Discourse Community Collocations and L2 Writing Content (Research Paper)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Payame Noor University, Iran

2 University of Granada, (Universidad de Granada)

Abstract

Taking the position that writing can be an important skill to foster knowledge building pedagogy, this article explores vocabulary as a supportive tool for this purpose. Having this in mind, a compilation of conceptually loaded vocabularies pertaining to seven discourse communities was developed, two of which were given to a group of L2 writers to investigate the implications of phraseology for content richness in foreign language writing. Sixty-six essays composed by 33 language learners preparing for two tests of English for General Academic Purposes, namely IELTS, and TOEFL, were investigated before and after receiving these concept-carrying lexical items. The study revealed that novice writers of academic essays could enhance the quality of essay content with the help of vocabularies which carry concepts and ideas.Retrospective interviews using stimulated recalls indicated that EFL writers had virtually no access to vocabularies needed for presenting most of concepts and believed that these lexical items would help them write better. So practical are these collocations for both making up content deficiency in academic writing and meanwhile assisting learners in broadening their topical knowledge scholarship that syllabus designers and EFL instructors can utilize them for higher pedagogical yields.

Keywords


Article Title [Persian]

ارتباط بین همآیی واژگان جامعه زبانی و مهارت نوشتاری در زبان دوم

Authors [Persian]

  • محمد آقاجان زاده 1
  • خاویر ویلوریا پریتو 2
1
2
Abstract [Persian]

Taking the position that writing can be an important skill to foster knowledge building pedagogy, this article explores vocabulary as a supportive tool for this purpose. Having this in mind, a compilation of conceptually loaded vocabularies pertaining to seven discourse communities was developed, two of which were given to a group of L2 writers to investigate the implications of phraseology for content richness in foreign language writing. Sixty-six essays composed by 33 language learners preparing for two tests of English for General Academic Purposes, namely IELTS, and TOEFL, were investigated before and after receiving these concept-carrying lexical items. The study revealed that novice writers of academic essays could enhance the quality of essay content with the help of vocabularies which carry concepts and ideas.Retrospective interviews using stimulated recalls indicated that EFL writers had virtually no access to vocabularies needed for presenting most of concepts and believed that these lexical items would help them write better. So practical are these collocations for both making up content deficiency in academic writing and meanwhile assisting learners in broadening their topical knowledge scholarship that syllabus designers and EFL instructors can utilize them for higher pedagogical yields.

Keywords [Persian]

  • غنای متن: پیکره زبانی: همآیی واژگان: جامعه زبانی

 

References

Aghajanzadeh Kiasi, M., &Hemmati, F. (2014).The importance of ‘teacher talk’ in writing.PortaLinguarum, 22, 95-108.
Alamargot, D., &Fayol, M. (2009).Modelling the development of written composition. In R. Beard, D. Myhill, J. Riley, & M. Nystrand (Eds.), The Sage handbook of writing development (pp. 23-47). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
AgustínLlach, M. P. (2011). Lexical errors and accuracy in foreign language writing. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Anderson, J. M. (1996). Historical linguistics. In K. Malmkjaer (Ed.), The linguistics encyclopedia (pp. 189-216). London, UK: Routledge.
Bereiter, C. (2002).  Education and mind in the knowledge age. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Bestgen, Y., & Granger, S. (2014). Quantifying the development of phraseological competence in L2 English writing: An automated approach.Journal of Second Language Writing, 26, 28-41.doi: 10.1016/j.jslw.2014.09.004
 
Biber, D., Gray, B., &Poonpon, K. (2011). Should we use characteristics of conversation to measure grammatical complexity in L2 writing development? TESOL Quarterly, 45, 5–35.doi: 10.5054/tq.2011.244483
Brezina, V.,& Gablasova, D. (2015).  Is there a core general vocabulary? Introducing the new general service list.Applied Linguistics, 36 (1), 1-22.
Borghetti, C. (2011). How to teach it? Proposal for a methodological model of intercultural competence. In A. Witte & T. Harden (Eds.), Intercultural competence: Concepts, challenges, evaluations(pp. 141–159). Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang.
Byram, M. (2008).From foreign language education to education for intercultural citizenship: Essays and reflections.Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Celce-Murcia M. (2007).Rethinking the role of communicative competence in language teaching.InAlcónSoler E &SafontJordà MP (Eds.).Intercultural language use and language learning (pp. 41–57). Dordrecht: Springer.
Chang, C.-F.& C.-H.Kuo (2011). A corpus-based approach to online materials development for writing research articles. English for Specific Purposes,30, 222–234.
 
Chen, Y.& Baker, P. (2010). Lexical bundles in L1 and L2 academic writing. Language Learning and Technology, 14(2), 30–49.
 
Cortes, V. (2013). The purpose of this study is to: Connecting lexical bundles and moves in research article introductions. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 12 (1), 33–43.
Crossley, S. A., & McNamara, D. S. (2016). Say more and be more coherent: How text elaboration and cohesion can increase writing quality. Journal of Writing Research, 7(3), 351-370.
Crossley, S. A., Muldner, K.,&  McNamara,  D. S. (2016). Idea generation in student writing: Computational assessments and links to successful writing. Written Communication, 33(3) 328–354.doi: 10.1177/0741088316650178
 
