Reviews

• ATESOL Newsletter - Vol 26 No. - December 2000   • ALM Oct/Nov/Dec 2000

Reviewed by Jackie Cipollone, Project Officer
Access Educational Services Division, TAFE NSW
ATESOL Newsletter - Vol 26 No. - December 2000

Academic writing: a language based approach

Robyn Woodward-Kron, Elizabeth Thomson and Jim Meek
Gonichi Language Services, University of Wollongong, 2000

Academic writing: a language based approach is an interactive learning tool in CD-ROM form. According to the publisher, Gonichi Language Services, it was developed to meet the needs of students from language backgrounds other than English who need support with their writing. However, the publisher notes that it is also suitable for students from an English speaking background who need help meeting the writing demands encountered at university.

The information in the resource is presented in three sections. The first of these is The Big Picture which deals with the structure of seven types of texts students may be required to write at university. Text types dealt with here include essays, reports and synopses and come from a range of disciplines. The second section, called The Middle Ground, looks at paragraphs and their structure and focuses on how theme and rheme contribute to cohesion in paragraphs. The third section, Up Close, discusses features of academic language such as the differences between spoken and written language and the use of nominalization in academic writing.

One of the strengths of this resource is the way in which the medium used to deliver the content enhances student participation. This is more than just pages on a screen. For instance in the first section, users can drag paragraphs (thesis, arguments and conclusion) to their correct place in an essay. Feedback for this task is immediate, since the software will not allow a paragraph to be dragged to the wrong place. The activity on writing cohesive paragraphs, where use is made of moving arrows and text that becomes highlighted, is a particularly effective way of tracing themes in a given paragraph and showing the connection between a theme and its preceding rheme. Another strength of the resource is the way in which its content is presented in a logical and sequential build up of information.

Interactive CD-ROMs can be useful to consolidate what a teacher has taught in a classroom and to give students the opportunity for self-assessment. Inherent in them is the weakness that they are only able to see things in black and white terms. For instance, a spelling or typing error in an activity on nominal groups in the third section is taken as an incorrect response. This could cause confusion among weaker learners. Having said that, this resource is generally far more 'human' than many others on the market. Another possible drawback, particularly for NESB learners, is the presumption that users will understand Systemic Functional Grammar terms, especially in the later activities. For instance, letting users know that a marked topical theme has greater prominence than an unmarked topical theme could overwhelm learners with unknown meta language and impede their understanding of the concept that the activity is trying to Illustrate.

On balance, however, the strengths of this resource outweigh its weaknesses and it provides many worthwhile and interesting activities that should sharpen the writing skills of already competent users of academic English.

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Reviewed by Margaret Allan, Senior Lecturer in Language Education
School of Education James Cook University
ALM Oct/Nov/Dec 2000

Academic writing: a language based approach

Developed by Robyn Woodward-Kron, Elizabeth Thomson and James Meek
University of Wollongong: Gonichi Language Services, 2000. (Macintosh and PC versions available).

Availability: Gonichi Language Services, University of Wollongong, PO Box U39, Wollongong NSW 2500
Single user $70; 5 user licence $140; 10 user licence $210; 20 user licence $350; and 40 user licence $600.

Academic writing is an interactive CD-ROM package developed to teach students about writing at university. Although primarily designed as support material for international students of English for Academic Purposes (EAP), it would also be relevant to many in the wider community of undergraduate students.

A particular strength of this well-designed resource is that it is built around a body of student texts which exemplify seven types of tertiary level writing drawn from a wide range of disciplines. These texts provide real examples of good student writing mainly at first year undergraduate level, which serve to illustrate different aspects of academic writing. The central design is based on three levels of analysis: the 'Big Picture' level focuses on whole texts, the 'Middle Ground' level is concerned with paragraphs and the 'Up Close' section zooms in on some typical features of academic language.

The program is an excellent example of good pedagogic practice which is sound but unobtrusively based in linguistic theory. The approach is informed by genre theory and systemic functional grammar, a theoretical perspective which gives coherence to the multi-level analysis and underlies the consistent foregrounding of meaning in the discussion of linguistic choices.

The three-level structure constitutes a three section main menu, which is always accessible through the package logo, with topic selections available through the navigation bar for each section. There are some elegant solutions to the problems of presenting extended chunks of text on a computer screen, notably the use of a 'rollover' feature to reveal additional information. This serves, for example, to expand a list of headings, one item at a time, without the need to navigate between screens. Rollovers are also used to good pedagogical effect to link annotations to sections of the text, so that, for example, the 'Orientations to the Topic' and ' Thesis Statement' parts of an essay are colour highlighted and the reference items for pronouns are tracked within a paragraph.

The glossary is a good example of the way the transparency of the design combines with a carefully restricted choice of metalanguage and a simple, direct style of writing to make this a very accessible guide. There are only 17 glossary entries, which are listed down the left-hand side of one screen, leaving two thirds of the screen as boxed space where the definition appears. Point the arrow at 'clause', and this is what comes up: "The clause, like a sentence, contains a verb or verbal group. A sentence can be made up of just one clause (example given) or several clauses (example given). " The metalanguage is largely confined to traditional grammatical terms such a relative clause, adverbial group, passive voice and connective words. This seems a sensible decision since EAP students, the primary target audience, are usually very familiar with traditional grammar. For others, the fact that Academic writing makes very good use of text examples throughout should help them understand the limited number of grammatical terms used.

