although scholarly publishing is increasingly institutionalised as a graduation requirement or ex... more Although scholarly publishing is increasingly institutionalised as a graduation requirement or expectation for doctoral students around the world, there has been little systematic investigation of institutional policies on doctoral publication. This study aims to fill this lacuna by critically examining a Chinese university's publication requirements and rewards schemes for its doctoral students, and supervisor and doctoral student perspectives on them. The primary sources of data included institutional documents and interview data collected as part of a longitudinal multiple-case study of doctoral publication at a top Chinese university. Drawing on neoliberalism as a conceptual lens, the study reveals that, while the institutional requirements and rewards schemes are characterised by market rationalities and privilege managerial over professional values and practices, the supervisor and the doctoral students prioritise internal motivations (e.g. learning, contributing knowledge to the local community) over external material and symbolic rewards for publishing. These findings suggest that such publication requirements and rewards schemes may have unintended distorting effects on doctoral students' scholarly publishing practices, learning experiences, and professional autonomy, and should be closely scrutinised.

Publications, 2015

Although a large body of literature has suggested that doctoral supervisors play an important rol... more Although a large body of literature has suggested that doctoral supervisors play an important role in their students' attempts at scholarly publishing, few studies have focused specifically on what roles they play. This study sought to address this gap by zooming in on the various roles a group of Chinese doctoral students found their supervisors playing in their scholarly publishing endeavors. Our analysis revealed four important roles played by the supervisors: 'prey' searchers, managers, manuscript correctors and masters. The results showed that the supervisors not only facilitated the doctoral students' publishing output, but also fostered their apprenticeship in scholarly publishing and the academic community. However, the results also unveiled a general unavailability of sorely-needed detailed and specific guidance on students' early publishing attempts and some supervisors' limited ability to correct students' English manuscripts. These findings underscore the important contributions doctoral supervisors can make to their students' academic socialization. They also suggest a need for external editorial assistance with doctoral students' English manuscripts and ample opportunities for their scaffolded initiation into the tacit conventions and practices of scholarly publishing.

Ethics & Behavior, 2014

This study examines Chinese undergraduates' perceptions of plagiarism in English academic writing... more This study examines Chinese undergraduates' perceptions of plagiarism in English academic writing in relation to their disciplinary background (i.e., hard vs. soft disciplines), academic enculturation (i.e., length of study in university), and gender. Drawing on data collected from 270 students at two universities in China, it finds clear discipline-based differences in participants' knowledge of plagiarism and perceptions about its causes; an enculturational effect on perceived acceptability of and condemnatory attitudes toward plagiarism, with senior students being less harsh than their junior counterparts; and complex interactions among disciplinary background, length of study, and gender. Furthermore, it reveals conceptions of (il)legitimate intertextuality (i.e., textual borrowing) differing from those prevalent in Anglo-American academia and clearly punitive stances on perceived plagiarism. These results suggest the need to take an educative rather than punitive approach to source use in English academic writing.

Language Policy, 2013

This article reports a case study of an undergraduate English-medium program at a major universit... more This article reports a case study of an undergraduate English-medium program at a major university in mainland China. The study critically examines the language ideology, language management, and language practices revolving around the focal program. The data sources included national and institutional policy documents related to English-medium instruction and interviews with both professors and students in the English-medium program and its parallel Chinesemedium program. Drawing upon Spolsky's language policy framework for ''sensitizing concepts'', qualitative analyses of the data revealed gaps between policy rhetoric and ground-level reality in the implementation of the focal program. Notably, institutional measures intended to enhance the quality of English-medium instruction were found to function as gate-keepers of access to English and potential benefits accruing from English proficiency. These findings add to our understanding of how medium-of-instruction policies in higher education are complicit in perpetuating and accentuating inequalities in Chinese society.

SAGE Open

English-medium instruction (EMI) has become increasingly popular in higher educational institutio... more English-medium instruction (EMI) has become increasingly popular in higher educational institutions across the world due to the prominence of English and the internationalization of higher education. Nevertheless, limited research to date has investigated its impacts on content learning through objective measures. The present study addresses this gap by examining whether students taught in English at a university in China perform differently in a business course from their counterparts taught in Chinese and how English-taught students’ English proficiency and academic ability (as measured by grade point average) relate to their EMI academic outcomes. The study employed a quasi-experimental design and adopted inter-translated versions of the same syllabus, textbook, class materials, and exam paper for the English- and Chinese-medium classes. It found no significant differences in students’ academic outcomes (i.e., total score, assignment, participation, and final exam) between the En...

