Exploring the interplay of mode of discourse and proficiency level in ESL writing performance

Recent theory in discourse and practice in rhetoric has suggested that writers require different skills and strategies when writing for different purposes, and in using different genres and modes (Kinneavy, 1972; Carrell and Connor, 1991) in writing. The importance of taking into account these various aspectual skills and forms of writing is recognised in teaching (e.g. Scarcella and Oxford, 1992), and in the assessment of writing (e.g. Odell and Cooper, 1980). For instance, Odell and Cooper argued that any claims about writing ability cannot be made until students’ performance on a variety of writing tasks has been examined. Thus, the issue of what writing task(s) are to be included in a test is crucial, since a task will be regarded as useless if it does not provide the basis for making generalisations regarding an individual’s writing ability. This paper presents the findings of a study on the effects of mode of discourse on L2 writing performance as well as the interplay between learner variable, namely, proficiency level and task variable, mode of discourse amongst Malaysian upper secondary ESL learners. The findings provide some evidence for the need to re-examine issues of reliability and validity in test practice of manipulating variables in the design of assessment tasks to evaluate ESL writing performance. Given the status and complexity of the writing skill, it stands to reason that studies into this area will continue to shed light onto how best the construct can be understood, taught and tested to give a fair chance for language learners to exhibit their true ability and be reliably reported on

Exploring the interplay of mode of discourse and proficiency level in ESL writing performance: implications for testing

Recent theory in discourse and practice in rhetoric has suggested that writers require different skills and strategies when writing for different purposes, and in using different genres and modes (Kinneavy, 1972; Carrell & Connor, 1991) in writing. The importance of taking into account these various aspectual skills and forms of writing is recognised in teaching (e.g. Scarcella & Oxford, 1992), and in the assessment of writing (e.g. Odell & Cooper, 1980). For instance, Odell and Cooper argue that “we cannot make claims about writing ability until we have examined students’ performance on a variety of writing tasks” (ibid: 40). With this in view, in this study the researchers seek to investigate the modes of narration and argumentation in order to fi nd out whether i) ESL learners perform better in writing narrative than argumentative essays, ii) Level of ESL profi ciency has an effect on writing ability according to the modes of discourse used, iii) ESL argumentative writing is syntactically more complex than the narrative as measured by T-units, and iv) ESL writers produce longer essays in the narrative compared to the argumentative mode. The sample for the study was drawn from a population of 384 lower sixth secondary students in 6 secondary schools. The instruments used to obtain data were essays written in the two modes. The tasks were scored holistically using an adapted version of the revised Test of Written English (TWE) six-point scale (1990). They were also analysed for T-units and overall length. A two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) (mode of discourse x profi ciency level) was used to analyse the data with the three dependent variables —holistic score, mean T-unit length, and overall length. Wilks’ Lambda was used to obtain the multivariate F values for examining the infl uences of each independent variable and the relevant interactions. This was followed by three univariate analyses of variance (ANOVAs) in order to identify which of the three dependent variables seemed to account for signifi cant multivariate F values Spector, 1977). Results were tested for signifi cance at .05 level

Animal metaphors in Malay with semantic derogation

Zoosemy, or what is understood in the current semantic literature as the use of animal names to denote human qualities or animal metaphors, has been the subject of investigation in various languages and cultures such as English, Spanish, Hungarian and Chinese. Studies focusing on this topic have examined the role of conceptual dimension relating to APPEARANCE/PHYSICAL/CHARACTERISTIC in the process of zoosemic extension in different languages. This study examined the use of animal metaphors in Malay. Data on Malay animal metaphors were extracted from various databases, namely the electronic database on Malay peribahasa and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Malay corpus. The analysis of the data focused on how domesticated animals such as cow, goat and donkey are manifested in the respective figurative expressions, i.e., what information or aspects are encoded in the source domain in the conveyance of specific meanings in the target domain of the expressions, as well as whether they have positive or negative evaluations. Findings of the analysis revealed that the behavioural characteristics, as well as the appearance of the domesticated animals, are a common source domain of animal metaphors in Malay. The general conceptual dimension of BEHAVIOUR/APPEARANCE and other specific aspects related to the domesticated Malay animals motivate the intended meaning of the expressions. The findings also illustrate that the use of domesticated animals in the Malay figurative expressions is also often negative, in that they are often employed in a derogatory sense. These findings are in line with those found in the analysis of animal metaphors in other languages, which suggest cultural universality in the conceptual mechanism of zoosemy

