Language Value
June 2020, Volume 12, Number 1
ISSN 1989-7103
Table of Contents
From the guest editor
Ruth Breeze
i-iii
Articles
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English
intonation in Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela Tafalla
1-29
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral presentations skills
Bojan Prosenjak and Iva Lučev
30-55
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for
LSP specialists
Teresa Morell
56-87
English, Spanish o los dos? Teaching professional writing on the U.S.-Mexico border
Theresa Donovan, Teresa Quezada and Isabel Baca
88-111
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and
professional Spanish language
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
112-147
Book Reviews
Ken Hyland and Lillian L. C. Wong
Specialised English: New Directions in ESP and EAP Research and Practice
Gang Yao
148-153
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103.
Language Value
June 2020, Volume 12, Number 1 pp. i-iii
ISSN 1989-7103
From the Guest Editor
THE WAY AHEAD IN LANGUAGES FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
The processes of globalisation, the increasing dominance of English in academic and
professional spheres, and the ongoing changes in higher education worldwide have
destabilised the role of specialised language teaching at university level. Like many
situations of instability, the current panorama presents those involved with both
opportunities and threats. On the positive side, the increase in international contact in
most areas of social, academic and economic life means that the need for specialised
language education is probably greater than ever before. No one leaves school with
excellent professional communication skills in a second language - and so precisely
those skills should be the focus of new generation Languages for Specific Purposes
(LSP) courses. But unfortunately many institutions have been slow to understand the
vital role that language training for specific purposes has in equipping students for their
future professions. The teachers and departments responsible for LSP teaching also
urgently need to update their own knowledge and competences, redesign their courses,
and seize this opportunity to become experts in professional communication. As
linguists, LSP practitioners are uniquely positioned to conduct principled inquiry into
specialised language domains, to map the specific features of professional genres, and to
build a robust understanding of how different discourse communities use them. Such
research will allow LSP teachers to adopt a critical attitude to material that is available
(Jiang and Hyland 2020), and to devise courses and resources that match more closely
with what their students need.
Against this background, this special issue of Language Value brings together a number
of papers that sketch out new routes for LSP teaching in the next ten years. As we
would expect in LSP, these papers all presuppose a solid underpinning in genre and
sound knowledge of how language is used in specialised discourse communities. But
they are also forward-looking in different ways, characterised by a special emphasis on
aspects such as the importance of digital technologies, our growing awareness of
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103.
i
From the Editor
multimodality, and the need to cultivate pluriliteracies in complex multilingual settings
(Meyer 2015).
In the first article, Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel Ángel Vela Tafalla show how
the application of technology to digital genres can inject new dynamism into our
understanding of English intonation and its rhetorical functions in professional
language. Their research brings further insights into promotional aspects of scientific
discourse, and has practical applications for those of us involved in supporting students
on the road to becoming scientists on the international academic stage. Also focusing on
spoken language, in the next paper Bojan Prosenjak and Iva Lučev address the
importance of helping students to develop presentation skills in International Relations,
proposing pedagogical innovations designed to make students take responsibility for
their own learning in a collaborative and reflective way. In their course design, peer
assessment plays a key role in sensitising students to the different aspects of their
performance.
In our changing scenario it is not always easy to negotiate the relationship between
language experts and other university teachers, or between teachers specialising in
different languages. In the third article, Teresa Morell takes on the essential issue of
how LSP experts should cooperate with teachers involved in English Medium
Instruction (EMI), analysing ways of optimising preparation for EMI in the Spanish
context. After this, situated in the very different context of a university on the border
between the USA and Mexico, Theresa Donovan, Isabel Baca and Teresa Quezada
add a new dimension to the discussion of LSP in the age of globalisation by
approaching the need for students to develop pluriliteracies. The idea of developing
professional and academic literacy in two languages in a way that is affirmative and
mutually complementary is epitomised in their design for a cross-disciplinary certificate
program in Bilingual Professional Writing. Their paper also points to the increasing
importance of languages other than English as targets for LSP, and the growing need for
students to develop linguistic mediation skills, biliteracies and bicultural competences.
The last paper in this selection, by Enrique Sologuren Insúa, helps to expand this
plural approach to LSP by addressing the need for principled research on LSP in
languages other than English. Sologuren’s article provides a detailed account of the
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103
ii
Language Value
June 2020, Volume 12, Number 1 pp. i-iii
ISSN 1989-7103
creation of a map of student genres from a Spanish learner corpus in engineering, which
should provide a starting point for developing a focused writing programme for
engineering students in his university, and in similar contexts.
Finally, I would like to thank all the people who have helped with this special issue of
Language Value. My thanks go particularly to the two editors, Begoña Bellés Fortuño
and Carmen Sancho Guinda, and to Lucía Bellés Calvera. I am also grateful to all those
who took part in the AELFE conference in Pamplona in 2019, which was the starting
point for this special issue. My special gratitude goes to Larissa D’Angelo, Marcelino
Arrosagaray, Sally Burgess, Miguel García Yeste, Christoph Hafner, Ana Halbach,
Matthew Johnson, Mark Krzanowski, María José Luzón, Gerrard Mugford, Barry
Pennock, Joan Ploettner, Hanne Roothooft, Davinia Sánchez and Ekrem Simsek for
their guidance, comments and advice on the papers in this issue.
Ruth Breeze
Guest editor
University of Navarra, Spain
REFERENCES
Jiang, F. K. and Hyland, K. 2020. “Prescription and reality in advanced academic
writing”. Ibérica, 39 [in press].
Meyer, O. 2015. A pluriliteracies approach to teaching for learning. Graz: European
Centre for Modern Languages.
