A Contrastive Study of ESP Text Books and Content Books for Metadiscourse Markers: The Cases of Psychology, Medicine, and Mechanical Engineering

Alibabaee, Ahmad; Eslamizadeh, Fereshteh; Soleimani, Fatemeh

doi:10.17507/tpls.0604.29

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 36 publications

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“…They found that most phrases suggested for taking part in academic speaking events in small groups in three EAP coursebooks did not appear in the laboratory and tutorial corpora they developed. Alibabaee et al (2016) observed that metadiscourse markers, such as hedges boosters, occurred significantly fewer in an EMP coursebook designed by Iranian writers than in a content coursebook written by first language speakers of English. Sznajder's (2010) study revealed a slight overlap between metaphors included in a business English coursebook and those in a business English corpus.…”

Section: Focus and Methods Of Esp And Emp Coursebook Analysismentioning

confidence: 90%

Investigating English for Medical Purposes (EMP) Coursebooks in China: Insights from Learner and Teacher Questionnaires and Coursebook Analysis

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English for Medical Purposes (EMP) education is growing rapidly in China, with over 100 medical universities or faculties offering EMP courses. The overarching aim of this research is to investigate how EMP coursebooks can effectively support Chinese tertiary EMP learners and teachers through a mixed method approach. Study 1 involved developing, validating, and delivering a learner questionnaire and a teacher questionnaire to explore the use, evaluation, and needs regarding EMP coursebooks. Study 2 focused on one commonly used EMP coursebook identified from Study 1 by applying and adapting Littlejohn’s (2011) framework to analyze its content. The integration of the two studies allowed for an in-depth investigation into the effectiveness of EMP coursebooks in supporting Chinese tertiary EMP learners and teachers.Study 1 began with determining content areas and drafting the questionnaires in English, followed by examining the representativeness and relevance of the content areas and questionnaire items. The readability of both the English questionnaires and their Chinese translations was assessed before proceeding to the piloting stage. The learner questionnaire underwent two rounds of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and one Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The EFAs revealed that the underlying structure of the learner responses did not match the theoretical structure of the questionnaire well. The structure identified from the second EFA was modified to better fit the data in the CFA. The modified structure of the learner questionnaire consisted of five variables. Two variables were related to coursebook use: (1) teacher-supervised coursebook preview and review and (2) learners’ self-directed coursebook use. One variable concerned coursebook evaluation: reflection of how EMP is actually used in the field of medicine by providing texts and topics medical students may encounter in studies and future work. The remaining two variables involved learners’ needs from the coursebooks: (1) scaffolding, such as providing answer keys and tips for completing activities, and (2) interactive activities like pair or group work.Several key findings emerged from the descriptive, inferential, and qualitative content analyses of the learner questionnaire data (n = 522). First, learners often used their EMP coursebooks in a self-directed way. Second, they agreed that their coursebooks effectively reflected how EMP is actually used in the field of medicine. Third, they needed scaffolding and interactive activities in the coursebooks. Fourth, they needed great support in learning medical vocabulary and paid extra attention to specialization of medical content, meta-language, organization of content, and use of images in the coursebooks. The statistical and qualitative content analyses of the teacher responses (n = 51) revealed that the teachers rarely created their own materials but frequently adapted their EMP coursebooks. They agreed on the effectiveness of their coursebooks in reflecting how EMP is actually used in the field of medicine. Their strongest need regarding EMP coursebooks was guidance on vocabulary use, followed by supporting resources on medical content. The teacher questionnaire did not undergo EFA and CFA.In Study 2, one EMP coursebook was analyzed using an adapted version of Littlejohn’s (2011) three-level framework: (1) objective description; (2) task analysis in terms of process, mode of participation, and content; and (3) inference about underlying principles. The analysis revealed that the coursebook provided sufficient supporting resources to scaffold EMP learning and teaching, including video scripts, Chinese translations of the texts, and answer keys. Most coursebook images supported learners’ understanding of texts. The limitations included (1) a lack of guidance on medical vocabulary frequency and register, (2) threats to the authenticity of original texts through adaptations, (3) absence of some common medical text types, such as case reports and medical records, and (4) little attention to discoursal features, such as grammatical features and genre conventions.This research provides guidance for coursebook designers in designing EMP coursebooks that can effectively support EMP education in China. Findings can raise EMP teachers’ awareness of addressing deficiencies in their coursebooks by adapting the materials effectively. Moreover, this research highlights the importance of using rigorous approaches to develop questionnaires with sufficient reliability and validity.

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Section: Focus and Methods Of Esp And Emp Coursebook Analysismentioning

confidence: 90%

Investigating English for Medical Purposes (EMP) Coursebooks in China: Insights from Learner and Teacher Questionnaires and Coursebook Analysis

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Revisiting Metadiscourse Markers of the Language Learners in Academic Writing

Çubukçu

2017

rrem

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This study which explores successful and less-successful learners' comparative essays written by university students learning Turkish, which is based on two corpora of student writing: 20 successful essays and 20 less-successful essays in Turkish. Using Hyland's (2005) model of interactional metadiscourse, these papers were compared to examine the extent to which successful and less successful student-produced comparative essays differ in their employment of interactive and interactional modes. Findings of the analysis suggest that successful essays contain significantly greater instances of particularly interactive devices than less successful essays.

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Metadiscursive Markers and Text Genre: A Metareview

Alonso

Míguez‐Álvarez

2021

Publications

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Given the interest in the study of metadiscourse as the communication of ideas and the way people use language in different communicative situations, this paper attempted to find the degree of confluence between metadiscourse markers from different studies and to show how patterns of metadiscourse analysis based on various written genres can be applied to a wider range. The mean values for the frequency of marker use and their respective deviations were determined by comparing a significant number of studies on metadiscourse elements. To ensure comparability, those following Hyland’s model were chosen. The units of analysis were grouped into two broad categories based on discursive characteristics: Academic genres (research articles, theses, and textbooks) and non-academic genres, which included documents ranging from newspaper editorials or opinion columns to Internet texts and other forms of digital communication. The results of our study highlight that the disparity in interactive markers between academic and non-academic texts is relatively small. This difference has been identified by previous studies, and it is confirmed herein that the difference may be related to the use of academic language, the topic, or the object of study. In contrast, the mean values of the interactive markers in non-academic texts are considerably higher than those in academic texts. At the same time, the texts seem to be organised along two axes (interactional and interactive) in distinct areas. Despite our initial assumptions that the data would be subject to individual variations, that differences would be found between different sections of the same genre within the same academic discipline, and that the results would vary if certain texts were added or excluded, we observed certain trends in the behaviour of the documents, although it prevailed that, within each category, the texts should be studied individually.

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A Contrastive Study of ESP Text Books and Content Books for Metadiscourse Markers: The Cases of Psychology, Medicine, and Mechanical Engineering

Cited by 3 publications

References 36 publications

Investigating English for Medical Purposes (EMP) Coursebooks in China: Insights from Learner and Teacher Questionnaires and Coursebook Analysis

Investigating English for Medical Purposes (EMP) Coursebooks in China: Insights from Learner and Teacher Questionnaires and Coursebook Analysis

Revisiting Metadiscourse Markers of the Language Learners in Academic Writing

Metadiscursive Markers and Text Genre: A Metareview

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