Audiencing Strategies and Student Collaboration in Digitally-mediated Genres of Writing in English

This thesis presents an investigation into the experience of ESL Higher Education young writers when composing three online genres: academic text, diary texts, and blog texts. Central to this investigation is the authenticity of audience and directing texts to ‘real’ readers. Hence, technological tools are utilised in order to approximate such experience of writing for real readers. A qualitative case study was employed over three months of an academic semester at an Omani Higher Education College. Two cases participated in the study of overall 17 students across both cases: 5 males and 12 females and 10 students in case 1 and 7 students in case 2. To attain an in-depth understanding of the cases; different tools of data collection were deployed, including: interviews, classroom observation, reflective diary for recording student perceptions and experiences, and three forms of written texts were collected from the participating students: academic essay, diary, and blog. Thus the reflective diary was both a genre of writing and a data collection method. The study findings highlight that having only a teacher as an ‘audience’ restricted students’ attempts to focus on content, and most of this focus was given to shaping texts in accordance with student perceptions of teacher approved organisation and representation of text. Whereas blogging provided an opportunity to think of a wider range of readers and therefore a greater tendency to author personally selected texts. Also, diary was mostly associated with teacher-audience; though some writers enjoyed writing diary for personal use, the fact that these diary texts vary in accordance with these different understandings of audience offers further credence to claims about the role of real and assumed readers in shaping texts. The significance of the current study is that it offers practical and pedagogical thinking for teaching writing in ESL exploiting the affordances of technology in teaching process writing. It suggests that varying both audience and genres in relation to classroom writing tasks can have benefits for student writers in terms of their understanding of audience, their shaping of text for an audience and increased investment in the content of what they write. It offers insights into problems and issues felt by young writers that are usually unknown to the teachers. Based on those insights, differing issues such as collaboration, process writing and grading are re-evaluated.Ministry of Higher Education (Oman

Complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) development in L2 writing: the effects of proficiency level, learning environment, text type, and time among Saudi EFL learners

The purpose of this longitudinal exploratory research is to investigate the influence of four factors: proficiency levels, text types, times, and learning environments on the writing complexity, accuracy, and fluency of Saudi students majoring in the English language. Specifically, the study seeks to determine how and when the CAF constructs and sub-constructs of low- and high-proficiency Saudi EFL undergraduates in three learning contexts: traditional learning context (TLC), blended learning context (BLC), and online learning contexts (OLC), are affected longitudinally across two writing tasks (classification and argumentative) that differed in their level of complexity. Also, it intends to specify when and which of the three learning contexts: TLC, BLC, and OLC, will lead to the most/least increases or decreases in the CAF constructs and sub-constructs of the low- and high-proficiency Saudi EFL undergraduates across the two composition tasks. To answer such questions, 75 Saudi EFL university students were recruited from the pool of two proficiency levels (low and high). Six groups of equal number of students were generated from dividing randomly the 45 Low-proficiency participants and the 30 high-proficiency participants. Each of these groups was exposed to one of the previously mentioned learning contexts and undertook three tests: pre-test, mid-term test, and post-test. The 450 students’ writings were analyzed according to 45 measures of CAF constructs and sub-constructs and by using two statistical tests: t-test and ANOVA. For the first question, the t-test results showed that the similarities and differences of effect on CAF constructs between the two writing tasks were observed to be group-specific as they were based on the proficiency levels, learning contexts, and timescales (i.e., short term and long term). In other words, depending on whether a construct in the two text types was influenced similarly or differently, such influence did not generally occur in a systematic way and across the same number and types of metrics for the same group, or even across the groups of the same or different proficiency levels in the short term and long term. The findings only lent partial support to Skehan and Foster’s Limited Attentional Capacity Model and Robinson’s Multiple Attentional Resources Model since some constructs increased (e.g., accuracy, lexical variation, and syntactic complexity) or decreased (e.g., lexical density, lexical sophistication, lexical variation, syntactic complexity, and fluency). There were many other cases which were beyond the predictions of the aforementioned researchers and their explanations on how the students’ attention is deployed while performing the complex task(s). For instance, altering task complexity led some constructs to remain unaffected (e.g., syntactic complexity, lexical density, lexical sophistication, lexical variation, accuracy, and fluency), equal increases and decreases or only increases (e.g., fluency), increases more than decreases (e.g., lexical variation), less increases (e.g., accuracy), or less/more decreases (e.g., syntactic complexity and lexical sophistication). In terms of the second question, the ANOVA test results indicated mixed findings because each of the three learning environments resulted in benefits in some ways. In the two proficiency levels, the TLC, BLC, and OLC had the same level of success/unsuccess in enhancing all the measures of some CAF constructs in both writing tasks in the short term and long term. Nevertheless, in the other CAF constructs, there was no uniform linear development or deterioration of all measures across the six groups. In each of these constructs, the differences between these groups emerged from one or more measures, but not from all measures. Each of these learning contexts stood alone in being the most or least successful in increasing some constructs. Nonetheless, this was dependent on the participants’ proficiency levels, text types, and timescales. This study provides several pedagogical implications and recommendations for academic research, EFL writing instructors at pre-university and university levels, and task-based investigators

