Papers by Yang Yang
Sage Open, 2025
This paper compares Quelling the Demons' Revolt (QDR) with another novel, Romance of Late Tang an... more This paper compares Quelling the Demons' Revolt (QDR) with another novel, Romance of Late Tang and Five Dynasties (RLTFD) whose authorship by Luo Guanzhong is established and which shares a similar genre. Independent samples t-tests were conducted to compare the usage frequency of 90 most frequent characters (MFCs) and 16 lexical features between 20 chapters of QDR and 60 of RLTFD. Additionally, the study employed principal component analysis (PCA) to determine whether these two novels exhibited distinct stylistic variations regarding MFC usage and lexical features. The results of independent samples t-tests show that 64 out of 90 MFCs are used with significantly (p < .05) different normalized frequencies and there are significant differences (p < .05) in nine out of 16 lexical features between the two novels. The results of PCA also show that QDR and RLTFD present entirely distinct styles in terms of MFC and lexical features. Thus, from the perspective of stylometry, it could be concluded that the author of QDR is likely not Luo Guanzhong. The conclusion is validated by comparing chapters within RLTFD with the same methods. This conclusion not only poses a great challenge to the dominant view but shows that PCA can be treated as an effective way to solve the questions concerning controversial authorship.
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2025
The Marriage Bonds to Awaken the World (MBAW) is an outstanding "novel about human relationships"... more The Marriage Bonds to Awaken the World (MBAW) is an outstanding "novel about human relationships" that emerged in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, holding an unshakable position in the history of Chinese novels. However, up to the present, the issue of its authorship has remained unresolved. The mainstream view in current academia is divided between two possibilities: the eminent literary figure and novelist Pu Songling from the Qing dynasty, and the novelist Ding Yaokang from the late Ming and early Qing periods. For the first time, this study employs stylometric methods to compare the Most Frequent Characters (MFCs) and lexical features of MBAW with similar works by Pu Songling and Ding Yaokang, subjecting them to Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The results indicate that there is a high probability that neither Pu Songling nor Ding Yaokang is the author of MBAW. The conclusion of this study challenges the prevailing view in academia to a certain extent.
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2025
Yang, Y., & He, X. (2025). Lexical richness in Chinese university students’ EFL writing: A corpus... more Yang, Y., & He, X. (2025). Lexical richness in Chinese university students’ EFL writing: A corpus-based comparison. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12, 1199. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05560-x (SSCI Q1; A&HCI; 中科院一区) ---------- Lexical richness (LR) is widely recognized as a key indicator of proficiency among learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). With the rise of numerous software tools capable of automatically measuring LR in recent years, LR has received increasing attention as a focal area of research in the context of Chinese university students' (CUSs) EFL writing. However, these quantitative studies often reduce LR to numerical values, lacking a comparative framework for evaluating lexical proficiency in CUSs' EFL writing. This study adopts Foster and Tavakoli's approach, using native language proficiency as a comparative baseline. It examines LR in CUSs' EFL writing compared to English as a native language (ENL) writing, utilizing corpus-based data from SWECCL 2.0 and LOCNESS across three dimensions: lexical density, sophistication, and variation. The results of Mann-Whitney U tests reveal that CUSs' lexical density in English writing is comparable to that of ENL writing, which may be attributed to the influence of their native language, Chinese. However, they exhibit lower mean ranks of lexical sophistication and variation, showing distinct patterns compared to ENL writing. These disparities may be attributed to factors like limited exposure to advanced vocabulary and cultural attitudes toward risk-taking in language use. Practical pedagogical implications include enhancing exposure to low-frequency vocabulary through enriched input, incorporating contextualized vocabulary instruction, and providing feedback-driven writing tasks that promote lexical variation. This study contributes to the understanding of LR in EFL contexts by emphasizing the need for targeted instructional strategies and offering insights into improving lexical proficiency among EFL learners.
