Modeling the process of summary writing of Chinese learners of English as a foreign language

Abstract

In language learning contexts, writing tasks that involve reading of source texts are often used to elicit more authentic integrative language use. Thus, interests in researching these read-to-write tasks in general and as assessment tasks keep growing. This study examined and modeled the process of summary writing as a read-to-write integrated task. Data of test-taking process were collected from 94 Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners who completed two summarization tasks. Seven students first completed the tasks while thinking aloud their mental process. The researcher observed their test-taking process and conducted post-test interviews to learn more about how they completed the tasks. Participants’ verbal reports were coded into mental moves, which were then grouped according to their purposes. These formed the basis for identifying the processes and sub-stages participants followed while completing the tasks. Based on the analysis of the think-aloud, observation, and interview data, a questionnaire was developed containing items specifying the processes task takers went through. The questionnaire was completed by the remaining 87 participants to test the generalizability of the findings. A process model of summarization was constructed subsequently. The implications of the study are discussed with reference to construct validity of summarization tasks, EFL writing instruction and assessment.

Keywords:

• summarization process
• model construction
• EFL writing
• construct validity

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Professor Qi Luxia from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies for her insightful comments on this paper. Special thanks are also due to the anonymous reviewers of Irish Educational Studies and the Editor for their insightful feedback on earlier drafts of this paper.

Notes on contributor

Li Jiuliang was born in 1975 in Beijing, China. From 1995 to 1999, he studied in Dalian University of Technology, Liaoning Province, China with a major of English Language and Culture. Later he graduated in 1999, and started working as a college English teacher in Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology till present. From 2002 to 2005, he studied in the University of Business and Economics, Beijing, China, with a major of Intercultural Business Communication. From 2009 to 2013, he was a PhD candidate at the National Key Research Center for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangdong, China with a major of Language Testing. Now he is an associate professor at the Foreign Language Department, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. His research interests are second language reading and writing, formative and summative assessment.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Beijing Municipal Commission of Education [grant number 2014-ms151] and Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology [grant number 131201990108/003].