- Introduction
Text
typology and discourse structure and analysis are key contents in use to
acquire/learn in the secondary classroom
in anySecondary/bachillerato Academic programmme. Teaching a language deals nowadays with
making our students competent in linguistic communication (LOE GENERAL GOAL FOR
SECONDARY FLs)
Skills
or abilities and communication strategies and communicative competence, are all
key elements in the methodological curriculum – LOGSE /LOE- and serve as
guidelines for designing classroom syllabuses and teaching practice.
In this topic we are going to
introduce an epistemological view to the
concept of COMMUNICATION; SKILLS IN WRITING; WRITTEN DISCOURSE AND TEXT
TYPOLOGY AND STRUCTURE., To conclude,
paying a special attention to ROUTINES IN A WRIITEN ACT OF COMMUNICATION
AND BASIC PROCEDURES..
- Language and Communication: Wriiten Communication
2.1Language VERSUS Communication
Communication: the
exchange of meaning between individuals through a common system of signals.
This “exchange” is an essential characteristic of human and animal societies,
by way of which individuals can transmit information, express feelings and
emotions,etc. Some basic examples of this so called “communication process” may
be the crying of a baby asking for food, the barking of a dog or traffic lights
announcing free way with its green or stop with its red. All of them are
considered acts of communication between members of a society.
Communication VERSUS LANGUAGE:
Although human beings are not the only ones to communicate, they are the only
ones to have some concrete features such as “arbitrariness” –significance
opposite to significant-; cultural transmission; duality of patterning
–isolated sounds or graphic signs do not transmit meaning but the combination
of them conform a meaning or different meanings-; etc.(C.F. Hocket 1916)
Language consists
of pre-set patterns which are syntax, phonetics, graphic signs, semantics and discourse. These patterns are
related closely with each other and are used and understood by speakers of the
language. Language is seen as a unit that maintains and presents an ethnic
identity. It separates one group of people from another and shares roots as
well as traditions within one single group.
A
definition of the concept of communication must take into account the different
elements that are part of the process. Following Canale (1983) “Communication
is understood as the exchange and negotiation of information between at least
two individuals through the use of verbal & non verbal symbols, oral &
written/visual modes and production and comprehension processes.
A
simplified model of the process of communication is shown below.
Input --------> Intake --------> Developing Language
Competence --------> Output
(Adapted from Lee and VanPatten, 1995)
One of the most important
goals of second language study is the development of wriiten communicative competence. When individuals
have developed communicative
oral competence in a language, they are able to convey meaning.
They have passed through a psicholinguistic process of encoding-decoding-
encoding. Once meaning is learnt orally – or in similar structures is the
moment to face students to th process of word- recognition and
sentence/paragraph recognition. Students at the end of the Primary and during
the first years of secondary are transferring this oral knowledge to a more
thoughtful and complex written knowledge and use. These individuals use
language to participate in everyday social or work interactions and to
establish relationships with others. They narrate, describe, argue, inform,
...etc., taking into account the age, background, education, and familiarity of
the individuals with whom they are engaged in the writing process. They also
use the language to produce coherent & cohesive discourses different registers
. In essence, communicatively competent individual combines knowledge of the
language system with knowledge of cultural conventions, norms of politeness,
discourse conventions, and the like, and is able to transmit and receive
meaningful messages successfully.
Students bring the insights
that they have obtained from having developed oral communicative competence in
L2 and their first language to the study
and learnt of written skills in L2. They already know how to request personal
information from others, how to describe, how to argue, and how to explain in
their first language. They also have a
basic linguistic awareness of how their code in L1 works : so When they learn a
second language they must learn how to do these things by using a different
language system and by following what may be very different rules of
interaction and cultural conventions.
Although communication
occurs in many different ways, written communication is the most thoughtful way
of using language because of the special feature that make difference this
process from the oral one. Communication involve receptive skills (Listening and Reading {L/S} ;
Answer a Q {R/W} ; etc.)
- Differences between Oral/Written Communication
.