Journal of English for Research Publication Purposes, 2020

Scholarly publication has drawn increased research attention over the past two decades or so. The... more Scholarly publication has drawn increased research attention over the past two decades or so. The extant literature has focused primarily on the experiences and practices of non-native-English-speaking (NNES) novice scholars publishing in English. An implicit assumption underlying the predominant focus on NNES scholars is that compared with native-English-speaking (NES) scholars, NNES scholars are thought to face additional challenges and be at a disadvantage in international publication and should therefore be the focus of research .

IRAL: International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 2014

This study investigates whether English-medium instruction (EMI) has an impact on Chinese underg... more This study investigates whether English-medium instruction (EMI) has
an impact on Chinese undergraduates’ English proficiency and affect in English
learning and use. A cross-section of 136 sophomores and juniors were drawn from
an English-medium and a parallel Chinese-medium program. Data included:
(a) participants’ scores on two national standardized English proficiency tests;
(b) their English-related affect as measured by three scales adapted from Gardner’s
(2004) Attitude/Motivation Test Battery; (c) their perceptions of EMI in Chinese
tertiary education elicited with a survey developed by the Chinese Ministry of
Education (2006), and (d) interviews with 10 focal students from the Englishand Chinese-medium programs. Results showed no statistically significant effect
of medium of instruction on English proficiency or affect in English learning
and use. However, extent of satisfaction with EMI, perceived necessity for EMI,
and perceived increases in study burden had statistically significant effects on
the outcome measures. Additionally, prior English proficiency was the strongest
predictor of subsequent English proficiency and English-related affect. These
findings raise concerns about the quality of the focal English-medium program
and point to students’ perceptions of EMI and prior English proficiency as crucial
influences on further language learning and use.

Higher Education, 2014

With the relentless internationalization and marketization of higher education in the past decade... more With the relentless internationalization and marketization of higher education in the past decades, English has been increasingly adopted as a medium of instruction at universities across the world. Recent research, however, has shown that despite its various optimistically envisioned goals, English-medium instruction (EMI) is not without problems in practice. This article reports a case study of an EMI Business Administration program for undergraduate students at a major university of finance and economy in mainland China. Informed by Spolsky's language policy framework, the study made a critical analysis of national/institutional policy statements and interviews with professors and students to uncover EMI-related language ideologies, language practices, and language management mechanisms. Findings evinced a complex interplay of these three constitutive components of language policy in the focal EMI program and revealed considerable misalignment between policy intentions and actual practices in the classroom. These findings raise concerns about the quality and consequences of EMI in Chinese higher education. The article concludes with recommendations for further research on EMI policies and practices in China.

Language Learning , 2012

This article reports on a mixed-methods study of Chinese university students' knowledge of and at... more This article reports on a mixed-methods study of Chinese university students' knowledge of and attitudes toward plagiarism in English academic writing. A sample of 270 undergraduates from two Chinese universities rated three short English passages under different conditions, provided open-ended responses to justify their ratings, and completed a written questionnaire. The rating tasks were designed to determine their ability to recognize two forms of intertextuality (i.e., unacknowledged copying and paraphrasing) generally regarded as plagiarism in Anglo-American academia. The questionnaire was administered to collect self-appraisals of competence in source use and to assess declarative knowledge of intertextual practices that match typical Anglo-American definitions of blatant and subtle plagiarism. Qualitative and quantitative analyses revealed that a minority of the students recognized the two forms of plagiarism and generally took a punitive attitude toward the detected cases of plagiarism. Further quantitative analyses found that discipline, self-reported competence in referencing, and knowledge of subtle plagiarism were consistently significant predictors of successful plagiarism detection. These findings raise questions about some culturally based interpretations of plagiarism and point to the need to take a nuanced approach to plagiarism in L2 writing.

Foreign Language Testing and Teaching, 2020

In reading assessment, teachers need to provide reading materials of suitable text complexities f... more In reading assessment, teachers need to provide reading materials of suitable text complexities for students on expected proficiency levels. However, it is a challenging task for teachers to evaluate and adjust the text complexity of source texts. While a large number of technology tools are now available to help with text adaptation, few attempts have been made to investigate teachers蒺 use of such technology tools in their practices. This article reports on a questionnaire survey on 168 Chinese college English teachers蒺 behavior in text adaptation, their use of technology, and the factors influencing their technology use. Results indicated that teachers had problems in their practices of text adaptation, such as weak awareness and inadequate modifications; and unfortunately, technology was yet not effectively employed to help the teachers solve these problems. Teachers蒺 technology use was affected by many factors. Perceived usefulness seemed to be a major enabler, while perceived ease of use, subjective norm, facilitating conditions, and attitude towards use tended to obstruct teachers from using technology. Based on the results, suggestions are provided for the development of technology tool, English teacher education, and future research as well.

