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Layering methods to analyse the relationship between language use and attainment among OU undergraduate studentsMaria Leedham, Elizabeth J. Erling, Lina Adinolfi
Contact: [email protected]
Faculty of Education and Language Studies
The Open University
This paper will
• report on a research project at the OU into the relationship between use of academic language and attainment among a small cohort of Health and Social Care undergraduate students.
Layers 1 & 2 – MASUS and contextual research
• explore further research which ‘layers’ methods to investigate the texts
• Layers 3 & 4 - intuitive identification of lexical chunks, corpus linguistic extraction of chunks
Context: a Health and Social Care course (HSC)
• K204: Working with Children and Families
• “This course is designed to meet the educational and training needs of those who work (or will work) with children and their families across social care, childcare, health, education, and leisure settings.”
• Level 2, 60 points, distance-learning course,
• 6 essays + 1 exam• 26 students• 72 HSC texts were
analysed • 7 students interviewed
Layers 1 & 2: THE ORIGINAL STUDY
Layer 1: MASUS Measuring Academic Skills of University Students
Categories
A Use of source material
B Structure and development of text
C Control of academic writing style
D Grammatical correctness
E Qualities of presentation
Text analysis:
Two language specialists and
one subject specialist
Rating
4 Excellent/no problems/ accurate/very appropriate
3 Good/minor problems/mainly accurate/largely appropriate
2 Only fair/some problems/often inaccurate/often inappropriate
1 Poor/major problems/inaccurate/inappropriate
1.0-2.4 = low score
(Bonanno and Jones 1997)
Layer 1: MASUS Findings: Attainment and language
4.003.503.002.502.001.50
Overall score on MASUS
100.00
80.00
60.00
40.00
20.00
Av
era
ge
ma
rk o
n T
MA
s
T175K204DD100
Course
Layer 1: MASUS Findings: MASUS scores for cohort
The number of students in sample with low language scores (1.0 – 2.4)
(n=26) Assign. 1 (n=25) Assign. 3 (n=24) Assign. 5
A Use of source material 7 27% 5 20% 2 8%
B Structure and development 15 58% 14 56% 15 63%
C Academic writing style 8 31% 7 28% 4 17%
D Grammatical correctness 4 15% 7 28% 6 25%
Layer 2: Contextual investigation
• Analysis of course materials insight into important key concepts and language of the field
• Tutorial visits a contact point for researcher and students
• Interviews with students insights into students’ views of their own writing
• Collaboration between language and discipline specialists ensured that both language and discipline expertise were represented
Layers 3 & 4: SEARCHING FOR LEXICAL CHUNKS
Lexical chunks
• Conventionalised word combinations• Contribute to ease of language production and reception• Demonstrate membership of academic community
• Layer 3: corpus linguistic research on chunks• E.g. work from Douglas Biber, Ken Hyland• Layer 4: intuitive identification of chunks• E.g. work from Alison Wray, Pauline Foster
Layer 3: Corpus linguistic extraction of lexical chunks• 28,000 words• 15 HSC texts• Assignments 1, 3, 5• Used WordSmith Tools v.5• Extracted 3, 4, 5 word chunks• Compared no. of types of chunks over time• Ongoing… could extend to cover keyness
Layer 3: Corpus linguistic extraction of chunks
Assignment 1 : Why should we listen to children?
• quality of life (31, 4/4 texts)• listening to children (17, 4)• children and families (10, 4)• right to be heard (6, 4)
Assignment 3: Child development theories can have both a positive and a negative influence on how practitioners respond to children. Discuss.
• in the reader (27, 3/6 texts)• negative influence on (7, 4)• as well as (5, 4)• I will discuss (5, 3)
Assignment 5: Critically discuss how the quality of life of children living away from home can be improved by those working with children and their families.
• living away from home (49, 4/5)• quality of life (37, 5)• it is important (8, 3)• if we are to (4, 2)
Layer 3: Corpus linguistic extraction of chunks
N Concordance
1 and we all need love and affection if we are to develop into functional human
2 need. Foster carers are volunteers and if we are to encourage others to become
3 by the local authorities a positive one. If we are to give children any quality of life we
4 These changes need to be made if we are to meet the five key outcomes of
5 greatly enhance a child’s quality of life if we are willing to do a great deal of hard
Assignment 5if we are to (4, 2)= Example of students taking on the role of HSC worker?
Layer 4: Intuitive identification of lexical chunks
Advantage of using intuition • Can identify single chunks• Simulates the tutor’s experience
Difficulties with intuition• Subjective• Difficult to justify• Problem with boundaries• Partial solution is to adopy Wray
and Namba’s 11 criteria (2003)
“By my judgement…”
Two types of chunks focused upon:
• Linkers
B Structure and development of text
• Discipline-specific
C Control of academic writing style
Layer 4: Intuitive identification of chunksCase study A: Laura - Assignment 1: Extract
The United Convention of the Rights of the Child implements legislations internationally when it comes to the delivery of children’s welfare due to all children have the right to be heard, these are known as participation rights. Government with in countries then have to implement legislations and policies to enforce these rights for children welfare. In addition, children commissioners are appointed to overlook these legislations and that children receive services that they are entitled to. The role of children commissioners will be, explored further with in the essay.
