Experiments with Universal CEFR Classification

The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) guidelines describe language proficiency of learners on a scale of 6 levels. While the description of CEFR guidelines is generic across languages, the development of automated proficiency classification systems for different languages follow different approaches. In this paper, we explore universal CEFR classification using domain-specific and domain-agnostic, theory-guided as well as data-driven features. We report the results of our preliminary experiments in monolingual, cross-lingual, and multilingual classification with three languages: German, Czech, and Italian. Our results show that both monolingual and multilingual models achieve similar performance, and cross-lingual classification yields lower, but comparable results to monolingual classification.Comment: to appear in the proceedings of The 13th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Application

Modality and learner academic writing across genres:an analysis of discourse, socialisation and teacher cognition on a 20-week pre-sessional programme

Modality is a complex yet pervasive feature of the English language which is typically difficult for non-native speakers of English to acquire. It is even more so for learners of English who wish to undertake advanced academic study in an English-speaking context, as it requires knowledge of both discipline and genre specific norms and to be able to adapt to reader expectations. This study uses a mixed methods design to analyse the longitudinal development of modality in learner academic writing on a 20-week pre-sessional programme at a UK university. The research triangulates the findings obtained from the analysis of three distinct datasets in order to identify the factors involved in influencing amateur writer output in their assessed written texts. The main focus of the study is an in-depth discourse analysis contrasting expert (successful Masters students) and amateur (pre-sessional) writing in three genres of academic writing within the discipline of Business and Economics. A functional approach is adopted to analyse the expression of modality. This is complemented by an analysis of the teaching material used on the programme and combined with insights on teacher cognition from a series of interviews. The findings show a development in interlanguage, with movement to closer alignment in modal expressions between the types of writers as the programme progresses. However, the findings also show that modality is marginalised as a language item in the teaching materials, in the assessment task types and in the marking criteria, with preference given to rhetorical structures within texts. Tutors also report varying degrees of comfort, expertise and familiarity with regards to modality. The research concludes by making a series of pedagogical recommendations in order to re-direct some of the attention in academic writing instruction back to modality and to integrate it more explicitly and appropriately within the course design

The foreign language coursebook: a study of its role in learner motivation.

Motivation is the driving force behind successful learning. It is\ud especially crucial in a curriculum area such as foreign language\ud study. This investigation aims to explore the motivational role of\ud the central teaching and learning resource used in schools - the\ud coursebook.\ud The opening Chapter reviews major theories of motivation and learning\ud from behaviourism to cognitivism with the aim of establishing a\ud theoretical base.\ud Chapter Two examines mother tongue acquisition and foreign language\ud learning. Theories of both are discussed, compared and contrasted\ud with the emphasis on identifying compatible features. Key aspects of\ud learning theory and motivational factors related to foreign language\ud learning are presented. The motivational function of the teacher is\ud reviewed with particular reference to the planning and management of\ud learning.\ud The role and the nature of the foreign language coursebook are\ud reviewed and reappraised in Chapter Three. The main aim of this study\ud is identified and, in the light of previous discussion of motivation\ud and learning, an evaluation instrument for coursebooks is drawn up.\ud Chapters Four and Five report and discuss surveys of the views of\ud pupils and teachers on three widely-used coursebooks. Although\ud reactions are generally positive, clear areas of unfulfilled need\ud emerge, as do shortcomings in coursebooks' effectiveness in motivating\ud learners and promoting successful learning. A broad consensus of\ud views between the two groups is revealed.\ud The most popular coursebook of the 1980s is used as a case study in\ud Chapter Six. Application of evaluation criteria established earlier\ud reveals some commendable features but a rather larger number which fail\ud to generate motivation or promote effective learning.\ud The final Chapter sets an agenda for a reappraisal of coursebook\ud design based both on findings of this study and on the impact of\ud sweeping change and reform of the education system which will take\ud effect in the 1990s

Mind the Gap?: Children's Domestic Writings and Their Implications for Educational Practice

This study, situated in the field of sociocultural research, investigates how the home supports the writing development of my multilingual daughter, Pia, between the ages of 3-9 years old. Using ethnographic methods, data is gathered at Pia's home, where approximately eight hundred unsolicited texts written in English, French and German are supplemented by fieldnotes, conversational and photographic data. Data is also collected at Pia's bilingual, French-German school in order to assess institutional contributions to Pia's writing development during reception class and Year One. As a final measure, data is also gathered on the domestic literacy practices of Pia's classmates and their families so that we may put the findings on a single child into perspective. The findings confirm that homes and schools place different emphasis on the physical, social and psychological features inherent in literacy-related interactions. The result is a gap between the messages homes and schools transmit about the purposes of writing. At home, literacy is used rather than explicitly taught. The implicit, holistic nature of family dynamics fosters Pia's experience of writing as socially embedded practice, driven by her very real need to communicate with family members and friends in her environment. At school, by contrast, the child is positioned as an apprentice, who experiences writing more as an abstract cognitive skill. Significantly, Pia's domestic writing is in advance of curricular expectations. This seems to suggest that implicit teaching strategies, coupled to a re-evaluation of the physical, social and psychological aspects of classroom literacy, may be useful in enhancing writing activities within schools. The implicit character of domestic literacy, however, taking place on the margins of awareness, not only largely accounts for why children may find it hard to talk about their domestic literacy practices, but also explains why such practices remain unseen, and, consequently, unacknowledged