Journal of Ecohumanism, 2024
Campus names usually carry cultural significance, delivering heritage messages and values as well... more Campus names usually carry cultural significance, delivering heritage messages and values as well as basic components of intangible property. One common dilemma regarding university heritage conservation and restoration in the world is arbitrary renaming. This paper aims to justify the inseparable connection between South China Agricultural University (SCAU), South China University of Technology (SCUT), and Sun Yat-sen and develop solutions to their conservation and restoration, taking the Shipai Campus of National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) as a study case. The study concluded that the Shipai campus is the epitome of Sun's education and it deserves Sun's name the most. This paper also raised heritage conservation and restoration solutions for SCAU and SCUT, namely identifying the truth and safeguarding historical sustainability by restoring and utilizing the original campus names. In addition, the study proposed to formulate laws for renaming all universities in the future that necessitate deliberate evaluation and approval by heritage experts before taking action. The NSYSU campus serves as a representative case, illustrating the role of campus names as significant cultural property. It highlights the importance of safeguarding campus names. These names must be carefully protected, and arbitrary changes should be avoided to preserve their historical and cultural significance.
Shanlax International Journal of Education, 2024
This paper explores the reliability of using ChatGPT in evaluating EFL writing by assessing its i... more This paper explores the reliability of using ChatGPT in evaluating EFL writing by assessing its intra-and inter-rater reliability. Eighty-two compositions were randomly sampled from the Written English Corpus of Chinese Learners. These compositions were rated by three experienced raters with regard to 'language', 'content', and 'organization'. The writing samples were also rated by ChatGPT twice over some time, and the average scores were calculated. Independent samples t-test was conducted to compare the average scores given by ChatGPT and human raters. Pearson correlation analyses were conducted between the two sets of overall scores given by ChatGPT to calculate the intra-rater reliability, as well as between average scores given by ChatGPT and human raters for inter-rater reliability. The results of comparative analysis shows that ChatGPT may be used for evaluating EFL essays, as the scores are similar to those provided by reliable human raters. However, the result of correlation analyses shows that the intra-rater reliability of ChatGPT is not high enough to be acceptable, r=0.575, p<0.01 and the strength of the inter-rater reliability is moderate as well, r=0.508, p<0.01. Besides, there is no significant relationship between their average scores on 'organization' of the writings, r=0.181, p>0.05. Thus, it can be concluded that ChatGPT is not a reliable tool to rate and score EFL writings using the prompt in this study. One of the possible reasons for the unreliability of ChatGPT as a rater of EFL writing seems to be related to scoring for the 'organization' of the essay. These findings imply that while ChatGPT has potential as an evaluative tool, its current limitations, particularly in assessing organization, must be addressed before it can be reliably used in educational settings.
Contemporary Educational Technology, 2024
In the existing literature, scholars have proposed various indices to measure the lexical richnes... more In the existing literature, scholars have proposed various indices to measure the lexical richness (LR) of English as a foreign language (EFL) writing. However, there are currently issues of redundant indices and inconsistent usage. Attempting to address the research question of which indices are the most sensitive and effective ones to distinguish between different grade levels of Chinese university students’ EFL writing, this study aims to put forward a refined and concise model of indices that can truthfully reflect LR in EFL writing. A total of 180 compositions were selected from a Chinese EFL learner corpus: Spoken and written English corpus of Chinese learners. Scores of 28 LR indices of these compositions were computed using the software Lexical Complexity Analyzer, MATTR, and Coh-Metrix. One-way ANOVA or Welch’s ANOVA, depending on the variable’s homogeneity of variances, was conducted for each index. Two criteria were applied to determine which index of a measure should be included in the refined model: whether the difference of an index is significant among different grade levels and the effect size of ANOVA. Based on the quantitative results of ANOVAs and qualitative human judgment based on literature, six indices of the six LR measures were included in the refined model: lexical density, lexical sophistication-I, verb sophistication-II, number of different words-expected sequence 50, corrected TTR, and squared verb variation-I. This refined model addresses the issues of redundancy and inconsistency in previous studies, providing a more accurate and efficient tool for assessing LR in EFL writing.
Global Journal of Arts Humanity and Social Sciences, 2024
In 1190 CE, the first year of the Mingchang 明昌 Reign of the emperor Zhangzong 章宗 of the Jin Dynas... more In 1190 CE, the first year of the Mingchang 明昌 Reign of the emperor Zhangzong 章宗 of the Jin Dynasty, Zhanzong's mother, empress Xiaoyi 孝懿 fell ill suddenly. Thus, emperor Zhangzong organized Taoist masters at that time to hold the Putian Dajiao 普天大醮, the Great Ritual Offering to the Universal Heaven, for Empress Xiaoyi to dispel evil and cure diseases. This was a great event for the imperial family at that time, and it is also an event worth studying in the history of Taoism in the Jin Dynasty. However, History of Jin (Jin Shi; 《金史》) does not mention this event at all. Fortunately, a few essays of the Jin Dynasty recorded on the Epitaphs of Taoist Temples (Gongguan Beizhi;《宮觀碑誌》) in the Daoist Cannon (Daozang; 《道藏》) retain information about this Putian Dajiao, which provides important thinking for later researchers to reinvestigate the causes and consequences of this event. This paper first compiled the related lost essays and combined them with other literature to restore this long-neglected religious event.
Journal of Pu’er University, 2023
《高级英语》（张汉熙版）是英语专业高年级学生专业核心课程，统领着综合英语的能力培养。将中华优秀传统文化有机融入该课程中，是为了能在“四新”背景下，“润物细无声”地帮助学生在语言学习的过程中，自觉... more 《高级英语》（张汉熙版）是英语专业高年级学生专业核心课程，统领着综合英语的能力培养。将中华优秀传统文化有机融入该课程中，是为了能在“四新”背景下，“润物细无声”地帮助学生在语言学习的过程中，自觉养成学习中国传统文化的习惯，起到“培根铸魂，立德树人”的作用。在全国高校推进课程思政建设的形势下，将中华优秀传统文化有机融入教学的方式，需追求多元、高效，以课本为本，守住语言教学阵地，创新课前、课中与课后的自主学习方式，这样才能更好地服务课程思政的实施。
Assessing Writing, 2023
This paper investigates the relationship between lexical richness and EFL expository writing qual... more This paper investigates the relationship between lexical richness and EFL expository writing quality and examines the predictability of lexical richness indices to EFL expository writing quality. Two hundred and seventy expository writing samples were drawn from Spoken and Written English Corpus of Chinese Learners Version 2.0. The lexical richness of the writing samples was analyzed with Lexical Complexity Analyzer, and the values of the 26 indices were calculated being the independent variables to predict the EFL expository writing quality. Besides, the writing samples were rated by three experienced raters and the average scores from the three raters were used as the dependent variable. The results of correlation analysis show that all four measures of lexical richness, i.e., lexical density, sophistication, variation, and fluency, are significantly correlated with the EFL expository writing quality, but the strength of the correlation is either low or medium. The results of regression analysis show that two indices of lexical richness, i.e., Number of Words and Noun Variation, can explain 38.5% (r = 0.620, p = 0.000) of the variance in the average score of EFL expository writing. A 10-fold cross-validation was performed and the results indicate that the model validly fits the data and can be generalized with unseen data.
Chinese Language and Literature, 2023
The purpose of this research is to examine the language policies of Laos in different historical ... more The purpose of this research is to examine the language policies of Laos in different historical periods: the Kingdom of Lan Xang and the vassal state of Siam, the French colonial period, the monarchical period, and the socialist period. Based on the three-dimensional model of language policy research proposed by Lo Bianco and Aliani, "Text", "Discourse", and "Practice", through analyzing the Lao policy documents that state the position of language use in different periods, unscrambling the literature on the interpretation of policy documents, and investigating the actual use of language, the following conclusions are drawn: during the period of Kingdom of Lan Xang and the vassal state of Siam, the original Lao was similar to the Yue language spoken by the Baiyue people in the history of southern China. The Lao script is alphabetic writing created from Sanskrit and Pali. More than a century of Siamese rule over Laos resulted in a high degree of similarity between the Lao and Thai languages today. During the French colonial period, the Language policy of assimilation, standardization, and-de-Siamization‖ was implemented in Laos. In the meantime, French had been the official language, working language, and instruction language, while Lao was an optional subject in
New Anthology Series 1 - Equitable and Inclusive Language Education: New Paradigms, Pathways, and Possibilities, 2023
Language assessment literacy (LAL) is a relatively new area that has given birth to many instrume... more Language assessment literacy (LAL) is a relatively new area that has given birth to many instruments to enable researchers and policymakers to measure pre- and in-service teachers’ literacy. This project was an attempt to develop and assess the first Malaysian Language Assessment Literacy (MLAL) Index for secondary school English language teachers. Based on Taylor’s (2013) framework, the Index was then validated by international (n = 4) and local (n = 4) language assessment experts through three rounds of the Delphi method. The MLAL Index (Version 3.0) consists of 9 sections, and 57 items, which help teachers self-evaluate their language assessment literacy. However, the conclusion of the project coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic, which necessitates further refinements to the instrument to make it relevant for the current teaching-testing setting. In the distance learning circumstance, a valid LAL instrument should be more student-centred, for example, by emphasizing the role of student feedback mediated by the digital context. The project has enormous pedagogical and methodological implications as its product can equip frontline teachers with better knowledge and confidence to design their assessments.
Foreign Languages and Translation, 2022
本文在梳理词汇丰富性测量维度的发展脉络基础上，总结了过往文献中测量词汇丰富性的维度、方法和指标及其适用范围和优缺点。此外，本文总结了可以自动计算这些维度和指标的计算机软件或系统。最后，本文尝试提... more 本文在梳理词汇丰富性测量维度的发展脉络基础上，总结了过往文献中测量词汇丰富性的维度、方法和指标及其适用范围和优缺点。此外，本文总结了可以自动计算这些维度和指标的计算机软件或系统。最后，本文尝试提出测量词汇丰富性的未来研究方向：一是在理论和操作方面从新的思路或角度研究能够更全面反映英语写作水平的词汇丰富性测量方法；二是考虑基于中国英语学习者写作语料库通过因子分析、路径分析、比较分析、判别分析等途径梳理出一套适合测量中国英语学习者词汇水平的指标模型。
Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of Languages, Education and Tourism (ICLET) 2021, 2021
Syntactic complexity is the variety and sophistication degree of the syntactic structures conveye... more Syntactic complexity is the variety and sophistication degree of the syntactic structures conveyed in written production. This paper aims to quantitatively compare the syntactic complexity between British and American University Students' ENL writing. One hundred and twenty-eight essays are randomly sampled from the Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays. Among these essays, 64 of them are written by British university students and 64 by American university students. All the writers are native English speakers. Scores of syntactic complexity for both groups are calculated by using the software Syntactic Complexity Analyzer in terms of "length of production unit", "amount of subordination", "amount of coordination", and "degree of phrasal sophistication". Independent samples t-tests are conducted to find the differences in syntactic complexity between the two groups. The results show that British university students produce longer sentences than American students do as the mean length of sentences, clauses, and T-units in their writing are significantly (p = 0.000) larger than that of American students' writing. On "amount of subordination", the two groups produce a similar proportion of subordinated structures as there are no significant differences for both the dependents clauses per clause and per T-unit between the two groups. In terms of coordination, there are no significant differences for both coordinated phrases and sentences between the two groups. Finally, on "degree of phrasal sophistication", the two groups produce a similar proportion of verb phrases, but British university students produce a significantly (p = 0.000) larger proportion of complex nominals than American students do. In conclusion, though British university students produce longer sentences and a larger proportion of complex nominal, it cannot be concluded that their ENL writing is syntactically more complex than that of American university students as there are no significant differences for subordination and coordination between the two groups.
Proceedings of the 7th Malaysia International Conference on Foreign Languages 2021 (MICFL2021), 2021
As an essential part of tourism discourse, travel brochures can arouse interests, direct expectat... more As an essential part of tourism discourse, travel brochures can arouse interests, direct expectations, influence perceptions, and provide preconceived landscapes for tourists to discover. The language used in them will usually bring effect to readability and publicity. Lexical richness is about the quality of vocabulary, covering lexical diversity (the variety of words), lexical sophistication (the advancement of words), and lexical density (the proportion of content words). This paper compares the lexical richness in English travel guidebooks by EFL and ENL writers from three perspectives with concrete indices. A total of 128 traveling guiding texts are randomly selected by using a corpus-based approach. 64 guiding texts are from the accessible English brochures by travel agency Authentik USA. All of them are written by local Americans and introduce the famous scenic spots. Another 64 texts are from the English tourist guidebooks by Chinese writers, introducing well-known tourist attractions in China. The web-based software Lexical Complexity Analyzer is used in this study. The independent samples t-tests are conducted using SPSS. The results show that there is a difference between some lexical richness indices in the English travel brochures by EFL and ENL writers. To be specific, there is no significant difference in lexical density between travel guidebooks written by EFL and ENL writers. For lexical sophistication, the vocabulary used in travel guidebooks written by EFL writers is significantly more sophisticated than that by ENL writers. In terms of lexical variation, the vocabulary used in travel guidebooks written by EFL writers is significantly less varied than that by ENL writers. The analysis enables us to identify the word choices by both EFL and ENL writers in the tourism context. This study also provides pedagogical insights into how lexical richness measurements can be used as valuable indices to assess the constructing performance of EFL writers.
Linguistics and Culture Review, 2022
Four-character idioms are fixed phrases with four Chinese characters that have been used for a lo... more Four-character idioms are fixed phrases with four Chinese characters that have been used for a long time in Chinese. They are language units with richer meanings and equivalent grammatical functions than words. They are concise, easy to remember, and easy to use. Many idioms have two or more meanings. It is precisely for this reason that the English translation of Chinese idioms has brought considerable difficulties. In the process of translating idioms into English, it is difficult to be accurate, profound, and complete. Therefore, a variety of English translation techniques should be combined for translating Chinese four-character idioms. This paper analyzed the definition, characteristics, classification, and translatability of Chinese four-character idioms, and concluded three commonly applied strategies for translating Chinese four-character idioms into English: the literal translation, the free translation, and the combination of literal and free translation. Finally, some problems existing in the translation of Chinese four-character idioms are analyzed and summarized: poor acceptance by foreigners, loss of cultural elements, and unbalanced cultural status.
Advances in Social Sciences, 2022
The 65 “Belt and Road” countries have rich linguistic diversity and prominent cultural difference... more The 65 “Belt and Road” countries have rich linguistic diversity and prominent cultural differences. The 53 official languages of the “Belt and Road” countries include four types of lingua franca: Arabic, English, Russian, and Chinese, and the other 49 non-common languages. The genealogical classification of languages shows that the 53 official languages involve nine major language families, 20 language families, and 31 branches. Among them, the language family with the most languages is the Indo-European family with 29 languages, followed by the Altaic family and Sino-Tibetan family. The following linguistic problems still exist in the construction of the “Belt and Road”: insufficient research and understanding of national conditions, linguistic situations, and policies of some countries; shortage of foreign language professionals; and unimproved language serviceability. On this basis, the corresponding countermeasures are put forward.
