Purpose: To provide an overview of a text about academic reading and writing taken from Unit 1 of EAP (English for Academic Purposes) class.
Thesis: Reading academic texts helps in the process of learning to write academically.
Audience: EAP teachers and students
I. Study of vocabulary in academic writing and reading
1. Carter (1987)
A. More advanced than the core words
2. Sinclair and Renouf (1988)
A. Core vocabulary -common word forms - central pattern of usage, possible combinations in collocation
3. Martin (1976)
A. Research-process vocabulary
B. Vocabulary of analysis
C. Vocabulary of evaluation
4. Nuttall (1996)
A. Schemata
II. Reading of academic texts
1. Motivation of meaningful writing
2. Opportunity for language acquisition and language study.
A. Analysis of vocabulary and grammar
B. Analysis of construction of sentences, paragraphs and texts
3. Introduction of interesting and engaging texts
A. Stimulation of discussion
B. Provocation of imaginative and creative responses
C. Challenge of students' cognitive capacities
D. Construction of general knowledge
4. Encouragement of advanced literacy
5. Development of reading capacities
References
Pintos V. (2009) Reading and writing connections in advanced literacy. (p 6-10)
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Discourse communities in education
Introduction
According to Swales (1990), a discourse community should meet six requirements: common goals, participatory mechanisms, information exchange, community-specific genres, highly specialized terminology and high general level of expertise. This work analyzes some articles taken from the Internet which support Swales’ theory. They are: Beyond reflection: teacher learning as praxis, Editor's choice: An open memo to Community College Faculty and Administrators, Teachers need teachers to grow and UCLA community college review: community college scholarship and discourse.
The purpose of all the articles mentioned in this paper is to discuss educational issues. Many of them consider the community college a discourse community and refer to Swales’ ( 1990)requirements.
The article “Teachers need teachers to grow” mentions factors that influence teacher learning and one of them is the importance of interactions in a discourse community. “Interactions with the people in one's environment are major determinants of both what is learned and how learning takes place. The sociocentric view (Soltis, 1981) of knowledge and learning holds that what we take as knowledge and how we think and express ideas are the products of the interactions of groups of people over time… For teacher learning to occur, teachers need opportunities to participate in professional communities that discuss learning theories and various teacher materials and pedagogy”(p. 1). The same article describes a study research and “The purpose of the study was to examine the nature of teacher learning in a cohort-based, master's degree program in curriculum and pedagogy that was intentionally designed to be responsive to teachers' personal needs and preferences” (p. 1). The process of the research was done with data collection methods which consisted of the analysis of documents and field notes, and participant observation.
The article “Beyond reflection: teacher learning as praxis” also refers to the intercommunication of the members of a discourse community, it claims that ”Journals or virtual systems of communication can be used to mediate teacher learning so they can recall, share, and respond to one another's experiences” (Blanton, Simmons, & Warner, 2001, p 5). Besides, it states that “Reflection without participation is as impossible as thought without language” (p. 4). It also mentions that “Teacher reflection in social context occurs as teachers engage in and share their reflections in diverse ways…Teachers function as resources for one another, providing each other with guidance and assistance on which to build new ideas.” (p. 4). As regards to highly specialized terminology, this article mentions Vygotsky's (1978) concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). With reference to the participatory mechanisms, the critical discourse community mentioned in this article says that it “utilizes the personal narratives of oppressed members of society as well as other artifacts (e.g., statistics, arguments) to modify teacher beliefs mainly through a critical analysis of content as the source for change” (p. 3).
Swales’ (1990) requirement about information exchange is also stated in the article UCLA community college review: community college scholarship and discourse. According to Bizzell (1992), a discourse community “is a group of people who share certain language-using practices ... [that] can be seen as conventionalized” (p. 1). This article also mentions that the group in a discourse community should achieve a certain level of knowledge as Swales (1990) affirms. Kutz (1997) claims that ”among members of the university discourse community, that communicative competence abides. Communicative competence is defined as what one must know in order to use language appropriately in particular discourse communities” (p. 3). As regards to the information exchange the article asserts that “ participating in the discourse community by reading and implementing changes at their campuses is just as important as publishing in keeping the discourse community alive and well. This type of participation can begin immediately, as resources such as the ERIC database offer access to many documents written by community college faculty about specific teaching and learning practices on their campus…it most often takes the form of oral dialogue or text in arenas such as e-mail, electronic mailing lists, and discussion forums on the Web”(p. 7).
