Dingfang Shu
Biographic Data
| ID | 1238600 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Dingfang Shu |
| GIVEN NAMES | Dingfang |
| FAMILY NAME | Shu |
| SIGNATURE | SHU D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Shanghai International Studies University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0890-4915 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 21 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 21 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Young EFL learners’ beliefs about grammar instruction and their relationship with second language proficiency
Although language learner beliefs are a distinct individual difference factor that can significantly influence the success of language learning, limited attention has been given to young language learners’ beliefs about grammar instruction and their relationship with students’ learning outcomes. In this study, we administered a questionnaire tapping into learners’ beliefs regarding grammar instruction to 277 Chinese primary school students and ut…
Teacher beliefs about e-assessment for learning in English as a foreign language writing
Despite the growing emphasis on technology-enhanced assessment, little is known about how primary English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers develop their beliefs about e-assessment for learning (E-AfL) in writing. Adopting ecological systems theory, the study examines whether and how primary EFL teachers’ beliefs about E-AfL strategies in writing change during a one-year collaborative teacher professional development program (CTPDP) in China, …
Building a Collaborative Teaching Study Group as a Dynamic Nexus of Research and Practice in TBLT
Despite its potential benefits, empirical research on researcher–practitioner collaboration within collaborative teaching study groups (CTSGs) remains limited, particularly regarding how this collaboration is manifested and constructed. This study aims to fill this gap by documenting a 9‐year collaborative initiative that facilitated the implementation of task‐based language teaching (TBLT) at a Chinese primary school through a university–school …
Unpacking Identity Tensions and Agency of Translation and Interpreting Teachers
Whilst there has been much research on tensions arising from multiple teacher identities and conflicts between internal struggles and external demands, limited attention has been given to translation and interpreting (T&I) teachers’ identity tensions and their agency in resolving these tensions in higher education. To address this gap, drawing on the ecological perspective, this qualitative case study explored three T&I teachers’ experienced iden…
Exploring teacher agency in using new language materials
This study investigated teacher agency in using a set of new materials at a senior high school in Shanghai, China, in response to the recent curriculum reform. Curriculum reforms are often implemented via mandated materials in some countries, and hence, the implementation is ultimately delivered by teachers who use the materials. To this end, teacher agency may play a pivotal role in deciding how the materials are used. Conceptualising teacher ag…
Advancing e-assessment for learning in the primary EFL writing classroom
While research on teacher implementation of e-assessment for learning (E-AfL) in EFL writing is conducted increasingly at the tertiary level, the scope of research on primary teachers’ E-AfL in writing is limited, particularly regarding how teacher professional learning influences their actual practices. The study moves along this line of inquiry and investigates the impact of a year-long collaborative teacher professional learning opportunity on…
Emotional Impact on Professional Identity Development
English language teachers taking on the dual role of textbook writers have gained prominence recently due to their insights into students and practical teaching context, which enhances the curriculum relevance of English as a foreign/second language (EFL/ESL) textbooks. However, this professional shift introduces distinctive professional and emotional challenges that significantly influence the formation of their professional identities—an area t…
Enabling and Enacting
Amid the increasing research on language learner agency, attention has rarely been paid to the psychological process of agency construction. Specifically, the role that emotions play in this process requires further investigation due to the emotion‐laden nature of foreign language learning. Drawing on Bandura's (1989) social cognitive theory, this study examined the interplay between agency and emotions in the English learning experiences of seco…
Implementing CLIL Innovation in a Collaborative Teacher Education Ecosystem
This paper reports on the implementation of a 6‐month collaborative teacher education project (CTEP) in China, designed to help teachers adopt CLIL in response to new primary school curriculum requirements. A multi‐site case study was conducted to track two focal teachers' changes in CLIL implementation and its sustainability. Adopting ecological theory, the study investigated how teachers' interactions with university‐based, district‐based, and …
Exploring teacher-student interaction in task and non-task sequences
In TBLT research, there is a noticeable lack of attention to the use of tasks with whole classes. This study seeks to address this gap by investigating the discourse of whole-class task-based teacher-student interaction compared to other types of teacher-student interaction in EFL classrooms in a primary school in China. A total of 223 pedagogic sequences from 16 EFL lessons taught by Chinese teachers to Grade 1 to 5 primary school student were r…
Marrying Collective Wisdom
The need for collaboration between researchers and practitioners to address the research-practice gap is a long-debated topic in applied linguistics. Little is known, however, about how researchers and practitioners can collaboratively develop teaching materials, as a potential venue to narrow the gap. This study explored how two groups of professionals in China worked together to develop textbook materials and achieved bi-directional knowledge f…
Relationship between young learners’ L2 proficiency and subject knowledge
