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Getting to specifics in a general writing course

Getting to specifics in a general writing course. Randi Reppen Northern Arizona University. Multicultural writers. What does it mean to teach writing? . Raise audience awareness Teach appropriate conventions Write for different purposes Writing to learn

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Getting to specifics in a general writing course

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  1. Getting to specifics in a general writing course Randi Reppen Northern Arizona University

  2. Multicultural writers

  3. What does it mean to teach writing? • Raise audience awareness • Teach appropriate conventions • Write for different purposes • Writing to learn Focus is on information NOT interpersonal!!

  4. Who are we teaching? Majors: • Engineering • Natural Science • History • Literature • Communication • Education • ?????????

  5. What do we teach? • Using and citing sources • Avoiding plagiarism • Critical thinking • Information packaging • Conventions (formatting, citations) • Discourse conventions

  6. Linguistic characteristics of academic writing A word about corpus linguistics

  7. General characterisitcs • use of nominalizations government, ability, demolition • noun~noun dial caliper, cable television show • prepositional phrases valid for a period of two years from original purchase • Technical / specialized use of terms chain

  8. pronouns I, we, you, they • use of passive (be + past participle) was discussed, is claimed

  9. Active vs. Passive voice • Two Ecology research articles • Introduction • Methods • Results • Discussion From Biber, D. Conrad, S. Reppen, R. (1996) Corpus linguistics: Investigating language structure and use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

  10. Lexical bundles • the nature of the • in the case of • as a result of • on the basis of • in terms of the

  11. What about specific disciplines?

  12. Engineering & Natural Sciences • as shown in figure • an increase in the • the rate at which • the ratio of the • as a function of

  13. Humanities & Social Sciences • the fact that the • by the fact that • are likely to be • are more likely to

  14. Frequent passive + preposition constructions • aligned with • based on • coupled with • attributed to • subjected to.

  15. Teaching how to learn • Strategies for looking at texts • Discovering disciplinary norms • Students as researchers • Look at texts for conventions • Look for specific linguistic features

  16. Some things to look for: • Does the article have an abstract, diagrams, pictures, charts, etc? • Are there references in the text? • What types of sources are presented in the bibliography? • Are there explicit research questions or hypotheses? • Does the article identify a gap in the literature? • Are there ‘technical’ terms? • Are data presented?

  17. Feedback • Can’t fix everything at once • Start with big issues that impact understanding • Involve students – text comparisons

  18. Break out sessions • Try some of these ideas • Set of articles from three disciplines • Economics, Geology, Art • Nursing, Engineering, Education Sheet with suggestions of things to look for Plus a task

  19. Selected References • Biber, D. 2006. University language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. • Biber, D., Conrad, S., and Reppen, R. 1998. Corpus linguistics: Investigating language structure and use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. • Biber, D., Conrad, S., Reppen, R., Byrd, P., and Helt, M. 2002. Speaking and writing in the university: A multi-dimensional comparison. TESOL Quarterly 36, 9–48. • Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., and Finegan, E. 1999. The Longman grammar of spoken and written English. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education. • Biber, D., and Reppen, R. 2002. What does frequency have to do with grammar teaching? Studies in Second Language Acquisition 24, 199–208. • Conrad, S., and Biber, D. 2009. Real grammar: A corpus-based approach to English. Harlow, Essex: Pearson/Longman.  • Donley, K. M., and Reppen, R. 2001. Using corpus tools to highlight academic vocabulary in SCLT. TESOL Journal 10, 7–12. • Horst, M., Cobb, T. and Nicolae, I. 2005. Expanding academic vocabulary with an interactive on-line database. Language Learning and Technology 9 (2), 90–110. • Hyland, K. and Milton, J. 1997. Qualification and certainty in L1 and L2 students’ writing. Journal of Second Language Writing 6, 183–205 • O’Keefe, A., McCarthy, M., and Carter, R. 2007. From corpus to classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. • Nesi, H., and Basturkmen, H. 2006. Lexical bundles and discourse signaling in academic lectures. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 11, 283–304. • Reppen, R. 2010. Using corpora in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. • Robinson, M., Stoller, F., Constanza-Robinson, M., and Jones, J. 2008. Write like a chemist. New York: Oxford University Press. Useful online corpora and tools • Antconc concordance program: www.antlab.sci.waseda.ac.jp/software.html • www.americancorpus.org • corpus.byu.edu/time/

  20. Thanks!

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