An online advanced writing course adopting a corpus-informed approach to writing pedagogy : An online advanced writing course adopting a corpus-informed approach to writing pedagogy
The language of research is English : The language of research is English Non-native university students at post-graduate level face problems in transferring their ideas into written form while producing their Master’s or PhD theses in English, as well as writing for publication which is a must at PhD level.
ENGL 501/ EMU : ENGL 501/ EMU An advanced writing course for post-graduate students
Offered for almost 10 years now….
Evolved into a thesis writing course
Students from a variety of nationalities, from various disciplines, at different stages of thesis writing, at different levels of language proficiency
Difficulty in conveying the intended meaning accurately, appropriately, and effectively
THEY ARE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM!!!!!
Observation / questionnaires / informal chats
CORPORA: databank of languageThe behaviour of language can be observed through different tools.Two corpora were compiled:LAC: abstracts written by Engl 501 studentsTAC: abstracts written by students pursuing post-graduate degrees in English speaking countries : CORPORA: databank of languageThe behaviour of language can be observed through different tools.Two corpora were compiled:LAC: abstracts written by Engl 501 studentsTAC: abstracts written by students pursuing post-graduate degrees in English speaking countries
Cross-reference of the 2 corpora : Cross-reference of the 2 corpora Target Abstract Corpus (TAC):
much wider active range of vocabulary
more infrequent items used extensively
varied lexico-grammatical utilization
Learner Abstract Corpus (LAC):
The most common vocabulary items,
Fewer TYPES of words,
insufficient knowledge of collocates and lexico-grammatical patterns
at times : communication breakdown.
COMPARISON OF THE LAC WITH THE TAC (BOTH 100 ABSTRACTS)MIND THE GAP!! : COMPARISON OF THE LAC WITH THE TAC (BOTH 100 ABSTRACTS)MIND THE GAP!!
The methodology : The methodology can apply to any language teaching/learning situation.
‘what one needs to know’ - ‘what one already knows’ = ‘what one needs to learn’.
The Construction of the pedagogic corpus : The Construction of the pedagogic corpus
The AAC Bank of Moves and Sub-movesbased on LEXICO-GRAMMATICAL PATTERNS : The AAC Bank of Moves and Sub-movesbased on LEXICO-GRAMMATICAL PATTERNS what vocabulary to use,
how to use it (through lexico-structural patterns)
when to use it,
for what purpose (through moves, and specifically sub-moves).
The AAC Bank of Moves : The AAC Bank of Moves Comprises academic moves and sub-moves for:
Introductions
Methods
Results
Discussion
Each of the four main moves lives in a separate poster file. This poster is the AAC Move Bank for introductions : Each of the four main moves lives in a separate poster file. This poster is the AAC Move Bank for introductions
The Main Move (Introduction) branches to sub-moves. One important sub-move in introductions is stating the aim or purpose of the study. : The Main Move (Introduction) branches to sub-moves. One important sub-move in introductions is stating the aim or purpose of the study.
The sub-move of stating the aim or purpose of the study can be achieved by using different language patterns. : The sub-move of stating the aim or purpose of the study can be achieved by using different language patterns.
And the patterns themselves can make use of many variations in lexico-grammar to achieve their purpose: : And the patterns themselves can make use of many variations in lexico-grammar to achieve their purpose:
And provides enough examples of academic language to help acquire the range and variety of language that is necessary for effective expression of ideas. : And provides enough examples of academic language to help acquire the range and variety of language that is necessary for effective expression of ideas.
Course Design : Course Design The Pedagogic Corpus with its various components: foundation of a corpus-informed genre and task-based advanced thesis writing skills course.
3 hours a week f2f, and an ONLINE component.
Advanced Thesis Writing MOODLE, an educational software
http://gemoodle.emu.edu.tr
Learners were provided access to the corpora
Interaction with the data : Interaction with the data
From teacher to class : From teacher to class
Teacher-student : Teacher-student
Teacher Monitoring : Teacher Monitoring
Slide 25: Student interaction
Online submission of assignments + online feedback : Online submission of assignments + online feedback
Corpora : Corpora Teachers as central stakeholders
Learners as central stakeholders
-During writing—like a thesaurus
Quantitative and qualitative analysis of corpora to accomplish especially pedagogic goals.
decreased reliance on native speaker intuition,
empowers both the teacher and the learner,
promotes the self-confidence of both,
reduces the dependence of the learner on the teacher.
Virtual Learning Environments like MOODLE : Virtual Learning Environments like MOODLE Empower the teacher
Empower the learner
Knowledge is created together through interaction with
data
tasks
teacher
peers
No limitation in terms of time and space
Cater for individual needs, levels, stages of learning, learning styles
Students’ voices : Students’ voices Before the class, my idea was no matter how hard I try, I can not write well because good writing only belongs to native speakers, but now, I feel that I only need sufficient work and practice in order to write well.
Slide 30: Now, I can write my own sentences without plagiarism!
this course gave me new technique, system and procedure for writing.
Slide 31: Using corpus is the most beneficial tool. It helps me to find the correct collocations in the text and it becomes my companion to my writing.
Slide 32: …moodle is the best thing that help me to improve my written skill. when i stuck i can check the corpus concordancer. i can search the examples which relates chapter that im using in that moment. it is the best thing in my master education that i met up to now.
Slide 33: …the tools like TAC, Concordance, Vocabulary Profiler help me to improve my written work. Moreover, these tools are so useful during the thesis writing.
Corpus concordance. Now I know how to use each and every word, collocation, prepositions etc. in a correct way.
Learning how to use TAC and concordance is really helpful in checking my written work.
Slide 34: I trust my self now, i believe that i can write and complete my thesis because all my questions has answered. its not a big deal to complete the thesis, but it was before. its aid to me, especially Moodle! its my supervisor :)
British Council ELTons Award-International Category : British Council ELTons Award-International Category This research was part of a wider research into lexical frequency and patterning shortlisted in 2009 in the research category.
Now we have applied to the 2010 ELTons awards as a product.
Ways with words by Lexitronics.
Purely online / corpus-informed / WLA and LexiCLIL
http://www.lexitronics.org/