Books by Joseph Joonsuk Lee
Palgrave Macmillan, 2017
This book presents a corpus-based study of spoken learner language produced by university-level E... more This book presents a corpus-based study of spoken learner language produced by university-level ESL students in the classroom. Using contemporary theories as a guide and employing cutting-edge corpus analysis tools and methods, the authors analyse a variety of learner speech to offer many new insights into the nature and characteristics of the spoken language of college ESL learners. Focusing on types of speech that are rarely examined, this original work makes a significant contribution to the study and understanding of ESL spoken language at university level. It will appeal to students and scholars of applied linguistics, corpus linguistics, second language acquisition and discourse analysis.
Papers by Joseph Joonsuk Lee
Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2021
This study reports findings of a comparative analysis of the use of (un)attended this/these in hi... more This study reports findings of a comparative analysis of the use of (un)attended this/these in high-and low-rated L2 university student argumentative essays. Specifically, the analysis systematically compares the frequencies, antecedents, verb patterns, and attending noun stance options of (un)attended this/these in 174 assessed essays written by Chinese ESL undergraduate students in a first-year composition course, grouped into high-and low-rated essays. Results reveal that high-and low-rated L2 students use this/these in different ways to establish rhetorical cohesion in building their arguments. Both groups tend to employ attended this/these more frequently, but the low-rated essays include significantly more unattended this/these. The low group relies more on copular verbs and phrasal antecedents, but the high group prefers lexical verbs and clausal/extended discoursal referents; however, with unattended this/these, both groups use copular and lexical verbs equally and the antecedents are predominantly clausal/extended discoursal referents. These two groups of student writers also select different types of stance options for attending nouns, especially in relation to the antecedent referents to which this/these plus noun indicates. We conclude with pedagogical implications for ESL composition instruction.
Journal of Second Language Writing, Jun 1, 2019
This study explores the relationship between syntactic complexity and writing quality in assessed... more This study explores the relationship between syntactic complexity and writing quality in assessed source-based research papers produced by ESL undergraduate writers in a first-year writing course through a combination of holistic and fine-grained measures of complexity. The analysis is based on a corpus of 280 student papers across three grade tiers: high, mid, and low. A one-way MANOVA was used to explore the statistical significance of differences of five commonly used syntactic complexity measures (assessed using Lu’s Second Language Syntactic Complexity Analyzer, 2010) across these grade tiers. Results reveal little variation in clausal subordination and coordination, but statistically significant lower complex nominal densities, mean length of clauses (phrasal measures), and mean length of T-units (global measure) in low-rated papers. Analysis of complex nominal composition using the Stanford Tregex with differences assessed with a one-way MANOVA shows that the highest densities of complex nominal types are present in high-rated papers, with statistical significance in adjectival pre-, prepositional post-, and participle modification, and the lowest densities in low-rated papers. While clausal complexity did not demonstrate a relationship with assessed quality, both global and phrasal complexity features appear to be important components. We conclude with implications for syntactic complexity research and ESL composition pedagogy. You can view this article for free until May 20th with the following link: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1YpoU3n6UYaaTi
System, Feb 1, 2019
This study reports findings of a comparative corpus-based analysis of informality in L1 and L2 un... more This study reports findings of a comparative corpus-based analysis of informality in L1 and L2 undergraduate student argumentative essays. Data consist of two corpora of student essays: 101 high-rated essays written by L1-English students and 254 high-rated essays written by ESL students in US universities. Based on a taxonomy of the 10 most common informal features cited in style manuals, we compared informal language use in L1-English and ESL undergraduate student essays. Results reveal that overall frequency of informal features is significantly greater in L2 student texts. Findings also indicate that both groups rely on similar informal elements, yet they differ in distinct ways. While ESL student writers tend to employ significantly more anaphoric pronoun it and second-person pronouns, they use most other types less frequently than L1 writers, and generally appear to observe prescriptive rules more strictly. In contrast, L1-English writers tend to adopt a more liberal attitude toward these rules, employing a broader range of informal types, particularly those that have become relatively legitimized in academic writing. The paper concludes with implications for ESL composition pedagogy.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes, May 1, 2018
This study reports findings of an analysis of the citation practices of L2 undergraduate students... more This study reports findings of an analysis of the citation practices of L2 undergraduate students in the context of first-year writing (FYW). Data consist of a corpus of 100 source-based research papers written by L2 students in a FYW course. Taking a multi-perspective analytical approach, we examine L2 undergraduate students' citation practices in terms of surface forms, rhetorical functions, and writer stance. Results indicate that L2 students use a restricted range of reporting structures, and they primarily use sources for attribution function to display their knowledge of the topics. Furthermore, as opposed to taking a strong positive or negative position, the findings show that L2 student writers mainly adopt a non-committal stance by merely acknowledging or distancing themselves from cited materials, suggesting that L2 students are inclined to show deference to the perceived authority of published sources. We conclude with pedagogical options for enhancing L2 university students' citation practices.
