Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
The 5th International English for Specific Purposes Conference, Ankara, Türkiye, 1 - 02 Temmuz 2022, (Yayınlanmadı)
Data Driven Learning and Writing in ESP: The Use of Interactive Metadiscourse Markers
Metadiscourse plays an essential role in one’s written discourse competence, which is a part of communicative competence required for all the ESP learners, especially in the academic context. However, specific metadiscourse marker instruction is often ignored (Bogdanovic & Mirovic, 2018), and this results in ESP learners’ written products to be considered unqualified despite their proficient English use. In this vein, the present study suggests a model for interactive metadiscourse marker instruction and proposes a robust methodology to analyze the short- and long-term effects of this model on interactive metadiscourse marker usage. To accomplish its aims, the study focuses on seven freshmen pre-service English language teachers of Turkish L1 background who need to take the TOEFL IBT exam to pursue their university education in the USA via SUNY program of METU. It compares the types, frequencies and functions of interactive metadiscourse devices (i.e., transitions, frame markers and code glosses) employed by the participants in their English argumentative paragraphs to the TOEFL11: A Corpus of Nonnative English corpus – the largest publicly available corpus of English in the argumentative genre written by nonnative writers (11 different L1 backgrounds) which consists of 12,100 essays written by the test takers in TOEFL IBT exam in 2006 2007 from eight retired prompts (Blanchard, D.; Tetreault, J.; Higgins, D.; Cahill, A. & Chodorow, M., 2013). The 5-week instruction adopts data-driven learning methodology (DDL) and utilizes corpus-informed and student/group-specific materials by using the TOEFL11 corpus. The instruction is also supported by providing feedback, sample paragraphs and revision sessions. To be able to observe the effectiveness of the instruction model, a concurrent triangulation mixed-method design (Creswell, 2009) is adopted. Accordingly, the data are collected through five tools: (1) a background questionnaire, (2) argumentative paragraphs written by the participants before, during and after the instruction, (3) progress surveys implemented during and after the instruction process, (4) participants’ diaries kept during the instruction, (5) stimulated recall sessions and follow-up interviews. The 49 argumentative paragraphs of the participants are first analyzed qualitatively by utilizing Hyland’s (2005) Interpersonal Model of Metadiscourse to find the types and functions of interactive metadiscourse devices. Next, the paragraphs are analyzed quantitatively to find the frequencies of these interactive metadiscourse markers. Then, these frequencies are compared to the TOEFL11 corpus. The interviews and the questionnaires are analyzed thematically and used to gain in-depth insight into participants’ perceptions towards the training, teaching materials, and interactive metadiscourse marker use. The findings of the study point to the positive effects of the DDL methodology employed in the study. After the 5-week instruction that adopted DDL, freshmen pre service English language teachers started to use most of the studied interactive metadiscourse markers more accurately and frequently. The results also demonstrate that corpus-informed authentic materials and discovery learning, which DDL promotes, motivate learners, and consequently lead to better argumentative paragraphs. To conclude, this study suggests a contemporary interactive metadiscourse marker instruction model which employs student/group-specific and corpus-informed materials. In the light of the findings of the study, it is believed that the model can help ESP learners improve their written discourse competence especially in the academic context.
Keywords: ESP, Interactive metadiscourse marker instruction, Corpus-informed instruction, Student-specific instruction, TOEFL, Corpus