The illusion of untranslatability: a theoretical perspective with reference to the translation of culture-bound euphemistic expressions in the Qur'an

The present study investigates the notion of untranslatability where the concept of equivalence is reconsidered since the misconceptions, related to the said concept, inevitably lead to the emergence of untranslatability. Identifying equivalence as relative, approximate and necessary identity makes the notion of untranslatability a mere theorization. The objectives of the present study are (1) to investigate the notion of untranslatability in terms of the misconceptions associated with the concept of equivalence (2) to examine the possibility of translatability from Arabic into English focusing on culture-bound euphemistic expressions in the Quran as an area of challenge in translation. Data on the translation of culture-bound euphemistic expressions were purposively selected from the Quran and its four identified English translations. Ten examples were randomly selected and the criterion for their selection is that they are culture-bound and therefore translation-resistant. Qualitative content analysis was used to examine the source data by referring to traditional exegetical books to determine the source text intentionality. Additionally, the translated data were analyzed according to the functional equivalence proposed by Nida (1993; 2001).Findings of this study revealed that translatability is always possible and, accordingly, untranslatability is no more valid

Malaysian Instructors’ Assessment Beliefs in Tertiary ESL Classrooms

Language assessment can be a valuable tool for providing information regarding language teaching. Given the importance of assessment that has undergone much change, there are important issues that warrant investigation, particularly those related to language instructors. Understanding the assessment beliefs of ESL instructors, especially at the tertiary level, is important since it can help improve the quality of assessment practices as well. Therefore, this study investigated English language instructors’ assessment beliefs in the Malaysian context. This study adopted a cross-sectional research design. The survey method was utilized to collect data from six Malaysian universities using a purposive sampling strategy. English language instructors (n= 83) were selected via purposive sampling for the study. Findings of the study revealed that English language instructors believed that the purpose of assessment was to improve teaching and learning. Regarding the assessment beliefs that are related to the assessment purposes, analyses of data showed that the items that received the highest percentage of agreement were diagnosing strength and weaknesses in students, providing information about students’ progress and providing feedback to students as they learn, respectively. Although they reported using both formal and informal assessment of their students’ work, English language instructors relied heavily on paper and pencil assessment while giving more weightage on formative assessment. The majority of English language instructors reported employing marking schemes for the courses they taught, carrying out sample marking and

A Problem-based Learning Approach and Its Effects on the Writing Performance of Nigerian Undergraduates

Writing is considered as an important but a difficult language skill for undergraduates. To develop writing skills, undergraduates need to be given the opportunity to interact with and help one another in the writing process. They also need to be supported by teachers in the process. However, most of the traditional teaching methods adopted by writing instructors in Nigeria do not allow students to interact in the learning process. In this light, this study investigates the effects of a problem-based learning approach (PBL) on the writing performance of Nigerian undergraduates. The study employed a pre- and- post-treatment quasi-experimental research design. The participants (n=18) involved in the study were an intact class of second-year students taking English composition course and two tutors in a college in North-eastern Nigeria. The study was conducted over a period of 12 weeks. To determine the effects of PBL on the participants’ writing performance, a rating scale was used to rate the content, organisation, vocabulary, grammar and mechanical accuracy of the pre- and post-treatment writing scripts. A paired-sample t-test analysis was run to compare the mean scores of the undergraduates’ pre- and post-treatment writing. The results showed significant improvements in all the components (content, organisation, vocabulary, language use and mechanics) of the participants’ writing in the post-treatment. The paper concludes with a discussion on the pedagogical and theoretical contributions of the findings. It provides writing instructors with a student-centred approach that would help to develop their students’ writing skills

