The discourse of academic seminars:structures and strategies of interaction

Seminar discussion is an important mode of instruction in Higher Education. However, the discourse of discussion in academic seminars has been little investigated. Until now, there has existed only a limited amount of empirically based language description which could be used to inform those working in the field of English for Academic Purposes. The present study investigates discussion in seminars on a MBA programme and offers frameworks to account for central aspects of the verbal interaction: exchange patterns; acts and moves initiating exchanges and strategies. Three subgenres of seminar discussion are examined: the discussion following the presentation by an outside speaker; the discussion following the presentation by students and non-presentation tutorial discussion. Exchanges are found to be basically two-part structures of initiation and response. Some extended patterns are brought to light and it is argued that the major impetus prolonging exchanges in discussion is a third-part move registering dissatisfaction with the initial responses given. Exchanges are observed to be driven by moves functioning as elicitations although acts at initiation both ask for information and ideas and propose them. Initiation may be complex and involves a mixture of the acts. Textual signalling and attitudinal strategies used in seminars are explicated. The latter are accounted for in terms of the face concerns of the speakers. The features are examined across the three subgenres. Some quantitative variations were observed. These variations are discussed in the light of situational variables such as levels of participant status and knowledge. Theoretical implications are drawn and applications for syllabus and methodology in English for Academic Purposes are suggested.

The effects of writing process instruction on the writing and reading performance of students with learning disabilities

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a writing process approach for the instruction of language arts with learning disabled elementary students. A nonequivalent control group design was used. The sample included 24 students with learning disabilities who were in second and third grade. All students were instructed in resource room settings for ninety minutes per day in language arts. The students in the treatment group received instruction using the writing process steps to create complete meaningful compositions on self-chosen topics. A literature-based reading program accompanied instruction in writing to provide examples of good writing and to provide a basis for topic selection. The students in the control group received instruction through the use of the county-adopted textbooks and accompanying worksheets. The teacher followed basic textbook and curriculum guide suggestions which consisted mainly of fill in the blank and matching type exercises. The treatment group consisted of 12 students: five second-graders and seven third-graders. The control group consisted of 12 students: four second-graders and eight third-graders. All students were pretested and posttested using the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement-Revised (WJ-R ACH) for writing samples and the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test (WRMT) for reading achievement. T-tests were also done to investigate the gain from pre to post for each reading or writing variable for each group separately. The results showed a highly significant difference from pretest to posttest for all writing and reading variables for both groups. Analysis of Covariance showed that the population mean posttest achievement scores for all variables adjusted for the pretest were higher for the treatment group than those for the control group.

Metacognitive Functions, Interest, and Student Engagement in the Writing Process: A Review of the Literature

The purpose of this paper is to draw on research that discusses the relationship between interest and metacognitive functions and its effect on engaging students in the writing process. Results indicate students who are interested in their writing activities engage in metacognitive strategies, remain focused, and complete their tasks.

Discussion Paper: Triangulation of Methodology to Solve the Practitioner - Academic Debate Concerning the Value of Research

In support of research in the debate concerning its relevance to hospitality academics and practitioners, the author presents a discussion of how the philosophy of science impacts approaches to research, including a brief summary of empiricism, and the importance of the triangulation of research orientations. Criticism of research is the hospitality literature often focuses on the lack of an apparent philosophy of science perspective and how this perspective impacts the way in which scholars conduct and interpret research. The Validity Network Schema (VNS) presents a triangulation model for evaluating research progress in a discipline by providing a mechanism for integrating academic and practitioner research studies.

The academic achievement in college science of less prepared high school students : a longitudinal study

The longitudinal study focuses on the success of cegep science students at one college who were accepted into the science program although their secondary school grades in chemistry and/or physics did not meet the admission requirements, These less prepared students were admitted into the science program because they were placed in remedial classes that offered support through extra class time in their introductory college science courses. The main research question addressed in this study was to determine whether accepting less prepared students is beneficial to the student in terms of academic success.