International journal of linguistics, literature and culture, 2022
Context is the environment that forms discourse and is one of the key factors influencing discour... more Context is the environment that forms discourse and is one of the key factors influencing discourse comprehension. Language communication is not conducted in a vacuum but a specific language environment. Context plays a vital role in discourse analysis. This paper investigated the development and categories of context and analyzed the disadvantage of the traditional way of discourse analysis without considering the context. Based on Hu's classification of context, this paper analyzed many discourse examples from textbooks, grammar books, and articles, and concluded the functions of each type of context in discourse analysis. Linguistic context can eliminate ambiguities, indicate the reference of endophora, predict ensuing content, help guess word meaning, and supplement omitted information in discourse analysis. Situational context plays the role of understanding illogical sentences, supplementing omitted information and filling the semantic vacancy, and understanding illocutionary force and reflecting speech acts in discourse analysis. The cultural context has the functions of explaining cultural connotations, filling the semantic vacancy, and building consistency of discourse in discourse analysis. Finally, enlightenment of functions of context in discourse analysis to language teaching and learning is provided.
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2022
This paper reviews more than 60 research papers, articles, or book chapters on syntactic complexi... more This paper reviews more than 60 research papers, articles, or book chapters on syntactic complexity in the context of EFL/ESL writing in the past two decades. Most of the papers are from journals indexed in Social Science Citation Index, Scopus, and Chinese Social Science Citation Index. Five strands of syntactic complexity studies in the context of EFL/ESL writing are concluded: syntactic complexity measurement indices and tools, the relationship between syntactic complexity and language proficiency, syntactic complexity developmental studies, comparative studies, and variables influencing syntactic complexity. Gaps in previous studies and future research focuses are analyzed and concluded: new indices from other syntactic perspectives should be considered and research on their validity and reliability should be done. For comparative studies, more attention should be given to comparing the writing of EFL/ESL learners with different backgrounds. For research on variables influencing syntactic complexity, the interactive effect of multiple variables needs to be investigated; if only one variable is examined, other variables should be controlled. Besides, in future syntactic complexity research, theoretical interpretation and theory building should be given more attention, and the observation period for longitudinal research should be extended. Finally, more qualitative studies are needed for in-depth investigation of specific syntactic perspectives, such as syntactic errors.
World Journal of English Language, 2022
Syntactic complexity is the variety and sophistication degree of the syntactic structures conveye... more Syntactic complexity is the variety and sophistication degree of the syntactic structures conveyed in written production. The syntactic complexity of general Chinese university students' EFL writing has been studied previously, but the performance of university students in educationally underdeveloped Southwestern China remains unclear. Taking Pu'er University as a case, this study collected 400 EFL compositions from 100 university students in Southwestern China and compared them with 200 writing samples from the Louvain Corpus of Native English Essays. Scores of 11 syntactic complexity indices were calculated using the L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer. The independent samples t-test was conducted to investigate whether and the extent to which the two groups differed on syntactic complexity indices. The results showed that university EFL students in Southwestern China produce a similar length of linguistic units when compared to native English writers. However, the amount of subordination in EFL writing is significantly less than that of native English writers. For the amount of coordination, the university EFL students produced a lower proportion of coordinate phrases than that of native writers, but the proportion of coordinate sentences is not significantly different between the two groups. Finally, for degree of phrasal sophistication, university EFL students in Southwestern China produce significantly fewer complex nominals than native writers do. The results imply that university students in Southwestern China should write more subordinated sentences and complex nominals, such as nominal clauses, infinitives, or gerunds, in their future EFL writing, instead of writing long sentences just heavily relying on simple coordination.
Book Reviews by Yang Yang
Environmental Communication, 2015
Life on Land In the edited volume Language as an Ecological Phenomenon, Steffensen, Cowley, and D... more Life on Land In the edited volume Language as an Ecological Phenomenon, Steffensen, Cowley, and Döring present an interdisciplinary exploration of language as an active agent in ecological systems. They bring together a series of essays that highlight the interplay between language and ecology, conceptualizing “languaging” as a multi-layered activity woven into ecosystems. This volume also contributes significantly to environmental communication (EC) by exploring how linguistic practices shape ecological interactions, as well as narratives, and discourses about them. This review will assess how the book’s contributions resonate with ongoing discussions in EC, linking linguistic analysis with the broader goals of EC to foster sustainability and ecological awareness.
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Papers by Yang Yang
Book Reviews by Yang Yang