Thematic choice and expression of stance in English argumentative texts by Norwegian learners

Hasselgård, Hilde

doi:10.1075/scl.33.12has

Cited by 19 publications

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“…These learners over-applied the Swedish principle of Rheme later in their second language German, indicating first language (L1) transfer at the interface of syntax and information structure, especially for structures that were frequent in the L1. Hasselgård (2009a;2009b) found that Norwegian EFL learners tended to thematize adverbials in writing, exhibiting features of the Norwegian pattern because Scandinavian languages, such as Norwegian and Swedish, were more flexible than English in terms of word order and allowed more room for fronting adverbials. Rørvik (2012) pointed out that differences in the use of thematic progression strategies between the NICLE writers and professional writers of English were most probably due to transfer from Norwegian through comparison with Norwegian texts written by professional writers in a study examining the use of thematic progression in material from the Norwegian component of the International Corpus of Learner English (NICLE).…”

Section: The Factors That Influence English Learners' Themes and Themmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theme and thematic progression in learner English: A literature review

Wei

2014

Colomb. Appl. Linguist. J

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Theme and thematic progression in learner English has been studied extensively. This paper reviews the literature of Theme and thematic progression in learner English. Related articles appearing in the international journals from 1994 to 2013 are gathered and analyzed so that the following four questions can be answered: (i) How can Theme and thematic progression improve coherence in learner English output? (ii) How do English learners deviate from English native speakers in Theme and thematic progression in their output? (iii) What factors contribute to English learners' deviation in use of Theme and thematic progression? (iv) How can instruction in Theme and thematic progression improve English learners' use of Theme and thematic progression? Observations are also provided. This review not only provides a synthesis of the related literature in Theme and thematic progression, but also points to issues that could be further addressed in this research area.Keywords: learner English, Theme, thematic progression. ResumenTema y progression temática en el aprendiz de inglés ha sido estudiado de manera extensiva. Este artículo revisa la bibliografía del Tema y progresión temática en el aprendiz de inglés. Artículos relacionados que han sido publicados en revistas internacionales desde 1994 hasta 2013 fueron recolectados y analizados para que estas preguntas puedan ser respondidas: (i) ¿Cómo puede el Tema y la progresión temática mejorar la coherencia en el resultado del aprendiz de inglés? (ii) ¿Cómo pueden apartarse los aprendices de inglés de los hablantes nativos de inglés en el Tema y progresión temática en sus resultados? (iii) ¿Qué factores contribuyen a la desviación de los aprendices de inglés que utilizan Tema y progresión temática? (iv) ¿Cómo las instrucciones en Tema y progresión temática mejorar el uso de Tema y progresión temática en los aprendices de inglés? Esta revisión no solo muestra una síntesis de la bibliografía relacionada con Tema y progresión temática, sino que también señala asuntos que podrían ser abordados en esta área de investigación.Palabras clave: aprendiz de inglés, Tema, progresión temática.

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Section: The Factors That Influence English Learners' Themes and Themmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theme and thematic progression in learner English: A literature review

Wei

2014

Colomb. Appl. Linguist. J

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“…This tendency to link sentences together by means of (unmarked) clause-initial adverbials is shared by other V2 languages such as Norwegian (Hasselgård 2009) and German (Kirkwood 1969;Carroll, Murcia-Serra, Watorek & Bendiscioli 2000;Bohnacker & Rosén 2008). 1 English, on the other hand, has a more rigid SVO structure in which the use of clause-initial position is restricted and the subject has an important linking function (Carroll et al 2000;Los 2009).…”

Section: Comparative Pragmatics Of Clause-initial Position In Dutch Amentioning

confidence: 94%

Information structural transfer in advanced Dutch EFL writing

Vuuren

2013

AVT

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This article presents a case study on the role of L1 transfer of language-specific features of information structure in very advanced L2 learners. Cross-linguistic differences in the information status of clause-initial position in a V2 language like Dutch compared to an SVO language like English are hypothesized to result in overuse of clause-initial adverbials in the writing of advanced Dutch learners of English. This hypothesis was tested by evaluating advanced Dutch EFL learners' use of clause-initial adverbials in a syntactically annotated longitudinal corpus of student writing, compared to a native reference corpus. Results indicate that Dutch EFL learners overuse clause-initial adverbials of place as well as addition adverbials that refer back to an antecedent in the directly preceding discourse. Although there is a clear development in the direction of native writing, transfer of information structural features of Dutch can still be observed even after three years of extended academic exposure.