Linguistic complexity of arabic language: a semantic analysis of antonymous homonyms in the holy Qur'ān

Homonymy, is one of the two main sub-divisions of lexical ambiguity that represents the complex nature of form and context of the Qur'anic Arabic which presents a challenge in the translation process. Since Qur'anic discourse abounds with homonymic expressions whose meaning is derived from the context, the translators of the Qur'an should undertake a demanding task decoding the intended meanings. The present paper aims at clarifying some linguistic complexities in some verses of the Qur'ān which may pose difficulty to translators of the holy book most especially those who are not familiar with antonymous homonyms in Arabic language. The reason is that antonymous homonyms are special features of the Qurʾanic Arabic language. It may be viewed as one of the stylistic feature of the Qur'an. Therefore, classification of these linguistic complexity is offered and the samples of these classifications from the Holy Qur'ān are mentioned in relation to antonymous homonyms. Samples of translated Qur'an are compared in order to ascertain the qualities of translations and English translation strategies of the stated verses

A comparative and exploratory study of teaching strategies in writing classrooms between Malaysian and the UK primary schools

In view of the Malaysian aspiration to look for international best practices in English Language Education, this thesis is framed by the Malaysian governmental intention to shift the teaching and learning of writing from a local to a global pedagogy. This study presents an exploration of how writing is taught in two national contexts - England and Malaysia - with a particular focus on teachers’ pedagogical approaches to the teaching of writing. These strategies were explored and compared using a multimodal theoretical framework. This project draws on case studies of writing classrooms in Malaysia and England, where a range of qualitative data was synthesised to present a multifaceted analysis of pedagogy. The case studies were represented through participation of 4 teachers from one school in England and 6 teachers across 2 schools in Malaysia, all of whom were teaching children aged between 5 and 9 years old. Data in the form of curriculum materials, classroom observations, and interviews with teachers were collected, in order to investigate the modes, media and semiotic resources they utilised to allow children to design texts. Thematic coding was used to look across the data sets to create individual case studies, which were then compared to reveal patterns of similarity and difference. The analysis demonstrates similar linguistic emphases in both contexts through the learning of phonics, vocabulary, grammar, and genre, but different approaches particularly with regards to ‘talk and write’ (England) and ‘copy and correction’ (Malaysia). It signals the importance of a shift from linguistic writing to multimodal composition; and suggests that there is a need for a change in the Malaysian strategies to teaching writing from word to sentence to whole-text level writing. The findings also highlight the need to include ESL writers’ voices in the development of a multimodal theoretical framework which might support writing pedagogy in ESL contexts. In addition, the study also revealed the Malaysian MoE approach to literacy which focuses on proficiency and mastery of listening, speaking, reading, and writing through strict completion of the curriculum content in modules, work on textbooks and workbooks thus limiting teachers’ ability to plan approaches to teaching writing that enable children to design whole texts

A STUDY OF COHESION AS A TEXT-FORMING RESOURCE IN THE ACADEMIC WRITING OF SAUDI UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL)

