A corpus-based analysis of Involved aspects of student writing

Rooy, Bertus van; Terblanche, Lize

doi:10.1080/10228190608566259

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Noting negative attitudes towards idiosyncratic usage of speech forms in BSAE, Pienaar (: 148) makes observations on the attempts of purists to introduce what is called “plain language” in South Africa because BSAE speaking politicians use an opaque, incoherent and evasive language, which showed a “reflection of linguistic conventions in African languages”. This hint about informal language register is also found in the work of van Rooy and Terblanche () who carried out a study on a learner corpus of mother‐tongue speakers of Setswana (one of the indigenous African languages). They found a speech pattern that is less formal, more colloquial and general, that has ambiguous cohesive ties, and that is cautious and polite when a claim is made.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworksupporting

confidence: 56%

Black South African English on the radio

Makalela¹

2013

World Englishes

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For most rural communities in South Africa, community radio remains the most common mass communication channel which models English speech forms and functions. Whereas print media has received some attention in the earlier works on Black South African English (BSAE) research, the speech tokens used in the radio have not been empirically studied to date. In order to fill this gap and expand previous work on the variety, this study investigated high‐frequency features of BSAE drawn from a corpus of 209,000 words from a rural English‐medium community radio in Limpopo Province. Normalized frequency rates of syntactic, discourse and pragmatic features were calculated, using corpus quantification procedures, which were complemented by a cross‐linguistic analysis of the selected features with an upper limit of 10,000 words. The findings of the study provide evidence that BSAE has evolved alongside the nativization and endonormative phases proposed in Schneider's Dynamic Model and that both the radio usage and reliance on the logic of Bantu language substrate forms, in combination, reinforce its stabilization. Implications for future research directions are offered at the end of the paper.

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Section: Theoretical Frameworksupporting

confidence: 56%

Black South African English on the radio

Makalela¹

2013

World Englishes

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“…This finding is consistent with research on Chinese English learners’ argumentative writing in different contexts (e.g., Pan, 2012; Zhao & Wang, 2017), which indicates that Chinese English learners’ argumentative writing is characterized by involvedness regardless of the writing conditions. It is also congruent with studies regarding involvement and writer/reader visibility in argumentative essays (e.g., Petch-Tyson, 1998; van Rooy & Terblanche, 2006).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…Previous cross-linguistic studies have reported similar findings regarding interpersonal involvement and writer/reader visibility in learners’ writing. For example, van Rooy and Terblanche (2006) found that Tswana learners’ English writing was less formal and more colloquial, as they used the features of involvement 20% more often than native writers. In analyzing the linguistic features that mark writer/reader visibility in EFL learners’ writing, Petch-Tyson (1998) found that L2 learners used more features of writer visibility in their writing and that learners from different L1 backgrounds manifest them differently.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Multidimensional Analysis of Language Use in English Argumentative Essays: An Evidence From Comparable Corpora

Zhang

2023

SAGE Open

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Multidimensional (MD) analysis contributes to a comprehensive linguistic description of second language (L2) writing texts. However, cross-linguistic studies based on MD analysis are still insufficient and need to be increased. In particular, the unavailability of comparable corpora prevents current MD-based L2 writing research from making reliable comparisons of linguistic differences between native writers and L2 learners. Considering these, this study adopts corpora of maximum similarity for the cross-linguistic comparative analysis. Using Biber’s MD analysis, this study compares linguistic differences between native English writers and Chinese English learners in argumentative essays with similar communicative purposes. The analysis reveals that the two groups of texts show significant differences in slightly over half of the individual linguistic features but share more similarities than differences in textual dimensions. It also shows that the two groups are, in fact, different varieties of English language use, even though they share a similar text type of “involved persuasion.” The results confirm the importance of comparable corpora for cross-linguistic comparisons and the necessity of MD analysis for understanding L2 writing.

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“…The remark is often made that Outer Circle varieties sound overly formal (see Schneider 2007: 101; De Klerk and Gough 2002: 368). Nevertheless, some colloquial features are observed in writing, especially more situation‐dependent referencing, more dynamic presentation of events, more deliberate attempts to engage the reader as a conversation partner, and higher frequencies of grammatical constructions that occur more frequently in native speech than native writing (for Black South African English, see Van Rooy 2006, 2008; Van Rooy and Terblanche 2006, 2009; Terblanche 2009).…”

Section: Input and Innovation In The Outer Circlementioning

confidence: 99%

Social and linguistic perspectives on variability in world Englishes

Rooy

2010

World Englishes

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Linguistic variability is a peripheral concern to many linguistic approaches. This paper argues that much is gained by taking variability seriously. An examination of the views of Trudgill and Schneider leads to a number of insights into new varieties of English, which may have wider implications for a general understanding of variability in language. Trudgill's claim that the stabilisation of colonial varieties of English is achieved deterministically, without the mediating role of social forces is considered, but not accepted. However, Trudgill draws attention to the important influence of the distribution of variants in the input to the eventual outcome. Schneider's model is accepted as far as the social processes are concerned, but has to be supplemented with a more thorough consideration of the input to language contact settings. The examination of the two views lead to two insights into social and psycholinguistic aspects of English language acquisition and the formation of new varieties in Outer Circle contexts. On the social side, learners are exposed to more variability, but simultaneously receive less input. Conventions and stabilisation are therefore likely to take longer. On the psycholinguistic side, learners are cognitively more mature when language acquisition starts, leading to general schemas that are less instance-based than those acquired by young children whose cognitive and linguistic development are aligned. On the basis of a deeper appreciation of variability in new varieties of English, it is concluded that standardisation is unlikely to have a significant effect on new varieties, and that they will develop conventions grounded in actual language use.

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A corpus-based analysis of Involved aspects of student writing

Cited by 7 publications

References 22 publications

Black South African English on the radio

Black South African English on the radio

A Multidimensional Analysis of Language Use in English Argumentative Essays: An Evidence From Comparable Corpora

Social and linguistic perspectives on variability in world Englishes

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