System, 2016

Research on plagiarism has largely left English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) teachers out of the p... more Research on plagiarism has largely left English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) teachers out of the picture. This study set out to bridge the gap by comparing how 142 Chinese university EFL teachers and 270 undergraduate students viewed exemplars of unacknowledged copying and unattributed paraphrasing, two forms of intertextuality generally regarded as plagiarism in Anglo-American academia. More than half of the teacher participants had overseas academic experience. Quantitative and qualitative analyses found that the participants , though understanding plagiarism in English academic writing differently from Anglo-American academia, clearly disapproved of recognized cases of plagiarism. The analyses also revealed that greater knowledge of and harsher stances on both types of transgressive intertextuality were associated with wider exposure to and more experience in English academic writing. Furthermore, the participants had more similar un-derstandings of unacknowledged copying than of unattributed paraphrasing and took harsher stances on the former. These findings highlight complex and nuanced un-derstandings of plagiarism and point to the crucial role of academic socialization in shaping knowledge of and attitudes toward plagiarism.

Ethics & Behavior, 2015

This study examines Chinese undergraduates’ perceptions of plagiarism in English academic writing... more This study examines Chinese undergraduates’ perceptions of plagiarism in English academic writing in relation to their disciplinary background (i.e., hard vs. soft disciplines), academic enculturation (i.e., length of study in university), and gender. Drawing on data collected from 270 students at two universities in China, it finds clear discipline-based differences in participants’ knowledge of plagiarism and perceptions about its causes; an enculturational effect on perceived acceptability of and condemnatory attitudes toward plagiarism, with senior students being less harsh than their junior counterparts; and complex interactions among disciplinary background, length of study, and gender. Furthermore, it reveals conceptions of (il)legitimate intertextuality (i.e., textual borrowing) differing from those prevalent in Anglo American academia and clearly punitive stances on perceived plagiarism. These results suggest the need to take an educative rather than punitive approach to source use in English academic writing.

Ibérica, Journal of the European Association of Languages for Specific Purposes, 2019

Research on scholarly publishing has focused predominantly on bi/multilingual researchers' experi... more Research on scholarly publishing has focused predominantly on bi/multilingual researchers' experiences and practices of publishing in English with scant attention paid specifically to their motivation and language choice for bi/multilingual publishing. Drawing on data collected from 318 Chinese university faculty members, this study examines bilingual researchers' motivation (i.e., interest value, utility value, cost, and ability self-concept) and language choice (i.e., first language only, English only, or both English and first language) for publishing their research articles, and factors that may influence their motivation and language choice. Mixed-design ANOVAs revealed clear language-, discipline-, and overseas experience-based differences in their motivation, and complex interactions among language, discipline, and overseas experience. A multinomial logistic regression found significant effects of disciplinary background, overseas experience, and perceived ability to write English research articles on participants' choice of publishing in Chinese only or in both Chinese and English. These results provide some evidence against the seemingly unstoppable spread of English as the language of publication and the widely-held view of utility as the single most important driving force behind it, and point to a complex and multidimensional picture of Chinese researchers' motivation and language choice for scholarly publishing.

Publications, 2015

Although a large body of literature has suggested that doctoral supervisors play an important ro... more Although a large body of literature has suggested that doctoral supervisors play
an important role in their students’ attempts at scholarly publishing, few studies have
focused specifically on what roles they play. This study sought to address this gap by
zooming in on the various roles a group of Chinese doctoral students found their
supervisors playing in their scholarly publishing endeavors. Our analysis revealed four
important roles played by the supervisors: ‘prey’ searchers, managers, manuscript
correctors and masters. The results showed that the supervisors not only facilitated the doctoral students’ publishing output, but also fostered their apprenticeship in scholarly publishing and the academic community. However, the results also unveiled a general unavailability of sorely-needed detailed and specific guidance on students’ early publishing attempts and some supervisors’ limited ability to correct students’ English manuscripts. These findings underscore the important contributions doctoral supervisors can make to their students’ academic socialization. They also suggest a need for external editorial assistance with doctoral students’ English manuscripts and ample opportunities for their scaffolded initiation into the tacit conventions and practices of scholarly publishing.

