Structure and Cohesion of English Narratives by Nordic and Chinese Students

Abstract

As one of the most notable studies in discourse level of English as second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) in Nordic countries, NORDWRITE project (1985) succeeds in identifying important problems and suggesting solutions for students’ writing in terms of discourse-level properties such as cohesion and superstructures. Findings from NORDWRITE project were reported in several papers, such as Enkvist (1990), Evesen (1990), Lindeberg (1988), Linnarud (1986), Wikborg (1990). However, a comparative study of Nordic and other EFL/ESL writing has not been dealt with yet. In order to identify similarities and differences between English writing of two distinct first language (L1) groups, in this study, a number of Chinese ESL texts were collected and compared with the results obtained from NORDWRITE project. In this study, narrative was elicited by giving subjects a series of pictures which allows reliable comparison across texts produced by different subjects. A group of Hong Kong Chinese tertiary students was asked to write narratives in both English and Chinese. Meanwhile, a group of English students with similar age and education background wrote the narratives in English, and their texts serve as a reference for comparison. The areas for analysis cover narrative structure and cohesion. By examining the similarities and differences in Chinese ESL students’ and Nordic EFL students’ texts, we find that certain similarities between the two groups are due to the fact that English is their second/foreign language. On the other hand, differences may be attributed to the influence of their L1, as the two groups belong to two distinct language groups. The study also shows that certain writing problems of ESL/EFL students are originated from inadequate understanding of English discourse. The implications of L1 influences on discourse level for ESL/EFL writing were drawn as well.

PhD revisited: Content in Nordic pupil narratives in instructedEFL

“…Linnarud (1986) studied vocabulary in Swedish upper-secondary level texts and claimed that poor lexicon was to blame when Swedish pupils wrote "dull and uninteresting compositions with repetition of high fre-quency lexical items" (p. 42). In Albrechtsen, Evensen, Lindeberg, and Linnarud (1991) the various aspects of Scandinavian pupil writing with regard to discourselevel properties, such as superstructure and cohesion, were examined, and Lee (2003) compared their results to Chinese English as a Second Language (ESL) students' discourse development, finding a consistent pattern of superstructure even though their first languages are different. Rahbek (2005) compared the outcome of text exchange for pupils who exchanged texts internationally, to texts written in an ordinary classroom context.…”

Diagnóstico de las dificultades en el uso de los conectores en una tarea escrita por parte de aprendices de inglés como lengua extranjera: Estrategias de corrección

“…Los conectores son elementos muy importantes para profesores y aprendices de idiomas ya que sirven para estructurar los textos en el discurso escrito y oral y, como consecuencia, tienen que ver con el éxito o el fracaso en la comunicación en la lengua término (objeto de aprendizaje). Sin embargo, los conectores han sido tradicionalmente relegados en los libros de texto en la enseñanza del inglés, particularmente en lo que respecta a los niveles elemental e intermedio; esto puede explicar las muchas dificultades que encuentran los aprendices a la hora de escribir textos como se observa en muchos estudios: Granger & Tyson (1996), Abe (2001), Lee (2003), Fe (2006), Wei-Yun Chen (2006), Zhang (2007), Bikeliené (2008), Jalilifar (2008), Jiménez Catalán & Ojeda Alba (2010). Los objetivos de este artículo son dos.…”

“…Néanmoins, les connecteurs ont été traditionnellement relégués dans les méthodes d'enseignement de la langue anglaise, surtout en ce qui concerne les niveaux élémentaire et intermédiaire ; cela peut expliquer le grand nombre de difficultés auxquelles les apprentis se heurtent lors d'écrire des textes, comme nous pouvons constater dans un large répertoire d'études : p. ex. Granger & Tyson (1996), Abe (2001), Lee (2003), Fe (2006), Wei-Yun Chen (2006), Zhang (2007), Bikeliené (2008), Jalilifar (2008), Jiménez Catalán & Ojeda Alba (2010). Deux sont les objectifs de cet article.…”

“…The various difficulties students encounter when writing texts are reported for instance in Granger & Tyson (1996), Abe (2001), Lee (2003), Fei (2006), Zhang (2007), Bikeliené (2008, Jalilifar (2008), and Jiménez Catalán and Ojeda Alba (2010).…”

Case Study on Persuasiveness of Argument Texts Written by Proficient and Less Proficient Malaysian Undergraduates

“…Instead of the learners' English profi ciency being the main factor as found by Degand and Sanders, it was the type of text and the presence of logical connectors that infl uenced the reader's ability to comprehend logical relationships in Zadeh's study. Lee (2003) brought another perspective into this investigation by comparing the use of connectives by native and non-native speakers of English. Lee compared the narrative texts written by 40 Hong Kong Chinese tertiary students (in both English and Chinese) and 40 English speakers of similar age and educational background.…”