Oral VERSUS
written communication
Short time for an answer
Immediate answer. No time for thinking
|
No immediate answer. Time for thinking
|
Affective factors may produce a lack of fluency
|
Affective factors are not that important
|
Grammatically simple
|
Grammatically complex
|
Dynamic
|
Static
|
Based on negotiation of meaning
|
Non-negotiation of meaning
|
Relies on verbs
|
Relies on nominalization
|
Spontaneous language
·
Context-dependent
·
Nextness.
In spontaneous language, phrases are produced one after another
·
Parallelism:
repetition is mostly used
·
Repair:
echoing; corrections and hesitation markers to produce utterances and
organize thoughts simultaneously
·
Conjoined
clauses: and; then; so...
|
Planned language
·
Content-dependent
·
Non-nextness:
Syntactic structure and explicit cohesive elements to draw the connection
between the clauses
·
Parallelism:
rhythm, rhyme, alliteration is mainly used
·
Repair:
Subordinate clauses or special syntactic measures are used to substitute the
effects of repair in spontaneous talk
·
Embedded
clauses Sentence organisation must always adjust to grammar rules
|
Contextualized language
Oral discourse do usually focus on interaction and consequently do
show features on interpersonal involvement:
·
Overlap
showing encouragement
·
Examples
demonstrating understanding
·
Collaborative
completions
·
Clarifying
questions
·
Mimicking
voices Actions and agents emphasized more than states and objects
·
Feedback
signals and repairs used where needed
·
Personal
quality (1st/2nd person pronouns)
|
Decontextualized language
Written texts do not occur on interaction and do not show features of
personal involvement; on the contrary they take the so-called features of
detachment (some morpho-syntactic forms). They show the importance of complex
syntax in integration of ideas
·
Relative
clauses
·
Complement
clauses
·
Sequences
of prepositional phrases
·
Nominalizations
·
Atributive
adjectives
·
Passive
voice
·
Subordinate
conjunctions
·
Complex
morphosyntax
|
3
Developing
Writing Communicative Competence
Written Communication within Communicative competence
"Language proficiency is
not a one-dimensional construct but a multifaceted modality, consisting of
various levels of abilities and domains (Carrasquillo 1994:65). Hymes (1971)
also assumes that L2 learners need to know not only the linguistic knowledge
but also the culturally acceptable ways of interacting with others in different
situations and relationships. His theory of communicative competence (1971)
consists of the interaction of grammatical, psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic,
and probabilistic language components. Built on Hymes' theory, Canale and Swain
(1980) propose that communicative competence includes grammatical competence,
discourse competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence,
which reflect the use of the linguistic system and the functional aspects of
communication respectively. In the framework of Canale and Swain (1980), we can
show graphically the abilities underlying writing proficiency.
- Grammatical competence. "Grammatical competence is an umbrella concept that includes
increasing expertise in grammar (morphology, syntax), vocabulary, and
mechanics. In order to convey meaning, EFL learners must have the
knowledge of words clauses and sentences; that is, they must understand
how words are segmented into clauses and later on sentences to create a
paragraph. Thus, grammatical competence enables speakers to use and
understand English language structures accurately and unhesitatingly,
which contributes to their fluency.
- Discourse competence. In
addition to grammatical competence, EFL learners must develop discourse
competence, which is concerned with intersentential relationships. In
discourse, whether formal or informal, the rules of cohesion and coherence
apply, which aid in holding the communication together in a meaningful
way. In communication, both the production and comprehension of a language
require one's ability to perceive and process stretches of discourse, and
to formulate representations of meaning from referents in both previous
sentences and following sentences. Different types of texts imply
different structures of organizing the information.
- Sociolinguistic & sociocultural
competence. Knowledge of language alone does not
adequately prepare learners for effective and appropriate use of the
target language. Learners must have competence, which involves knowing
what is expected socially and culturally by users of the target language;
that is, learners must acquire the rules and norms governing the
appropriate layouy and realization of discoursive texts
·
Strategic competence. Strategic competence, which is
"the way learners manipulate language in order to meet communicative
goals" (Brown 1994:228), is perhaps the most important of all the
communicative competence elements. Simply put, it is the ability to compensate
for imperfect knowledge of linguistic, sociolinguistic, and discourse rules (Berns
1990). With reference to writing refers to the ability to prevent pssible
communication breakbowns during the elaboration of the text. The creation of
previous visual schema and mind maps or brainstormings may be necessary to buid
a coherent and cohesive text.
