Specificity in Student Writer Texts Elaboration of the

Specificity in Student Writer Texts: Elaboration of the Nominal Group AAAL Orlando, FL. April 10, 2016 Sandra Gollin-Kies, Ph. D Benedictine University, Lisle, Illinois. USA.

The FYC project: General Research Questions ¢ ¢ What are the general features of first year composition students’ writing? Is there any evidence of a shift to greater orality in first year students’ writing over 30 years?

Previous research on FYC corpus ¢ ¢ ¢ General features of Orality (Daniel Kies) The verb (Sandra Gollin-Kies) Personal pronouns (Lambert) Findings: Students do not generally “write as they speak, ” but student writing shows more “spoken” characteristics than mature published academic writing. ¢ See ppts slides at http: //www. rhetory. com

Oral and literate discourse compared Positive features for orality: “interactiveness and personal involvement (1 st and 2 nd person pronouns, WH questions), personal stance (e. g. , mental verbs, that-clauses with likelihood verbs and factual verbs, factual adverbials, hedges), and structural reduction and formulaic language (e. g. , contractions, that- omission, common vocabulary, lexical bundles)” (Biber et al. , 2002, p. 186). These features contrast with literate discourse: “informational density and complex noun phrase structures (frequent nouns and nominalizations, prepositional phrases, adjectives, and relative causes) as well as passive constructions” (Biber et al. , 2002, p. 186).

Importance of the nominal group in academic writing ¢ ¢ ¢ Academic written English shows higher lexical density and greater abstraction than conversation (Halliday 1979, 1985; Halliday and Matthiesson, 2004). Nominalization is the major resource for abstraction and compression of information (Halliday, 1979; Biber and Gray, 2010; Biber et al. ) The use of complex nominalization has greatly increased in published academic writing (Biber and Gray, 2010) Pre- and post-modification of nouns is the major resource (though not the only one) for embedding information in the clause. Abstract and complex nominalization can create ambiguity for readers.

New hypothesis ¢ ¢ Compared with experienced academic writers, first year students under-utilize the semantic resources afforded by expansion of the noun phrase. This under-utilization is a function of a student’s stage in academic literacy development. See Biber and Gray (2011); Biber, Gray and Poonpon (2011); Parkinson and Musgrave, 2014).

New Research Question ¢ Do FYC texts show any developmental patterns in academic literacy? • Do FYC nominal groups show the same range of features as the reference corpora? • Do FYC nominal groups show lesser or greater complexity than the reference corpora?

Corpus Materials and Methods ¢ The FYC corpus l 200 essays on George Orwell’s “ 1984. ” from first-yr students at a midwestern 2 yr community college. (486, 211 words; av. length: 2, 937 words). ¢ Reference corpora l COCA Academic (Academic journal articles). 103, 421, 981 words l MICUSP (Michigan Corpus of Upper level Student Papers) 50 essays from final year undergraduates at the University of Michigan. Mostly literature and religion. (102, 500 words; av. length: 2, 050 words) ¢ All essays are: l either argumentative essays or “reports. ” l researched, edited essays with in-text citation l by L 1 speakers or proficient L 2 speakers of English

The Nominal Group Det. + (premod. ) + headnoun + (postmod. & complement) l l l The Vicar (of Wakefield) Chinese media dictatorship The use and effects (of propaganda (through the comparison (of Nazi propaganda (in Germany))) and (through big Brother’s totalitarian state (in Orwell’s 1984)))

Developmental stages in preand post-modification of head noun? Stages 2 -3 ¢ attributive adjectives (2) • Big Brother; dusty side roads • economic factors; potential disaster ¢ participial premodifiers (2) • a televised enemy • the advertising industry ¢ nouns as premodifiers (3) • mass communication • mind control ¢ possessive nouns as premodifiers (3) • Winston’s fear

Developmental stages in postmodification of head noun? Stages 3 -4 ¢ full relative clause (3) • an emotion that hinders the human being • anyone who has watched tv ¢ prepositional phrase as postmodifier – concrete meanings (3) • the ruler of the country • the nicotine in them ¢ non-finite relative clause (4) l -ed clause the dangers involved with sex l -ing clause the country doing the colonizing (Based on Parkinson and Musgrave (2014) following Biber et al. , (2011))