It is difficult to convey in print the 'feel' of an interactive CD-ROM. I shall try to do this by giving an abbreviated version of the menu items for each section as I work through them in turn.

The Big Picture: types of writing at university

Essay Essay structure; Three essay types (Explanation, Exposition, Discussion); annotated models of disciplinary essays (examples from Creative Arts, History, Law, Management, Modern Languages and Philosophy) 3 tasks

Report Examples of Accounting and Finance, Law Court Observation, Technical and Research Reports.

Synopsis Examples from History and management essays, technical reports from Civil Engineering and Engineering Management and a Masters level Education Research report.

Case Study

Literature Review Includes an annotated example of a literature review from Computer Science.

Book Review

Annotated Bibliography

The Big Picture section takes a genre approach to the above seven types of writing, with a focus on the structure and purpose of each type. In the Essay option the full text is provided with annotation of structural features. A good practical point here is the inclusion of a Print button, although this is only made available in the Essay option. Annotated models are also included under report, Synopsis, Literature Review and Annotated Bibliography. This inclusion of a variety of full text types is a particularly valuable feature for first year students, as it would contribute to the often difficult task of working out what is expected of them within different disciplines.

The Middle Ground: writing paragraphs

Writing cohesive paragraphs Topic sentences and supporting information; Maintaining the focus; Theme development and cohesive writing. 5 tasks

Paragraph structure: more on the system of Theme Topical Theme; Where there is more than one Theme; Patterns of Theme development. 2 tasks

In this and the Up Close section it is suggested that learners do the topics in order, as each builds on previous knowledge. For example, the first task under "Topic sentences" is to choose the most appropriate summary of the main idea in a paragraph and this is followed by a task to identify the topic sentence which encapsulates that main idea. The concept of theme development is introduced through the systemic functional grammar concepts of Theme and Rheme, which are explained in clear, simple terms, through examples and diagrams. The concentration here is on Theme/Rheme as the structuring device in a paragraph with the theme as "the starting point from where the rest of the clause unfolds" and the Rheme, or remainder of the clause, as the component that contains new information. The point is made that introducing new information in first position in a clause (Theme position) can have a jarring effect in English, as it is not the usual way of organising information. Tasks involve charting different patterns of Theme/Rheme within a paragraph and rewriting clauses to move new information into the Redeem component.

The second main option in this section, Paragraph structure, expands on the system of Theme, but avoids going into technical, analytical detail. The analysis is done for you, with the Theme(s) already underlined in the sample paragraph, so that the focus is on how information is positioned throughout the paragraph and the emphasis is on the meaning of choices. Attention is drawn, for example, to the way that placing a personal comment first in a clause serves to emphasize the writer's opinion.

Up Close: academic language

Spoken and written language 1 task The things in the text: the nominal group and Actions into things: nominalisation 6 tasks

Cohesive writing CONJUNCTION (addition, time, cause/consequence, comparison, elaboration) 6 tasks REFERENCE 3 tasks

Formal and informal language and Expressing opinion and attitude 2 tasks

The 'Up Close' section is concerned with a more detailed analysis of features of spoken and written language as a basis for examining the formal style of academic writing. Again the topics are ordered in a logical sequence. Under the first topic, a continuum from most spoken to most written language is introduced, in terms of minimum and maximum distance between participants and from an action. This continuum features again under nominalisation, with examples of the distancing effect of turning events or actions into things by changing verbs to nouns. Nominalisation appears again as one of the grammatical features listed on a continuum of informal and formal language. This detailed exposition of the nature of formal language, with consolidating tasks at each step, is a good example of the coherence of this language-based approach to the study of academic writing.

Under 'The expression of opinion and attitude' there is another example of the linking of grammatical choice and meaning in the introduction of the concept of high modality in persuasive texts and the association of low modality with texts which appeal to reason, such as reports and essays.

Tasks are a central feature of the design, serving to give learners the opportunity to check their understanding of concepts and to reinforce these through the commentary which is included in the answer key. For example, the task for the first topic in the Up Close section requires learners to place five extracts on a spoken - written continuum. The answer key lists the features which contribute to the level of formality and the rollover function highlights those features in the text extract. Some tasks present a real challenge in the level of reading comprehension involved, as in the task to rearrange jumbled paragraphs in a Big Picture section essay. Here again the rollover function is neatly used to bring up the full paragraph from the first line shown on screen. The re-ordering of the six paragraphs is done by dragging the first lines to the appropriate section of a table showing the generic structure of the text.

This package is a rare combination of sound language theory, intelligent instructional design and elegant navigational devices. From past experience with EAP students I have no doubt of its value in providing a wealth of examples of academic writing and a variety of ways of examining and interacting with them. In my current teaching I can see a number of applications with first year undergraduate education students in raising their awareness of the feature of academic writing and in developing some understanding of genre. It would also provide excellent additional practice for student teaching taking a subject which introduces them to the concepts of functional grammar. In short, this team has produced a rich resource which meets a number of needs for support and practice in the study of language as well as in academic writing.

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