3.1 Written communication:
Skills in use
Read….
Process…. note ….. organise …….. write
As theories of second language
education have evolved from the grammar-translation to the audio-lingual method
to the more communicative approaches that are commonly used today, ideas about
how language proficiency develops and ought to be taught have also changed. Reading
Written
communication
Read…. Process…. note ….. organise …….. write
3.1.1 Reading
A written receptive skill
whose main aim is comprehension. Reading
Pre-
READING
1 Recognising words and phrases in English
script.
2
Using one's own knowledge of the outside world to make predictions about and interpret a text.
3 Retrieving information stated in the passage.
4 Distinguishing the main ideas from subsidiary
information.
5 Deducing the meaning
and use of unknown words; ignoring unknown words/phrases that are redundant,
ie, that contribute nothing to interpretation.
6 Understanding
the meaning and implications of grammatical
structures, e.g. cause, result, purpose, reference in time (e.g. verb tenses; compare: 'He
could swim well - past,
'He could come at 10 a .m.'
- future).
7 Recognising
discourse markers: e.g. therefore + conclusion, however + contrast, that is + paraphrase, e.g. + example.
8 Recognising the
function of sentences - even when not introduced by discourse markers: e.g. example, definition, paraphrase,
conclusion, warning.
9 Understanding
relations within the sentence and the text (words that refer back to a thing or
a person mentioned earlier in the
sentence or the text, e.g. which, who, it).
10 Extracting specific information for summary
or note taking.
11 Skimming *
to obtain Ihe gist, and recognise the organisation of ideas within the text.
12 Understanding
implied information and attitudes
13 Knowing
how to use an index, a table of contents, etc
A
difficult text: Help students by:
More background information!
Pre-teach key words the day before!
Divide text into short chunks!
Sign-post questions for main points!
Add discourse markers where helpful!
Ask easy questions!
Paraphrase difficult ideas!
Set easy tasks like matching
Different stages in the process of teaching reading as
a process
(at grapho level)
·
Recognizing grapho- semantic relationships: sun = sol (most of the time a
visual image is ingluded
·
Using jumbled letters to find a meaning
·
Matching activities
(at word level)
- Matching: image and
word
- Identifying odd
elements in a list ( for instance a lis of different food items and car is
included)
- Crosswords and letter
soup games
(at sentence level)
- Matching image with
short sentence
- Matching functional
language with context
- Relating sentence to
translation
- Matching half-sentences
(at paragraph/text level)
- Scanning: getting specific
information in the text
- true/false questions
- Multiple choice
- Wh- questions
- Etc
Different teaching stages for reading as a product:
(extensive reading = skimming the text)
- Pre-reading:
Questioning and brainstorming: Using the visual aids attached to the text
to deduce meaning and create an hypothesis. Using the title to recycle
previos knowledge
- While-reading:
Different tasks and activities to infer meaning, from Wh- questions to
true/false activities; filling the gaps; sequencing; substitution tables,
etc
- Post-reading: Linking
reading to speaking or creative guided writing, etc
3.1.2 WRITING
A
written productive skill whose main aim is to transmit information. Last skill
to be achieved by our students. In a communicative approach: Listening + speaking
+ reading + writing.
Communication can be either oral
or written. For some time communicative approaches seemed to deal only
with the oral skills, but we should focus on writing as essentially a communicative channel, just as in
real life, we write in response to a particular demand or purpose and with a real audience in mind.
In this communicative or "functional" approach to
writing (Sampson, 1983), the tasks are characterized by four features: a product as
a result, a specifíc audience, a function or purpose and a Linguistic focus.
Writing requires awareness of graphic symbols, that is, letters which represent the
sounds that we make when we speak. Theses letters are arranged according to
certain conventions to form words and combining
words we make up sentences and texts.
When we speak we often use expressive features such as
gestures, tone of voice, etc. that are absent in written communication. So when
we write, we have to compénsate for the lack of those contextual elements and
use other written conventions (punctuation, italics, bold letters, er,...)
