Using Critical Discourse Analysis Based Instruction to Improve EFL Learners’ Writing Complexity, Accuracy and Fluency
محورهای موضوعی : language teaching
1 - Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics Islamic Azad University at Central Tehran
2 - MA in TEFL Islamic Azad University at Central Tehran
کلید واژه: Critical Discourse Analysis, Writing Accuracy, writing complexity, writing fluency,
چکیده مقاله :
The literature of ELT is perhaps overwhelmed by attempts to enhance learners’ writing through the application of different methodologies. One such methodology is critical discourse analysis which is founded upon stressing not only the decoding of the propositional meaning of a text but also its ideological assumptions. Accordingly, this study was an attempt to investigate the impact of critical discourse analysis-based (CDA) instruction on EFL learners’ writing complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). To fulfill the purpose of this study, 60 female intermediate EFL learners were selected from among a total number of 100 through their performance on a piloted sample PET. Based on the results, the students were randomly assigned to a control and an experimental group with 30 participants in each. Both groups underwent the same amount of teaching time during 17 sessions which included a treatment of CDA instruction for the experimental group. A writing posttest was administered at the end of the instruction to both groups and their mean scores on the test were compared through a MANOVA. The results led to the rejection of the three null hypotheses, thereby demonstrating that the learners in the experimental group benefited significantly more than those in the control group in terms of improving their writing CAF. To this end, it is recommended that CDA instruction be incorporated more frequently in writing classes following of course adequate syllabus design and materials development.
هدف از این مطالعه، بررسی تأثیر آموزش مبتنی بر سخن کاوی نقادانه بر پیچیدگی ساختاری، صحت و روانی نگارش زبان آموزان انگلیسی بود. بدین منظور، 60 زبان آموز سطح متوسط از میان 100 زبان آموز بر اساس نحوه پاسخگویی خود به یک آزمون نمونه پایلوت شده PET انتخاب شدند و به صورت تصادفی به 2 گروه آزمایشی و کنترل متشکل از 30 زبان آموز در هر گروه تقسیم شدند. هر 2 گروه تحت یک میزان آموزش در طی 17 جلسه قرار گرفنتد و گروه آزمایشی آموزش مبتنی بر سخن کاوی نقادانه را تجربه کردند. در پایان، هر 2 گروه در پس آزمون یکسان شرکت کردند و میانگینهای آنان از طریق آنالیز چندمتغیره واریانس مقایسه گردید و نتیجه آن که هر 3 فرضیه رد شدند و ثابت شد که پیچیدگی ساختاری، صحت و روانی نگارش زبان آموزان گروه آزمایشی به میزان معناداری بهتر از گروه کنترل بود.
Atkinson, D. (2003). L2 writing in the post-process era: Introduction. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12(1), 3-15.
Beilder, P., G. (2010). Writing matters. Washington: Coffee Town Press.
Bohannon, J., M. (2005). I hate writing: The unofficial guide to freshman composition and undergraduate writing. Bloomington: I Universe.
Boston, J. M. (2002). How to get away with things with words. Essay for Module 5 Written Discourse. Retrieved May 29, 2015 from www.cels.bham.ac.uk/ resources/essays/Boston5.pdf.
Brumfit, C. J. (1984). Communicative methodology in language teaching: The r
oles of fluency and accuracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Celce-Murcia, M., & Olshtain, E. (2000). Discourse and context in language teaching: A guide for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chakraverty, A., & Gautum, K. (2000). Dynamics of writing. Forum English Teaching, 38(3), 22-25.
Correia, R (2006). Encouraging critical reading in the EFL classroom. English Teaching Forum, 60(4), 16-20.
Cots, J. (2006). Teaching with an attitude: Critical discourse analysis in EFL teaching. ELT Journal 60(4), 336-345.
Ellis, R., & Barkhuizen, G. (2005). Analyzing learner language. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. New York: Longman.
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Cambridge: Polity
Press.
Fairclough, N. (1995) Critical discourse analysis. London: Longman.
Fairclough, N. (2003). Analyzing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. London: Routledge.
Fowler, R., Hodge, R., Kress, G., & Trew, T. (1979). Language and control.
London: Routledge.
Fredricks, L. (2007). A rationale for critical pedagogy in EFL: The case of Tajikistan, The Reading Matrix, 7(2), 22-28.
