近日，我校蔡雨阳教授接到国际顶级教育学术组织美国教育学会（AERA）邀请，在其旗下的学术简报SSRL SIG Newsletter撰文介绍其原创的“岛脊曲线理论”，作为2022 年春季刊的焦点研究向全球自主学习研究领域重点推介。
“岛脊曲线理论”（Island Ridge Curve，简称IRC）是蔡雨阳教授基于中国语言学习者学习表现提出的原创性教育心理学理论。因其对语言能力和其它人类智力发展的复杂过程具有较强的解释力，短短两年就引起了国际教育界的关注。围绕这一主题，蔡教授已发表权威期刊论文3篇、章节论文1篇，出版英文学术专著1部，另有4篇相关论文正在审稿之中。
美国教育学会（The American Educational Research Association）成立于1916年，是国际教育学术界最顶级的学术组织（详见https://www.aera.net/About-AERA），其宗旨是通过鼓励教育与评价相关的学术研究，优化教育过程，提升教育质量。现有来自世界96个国家的25000多名成员，研究领域涵盖心理学、统计学、社会学、历史学、经济学、哲学、人类学、政治科学等领域。
学习与自主学习兴趣组（Studying and Self-Regulated Learning Special Interest Group；SSRL SIG）是美国教育学会的一个分支组织，成立于1986年（https://ssrlsig.org/）。其成员为来自各国自主学习领域学者，包括众多自主学习领域的殿堂级学者，如Patricia A. Alexander，Albert Bandura，Steve Graham，Nancy E. Perry， Dale Schunk，Philip H. Winne，Barry J. Zimmerman。（详见https://ssrlsig.org/resources/pillars-of-ssrl/major-researchers-in-ssrl/）。
SSRL SIG 主办的学术简报（SSRL SIG Newsletter）每年出版三期，由简报编辑部选定近几年自主学习领域最具研究潜力的主题，在全世界范围向最具代表性的研究者约稿。
蔡雨阳教授2014年获香港大学语言测评哲学博士学位，2018年被评为上海市高层次特聘教授，2019年9月入职我校。现任国际商务外语学院教授、校语言教育与测评研究中心主任、校领军人才。
蔡教授的主要研究领域包括语言测评、教育心理学以及教育测量与统计，提出了语言测评理论“动态语言能力系统 DLAS” 和教育心理学理论“岛脊曲线理论IRC”，开发了统计模型多层调节分析模型MLMA。同时，蔡教授具有丰富的语言测试开发经历，是全国医护英语考试METS的主要开发者和香港《新语言水平测试》开发团队的核心成员，曾任英国、美国以及国内多家语言测评机构顾问。现任Educational Psychology, Educational Studies等多家SSCI期刊编委，Applied Linguistics, Language Testing, Language Assessment Quarterly等十余家SSCI期刊匿名评审。
附：SSRL SIG Newsletter刊发的文章内容简介
岛脊曲线：自主学习背后的隐形之手？
语言能力的形成过程不仅是语言知识的积累过程，语言学习者个体要素如学习策略、内容知识、思维能力、学习动机等因素对语言能力的成长也起着至关重要的作用。最新的语言教育研究却发现，这些要素对语言学习的作用在不同语言学习者身上的体现各不相同。蔡雨阳教授的最新研究发现，某些特定的语言学习者要素（如策略能力、内容知识、评判思维能力、系统思维能力、动机调节能力、成长思维、自我效能、自我信心等）在不同语言学习者身上呈现出斜置S型波动的规律，并把这种现象称为“岛脊曲线”（Island Ridge Curve）。最近两年，蔡教授和他的团队将岛脊曲线模型逐步拓展为一套完整的教育心理学理论体系。该理论不仅适用于语言教育，而且适用于从幼儿园到博士的不同教育阶段，涵盖第一语言教育、第二语言教育、数学和科学教育等人类智能发展的所有教育领域。迄今为止，岛脊曲线理论的效度得到77个国家60多万人的实证数据验证。岛脊曲线理论对语言教育和其他学科教育的重要意义在于，教育过程应该对不同学习者个性化的学习潜能进行诊断，发现不同能力发展阶段不同学习者的个性化需求，然后有针对性地进行“因材施教”，从而提升教育效率。
成果原文：Island Ridge Curve: An invisible hand behind self-regulated learning?
