EXPERIENCE-BASED PERCEPTION OF RESEARCH LITERACY DEVELOPMENT BY ENGLISH UNDERGRADUATES IN CHINA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20319/pijtel.2018.23.2237Keywords:
Experience-Based, Research Literacy, English Undergraduate, Research-Oriented ClassAbstract
In the sagging world economy, innovation has been promoted to an unprecedented position. China is especially desirous of innovation to facilitate her realization of the China Dream. But the stereotyped Chinese undergraduates are poignantly criticized for their poor research literacy, especially English undergraduates who demonstrate poor initiatives in graduation thesis writing. The researcher, as a teacher for English majors in China, has long noticed the contradiction between the glamorous national prospects and the disappointing undergraduates’ performance. She has integrated course paper writing in the research-oriented class, so as to arouse English majors’ awareness of research and pave the way to research literacy development. The three-year longitudinal action research has been conducted by the teacher’ raptly supervising the paper-writing process in addition to the subject knowledge study, in the hope of finding English majors’ perception of their research literacy and the factors that help develop their research literacy. This research has also been aided with data from class observation, questionnaires and focuses interviews, in an effort to further the previous philosophical discussion, and to suggest properly converting from the traditional cramming classes to research-oriented class in China.
References
An, Q. (2009). Training modes of undergraduate research ability in America and English disciplinary construction in China. Heilongjiang Researches on Higher Education, 182 (6), 68-71.
Barker, L. 2009. Student and faculty perceptions of undergraduate research experiences in computing. Transactions on Computing Education, 9 (1), 1-28.
Borg, S. (2009). English language teachers’ conceptions of research. Applied Linguistics, 30 (3), 358–388.
Cao, L. C. (2012). A study of course-paper-oriented American literature teaching. Journal of Changchun University of Science and Technology (Social Sciences Edition), 25 (6), 194-196.
Fitri, S. (2017). Interactions of student and supervisor in skripsi research: understanding differences in perspectives and expectation. PEOPLE: International Journal of Social Sciences, 3 (2), 929-946.
Fu, C. (2010). The research and practice of English undergraduates’ research ability training. Journal of Taiyuan Urban Vocational College, (9), 83-84.
Fu, C. (2011). Current situation of English major research and improvement methods. Journal of Language and Literature Studies, (7), 119-121.
Gresty, K. A., & Edwards-Jones, A. (2012). Experiencing research-informed teaching from the student perspective: Insights from developing an undergraduate e-journal. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43 (1), 153–162.
Guo, Y. L. (2014). An exploration of critical thinking ability training of English majors. Heilongjiang Researches on Higher Education, (8), 174-176.
Healey, M. (2005). Linking research and teaching to benefit student learning. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 29(2), 183-201.
Houser, C., Lemmons, K., & Cahill, A. (2013). Role of the faculty mentor in an undergraduate research experience. Journal of Geoscience Education, 61 (3), 297-305.
Huang, P. (2014). A Study of Research Literacy Development of Medical Undergraduates. Unpublished post-graduate thesis. Chongqing: Southwest Jiaotong University.
Hudson, P. (2012). Chinese Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL): academics’ perceptions about research in a transitional culture. Journal of Higher Education Policy & Management, 34 (1), 91-102.
Hu, K. B. (2010). Training English majors with two or more specialized expertise, innovative consciousness and international vision：theoretic consideration and practice. Journal of Foreign Languages in China, 7 (6), 8-16.
Hu W. Z., & Sun, Y. Z. (2006). Highlight disciplinary features and enforce humanistic education. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, (5), 243-258.
Judith, A. H. (1997). What is undergraduate research? Journal of Chemical Education，(12)，1390-1391．
Li, B., & Millwater, J. (2011). Chinese TEFL academics’ perceptions about research: an institutional case study. Higher Education Research & Development, 30 (2), 233-246.
Li, J. J, Chen, X., Wang, J. H., Shen, J. H., Liu, C., Zhang, Q. Q., Mao, G. W., & Ye, Z. (2015). Cultivation of undergraduates’ scientific research quality based on teacher-research project. China Medical Education Technology, 29 (2), 80-83.
Liu, X. L. (2014). From quality to core competencies. Educational Science Research, (3), 5-11.
Lu, W. (2005). A Study of How American Research Universities Cultivate Research Ability. Unpublished post-graduate thesis. Shijiazhuang: Hebei University.
Lv, Y., & Chen, B. Z. (2014). An exploration of university students’ research abilities in teaching-research universities. Education Teaching Forum, (3), 69-71.
Niu, C. (2007). A comparison of how American and Chinese research universities build undergraduate research abilities. Journal of Changchun University of Technology (Higher Education Study Edition), 28 (3), 98-101.
Nunan, D. (1992). Research methods in language learning. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Robertson, J., & Blackler, G. (2006). Students' experiences of learning in a research environment. Higher Education Research & Development, 25 (3), 215-229.
Rychen, D. S., & Salganik, L.H. (2003). Highlights from the OECD project definition and selection of competencies: Theoretical and conceptual foundations (DeSeCo). Definitions, (10), 2-10.
Sun, W. K. (2004). An analysis of the current situation of English major thesis writing. Foreign Languages, (3), 59 – 63, 42．
Wang, G. S., & Wang, H. (2008). Strategy and practice of undergraduate research competence building in research universities in China. Tsinghua Journal of Education, 29 (3), 44-48.
Wang, C.H & Shan, S. (2018). The Effects of self-efficacy on learners’ perceptions of cognitive presence in online collaborative learning activities. PEOPLE: International Journal of Social Sciences, 3(3), 1144-1172.
Wen Q. F., & Zhou, Y. (2006). A survey of the development of critical thinking abilities of English majors. Foreign Language Research, (5), 76 -78.
Xia, J. G., & Fu, X. R. (2017). Scientific literacy of biological undergraduate students in Canada and its revelations to China. Education Teaching Forum, (4), 1-3.
Xia, Y. (2013). A study of English undergraduate research ability development. Science and Technology Innovation Herald, (19), 145-146.
Xie, J. (2015). A reflection of building research and innovative ability of English undergraduates. Journal of Hubei University of Science and Technology, 35 (1), 173-175.
Xu, D. P., & Liu, C. Q. (2007). A Study of undergraduate course papers in higher institutions. Journal of Hubei Institute of Education, 24 (10), 76-77.
Yu, l., Cui, J. H., & Cao, L. L. (2014). An empirical study of research-oriented teaching to cultivate students’ innovative ability. Contemporary Educational Science, (5), 28-32.
Zeng, E. Q. (2010). The current situation of and solutions to the cultivation of research literacy of foreign language students. China Electric Power Education, (3), 24-26.
Zhang, G. F. (2006). Studies on problems of teaching curriculum papers in colleges. Journal of Biology, 23 (1), 47-49.
Zhang, L. J., Tang, Y., Yan, D. Y., Shi, C. F., & Zhang, Z. L. (2009). Construction and implementation of a research-based practical teaching mode to cultivate scientific research capability. Optical Technique, (35), 240-242.
Zhang, N. (2013). DeSeCo Project’s study on core competencies and its revelation. Educational Science Research, (10), 39-45.
Zhong, M. S. (2006). Deepen foreign language educational reform with the conception of elite education. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, (5), 254-256.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright of Published Articles
Author(s) retain the article copyright and publishing rights without any restrictions.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