Journal of Response to Writing, Apr 2, 2018
This in-house inquiry explores the response practices of a group of L2 writing teachers in our sp... more This in-house inquiry explores the response practices of a group of L2 writing teachers in our specific program to gain a better understanding of these teachers' feedback practices and to bring about purposeful change within our local context. Data consist of 4,313 electronic feedback (e-feedback) items given by six writing teachers to 36 L2 students on six writing tasks in a first-year writing course for international students. Using Ene and Upton's (2014) e-feedback framework, each feedback instance was coded for feedback target, directness, explicitness, charge, and location. Although some variations exist, results show that these teachers overwhelmingly focused on form across writing tasks. Findings also show that the e-feedback was primarily corrective, direct, explicit, and within-text. Following a discussion of our programmatic response to this internal investigation, we conclude by arguing that programs can establish philosophies of response grounded in their specific context based on examination of local practices.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes, Nov 5, 2017
This corpus-based study compares L1-English and L1-Chinese undergraduate students' use of lexical... more This corpus-based study compares L1-English and L1-Chinese undergraduate students' use of lexical bundles in English argumentative essays, and identifies the most common bundle misuses in L2 student writing. Data consist of two corpora of student-produced argumentative essays: 101 high-rated essays written by L1-English students and 105 high-rated essays written by L1-Chinese students. Using Biber's (Biber et al., 1999; Biber et al., 2004) structural and functional taxonomy, we compared the forms and functions of four-word bundles used by L1-English and L1-Chinese university students. Findings indicate that L2 students not only use substantially more bundle types and tokens than L1 writers, but the structural and functional patterns of bundles also differ. While L1 writers' bundles consist of mostly noun and preposition phrases, L2 students use significantly more verb phrase (clausal) bundles. Results also show that L2 student writers use significantly more stance bundles than L1 writers. In addition, most of the misused bundles in the L2 writers' essays pertain to grammatical mistakes, particularly with articles and prepositions. We conclude with some pedagogical implications for ESL composition.
Journal of Second Language Writing, Sep 1, 2016
This study explores interactional metadiscourse in successful and less-successful (i.e., A-vs. B-... more This study explores interactional metadiscourse in successful and less-successful (i.e., A-vs. B-graded) argumentative essays written by Chinese ESL university students, and how these ESL writers compare with high-rated L1 students. The analysis is based on three corpora of student writing: 25 successful ESL essays, 25 less-successful ESL essays, and 25 successful L1 English papers. Using Hyland's (2005a) model of interactional metadiscourse, these papers were compared to examine the extent to which successful and less-successful student-produced argumentative essays differ in their employment of stance and engagement resources. Findings of the analysis suggest that successful essays, both L1 and L2, contain significantly greater instances of particularly hedging devices than less-successful essays. For some interpersonal resources, such as boosters and attitude markers, no significant differences were found. The analysis also reveals that, unlike their L1 peers, ESL students were overwhelmingly reluctant to establish an authorial identity in their writing. The paper concludes with a few implications for L2 writing pedagogy.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes, Aug 29, 2016
This genre-oriented analysis explores the rhetorical structure and linguistic features of EAP cla... more This genre-oriented analysis explores the rhetorical structure and linguistic features of EAP classroom lessons. The analysis is based on a corpus of 24 EAP classroom lessons taught by highly experienced IEP teachers. Using a focused Swalesian move analysis combined with corpus-based methods, the study examines the rhetorical moves in different phases of EAP lessons and frequent lexical phrases used to signal discourse organization in each phase. In addition, four EAP teachers were interviewed in order to gain insider perspectives into their discursive practices. The analysis reveals that EAP lessons consist of three major phases, each with three distinct moves, and with varying linguistic realizations. Findings suggest that these experienced EAP teachers have generated and internalized a stable lesson frame in response to the recurrent situation of providing meaningful, activity-driven, and logically organized EAP lessons. The paper concludes with a discussion of the power of Swales's move analysis in studying classroom lessons as well as implications for EAP teacher education.