Hall, D., & Foley, M. (2011). New total English. London: Pearson
Housen, A. & Kuiken, F. (2009) Complexity, accuracy and fluency in second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 461-473.
Huckin, T. N. (1997). Critical discourse analysis. In T. Miller (ed.) Functional approaches to written text: Classroom applications (pp. 78-92). Washington DC: United States InformationAgency.
Hunt, K. (1965). Recent measures in syntactic development. Elementary English, 43, 732-739.
Hunt, K. W. (1970). Syntactic maturity in school children and adults. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 35(1), 1-67.
Icmez, S. (2009). Motivation and critical reading in EFL classrooms: A case of ELT preparatory students. Theory and Practice in Education, 5(2), 123-145.
Jalali, H., & Zarei, G. R. (2016). Academic writing revisited: A phraseological analysis of applied linguistics high-stake genres from the perspective of lexical bundles. Journal of Teaching Language Skills 34(4), 87-114.
Janks, H. (1999). Critical language awareness journals and student identities. Language Awareness, 8(2),111-22.
Kamler, B. (2001). Relocating the personal: A critical writing pedagogy. New York: State University of New York Press.
Koll, T. (2012). Better writing: Beyond periods and commas. Maryland: Rowman & Little Field Education.
Koupaee Dar, Z., Rahimi, A., & Shams, M., R. (2010). Teaching reading with a critical attitude: Using critical discourse analysis to raise EFL university students’ critical language awareness. International Journal of Criminology and Sociological Theory (3)2, 457-476.
Kress, G. (1985). Linguistic processes in sociocultural practice. Victoria, Australia: Deakin University Press.
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (1990). Reading images. Victoria, Australia: Deakin University Press.
Marashi, H., & Jafari, R. (2012). The comparative effect of using critical thinking, constructivist learning, and a combination of the two techniques on EFL learners’ writing. Iranian EFL Journal, 8(4), 206-225.
Marashi, H., & Yavarzadeh, E. (2014). Using critical discourse analysis instruction in argumentative and descriptive writing classes. Issues in Language Teaching, 3(2), 209-236.
Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (2009). Towards an organic approach to investigating
CAF in instructed SLA: The case of complexity. Applied Linguistics, 30, 555-578.
Pallotti, G. (2009). CAF: Defining, refining and differentiating constructs. Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 590-601.
Pennycook, A. (2001). Critical applied linguistics: A critical introduction. Mahwah, NJ, USA: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Schmidt, R. (1992.) Psychological mechanisms underlying second language fluency. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 14, 357-385.
Seidlhofer, B., & Widdowson, H. (1999). Coherence in summary: The contexts of appropriate discourse. In W. Bublitz, U. Lenk, & E. Ventola (Eds.) Coherence in spoken and written discourse: How to create it and how to describe it (pp. 205-219). Amsterdam, PA: John Benjamins.
Skehan, P. (1989). Individual differences in second language learning. London
: Edward Arnold.
Skehan, P., & Foster, P. (1997). Task type and task processing conditions as influences on foreign language performance. Language Teaching Research, 1, 185-211.
Tavakoli, M., & Rezazadeh, M. (2014). Individual and collaborative planning conditions: Effects on fluency, complexity and accuracy in L2 argumentative writing. Journal of Teaching Language Skills 32(4), 85-110.
Van Dijk, T. A. (1997). Discourse as social interaction. London: Sage.
Van Dijk, T. A. (2006). Discourse and manipulation. Discourse and Society, 17(2),359-383.
Wallace, C. (1992). Critical literacy awareness in the EFL classroom. In N. Fairclough (ed.) Critical language awareness (pp. 59-92). London: Longman.
Wallace, C. (1999). Critical language awareness: Key principles for a course in critical reading. Language Awareness, 8(2),98-109.
Weigle, S. (2002). Assessing writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wells, H. G. (1922). A short history of the world. London: Penguin.
Wolfe-Quintero, K., Inagaki, S., & Kim, H.-Y. (1998). Second language development in writing: Measures of fluency, accuracy, and complexity. Honolulu: Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Zhang, L. J. (2009). Teaching critical reading to in-service EFL teachers in Singapore. TESOL TEIS Newsletter, 24(1), 1-10.
Zinkgraf, M. (2003). Assessing the development of critical language awareness in a foreign language environment. Retrieved Oct 7, 2014 from www.eric.ed.gov/ ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/52/9c.pdf.