Title: The Progression of Language Complexity in ESL Textbooks and Assessments for Chinese Junior Secondary Schools
Stream: Foreign Languages Education & Applied Linguistics (including ESL/TESL/TEFL)
Presentation Type: Live-Stream Presentation
Authors:
Yingsheng Liu, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Abstract:
Learning material constitutes a critical part in education and receive increasing attention from researchers and educators. While the content analysis has been widely conducted on learning materials such as textbooks, there is a paucity of research examining textbooks and assessments from linguistic perspectives. Given the significant amount of students learning English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) in China, this study aims to fill this research gap by tracking the progression of language complexity in textbooks and assessments used for Chinese ESL/EFL learners in junior secondary schools. A total of 49 reading passages were collected from large-scale assessments and textbooks issued by Chinese Ministry of Education for junior secondary education. Both qualitative and quantitative linguistic analysis were conducted at phonological, lexical and discourse levels to obtain the progression of language complexity. The results show that although there is a consistent pattern of language complexity progression in textbooks from Grade 7 to 9, the progression of language complexity between textbooks and assessments were unmatched at lexical and discourse levels, especially for lexical density, lexical diversity and referential cohesion. Our findings suggest that the assessments for EFL/ESL learners in junior secondary schools could be more properly designed by making more linguistic factors in accordance with the language progression of textbooks, which have implications for test developers and educational practitioners.
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