A Citespace-based Research on English Writing Instruction as a Foreign Language in China from 1995 to 2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71113/JMSS.v2i2.191Keywords:
English as a Foreign Language (EFL), writing instruction, research review, ChinaAbstract
In recent years, the teaching of writing in English as a foreign language (EFL) has become a prominent and recurring research theme in education. Despite this growing interest, previous studies have not provided an overview of the current state of research on EFL writing instruction from a bibliometric perspective.This paper presents a comprehensive review of writing instruction in China, encompassing the period from 1995 to 2025. The study is grounded in a systematic analysis of extant literature and data, drawing upon the insights of leading experts in the field, and provides valuable insights for the visual analysis of research on EFL writing instruction.
The study found that: 1) Academic interest in and research on the teaching of English writing has increased significantly over the past three decades as the status of English as an international language has improved, and it is expected that the number of publications will continue to grow in the future. 2) Research on the teaching of English writing is highly concentrated in the hands of a small number of high-producing researchers and institutions, and these core members dominate the direction of the field, with relatively little related research activity in China. 3) Despite the existence of some close-knit groups, collaboration among high-producing authors in Chinese research on the teaching of English writing is still limited, with most research activities confined within institutions and little cross -regional collaboration. 4) Keyword analyses demonstrate that the focus of research on the teaching of English writing has gradually shifted from foundational issues to students at different stages of their education, and has begun to focus on the application of emerging pedagogical methodologies and technologies, with an emphasis on the new curriculum standards and modern educational themes such as core literacy.
References
Alice Chen, M. R., Hwang, G. J., Majumdar, R., Toyokawa, Y., & Ogata, H. (2023). Research trends in the use of E-books in English as a foreign language (EFL) education from 2011 to 2020: a bibliometric and content analysis. Interactive Learning Environments, 31(4), 2411-2427.
Archambault, É., Vignola-Gagné, É., Côté, G., Larivi? re, V., & Gingrasb, Y. (2006). Benchmarking scientific output in the social sciences and humanities: The limits of existing databases. Scientometrics, 68(3), 329-342.
Atkinson, D. (2003). L2 Writing Instruction: Issues, Approaches, and Directions in the Second Millennium. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12(1), 3-26.
Baker, H. K., Kumar, S., & Pandey, N. (2020). A bibliometric analysis of managerial finance: a retrospective. Managerial Finance, 46(11), 1495-1517.
Behl, A., Jayawardena, N., Pereira, V., Islam, N., Del Giudice, M., & Choudrie, J. (2022). Gamification and e-learning for young learners: A systematic literature review, bibliometric analysis, and future research agenda. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 176, 121445.
Cao Feng. (2024). A study on the application of teaching assessment consistency in high school English application essay writing teaching - An example of application essay writing in the 2024 gaokao English new standard Ⅰ paper. English Teacher (21), 162-166.
Chen Chenghui, & Xiao Hui. (2012). An experimental study of ‘listening and writing as one’ writing teaching mode: a modelling perspective. Foreign Languages(6).
Cortazzi, M., & Jin, L. (2002). English Language Teaching in China: A Bridge to the Future. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 22(2), 53-64.
Draper, J. (2012). Reconsidering compulsory English in developing countries in Asia: English in a community of Northeast Thailand. Tesol quarterly, 46(4), 777-811.
Lee, G. (2022). Prospects of compulsory English education in South Korea: what went wrong and what could be rectified. Journal of Education, 202(3), 330-338.
Lei, L., & Liu, D. (2019). Research trends in applied linguistics from 2005 to 2016: A bibliometric analysis and its implications. Applied Linguistics, 40(3), 540-561.
Mao, G., Huang, N., Chen, L., & Wang, H. (2018). Research on biomass energy and environment from the past to the future: A bibliometric analysis. Science of The Total Environment, 635, 1081-1090.
Mauranen, A., & Ranta, E. (Eds.). (2009). English as a lingua franca: Studies and findings. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
McKay, S. L. (2018). English as an international language: What it is and what it means for pedagogy. RELC Journal, 49(1), 9-23.
Ministry of Education . (2020). English curriculum standard for general high schools (2017 edition revised in 2020). Beijing: people's education press.
San Isidro, X. (2024). CLIL as a pathway for cross-curricular and translingual classroom practices: A comparative quantitative study on Scottish and Spanish teachers’ views. Language Teaching Research, 28(4), 1656-1681.
Shao, Chunyan. (2016). A Multi-Role Participation Model for Teaching English Professional Writing from a Socio-Cultural Perspective. Foreign Language Community(2).
Silva, T. (1993). Towards an Understanding of the Distinct Nature of L2 Writing: The ESL Research and Its Implications. TESOL Quarterly, 27(4), 657-677.
Singh, R., Sibi, P. S., & Sharma, P. (2022). Journal of ecotourism: a bibliometric analysis. Journal of Ecotourism, 21(1), 37-53.
Suseelan, M., Chew, C. M., & Chin, H. (2022). Research on Mathematics Problem Solving in Elementary Education Conducted from 1969 to 2021: A Bibliometric Review. International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 10(4), 1003-1029.
Van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2017). Citation-based clustering of publications using CitNetExplorer and VOSviewer. Scientometrics, 111, 1053-1070.
Wang Na. (2014). A preliminary study of digital writing teaching based on ‘Experience English - Writing Teaching Resource Platform’. Modern Education Technology(4).
Wang Yikai. (2014). The construction and application of university English writing teaching corpus. Educational Theory and Practice(15).
Wang, W., & Gao, X. (2008). English Language Education in China: A Review of Selected Research. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 29(5), 380-399.
Xie, H., Zhang, Y., & Duan, K. (2020). Evolutionary overview of urban expansion based on bibliometric analysis in Web of Science from 1990 to 2019. Habitat International, 95, 100-108.
Xu, Lanying. (2014). On the application of process genre method in high school English writing teaching. Chinese Journal of Education(5).
Yu Ji-Ying. (2014). The construction of‘integrated’ teaching mode of writing and thinking. Foreign language community(5).
Zhang Hui-Qin, Yang Hui-Li,& Guo Ping-Jian. (2015). The application of ‘brainstorming method’ in English writing teaching. Educational Theory and Practice(27).
Zhang, H., & Shi, Y. (2023). Evolution of English language education policies in the Chinese mainland in the 21st century: A corpus-based analysis of official language policy documents. Linguistics and Education, 76, 101-190.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Nana Han

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.