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“…you know, I mean, just, really, of course), imperatives and direct questions (see e.g. Ädel, 2006, 2008Aijmer, 2002;Gilquin & Paquot, 2008;Granger & Rayson, 1998;Hasselgård, 2009;Herriman & Aronsson, 2009;Neff et al 2004;Paquot, 2010;Paquot et al, 2013;Petch-Tyson, 1998;Recski, 2004;Ringbom, 1998;Thomson, 2018;Virtanen, 1998). Another finding is that the vocabulary of L2 writers is more limited, vaguer and less varied than that of L1 writers.…”

Section: Studies Of Written Learner Corporamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nøkkelord: uformelt språk, skriving i engelsk som andrespråk/fremmedspråk, laerebokanalyse 1 Introduction Research on English second/foreign language (L2) writing in Norway indicates that pupils at upper secondary school (age 16-18) and university levels struggle to adjust their texts to the appropriate level of formality, the main challenge being that they overuse informal features in their formal writing (Hasselgård, 2009;Horverak, 2015; see also Paquot, Hasselgård & Ebeling, 2013). The tendency towards greater informality in writing has also been noted internationally, among learners as well as experts and in L1 as well as L2 writing (Chang & Swales, 1999;Granger, 1998).…”

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confidence: 99%

Informal language in English L2 writing: What are pupils taught from textbooks?

Hasund¹

2019

ADNO

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Studies show that intermediate and advanced learners of English overuse informal features in their academic writing, and researchers recommend that instructional material is developed to raise learners’ awareness of this overuse. In Norway, little research has been done on younger learners’ writing, and no previous study exists of how instructional material such as textbooks deal with informality. The present article investigates how all English textbooks published for lower secondary school under the current curriculum deal with informality in writing. The findings show that eight out of nine textbooks include instruction on informality. The most frequently mentioned informal features are informal opening/closing phrases and forms of address in letters, contractions, abbreviations, slang, exclamations, and expressions of modality, evaluation and subjective stance, all of which are known from previous research and/or style manuals. The textbook instructions focus on when to use these features and, more importantly, when to avoid them. Rather unexpectedly, there is little focus on the first person pronoun as an informal feature, which is notable, considering its importance in the literature. First person pronoun usage is, however, a controversial topic, and it is possible that most textbook authors have decided to leave it for later stages. It is also possible that the textbook authors do not consider it an informal feature.The survey provides a backdrop for future research on pupils’ writing by focussing on one aspect of the school context in which this writing is produced, namely the textbooks. Keywords: informal language; English L2 writing, textbook analysis Uformelt språk i engelsk skriving: Hva sier lærebøkene? SammendragForskning viser at elever på videregående skole og universitetsstudenter bruker for mange uformelle språktrekk i sin akademiske skriving, og forskere anbefaler at det utvikles læremateriell for å heve innlæreres bevissthet om dette temaet. Det er gjort lite forskning i Norge på yngre elevers skriving i engelsk, og det finnes ingen studier av hvordan læremateriell i engelsk, slik som lærebøker, behandler temaet uformelt språk. Denne artikkelen undersøker hvordan samtlige engelske lærebøker publisert for ungdomsskolen etter Kunnskapsløftet (LK06) behandler temaet uformelle språktrekk i skriving.Analysen viser at åtte av ni læreverk inkluderer noe instruksjon om uformelt språk. De uformelle trekkene som nevnes oftest er uformelle åpnings- og avslutningshilsner og uformelle tiltaleformer i brev, sammentrukne former, forkortelser, slang, utrop, og uttrykk for modalitet, evaluering og subjektive holdninger, alle vel kjente fra tidligere forskning og/eller fra språkbruksbøker. Lærebøkenes instruksjoner fokuserer på når det er passende og upassende å bruke disse trekkene i skriftlige tekster.Noe uventet er det lite fokus på førstepersonspronomenet I som et uformelt trekk, hvilket er påfallende med tanke på hvor sentralt temaet er i forskningslitteraturen. En forklaring kan være at temaet er kontroversielt, og det er mulig de fleste lærebokforfatterne mener det er for tidlig å behandle det på ungdomsskolen. Det er også mulig at lærebokforfatterne ikke anser førstepersonspronomenet for å være et uformelt trekk.Studien bidrar med kunnskap som er relevant for framtidig forskning på elevers skriving ved at den fokuserer på ett aspekt ved skolekonteksten som denne skrivingen foregår i, nemlig lærebøkene. Nøkkelord: uformelt språk, skriving i engelsk som andrespråk/fremmedspråk, lærebokanalyse

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Thematic choice and expression of stance in English argumentative texts by Norwegian learners

Cited by 19 publications

References 0 publications

Theme and thematic progression in learner English: A literature review

Theme and thematic progression in learner English: A literature review

Information structural transfer in advanced Dutch EFL writing

Informal language in English L2 writing: What are pupils taught from textbooks?

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