TESL Canada Journal, May 22, 2016
This study traces the reception history of Freeman and Johnson's (1998) widely cited article dedi... more This study traces the reception history of Freeman and Johnson's (1998) widely cited article dedicated to theory and practices of second language teacher education (SLTE). It illuminates the degree to which that article has impacted SLTE theory, research, and potentially instructional practices. The reception study analysis is based on a data set of 413 journal articles, books, book chapters, mas-ter's theses, and doctoral dissertations that cited Freeman and Johnson (F&J) between 1999 and 2014. Using an innovative analytical approach combining both Hyland's (1999, 2004) citation categories and Coffin's (2009) stance framework, we investigate the citation analytics of F&J within this data set, including how it has been cited over time and the stance that citing authors have taken toward F&J's proposals. Although F&J's reconceptualization of the theory and practices of SLTE sparked initial controversy, our findings indicate that F&J's article has not only been accumulating increased attention over time, but their vision for the future of SLTE also has gained greater acceptance and has edged closer to the center of SLTE. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for further reception studies in TESOL/applied linguistics.
English for Specific Purposes, 37, 52-62, Jan 2015
This exploratory study investigates teachers' use of metadiscourse in EAP lessons and academic le... more This exploratory study investigates teachers' use of metadiscourse in EAP lessons and academic lectures. The analysis is based on two corpora of instructor contributions to classroom discourse: 18 EAP lessons from the L2CD corpus and 18 university lectures from the MICASE corpus.
System, 46, 39-54, Oct 2014
This study investigates cross-linguistic variation of metadiscourse in the results and discussion... more This study investigates cross-linguistic variation of metadiscourse in the results and discussion chapters of engineering master's theses written in English and Spanish. The analysis is based on a corpus of 200 master's thesis results and discussion chapters: 100 written by L1 English students and 100 written by L1 Spanish students. Using Hyland's (2005a) interpersonal model of metadiscourse, the results and discussion chapters were compared to examine the influence of lingua-cultural contexts of writing on student writer's employment of metadiscoursal resources. Findings of the comparative analysis reveal significant cross-linguistic differences for overall frequency of metadiscourse as well as for most (sub-)categories. The analysis suggests that interpersonal features of writing are inexorably linked to the specific lingua-cultural contexts in which texts are produced and consumed, even within the same discipline and (part-)genre. The paper concludes with some pedagogical implications for L2 writing instruction.
Inherent in classroom research are the inevitable, and often unanticipated, challenges experience... more Inherent in classroom research are the inevitable, and often unanticipated, challenges experienced by researchers. This article moves beyond the main issues highlighted in the literature and identifies some of the problems the authors encountered when conducting two common methodological procedures, classroom observations and stimulated recall interviews (SRIs), as part of our dissertation research investigations. The paper first surveys what the literature describes as the main areas of concern with these two procedures. It then pulls away from these resources to explore actual difficulties we experienced that we believe are inadequately addressed in the literature. Using illustrations from our dissertation projects, we examined several recurring challenges we faced, including participant discomfort with specific types of SRI questions and different forms of participant-researcher interaction during non-participatory classroom observations. For each of these problems, we provide a series of recommendations for researchers who plan to use similar methodological protocols in classroom research.
Building on the work of Borg (2006), this paper reports on a study of Japanese EFL learners’ perc... more Building on the work of Borg (2006), this paper reports on a study of Japanese EFL learners’ perceptions of some of the unique characteristics of EFL teachers that distinguish them from teachers of other subjects. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire to which 163 college-level EFL students in Japan responded. The responses to the questionnaire were analyzed to identify the characteristics which are exclusive to the province of EFL teachers. The results of the study indicate that these learners perceive EFL teachers to be unique along four central dimensions: the complex nature of the subject matter, the content of teaching, teaching approach, and teacher personality. The findings also suggest that the particularity of the sociocultural and educational context may ultimately influence how EFL teachers and their work are conceptualized by learners in crucial ways. I conclude by arguing that if language teacher education is to provide a more nuanced explanation of the uniqueness of EFL teachers and teaching that may be meaningful and relevant to teachers and students working within particular contexts, the voices of all stakeholders involved in EFL education need to be included in the dialogue on just what it means to be an EFL teacher.
