Randi.Moxnes.Karlsen@plu.ntnu.no Programme for Teacher Education/ PLU

1. Quality in Student Texts Randi.Moxnes.Karlsen@plu.ntnu.no Programme for Teacher Education/ PLU • Theme: Quality in Student Texts • I. Research Design: • Quantitative⇒ qualitative⇒ quantitative (Brannen 2005) • II: My Choice: • Population: 995 student texts /the KAL-project • My sample: 57 texts, stories/ short stories • 35 of which both censors agreed upon grade 2 • 22 of which both censors agreed upon grade 5 • III: Main Aims: • Search for positive qualities in both text groups: • Structure – content – length • IV: Research Question:

2. Research Question • What are students in lower secondary school able to write as they are writing for their national exams in year 10? • How do they write stories and short stories? • Which quality features are dominant?

3. Focus in This Presentation • Processing data • Structural features, differences and similarities • Content, 1) Special structures • 2) Leading verbs • 3) Ways of writing descriptions • Length, comparison

4. PROCESS Qualitative Approach, Processing Data

5. Structure and Content • Typical 2 texts • Linear, no leaps in time • Direct speech – simple verbs to start dialogues • Typical 5 texts • Frame stories, stories within stories • Parallel stories, melting together in the end • Systematic repetitions of words, utterances, lines (ex.) • In Medias Res, exciting starts, leaps in time • When there is direct speech – started by advanced verbs

6. Story with Repetition • Structure in text 507, three different varieties (transp.) • 1) repeated question 2) claim 3) the word liar/ • ”løgner”: • 1) Hvordan kunne du?in sentences 3, 20, 32, 34, 43 62 and 63 • 2) men ikke din typein sentences 6, 7, 11 • 3) løgnerin sentences 14, 15

7. Leading Verbs: Dialogues • Texts that are graded 2 • In 14 out of 35 texts there are direct dialogues • In 23 out of 35 texts there are in indirect dialogues (Penne 1989:82). • Leading verbs for the dialogues: say – ask - answer • Mostly used verb is to say with 74 examples – once together with the adverb quickly and in one other text there is an additional “to himself”. • To ask: 42 examples • To answer:9 examples (total of 125) • Besides these 3 verbs a few unusual verbs are used once or twice: mase, kviskre, hulke, tenke, utbryte, rope, true, kjefte, lyge, foreslå, avhøre, forklare, love, ønske, lure på, bestille, avvise, fortelle, kreve, vite, høre, godsnakke and innrømme (total of 23). • The 2 writer is not using a variety of leading verbs in his dialogues compared to the 5 writer.

8. Example of verbs in one 5 text • Text 230 shows a variety of leading verbs. This seems to be a quality that the censors might have recognized and all utterance does not necessarily contain a leading verb (Aaslestad 1999:63). • Leading verbs in text 230: • 5 to say 4 to ask 3 to answer • 1 comfort 1 cry 1 tempt at 1 pray • In total in one text: 16 leading verbs in 26 dialogues • This shows that this writer uses 7 different leading verbs in one text. The leading verb is also often added by an adverb or a sentence:

9. Say - Ask – Answer: examples • Sier Kenneth fort og veldig lavt • Svarer han stille • Prøver Silje seg • Sier hun forsiktig • Ber Silje med sammenfollede hender • Sier Kenneth og smiler gjennom tårene • Svarer Kenneth og stråler av forelskelse • Skriker Silje og løper opp på rommet sitt • Sier Silje og smiler tilbake • Sier han med et blikk som viser at han virkelig mener det

10. Skildringer / descriptions • In 2 texts 36 examples • In 5 texts 156 examples • “håret var tjafsete og slitt, hun var fryktelig tynn og en sigarettsneip hang ut av munnvika. Jeg presenterte meg som: “Kari, dotter di”. Hun fikk ekte hakaslepp og stod bare og måpa. Etter ei stund ba hun meg kommeinn, vi satte oss på sofaen …” (5 text 869)

11. Quantitative example: Length • The shortest 2 text has 93 words /13 lines • and the longest has 774 words /71 lines • The shortest 5 text has 458 words /60 lines • and the longest has 1367 words /121 lines

12. 1 The shortest 2 text 93 words 2 186 3 186 4 199 5 227 6 242 7 250 8 252 9 259 10 270 11 289 12 289 13 294 14 306 15 321 16 325 17 330 18 342 19 362 20 373 21 414 22 429 23 461 24 478 25 489 26 495 27 509 28 540 29 553 30 566 31 594 32 597 33 649 34 737 35 The longest 2 text 774 words 1 The shortest 5 text 458 2 522 3 552 4 556 5 583 6 617 7 629 8 629 9 635 10 644 11 716 12 776 13 812 14 839 15 904 16 949 17 981 18 1003 19 1008 20 1236 21 1363 22 The longest 5 text 1367 A Picture of Length

13. Literature on Methodology • Postholm, May Britt (2005) Kvalitativ metode. En innføring med fokus på fenomenologi, etnografi og kasusstudier. Universitetsforlaget, Oslo • Brannen, Julia (2005) Mixing Methods: qualitative and quantitative research. In International Journal of Social Research Methodology: Theory and Practise volum 8, issue 3.

14. Labov -structure in stories Aaslestad -content in stories Berge Dysthe Evensen Hoel Halse Hultman/Westman Johnsen Kibsgaard Lorentzen Linnarud Moslet Ongstad Penne Skjelbred Smidt Swales Sørensen Togeby Vagle Vinje Literature (a selection)