Reasons for teaching "writing"
Writing favours interactive and communicative learning, since it involves all the
three points of the communication triangle: writer, reader and text. In addition Raimes (1987) says that learning is, above all, a learning tool because it helps students to:
- communicate ideas to readers and develop fluency (express
themselves in writing)
- reinforce grammatical
rules and use linguistic structures
- learn and extend their knowledge about subject
matters
- imítate models and develop
their own writing style
The teacher has several reasons for teaching the writing skill. according to McLaren (1995)
•A reasonable level of proficiency in any language
implies a level of competence both in
oral and written communication.
.Written practice reinforces
oral proficiency; both complement each
other
•In real Ufe, students
will need some proficiency ¡n writing:
-They will probably need to write letters to friends, relatives, or for professional reasons,
using both informal and formal language.
-When working on projects, surveys, and other tasks, we need to write reports and
present some information in writing
Different stages in the process of writing:
1.
Lexis: the word
2.
Sentence structure
3.
Supersential structure: the paragraph
4.
Organisation of several Ideas/
concepts into logical coherent structure (composition, letter, essay, etc)
Different stages in the process of teaching writing:
The whole
process of learning writing communication takes places in two stages (Rivers
& temperley 1978)
Cognitive
stage: (receptive):
- Knowledge of communication
components: rules, categories, functions...
- Internalizing the rules relating
those categories and functions.
Productive
stage:
- Practice of sequences of words
(that may incluse “words”, clauses, sentences..
- Practice in production complete
communicative texts: writing a post-card, an informal letter, formal, etc
Controlled..................guided..........................free writing
activities
Writing as a
process: techniques and procedures
Traditionally, teachers
and methodologists have concentrated on the learning results obtained by the
students, but at present, there seems to be a shift (change) of focus from
"product" (writing outcomes) to "process" (the writing
process step by step). This is a general tendency, not only in the writing
skill, but in Education and TEFL: Procedures are given more importance than
isolated concepts, "procedural syllabus" and continuous assesment are
recommended, etc.
Writing is essentially a
complex process which starts in Primary Education and never ends, though the
learner may feel satisfíed at some stage with certain proficiency level which
is enough for her/his communicative needs. A wide range of techniques make their
contribution to the development of that process. They complement each other.
Procedures
and techniques for teaching writing start with simple, "controlled",
activities at the word and sentence level to consolídate the student's
graminar, lexicón, spelling and punctuation. Then, we move to more complex
tasks that involve the students in the production of "guided" and
"free" texts in order to cultívate their discourse competence:
paragraph construction, c devices of cohesión and coherence and personal style in
writing.
A good piece of writing
A high level of
proficiency in the writing skill is very difficult and requires a dual process
of instruction and practice which implies:
•Grammatical, morphosyntactic,
competence: the ability to write correct sentences with the right spelling and
punctuation.
•Sociolinguistic
competence to be able to write appropriatety and effectively, that is, to use
the language required for each situation
•Discourse competence:
the ability to combine sentences to produce texts with coherence and
cohesiveness (cohesión)
For practical use in
correcting a piece of writing we will bear in mind:
·
Organisation
·
Content
·
Vocabulary
·
Grammar
·
Mechanics
·
Creativity/original
3.3 Teaching implications
Our objective is also to
encourage effective communication but through the médium of writing, that is,
the final goal is to elicit written communication. This general principie has
important implications that we must consider before presenting written tasks
(see Byrne 1979, Bueno 1989, Fincas 1982, Hedge 1988, Whrte 1980):
• Writing is a dynamic process and as such is subject to revision, correction and
change.
• Revision and
change during the process of writing are necessary to improve the writing
skill. With our first language we also reread what we have written, revise it
and improve the final version again and agam. - The students must address an
audience real or imaginary. When we write, we address a potential reader who is
in our mind while writing.
• There must be reasons for writing. The student must
know the purpose of the writing activity: to greet a friend on his/her
birthday, to congratúlate someone for his/her success, to give information, to
consolídate linguistic forms and grammatical points, etc. -
• The writing activity should be oriented around topics
of interest for the students, related to their hobbies, leisure time and needs,
cióse to their experiences and personal and immediate environment. Some topics
may be suggested and others may be chosen according to the students' preferences.
