Faculty Publications and Conference Presentations

<p>Metaphors are often used for presenting government policy to the general public in news, but the degree to which metaphors affect evaluation of such policies is not well understood. We conducted three between-subjects experiments (Nexperiment-1 = 331; Nexperiment-2 = 301; Nexperiment-3 = 608), in which participants read news items about foreign policies. News items contained either (a) novel metaphors, (b) conventional metaphors, or (c) literal controls. Results demonstrated that novel metaphors increased cognitive text perceptions, which led participants to evaluate proposed policies more favorably in a longer passage (Experiment 1) but not in a shorter passage with a larger percentage of metaphors (Experiments 2 and 3). By contrast, Experiments 2 and 3 showed a sequential indirect effect of novel metaphors (vs. controls) through perceived novelty and affective text perceptions on policy support. These results demonstrate that novel metaphors are helpful to readers processing texts about new topics as they draw attention to the language with their novelty, but remain familiar enough to generate positive affect.</p>

<p>Sensorimotor information is vital to the conceptual representation of our knowledge system. This study collects perceptual and action ratings for 664 disyllabic nouns among 438 native speakers and creates the first and largest dataset of sensorimotor norms for nouns in Chinese. Using aggregated semantic covariates, including concreteness ratings from a concreteness rating study, as well as the reaction times and error rates from a lexical decision study, our current work demonstrates the strengths of sensory modalities and action effectors in Chinese nouns and explores the contributions of embodied experiences in reflecting orthographic representations and semantic processing in the Chinese language. This study contributes valuable data sources to the study of Chinese lexical processing and highlights the importance of sensorimotor information and embodied manifestations in the semantic representations of concepts. Our results also support the language universal that orthographic awareness in lexical processing and reading supersedes phonological awareness.</p>

Syntactic complexity is a crucial aspect of linguistic proficiency and thus understanding and supporting such development in learners is a keen concern for language teachers. Research conducted has shown growing sophistication of noun phrase structures by writers of different abilities in academic writing (Biber &amp; Gray, 2010; Liu &amp; Li, 2016; Parkinson &amp; Musgrave, 2014). In comparison, relatively less is known about the development of syntactic sophistication among student technical writers. Adopting a discipline-specific approach, this study compared the complexity of noun phrase structures in student texts of three performance levels from high, mid and low. The data taken from 45 technical reports of university engineering students were analyzed quantitatively using automatic syntactic analyzers and qualitatively by manual coding and text examination. The results show that noun phrase complexity is a differentiating factor for different performance levels with the stronger texts exemplifying more varied modifying structures and in greater numbers. Complex and lengthy structures, such as multiple use of prepositional phrases and combined use of other modifiers such as -ed or -ing clauses, are common in postmodification, whereas premodifying structures are simpler in structure and shorter. The study also explored the contribution of complex noun phrases to expression of meaning, showing that complex syntactic structures are commonly used to perform a diverse range of language functions essential to technical communication, such as explaining a scientific mechanism. The close connection between syntactic complexity and expression of meaning suggests that structures for pre- and postmodification should be learned as a meaning-making resource.

<p>Multimodal collaborative writing has become increasingly prevalent in the advent of technology-enhanced language learning, yet scant attention was paid to the verbal and on-screen interactions between learners during the construction process. This study narrowed the research gap and investigated three pairs of EFL learners’ interactions when completing a multimodal collaborative writing task in an English for Academic Purpose (EAP) course at a university in Hong Kong. Using a multiple case-study approach, we examined the dynamics of peer interactions through their interaction patterns, utilization of semiotic and multimodal resources and functions of languaging. Our analyses showed that the three pairs enacted strikingly distinct patterns of interaction, with the more collaborative partners demonstrating a variety of prompting and feedback skills to facilitate their discussion. Surprisingly, the pairs had strong tendencies to attend to the texts rather than multimodal elements during the writing process. Another striking finding is that even non-collaborative partners occasionally engaged in various forms of private speech to keep track of the writing process. Implications of these findings on fostering peer collaborations during multimodal CW are discussed.</p>

Short Descriptions

This project is an attempt to replicate the research entitled “Syntactic Complexity and Writing Quality in Students’ Technical Writing” conducted by KY, Joyce and Eric with students of the SENG. Using the same framework of this research on SENG students, we would like to investigate whether there are any linguistic differences between SHSS and SENG students in their academic writing, with a special focus on their writing of complex noun phrases. Results from our work will be compared to the SENG research findings to identify any cross-disciplinary differences or similarities in students’ writing.

Possible Benefits

A comparative cross-disciplinary research study to explore syntactic differences in students' writing will have pedagogical impact on ESP teachers and material writers.

Deliverables

We intend to do background reading and prepare a literature review of the study this summer. Since both Thomas and Amy are new to this area, time is needed to familiarise with published materials in this area, find out how the SENG research was conducted and understand the various analyses.