scholarly journals A Systemic-Functional Analysis of English Language Learners' Writing

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciana C. DE OLIVEIRA
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistic ◽  
Clause Combining ◽  
The University ◽  
Passing Score

This article presents a systemic-functional linguistic analysis of two writing samples of the University of California Analytical Writing Placement (AWP) Examination written by English language learners (ELLs). The analysis shows the linguistic features utilized in the two writing samples, one that received a passing score and one that received a failing score. The article describes some of the grammatical resources which are functional for expository writing, which are divided under three main categories: textual, interpersonal, and ideational resources. Following this brief description is the analysis of both essays in terms of these resources.. The configuration of grammatical features used in the essays make up the detached style of essay 1 and the more personal style of essay 2. These grammatical features include the textual resources of thematic choices and development, clause-combining strategies (connectors), and lexical cohesion; interpersonal resources of interpersonal metaphors of modality; and ideational resources of nominalization and abstractions as ideational metaphors. Implications for educational practice and recommendations for educators based on the analysis are provided.

Language and the Performance of English-Language Learners in Math Word Problems

2008 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARIA MARTINIELLO
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Word Problems ◽  
English Language ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Linguistic Complexity ◽  
Test Items ◽  
Math Test ◽  
Math Proficiency

In this article, Maria Martiniello reports the findings of a study of the linguistic complexity of math word problems that were found to exhibit differential item functioning for English-language learners (ELLs) and non-ELLs taking the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) fourth-grade math test. It builds on prior research showing that greater linguistic complexity increases the difficulty of Englishlanguage math items for ELLs compared to non-ELLs of equivalent math proficiency. Through textual analyses, Martiniello describes the linguistic features of some of the 2003 MCAS math word problems that posed disproportionate difficulty for ELLs. Martiniello also uses excerpts from children's think-aloud transcripts to illustrate the reading comprehension challenges these features pose to Spanish-speaking ELLs. Through both DIF statistics and the voices of children, the article scrutinizes the appropriateness of inferences about ELLs' math knowledge based on linguistically complex test items.

Fairy Tales and ESL Texts

2012 ◽  
pp. 273-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel M. Rufenacht ◽  
Philip M. McCarthy ◽  
Travis Lamkin
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Fairy Tales ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Potential Value ◽  
Reading Material ◽  
Text Types

This chapter describes a study that investigates the potential value of using traditional fairy tales as reading material for English language learners (ELL). Using the computational textual analysis software, the Gramulator, the authors analyzed the linguistic features of fairy tales relative to a corpus of ELL reading material and a corpus of baseline educational texts for native English speakers. The results of the analyses suggest that there are significant similarities between fairy tales and ESL texts, but differences lie in the content of the text types, with fairy tales appearing significantly more narrative in style and ESL texts appearing more expository. The study has important implications for educators and materials developers in the field of English as a Second Language.

scholarly journals Meeting the Needs of a Latino English Language Learner through Teacher Research

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Taube ◽  
Barbara Polnick ◽  
Jacqueline Lane
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Mathematics Classroom ◽  
Collaborative Action Research ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Collaborative Action ◽  
Working Together ◽  
The University

Over the years, Ms. Lane’s third grade mathematics classroom had become increasingly diverse. Challenged by the growing population of English Language Learners (ELL) and he r need to change her teaching practice to meet their needs, Ms. Lane selected to study how best to teach one of her greatest challenges, Ana, a Latino ELL who also had a learning disability. Ms. Lane and her two university mentors found that using a collaborative action research model provided a structure for researching, designing, and implementing strategies that helped Ana improve her mathematics performance. The university mentors found that they, too, benefited from working together as critical partners while assisting Ms. Lane in this collaborative action rese arch.

scholarly journals THINKING ALOUD PROTOCOL FOR SMART TRANSLATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Fikriani Aminun Omolu ◽  
Andi Mappewali
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
High Schools ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Junior High Schools ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Thinking Aloud ◽  
Language Functions ◽  
Translation Strategy ◽  
The University

A language is an important tool in communication. To produce a smooth relationship between countries that have different languages, the English language functions as Lingua Franca. To understand the information in English, a good understanding is needed. Being able to translate English texts is one of the basic forms of understanding itself. Unfortunately, numerous English language learners; from junior high schools to university levels, are still experiencing problems in this translation. This study aims to uncover the strategies of students in translating English texts into Indonesian by using the Thinking Aloud Protocol method. The subjects of this study were students in semester V (five) who had gone through Structure I to Structure IV subjects. This research was conducted in the scope of the University of Muhammadiyah Palu. From this research, the most widely used translation strategy is done by students as well as the prototype of the translation process to produce good translations

scholarly journals The Essential Techniques Affecting the Performance of Sudanese EFL Learners in Writing: A Case Study of Three Eastern Universities of Sudan

