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Second language learners and real-life contexts of writing
Katja Mäntylä and Mirja Tarnanen
CEFLINGLinguistic Basis of the Common European Framework
for L2 English and L2 Finnish
project funded by the Academy of Finland 2007-2009
based at the University of Jyväskylä; part of the European SLATE network (Second Language Acquisition and Testing in Europe)
homepage:http://www.jyu.fi/cefling
Formulaic sequences
problems with the terminology – collocations, phrases, greetings, idioms, etc .
role in language learning (and teaching*)
learner texts have to an extent been studied– Forsberg et al. (2008), Erman (2007)– challenges in looking at texts (Wray 2008)– at lower levels of proficiency, examining just the sequences is not very
fruitful other aspects to be taken into account
how to examine – quality/quantity. Finnish and English very different types of languages
(Finnish synthetic with its rich use of inflections)– functions– (L1 effect)
Research questions
appearance/development of formulaic sequences from one CEFR level to another
functions of various expressions– informative, situational, organizational, evaluative,
modal (Moon 1998)
DataIn the Cefling -project
7th-9th grade English (FL) and Finnish (L2) learners
893 Finnish as a L2 and 2 534 English as a FL learners
each learner/subject completed 3-4 writing tasks
the English performances were rated by 4 raters, and Finnish ones by 3 raters (to assure the reliability of ratings)
the performances were rated using a CEFR-scale (a compilation of different writing scales) and a national (curriculum) writing scale based on CEFR
In this study
2 task types: a message to the teacher and a message to an Internet store
over 40 texts per language and per tasks
The main focus on the levels A1-B1
Task 1E-mail to the teacher
You have not been able to go to school during one week, and you will have an English test soon. Send your teacher, Mary Brown, an e-mail in which you
tell why you have been absent,
ask about two details regarding the exam, and
ask about two more details of the classes of the week.
Do not forget to begin and finish the e-mail appropriately.
structured; limitations to the content
no instructions as to the register a challenge to Finns writing in English
some instructions as to the structure of the text
FUNCTIONS: conveying information, explaining the situation, modality
Task 2E-mail to an Internet Store
Your parents have ordered you a computer game from an Internet store, but the software is not working as you wished. Send the store an e-mail in which you tell
who you are,
why you are contacting them (mention and describe two problems),
what you would like to be done, and
how you can be contacted.
Do not forget to begin and finish the e-mail appropriately.
structured; limitations to the content
the task requires a semi-formal register
given advice on the content helps in structuring the text
FUNCTIONS: conveying information, explaining the situation, asking questions
Analysis
functions of the expressions (according to Moon)
– informational, situational, organizational,evaluative, modal rough figures
– the definition of a sequence fairly loose modality/pragmatic aspect
– the use of the conditional/imperative/questions– beginning/ending the message– please
clause structures
– the use of conjunctions cohesion, coherence and fluency greatly affect the grading
Results - Rough figures: EnglishWords Clauses Inf. Sit. Org. Ev. Mod. Conj.
TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS
A141.8 37.5 9.3 8.2 2.2 3.4 1.5 0.8 2.8 2.0 0.2 0.2 1.0 1.3 1.3 2.0
A2 51.0 63.4 10.7 11.1 2.6 3.4 2.5 2.1 2.9 3.6 0.1 0.3 1.7 2.4 3.1 4.1
B1 74.3 64.3 13.0 10.2 3.0 4.4 4.1 1.9 4.1 3.5 0.4 0.6 2.8 2.3 4.8 4.2
B283.5 85.4 14.7 13.6 2.2 4.6 4.7 3.0 4.2 4.8 0.3 0.6 5.5 3.6 6.5 5.4
Results - Rough figures: Finnish
Words Clauses Inf. Sit. Org. Ev. Mod.
TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS
A123.8 27.7 5.8 7.3 3.5 6.7 1.4 0.5 1.6 2.5 0.4 0.4 0.5 2.1
A2 35.7 48.6 9.0 12.4 4.9 7.7 2.6 0.7 3.3 3.7 0.3 0.1 0.7 2.5
B1 52.1 54.7 13.1 12.7 8.1 9.8 3.9 1.4 5.4 4.5 0.4 0.3 2.3 2.2
Results: MeTE=Message to the teacherIS=Message to an Internet store
Results – A1English Finnish
Sequences
- Organizational thats why sitten ’then’, vielä ’yet’
-beginning and ending of the message usually missing
- Situational Prepositional phrases
from Finland, out from school
eilen ’yesterday’, kaksi kertaa ’two times’, joskus ’sometimes’
- Modal Very straightforward; imperative
I want you send
some attempts to be polite : If you can, Can I have
Very straightforward
Haluan että ’I want that’
Also conditional used but inaccurately
Haluasin vaiha ’I would like to change’
Collocations Mostly evaluative Adj/adv
work well, good and beautiful
toimia huonosti ’does not work’, saada rahat takaisin ’get money back’
Conjunctions co-ordinators
so, and, but – used quite frequently but not idiomatically
co-ordinators and some subordinators
ja ’and’, koska ’because’
A1
Typical of a performance at this level:
texts are short
the task is not completed
a text can be partly illegible and to an extent incoherent BUT it is a text not ”separate words”
Results – A2English Finnish
Sequences
- Organizational metatext: I want to tell you about, the first reason is
more metatext: Ongelma on se, että ’the problem is that’
- Situational last week, in your shop viikon aikana ’during the week’, pari päivää sitten ’a couple of days ago’
- Modal Conditional: I wud like a new better game, I like you to send
Imperative + please: anser quigly please. Give me please the homeworks.
more appropriate: jos on mahdollista ’if it is possible’, kiitos paljon ’thank you very much’
Collocations more target-like high temperature
tulla läksyjä ’get homework’, sammuttaa tietokone ’switch off the computer’
Conjunctions subordinators
because, that
more frequent
siis ’accordingly’ , kun ’when’
A2
Typical of a performance at this level:
texts are slightly longer and more detailed
the task is almost completed
the text is quite clear BUT it may be impolite but quite well organized or the other way round. Idiomaticity and accuracy may still be very much lacking.
Results – B1English Finnish
Sequences
- Organizational much more metatext: This e-mail is about; the reason is that, first of all, secondly, that’s all
more metatext: Minulla on pari kysymystä ’I have a couple of questions’, Haluisin myös tietää ’I would also like to know’
- Situational the number of situational expressions increases adds to the coherence for a week, last Friday
viikon päästä ’after a week’, vihdoin ’at last’
- Modal more variation: Please, answer me soon; I want to ask you some questions, I would be very happy if you could send
more accurate use of the conditional: voisitko kertoa ’Could you tell’, moderation: saanko ’can I have’
Collocations adv+adj combinations asentaa peli ’install the game’, se (burana) vaikuttaa ’ it (Parasetamol) has an effect’
Conjunctions the number increases
several clauses in a sentence
more variety, the number increases
joten ’thus’, joko-tai ’either-or’
B1
Typical of a performance at this level:
organizational and situational sequences more frequent
modal expressions much more accurate and polite
sequences get more complex
the task (almost) fully completed
Results – B2English and Finnish:
-more complex sequences, in particular organizational and modal ones:
If either of those can’t be done, I’d appreciate your help, I’d like you to cover the costs
Voisitteko korjata sen tietokonepelin jotenkin tai lähettää uuden? Tai onko mahdollista saada rahaa siitä takaisin?
’Could you fix the game somehow, or send a new one? Or is it possbile to get some money back?’
Conclusions
modality more obvious and more accurate at level B1
organizational elements appear across the levels but differences in variation, accuracy and complexity
the effect of the task
different types of languages: strongly inflectional vs. analytic/synthetic language
Conclusions – pedagogical challenges
towards more real-life writing (context, reader, register, functions) vs. traditional school writing (separate expressions and sentences, translating sentences and short descriptions)
focusing in teaching and assessing on pragmatic aspects rather than on grammar