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103
iii
Language Value
June 2020, Volume 12, Number 1 pp. 1-29
ISSN 1989-7103
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory
analysis of academic English intonation in Video Methods
Articles in experimental biology
Ignacio Guillén Galve
Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
University of Zaragoza, Spain
ABSTRACT
The digital multimedia environment where research communication develops nowadays has important
consequences for EAP course design (Pérez-Llantada 2016), since speaking and visuals are ever more
decisive for communicative success
(Crawford-Camiciottoli and Fortanet-Gómez
2015). However,
intonation manuals have remained virtually unchanged for decades, reflecting a time of limited access to
actual academic intonation in use. To countervail this situation, we draw on Hafner‘s (2018) multimodal
analysis of experimental biology Video Methods Articles by examining the intonation used in an
exploratory corpus of the Researcher‘s Introduction section, identified as the most hybrid in generic
nature. Our analysis suggests that traditional Hallidayan intonation explained in handbooks like Hewings
(2007) and Brazil
(1994) fails to capture phenomena observed in our corpus. These intonational
phenomena (mostly deviations from traditional tonicity) have been found to be consistent with genre-
specific factors like communicative purpose and move structure. Consequently, a broader revision of
academic intonation materials is proposed.
Keywords: English for Academic Purposes; digital research genres; English intonation; English
pronunciation teaching
I. INTRODUCTION
I.1. Background
Today more than ever, research communication and science dissemination are mainly
digital multimedia activities. This communicative environment shapes the practices of
both producers and consumers of scientific texts, which is discernible in the emergence
of new academic genres and the adaptation of more traditional ones to the new contexts.
Consequently, in the interest of providing appropriate frameworks and pedagogical
insights for English for Academic Purposes, the study of academic and professional
genres in recent years has been concerned with genre change and innovation (Hyon
2018, Pérez-Llantada 2016, Tardy 2016) as well as intertextuality and interdiscursivity
(Bhatia 2017, Hafner and Miller 2019).
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103
1
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
After the journal article and its orbiting part genres (see Pérez-Llantada 2013), the
academic blog stands as the most widely studied digital research genre, with studies
(Luzón 2013a, 2013b, Zou and Hyland 2019, 2020) focusing on the linguistic strategies
deployed by academic blog writers to adapt scientific discourse to a hybrid, highly
interactional genre with a wider, diversified audience. In writing, other digital research
genres that have been explored include web-based texts for crowdfunding science
(Mehlenbacher 2017), online conference announcements (Lorés 2018), virtual special
issue introductions (Mur-Dueñas 2018), and graphical abstracts (Sancho-Guinda 2016).
Some relevant studies addressing oral digital research genres cover work on research
dissemination videos (Luzón 2019), video methods articles (Hafner 2018), webinars
(Ruiz-Madrid and Fortanet-Gómez 2017), and online poster sessions (D‘Angelo 2012).
Interestingly, all these studies but the last make use of Multimodal Discourse Analysis
(cf. Kress and van Leeuwen 2001). This analytical framework, common in the study of
other oral academic (i.e. not online or research) genres (see Morell 2018, Querol-Julián
and Fortanet-Gómez 2012, Valeiras-Jurado et al. 2018), is highly convenient to capture
the combination of semiotic resources that the digital medium affords and provide
valuable insight into the synergies achieved by the different modes of scholarly
communication online. This presentation, if succinct, is enough to gain an impression of
how rich and diverse the present-day repertoire is when new digital research genres are
added to the existing pool of academic genres.
Adding to studies that address the genres of interest directly, there is also increasing
scholarly interest in understanding the contexts of generic practices and the different
constellations of genres that arise, which is mainly achieved by researching
intertextuality and interdiscursivity
(Bhatia
2017, Hafner and Miller
2019) and
especially by implementing ethnographic methodologies (Paltridge et al. 2016, Swales
2019).
All in all, this situation of growing scholarly interest in new forms of research
communication appears to favour studies which highlight the hybridity and
interdiscursivity of texts in new contexts, as well as the exploitation of the multimodal
resources of the digital environment. However, to the best of our knowledge, no
research has tackled intonation in these investigations. We argue that intonation can
contribute to the exploration of both types of phenomena, as a linguistic resource
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
2
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in
Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
subject to contextual constraints and as a mode contributing to the meaning-making
process of multimodal expression. Consequently, this paper presents an initial approach
to the study of intonation in relation to digital research genres and discusses the
pedagogical implications of some preliminary yet valuable findings.
I.2. Aim and rationale
Previous research with a similar topic is scarce and usually different from the research
interests of this project. Crystal and Davy‘s (1969) famous work on stylistics, featuring
mainly prosodic analysis, considers a ―modality‖ dimension corresponding to what has
been defined as genre in ESP/EAP since Swales (1990). However, this dimension is just
a minor part of a proposed framework for stylistics studies. Johns-Lewis (1986b)
presents a different problem in exploring prosodic characteristics of ―discourse modes‖.
These ―modes‖ are reading aloud, acting, and conversation, so this study also falls short
of linking intonation to generic configuration. Cheng et al. (2008) present a valuable
corpus-driven study of intonation in discourse including an academic sub-corpus with a
variety of non-research-related text types like the student presentation or lecture.
Nevertheless, their selection does not strive for genre representativity, as their interests
lie in other factors. Indeed, their text labels are reminiscent of MICASE (Simpson et al.
2002) which refers to ―speech event types‖ rather than genres. Something similar
happens with the few studies of intonation related to genre from the systemic-functional
perspective (e.g. Rivas and Germani 2016), since genre conceptualization in Systemic-
Functional Linguistics (Martin et al. 1987) departs from our research interests. Finally,
O‘Grady (2020) has recently argued for register studies to incorporate prosodic analysis.
Reviewing these studies shows that there is scholarly interest in the study of intonation
in discourse, even if ESP/EAP research has yet to address genre in connection with
intonation.
Genre studies that include intonation are mainly restricted to multimodal analyses, as in
the above-mentioned work. Understandably, these analyses cannot afford to dwell on
intonation for too long, considering it together with other semiotic modes. We also
understand that general studies of oral discourse usually overlook the spoken
component and investigate transcripts of spoken events. This is often due to the sheer
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
3
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
nature of the research design since many methodologies were devised and refined to
investigate the wording component of discourse.
