Recently, the research team led by Professor Xu Ying from our college has successively published papers titled Impacts of independent language skills and writing strategies on integrated writing performance of Chinese secondary EFL students and Investigating the relationships between listening strategies and speaking performance in integrated listening-to-speak tasks in the international linguistics journals Journal of Second Language Writing and System, respectively. The first author of both papers is Professor Xu Ying, with co-authors including his graduate students Li Xiaodong, Huang Mengjia, Yang Mengni, and Zeng Meijuan.
Journal of Second Language Writing and System are both top-tier international journals in the field of linguistics. Their 2024 impact factors are 5.0 and 4.9, respectively, ranking them among the top three in the JCR (Journal Citation Reports).
In recent years, the School of Foreign Languages has closely aligned with major national strategic needs, vigorously promoting organized research, and implementing multiple measures to advance disciplinary development. Through a series of innovative initiatives, the college has made significant progress in four key disciplinary areas: foreign linguistics and applied linguistics, foreign literature, cross-cultural and translation studies, and area and regional studies. Over 200 papers have been published in SSCI, A&HCI, and CSSCI-indexed journals, and more than 100 academic monographs have been published.
Impacts of independent language skills and writing strategies on integrated writing performance of Chinese secondary EFL students was published in Volume 68 of Journal of Second Language Writing (2025). The study aims to explore the mechanisms through which independent language skills and writing strategies influence the integrated writing (IW) performance of Chinese English learners. Focusing on the story continuation writing task (SCWT) in the college entrance examination, data were collected from 219 senior high school students, including their performance in independent reading tests, independent writing tasks, SCWT, responses to writing strategy questionnaires, and interviews with six students. The results revealed that connection and evaluation strategies were significantly correlated with SCWT performance. Independent reading and writing skills collectively explained 29.90% of the variance in SCWT scores, indicating that SCWT skills are not merely the sum of independent language skills. This finding was supported by interview data. Notably, independent writing skills had a greater impact on SCWT than independent reading skills. Path analysis showed that independent writing skills had a direct positive effect on SCWT performance, and connection strategies mediated the influence of independent language skills. The study also discusses the implications of these findings for understanding the construct of integrated writing tasks and pedagogical approaches.
Investigating the relationships between listening strategies and speaking performance in integrated listening-to-speak tasks was published in Volume 129 of System (2025). The study collected empirical data from 210 Chinese English learners using a self-developed questionnaire to investigate listening strategies and their relationship with performance in the story retelling task of the English listening and speaking test in Guangdong Province’s college entrance examination. Exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis of the questionnaire identified five distinct listening strategies: comprehension evaluation (COE), selective attention (SEA), inference (INF), preparation (PRE), and fixation (FIX). Correlation analysis revealed significant relationships between the use of these five listening strategies and task performance scores. Further multiple regression analysis indicated that three of these strategies were strong predictors of performance across different scoring dimensions. Specifically, COE positively influenced scores in all four assessment dimensions: (1) grammar, vocabulary, and expression; (2) retelling content; (3) pronunciation and intonation; and (4) fluency. Additionally, SEA affected scores for retelling content as well as pronunciation and intonation. In contrast, FIX had a significant negative impact on scores for retelling content. These findings contribute to a better understanding of second language (L2) learners’ use of listening strategies in story retelling tasks and have implications for L2 listening instruction and assessment.
About Xu Ying:
Xu Ying is the Vice Dean, Professor, and Doctoral Supervisor of the School of Foreign Languages at South China University of Technology. He is also a Postdoctoral Cooperative Supervisor and has been honored as a Ministry of Education Course Ideology and Politics Teaching Expert. Currently, he serves as the head of the Guangdong marking center for the College English Test (CET) Band 4 and 6. He is a standing committee member of the Language Testing and Assessment Committee and the Educational Linguistics Committee of the China Association for Comparative Studies of English and Chinese. In 2024, he was listed among the top 5% of highly cited scholars by China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). He has led 13 national and provincial-level projects, including general projects of the National Social Science Fund and the Ministry of Education Humanities and Social Sciences Fund. His accolades include the Second Prize of the National Teaching Achievement Award, the Special Prize of Guangdong Province Teaching Achievement Award, and the First Prize of Guangdong Province Teaching Achievement Award. He has also contributed to one National First-Class Undergraduate Course (Academic English, ranked 5th) and one Guangdong Province First-Class Undergraduate Course (Business English Case Analysis, ranked 1st). He has achieved significant results in the field of language testing and assessment, with over 60 high-quality academic papers published in SSCI Q1 and CSSCI-indexed journals such as Language Testing, Journal of Second Language Writing, System, Assessing Writing, Frontiers in Psychology, Foreign Language Teaching and Research, Foreign Languages in China, Foreign Language World, E-Education Research, Curriculum, Teaching Material and Method, Foreign Language Teaching Theory and Practice, Foreign Language Education Research Frontiers, Journal of PLA University of Foreign Languages, Journal of Xi'an International Studies University, Contemporary Foreign Languages Studies, and China Examinations. He has also edited six textbooks, including Academic English Oral Course, published by Science Press and Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Under his supervision, 21 graduate students have completed their studies, with 7 receiving National Scholarships and 1 awarded the title of Outstanding Graduate Student of Guangdong Province.