Key: Red = ill-formed or inappropriate chunksBlue =well-formed and appropriate chunks
Layer 4: Intuitive identification of chunksCase study A: Laura - Assignment 5: Extract
It is important for children to maintain their health when growing up so they can fully develop to their potential. Children that come into the care system at times their health as been neglected or is under development for their age. If children whose, health and development are impaired or ones health and development are at risk children they become a child in need (Law card S6 EW), it is the responsibility of local authorities to ensure that appropriate assessments of children’s health are completed (a statutory medical assessment). Foster carers or residential carers have a legal duty to ensure that children’s general health is met i.e. GP registration if relocated to placement out of area, dentist, optical, mental health, in working in conjunction with children’s social workers. In addition, their are specialist health visitor (s) in which are attached to local authorities and work in conjunction with Social Workers and carers to ensure that looked after children medical needs are continually met. It is the Specialist Health Visitor to overlook all looked after children cases and communicates with agencies where necessary in regards to children’s health.
Layer 4: Intuitive identification of chunksCase study B: Sally - Assignment 1: Extract
Adults tend to assume that they know best, when implementing polices and practises concerning children, who are frequently viewed as vulnerable and helpless, but are often capable of far more than they are given credit for, and may have a different view to a good quality of life to that of an adult. In terms of what constitutes a good quality of life everyone has the right to food, shelter, health care and in terms of children access to a good education and protection from abuse and harm. The social, political, cultural and economic aspects of the society in which people live all have an impact on determining the quality of life that children experience, quality of life if often determined by material possessions but in reality it goes a lot deeper. How good life is depends on the expectations of the individual and the culture in which they live. For children to have a good quality of life they need to be helped to achieve their full potential, consulted about things that matter to them and to be involved in plans and decisions made about themselves and the environment in which they live.
• Layer 4: Intuitive identification of chunksCase study B: Sally - Assignment 5: Extract
There is no doubt that children living away from home face more difficulties both emotionally and in terms of achieving their full potential academically than those from stable non-abusive backgrounds. All those who work with these children need to think about what has happened to each child before they entered the care system, and how that has impacted on their behaviour and coping ability. They also need to be aware of what interventions are available and appropriate. Quality care can be promoted by listening and responding to children’s needs, views and goals. Every person who works with or has contact with that child can contribute to their well being.
Key: Red = ill-formed or inappropriate chunksBlue =well-formed and appropriate chunks
Layer 4: Intuitive identification of chunks Findings
• There is a correlation between the grades given to students and the intuitive assessment of the nature of chunks they use in their writing (ie the number and range of discipline-specific chunks used appropriately)
• Low achieving students appear to use fewer discipline-specific chunks than higher achieving ones.
• There appears to be an improvement in the range and number of chunks produced accurately by individual learners over time, whether low achieving or higher achieving.
Conclusions• Students need more direct language development• Investigation into the features of highly valued academic language
can help in developing language support
• MASUS – offers a way of gathering judgements on aspects of texts from multiple raters, including a discipline-based perspective
• Contextual data – provides explanations for changes in students’ texts and differences in students’ abilities/desires to acquire and use the ‘highly valued’ features of academic language
• Corpus linguistics – offers a way of quantifying the number and range of chunks across texts & gives insights into disciplinary differences
• Intuitive extraction of chunks – provides a language specialist’s view of which chunks are most marked – and how this markedness might affect student attainment
References• BONNANO, H & JONES, J. (1997) Measuring the
Academic Skills of University Students: The MASUS procedure. University of Sydney.
• ERLING, E. J. (2009) An investigation into the relationship between the use of academic language and attainment – with a focus on students from ethnic minorities. Open University.
• WIKTORSSON, M. (2003) Learning idiomaticity: a corpus-based study of idiomatic expressions in learners' written production. Lund, Lund University
• WRAY, A. & NAMBA, K. (2003) Formulaic language in a Japanese-English bilingual child: a practical approach to data analysis. Japan Journal for Multilingualism and Multiculturalism, 9, 24-51.
Acknowledgements
• We would like to thank Student Services at the Open university, who funded the research project The relationship between academic language use and attainment – with a focus on students from ethnic minorities in 2008-2009.
• We would also like the thank the researchers involved in the project: Elizabeth Erling, David Hann, John Kearsey, Christina Healey, Christine Buller, Kerry Bannister, Chris Lee, Zoe Doye, Harish Mehra; and the project supervisor, Jim Donohue.
Maria Leedham Centre for Language and CommunicationFaculty of Education and Language StudiesThe Open UniversityWalton HallMilton Keynes MK7 [email protected]
Dr. Elizabeth J. Erling
Open English Language Teaching
Dept. of Languages Faculty of Education &Language
StudiesThe Open UniversityWalton HallMilton Keynes MK7 [email protected]
Lina Adinolfi
Open English Language Teaching
Dept. of Languages
Faculty of Education & Language Studies
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