The article called Editor's Choice: An Open Memo to Community College Faculty and Administrators also talks about the communicative competence that is described in the previous article.
Conclusion
The four articles analyzed in this paper support Swales’ requirement of a discourse community. All of them describe it as having common goals and a specific genre which are related to education and teaching. Some participatory mechanisms to provide information and feedback are mentioned. The requirement about information exchange is referred to in all the articles. Highly specialized terminology is mentioned in one of the articles. And a high general level of expertise in the discourse community is also described in the articles.
References
Bizzell, P. (1992). Academic discourse and critical consciousness. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. (cited in Kelly-Kleese, C., 2004)
Blanton, W.E., Simmons, E., & Warner, M. (2001). The fifth dimension: Application of cultural-historical activity theory, inquiry-based learning, computers, and telecommunications to change prospective teachers' preconceptions. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 24(4), 435-463. (cited in Hoffman- Kipp, P., Artiles, A. J., & Lopez Torres, L., 2003)
Hoffman-Kipp, P., Artiles, A. J., & Lopez Torres, L. (2003). Beyond reflection:
teacher learning as praxis. Theory into Practice. Retrieved October 2007,
from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NQM/is_3_42/ai_108442653
Kelly-Kleese, C. (2001). Editor's choice: An open memo to Community
College Faculty and Administrators. Community College Review. Retrieved
October 2007, from
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_29/ai_77481463
Kelly-Kleese, C. (2004). UCLA community college review: community college
scholarship and discourse. Community College Review. Retrieved October
2007, from
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_32/ai_n6361541
Kutz, E. (1997). Language and literacy: Studying discourse in communities and classrooms. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers. (cited in Kelly-Kleese, C., 2004)
Soltis, J. F. (1981). Education and the concept of knowledge. In J.F. Soltis (Ed.),_Philosophy and Education (95-113). Chicago: National Society for the Study of Education. (cited in Wenzlaff, T. L., & Wieseman, K. C., 2004)
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (cited in Hoffman-Kipp, P., Artiles, A. J., & Lopez Torres, L., 2003).
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research
settings. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (Cited in Pintos, V., 2009)
Wenzlaff, T. L., & Wieseman, K. C. (2004). Teachers need teachers to grow.
Teacher Education Quarterly. Retrieved October 2007, from
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3960/is_200404/ai_n9349405
According to Swales (1990), a discourse community should meet six requirements: common goals, participatory mechanisms, information exchange, community-specific genres, highly specialized terminology and high general level of expertise. This work analyzes some articles taken from the Internet which support Swales’ theory. They are: Beyond reflection: teacher learning as praxis, Editor's choice: An open memo to Community College Faculty and Administrators, Teachers need teachers to grow and UCLA community college review: community college scholarship and discourse.
The purpose of all the articles mentioned in this paper is to discuss educational issues. Many of them consider the community college a discourse community and refer to Swales’ ( 1990)requirements.
The article “Teachers need teachers to grow” mentions factors that influence teacher learning and one of them is the importance of interactions in a discourse community. “Interactions with the people in one's environment are major determinants of both what is learned and how learning takes place. The sociocentric view (Soltis, 1981) of knowledge and learning holds that what we take as knowledge and how we think and express ideas are the products of the interactions of groups of people over time… For teacher learning to occur, teachers need opportunities to participate in professional communities that discuss learning theories and various teacher materials and pedagogy”(p. 1). The same article describes a study research and “The purpose of the study was to examine the nature of teacher learning in a cohort-based, master's degree program in curriculum and pedagogy that was intentionally designed to be responsive to teachers' personal needs and preferences” (p. 1). The process of the research was done with data collection methods which consisted of the analysis of documents and field notes, and participant observation.