Developmental stages contd. More complex constructions Stages 4 -5 ¢ ¢ ¢ prepositional phrase as postmodifier – abstr. meanings (4) • the introduction of electronics; the rise of science preposition + nonfinite complement clause (5) • hope of overcoming the Great Depression complement clause controlled by noun (5) • viewpoint that using nuclear energy is equal to suicide appositive noun phrase (5) • the protagonist, Winston Smith • The National Socialist German Worker’s Party, the Nazi party to clause as postmodifier (5) • weapons to enable them to hunt larger and faster animals. ( based on Parkinson and Musgrave (2014) following Biber et al. , (2011))

Lexical choice in FYC and MICUSP COCA search for words in freq/mill ranges ¢ A: 0 -500; B: 501 -3, 000, C: >3, 000 ¢ Random essays (20% of each sub-corpus) Average frequency in each category: A B C ¢ FYC: 67 15 16 ¢ MICUSP: 59 13 29 ¢

Examples of nouns in each range From Pride and Prejudice essay (MICUSP) ¢ 0 – 500 l ¢ 501 - 3, 000 l ¢ women, family, things, girls, group, house, moment novel, frames, lady, scene, presence, advantage, agency, aspect >3, 000 l existence, acquaintance, fortune, household, invisibility, breeding, decorum, demarcation, neglect, manor

The Power of Hope (FYC) 80 -11 - 8 ¢ Hope can have many forms in society, it can be negative or false hope that is created to force people to think and act a certain way such as in the book Nineteen Eighty four. Hope can be positive like when a candidate runs for office, somewhere along the line, someone has to believe in a person and have hope that they can win in order to back that person. Hope overall however is most widely used to influence society in the form of religion.

Hope can have many forms in society, ¢ it can be negative or false hope ¢ l that is created to force people to think and act a certain way such as in the book Nineteen Eighty four.

On Frames and Resistance in Pride and Prejudice. (MICUSP) 53 -12 -36 ¢ In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the larger philosophical questions (of beauty, truth, and rationality) are examined in the context of frames. There exist the frames (of the country) and (of the city), (of privilege) and (of poverty), (of men) and (of women), (of family), and, potentially of most thematic importance to the novel, (of acting within) and (without the limits (of decorum)) and (the judgment (of others. ))

¢ There exist the frames of the country and of the city, of privilege and of poverty, of men and of women, of family, and, potentially of most thematic importance to the novel, of acting within and without the limits of decorum and the judgment of others.

A (Solitary) Place For Fantasy in Reality (MICUSP) 63 -13 -24 ¢ ¢ ¢ Reality is composed of a rather tenuous fabric (in the catalogue (of fantasy novels (we have explored this semester. ))) The majority (of this catalogue) introduces a protagonist (whose life is grounded somewhat firmly in the real world, ) but (who also happens to encounter the fantastic. ) Unlike fantastic novels (in which the protagonist is placed in a world (that is wholly fantastic (that is, a world (in which all characters acknowledge and accept the fantastic as being normal), fantastic novels (set in reality) require that measures be in place (to preserve the laws (of reality for the characters living outside of the protagonist’s experiences. )

Multiple embedding ¢ Unlike fantastic novels l in which the protagonist is placed in a world • that is wholly fantastic • (that is, a world • in which all characters acknowledge and accept the fantastic as being normal), ¢ ¢ fantastic novels l set in reality require that measures be in place l to preserve the laws • of reality • for the characters • living outside of the protagonist’s experiences.

COCAA 66 -11 -23 ¢ The starting point (for a systematic theology), then, consists in the elaboration (of the unified field structure. ) The first step lies in unfolding the four-point theological hypothesis, with the help (of analogies (drawn from cognitional and ethical theory) and (drawn from religious experience. )))

Findings: FYC vs MICUSP and COCAA ¢ COCAA has significantly more l l l ¢ FYC has significantly more: l l l ¢ common nouns, including abstract nouns attributive adjectives prepositions, especially “of” verbs nouns in COCAA 500 most common list relative pronouns, especially “that” reduced relative clauses periods (indicating more, but shorter sentences) MICUSP (UG subcorpus) has significantly more l l l nouns in COCAA >3, 000 (less common) list, but fewer abstract nouns than COCAA Pronouns (3 rd person) adverbs “Wh” relative pronouns Commas and parentheses (indicating fronted subordination, phrases in apposition, fronted adverbials) than FYC Sentences showing complex embeded in of post modifiers

POS Frequency in FYC, MICUSP, COCAA Part of Speech FYC 1984 sub-corpus 486, 211 words MICUSP Sub-corpus 100, 833 words COCA Academic 103, 421, 981 words /1, 000 words Pronoun 49 60 23 Preposition 114 119 128 Wh rel pron. 4 8 6 6 2 4 That rel pron.

