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An investigation into the effect of explicit instruction in grammatical metaphor on academic writing
Author
Perez, Miller Reyes
Supervisor
Hu, Guangwei
Abstract
Previous research has highlighted the essentiality of grammatical metaphor (GM) in academic writing (Schleppegrell, 2004b; Thompson, 2009). GM is a powerful linguistic resource that enables the construal of incongruent or metaphorical renderingsand typically results in informationally dense texts with higher lexical density, objectification and condensation of ideas. While extant research has largely focused on the descriptions of GM with regard to learner development, the paucity of studies regarding its explicit instruction is apparent. For learners of English as an additional language, it is argued that having awareness of this powerful resource, coupled with the opportunity to employ it in their writing, is more important than just the researchers describing this language phenomenon. This dissertation reports on an experimental study designed to investigate the effect of the explicit teaching of nominalisation to realise grammatical metaphor in the writing of an expository essay in the context of a high-stakes examination. Linguistic analyses, both quantitative and qualitative, were carried out on 76 essay scripts from 38 Filipino ESL learners, of lower to higher intermediate proficiency in the English language. Quantitative analyses of the data revealed significant difference between the experimental and the control group, in terms of the frequency of nominalisations employed in the post-test, the resulting lexical density of texts, and the quality of writing in terms of essay organisation. Qualitative analyses of texts by participants that received the intervention revealed the employment of nominal groups linked with relational processes led to reduction in the number of ranking clauses and the use of head noun modifications led to an increase in the number of content words, both of which resulted in a higher lexical density of texts. Moreover, the use of nominalisation led to effective essay organisation by making the text cohesive and condensing the ideas which helped move the arguments forward. The dissertation concludes by discussing pedagogical implications regarding the explicit teaching of the powerful resource of grammatical metaphor through nominalisation to help learners write texts that are highly valued in academic contexts.
Date Issued
2016
Call Number
P301.5.M48 Per
Date Submitted
2016