The article “Beyond reflection: teacher learning as praxis” also refers to the intercommunication of the members of a discourse community, it claims that ”Journals or virtual systems of communication can be used to mediate teacher learning so they can recall, share, and respond to one another's experiences” (Blanton, Simmons, & Warner, 2001, p 5). Besides, it states that “Reflection without participation is as impossible as thought without language” (p. 4). It also mentions that “Teacher reflection in social context occurs as teachers engage in and share their reflections in diverse ways…Teachers function as resources for one another, providing each other with guidance and assistance on which to build new ideas.” (p. 4). As regards to highly specialized terminology, this article mentions Vygotsky's (1978) concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). With reference to the participatory mechanisms, the critical discourse community mentioned in this article says that it “utilizes the personal narratives of oppressed members of society as well as other artifacts (e.g., statistics, arguments) to modify teacher beliefs mainly through a critical analysis of content as the source for change” (p. 3).
Swales’ (1990) requirement about information exchange is also stated in the article UCLA community college review: community college scholarship and discourse. According to Bizzell (1992), a discourse community “is a group of people who share certain language-using practices ... [that] can be seen as conventionalized” (p. 1). This article also mentions that the group in a discourse community should achieve a certain level of knowledge as Swales (1990) affirms. Kutz (1997) claims that ”among members of the university discourse community, that communicative competence abides. Communicative competence is defined as what one must know in order to use language appropriately in particular discourse communities” (p. 3). As regards to the information exchange the article asserts that “ participating in the discourse community by reading and implementing changes at their campuses is just as important as publishing in keeping the discourse community alive and well. This type of participation can begin immediately, as resources such as the ERIC database offer access to many documents written by community college faculty about specific teaching and learning practices on their campus…it most often takes the form of oral dialogue or text in arenas such as e-mail, electronic mailing lists, and discussion forums on the Web”(p. 7).
The article called Editor's Choice: An Open Memo to Community College Faculty and Administrators also talks about the communicative competence that is described in the previous article.
Conclusion
The four articles analyzed in this paper support Swales’ requirement of a discourse community. All of them describe it as having common goals and a specific genre which are related to education and teaching. Some participatory mechanisms to provide information and feedback are mentioned. The requirement about information exchange is referred to in all the articles. Highly specialized terminology is mentioned in one of the articles. And a high general level of expertise in the discourse community is also described in the articles.
References
Bizzell, P. (1992). Academic discourse and critical consciousness. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. (cited in Kelly-Kleese, C., 2004)
Blanton, W.E., Simmons, E., & Warner, M. (2001). The fifth dimension: Application of cultural-historical activity theory, inquiry-based learning, computers, and telecommunications to change prospective teachers' preconceptions. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 24(4), 435-463. (cited in Hoffman- Kipp, P., Artiles, A. J., & Lopez Torres, L., 2003)
Hoffman-Kipp, P., Artiles, A. J., & Lopez Torres, L. (2003). Beyond reflection:
teacher learning as praxis. Theory into Practice. Retrieved October 2007,
from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NQM/is_3_42/ai_108442653
Kelly-Kleese, C. (2001). Editor's choice: An open memo to Community
College Faculty and Administrators. Community College Review. Retrieved
October 2007, from
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_29/ai_77481463
Kelly-Kleese, C. (2004). UCLA community college review: community college
scholarship and discourse. Community College Review. Retrieved October
2007, from
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_32/ai_n6361541
Kutz, E. (1997). Language and literacy: Studying discourse in communities and classrooms. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers. (cited in Kelly-Kleese, C., 2004)
Soltis, J. F. (1981). Education and the concept of knowledge. In J.F. Soltis (Ed.),_Philosophy and Education (95-113). Chicago: National Society for the Study of Education. (cited in Wenzlaff, T. L., & Wieseman, K. C., 2004)
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (cited in Hoffman-Kipp, P., Artiles, A. J., & Lopez Torres, L., 2003).
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research
settings. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (Cited in Pintos, V., 2009)
Wenzlaff, T. L., & Wieseman, K. C. (2004). Teachers need teachers to grow.
Teacher Education Quarterly. Retrieved October 2007, from
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3960/is_200404/ai_n9349405
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