Assuming academic writing as a genre-specific discourse which is linguistically and socio-culturally embedded both in the wider academic discourse community and the local context where it is produced, the present study sought to investigate Saudi EFL undergraduate students' use of cohesive devices as a text-forming resource in the creation of argumentative essays. More specifically, the study attempted to explain the use of cohesion in the creation of texture, and in the rhetorical structure of the sample texts. Structured questionnaires and interviews were also used to gauge the perceptions of the teachers and the students about the teaching and learning of academic writing and cohesive devices, and to triangulate the study. The researcher adopted a mixed-methods approach for analysis of the data. Halliday and Hasan's (1976) model of cohesion analysis was the mainstay of the data analysis; however, frameworks from other perspectives such as the Systemic Functional Linguistics, English for Specific Purposes, Academic Literacies, and English Language Teaching were also consulted to find out answers to the three research questions of the study. The results obtained through quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data revealed that cohesive devices were statistically significantly correlated with the text length and sentence units. However, they varied significantly between two extremes of the text length. The appropriate use of cohesive devices was also significant as the non-significant misuse or overuse did not affect the texture or Exam/cohesion scores of the sample texts. The study also claims that cohesive density rather than the text length was the significant variable of differences in the Exam and cohesion scores for the texts. Referential and lexical cohesion appeared to be statistically significant, and thereby the most preferred cohesive devices in the corpus. The pattern of texture in the students' essays corresponded with Halliday and Hasan's (1976 p.296) notion of 'dense texture'. The study also claims to be the first initiative of its kind to have analyzed cohesion in the rhetorical structure of the argumentative essays. The move analysis revealed significant correlations between the moves in the three stages of the sample texts. The survey questionnaires unfolded statistically significant dichotomies between the pedagogic and learning beliefs of the teacher and the student participants. I argue that cohesion is an important non-structural resource in the creation of texture; however, it provides only a partial picture. The students do use cohesive devices but with instances of misuse and overuse. Moreover, there is the need to help students make use of other types of reiteration, collocations and conjunctions for a better cohesive effect, and lexical and semantic diversity. The study recommends raising awareness and functional ability of the students through explicit teaching of cohesive devices not as discrete grammatical items but as discourse semantic resources of text formation

The Role of Media for Shaping Learner’s Critical Thinking

This paper explores the relationship between media and critical thinking. It seeks the understanding on which should come first between media and critical thinking. When it comes to the context of English as Foreign Language (EFL) setting, several questions come up with the emergence of integrating both in learning activities. Therefore some findings are reviewed to strengthen the postulate that integrating media in EFL context can shape learner’s critical thinking. There are some underlying reasons regarding this idea, for instance on the role of media which can either support or hinder the process of shaping learner’s critical thinking. Some examples are given such as the use of social media such as Facebook and Edmodo, TV viewing and news paper or news magazine. In addition, this paper also demonstates how media literacy is constructed in teaching and learning context so that the learners can identify the key concepts of media texts

PROCEEDING THE 2nd INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON LINGUISTICS (ISOL-2): Language and Civilization

ISOL is a biennial international seminar held by the Linguistics Graduate Program of Faculty of Humanity, Andalas University in collaboration with the Linguistic Society of Indonesia (MLI), Unand Chapter. ISOL aims to provide a discussion platform for linguists and language observers across Indonesia. Its main objective is to enhance the exchange of research and new approaches in language studies. The seminar is open to interested people from outside of Indonesia. The theme of the 2nd ISOL is Language and Civilization. Civilization is the process by which a society or place reaches an advanced stage of social development and organization. It is also defined as the society, culture, and way of life of a particular area. Over time, the word civilization has come to imply something beyond the organization. It refers to a particular shared way of thinking about the world as well as a reflection on that world in art, literature, drama and a host of other cultural happenings. Language is itself a social construct – a component of social reality. Thus, like all social constructs and conventions, it can be changed. A civilization is any complex state society which is characterized by urban development, social stratification, symbolic communication forms and a perceived separation from and domination over the natural environment. To advance civilization is to construct a new social reality which emerges through language. In other words, social reality is the operational expression of words and the meanings of them that society has agreed upon. Language is itself a social construct – a component of social reality. Thus, like all social constructs and conventions, it can be changed

Painting Pictures with Words - From Theory to System

A picture paints a thousand words, or so we are told. But how many words does it take to paint a picture? And how can words create pictures in the first place? In this thesis we examine a new theory of linguistic meaning -- where the meaning of words and sentences is determined by the scenes they evoke. We describe how descriptive text is parsed and semantically interpreted and how the semantic interpretation is then depicted as a rendered 3D scene. In doing so, we describe WordsEye, our text-to-scene system, and touch upon many fascinating issues of lexical semantics, knowledge representation, and what we call "graphical semantics." We introduce the notion of vignettes as a way to bridge between function and form, between the semantics of language and the grounded semantics of 3D scenes. And we describe how VigNet, our lexical semantic and graphical knowledge base, mediates the whole process. In the second part of this thesis, we describe four different ways WordsEye has been tested. We first discuss an evaluation of the system in an educational environment where WordsEye was shown to significantly improve literacy skills for sixth grade students versus a control group. We then compare WordsEye with Google Image Search on "realistic" and "imaginative" sentences in order to evaluate its performance on a sentence-by-sentence level and test its potential as a way to augment existing image search tools. Thirdly, we describe what we have learned in testing WordsEye as an online 3D authoring system where it has attracted 20,000 real-world users who have performed almost one million scene depictions. Finally, we describe tests of WordsEye as an elicitation tool for field linguists studying endangered languages. We then sum up by presenting a roadmap for enhancing the capabilities of the system and identifying key opportunities and issues to be addressed