Language Policy, 2014

This article reports a case study of an undergraduate English-medium program at a major universit... more This article reports a case study of an undergraduate English-medium program at a major university in mainland China. The study critically examines the language ideology, language management, and language practices revolving around the focal program. The data sources included national and institutional policy documents related to English-medium instruction and interviews with both professors and students in the English-medium program and its parallel Chinese-medium program. Drawing upon Spolsky's language policy framework for ''sen-sitizing concepts'', qualitative analyses of the data revealed gaps between policy rhetoric and ground-level reality in the implementation of the focal program. Notably, institutional measures intended to enhance the quality of English-medium instruction were found to function as gate-keepers of access to English and potential benefits accruing from English proficiency. These findings add to our understanding of how medium-of-instruction policies in higher education are complicit in perpetuating and accentuating inequalities in Chinese society. Keywords English as a foreign language Á English-medium instruction Á Language policy Á Language ideology Á Language practice Á Language management Á Medium of instruction

Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2020

Collaboration has been found to facilitate comprehension of challenging academic texts. Following... more Collaboration has been found to facilitate comprehension of challenging academic texts. Following the Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) model implemented in primary and secondary school classrooms, this researching EAP practice paper detailed the development of a three-stage teaching method to facilitate Chinese first-year college students' comprehension of research articles. The three-stage teaching method consisted of individual reading, group discussion, and collaborative reflection. Drawing on the discussion and interview data from one of the reading groups, this study revealed their comprehension processes and collaborative use of strategies activated by the three stages. Specifically , results showed that the students prepared themselves for collaboration at the first stage, successfully constructed meaning collaboratively at the second stage, and modified their comprehension at the final stage. Implications and limitations of the three-stage teaching method for collaborative academic reading are also discussed.

Studies in Continuing Education, 2020

Although scholarly publishing is increasingly institutionalised as a graduation requirement or ex... more Although scholarly publishing is increasingly institutionalised as a
graduation requirement or expectation for doctoral students
around the world, there has been little systematic investigation of
institutional policies on doctoral publication. This study aims to fill
this lacuna by critically examining a Chinese university’s
publication requirements and rewards schemes for its doctoral
students, and supervisor and doctoral student perspectives on
them. The primary sources of data included institutional
documents and interview data collected as part of a longitudinal
multiple-case study of doctoral publication at a top Chinese
university. Drawing on neoliberalism as a conceptual lens, the
study reveals that, while the institutional requirements and
rewards schemes are characterised by market rationalities and
privilege managerial over professional values and practices, the
supervisor and the doctoral students prioritise internal
motivations (e.g. learning, contributing knowledge to the local
community) over external material and symbolic rewards for
publishing. These findings suggest that such publication
requirements and rewards schemes may have unintended
distorting effects on doctoral students’ scholarly publishing
practices, learning experiences, and professional autonomy, and
should be closely scrutinised.

ELT Journal, 2014

Research and discussion on plagiarism have focused predominantly on ESOL students with little at... more Research and discussion on plagiarism have focused predominantly on ESOL
students with little attention paid to ESOL teachers. This article reports a
study of Chinese university English lecturers’ knowledge of and stance on
two intertextual practices (i.e. unacknowledged copying and unattributed
paraphrasing) regarded as plagiarism in Anglo-American academia, and,
consequently, in the wider international academic community. Drawing on 117
Chinese university English lecturers’ ratings of three short English passages and
open-ended justifications of their ratings, the study found that around two-thirds
and two-fifths of them recognized unacknowledged copying and paraphrasing
as plagiarism, respectively, and held clearly punitive attitudes towards detected
plagiarism. It also revealed that while there was a broad consensus of opinion
about unacknowledged copying, understandings of unattributed paraphrasing
appeared divergent and ambivalent. These findings not only call into question
essentialized views of plagiarism that stereotype cultures as either condoning
or condemning plagiarism but also suggest a need to raise Chinese university
English lecturers’ awareness about Anglo-American notions of plagiarism.

The Asia-Pacific region has seen an exponential growth of English-medium instruction (EMI) over t... more The Asia-Pacific region has seen an exponential growth of English-medium instruction (EMI) over the past two decades or so. In response to the rapid spread of EMI, there is increased research attention to this form of pedagogy. This chapter seeks to explore the trends and foci of research on EMI in the Asia Pacific and offer useful implications for dealing with challenges and capitalizing on opportunities in EMI. Drawing on 133 journal articles retrieved systematically from the Web of Science, it shows that the literature on EMI in the Asia-Pacific region has grown rapidly over the past decade, covering a wide range of issues