Yuyang Cai
Shanghai University of International Business and Economics
Self-regulated learning is an empowering tool for empowering student learning. Through this empowering process, students activate metacognitive strategies such as setting goals, monitoring their learning progress, reflecting on learning outcomes, and adjusting their learning based on self-reflection. Reciprocally, students who have higher levels of achievement are more likely to deploy metacognitive strategies. However, individual constructs such as metacognitive strategies change across time and do not necessarily follow a linear pattern. More activation of metacognitive strategies alone does not automatically lead to more gaining in learning, and less activation does not necessarily lead to less achievement.
In language testing research, metacognitive strategies are known as strategic competence and have been considered a construct-relevant factor of language proficiency. We observed that the strategic competence effect on language performance did not follow a straight line but fluctuated in the S shape with the increase in language proficiency, what we called Island Ridge Curve (IRC). The S shape was determined by three language thresholds: the lower, the middle, and the higher thresholds. The strategic competence effect was negative below the lower threshold, then gradually faded away between the lower and the middle thresholds. Starting from the middle threshold, the positive effect was released and gradually climbed up to the peak at the higher threshold. Afterward, the effect slowly stepped down.
We contend three theorems working under the IRC: bipolarity, golden centrality, and self-adaptation. Bipolarity assumes the effect of an individual construct (e.g., metacognitive strategies) has two moving directions: upwards or downwards, depending on the quality and context of the construct activation. If a strategy is appropriately activated, the activation may end up with a positive effect. Otherwise, a negative effect may occur. The quality of activation may either result from the mastery of the construct, or the context of the activation (e.g., language proficiency).
Golden centrality posits that the effect of a construct on learning achievement is definite and reaches its ceiling near the middle value of a conditional construct (e.g., language proficiency). This reasoning is consistent with the Aristotelian philosophy of the golden mean, and the Chinse ancient sage of the middle way. For metacognitive strategies, the largest effect occurs with students of intermediate language proficiency.
Self-adaptation takes place when an individual is aware that more activation of the construct brings about no additional value but increased cognitive load. This mechanism usually occurs with individuals at the higher end of language proficiency level.
Since 2019, we have been conducting exciting research to examine the universality of the IRC with students in higher education (addressing motivation regulation strategies, self-regulated writing strategies, critical thinking, medical knowledge), in the K-12 system (metacognitive strategies), and in kindergarten (executive functioning) in China and promising findings are accumulating. Among these studies, we observed the IRC for the relation between metacognitive reading strategies and reading and mathematics using OECD PISA 2018 data generated by 529,091 15-years old from 77 countries. In a three-year longitudinal study conducted in the Hong Kong K-12 system, I found students self-adapted their strategy use to ensure efficient learning by adapting to average strategy users.
The function of metacognitive strategies rests upon the context and studies need to account for the possible interference from the contextual variables. IRC provides a promising lens to zoom into the reality blurred by the context. If you are interested, please contact me through sailor_cai@hotmail.com
Relevant Publications
Cai, Y. (2020). Examining the Interaction Among Components of English for Specific Purposes Ability in Reading: The Triple-Decker Model. Peter Lang.
Cai, Y., & Kunnan, A. J. (2019). Detecting the language thresholds of the effect of background knowledge on a Language for Specific Purposes reading performance: A case of the island ridge curve. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 42, 1-13. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2019.10 0795
Cai, Y., & Kunnan, A. J. (2020). Mapping the fluctuating effect of strategy use ability on English reading performance for nursing students: A multi-layered moderation analysis approach. Language Testing, 37(2), 280-304. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532219893384
Cai, Y., & Cheung, H. T. (2021). A dynamic language ability system framework for diagnosing EMI students' readiness of English language ability. In L. I.-W. Su, H. Cheung, & J. R. W. Wu (Eds.), Rethinking EMI: Rethinking EMI Multidisciplinary Perspectives from Chinese-Speaking Regions (pp. 141-160). Taylor & Francis.
Wang, C., Cai, Y., Zhao, M., & You, X. (2021). Disentangling the relation between motivation regulation strategy and writing performance: A perspective of the Island Ridge Curve. Foreign Languages World (Chinese).
Forthcoming Publications
Cai, Y. & Yang, Y. The fluid relation between reading strategies and mathematics learning: A perspective of the Island Ridge Curve.
Cai, Y. & Chen, H. The fluctuating effect of thinking on reading: New evidence for the Island Ridge Curve.
Wang, C. & Cai, Y. Examining the relation between cognitive and metacognitive writing strategies and writing performance from the perspective of the island ridge curve: The middle way is the golden way.
Cai, Y. & Lin, X. More is less and less is more: The relationship between kindergarten children’s executive function and numeracy literacy.
Cai, Y. Moving from both ends towards the middle: Longitudinal evidence for the self-adaptation of strategy use in learning English as a second language.