Crossley, S. A., Salsbury, T., &McNemara, D. S. (2015).Assessing lexical proficiency usinganalytic ratings: A case for collocation.Applied Linguistics, 36 (5), 1–22.doi: 10.1093/applin/amt056
Davies, I., Evans, M., & Reid, A. (2005).Globalising citizenship education? A critique of ‘global education’ and‘citizenship education’.British Journal of Educational Studies, 53(1), 66-89.10.1111/j.1467-8527.2005.00284.x
Eckstein, G., Chariton, J., & McCollum, R. M. (2011). Multi-draft composing: An iterative model for academic argument writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 10, 162-172.
Eriksson, A. (2012). Pedagogical perspectives on bundles: Teaching bundles to doctoral students of biochemistry. In J. Thomas & A. Boulton (eds.), Input, process and product: Developments in teaching andlanguage corpora (pp. 195–211). Brno, Czech Rep.: Masaryk University Press.
Flowerdew , L. (2015). Corpus-based research and pedagogy in EAP: From lexis to genre. Language Teaching, 48 (1), 99 – 116. doi:10.1017/S0261444813000037
 
Fulkerson, R. (2005). Composition at the turn of the twenty-first Century.College Composition and Communication, 56 (4), 654-687.
Galbraith, D. (2009). Writing as discovery.Teaching and Learning Writing, 2(6), 5-26.doi:10.1348/978185409X421129
 
Harmon, J., & Hedrick, W. (2005).Research on vocabulary instruction in the content areas: Implication for struggling readers. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 21, 261–280.
 
He, L., & Shi, L. (2012).Topical knowledge and ESL writing.Language Testing, 29 (3), 443-464.
Hu, H. M. &Nassaji, H. (2016). Effective vocabulary learning tasks: Involvement load hypothesisversus technique feature analysis.System, 56, 28-39. doi: 10.1016/j.system.2015.11.001
 
Hyland, K. (2008). As can be seen: Lexical bundles and disciplinary variation.English for Specific Purposes, 27(1), 4–21.
Hyland, K. &Tse, P. (2007). Is there an “academic vocabulary”? TESOL Quarterly, 41, 235-253.
Flowerdew, L. (2013). Corpus-based research and pedagogy in EAP: From lexis to genre. Language Teaching, 26, 1–18.
Jacobs, H. L., Zinkgraf, S. A., Wormuth, D. R., Hartfiel, V. F., &Hughey, J. B.(1981). Testing ESL composition: A practical approach. Rowley, MA:Newbury House.
Kramsch, C. (2013). Culture in foreign language teaching.Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 1 (1), 57-78.
Larson, B. (2011). Metaphors for environmental sustainability: Redefining our relationship with nature. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Leki, I. (2003). Coda: Pushing L2 writing research. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, 103–105.
Lambert, R. D. (Ed.).(1994). Educational exchange and global competence. New York:  Council on International Educational Exchange.
Loewenstein,j., &Ocasio, W. (2002). Vocabularies of organizing:  How language links culture, cognition, and action in organizations. Paper presented at the 2002 meeting of the Academy of Management, Seattle, WA.
Maswan,s., Kanamaru, T., &Tajino, A. (2013). Analyzing the journal corpus data on English expressions across discipline. The Journal of ASIA TEFL, 10 (4), 71-96.
 
Miller, D., &Biber, D. (2015).Evaluating reliability in quantitative vocabulary studies:  The influence of corpus design and composition.International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 20 (1), 30–53. doi 10.1075/ijcl.20.1.02mil
Moeller, A, J., &FaltinOsborn,S. R. (2014). A pragmatist perspective on building intercultural communicative competency: From theory to classroom practice.  Foreign Language Annals, 47(4), 669–683.doi: 10.1111/flan.12115
Nation, I.S.P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nation, P. (2005). Teaching vocabulary.Asian EFL Journal, 7 (3), 47-54.
Nation, P., & Webb, S. (2011). Researching and analyzing vocabulary. Boston: Heinle.
Paquot, M. (2010).Academic vocabulary in learner writing. New York: Continuum.
Peaty, D. (2010). You, me and the world: A course in communicative English for global citizenship. Tokyo: Kinseido.
Ryshina-Pankova, M., & Byrnes, H. (2013). Writing as learning to know: Tracing knowledge construction in L2 German compositions. Journal of Second Language Writing, 22 (2), 179–197.doi: 10.1016/j.jslw.2013.03.009
Salazar, D. ( 2014). Lexical bundles in native and non-native scientific writing: Applying a corpus-based study to language teaching. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Scardamalia, M., &Bereiter, C. (2006). Knowledge building: Theory, pedagogy, and technology. In K. Sawyer (Ed.), Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 97-118).New York: Cambridge University Press.
Schiro, M. (2008).Curriculum theory: Conflicting visions and enduring concerns. LA: SagePublication.
Schmitt, N. (2010). Researching vocabulary: A vocabulary research manual. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Schoonen, R., Snellings, P., Stevenson, M., & van Gelderen.A. (2009). Towards ablueprint of the foreign language writer: The linguistic and cognitive demandsof foreign language writing. In R. M. Manchón (Ed.), Writing in foreignlanguage contexts: Learning, teaching, and research (pp. 77-101). Clevedon,UK: Multilingual Matters.
Swales. J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research setting. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Thonney, T. (2011).Teaching the conventions of academic discourse. TeachingEnglish in the Two-Year College, 38 (4),347-362.
Vittoria, P. (2014).  Dialogue in critical pedagogy: Generative word as counter-hegemonic action. International Journal of Educational Policies, 8(2), 103 -114.
Wells, G. (2000). Dialogic inquiry in education: Building on the legacy of Vygotsky. In C. Lee & P. Smagorinsky (Eds.), Vygotskian perspectives on literary research (pp. 51-85). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Wierzbicka, A. (1992). Semantics, culture, and cognition: Universal human concepts in culture-specific configurations.  New York: Oxford University Press.
Witte, A. (2011). On the teachabilityandlearnability of intercultural competence: Developing facets of the “inter.” In A. Witte & T.Harden (Eds.), Intercultural competence: Concepts,challenges, evaluations (pp. 89–107).Bern