Therefore, this paper presents the first steps into intonation analysis of digital research
genres. Our central thesis is that the English intonation system is used rhetorically like
any other linguistic system: genre restricts or permits the available choices according to
the purpose of the speaker, the intended audience, and the formal constraints of
rhetorical structure. Accordingly, we want to contribute to current research by
answering these research questions: What is the interplay between intonation and genre?
Is a general English intonation framework appropriate to analyse digital research
English? And consequently, are English intonation manuals appropriate for the teaching
of academic oral skills?
In the following sections, the analytical approach, some preliminary results, and an
original proposal for the adaptation of intonation manuals to the teaching of Academic
Spoken English (ASE) for digital research genres will be presented.
II. CORPUS AND METHODS
II.1. Text selection and move analysis
Owing to the exploratory nature of this study, it takes a qualitative approach in order to
gain insight as to how to proceed with the analysis of more data in future research.
Therefore, we have close-analysed a small-scale ad-hoc corpus of five texts so as to
observe with detail the interaction between genre and intonation.
These texts are clips from Video Methods Articles (VMAs) published by the Journal of
Visualized Experiments. VMAs are online videos featuring on camera the demonstration
of methodological procedures of different disciplines within the broad fields of biology,
medicine, or engineering. The production of the video, controlled by the journal itself,
follows the acceptance of a double-blind peer-reviewed manuscript proposal. Hafner
(2018) analysed VMAs for generic integrity, rhetorical structure and multimodal
expression. Thus, they constitute an optimal object of inquiry to start delving into
intonation analysis, as a digital research genre that is emergent but sufficiently
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
4
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in
Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
established in its discourse practices to be analysed for a stabilized-for-now rhetorical
structure.
Hafner (2018: 27) identifies, between the Video Intro and final Closing Credits, the
possible moves for five possible sections in VMAs. An initial Overview presents the
viewer with a straightforward summary of the procedure, followed by the Researcher‘s
Introduction, which highlights its advantages, applications, and innovative value. The
procedure is performed in the main section, Demonstration, while a voiceover gives
recipe-like instructions. Then, the Representative Results section shows interesting
application. The video concludes with the Researcher‘s Conclusion, recapitulating the
previous information. This rhetorical analysis is convenient to explore the meanings of
intonation, as it provides an understanding of what each section is trying to accomplish.
In his study, Hafner
(2018) chooses to exemplify multimodal analysis in the
Demonstration section, as it exploits visual resources to communicate procedural
knowledge. Likewise, we have focused our analysis on the Researcher‘s Introduction
(RI) section, where researchers face the camera and make statements about their
research. This interesting hybridization of promotional and scientific discourse makes it
attractive for intonation analysis to investigate what strategies researchers deploy for the
particular purposes of the genre. Indeed, the other sections consist of voice-over
explanations which are usually read by the journal‘s professional voice actors.
Out of Hafner‘s (2018) corpus of 11 VMAs in experimental biology, 7 of them are
open-access. We have analysed the RI sections of the five most recent of these, in order
to avoid considerations of genre change over time, which is beyond the scope of this
project. The videos were extracted from the source code of the webpage. Each VMA‘s
section of interest was clipped, its audio track was extracted for later intonation
analysis, and it was transcribed manually. Each clip was coded as VMA-RI plus
numbers one to five (e.g. VMA-RI1), as shown in Table 1 with information about the
year of publication, size, length, original times, and reference.
Table 1. Corpus items.
Item
Year
Words
Length
Time
Reference
VMA-RI1
2011
46
20‘‘
00:56-01:16
VMA-RI2
2012
34
14‘‘
01:06-01:20
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
5
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
VMA-RI3
2013
63
22‘‘
01:17-01:39
VMA-RI4
2015
96
35‘‘
01:10-01:45
VMA-RI5
2016
110
43‘‘
00:21-01:05
Total
349
2‘14‘‘
Hafner‘s (2018: 27) possible rhetorical moves for the RI section are:
1)
Introducing Self,
2)
Forecasting the Demonstration,
3)
Explaining Significance,
4)
Introducing Additional Researchers,
5)
Inviting the Audience.
In Moves 1 and 4 the speaker simply presents the researchers involved, usually by
providing their name and credentials. Move
2 anticipates the procedure to be
demonstrated, while Move 3 focuses on the implications and novelty of the technique.
Finally, Move
5 serves as a link to the next section, asking for the viewer‘s
involvement. Each move was assigned a colour code for analysis with Microsoft
Word‘s highlight tool.
II.2. Intonation analysis
Intonation is the linguistic apparatus which manipulates pitch in speaking for different
semiotic purposes. This exploratory study approaches intonation analysis from the
phonological model described in Tench (1996), which continues Halliday‘s (1963,
1967) identification of three systems that combine for intonational meaning. First,
tonality refers to the division of the utterance of spoken discourse into successive
Intonation Units (IUs). Second, tonicity refers to IU-internal analysis by identifying the
tonic syllable, defined as the last pitch-prominent syllable. Third, tone refers to the
selection of pitch movements associated with the tonic. This model has been influential
for other models and is adapted in intonation manuals without making reference to its
terminology (Hewings 2007, Mott 2011).
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
6
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in
Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
Our methodology combines instrumental and acoustic observations of intonational
phenomena (Wichmann 2013). In short, instrumental pitch visualization software has
informed and validated manual acoustic coding. Therefore, intonation analysis has
followed a three-stage process: first, acoustic analysis marking up the text; second,
instrumental observation with the Praat computer program (Boersma and Weenink
2019); lastly, modification of the initial acoustic mark-up.
