This study investigates the key multimodal academic literacy and numeracy practices of five international postgraduate students enrolled at an Australian university. Specifically, it aims to provide an account of the salient textual and the logical patterns through the analysis of cohesive devices in a key topic in the Management Accounting course, namely budgeting schedules. The research study employs a Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA) of texts (Alyousef, 2013, 2015; Alyousef & Mickan, forthcoming). This approach is framed by Halliday's (1985) Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) approach and Halliday & Hasan's (1976) cohesion analysis schemes. SFL provides powerful analytical tools for foregrounding the processes through which students construct disciplinary specific knowledge in a community through academic literacies. Lexical cohesion formed the largest percentage of use, and in particular repetition of the same lexical items, followed by reference.The findings contribute to the description of the meaning-making processes in these multimodal artefacts. They provide a potential research tool for similar multimodal investigations across a broad range of educational settings. Implications of the findings are finally presented.
Education in Saudi Arabia employs English as a foreign language. Several researchers have examined language policies governing English use. Current research suggests that official policies do not exist and self-English language policies (ELPs) are in place without any type of governance. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the nature of self-ELPs in Saudi Arabia and how the country can benefit from engendering institutional changes. An eight-item survey was conducted with an open-ended section and received responses from faculty members affiliated with English departments around the country (n = 213). Semi-structured interviews with eight chairpersons from different English departments were also organized. The findings reveal that the majority of faculty practice self-ELPs very frequently, in both official and non-official situations. It is concluded that English departments in the academia in Saudi Arabia are ready to enforce official ELPs and accept the idea of internationalizing their academic services worldwide.
Saudi higher education recognizes the importance of teaching and learning the English language, leading to the establishment of several academic English departments to fulfill national needs. Mastery of English in an EFL (English as a foreign language) context requires more frequent language use, both inside and outside the classroom domain. Current research suggests that investigations into Saudi students’ English language use inside the classroom have been addressed, but outside its boundaries and at the department level have yet to be addressed. This study aimed to address that gap to provide insights into female learners’ perspectives on the Saudi EFL learning environment. It adopted a mixed-methods approach for data collection. A seven-item survey with an open-ended section was filled out by Saudi female students (n = 381) studying in English departments nationwide. Additionally, semi-structured interviews with two questions were conducted with BA and MA English students (n = 10). The findings reveal the failure of Saudi English departments to provide students with the English practice opportunities they need and learners’ dissatisfaction with the current learning environment. The implications of the study include the urgent need for decision-makers to intervene and change the current status quo.
Both English and Arabic are used in Saudi higher education institutions. Research on English language policies (ELPs) in the Saudi context is limited, highlighting the need for further examination of their implementation and nature. This study investigates the need to introduce a top-down ELP in the Saudi higher education context and the best way to apply this policy from the perspectives of instructors and administrators. A mixed-method approach to data collection was employed: official documentation was analyzed and an online survey, with an open-ended section for faculty members affiliated with Saudi higher education English departments across the country (n=210), was employed. Thereafter, semi-structured interviews were conducted with chairpersons and vice-chairs of university English departments (n=8). The findings suggest that although the majority of English departments recognize the importance of using ELPs, they have either not introduced them or have practiced them implicitly, with a high degree of flexibility that has led to these policies playing a marginal role in academia. The study concludes by encouraging policymakers to design a unified framework for ELPs with the involvement of representatives from university English departments. Other implications are also discussed.
Empirical research studies of finance students’ language use have investigated students’ performance in finance courses and the effect of class attendance on students’ performance.Similarly, research on accounting students’ texts has been directed at readability of accounting narratives and lexical choices. Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) based research in multimodal communication and representation has been confined to school and workplace contexts. Whereas multimodal communication investigations in tertiary contexts has been conducted across the fields of mathematics, science and computing, and nursing, business courses have not been explored. The purpose of this paper is to report on a case study designed to investigate the key multimodal academic literacy and numeracy practices of ten international Master of Commerce Accounting students enrolled at an Australian university. Specifically, it aims to provide an account of the salient textual and the logical patterns through the analysis of cohesive devices in a key topic in the Principles of Finance course, namely capital budgeting techniques and management reports. This study is pertinent as most international ESL/EFL students’ enrolments in Australia and elsewhere is in business programs. This study is underpinned by Halliday’s (1985) Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) approach to language and Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) cohesion analysis scheme. The study employs a Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA) for the analysis of cohesive devices in the participants’ multimodal texts. Lexical cohesion formed the largest percentage of use, and in particular repetition of the same lexical items, followed by reference.The findings contribute to the description of the meaning-making processes in these multimodal artefacts. They provide a potential research tool for similar investigations across a broad range of educational settings. Implications of the findings for finance students and educators are finally presented.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.