Teachers' Assessment Literacy and Washback Effect of Assessment

Assessment literacy, as a term, is not well known in the educational field. This is unfortunate because teachers' assessment knowledge and competence can have an important influence on the way they teach and the way their students learn. The relationship between the degree of assessment literacy a teacher has and the washback of this type of assessment is not clearly identified, especially in higher education context. In view of this gap, this article attempts to examine important assessment literacy issues in relation to student learning: definition and importance of assessment literacy, assessment in higher education and assessment practices through reviewing related studies. The review pinpoints the harmful effects of being assessment illiterate for both teachers and students

Incidental learning of vocabulary through computer-based and paper-based games by secondary school ESL learners

This quasi-experimental study attempted to investigate which mode of language games, paper-based or computer-based, can better expand the English vocabulary size of Form Four students especially at the 2000 word-level. Seventy students were involved in this study i.e. thirty-five in each group. The study was conducted in three stages. First, the participants sat for the Productive Vocabulary Levels Test (PVLT) as a pre-treatment measurement. Then the Experimental Group 1 played the computer-based games and the Experimental Group 2 played the paper-based games for seven weeks before sitting for the first post-treatment parallel PVLT. After that, both groups switched treatments before they were assessed again using the second parallel PVLT. The statistical analysis of the pre- and post-treatment test scores were done using the t-test. The results show a significant gain for both modes of games, but the computer-based games had a higher mean gain. The study provides evidence that the computer-based games had better influence on students' vocabulary enhancement than the paper-based games

Loss of the socio-cultural implicit meanings in the English translations of Mu'allaqat

Abstract Translation of literary texts, especially poetry, is one of the most difficult tasks; it requires mastery and knowledge of the language system and culture, and lack of this might lead to wrong translation. This study aimed to examine the loss and gain of the sociocultural implicit meanings in the English translations of the Mu’allaqat, and assess whether the translators of the Mu’allaqat have succeeded or failed in transferring the sociocultural implicit meanings from the source text (ST) to the target text (TT). The study examined four English translations of two poems; namely, Labid’s poem and Tarafa’s poem. The selected poems are considered as masterpieces of the Arabic ancient poetry loaded with cultural signs. This study combined New mark's approach (1988) of translation with Baker’s taxonomy (1992-2011), i.e. translation equivalence, in analysing the data. The findings of the study showed that there are two types of loss made by translators in translating the Mu’allaqat: inevitable loss and avertable loss. The findings also revealed that the loss of socio-cultural implicit meaning occurred because of the inadequate use of the communicative equivalence by the translators and absence of employing pragmatic equivalence

Code-switching between informal Iraqi dialect and English language among Iraqi Arab speakers via WhatsApp application: linguistic and non-linguistic factors

Code-switching is described as the shifting that occurs between two or more languages concurrently within one conversation. This study aims to examine the application of code-switching between Informal Iraqi Dialect (IID) and English language among Iraqi Arab speakers of English via one of the smartphone applications, namely WhatsApp Messenger (WM). The study also seeks to recognize the types of code switching and motivations among Iraqi students of English for switching from IID into English language. This research adopted a qualitative approach, which involved Fifty (50) typed conversations of twenty (20) Iraqi post-graduate students studying at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Data were collected via two instruments, dubbed WM application to gather the typed conversations and semi-structured interviews. The results obtained from the WM application indicated that the most predominant type of code-switching (CS) used by the participants was intra-sentential CS, especially the intra-lexical code-switching. The findings suggest that the majority of the Iraqi students are inclined to code-switch to English language in smaller parts within the word boundary. The analysis of the interview data disclosed three motivations for the application of code-switching, namely linguistic, technological, and political factors