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Enacting academic criticism in pre-university argumentative writing : a comparison of two competence groups
Author
Tang, Kum Khuan
Supervisor
Chandrasegaran, Antonia
Abstract
Academic criticism, the discourse realization of a discrepancy in stance between the thesis of an essay and an opposing view, is a genre practice characteristic of argumentative writing. The ability to enact academic criticism effectively has important implications for the cogency and coherence of an argument. Despite the centrality of academic criticism in the argumentative genre, the enactment of academic criticism in student writing has been under-researched. This study inquires into the academic criticism practices of successful and less successful student writers in the pre-university General Paper essay. The aim of the study is to elicit linguistic evidence of salient differences between the two groups in their deployment of moves and evaluative meanings in academic criticism. It is expected that the study’s findings will lend insights into how less successful student writers may be helped to produce more expert enactments of academic criticism in their argumentative essays.
Discourse analysis of moves and evaluative meanings in academic criticism was performed on 19 essays (9 successful and 10 less successful). The findings revealed a set of five moves in which the two groups of writers differed substantially in the frequency of deployment. Concerned with the presentation and countering of opposing views (OV), these moves were Raise OV, Provide Details to Construct OV, Signal the Status of Propositions as Aligning with OV, Support Counter-argument with Evidence, and Signal the Status of Propositions as Supporting Counter-argument. Additionally, substantial differences in rate of use were found in a category of evaluative meanings identified as modality.
It is argued that the observed textual differences in moves and evaluative meanings may be accounted for by variation in student writers’ familiarity with academic criticism as a genre practice. Genre familiarity, it is suggested, may vary in terms of control/mastery of the conventions of language use in academic criticism, rhetorical awareness, the use of knowledge to serve functional roles in academic criticism, and the adoption of attitudinal postures appropriate to academic criticism.
Pedagogical implications of the study include explicit instruction in the linguistic strategies and patterns of evaluation that are conventional to academic criticism, teaching students to adopt a rhetorical mindset during academic criticism, and adaptive writing exercises to train students in knowledge-transforming for academic criticism.
Discourse analysis of moves and evaluative meanings in academic criticism was performed on 19 essays (9 successful and 10 less successful). The findings revealed a set of five moves in which the two groups of writers differed substantially in the frequency of deployment. Concerned with the presentation and countering of opposing views (OV), these moves were Raise OV, Provide Details to Construct OV, Signal the Status of Propositions as Aligning with OV, Support Counter-argument with Evidence, and Signal the Status of Propositions as Supporting Counter-argument. Additionally, substantial differences in rate of use were found in a category of evaluative meanings identified as modality.
It is argued that the observed textual differences in moves and evaluative meanings may be accounted for by variation in student writers’ familiarity with academic criticism as a genre practice. Genre familiarity, it is suggested, may vary in terms of control/mastery of the conventions of language use in academic criticism, rhetorical awareness, the use of knowledge to serve functional roles in academic criticism, and the adoption of attitudinal postures appropriate to academic criticism.
Pedagogical implications of the study include explicit instruction in the linguistic strategies and patterns of evaluation that are conventional to academic criticism, teaching students to adopt a rhetorical mindset during academic criticism, and adaptive writing exercises to train students in knowledge-transforming for academic criticism.
Date Issued
2013
Call Number
PE1408 Tan
Date Submitted
2013