POS Frequency in FYC, MICUSP, COCAA contd. Part of Speech FYC 1984 sub-corpus 486, 211 words MICUSP Sub-corpus 100, 833 words COCA Academic 103, 421, 981 words /1, 000 words Common nouns 224 208 262 Verbs 167 144 148 Adjectives 67 64 96 Adverbs 42 48 45

Post mod. in FYC, MICUSP, COCAA Noun phrase extended by post modification FYC 1984 subcorpus /1, 000 words MICUSP Sub-corpus /1, 000 words COCA Academic /1, 000 words “of” pp post modifier 27 30 32 “in” pp post modifier 7. 7 8. 3 9. 8 Non-finite (-ing) Rel Cl. 2. 6 2 0. 3 (est) Non-finite pass. 3 (-ed) Rel Cl. 1. 6 1. 2 (est) Finite “to +vb” post mod. n 5. 7 4. 4 8. 2

Conclusion ¢ ¢ Some evidence that supports Biber et al. ’s developmental stages. FYC students use the same range of resources of the expanded nominal group, but more of stages 2 -3. FYC use noun phrases in apposition more than expected. FYC shows a lesser degree of elaboration, including multiple embedding.

First year students are still in the process of mastering certain grammatical resources that are outside their everyday experience. ¢ FYC students have more exposure to instructional spoken classroom genres like the lecture and written genres such as the textbook than professional academic writing. ¢

Pedagogical strategies ¢ ¢ ¢ Draw attention to the variety of resources for elaboration of the noun phrase may help student writers develop a more convincing academic “voice. ” Students can engage analytically with samples of typical academic writing and compare with own texts. Students can practice expanding their own nominal groups.

References ¢ ¢ ¢ Biber, D. (1988). Variation across speech and writing. Cambridge NY: Cambridge University Pres. Biber, D. , Johannsen, S. , Leech, G. , Conrad, S. , & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow, England: Pearson Education. Biber, D. (2006) University Language: A corpus-based study of spoken and written registers. John Benjamins. Biber, D. , Conrad, S. M. , Reppen, R. , Byrd, R. P. , Helt, P. , Clark, V. , Cortes, V. , Csomay, E. , Urzua, A. (2004). Representing Language Use in the University: Analysis of the TOEFL 2000 Spoken and Written Academic Language Corpus. TOEFL Monograph Series. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service. Biber, D. , and Gray, B. 2010. Grammatical change in the noun phrase: the influence of written language use. English Language and Linguistics. (15) 2, 223 -250. Biber, D. , Gray, B. & Poonpon, K. (2011). Should we use characteristics of conversation to measure grammatical complexity in L 2 Writing Development? TESOL Quarterly. (45) 1. 5 -35

¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ Halliday, M. A. K. (1979). Halliday, M. A. K. (1985). Spoken and Written Language. Geelong, Victoria. Deakin University Press. Halliday, M. A. K. , & Martin, J. R. (1993). Writing science: literacy and discursive power. (Critical perspectives on literacy and education). London: Falmer. Halliday, M. A. K. , & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar (3 ed. ). London: Arnold. Martin, J. R. (2008). Incongruent and proud: devilifying ‘nominalization. ’ Discourse and Society. (19) 6, 801 -810 O’Donnell, M. UAM Corpus Tool 3. www. http: //www. wagsoft. com/Corpus. Tool/ Parkinson, J. , & Musgrave, J. (2014). Development of noun phrase complexity in the writing of English for Academic purposes students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes. (14), 48 -59. Scott, M. (2012). Wordsmith Tools version 6. Liverpool: Lexical Analysis Software.

Thank you! skies@ben. edu Project details will be available after the conference at: www. rhetory. com