Tonality is mainly concerned with the identification of boundaries between IUs, which
are typically thought to correspond to pauses in speech. However, since these are
phonological categories and not physical/phonetic incidents, boundaries are in practice
more difficult to recognize (Roach 2009): speakers may make IU-internal pauses or
proceed to the next IU without making a pause. Therefore, we have followed
Cruttenden‘s (1997) and Tench‘s (1996) cues to boundary identification, marking them
with a vertical line (|). As an illustration, we have not assigned a boundary to the filled
pause ―er‖ in (1), as it would create a boundary at an odd grammatical juncture and as
the first part of the unit does not include a tonic syllable. Conversely, in (2), despite the
absence of a pause between ―solution‖ and ―and‖, pitch and rhythm are clearly distinct
to signal a boundary.
(1)
| and the two people that will er present that | are my two PhD students | (VMA-RI2)
(2)
| as the solution
| and the setting
| for each prepared exosome solution | has to be
performed individually | (VMA-RI4)
Tonicity is mainly concerned with the identification of the tonic syllable, i.e. the last
prominent syllable of IUs. The tonic syllable has also been referred to as the nucleus of
the IU (Cruttenden 1997), so that the syllables preceding it are called pre-tonic or pre-
nuclear. In turn, these syllables can be described as head and pre-head, the former being
the syllables from the first stress to the tonic and the latter being the unstressed syllables
before the start of the head. Tonicity analysis is therefore implicated in the internal
structure of the IU. Consequently, we identify two types of tonic phenomena. First, the
tonic syllable is marked with the associated tone explained below. Second, other
prominent elements in the pre-nuclear segment are identified, mainly the phenomenon
of having an acoustically perceptible jump from a relatively low pitch to a higher one in
a non-tonic syllable. We refer to this phenomenon as a step-up in pitch, marking it with
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
7
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
a caret (^). We did not find other relevant variations in the head in our exploratory
corpus.
Finally, tone is the movement of pitch in the tonic syllable. Focusing on the tonic
syllable, only primary tones (Tench 1996) have been identified: the fall, marked with a
backslash (\); the rise, marked with a forward slash (/); and the fall-rise, marked with a
combination of both (\/). An example of text with the whole mark-up system can be
seen in (3).
(3)
| the demon^stration of this method is \critical | as the so/lution | and the /setting | for each
prepared \exosome so/lution | has to be performed indi\vidually | (VMA-RI4)
Here, there are five IUs (tonality) delineated by boundaries (|). Tonic syllables (tonicity)
can be identified by the preceding tone mark (tone). And the tonic phenomenon of step-
up in pitch can be seen in ―demonstration‖, marked with a caret before the stepped-up
syllable. Note too that the fall-rise is a compound tone and the rise may be realized at a
point later than the tonic syllable, as in ―exosome solution‖, where the tonic syllable is
the first syllable of ―exosome‖ despite the rise taking place in the second syllable of
―solution‖.
III. PRELIMINARY RESULTS
III.1. Rhetorical structure
The most common move configuration in our corpus (three of five) is a two-move
section consisting of Move
3
(Explaining Significance) followed by Move
4
(Introducing Additional Researchers). VMA-RI1 consists of Move 3 alone and VMA-
RI2 is dissimilar, having Move 2 (Forecasting the Demonstration), then Move 4 and a
final Move 5 (Inviting the Audience). These two are the shortest and also the oldest,
suggesting that the rhetorical configuration of the section has gained stability with time.
Moreover, the most frequent moves found are arguably the most promotional and
interactional, which suits the overall communicative purpose of the section to highlight
the advantages, applications, and innovative value of the technique in question.
III.2. Intonation and degree
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
8
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in
Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
Tonality analysis in VMAs reveals a total of 63 IUs: 22.2% consist of whole clauses,
and 47.6% higher-order clause constituents (19.0% subjects, 15.9% adverbials, and
12.7% predicates). Large IUs are typical of scripted/prepared speech and, more
interestingly, fulfil the expectations of the genre, as boundaries are found at junctures
that are critical for showcasing what they are presenting. For instance, (4) shows whole
pieces of information with only one idea per IU and a final prepositional phrase with its
own IU, ―in a single analysis‖, which is the main asset of their presentation, thus
enacting Move 3 (Explaining Significance).
(4)
| the
^main ad\vantage of this /technique | is that by ^using mass spectrometry-based
prote\/omics | we can simul^taneously quantify most of the known PTMs on histone
\/proteins | in a single a\nalysis | (VMA-RI5)
The selection of tonic syllables is related to boundary placement, as boundaries follow
the words which have been made prominent. Thus, in (4), ―proteomics‖, ―proteins‖, and
―analysis‖ are nuclear. Instead,
―advantage‖ is prominent even if not IU-final, for
―technique‖ has been de-accented as a context-predictable lexical item. This usage of
tonicity also corresponds to the purpose of the section within the VMA genre: as an
opening section, the main ideas are presented in an unmarked way by accenting the
relevant technical words; as a persuasive section foregrounding the rest of the VMA, the
emphasis is on the benefits of the methodology explained.
Tone choices are quite straightforward and respond to general English usage of
intonation. Rises
(15.9%) are used to indicate shared knowledge; falls (55.6%) to
introduce new information, and fall-rises (28.6%) to introduce new information while
indicating sharedness or incompleteness. The greater incidence of falls relates to the act
of introducing a new technique, while rises and fall-rises together (44.4%) can be
expected in a digital research genre, where the audience has some familiarity with the
content.
The use of appositions in Move 4 (Introducing Additional Researchers) shows how
these explicative devices mirror the tone selection of their antecedents. This reinforces
the identification of the noun phrases by assigning them the same tone and contributes
to the function of introducing the researchers and providing their credentials, as seen in
(5) and (6):
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
9
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
(5)
| Natarajan \/Bhanu | a \research /specialist | and Kelly \Karch | a graduate \student |
(VMA-RI5)
(6)
| as^sisting the procedure will be Clare \Hayes | a research a\ssistant in our group | (VMA-
RI3)
In sum, an initial three-system analysis of the data in our small-scale corpus would
corroborate the idea that intonation plays a specific role in the social action carried out
by the genre, considering its communicative purposes and its situational context.
