北京大学外国语学院语言学沙龙

第554期

主讲人：秦文娟博士

（哈佛大学）

题目：From Linguistic Complexity to Register Flexibility: Exploring Multidimensional Proficiencies in EFL Writing

摘要：The presentation will discuss a critical yet understudied topic in the field of Educational Linguistics: Above and beyond linguistic complexity, what other skills do EFL learners need to become proficient language users across different communicative contexts. Inspired by a pragmatic-view of language development, the research proposed an innovative construct – Register Flexibility – which refers to the ability to flexibly use a variety of linguistic resources with the awareness of which are the most appropriate for the communicative context at hand.  A total of 352 EFL learners from diverse sociocultural backgrounds participated in the study. Researchers analyzed EFL learners’ writing across different communicative tasks at the lexical, syntactic and discourse levels using widely used corpus linguistic measures. Consistent with previous research, findings revealed positive associations between learners’ English proficiency scores and their general linguistic complexity. Yet, as hypothesized, higher scores did not automatically lead to more flexible and appropriate use of language across communicative contexts. The association between English proficiency scores and register flexibility was found to vary by linguistic level and native language group. These findings will be discussed in relation to effective pedagogical implications that scaffold EFL learners’ real-world communicative competence above and beyond teaching complex vocabulary and grammar.

秦文娟：Wenjuan Qin’s research focuses on utilizing corpus linguistic methods to explore the individual variability and developmental trajectories of language development in monolingual and bilingual learners. She also explores effective ways to scaffold foreign language learners’ communicative competence above and beyond teaching complex vocabulary and grammar. Qin currently studies Educational Linguistics at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Her research is featured in several peer-reviewed journals and books, such as Journal of Second Language Writing, Reading and Writing, and Handbook of Reading Research. Her research was awarded by the Harvard Dissertation Fellowship and the ETS Second Language Assessment Scholarship.

时间：2017年11月21日（周二）13:30-15:00

地点：外国语学院新楼401