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An Investigation of Chinese High School Students' Preparation for Writing in English in High Schools, Cram Schools, and Online Cong Zhang Purdue University

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An Investigation of Chinese High School Students' Preparation for Writing in English in High Schools, Cram Schools, and Online Cong Zhang Purdue University Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Open Access Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 5-2016 Writing their way to the university: An investigation of Chinese high school students' preparation for writing in English in high schools, cram schools, and online Cong Zhang Purdue University Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons Recommended Citation Zhang, Cong, "Writing their way to the university: An investigation of Chinese high school students' preparation for writing in English in high schools, cram schools, and online" (2016). Open Access Dissertations. 733. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/733 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. Graduate School Form 30 Updated 12/26/2015 PURDUE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL Thesis/Dissertation Acceptance This is to certify that the thesis/dissertation prepared By Cong Zhang Entitled WRITING THEIR WAY TO THE UNIVERSITY: AN INVESTIGATION OF CHINESE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' PREPARATION FOR WRITING IN ENGLISH IN HIGH SCHOOLS, CRAM SCHOOLS, AND ONLINE For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Is approved by the final examining committee: Tony Silva Chair April Ginther Margie Berns Junju Wang To the best of my knowledge and as understood by the student in the Thesis/Dissertation Agreement, Publication Delay, and Certification Disclaimer (Graduate School Form 32), this thesis/dissertation adheres to the provisions of Purdue University’s “Policy of Integrity in Research” and the use of copyright material. Tony Silva Approved by Major Professor(s): Ryan Schneider 4/21/2016 Approved by: Head of the Departmental Graduate Program Date WRITING THEIR WAY TO THE UNIVERSITY: AN INVESTIGATION OF CHINESE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PREPARATION FOR WRITING IN ENGLISH IN HIGH SCHOOLS, CRAM SCHOOLS, AND ONLINE A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Purdue University by Cong Zhang In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2016 Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana ii For Mao and Baby Tony iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to the people who helped me throughout the stages of completing this dissertation. Without their various kinds of support, this dissertation wouldn’t have been finished. My deepest gratitude goes to my dissertation advisor, Tony Silva. You have been a tremendous mentor for me. I would like to thank you for supporting, understanding, and inspiring me throughout my graduate career and encouraging, advising, and guiding me in completing this dissertation. Throughout the several years working with you, I have benefited greatly from your commitment to your work, your dedication and contribution to second language writing, your knowledge in the field, and your support and encouragement for young scholars. Throughout the stages of writing my dissertation, you have provided me with generous time and invaluable feedback; I am also deeply grateful for your availability and patience with me. I would also like to thank the other members of my dissertation committee, Margie Berns, April Ginther, and Junju Wang for their valuable comments and suggestions. Margie, you have been an excellent role model for me in the past several years. I owe sincere gratitude to you for your intellectual and emotional support. You have inspired me in doing research, lightened up my heart when I was frustrated, and encouraged me when I was not confident. I would like to thank you especially for your iv love, companionship, and support during the darkest time after baby Tony was born; your always-open-door-and-arms have been the warmest support for me. After I healed, visiting you on Sunday afternoons has been my favorite routine to get a fresh mind after a week’s hard work on my dissertation. Without you, I wouldn’t have completed this dissertation now. April, my heartfelt thanks go to you for the substantial influence of your course on me; because of you and your course, your passion for language testing, your knowledge in the field, and my experience at MWALT, I fell in love with language testing. Thank you also for your generous time and feedback when I needed your help; you have always been approachable and willing to help. Junju, I would like to thank you for challenging me to think more deliberately about my research questions, and for your limitless support and inspiration since I first began working on my Master’s Degree at Shandong University. Thank you also for building the bridge between Shandong University and Purdue University and for your recommendation, without you, I wouldn’t even have started my doctoral study at Purdue and become Tony’s advisee. I also want to express my appreciation to my friends and fellow graduate students in Second Language Studies/ESL at Purdue University for their emotional support during my doctoral studies and kindness in helping me collect data, especially Yue Chen, Xun Yan, Joshua Paiz, Scott Partridge, Kai Yang, Mariam Alamayar, Ghada Gherwash, and Dennis Koyama. My apologies to anyone I may have overlooked. I also want to express my appreciation for my participants in this dissertation. Thank you for devoting time and effort to the research and sharing materials with me. Without you, this dissertation wouldn’t have been completed. v I would also like to express my gratitude to my family. Words cannot express how grateful I am to my parents and parents-in-law for all the sacrifices that you’ve made and the support you’ve shown. I would especially like to thank my husband, Xiaoyang Mao. Thank you so much for your love, encouragement, and support during my doctoral studies, and the many sacrifices you’ve made for me and the family. Without you, I wouldn’t have come this far. I would also like to thank my dear son, Tony Mao. Thank you for being such a good boy who has brought me bundles of joy; I’m so blessed to have you in my life! Finally, I thank my God for being with me and walking me through all the difficulties and empowering me with the ability to finish the dissertation. I will keep on trusting You for my future. Thank you! vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. x LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... xii ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................1 1.2 Statement of Problem ................................................................................................1 1.3 Impetus for Study ......................................................................................................6 1.4 Theoretical Framework ..............................................................................................8 1.5 Research Questions ..................................................................................................12 1.6 Overview of Chapters ..............................................................................................14 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................... 15 2.1 The Teaching of Writing in Secondary Schools ......................................................15 2.1.1 High School Instruction on English Writing in Other Parts of The World . 16 2.1.2 High School Instruction on English Writing in Mainland China ................ 24 2.2 Private Supplementary Tutoring/Shadow Education ..............................................27 2.2.1 Definition and Basic Information ................................................................ 27 2.2.2 Literature on Private Supplementary Tutoring ............................................ 30 2.2.3 Literature on Private Supplementary Tutoring in English (PST-E) ............. 36 2.3 Online Learning .......................................................................................................38 vii Page CHAPTER 3: METHDOLOGY ....................................................................................... 42 3.1 Overview of Chapter ...............................................................................................42 3.2 Overview of Study and Research Design ................................................................42 3.3 Settings ....................................................................................................................43 3.3.1 Purdue University ........................................................................................ 45 3.3.2 A Key Public School .................................................................................... 45 3.3.3 An Ordinary Public School .......................................................................... 46 3.3.4 A Foreign Language School ........................................................................ 47 3.3.5 An International Department ......................................................................
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