Options
Discourse features and strategies in students' writing at junior college level
Author
Ho, Caroline
Supervisor
Bikram Keshari Das
Abstract
The concern of this study is the essay that students are required to write for General Paper (GP), a paper for all students taking the General Certificate of Education (GCE) "A" level examination in Singapore, which qualifies them for admission to University.
The GP is treated both as a preparation for university study and as a n indicator that the student is ready for admission to the university. It thus has a significant role in preparing students to acquire the academic skills required in tertiary education.
The principal objective is to investigate the features of discourse which might characterise the GP essay as a preparation for university discourse. The study adopts a rhetorical approach, focusing on features of discourse, in keeping with the current interest of research in Applied Linguistics.
The research questions raised in the study attempt to investigate if the GP essay constitutes an identifiable genre, with a typical discourse structure, regulated by a set of conventions and expectations which are shared by members of a distinct discourse community consisting of teachers/examiners of the GP and students.
The study examines the background to the introduction of the GP in the pre-university curriculum in Singapore by tracing its roots to the British context of sixth-form education. The types of essay questions set by the Cambridge Syndicate for the GP examination are the analysed over a ten-year period to identify discernible trends.
The conceptual framework for the analysis of the GP essays in this study was provided by research studies constituting two important traditions in current research on written discourse. The first was based upon the model of genre analysis developed by Swales (1981) and other researchers. The GP essays is described, following this model, in terms of specific blocks, each of which comprises a set of moves which are ,in turn, composed of a number of steps, some of which are obligatory while others are optional. Each step may be realised by different linguistic markers. Linguistic features which signal these realisations are observed and discussed. The difference between the "good" and "poor" essays are also noted.
The second framework adopted was provided by the models developed by Toulmin (1958,1984), Hult (1986) and Hoey (1979, 1983, 1991), which help examine the GP essay as an instance of argumentative discourse, since the skills involved in producing GP essays are largely those of logical and intellectual argument.
In addition to the primary models adopted, studies of cohesion and coherence in texts, though not central to the study, are examined in an attempt to analyse specific discourse features that would characterise the GP essay as a distinct genre.
An investigations of the features of discourse which are associated with the " typical " GP essay is thus useful both from an Applied Linguistics as well as a pedagogical point of view. From a pedagogical point of view, this study should be of value in providing teachers with explicit descriptions of the features of discourse which need to be emphasised in the teaching and evaluation of the GP essay, if it is to be truly a preparation for the university.
The GP is treated both as a preparation for university study and as a n indicator that the student is ready for admission to the university. It thus has a significant role in preparing students to acquire the academic skills required in tertiary education.
The principal objective is to investigate the features of discourse which might characterise the GP essay as a preparation for university discourse. The study adopts a rhetorical approach, focusing on features of discourse, in keeping with the current interest of research in Applied Linguistics.
The research questions raised in the study attempt to investigate if the GP essay constitutes an identifiable genre, with a typical discourse structure, regulated by a set of conventions and expectations which are shared by members of a distinct discourse community consisting of teachers/examiners of the GP and students.
The study examines the background to the introduction of the GP in the pre-university curriculum in Singapore by tracing its roots to the British context of sixth-form education. The types of essay questions set by the Cambridge Syndicate for the GP examination are the analysed over a ten-year period to identify discernible trends.
The conceptual framework for the analysis of the GP essays in this study was provided by research studies constituting two important traditions in current research on written discourse. The first was based upon the model of genre analysis developed by Swales (1981) and other researchers. The GP essays is described, following this model, in terms of specific blocks, each of which comprises a set of moves which are ,in turn, composed of a number of steps, some of which are obligatory while others are optional. Each step may be realised by different linguistic markers. Linguistic features which signal these realisations are observed and discussed. The difference between the "good" and "poor" essays are also noted.
The second framework adopted was provided by the models developed by Toulmin (1958,1984), Hult (1986) and Hoey (1979, 1983, 1991), which help examine the GP essay as an instance of argumentative discourse, since the skills involved in producing GP essays are largely those of logical and intellectual argument.
In addition to the primary models adopted, studies of cohesion and coherence in texts, though not central to the study, are examined in an attempt to analyse specific discourse features that would characterise the GP essay as a distinct genre.
An investigations of the features of discourse which are associated with the " typical " GP essay is thus useful both from an Applied Linguistics as well as a pedagogical point of view. From a pedagogical point of view, this study should be of value in providing teachers with explicit descriptions of the features of discourse which need to be emphasised in the teaching and evaluation of the GP essay, if it is to be truly a preparation for the university.
Date Issued
1994
Call Number
PE1408 Ho
Date Submitted
1994