Application of different tools to investigate features and development of UK-based international foundation students’ academic lexis in assessed writing

Despite extensive research into academic writing of university students from various linguistic backgrounds and disciplines at various levels of study, little research has focused on longitudinal studies of assessed writing produced by heterogeneous groups of students at a foundation level. This study seeks to fill this gap by employing a number of tools complemented by qualitative interviews to investigate the most prevalent examples, features and development of academic lexis used in UK-based international foundation students’ written assignments and the main contributors to this development. These aims are addressed with the assistance of the Text Inspector (Bax n.d.), AntWordProfiler (Antony 2013) and AntConc (Antony 2014) which provide an insight into the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the students’ use of academic lexis comprising individual words and phraseologies in accordance with the Academic Word List (Coxhead 2000), the New Academic Vocabulary List (Gardner and Davies 2013), the Academic Collocation List (Ackermann and Chen 2013), and the Academic Formulas List (Simpson-Vlach and Ellis 2010). The results indicate that despite a rather extensive use of individual academic words, the use of academic collocations and lexical bundles remains limited. Moreover, the most prevalent examples of individual academic vocabulary and collocations seem to be relating to the assignment topics. There also seems to be a link between the use of certain academic collocations and the assignment type. The most prevalent examples of academic lexical bundles, on the other hand, do not appear to be linked to the assignment topic or type. In addition, interview data have identified formative feedback, teaching and exposure to academic lexis in reading materials as primary contributors. These findings have important pedagogical implications by highlighting the importance of feedback, explicit focus on academic items during class time and exposure to relevant reading materials

A Case Study of Academic Vocabulary in a Novice Student’s Writing at a UK University

Mastering appropriate writing style is one of the challenges frequently experienced by novice student writers entering higher education. Developing academic writing skills is, however, crucial for students new to academic settings since written assignments constitute the main form of assessment in tertiary education. Novice student writers thus need to acquire the writing conventions used in academic settings to achieve success in high-stakes assessment. Underlying success in academic writing is the usage of academic vocabulary regarded as a key feature of academic writing style. Through textual analysis accompanied by interview data utilising the ‘talk around text’ technique, this corpus-based case study reports on the deployment of academic vocabulary in four genres of assessed academic writing produced by one international foundation-level student at a UK university. The findings reveal a small number of newly acquired academic vocabulary items deployed in each written assignment with all new academic words having been acquired from reading materials. In addition, the important role that the topic and genre play in student written production becomes apparent. These findings have potentially important pedagogical implication for contexts catering for novice student writers entering tertiary education, such as foundation programmes or pre-sessional courses

What Difference Does One Academic Year Make? Features And Development Of International Foundation Students’ Academic Lexis In Assessed Writing At A UK University

Despite extensive research into academic writing of university students from various linguistic backgrounds and disciplines at various levels of study, little research has focused on longitudinal studies of assessed writing produced by heterogeneous groups of students at a foundation level. This study seeks to fill this gap by investigating the most prevalent examples, features and development of academic lexis used in UK-based international foundation students’ written assignments and the main contributors to this development. These aims are addressed with the assistance of three tools, namely Text Inspector.com (Bax 2015), AntWordProfiler (Anthony 2013) and AntConc (Anthony 2014) which provide an insight into the qualitative and quantitative aspects of students’ use of academic lexis comprising individual words and phraseologies in accordance with the Academic Word List (Coxhead 2000), the New Academic Vocabulary List (Gardner and Davies 2013), the Academic Collocation List (Ackermann and Chen 2013), and the Academic Formulas List (Simpson-Vlach and Ellis 2010). The textual analysis is complemented by individual qualitative interviews identifying the main contributing factors to the development of the students’ academic lexis. This small scale longitudinal study is based on a number of written assignments, produced by six international foundation students forming the entire 2016 - 2017 cohort of the International Foundation Programme at a London-based University, which were submitted to the University during the academic year. The results indicate that despite an extensive usage of individual academic words, the use of academic phraseologies remains surprisingly limited in the students’ assessed writing. Moreover, the most prevalent examples of individual academic vocabulary and collocations seem to be drawn from the assignment topics. In addition, the interview data identified exposure to academic lexis in lessons and reading materials as primary contributors to its development. These findings have potentially important pedagogical implications by highlighting the importance of more explicit teaching of academic lexis and greater exposure to relevant reading materials

Review of Academic Word Lists

Academic vocabulary is indisputably one of the most important features of academic texts and recent decades have seen the creation of several lists of academic vocabulary intended to provide a pedagogically useful compilation of the most prevalent words used across as well as within various academic disciplines. These academic word lists have assisted not only the teaching and learning of academic vocabulary, but they have also made a contribution to academic vocabulary research. However, the pedagogical and research value of such lists is sometimes questioned. When utilising these lists, it is therefore important to understand the underlying principles and methodological decisions which had informed their creation. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to offer an up-to-date overview of existing compilations of academic vocabulary, which will hopefully assist EAP researchers and practitioners in making informed decisions regarding the choice and utility of these word lists in their research and pedagogical practices

Enhancing student writing with do-it-yourself corpora on a PhD pre-sessional programme