III.3. Step-ups
Even if pre-tonic intonational phenomena were not considered in the initial design of
the study, as a first approach to the study of intonation in relation to generic
configuration, we have allowed for the data to yield relevant results outside our pre-
conceived framework. Thus, from a data-driven perspective, we have found step-ups
(i.e. jumps to a higher pitch in non-tonic syllables) to be sufficiently present in our
corpus and discourse-relevant to merit scholarly discussion even in this early stage
research.
In (4), three examples are indicated by the caret symbol (^). The stressed syllables in
―main‖, ―using‖, and ―simultaneously‖ are made prominent by receiving an acoustically
perceptible higher pitch. This is confirmed by instrumental measurement, showing
respectively a 79%, 87%, and 80% pitch increment, as opposed to ―single‖ in the same
utterance, which is just initial in the IU head without a step-up and presents a 48%
higher pitch than its preceding syllable.
Interestingly, intonation manuals conceive of step-ups as phenomena that occur in two
positions: the beginning of the head, i.e. the first stressed syllable, creating what has
been variously called ―high key‖ (Brazil 1994: 97), ―onset‖ (Collins and Mees 2013:
145), or ―stepping head‖ (Mott 2011: 242, Tench 1996: 132); or the tonic syllable itself,
e.g. in Brazil (1994) and Hewings (2007). However, our results show occurrences of
step-ups at stressed syllables other than the first in the IU or the tonic. The only
reference we have come across mentioning such possibility is a brief notice to dismiss
―anomalous tone units‖ in Roach (2009: 142). Consequently, we refer to occurrences
considered in textbooks as ―canonical‖, meaning they are officially recognized, while
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
10
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in
Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
occurrences of step-ups at other places will be called ―non-canonical‖. In a count of 63
IUs in our corpus, 31.8% (n=20) have a step-up of either type, 19.0% (n=14) being
canonical and 12.7% (n=8) non-canonical. Canonical step-ups are present in (4) and (6);
non-canonical step-ups in (7):
(7)
| this method can help answer ^key questions in RNA bi\ology | such as how the interplay
of ^different RNA binding \proteins | regulates RNA \processing | (VMA-RI1)
Exploration of the functions of this intonational device suggests, first, the introduction
of new topics in Move-initial IUs, and second, contrast or highlight, which corresponds
to the function of Move 3 (Explaining Significance) itself. Our exploratory data did not
reveal functional differences between canonical and non-canonical step-ups.
IV. DISCUSSION
The data suggest that relating intonation usage to genre is not only possible but perhaps
necessary, as the general English intonation framework would only partially account for
the intonational functions observed. Therefore, manuals covering features of this type
require a few significant modifications for the teaching of those English intonational
strategies that contribute to the development of academic oral skills. This section
discusses these points against the backdrop of current theoretical and methodological
reflections in EAP. Lastly, Section V delineates a pedagogy of the step-up as a genre-
driven phenomenon.
The approach to spoken academic language does not seem to need to differ from the
approach to rhetorical choices such as hedging in academic writing. Paltridge et al.
(2009: 37-41) explain that creating an appropriate academic-sounding text involves not
only linguistic choices (e.g. active vs passive voice) but also rhetorical choices (e.g.
―whether to express oneself diffidently‖). Good command of the academic language at a
linguistic and rhetorical level is thus said to ensure the use of a communicatively
adequate academic style.
However, while stylistic features of academic writing have been extensively
documented in the field of EAP (e.g. Hinkel or Swales and Feak mentioned by Paltridge
et al.
2009), generic features of spoken academic style have received much less
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
11
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
attention, except within the field of English pronunciation. Very little work investigates
Academic Speaking, whereas Academic Writing has a repertoire of well-known
publications covering a wide range of aspects (e.g. English 2011, Lillis and Curry 2010,
Paltridge et al. 2009, Ravelli and Ellis 2004).
On the other hand, Academic Spoken English (ASE) seems to have generated two types
of materials: guide-like books, such as Reinhart (2013) or Blanpain and Lafutt (2009),
which may deal with spoken genres and discuss intonation but adopt a skills perspective
in connection with general features of oral production; and text corpora such as BASE
(Thompson and Nesi 2001) or MICASE (Simpson et al. 2002), driven by the notion of
speech events and only covering traditional ones. Consequently, multimodal, digital
genres such as VMAs do not fall within the scope of coursebooks and corpora. Indeed,
only less academic/formal publications (e.g. Thaine 2018) have considered English
pronunciation and EAP. Still, these approaches seem underpinned by theoretical and
methodological reflections similar to those in introductory EAP textbooks such as
Charles and Pecorari (2016).
All these ASE materials and theories foreground skills, lexico-grammar and rhetorical
structure, although pronunciation is known to have an impact on efficient
communication in academic spoken genres:
The skill of listening involves activating several sources of knowledge, including the phonology,
syntax, semantics and pragmatics of the language, along with body language such as eye contact
and gesture. In order to understand speech, listeners must decode auditory and visual signals
(often referred to as ‗bottom-up processing‘) and must also construct meaning from the input
(often called ‗top-down processing‘). (Charles and Pecorari 2016: 154)
However, despite the limited role of pronunciation for general ASE (as one of several
―sources of knowledge‖ in ―bottom-up processing‖), the concept of genre can be used to
highlight the rhetorical, communicative importance of pronunciation. When Charles and
Pecorari (2016: 156) address ―listening comprehension in lectures‖, phonology emerges
as meaningful precisely because of ‗delivery‘, a genre-related aspect: ―In terms of
delivery, students often have problems due to speech rate, accent and pronunciation, and
it has been suggested that lecturers should slow their speech rate‖. This perspective
implies the possibility of presenting certain aspects of pronunciation as genre-driven
teaching/learning topics (even if considered a ―difficulty‖). It also allows these authors
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
12
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in
Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
to invite the EAP practitioner to provide input to ―lecturers‖ as a way of raising
―awareness of good practice‖ while underscoring that ―it is clearly necessary to teach
students to cope with these difficulties‖ (ibid.). Step-ups can thus be viewed both as a
type of generic input and as a type of generic difficulty.
