Overcoming the Gap in Exposure to Text: Using a reading corpus in an academic writing class

1. Overcoming the Gap in Exposure to Text:Using a reading corpus in an academic writing class Diane Schmitt Nottingham Trent University Norbert Schmitt Nottingham University

2. The EAP Course Context • MA Journalism • No credits awarded, but pass required for progression onto MA program • MA Media and Globalisation • 20-credits on a 180-credit course • This course was designed specifically to attract international students. However, most of the classes are already existing modules from other existing MAs.

3. Identifying a sub-set of issues for teaching academic writing

4. Student Voices • I can read all of the words, but I don’t understand the sentence. • I wrote every thought I had in everyday language, because I haven’t had any academic vocabulary at that stage. • When I heard about the plagiarism software, I freaked out. How do I express the specialized language? I spent 12 hours a day for two weeks and I got a 7% match.

5. Writing from sources begins with reading Reading Constructs • Reading for basic comprehension • recall • summarization • text-based multiple choice questions • Reading to learn – connecting new information with background knowledge • recognition of text structure • create a representation of content knowledge • Reading to integrate • link texts with regard to their individual text structure • link content knowledge from a single text with that from one or more texts (Trites and McGroarty, Language Testing, 2005)

6. Reading to Learn • Learning content • When the linguistic load rises, can students still learn new content from what they are reading? • Learning language • When the content requirements increase (or kick in for the first time), can students still acquire language?

7. Consider… • A study by Van Patten (1990) demonstrates that learners cannot pay attention to form without a loss of attention to content, and that when confronted with the choice between attention to content or form, they prioritize content.

8. So…. • We need to consider how the increased cognitive load of writing from source texts impacts on students’ ability to control other aspects of the writing task, e.g: organizational structure, vocabulary choice, grammatical choice and accuracy.

9. Creating a mini-corpus from topic-based readings How does the media influence the migration debate? (asylum, refugees, migrant workers)

10. Types of Reading Texts • Newspapers • On-line news • Textbooks • Journal Articles • Government and NGO reports

11. Creating a mini-corpus:Sample Academic Texts • Allan, S. (1999). Making news: Truth, ideology and newswork, News Culture. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press (pp. 48-82) • Colville, R. (2006). Words and images. Refugees, 142, 1, 14-19. • Coole, C. (2002). A warm welcome? Scottish and UK media reporting of an asylum seeker murder. Media Culture Society, 24 839. • van Ginnekin, Jaap, (1998). Introduction. Understanding Global News. London: Sage. (pp. 1-21) • Guedes Bailey, O. and Harindranath, R. (2005). Radicalized ‘othering’: The representation of asylum seekers in the news media. In S. Allan, Journalism: Critical Issues. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press (pp. 274-286) • McNair, B. (1999). News and Journalism in the UK. 2nd ed. London: Routledge. (pp. 19-27) • Mollard, C. (2001). Asylum: The truth behind the headlines, UK Poverty Programme of Oxfam GB. Oxford: Oxfam. • ter Wal, J. (ed.) (2002). Racism and Cultural Diversity in the Mass Media. Vienna: European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations. • van Dijk, T. (2000). New(s) racism: A discourse analyltic approach. In S. Cottle (ed). Ethnic Minorities and the Media. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.

12. 11510 2867 5257 7943 5248 12028 2500 8004 Don’t be afraid of dealing with the real reading requirements of university life. Ensure massive exposure! Text Size – Word Counts

13. Allan, S. (1999). News Culture. Open University Press.

14. Nature of Texts Chosen • Directly and indirectly related to the essay topic • More general readings on the role of journalism • More specific readings on representations of asylum seekers in the media or media bias. • Readings should include references to external sources • Linked articles • The articles cite each other.

15. Reading Sequence for Migration Essay Task Read and Discuss and Apply • Intro to Journalism • News Values – Identify news values used in today’s papers. Apply, Read, Discuss and Apply - Vocabulary Focus • Understanding Global News • Identify own cultural bias through map drawing exercise. • Identify cultural orientation or bias in sample news stories. • Focus on word meanings, word associations, connotations and collocations. Read, Discuss and Consider Notemaking Techniques • Journalism’s Social Role Read, Discuss and Analyse Language • Making News (1) • Sentence study - unpack the grammar of sentences. Recognize the use of nominalization in academic texts.

16. Reading Sequence for Migration Essay Task Read, Discuss and Formulate a Viewpoint to take into an Essay on a Specific Topic • Making News (2) • How does the media influence your viewpoint? • Jigsaw Reading of Newspaper Articles on Migration, Asylum and Refugees • Read a non-academic report. • Refugee Magazine – Words and Images • Compare claims in the magazine report with your own views and with the newspaper articles you read.

17. Reading Sequence for Migration Essay Task Read, Discuss – Raise Awareness of Cultural References and Claims And Support • A Warm Welcome? Scottish and UK media reporting of an asylum-seeker murder • Provide political background to help students understand the uniqueness of the Scottish situation. • Review organisational structure – how does this structure strengthen the claims being made by the author? Read a full journal article • New(s) Racism: A discourse analysis approach, van Dijk (2000) • Focus on vocabulary use – subtle meanings, connotation, collocation • Focus on sentence structure – topicalization, use of passive • Focus on use of punctuation and fonts • Apply this type of analysis to some sample news stories.

18. Reading Sequence for Migration Essay Task Noticing how writers use sources • Radicalized ‘othering’: The representation of asylum seekers in the news media. • Mark up a text to show how the author refers to sources. • Highlight use of reporting verbs in this and previous texts. • Focus on van Dijk (2000) citations. How did the authors of this paper incorporate information from van Dijk into their paper • A Warm Welcome:Scottish and UK media reporting of an asylum-seeker murder • Raising awareness of how summary is used as one type of citation. Reading the actual references.doc asylum_truth.pdf

19. Other ways to optimise use of the corpus • Vocabulary learning • Word lists, frequency and recycling • Words AWL OUTPUT.htm • Words (BNC) OUTPUT.htm • Global word list.doc • Global-SocialCOMPARE output.htm • Global-SocialVOCABPROFILE.htm

21. Other ways to optimise use of the corpus • Grammar and collocation focus • Concordance lines for reporting verbs • Exemplify and teach grammar points, eg. Use of passive voice, relative clauses • Search for formulaic sequences • e.g. transition phrases

22. Argue

23. Summary points for improving the quality of materials for teaching writing from sources • Integrate reading and writing – develop materials in tandem. • Use texts for both reading to learn content and reading to learn language. • Increase the reading load in writing classes. Acknowledge that proficiency in reading to integrate is fundamental to the creation of good quality written texts. • Contextualize quoting, paraphrasing and summary writing practice; work with multiple sources. • Remember that citing sources involves much more than simply learning the mechanical conventions of a specific referencing system.

24. Compleat Lexical Tutor • The Compleat Lexical Tutor http://www.lextutor.ca/ or http:/132.208.224.131/ • Vocabulary Profile

25. Useful Resources from UNHCR