While CLIL programmes have been extensively researched for their impact on L2 learning outcomes, the relationship between young learners’ L2 proficiency and subject knowledge has received less attention. This study aimed to address this research gap by examining the science content knowledge of two cohorts of Grade 5 students (n = 100) from two primary schools in China, with one school implementing a CLIL science programme and the other offering …
Unpacking Chinese young learners’ L2 learning motivation
This study aimed to compare the English language learning motivation of two cohorts of Chinese primary school learners in a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and a non‐CLIL instructional setting. A total of 270 learners from third, fourth and fifth grades in the CLIL programme ( N = 184) and the non‐CLIL programme ( N = 86) participated in this study. Data were collected through a young learners’ L2 motivation questionnaire. Results…
Cultivating a new ecosystem in English language teaching
In addressing the widening research–practice gap in the field of second language (L2) education, an increasing emphasis has been placed on a bidirectional and mutually beneficial relationship between L2 researchers and practitioners. Through the lens of an ecosystems model, this qualitative study explored how seven researchers at a research center in China, who collaborated with practitioners and other stakeholders in developing English textbooks…
“Teaching, my passion; publishing, my pain”
The bright side of dark emotions
Frustration drives me to grow’
Implementing foreign language curriculum innovation in a Chinese secondary school
The Haitong Project
As one of the two ‘educational special zones’ in China, Shanghai is launching a new round of curriculum reforms centring on lide shuren , viz. ‘fostering integrity and promoting rounded development of people’ (Hu 2012). Apart from piloting a new plan for Gaokao , the national college entrance examination in 2014, a ground-breaking endeavour by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission was to establish 17 key research centres at higher instituti…
Chinese xiehouyu (歇 后 语) and the interpretation of metaphor and metonymy
Cognitive Approaches to Lexical Semantics
This article reviews the achievements and recent research programs in the field of cognitive lexical semantics, which has become a full‐fledged field since the early 1980s, when important research findings in cognitive psychology concerning the internal structure of categories (prototype structure and family resemblance structure) were adopted to analyze lexical categories ( Taylor et al. 2003 ). Cognitive linguists have since changed their conce…
Frustration drives me to grow’
The bright side of dark emotions
Implementing foreign language curriculum innovation in a Chinese secondary school
Exploring teacher-student interaction in task and non-task sequences
In TBLT research, there is a noticeable lack of attention to the use of tasks with whole classes. This study seeks to address this gap by investigating the discourse of whole-class task-based teacher-student interaction compared to other types of teacher-student interaction in EFL classrooms in a primary school in China. A total of 223 pedagogic sequences from 16 EFL lessons taught by Chinese teachers to Grade 1 to 5 primary school student were r…
Unpacking Chinese young learners’ L2 learning motivation
This study aimed to compare the English language learning motivation of two cohorts of Chinese primary school learners in a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and a non‐CLIL instructional setting. A total of 270 learners from third, fourth and fifth grades in the CLIL programme ( N = 184) and the non‐CLIL programme ( N = 86) participated in this study. Data were collected through a young learners’ L2 motivation questionnaire. Results…
The Haitong Project
As one of the two ‘educational special zones’ in China, Shanghai is launching a new round of curriculum reforms centring on lide shuren , viz. ‘fostering integrity and promoting rounded development of people’ (Hu 2012). Apart from piloting a new plan for Gaokao , the national college entrance examination in 2014, a ground-breaking endeavour by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission was to establish 17 key research centres at higher instituti…
Chinese xiehouyu (歇 后 语) and the interpretation of metaphor and metonymy
Cognitive Approaches to Lexical Semantics
This article reviews the achievements and recent research programs in the field of cognitive lexical semantics, which has become a full‐fledged field since the early 1980s, when important research findings in cognitive psychology concerning the internal structure of categories (prototype structure and family resemblance structure) were adopted to analyze lexical categories ( Taylor et al. 2003 ). Cognitive linguists have since changed their conce…
Chinese xiehouyu (歇 后 语) and the interpretation of metaphor and metonymy
Implementing foreign language curriculum innovation in a Chinese secondary school
The Haitong Project
As one of the two ‘educational special zones’ in China, Shanghai is launching a new round of curriculum reforms centring on lide shuren , viz. ‘fostering integrity and promoting rounded development of people’ (Hu 2012). Apart from piloting a new plan for Gaokao , the national college entrance examination in 2014, a ground-breaking endeavour by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission was to establish 17 key research centres at higher instituti…
Frustration drives me to grow’
“Teaching, my passion; publishing, my pain”
The bright side of dark emotions
Cultivating a new ecosystem in English language teaching
In addressing the widening research–practice gap in the field of second language (L2) education, an increasing emphasis has been placed on a bidirectional and mutually beneficial relationship between L2 researchers and practitioners. Through the lens of an ecosystems model, this qualitative study explored how seven researchers at a research center in China, who collaborated with practitioners and other stakeholders in developing English textbooks…
Marrying Collective Wisdom
The need for collaboration between researchers and practitioners to address the research-practice gap is a long-debated topic in applied linguistics. Little is known, however, about how researchers and practitioners can collaboratively develop teaching materials, as a potential venue to narrow the gap. This study explored how two groups of professionals in China worked together to develop textbook materials and achieved bi-directional knowledge f…
Relationship between young learners’ L2 proficiency and subject knowledge