We also argue that the pedagogy of the VMA genre, like the lecture, requires us to take
account of both sides of the process: the producers of the genre and their typically
academic audience. As we see it, the VMA is part of an academic context demanding
―not just listening, but also making a spoken contribution to the discourse‖ (Charles and
Pecorari 2016: 161).
Nevertheless, VMAs are not general, spontaneous spoken discourse; rather, we view
them closer to genres like the conference presentation, as the type of ―academic speech
event‖ which Charles and Pecorari (2016) call ―monologue‖, which ―can be rehearsed
and even scripted to some extent‖. Interestingly, this EAP-manual description of
academic monologue as a rehearsed and somewhat scripted product contains elements
that link it to the description of ―prepared speech‖ given in, for example, Hewings‘
(2007: 114) pronunciation-centred coursebook English Pronunciation in Use Advanced:
In most contexts, when we speak we are making up what we say as we go along. However, many
people at times need to plan and prepare speech more formally, and read this aloud from a
written text or develop it from notes. For example, students and academics may have to give
presentations or lectures in class or at a conference.
Hewings (2007) already mentions and connects the same genres (―presentations‖), type
of user (―students and academics‖), and setting (―conference‖), with similar pedagogic
purposes.
Hewings‘ analysis characterizes
‗prepared speech‘ by a number of
―features of
pronunciation‖ which include Step-ups. In Unit 57 (Hewings 2007: 120), the author
explains that we can use
―a step-up to a relatively high pitch‖ to show
(i) that
information contrasts with previous information or what was expected, or (ii) that we
are starting a new topic. One of the examples of the ‗contrast‘ function is ―Although
many people think of ants as a nuisance, they play // a
VItal ROLE // in many
ecosystems‖. The step-up on ‗vital‘ expresses a contrast between the common belief
that they are a nuisance and their actual vital role.
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
13
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
As regards the ‗new topic‘ function, one of the examples provided in the book is a step-
up on the word ‗that‘ in a sentence-initial phrase like ―With that in mind‖. The step-up
occurs between a paragraph about the general topic of the impact of business and
industry on the environment, and another about a proposal for making the production of
environmentally-friendly cars the joint endeavour of scientists and manufacturers. The
text is put in the voice of a senior manager from an imaginary car manufacturer, who
uses the step-up on ‗that‘ to separate the claim that her company is already aware of
their impact on the environment from the claim for a joint effort as a new topic. The
step-up indicates that the new topic, the manager‘s proposal for a joint effort, must be
interpreted as following on from her statement of industrial awareness, that is, ‗with
THAT in mind‘.
Not unlike Hewings (2007), Charles and Pecorari (2016:
163) also use the term
‗feature‘ to distinguish ―the features that are typical of successful presentations‖, and
they do so as a prior step to considering ―how to teach presentation skills‖; among other
features, ―varying pitch and speech rate‖ are said to ―contribute to interesting and lively
talks‖.
Step-ups can thus be viewed as instances of ―varying pitch‖, although they have a far
more precise definition in the context of English Phonology. For instance, Hewings
(2007: 100) explains that ―the symbol
is used to show a step up in pitch. In other
words, the voice moves up to a noticeably higher level than it was at before‖. Later, as
shown above, the Step-up is re-defined functionally in the context of ‗prepared speech‘
(Hewings 2007: 120). Accordingly, as expected from the nature of Hewings‘ book, the
function of intonation (here, Step-ups as a linguistic feature relevant to developing
presentation skills) is narrowed down from Charles and Pecorari‘s (2016: 163) general
function of contributing to ―interesting and lively talks‖ to very specific communicative
functions such as signalling ―contrasts‖ and ―new topics‖.
Reinhart
(2013) seems to consciously strive to bridge the gap between English
Phonology and EAP. For instance, Reinhart assigns functions to stress and intonation as
used in a given genre (the ‗oral presentation‘) even if, owing to the aims of the book,
those functions boil down to the essentials of tonicity. See e.g. the analysis on Reinhart
(2013: 86):
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
14
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in
Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
Notice that in this example [Then after this step, // the cooled vapor travels to a condenser.///],
rising intonation does not occur on the last word before the pause (step) but on this. This is
probably because the speaker wants to distinguish this step from other steps in the process.
Yet, Reinhart seems to be open to considering deviations from the norm, as a later
remark indicates: ―no matter what the general guidelines are, rising intonation can occur
on any word that the speaker chooses to highlight‖ (Reinhart 2003: 126). This admitted
variability in the placement of ‗highlighting‘ (displacing it from the last word of the unit
to a previous word) always seems functional in the genre, just as the function of
―distinguishing‖ above is one of several indicated (e.g. ―reassuring the listener‖ or
―clarifying‖). This perspective is particularly relevant to the interpretation of the co-
existence of canonical and non-canonical Step-ups in VMAs.
Evidently, because Reinhart‘s (2013) work focuses on ASE, she does not stop to
consider or determine the range or degrees characterizing, for example, the ‗rising‘ of
intonation —this is rather a phonetician‘s task. Nevertheless, her remarks suggest that it
is well worth examining the communicative potential of pitch modification in genres
with a strong ASE component and, subsequently, that different functions can be
assigned to the complex constituted by the voice moving up to various degrees of
―higher level in pitch than it was at before‖ (Hewings 2007: 100) and the position inside
the IU in which the phenomenon takes place.