• Integration of
skills. The other communicative skills must be integrated in the writing
process. After the students have read it, they must talk and write about it. In
order to develop the students total communicative competence, both the oral and
written skills must be encouraged in parallel.
• Promoting active correction. The students must get
involved ¡n the correcting process. They can learn by correcting their
mistakes, either individually or in a cooperative way: ¡n pairs or ¡n teams,
considering other options provided by the other classmates.
4
Rhetorical texts: Genres,
elements and norms
- According to Webster`s
International Dictionary: “A genre is a distinctive type or category of
literary composition”
- According to a classification of
genre as a communicative event – rather than a literary composition-
(Swales 1990) has provided the following definition: “ genres themselves
are classes of communicative
events which typically possess features of stability, name
recognition and so on. Genre-type communicative events consists of texts
themselves. Rhetorical texts share some common organisational principles.
The organisation of discourse is primarily monologic. There are different
types of rhetorical organisation; in other words Genres. A genre is a
recognized communication event with a shared public purpose and with aims
mutually understood by the participants within that event. There are three
traditional genres:
- Narrative genre.... it has
temporal organisation
- Descriptive genre.........it shows
a look, a sound or a smelll...about someone or something
- Argumentative genre..........it
debates/explains and presents problems and solutions
Narrative texts
The origin of the narrative
text is in the storytelling tradition. Narration is considered to be the most
universal genre. All cultures have storytelling tradition. Narrative texts show
a number of common elements that are known as universals. These are:
1.
Abstract. It is an optional element.
This is the title or introductory topic
2.
Orientation: This is an obligatory
element. Time, setting and characters are introduced
3.
Goal: This is an obligatory element.
Main characters have to face a problem and this constitutes the goal
4.
Action: It consists of
problem-solving procedures. Main character attempts to attain the goal
5.
Resolution: This element is
obligatory whatever the result may be. It is also called the “climax”
6.
Coda: This constitutes a bridge from
orientation to reality, as sometimes the setting is not real. It may contain
moral or evaluation
7.
Evaluation: In the narrative text may
appear in different phases, as the narrator usually comments along the story.
This is an optional element
Descriptive texts
Descriptive texts are often
found within other genres. They are commonly related to the Narrative genre:
the orientation of a narrative text is usually descriptive. Five elements can
be described:
1.
Objects: These are normally described
from bottom to top. Appearance is also complemented with information about
functioning
2.
Places: They often include an evaluation
on the part of the speaker; preferences, likes and dislikes are an important
part of place description. Places are also easily related to feelings. The
description may occur from different perspectives: from the front to the back;
a bird`s view; as a walking tour.
3.
People: They are usually described
according to their more prominent features. As it is the case with places,
expressing likes, dislikes and the feelings the people cause on the speaker is
an important part of the description
4.
Emotions: The expression of feelings.
The text must create in the audience the same mood or feeling that the writer
wants o convey. It is mainly focus on visual impacts; it does not require a
specific knowledge; the structure is what the writer wants it to be.
5.
Processes: it is also related to
narrative texts –description- and it usually includes an explanation about
causes and consequences. Process texts include explanations, instructions and
advice giving on how to achieve an aim. Samples of process texts go from recipes
to giving directions. Most common syntax: imperative; passive voice; purpose
clauses; conditions; final clauses
Argumentative texts:
Argumentation has often been
defined as the process of supporting or weakening another statement whose
validity is questionable or contentious.
Argumentative text structure
is very flexible: many variations of the classic structure are admitted.
The classic
structure of argumentative texts in British tradition is:
1.
Introduction
2.
Explanation of the case
3.
Outline of the argument
4.
Proof
5.
Refutation
6.
Conclusions.
Some
variations:
Zig-zag solutions: pro-; con-;
pro-....
Argument refutation:
unacceptable alternative solutions
One-sided argument: no
refutations are given
Eclectic approach: reject
something, accept something
Opposition`s argument first:
mark the extension of the opposition’s argument first
No Refutation: disagreement or
different point of view within the same camp
Spontaneous argumentation:
Arguments are built over time and in volume and pitch: children are able to use
the intonation for the template, but not the words. Sometimes verbal arguments
shift to non-verbal arguments
Persuasive
texts(genre): Some authors defend that argumentation is not a
separate rhetorical genre but it is part of persuasive discourse.
