Critical Analysis of Philological Articles - Essay Example

Running Head: Articles Articles Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts 26 October 141 Japanese Learners’ Self Revisions and Peer Revisions of Their Written Compositions in English What are the research questions? The research questions were, ‘1. What are the relations between conditions of self revision and peer revision with regard to the frequency and types of negotiation that adult Japanese students use while revising drafts of their compositions in English? 2. What changes to these students’ written compositions occur during self revision and during peer revision?’ (Suzuki, 2008) Where was the survey/Interview conducted? The survey was conducted in the leading Japanese University teaching English Language as second language. What was the population surveyed? What sampling procedures were used? The sample population was 24 sophomore Japanese students enrolled in compulsory English course. How were the data collected? The data was collected by audio taping the interviews conducted with the sample population and also by keeping a record of the written assignments. Were the questions used in the survey or interview well-designed in terms of the standards disused in the chapter? The questions in the survey could have been well-designed since the interviewer did not focus on any aspect of the writing skills. He asked the respondents to review their writing skills which could have led the interview in any direction leading the interviewer with no control over the conversation. How were the data analyzed? If open-ended questions were used, does the researcher describe how they were analyzed and coded? The data was analyzed by the researcher along with his friend after reviewing transcribed audio tapes. The researcher does describe how he analyzed and coded the data. How were the data presented? If the study includes numerical data, how were they reported-by frequency, percentage, and /or mean? If the mean is reported, is the standard deviating reported? The data was represented both numerically and in descriptive form. It was reported by mean along with the standard deviation. What conclusions were drawn? Are they justified in light of the data presented? The study concludes that revision is one method of improving English language grammar usage among ESL students. This conclusion is justified since the researcher gained ample proof of the statement after conducting the research. What are the pedagogical implications of the study? Are they warranted in light of the findings of the study? The study suggests the teachers can use revisions as an effective way for improving written language among ESL students and this is warranted in light of the findings of the study. Effects of Dynamic Corrective Feedback on ESL Writing Accuracy What are the research questions? The research questions were, ‘Based on 30-min pretest and posttest essays, will mean accuracy scores from the treatment group posttest essays be significantly greater than those from the contrast group? Based on 30-min pretest and posttest essays, will rhetorical competence scores, fluency scores, or complexity scores from the treatment group posttest essays be significantly lower than those from the contrast group?’ (Hartshorn, et. al., 2010) Where was the survey/Interview conducted? The study was conducted in the United States at the Brigham Young University’s English Language Centre. What was the population surveyed? What sampling procedures were used? The sample population for the study was 47 ESL students ranging from advanced-low to advanced-mid category. Of these 47, 28 students belonged to the treatment group and 19 students belonged to the contrast group. Random sampling was used in this study. How were the data collected? The data was collected through the teachers who rated the essays provided by the students. Were the questions used in the survey or interview well-designed in terms of the standards disused in the chapter? The questions in the survey were well-designed since they dealt with the core of the issue while dealing with ESL students. The idea was to improve upon the writing skills of the students and this meant allowing students to express their words in writing. How were the data analyzed? If open-ended questions were used, does the researcher describe how they were analyzed and coded? The data was analyzed using ANNOVA test and the researcher does not describe in detail how the data was coded and analyzed. The data was analyzed using How were the data presented? If the study includes numerical data, how were they reported-by frequency, percentage, and /or mean? If the mean is reported, is the standard deviating reported? The data was represented both numerically and in descriptive form. Mean was used as a method for presenting the data and standard deviation was not reported. What conclusions were drawn? Are they justified in light of the data presented? It was concluded that WCF does indeed improve the writing skills of ESL students. Though, students being taught under the program did slightly less better in terms of sentence complexity and length of the writing piece but their writing skills considerably improved when compared with traditional teaching methods. The data is well-justified. What are the pedagogical implications of the study? Are they warranted in light of the findings of the study? The pedagogical implications suggest that using WCF teaching method is likely to result in improved writing skills. This is because traditional teaching styles are less focused on gaining accurate and timely feedback which delays the understanding process among students. The acquisition of lexical phrases in academic writing: A longitudinal case study What are the research questions? The research questions were, ‘1. How does the Chinese MA student’s use of lexical phrases develop over an academic year? 2. If the Chinese MA student begins using new lexical phrases, what is the source of acquisition for these new phrases? 3. How does the Chinese MA student’s use of lexical phrases develop over the academic year in terms of appropriateness of usage? 4. Will the Chinese MA student become more confident in her use of formulaic sequences over the academic year?’ (Li and Schmitt, 2009) Where was the survey/Interview conducted? The study was conducted in the University of Nottingham’s English Language Teaching Program. What was the population surveyed? What sampling procedures were used? The sample population for the study was a 29 year old Chinese participant enrolled in the Masters Program. How were the data collected? The data was collected through nine one-on-one interviews conducted with Amy in her native language, Chinese. Were the questions used in the survey or interview well-designed in terms of the standards disused in the chapter? The questions in the interview were well designed since they were semi-structured. This means that the interviewer did not follow predetermined questions that did not take into account the response of the participant. How were the data analyzed? If open-ended questions were used, does the researcher describe how they were analyzed and coded? The data was analyzed by a panel of three judges belonging to different scopes of the same field. These researchers were asked to analyze data using a five point scale that classified Amy’s use of lexical phrases from very appropriate to not appropriate. How were the data presented? If the study includes numerical data, how were they reported-by frequency, percentage, and /or mean? If the mean is reported, is the standard deviating reported? The data was represented both numerically and in descriptive form. The data was reported by frequency and percentage. What conclusions were drawn? Are they justified in light of the data presented? The research concludes the second language English learners can improve their use of lexical phrases through both implicit and explicit sources. The data is justified as Amy improved her usage of the phrases though she did not acquire many new phrases. What are the pedagogical implications of the study? Are they warranted in light of the findings of the study? The study helps in allowing teachers to benefit by providing them ways to incorporate lexical phrase education to their students. The study concludes the lexical phrases can both be learned through implicit and explicit sources. These implications are warranted since they have been tested on an ESL student. References Hartshorn, J. et. al, (2010) Effects of Dynamic Corrective Feedback on ESL Writing Accuracy. TESOL Quarterly Vol. 44, No. 1, pp. 84-108 Li, J. and Schmitt, N. (2009) The acquisition of lexical phrases in academic writing: A longitudinal case study, Journal of Second Language Writing 18, pp. 85–102 Suzuki, M. (2008) Japanese Learners’ Self Revisions and Peer Revisions of Their Written Compositions in English, TESOL Quarterly Vol. 42, No. 2, pp. 209-233 Read More