A comparative study of voice in Chinese English-major undergraduates’ timed and untimed argument writing

IF 4.2 1区文学 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Assessing Writing Pub Date : 2024-10-01 DOI:10.1016/j.asw.2024.100896

Xiangmin Zeng , Jie Liu , Neil Evan Jon Anthony Bowen

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

As a somewhat elusive and occlusive concept, voice can be a challenging and formidable hurdle for second language (L2) writers. One area that exemplifies this struggle is timed argument writing, where authors must position claims, ideas, and individual perspectives to an existing knowledge base and scholarly community under the confines of time. To enrich our understandings of voice construction in L2 English writers’ timed writing, we explored how 41 Chinese English-major undergraduates deployed authorial voice in two prompt-based argument writing tasks (timed versus untimed). We also sampled their self-reported knowledge, use, and understanding of voice through a survey-based instrument. To compare the quantity and quality of voice construction between the two samples, we measured 10 voice categories, three voice dimensions, and overall voice strength. Results showed that only two categories displayed statistically significant differences in terms of frequencies, but all three voice dimensions and overall voice strength scored significantly higher in untimed writing samples. Based on the results of our text analysis and survey, we further highlight the complexities of voice in L2 writing, provide evidence in support of existing voice rubrics, and make practical suggestions for teaching and assessing voice in writing.

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中国英语专业本科生定时与非定时议论文写作中语音的比较研究

对于第二语言（L2）写作者来说，"声音 "是一个难以捉摸的隐性概念，是一个具有挑战性的巨大障碍。定时论证写作就是一个很好的例子，在这种写作中，作者必须在时间的限制下，将自己的主张、观点和个人观点定位到现有的知识基础和学术界。为了丰富我们对后天英语写作者定时写作中语音建构的理解，我们探讨了 41 名中国英语专业本科生如何在两个基于提示的论证写作任务（定时与非定时）中使用作者语音。我们还通过调查问卷对他们自我报告的对语音的认识、使用和理解进行了抽样调查。为了比较两个样本之间语音构建的数量和质量，我们测量了 10 个语音类别、三个语音维度和整体语音强度。结果显示，只有两个类别在频率上显示出统计学上的显著差异，但在未计时写作样本中，所有三个语音维度和整体语音强度的得分都明显较高。基于文本分析和调查的结果，我们进一步强调了第二语言写作中语音的复杂性，为现有的语音评分标准提供了支持证据，并为写作语音的教学和评估提出了切实可行的建议。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Assessing Writing Multiple-

CiteScore

6.00

自引率

17.90%

发文量

期刊介绍： Assessing Writing is a refereed international journal providing a forum for ideas, research and practice on the assessment of written language. Assessing Writing publishes articles, book reviews, conference reports, and academic exchanges concerning writing assessments of all kinds, including traditional (direct and standardised forms of) testing of writing, alternative performance assessments (such as portfolios), workplace sampling and classroom assessment. The journal focuses on all stages of the writing assessment process, including needs evaluation, assessment creation, implementation, and validation, and test development.