The effect of correction on EFL students' writing accuracy

La corrección de errores ha sido objeto de numerosas investigaciones desde hace décadas. A pesar de esto, aún no hay consenso sobre cuándo corregir a los estudiantes y las formas más apropiadas para realizar esta práctica tan común en la enseñanza. Por lo tanto, esta investigación- acción tiene como propósito explorar los efectos revelados en los escritos de los estudiantes cuando las técnicas de corrección explícita y elicitación se implementan para corregir los errores gramaticales. Para este propósito, se reunieron las composiciones escritas de 10 estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera de grado noveno durante 14 sesiones y luego se analizaron bajo los principios de la teoría de Análisis de Errores. Los hallazgos, apoyados por entrevistas y observaciones, evidencian que estas dos técnicas de corrección tienen un efecto positivo en la precisión de la escritura, lo que lleva a una disminución en el número de errores cometidos por los participantes. Además, los resultados sugieren que la técnica de corrección explícita tuvo un impacto en general más alto en la reducción de errores, aunque, la técnica de elicitación muestra un efecto a largo plazo en la precisión escrita de los alumnos.Error correction has been the subject of research in numerous studies for decades now. In spite of this, there is still uncertainty on when to correct students and the most appropriate ways to perform this common teaching practice. Consequently, this action research intends to shed some light regarding the effects revealed in students’ writings when the Elicitation and Explicit correction techniques are implemented to correct grammatical errors. For this purpose, the written compositions of 10 ninth-grade EFL learners were gathered in 14 sessions and later analyzed under the principles of the Error Analysis theory. Findings, supported by interviews and observations, evidence that those two correction techniques have a positive effect on writing accuracy, leading to a decreased in the number of errors committed by the participants. Moreover, the results suggest that the explicit correction technique had an overall higher impact in the reduction of errors, nonetheless, the elicitation technique displays a long-lasting effect on learners’ accuracy

Enacting the Curriculum in English for Academic Purposes: A Legitimation Code Theory Analysis

This doctoral research project sought to better understand and articulate how English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is locally enacted. The context selected was a university summer pre-sessional programme for international students. At the time of data collection, I was the course director and the questions shaping the research emerged over a number of years in this role, primarily through the observation of teaching staff. Taking a case study approach and informed by a social realist lens (Bernstein, 1990; 2000; Maton, 2014), the research asked: How is EAP locally enacted? What are the organising principles underpinning this enactment? Drawing on Bernstein's notion of recontextualisation and theorising of the epistemic pedagogic device (Maton, 2014, after Bernstein, 1990), the study explored the 'double enactment' of EAP: firstly, from the values and beliefs shaping the pre-sessional ethos into curriculum, and then from pedagogic materials into classroom practices. Data collection and analysis combined interviews with the course designers, examination of curriculum materials, and exploration of videos of teaching. The analytical framework drew on two dimensions of Maton's Legitimation Code Theory, or 'LCT' (Maton, 2014), a development of Bernstein's code theory (Bernstein, 1977; 1990; 2000). These two dimensions were Specialisation and Semantics (Maton, 2014). Specialisation's component concepts of epistemic relations (relations between knowledge and its object of study) and social relations (relations between knowledge and knowers) were used to explore the macro-orientation and goals of the pre-sessional programme. The Semantics concept of semantic gravity (the relative context dependency of meaning) was then enacted to analyse the structuring principles of materials design and classroom recontextualisation. LCT Specialisation analysis revealed a programme characterised by a stronger orientation to knowledge practices than to knower practices - i.e. an emphasis on understanding particular concepts and developing particular analytical skills, what Maton calls a trained gaze (Maton, 2014). Some curriculum-internal variation was also observed, however, enabling a nuanced view into practices. This orientation was found to shape programme thinking and design in important ways, informing both materials development and expectations of teaching. LCT Semantics analysis revealed a local curriculum characterised by a relatively wide semantic range. Learning outcomes are geared towards both explicit understanding of core course concepts and scaffolded, spiralling opportunities for students to ground these concepts in academic writing and speaking practice. Movements across curriculum threads between concepts and practice create shifts in the context-dependency of curricular knowledge. These semantic gravity waves (Maton, 2013; Macnaught, Maton, Martin & Matruglio, 2013) over curriculum time may enable students to transfer some pre-sessional learning to texts, tasks and assessments not met on the course. LCT Semantics analysis of the principles structuring lesson design and classroom practice suggest there may be underlying patterns, or what might be considered 'signature profiles'. Illustrations of practice are analysed and interpreted as exhibiting shifts in semantic gravity. These shifts are theorised as perhaps enhancing, but also sometimes hindering, effective enactment of the espoused curriculum. LCT tools enacted for this research study enable making visible how local course values are reflected and refracted throughout an EAP programme, from the macro-design of curriculum, through individual lessons on the page to their material enactment in the classroom as pedagogic practice. The findings and the conceptual toolkit itself have implications and applications for EAP programme development, teacher education and wider sector understandings of the situated realisation of university-based curriculum and pedagogy