V. PEDAGOGICAL PROPOSAL
V.1. The adaptation of Bradford’s (1988) Intonation in Context to the teaching and
learning needs originating from the occurrence of Step-ups in VMAs
Concerning the practical delimitation of a Step-up pedagogy, we propose to adapt
materials from the theory of Discourse Intonation (DI) to the EAP needs exemplified by
VMAs. Brazil (1975, 1994) developed DI from Halliday‘s three-system approach as in
this paper. However, his focus on the communicative and informational use of
intonation soon became a pedagogical drive to make intonation more accountable to
communication, Brazil‘s
(1994) Pronunciation for Advanced Learners of English
(PALE) being the most prominent example. PALE is well known for including several
interactive contexts such as instruction giving or taking control of discourse. These
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
15
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
contexts are likely to be relevant to learners who, for example, need to make oral
presentations.
Before Brazil‘s PALE, Coulthard (1985) had already underscored this pedagogical drive
when he made it clear that, in DI, intonation choices depend on context and that,
consequently, generalizations about the intonational meanings of isolated stretches of
speech without their context should be avoided. Halliday‘s system is, conversely, more
analytical, more tied to detail, with an emphasis on IU-structure description (tonicity).
Even if Brazil‘s IU has a structure, DI attaches more importance to the existence of IU-
associated
―options‖
(see Coulthard
1985 for a summary) than to the thorough
delineation of a system as Halliday‘s (for a summary of work on English intonation in
the Hallidayan tradition Bloor and Bloor (2013: 15) suggest consulting Greaves 2007,
Halliday and Greaves 2008, or Tench 1996).
Originating from Brazil‘s school, Bradford‘s (1988) Intonation in Context is still geared
to conversational situations (typical of DI), while presenting intonation as a system with
important communicative functions in any speaker-listener interaction. Adding to its
display of DI put into practice, what we value most from the book is the internal
organization of its units, allowing the learner to explore the meaning conveyed by
intonation before production exercises.
Therefore, our pedagogical contribution in this exploratory study is the adaptation of
Bradford‘s system to the teaching and learning needs originating from the occurrence of
Step-ups in VMAs. Another great asset in Bradford‘s approach is its in-context nature,
since this approach is sustained by the DI claim that intonation choices are bound up
with their context of occurrence. For this study, VMAs constitute the context in which
Step-ups occur; to be precise, their Move 3 (‗Explaining significance‘), a rhetorical
stage with a clear communicative function.
Despite the advantages in Bradford‘s method, we are aware that our pedagogical
proposal must address Charles and Pecorari‘s
(2016:
81) warning concerning the
adaptation of materials for EAP, given that ―published materials are written to cater to a
wide, often global, audience and it is therefore highly unlikely that they will meet all the
needs of your specific group of students‖. Accordingly, our adaptation of Bradford‘s
method will reorganize its parts as ‗tasks‘ in line with Charles and Pecorari‘s (2016: 74)
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
16
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in
Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
definition of EAP materials as comprising ―both texts and the tasks designed to exploit
them for language learning purposes‖. Our ―texts‖ will be extracts from our corpus. Our
―tasks‖ will result from the recasting of Bradford‘s method. Our ―specific group of
students‖ will be related to the notion of academic discourse community in terms of
Swales (1990: 24-27). In this model, discourse communities are characterized as having
mechanisms of intercommunication among their members, and utilizing and possessing
one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims, which is where VMAs
come in handy. As our pedagogical proposal is constrained by genre considerations, it is
geared to learners who are also advanced level researchers, which implies that our
instructional strategy would have to be modified for use with novice researchers
unaware of the existence and communicative advantages of new genres like the VMA.
Bradford‘s (1988: 3) five-step method starts with a ―sensitisation‖ task presenting one
feature of English intonation so learners ―become aware of the choices a speaker can
make and how they sound‖. Then, ―explanation‖ describes the feature and the meanings
of the choices available. ―Imitation‖ and ―practice activities‖ follow, for learners to
recognize the feature and practice production. A final
―communication activity‖
provides the opportunity ―to think about the feature‖ and use it in a freer situation.
The Step-up is our intonation feature of interest, particularly as detected acoustically
and instrumentally in the IUs from our corpus. We propose to present it as a linguistic
choice and demonstrate how it sounds. For this latter purpose, we suggest using the
Praat software, as Nagy
(2014:
101) has shown that
―[v]isualization tools and
Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) provide new possibilities for the study
of suprasegmental features by enabling learners to connect the perceived auditory signal
with its visual representation‖. Following this argument, we believe that Praat provides
―adequate visual feedback‖ because pitch tracings are easily interpretable, unlike, e.g.,
spectrograms. Accordingly, we suggest extracting pitch tracings from our corpus
together with their transcript (see Figure 1), thus incorporating speech visualization into
Bradford‘s method as a pedagogical tool for sensitization purposes.
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
17
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
Figure 1. Praat pitch tracings with the marked-up transcription
It is indeed possible to adapt a whole unit to the requirements of Step-ups in the specific
genre of VMAs. Bradford‘s Unit 7, on ―Contrasts‖ (39-45), displays the closest topic
and aims to Hewings‘ unit on
―Step-ups‖, whose title highlights the phonetic
phenomenon instead of the basic function. Combining its fully-fledged structure with
similarity of topic and aims, Bradford‘s type of unit stands out as a very suitable starting
point for adaptation.
Bradford‘s (1988) ―explanation‖ section uses DI‘s ―High Key‖, not ―Step-up‖, with the
function of expressing contrast to hearers‘ expectations. We use Hewings‘ term for its
metaphorical, more intuitive nature, close to the process type of meaning of the general-
English verb ‗to step something up‘, whereas Brazil‘s ‗key‘ comes from the specialized
field of music.