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 105-118
Author(s):  
Suad Abdelwahid Fadlallah Ali
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Know How ◽  
Sentence Combining ◽  
Fourth Level ◽  
Methods And Techniques ◽  
The University

This paper explores the English language learners’ weakness in writing because most of them do not know how to combine their sentences correctly. The paper was devoted to Sentence Combining (SC) as an essential technique or method that affects EFL learners' performance in writing English. Using the case study on fourth-level students majoring in English, the descriptive-analytical method has been applied, representing the three eastern universities in Sudan: The University of Kassala, University of Gadarif and Red Sea University. The researcher used an objective test of (83) items in Sentence Combining in English. The frequency tables and percentage were used for the five areas in the students' test (pass-fail). According to the students' outcomes, they have been proved that the Sudanese learners of English at the three eastern universities lack the awareness of methods and techniques of combining English sentences. They are not well-informed of combining English sentences by means of punctuation, co-ordination, subordination, reduction and apposition. The concept of sentence combining is unconsciously neglected by the teachers themselves, who are unaware of its importance.

scholarly journals “Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast”: Learner-Friendly Shakespeare in an EFL Classroom

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 66-86
Author(s):  
Kohei Uchimaru
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Fast Learner ◽  
The World ◽  
Teacher Needs ◽  
University Level ◽  
Authentic Language ◽  
The University

This paper discusses a learner-friendly and student-centred approach to introducing Shakespeare for less advanced English language learners in the university-level EFL classroom. Shakespeare becomes welcome material when the input is comprehensible and enjoyable. In this light, the teaching should first start with the story rather than the language. After hooking students by recounting stories from Shakespeare, the teacher needs to familiarise them with the authentic language through activities carefully designed to initiate them into the language. In approaching the content of Shakespeare’s plays, the students are asked to relate themselves to the world of Shakespeare through active methods advanced by the RSC and the world that students already know. Raising language awareness in learners rather than being taught the language, the students become less frustrated while learning to appreciate Shakespeare.

Virtual Interdisciplinary Experiences for Teachers of Writing

2013 ◽  
pp. 128-156
Author(s):  
Christine Rosalia ◽  
Laura Baecher
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Collaborative Tool ◽  
Speakers Of Other Languages ◽  
College Setting ◽  
The University

This chapter describes how virtual fieldwork was perceived by candidates in two teacher education programs: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Adolescent English (AE) as they partnered with English Language Learners (ELLs) in a middle school and college setting. By jointly examining findings from these parallel initiatives, the affordances and constraints of technology as an interdisciplinary collaborative tool may be better understood. Overall, teacher candidates reported a desire for more such “real” fieldwork, even further contact with ELLs, and continued hands-on work with the texts of these diverse writers. Unanticipated findings relate to the benefits of the projects to the cooperating teachers at partner schools, who became involved in professional learning as the demands of the technology were negotiated and partnership with the university was strengthened. The projects also underscore the ways in which technology-based collaborations must be supervised and supported.

Game-Based Pilot System for English Learning

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuo-Chen Li ◽  
Cheng-Ting Chen ◽  
Hui-Chih Wang ◽  
Jia-Sheng Heh
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Year ◽  
English Learning ◽  
English Classes ◽  
Test Study ◽  
Post Test ◽  
The University ◽  
University Setting

Game-based Pilot System for English learning (GPS-E) is a system that was produced with the intention of assisting English language learners (ELLs) who have lower English proficiency. The study was conducted in a university setting in northern Taiwan. The English classes which were categorized as “Pilot English Classes” were recruited for this research. One major goal of this study is to explore how effective and to what extent the GPS-E system can contribute to students’ English learning in the university level. A survey was designed, and the data of the first year experiment were analyzed by a pre-post test study using the SPSS t-test. Results indicated that students who have tried the GPS-E system have improved significantly.

scholarly journals Intertextuality as Resource for Building ELLs Generic Competence: A Systemic Functional Linguistic View

2011 ◽  
pp. 69
Author(s):  
Joshua Schulze ◽  
J Andrés Ramírez
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Informational Text ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Informational Texts ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistic ◽  
Linguistic Control

This research examines how elementary English language learners(ELLs) used intertextuality as a resource to compose informational texts. The research examines ELLs’ use of intertextuality (Fairclough, 1992, 2003; Lancia, 1997) as a resource for developing generic competence (Bhatia, 2002). Using the tools of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and systemic functional linguistics (SFL), the researchers locate instances of manifest intertextuality to evaluate the extent of reliance on intertextual resources. While findings suggest strong reliance on intertextual resources and thus the potential to see this appropriation as a form of “transgressive intertextuality” (Pennycook, 2004), the close SFL analysis revealed that students’ grammatical moves to make the text their own have the potential to increase their linguistic control over the target genre of informational text.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document