Zheng, Beiting
(2025)
Lexical Bundles in Chinese Middle School English Language Teaching: Corpus and Pedagogical Insights.
PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
Abstract
This study explores the use of lexical bundles (LBs) in the Chinese middle school English language teaching (ELT) context, focusing on ELT textbooks, high-stakes exams, and the influence of teachers’ attitudes on the application and challenges of using LBs in the classroom. Although LBs – high-frequency recurring fixed word sequences – have been shown to be crucial for learners of English as a second language (L2) in both spoken and written contexts, they are often overlooked in research as well as in the current curriculum and teaching practices in China. This study compares the highfrequency LBs found in Chinese middle school ELT textbooks with those in the British National Corpus (BNC) Sampler, which represents first language (L1) English contexts, as well as with the high-frequency LBs that appear in the Zhongkao (Hanzi: 中考, Middle School Scholastic Aptitude Examination). The results reveal that the LBs in the Chinese middle school textbooks not only fail to align with the high-frequency bundles in the L1 English corpus and the Zhongkao corpus, but also omit critical usage patterns evident in these contexts.
Through semi-structured interviews with Chinese middle school ELT teachers, the study highlights the strong influence of exam-oriented practices and native speakerism on teachers’ attitudes. Respondents tended to prioritise LBs that are aligned with exam requirements, particularly those that appear in the Zhongkao exam. In addition, they believed that introducing bundles from the output of L1 English users could help students to learn more authentic English and increase their interest in language learning. Furthermore, respondents expressed a willingness to incorporate LB lists into their teaching, but only if provided with more detailed guidance, such as example sentences and structured teaching materials. Respondents also reported a lack of formal training in the effective use of LBs, both in pre-service and in-service professional development programmes. As a result, they often tended to analyse LBs from a grammatical or lexical perspective rather than adopting the holistic teaching approaches recommended by researchers.
This study suggests that changes are needed in both teacher training and textbook design to better integrate LBs into ELT in China. Specifically, textbooks need to expand their coverage of high-frequency bundles and integrate them into context-rich communicative lessons. In addition, textbooks could use text enhancement techniques (e.g., bolding or highlighting) and include clear guidelines to increase both teacher and student awareness of LBs. Teacher training programmes could provide explicit strategies for incorporating LBs into classroom teaching and emphasise their role in facilitating authentic language use, rather than focusing solely on exam preparation. By addressing these gaps, it is hoped that LBs can be effectively integrated into ELT practice, ultimately helping students to improve both their test performance and their communicative competence in English.
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