Trialing project-based learning in a new EAP ESP course: A collaborative reflective practice of three college English teachers

Currently in many Chinese universities, the traditional College English course is facing the risk of being ‘marginalized’, replaced or even removed, and many hours previously allocated to the course are now being taken by EAP or ESP. At X University in northern China, a curriculum reform as such is taking place, as a result of which a new course has been created called ‘xue ke’ English. Despite the fact that ‘xue ke’ means subject literally, the course designer has made it clear that subject content is not the target, nor is the course the same as EAP or ESP. This curriculum initiative, while possibly having been justified with a rationale of some kind (e.g. to meet with changing social and/or academic needs of students and/or institutions), this is posing a great challenge for, as well as considerable pressure on, a number of College English teachers who have taught this single course for almost their entire teaching career. In such a context, three teachers formed a peer support group in Semester One this year, to work collaboratively co-tackling the challenge, and they chose Project-Based Learning (PBL) for the new course. This presentation will report on the implementation of this project, including the overall designing, operational procedure, and the teachers’ reflections. Based on discussion, pre-agreement was reached on the purpose and manner of collaboration as offering peer support for more effective teaching and learning and fulfilling and pleasant professional development. A WeChat group was set up as the chief platform for messaging, idea-sharing, and resource-exchanging. Physical meetings were supplementary, with sound agenda but flexible time, and venues. Mosoteach cloud class (lan mo yun ban ke) was established as a tool for virtual learning, employed both in and after class. Discussions were held at the beginning of the semester which determined only brief outlines for PBL implementation and allowed space for everyone to autonomously explore in their own way. Constant further discussions followed, which generated a great deal of opportunities for peer learning and lesson plan modifications. A reflective journal, in a greater or lesser detailed manner, was also kept by each teacher to record the journey of the collaboration. At the end of the semester, it was commonly recognized that, although challenges existed, the collaboration was overall a success and they were all willing to continue with it and endeavor to refine it to be a more professional and productive approach

An investigation into the relationships among experience, teacher cognition, context, and classroom practice in EFL grammar teaching in Argentina

Language teacher cognition has been an area of research interest for more than three decades, diversifying in recent years into a wide range of academic areas such as teacher development, initial teacher education, grammar teaching, literacy instruction, task-based learning, phonology, testing, technology, and classroom research. Much of this research, however, has been based in private language institutes or universities in developed countries, especially English-speaking ones, and has focused on identifying and describing individual teacher cognitions mostly in novice native-speaker practitioners. The present study aims to help redress this tendency by examining the cognitions and experiences, and the relationships among them, of two experienced non-native speaker teachers of English working at a state secondary school in Argentina. Using multi-methods such as semi-structured interviews, autobiographical accounts, classroom observation, stimulated recall, teacher diaries, and a grammaticality judgement task, this research project explores the teachers’ prior language learning experiences, knowledge about grammar, and grammar-related pedagogical knowledge in relation to their actual grammar teaching practices. In addition, there is a focus on the role which contextual factors play in shaping the application of these experiential and cognitive constructs, and on the interplay among these factors to help define the teachers’ grammar pedagogical decisions and actions. The findings reveal that experiential and cognitive factors appear to account for the major differences between these teachers’ teaching theories, practices, and rationales; whereas context-bound influences explain the similarities between their classroom instructional actions. They also show that language teacher cognition is informed by different sources (the teachers’ personal and prior educational history, their professional education, and their accumulated experience) and that teachers construct a context, instantiated by the interaction between their language teacher cognition and the contextual factors inside and around the classroom, which mediates between their cognitions and practice. These results carry direct implications for those involved in teacher cognition, language teacher research, teacher education, and materials design

A multidimensional investigation of a data-driven approach to learning collocations

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