Persuasive texts are directed
to specific audience intended to take a certain course of action, necessarily
requiring critical evaluation. These texts are characterised because of their
persuasive appeal. Appeal is used to effect co-operation from an identification
with the audience. Some examples of persuasive appeals can be:
Ethical appeal: poverty,
social injustice, animals in danger....... do you think we should leave these
things for governments to sort out?
Affective appeal: ....if each
of us does what he or she can, the world will change”
Logical appeal: one letter is
very little, but thousands of letters make an impact
Other types
of texts:
Apart from these classical
genres, there are a number of other genres to compliment the classical ones:
Expository texts
Traditionally, this has been
one major style of writing. It is related to academic writing. Expository
writing often mixes with other styles (narration + description+ argumentation).
Literally, exposition means: outline and detail factual information.
Dialogic texts
Traditionally, this has been
one major style of speaking. When it is presented as writing the authors tries
to simulate an oral conversation or dialogue
Academic
texts
Traditionally presents
proposals from argumentative and explanatory text concerning a scientific field
of research
Text structure and text elements
Within the tradition of genre
analysis, text structure theory has come with an overall set of features that
are shared by the same group of texts:
·
Text structure must reflect the
intentions and goals of the writer
·
There are no particular linguistic
structures that uniquely match these intentions and goals
·
Two types of elements compose texts: nucleus
and satellite. The former consists on topic sentences and key ideas; the
latter; clauses providing additional information
·
The intentions and goals of the
author are expressed by means of relations and effects
·
The author produces the text assuming
that the reader will locate nucleus and satellites segments in the text
(sacnning the text). For example, a good reader will replace a satellite by
other satellite of the same type without changing the text structure or
appealing for assistance when not understanding fully a text.
5
Structure and rules of the
written skill
Writing requires awareness of
graphic symbols, that is, letters which
represent the sounds that we make when we speak. These letters are arranged according to certain
conventions to form words and combining words we make up sentences, paragraphs
and texts.
When we speak we often make
use of expressive features such as gestures, body movement, tone of voice,
silent periods, etc. that are absent in
written communication. So, when we write, we have to compensate for that lack
of contextual elements and use others.
The teacher has several reasons forteaching and developing
the writing skiII:
• A reasonable level of proficiency ¡n any language
implies a level of competence both in oral and written communication.
• Written practice reinforces oral proficiency; both
complement each other
• In real lífe, students will need some proficiency in
writing:
- They will probably need to write letters to friends or for
professional reasons with informal language.
- Writing reports and surveys is also a very common activity
which requires the use of more formal language.
Elements of style
1.
Form the possessive singular of nouns
with`s
2.
In a series of three or more terms
with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last
3.
Enclose parenthetic expressions
between commas
4.
Place a comma before “and” or “but”
introducing an independent clause
5.
Do not join independent clauses by a
comma
6.
Do not break sentences in two. In
other words, do not use periods for commas
7.
A participal phrase at the beginning
of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject
8.
Divide words at line-ends, in
coordance with their formation and pronunciation
9.
Make the paragrph the unit of
composition: one paragraph to each topic
10. As
a rule, begin each paragraph with a topic sentence; end it in conformity with
the beginning
11. Use
the active voice. Passive voice for science articles
12. Put
statement in positive form
13. Omit
needless words
14. Avoid
a succession of loose sentences
15. Express
co-ordinate ideas in similar form
16. Keep
related words together
17. In
summaries, keep to one tense
18. Place
the emphatic words of a sentence at he end
6
Conclusions
In conclusion, reading +
writing are the last but not least skills to be achieved by our L2 learners.
Specific characteristics of written communication –reading + writing – such as
“permanent, encourage independent learning, etc… turn the written discourse in
something essential to be managed by our students in their near future
learning. In EFL teaching, it is an aspect that needs special attention and
instruction, moreover in terms of error analysis. In order to provide effective instruction, it
is necessary for teachers of EFL to carefully examine the factors, conditions,
and components that underlie reading and writing effectiveness. Effective
instruction derived from the careful analysis of this area, together with
sufficient language input and speech-promotion activities, will gradually help
learners read + write English fluently and appropriately
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario