Monographs by Han Luo
Springer, 2019
This book explains why cognitive linguistics offers a plausible theoretical framework for a syste... more This book explains why cognitive linguistics offers a plausible theoretical framework for a systematic and unified analysis of the syntax and semantics of particle verbs. It explores the meaning of the verb + particle syntax, the particle placement of transitive particle verbs, how particle placement is related to idiomaticity, and the relationship between idiomaticity and semantic extension. It also offers valuable linguistic implications for future studies on complex linguistic constructions using a cognitive linguistic approach, as well as insightful practical implications for the learning and teaching of English particle verbs.
Book Chapters by Han Luo
Usage in Second Language Acquisition (Routledge) , 2024
Cognitive linguists have been interested in the relationship between linguistic description and l... more Cognitive linguists have been interested in the relationship between linguistic description and language learning from the very beginning due to the very foundations of Cognitive Linguistics (CL). In Langacker’s usage-based model, knowledge of language emerges from usage, which refers to situated instances of comprehending and producing language. A significant contribution of CL to linguistic study is a detailed description of the cognitive processes that are at work in language and thought, which allow language speakers to extract language knowledge from usage events. Such cognitive processes operate across all areas of language and all levels of language acquisition, including but not limited to the process of entrenchment, the process of meaning construction, schematization, categorization, comparison (e.g., metaphor, metonymy, construal), and integration. Moreover, CL sees language as a product of physical interaction with the world mediated by human conceptualization. Thus, many aspects of language are conceptually motivated, amenable to instruction (explicit, implicit, or the combination of both). The linguistic motivation at various levels (i.e., form-form, form-meaning, meaning-meaning) has the potential to remove the arbitrariness from language teaching and bring about CL-inspired approaches to L2 instruction.
Cognitive Linguistics 认知语言学教程, 2022
The Routledge Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics, 2021
There has been a consensus among scholars that the very foundations of cognitive linguistics (CL)... more There has been a consensus among scholars that the very foundations of cognitive linguistics (CL) make it well suited for shedding light on second language acquisition (SLA). The usage-based principle lies at the heart of the connection between CL and SLA. In order to explain the impact of CL on SLA research and language pedagogy, this chapter first discusses the key tenets of CL and their implications for SLA, and then moves to the usage-based theory of language acquisition, followed by a review of CL inspired approach to L2 instruction, and finally concludes with suggestions for future research.
The Routledge Handbook of Chinese Second Language Acquisition , 2018
Studies in a variety of language learning contexts have found that approximately one-third of stu... more Studies in a variety of language learning contexts have found that approximately one-third of students studying a foreign language experience at least a moderate level of foreign language anxiety. Issues that have been most studied among researchers of foreign language anxiety include the measures, the sources, the effects of foreign language anxiety, anxieties related to the four skills, factors associated with foreign language anxiety, anxiety of heritage language learners, and strategies for reducing foreign language anxiety. This chapter reviews these subthemes of foreign language anxiety in relation to Chinese language learning. In addition, research methods appropriate for each subtheme are discussed with reference to published empirical studies on Chinese language learning anxiety. Furthermore, it provides suggestions and strategies for coping with anxiety-related issues in Chinese language teaching and learning and then concludes with future research direction on Chinese language learning anxiety.
Anxiety in schools: the causes, consequences, and solutions for academic anxiety, 2010
Many Americans have a love-hate relationship with foreign language learning. Although many people... more Many Americans have a love-hate relationship with foreign language learning. Although many people profess a desire to learn a new language, many of these same people remember their required high school or college language study as a negative experience and have concluded that language learning requires special abilities or aptitudes they do not possess. Indeed, learning a foreign language is a challenging task for many people, and a large amount of research in second language acquisition (SLA) addresses the question of why some people are more successful at learning a new language than other people. Early SLA research sought to identify cognitive abilities (e.g., Carroll & Sapon, 1959; Pimsleur, 1966) and personality types (e.g., Taylor, Guiora, Catford,& Lane, 1969; Bartz, 1974) associated with successful second language achievement. However, since the groundbreaking research of the Canadian social psychologists R. C. Gardner and Wallace Lambert (e.g., Gardner & Lambert, 1972), SLA researchers have also considered affective or emotional variables and how these factors may facilitate or impede language learning. These studies have lead SLA researchers to conclude that how learners feel about language learning can have an important impact on their success. While Gardner and Lambert focused on learner's attitudes toward the target language 1 and its culture and their motivations for language learning, anxiety about language learning has also long interested SLA researchers, not to mention language learners themselves. The Construct of Foreign Language Anxiety According to Horwitz and Young (1991), it is possible to conceptualize foreign language anxiety in two ways: (1) as a manifestation or transfer of other types of anxiety (i.e., trait anxiety, test anxiety, or public speaking anxiety) in the language learning context, or (2) as a situation-specific anxiety. Early studies on anxiety and
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles by Han Luo
Chinese as a Second Language. The journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association, USA,, 2024
The importance of teaching cultural perspectives or cultural mind is now widely recognized in the... more The importance of teaching cultural perspectives or cultural mind is now widely recognized in the field of foreign language education. Meanwhile, language teachers and scholars are also aware of the difficulty of implementing this aspect of cultural instruction in the classroom because the cultural mind tends to be abstract, intangible, and invisible. As Chinese-American cross-cultural films often foreground cultural differences and conflicts caused by underlying systems of values, beliefs, and behaviors in Chinese and American societies, they serve as tangible discussion points for guiding students in exploring the Chinese cultural mind. Therefore, this paper utilizes Chinese-American cross-cultural films as a springboard to analyze four key themes reflective of the Chinese cultural mind as depicted in the films (i.e., collectivism vs individualism, saving face, filial piety, and the role of women) and discusses pedagogical implications for cultural instruction, especially the teaching of cultural perspectives or cultural mind in the Chinese language classroom.
Technology and Chinese Language Teaching , 2023
Despite its increasing popularity and widely reported success, the use of virtual exchange has no... more Despite its increasing popularity and widely reported success, the use of virtual exchange has not been very popular in the field of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). The Chinese language program at a U.S. liberal arts college has been experimenting with various types of virtual exchange projects in partnership with Chinese students at a Chinese university in China in the past years. To further promote virtual exchange in the CFL field, this article attempts to provide a pedagogical reflection of one of the telecollaborative exchanges implemented at this college, outlining the description of the exchange, the rationale of the project design, learning outcomes, pedagogical challenges, and practical implications for future Chinese-American virtual exchange projects. The positive learning outcomes of the described exchange indicate that the combination of the etandem model and the telecollaboration model poses a promising direction for future virtual exchanges. The reported pedagogical challenges reveal that Chinese language instructors need to take a wide range of factors into consideration in virtual exchange design, including time difference, target language proficiency gap, workload, task type, and more.
Reading in a Foreign Language, 2022
This bibliometric study analyzed the research topic structure of the Reading in a Foreign Languag... more This bibliometric study analyzed the research topic structure of the Reading in a Foreign Language (RFL) journal in the past two decades. Using two well recognized bibliometric approaches, namely, the keyword co-occurrence analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis, the study examined author keywords and their co-occurrence of 184 research articles from 2002 to 2020. Results revealed that (1) the journal covered a wide range of reading research topics, and its most frequently researched topics were extensive reading, reading fluency, vocabulary learning, reading of foreign languages other than English, etc; (2) frequently researched topics were clustered into eight groups, including development of reading fluency, learner factors, vocabulary, etc.; and (3) the network of research topics centered around six large nodes (i.e., standardized keywords), namely extensive reading, reading fluency, vocabulary learning, reader characteristics, reading instructions, and reading comprehension. The findings might help readers and potential contributors familiarize with the research topic structure of the RFL journal. This study has important pedagogical implications.
Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, 2022
Under the burgeoning social climate of anti-Asian violence catalyzed by the outbreak of the COVID... more Under the burgeoning social climate of anti-Asian violence catalyzed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is of paramount importance for Chinese language instructors to address the identity needs of Chinese as a heritage language (CHL) learners. Despite increasing scholarly interest in the study of the identity issues facing CHL learners, pedagogically-orientated discussions on how to incorporate college-level CHL learners’ identity development into the curriculum are almost nonexistent. This study argues that Chinese-American cross-cultural films provide valuable instructional materials that address CHL learners’ identity and cultural needs. This study analyzes four major types of challenges and struggles experienced by Chinese immigrants depicted in ten Chinese-American cross-cultural films (i.e., obligation to parents, a tendency toward “invisibility,” the paradox of Chinese-American assimilation, and intergenerational struggles) and demonstrates how such challenges and struggles can be utilized to facilitate CHL learners’ identity development through intergenerational communication, peer interaction, community involvement, and intercultural learning.
Computer Assisted Language Learning , 2022
This study reports on the results of a semester-long Chinese-American telecollaborative exchange ... more This study reports on the results of a semester-long Chinese-American telecollaborative exchange via WeChat, in which students from China and the U.S. shared thematically similar songs in their respective languages and discussed relevant cultural topics that were suggested by the students. Various types of qualitative data collected from the exchange (i.e. WeChat group discussion transcripts, videoconferencing audio recordings, final reflection journals, and end-of-semester interviews) showed that the students participated actively in the program and were able to engage in in-depth conversations on various topics with their partners through WeChat group discussion and one-on-one videoconferencing. Many students attributed their positive experience to the intrinsic ability of music to engage college students. In order to evaluate the students’ intercultural learning, Byram’s intercultural competence assessment model was adopted to guide the data analysis. Results showed that the students demonstrated evidence of developing four types of intercultural competences during the exchange: interest in knowing other people’s way of life and introducing one’s own culture to others, knowledge about one’s own and others’ culture for intercultural communication, ability to change perspective, and knowledge about the intercultural communication process, with particularly overwhelming evidence indicating the prominence of the first two types.
ReCALL, 2022
Despite the rapid development of virtual exchange in foreign language education, its use in the f... more Despite the rapid development of virtual exchange in foreign language education, its use in the field of Chinese language education is still rather nascent. Adopting a mixed-methods research approach, this study focuses on examining the pedagogical benefits of a Chinese-American virtual exchange as mediated by students' self-reported data. Two Chinese language classes (i.e. one at the elementary level and one at the intermediate level) at a small liberal arts college in the United States and a group of Chinese-speaking English majors at a Chinese university in Shanghai participated in the exchange. Analyses of four sources of qualitative data (i.e. WeChat group cultural discussion transcripts, Skype conversations, reflection journals, and end-of-program interviews) gave rise to four benefits of the exchange: promotion of cultural learning, improvement of Chinese language skills, enhancement of learning motivation, and establishment of a language learning community. Quantitative analyses of the end-of-semester questionnaire items show that the benefit regarding cultural learning, on average, received the highest rating, followed by community building and motivation enhancement, with improvement of Chinese skills being rated the lowest. Moreover, intermediate-level students evaluated all four benefits with higher ratings than elementary-level students. In particular, the two groups' quantitative evaluations in terms of Chinese skills and motivation differed significantly. However, both groups enthusiastically endorsed the benefits of cultural learning and community building. The pedagogical implications of these results are also discussed.
Computer Assisted Language Learning, 2021
Despite the rapid development of telecollaboration in foreign
language education, telecollaborati... more Despite the rapid development of telecollaboration in foreign
language education, telecollaborative exchanges
involving Chinese as the target language have not received
sufficient attention. Adopting an action research approach,
this study focuses on examining the student perceptions as
well as the challenges of a carefully designed Chinese-
American telecollaborative learning program involving
Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) students at a small liberal
arts college in the US and Chinese-speaking English
majors at a large university in China. This study drew on a
variety of data for analysis, including naturally occurring
interaction data (i.e., Skype conversations, WeChat group
discussion transcripts), students’ weekly reflection journals,
informal interviews with the students throughout the
semester, end-of-program interviews, student responses to
an end-of-semester questionnaire, and the teacher-researcher
reflective journal. The results showed that this
program was, in general, well received among the CFL students
at the US college. The intermediate-level CFL students
evaluated this program more positively than the
elementary-level students. However, this program also
faced many challenges, such as scheduling and technological
issues with Skype conversations, target language
proficiency gap, perceived irrelevance to Chinese proficiency
development, heavy workload, lack of depth in
WeChat group discussion, and the demanding role of the
teacher-researcher.
Journal of Technology and Chinese Language Teaching , 2020
This corpus-driven study examines the construction and frequency distribution of the top 100 most... more This corpus-driven study examines the construction and frequency distribution of the top 100 most frequently used content words in American English, Chinese, and American and Chinese first-year students’ compositions. First, this paper presents the top 100 most frequently used content words in American English and Chinese from two comparable corpora, i.e., the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) and the Chinese National Corpus (CNC). Second, the top 100 most frequently used content words were drawn from two specific corpora consisting of American and Chinese freshmen’s English compositions. Linguistic similarities and differences in terms of the usage of content words across the two sets of comparable corpora were identified. For example, the results showed that people from both American and Chinese cultural backgrounds relied heavily on verbs and nouns in their languages. However, Chinese people tended to prefer using direction-oriented nouns and food-related words, which were nearly absent in the COCA and American freshmen’s compositions. The cultural implications associated with the linguistic similarities and differences are discussed and pedagogical implications of the findings are also offered.
Foreign Language Annals, 2019
This study reports the results of a national survey of Chinese as a heritage language (CHL) educa... more This study reports the results of a national survey of Chinese as a heritage language (CHL) education in U.S. colleges and universities. Conducted during a period of 13 months, the project included an initial survey that elicited general information such as program structure, course offerings, and materials. Of the 619 institutions to which the survey was sent, 246 responses were received, of which 51 institutions were identified as having a separate CHL track. A follow-up survey of heritage-track instructors at the 51 institutions investigated their views on existing teaching materials, challenges, successful experiences, and needs for professional development. In addition to providing a general picture of college-level CHL education across the U.S., this paper also identifies urgent issues that need to be addressed for CHL education and discusses the implications for teaching CHL learners in particular and heritage language learners in general.
Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics , 2018
This study investigated seven learner variables (i.e., age, motivation, perception of the difficu... more This study investigated seven learner variables (i.e., age, motivation, perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language, self-perceived achievement, self-perceived language learning ability, self-expectation in the Chinese class, and perception of the importance of the Chinese language) as potential predictors of Chinese language learning anxiety. Correlation analyses showed that all seven variables were significantly correlated with anxiety level in isolation. Perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language and age were found to have positive relationships with anxiety, whereas the remaining five variables were reported to have negative relationships. Multiple regression analysis revealed that all the variables except self-expectation in the Chinese class and perception of the importance of the Chinese language contributed significantly to the prediction of Chinese language learning anxiety when examined simultaneously. The five significant predictors altogether explained 34.7% of the variance in anxiety. Perception of the difficulty of the Chinese language was found to be the best predictor and self-perceived achievement the second-best predictor, followed by self-perceived foreign language learning ability, age, and motivation.
Computer Assisted Language Learning , 2018
In an attempt to promote telecollaborative exchanges in the field of teaching Chinese as a foreig... more In an attempt to promote telecollaborative exchanges in the field of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, this paper conducts a comprehensive review of telecollaborative practice from the past twenty years and focuses on five important themes emerging from the literature on telecollaboration, i.e., models, tasks, challenges, technologies, and new trends. Special attention is given to how each theme’s findings can be applied to telecollaborative projects for Chinese language learners. Based on the model of competencies for telecollaborative teachers developed by O’Dowd (2013), the implications of twenty years of telecollaborative practice for teaching Chinese as a foreign language are discussed in four areas, i.e., organizational, pedagogical, digital competences, and attitudes and beliefs.
Chinese as a Second Language Research, 2017
This study examines the acquisition of Mandarin dative constructions by second language (L2) and ... more This study examines the acquisition of Mandarin dative constructions by second language (L2) and heritage learners of Mandarin Chinese. Three groups of speakers (L2, heritage, and native, 20 in each group) participated in this study by completing a questionnaire consisting of sentence translation and grammaticality judgment tasks on Mandarin dative constructions. In both tasks, native speakers outperformed the heritage learners, who in turn outperformed the L2 learners. The variance of performance in the two tasks across groups can be attributed to several factors, including linguistic universal, first language (L1) transfer, and individual difference. This study shows that L2 acquisition is a complex system and no single factor can fully explain or predict L2 learning outcomes. The findings of this study also have important pedagogical implications for L2 Chinese teaching.
Cognitive Linguistic Studies , 2017
Adopting the Cognitive Linguistic (CL) framework, this study focuses on the particle placement ph... more Adopting the Cognitive Linguistic (CL) framework, this study focuses on the particle placement phenomenon of English transitive particle verbs and its relationship with idiomaticity. Construal is argued to play a key role in determining which order a transitive particle verb should take. When a caused motion event or state change event is construed sequentially, the discontinuous order is taken to emphasize the final resultant state of the object. When the holistic construal is taken to view the same situation, the continuous order is adopted to profile the object or the interaction between the subject and the object. The holistic construal requires two conditions. First, the particle has a dynamic sense. It can designate both the process and the endpoint of motion. Second, the final state denoted by the particle is directly caused by the action denoted by the verb. In contrast, the sequential construal is allowed as long as a causal link can be established between the two participants under discussion or between the verb and the state change of one participant. In addition, the present study argues that the particle placement of idiomatic particle verbs depends on the processes in which the particle verb has developed its idiomaticity. If the idiomatic meaning develops from the inference associated with the sequential construal, the discontinuous order is preferred. On the other hand, if the idiomatic meaning is based on the holistic construal, the continuous order is then preferred. Moreover, item-by-item analyses of particle verbs that only allow one order listed in the Collins COBUILD Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs provide corpus-based support to the CL view of the relationship between construal, particle placement, and idiomaticity proposed in this study.
Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, 2017
This paper aims to shed light on second language teacher education as experienced by Chinese Fulb... more This paper aims to shed light on second language teacher education as experienced by Chinese Fulbright teaching assistants (TAs) in the U.S. Adopting a mixed-method design, this study is undergirded by both a questionnaire and a case study. Through the questionnaire study, the researchers examine the needs of Chinese Fulbright TAs in the U.S. by investigating their self-perceptions, backgrounds, challenges, training, success, and suggestions. Through the case of a highly successful Fulbright TA, this study explores the processes of teacher learning through different types of experiences by analyzing three data sources including the first researcher's year-long observation notes, the TA's end-of-the-year report, and her reflection on the one-year Fulbright experiences in relation to her growth as a language teacher. Based on the results, the researchers provide a list of suggestions for Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) teacher education.
Key Words: Fulbright TA, Chinese as a foreign language, teacher learning, teacher training, second language teacher education
Uploads
Monographs by Han Luo
Book Chapters by Han Luo
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles by Han Luo
language education, telecollaborative exchanges
involving Chinese as the target language have not received
sufficient attention. Adopting an action research approach,
this study focuses on examining the student perceptions as
well as the challenges of a carefully designed Chinese-
American telecollaborative learning program involving
Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) students at a small liberal
arts college in the US and Chinese-speaking English
majors at a large university in China. This study drew on a
variety of data for analysis, including naturally occurring
interaction data (i.e., Skype conversations, WeChat group
discussion transcripts), students’ weekly reflection journals,
informal interviews with the students throughout the
semester, end-of-program interviews, student responses to
an end-of-semester questionnaire, and the teacher-researcher
reflective journal. The results showed that this
program was, in general, well received among the CFL students
at the US college. The intermediate-level CFL students
evaluated this program more positively than the
elementary-level students. However, this program also
faced many challenges, such as scheduling and technological
issues with Skype conversations, target language
proficiency gap, perceived irrelevance to Chinese proficiency
development, heavy workload, lack of depth in
WeChat group discussion, and the demanding role of the
teacher-researcher.
Key Words: Fulbright TA, Chinese as a foreign language, teacher learning, teacher training, second language teacher education
language education, telecollaborative exchanges
involving Chinese as the target language have not received
sufficient attention. Adopting an action research approach,
this study focuses on examining the student perceptions as
well as the challenges of a carefully designed Chinese-
American telecollaborative learning program involving
Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) students at a small liberal
arts college in the US and Chinese-speaking English
majors at a large university in China. This study drew on a
variety of data for analysis, including naturally occurring
interaction data (i.e., Skype conversations, WeChat group
discussion transcripts), students’ weekly reflection journals,
informal interviews with the students throughout the
semester, end-of-program interviews, student responses to
an end-of-semester questionnaire, and the teacher-researcher
reflective journal. The results showed that this
program was, in general, well received among the CFL students
at the US college. The intermediate-level CFL students
evaluated this program more positively than the
elementary-level students. However, this program also
faced many challenges, such as scheduling and technological
issues with Skype conversations, target language
proficiency gap, perceived irrelevance to Chinese proficiency
development, heavy workload, lack of depth in
WeChat group discussion, and the demanding role of the
teacher-researcher.
Key Words: Fulbright TA, Chinese as a foreign language, teacher learning, teacher training, second language teacher education
Keywords: Chinese, Chinese as a heritage Language, heritage language learners, curriculum development, learning needs