Running on Rooftops: a novel and critical reflection on writing from an identity of expatriation with an examination of West-meets-East encounters and attitudes depicted in literature

This thesis is in two parts: a creative work of fiction and a critical reflection on writing from an identity of expatriation. The creative work, a novel entitled Running on Rooftops, revolves around a fictitious community of expatriates living and working in China. As a new college graduate, Anne Henry, the novel’s protagonist and narrator, decides to spend a year teaching English in China. Twelve years later, though still unsure of how to make sense of the chain of events and encounters that left her with an X-shaped scar on her knee, she nevertheless tells the story, revealing how “just a year” can be anything but. The critical reflection, entitled Writing on Rooftops, explores the nature of expatriation as it relates to identity and writing, specifically in how West-meets-East encounters and attitudes are depicted in literature. In it, I examine the challenges and benefits of writing from an identity and mindset of expatriation as illustrated in the works of Western writers who themselves experienced and wrote from viewpoints of expatriation, particularly those Western writers who wrote of expatriation in China and Southeast Asia. The primary question addressed is how expatriation influences perception and how those perceptions among Western foreigners in China and Southeast Asia have been and can be reflected in literature. In the end, I argue that expatriation can be a valuable viewpoint to write from, offering new ways of seeing and describing our world, ourselves and the connections between the two.

Fostering autonomous learning by using a workbook to improve reading and writing skills in students of basic level at ASE

Tesis (Licenciado en Lenguas Castellana, Inglés y Francés).--Universidad de La Salle. Facultad de Ciencias de La Educación. Licenciatura en Lengua Castellana, Inglés y Francés, 2014

The writing brain. Functional neuroanatomy of written language production

International audience

Análise de citações em textos acadêmicos escritos

Este artigo apresenta um estudo de citações em escrita acadêmica na perspectiva da análise de citações e dos estudos de gêneros do discurso (Moravcsik & Murugesan, 1975; Swales, 1986, 1990, 2004; Bhatia, 2004). O estudo enfoca o uso de citações por membros expertos e membros novatos da comunidade acadêmica de Linguística e consistiu na análise e comparação de nove artigos acadêmicos e treze trabalhos finais de disciplina. Os resultados mostram que as escolhas linguísticas que orientam a escrita das citações são em grande parte compartilhadas pelos membros expertos (autores dos artigos acadêmicos) e pelos novatos (alunos de curso de pós-graduação, autores dos trabalhos finais de disciplina), haja vista que ambos fazem uso de citações confirmativas, em detrimento de negativas. Todavia, membros expertos, ao contrário dos novatos, utilizam a própria voz para confrontar outros autores. As implicações deste estudo reiteram a necessidade de os Cursos de Letras terem uma abordagem de ensino e aprendizagem de escrita acadêmica baseada em gêneros do discurso visando desenvolver a consciência retórica dos alunos em relação à escrita acadêmica e, consequentemente, ao uso de citações em textos escritos, de maneira a empoderar os alunos a construir um posicionamento autoral em sua comunidade discursiva.

An?lisis de los problemas en la argumentaci?n escrita en espa?ol de estudiantes de tercer semestre de la licenciatura en lenguas extranjeras de la Universidad del Valle [recurso electr?nico]

This study identifies and analyzes the problems of academic and argumentative writing in third semester students of the Bachelor of Foreign Languages at the Universidad del Valle, in order to determine which are the most common difficulties arisen in the process of writing. Formal aspects of language and rhetorical elements will be analyzed in the written productions of students. This is a qualitative ethnographic study that aims to determine how the relationship between the pedagogical intervention, classroom interactions and classroom activities in the course of Composition II, help to overcome these difficulties. The research shows that students have many difficulties in the academic writing as the use of an appropriate lexical, cohesion between paragraphs of a text, use of punctuation, citation and conjugation of verbs. In relation to the construction of the argument, it was found problems in students? texts: students fail in prevailing an argumentative sequence, there is not an approach and continuation of a thesis throughout the text, there is no consistency between the thesis and the arguments developed throughout the production, problems in the use of rebuttals and backings in the argumentation. In addition to these, and although they are not the most common problems, interference of words from a foreign language (English or French) and orality marks were found in the students? argumentative essays. Finally, this work demonstrates that educational intervention and classroom interactions help to improve the different versions of the written productions, though, some problems remain unsolved at the end of the intervention.

Exploring the intersections of creative and academic life among Australian academic creative writing practitioners

Student perceptions of the writing process

Based on the critical research paradigm and using a mix of methodologies, this study examined student perceptions of the process approach used to teach writing. A class of 19 ESL students in an academic writing class at a small university paliicipated in the study. As collaborators in the study, they assessed their personality types using the PET Type Check (Crantoll & Knoop, 1995) and tlleir learning styles using Kolb'sLearning Styles Inventory (1976). Interviews, classroom observations, and journals provided a data base for case studies llilQ teacher reflection. Results indicated that students perceived the prewriting step of brainstonning and peer review as most useful. Student perceptions of the tasks and course and implications for theory and practice are examined.