While CLIL programmes have been extensively researched for their impact on L2 learning outcomes, the relationship between young learners’ L2 proficiency and subject knowledge has received less attention. This study aimed to address this research gap by examining the science content knowledge of two cohorts of Grade 5 students (n = 100) from two primary schools in China, with one school implementing a CLIL science programme and the other offering …
Unpacking Chinese young learners’ L2 learning motivation
This study aimed to compare the English language learning motivation of two cohorts of Chinese primary school learners in a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and a non‐CLIL instructional setting. A total of 270 learners from third, fourth and fifth grades in the CLIL programme ( N = 184) and the non‐CLIL programme ( N = 86) participated in this study. Data were collected through a young learners’ L2 motivation questionnaire. Results…
Advancing e-assessment for learning in the primary EFL writing classroom
While research on teacher implementation of e-assessment for learning (E-AfL) in EFL writing is conducted increasingly at the tertiary level, the scope of research on primary teachers’ E-AfL in writing is limited, particularly regarding how teacher professional learning influences their actual practices. The study moves along this line of inquiry and investigates the impact of a year-long collaborative teacher professional learning opportunity on…
Emotional Impact on Professional Identity Development
English language teachers taking on the dual role of textbook writers have gained prominence recently due to their insights into students and practical teaching context, which enhances the curriculum relevance of English as a foreign/second language (EFL/ESL) textbooks. However, this professional shift introduces distinctive professional and emotional challenges that significantly influence the formation of their professional identities—an area t…
Enabling and Enacting
Amid the increasing research on language learner agency, attention has rarely been paid to the psychological process of agency construction. Specifically, the role that emotions play in this process requires further investigation due to the emotion‐laden nature of foreign language learning. Drawing on Bandura's (1989) social cognitive theory, this study examined the interplay between agency and emotions in the English learning experiences of seco…
Implementing CLIL Innovation in a Collaborative Teacher Education Ecosystem
This paper reports on the implementation of a 6‐month collaborative teacher education project (CTEP) in China, designed to help teachers adopt CLIL in response to new primary school curriculum requirements. A multi‐site case study was conducted to track two focal teachers' changes in CLIL implementation and its sustainability. Adopting ecological theory, the study investigated how teachers' interactions with university‐based, district‐based, and …
Exploring teacher-student interaction in task and non-task sequences
In TBLT research, there is a noticeable lack of attention to the use of tasks with whole classes. This study seeks to address this gap by investigating the discourse of whole-class task-based teacher-student interaction compared to other types of teacher-student interaction in EFL classrooms in a primary school in China. A total of 223 pedagogic sequences from 16 EFL lessons taught by Chinese teachers to Grade 1 to 5 primary school student were r…
Young EFL learners’ beliefs about grammar instruction and their relationship with second language proficiency
Although language learner beliefs are a distinct individual difference factor that can significantly influence the success of language learning, limited attention has been given to young language learners’ beliefs about grammar instruction and their relationship with students’ learning outcomes. In this study, we administered a questionnaire tapping into learners’ beliefs regarding grammar instruction to 277 Chinese primary school students and ut…
Teacher beliefs about e-assessment for learning in English as a foreign language writing
Despite the growing emphasis on technology-enhanced assessment, little is known about how primary English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers develop their beliefs about e-assessment for learning (E-AfL) in writing. Adopting ecological systems theory, the study examines whether and how primary EFL teachers’ beliefs about E-AfL strategies in writing change during a one-year collaborative teacher professional development program (CTPDP) in China, …
Building a Collaborative Teaching Study Group as a Dynamic Nexus of Research and Practice in TBLT
Despite its potential benefits, empirical research on researcher–practitioner collaboration within collaborative teaching study groups (CTSGs) remains limited, particularly regarding how this collaboration is manifested and constructed. This study aims to fill this gap by documenting a 9‐year collaborative initiative that facilitated the implementation of task‐based language teaching (TBLT) at a Chinese primary school through a university–school …
Unpacking Identity Tensions and Agency of Translation and Interpreting Teachers
Whilst there has been much research on tensions arising from multiple teacher identities and conflicts between internal struggles and external demands, limited attention has been given to translation and interpreting (T&I) teachers’ identity tensions and their agency in resolving these tensions in higher education. To address this gap, drawing on the ecological perspective, this qualitative case study explored three T&I teachers’ experienced iden…
Exploring teacher agency in using new language materials
This study investigated teacher agency in using a set of new materials at a senior high school in Shanghai, China, in response to the recent curriculum reform. Curriculum reforms are often implemented via mandated materials in some countries, and hence, the implementation is ultimately delivered by teachers who use the materials. To this end, teacher agency may play a pivotal role in deciding how the materials are used. Conceptualising teacher ag…
Psychology (15 works) · Pedagogy (13 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (12 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Mathematics education (7 works) · Linguistics (6 works) · Language proficiency (4 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (4 works)