This exploratory study investigates the impact of class size on the rhetorical move structures an... more This exploratory study investigates the impact of class size on the rhetorical move structures and lexico-grammatical features of academic lecture introductions. From the MICASE corpus (The Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English), two small corpora of lecture introductions of small- and large-class lectures were compiled. Using a genre-based analytical approach, the lecture introductions in the two corpora were compared to examine how the size of the audience influences the rhetorical and linguistic choices lecturers make in university settings. Findings of the comparative analysis suggest that class size does affect lecturers’ discursive decisions. A large audience seems to compel experienced lecturers to use more of certain discursive strategies as a way to create positive and friendly learning environments in settings that may not be particularly favorable for establishing such conditions. However, due to the nature of small classes in which the number of students is smaller and the proximity between lecturers and students is closer, reinforcing positive rapport seems to take less rhetorical and linguistic effort on the part of lecturers. The paper ends with a number of tentative pedagogical implications for lecturer training.
Asian EFL Journal, 2005
In this more mobile and globalized world, the concept of what it means to be a native speaker of ... more In this more mobile and globalized world, the concept of what it means to be a native speaker of a language is becoming ever more difficult to define, especially in regards to English. In recent developments in second language acquisition and language teaching, this concept has been the focus of attention for numerous scholars (e.g. to get a better understanding of this concept, and, perhaps, to reevaluate and revise the "native speaker model" in the field of language teaching. In this article, the definition of the native speaker is explored based on the works of various scholars who have investigated this concept. Based on the findings of what it takes to be a native speaker, the issue of whether the native speaker model is the appropriate model in language teaching is discussed.
Book Chapters by Joseph Joonsuk Lee
New Ways in Teaching Speaking (edited by Julie Vorholt), 2018
The context for this task is an oral communication course that focuses on developing students’ ac... more The context for this task is an oral communication course that focuses on developing students’ academic and professional communication and presentation abilities. In university settings, many students, particularly graduate students, are expected to write and orally defend their thesis/dissertation. Yet students are often unaware of the processes involved in the oral defense portion of their thesis/ dissertation. The focus of this task is to raise students’ awareness of the organization, management, and expectations of the oral defense by acting as a sort of ethnographer of communication. Students interview their thesis/dissertation supervisors to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the oral defense process.
TESOL voices: Online and hybrid classroom education (edited by Greg Kessler), 2018
As online and blended learning environments have expanded within educational contexts, online sup... more As online and blended learning environments have expanded within educational contexts, online support services such as online writing labs have emerged concurrently to provide students with additional assistance. Some online writing labs now use technologies, including audio-visual-textual conferencing (Yergeau, Wozniak, & Vandenberg, 2009), that allow tutors and student writers to engage in sustained, synchronous, one-on-one interactions. Though researchers and teacher trainers have begun to explore the processes involved in preparing teachers for online classrooms (e.g., Wang, Chen, & Levy, 2010), less attention has been paid to the training and preparation of writing tutors to be effective in digital contexts. Nonetheless, Kastman Breuch and Racine (2000) argue that “online tutors need training specific to online writing spaces” while noting the difficulty of translating training for physical spaces to digital ones in spite of the fact that learning outcomes can be “equally facilitated” in both contexts (p. 246). In this chapter, we present our reflective approach to this issue in the English Language Improvement Program (ELIP) Academic & Global Communication Program’s Writing Lab at Ohio University.
The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, 2018
Technology has played a crucial role in the analysis of spoken and written discourse. Not only ha... more Technology has played a crucial role in the analysis of spoken and written discourse. Not only has it impacted how discourse data are collected, transcribed, and analyzed, but it has also crucially changed the types of social interactions and texts that are examined. Utilizing technological tools to capture and investigate language in use, the field of discourse studies has profoundly transformed our views of human communication, communicative repertoire needed to interact effectively in various discourse domains, and approaches to language teaching and learning.
Other Publications by Joseph Joonsuk Lee
TESOL SLW News, 10(1), Mar 2014
University students are asked to act within and master a diverse range of genres as student write... more University students are asked to act within and master a diverse range of genres as student writers and researchers . Although the difficulty in performing such a task is considerable for first language (L1) writers, second language (L2) writers face similar yet also different rhetorical and linguistic demands and challenges. As more L2 students attend U.S. universities and colleges, the need to assist such students become successful increases. In order to receive assistance with various writing assignments, L2 students often turn to the writing center. Intended to help such learners develop writing abilities, writing tutors provide invaluable one-on-one tutoring that is personalized and responsive to students' individual needs .
Uploads
Books by Joseph Joonsuk Lee
Papers by Joseph Joonsuk Lee
Book Chapters by Joseph Joonsuk Lee
Other Publications by Joseph Joonsuk Lee