As an effective writing course should focus on disciplines and their unique characteristics, practitioners of English for academic purposes (EAP) are often faced with the challenge of addressing the different needs of learners from various fields of study. This article reports on how a data-driven learning (DDL) approach can be applied to enhance student written production in a multidisciplinary classroom in a 10-week PhD pre-sessional programme at a British University. The participants were six international students who used a do-it-yourself (DIY) corpus in weekly DDL sessions to familiarize themselves with discipline-specific academic writing conventions and applying them in their writing. The effectiveness of this approach was investigated through a ‘talk around texts’ technique employed in semi-structured interviews with individual students and their supervisors on programme completion. The findings show that a DDL approach utilizing a DIY corpus has the potential of enhancing PhD student writing in a multidisciplinary classroom on a pre-sessional programme. This article suggests that DDL could be successfully implemented not only in PhD pre-sessional programmes, but also in wider EAP contexts

Addressing discipline specificity in a multidisciplinary EAP classroom through data-driven learning

Mastering academic writing is one of the challenges frequently experienced by university students across all levels and disciplines. As writing remains one of the most common ways of demonstrating knowledge in university settings, developing an appropriate academic style is a vital skill for success. In the context of British universities, academic writing skills are generally catered for by English for Academic Purposes (EAP) provision in the form of pre-sessional and in-sessional courses. Ideally, these courses should focus on the characteristics and conventions of the students’ specific fields of study to meet their academic needs. This, however, poses a challenge for EAP practitioners, who are usually not specialists in the students’ subject domain, amplified by the fact that EAP classes are often taken by a diverse group of learners from a wide range of disciplines. This paper reports on how the issue of discipline specificity in a multidisciplinary EAP classroom in a PhD pre-sessional programme at a British University was addressed by employing a data-driven learning (DDL) approach for the acquisition and development of disciplinary writing conventions including specialised technical vocabulary. After an evaluation of this approach, we conclude that DDL can be usefully implemented in wider EAP contexts to inform students’ knowledge of writing in their disciplines

Identifying academic phrases in self-compiled corpora: A case study from mathematical sciences

Multi-word combinations are a key component of a variety of academic genres. Student writers thus need to master control of these expressions to communicate effectively in their specific contexts. However, multi-word patterns often present a challenge to students at various levels of academic study. This paper reports on a case study exploring how a data-driven learning approach drawing on self-compiled corpora can enhance student writing in preparation for their doctoral study at a British university. The participant was an international student in mathematical sciences who utilized a self-build corpus throughout a ten-week pre-sessional programme to acquire and incorporate multi-word expressions in their writing. The effectiveness of this approach was investigated through a ‘talk around text’ technique in an interview on completion of the pre-sessional programme. The findings show that a self-compiled corpus is a valuable resource for students mastering writing in specific disciplinary contexts

The acquisition and development of academic vocabulary: Learners' perspectives

Academic vocabulary is widely recognised as a key aspect of academic writing style and there is a well-established link between the knowledge of academic vocabulary and academic achievement. Considering the role that academic vocabulary plays in academic settings, the acquisition and usage of this type of vocabulary is crucial for university students. However, few studies have examined academic vocabulary from the perspective of novice student writers. Consequently, this study investigated academic vocabulary as perceived by multilingual foundation-level students at a UK university (N = 17). In particular, the sources of acquisition of academic words and the contributing factors impacting the development of productive academic vocabulary were explored through semi-structured interviews. The findings have potentially important pedagogical implications not only for foundation-level provisions but also wider English for Academic Purposes (EAP) contexts as they highlight the role of appropriate sources, instructed environment, peer support and the importance of opportunities for writing practice together with receiving feedback on written production

A Corpus-Based Study of Academic Vocabulary in Foundation-Level Students' Assessed Academic Writing at a UK University

Academic vocabulary is widely recognised as a key aspect of writing style in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) contexts, and there is a well-established link between the knowledge and use of academic vocabulary and academic achievement. Given that written assignments represent one of the main modes of assessment at UK universities, the significance of academic vocabulary in assessed academic writing seems indisputable. This study reports on a textual analysis of the deployment of academic vocabulary in four genres of assessed academic writing produced by multilingual foundation-level students (N=193), in the context of one UK university in 2014 - 2018. It also investigates the deployment of academic vocabulary longitudinally by considering the development of these vocabulary items over the duration of a one-year foundation programme. Textual analysis is conducted through a corpus-based approach assisted by AntWordProfiler (Anthony, 2014) and AntConc (Anthony, 2018), which enable the identification and further exploration of academic vocabulary items on the basis of the New Academic Vocabulary List (Gardner & Davies, 2014). This is complemented by an online survey (N=51) and semi-structured interviews (N=14) exploring students’ perceptions of the main factors contributing to the acquisition, deployment and development of academic vocabulary items in their written assignments. Findings generated by textual analysis highlight the effects of the writing genre, topic and assignment brief on academic vocabulary in written production. The interview and survey findings underline the importance of an instructed environment and exposure to appropriate sources as well as the vital role of feedback, peer support and opportunities for practice. These findings have potentially important pedagogical implications for foundation programmes catering for diverse student populations

Core Academic Vocabulary in Four Genres of Novice Student Writing

Since written assignments often constitute the main form of assessment in tertiary education, academic writing skills are of paramount importance to university students. The role of academic writing in turn emphasises two aspects vital for successful written production at universities: genre awareness as students are assessed on the production of relevant genres and the use of academic vocabulary regarded as a key element of academic writing style. This study employs a corpus-based approach to explore the usage of academic vocabulary in four genres of assessed academic writing produced by multilingual foundation-level students (N=193) at a UK university. The findings show that in all writing genres there was a small set of core academic vocabulary used by the majority of students in their written assignments, accounting on average for approximately 3.6% – 9% of academic vocabulary types across the genres under investigation. In addition, differences were found in the distribution and function of the core academic vocabulary items across genres. These findings have potentially important pedagogical implications for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) contexts catering for novice student writers