V.2. Tasks and sub-tasks of the pedagogical proposal
V.2.1. Sensitization
V.2.1.a. Task
After adopting speech visualization as a pedagogical tool, and
‗Step-up‘ as more
pedagogical terminology, our adaptation of Bradford‘s sensitization substructure entails
deciding on texts to replace conversation for the listening-for-gist task and on questions
for learners to discuss those texts. Our choice is an extract from our corpus,
accompanied by a transcript (8) with this type of heading (adapted from Bradford‘s
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
18
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in
Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
Task 1.2, and Hewings‘ description of Step-up): ‗The parts in which the voice moves up
to a noticeably higher level than it was at before are shown below‘:
(8)
| this method can help answer ^key questions in RNA bi\ology | such as how the
interplay of ^different RNA-binding \proteins | regulates RNA \processing | the
main ad/vantage of this technique | is that we in\crease both | the per/formance |
and the reso/lution | of our \transcriptome-wide /maps | of protein RNA inter
r\actions | (VMA-RI1)
V.2.1.b. Sub-tasks
As we view Step-ups as resulting from the formal constraints of the rhetorical structure
of VMAs, the learner can discuss what constitutes the reasons for the Step-ups
occurring in the audio as a first sub-task. Comments elicited would be along the lines of
‗communicative function‘ as relates to the Move where the extract with Step-ups occurs.
The next sub-task for sensitization involves listening again with pitch tracing and
transcript in front, first to show the occurrence of canonical Step-ups, then for non-
canonical ones. The final sub-task involves finding other places where speakers do Step-
ups.
V.2.2. Explanation
V.2.2.a. Task
The second task, ‗Explanation‘, describes the functions of our taxonomy of Step-ups.
The strong correlation between Step-ups and Move 3 in our corpus indicates that their
function is basically to provide emphasis and contrast
(Hewings
2007:
120).
‗Explaining significance‘ sometimes involves highlighting the new characteristics of the
method or technique described in VMAs, and alternatively, contrasting the
characteristics with those of traditional/conventional procedures. This genre-driven
function is performed by placing the Step-up either ―in the first prominent word of [the]
speech unit‖ (Hewings 2007: 120; our ‗canonical Step-up‘), or later in the IU (hence,
‗non-canonical Step-up‘), since the most appropriate word for emphasis or contrast may
not be the first prominent one in the unit.
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
19
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
V.2.2.b. Sub-tasks
For example, in VMA-RI4, ―the demon^stration of this method is \critical‖, there is a
canonical step-up for emphasis on the Theme, at the start of the IU, because the notion
of ‗demonstration‘ is likely to be key to the goal of a Video Methods Article, since the
―method‖ proper, not its demonstration, will simply be ‗known‘ information for the
practitioners of this genre. Consequently, the new information (the evaluative adjective
―critical‖, demonstration = critical) occurs at the unmarked position for this type of
information, which is the last lexical word of an IU, and with an unmarked tone choice
(falling). Later in VMA-RI4, there is also an instance of a non-canonical Step-up: ―to
find the ^optimal sensi\tivity /range‖. Emphasizing the idea of ‗finding a range‘ (i.e.
using the first prominent word) makes no communicative sense in terms of explaining
significance, as the researchers want to convey that the ―optimal‖ range is the only one
that matters for their technique. Accordingly, it must be explained to learners that more
than one position is communicatively available for Step-ups, that the lexico-grammar
influences the position, but that the communicative function is invariable regardless:
indicating what is really significant (the demonstration and, later, the optimal range) can
be carried out both by a canonical step-up and by a non-canonical one.
V.2.3. Imitation
V.2.3.a. Task
This third task represents the first stage of production, which does not require sub-tasks.
Having described the types of Step-ups in VMAs, repetition will not amount to mere
drilling: the learner imitates the phenomenon with a conscious communicative aim in
mind. Using (9) below as textual support, the learner repeats only from ―by‖ to ―vivo‖
(Step-ups on ―vitro‖ and ―emulates‖). Knowing that the two Step-ups in these units
occur in Move 3 enhances the value of repetition as a drill, since the Step-ups highlight
that there are two E-coli environments but the VMA is centred around the ―in vitro‖ one
and, moreover, that, if the choice raises issues of validity, the researchers are conscious
that the in-vitro environment is an emulation; it is imitation, hence, of the
emphasis/contrast function described in the ‗Explanation‘ task. Finally, imitating a non-
canonical Step-up shows that a delayed Step-up may also respond to the position of the
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
20
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in
Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
lexical items used to shape the lexico-grammar of the function (see, in (9), the phrases
―in vitro‖ and ―in vivo‖, with the former occurring after an initial stress).
(9)
| this method can help test
\/circuits
| in the field of syn\thetic bi/ology
| by
providing an in ^vitro e-coli en\/vironment
| which
^emulates that in
\vivo
|
(VMA-RI3)
V.2.4. Practice activity
V.2.4.a. Task
The fourth task pivots on learners as likely VMA ‗practitioners‘. With an upper-
intermediate or higher level of English, they are expected to determine which words
from (10) below (given without mark-up) are candidates for a Step-up, especially since
they have been exposed to the ‗Explanation‘ and ‗Imitation‘ tasks proposed. The
tonicity of the message in our example derives from the notion that the technique the
VMA reports leads to an increase in speed because prototyping is no longer necessary,
and is, therefore, more efficient than other techniques, a very relevant question to a
‗methods‘ genre. ―Increasing‖ (or ―speed‖ itself) and ―prototyping‖ become suitable
words for stepping up.
(10)
| the implications of this /technique | extend towards in^creasing the speed of
synthetic biological de\/sign | by removing the need to conduct all ^prototyping
steps in \vivo | (VMA-RI3)
V.2.5. Communication activity
V.2.5.a. Task
Finally, the adaptation of Bradford‘s ‗Communication activity‘ is based on the genre
itself. Therefore, learners start by looking for the information needed to respond to
JoVE‘s goal
students ―to see the intricate details of cutting-edge experiments‖ rather than read them
in text articles.
V.2.1.b. Sub-tasks
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
21
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
Therefore, the first step in this task entails thinking of a lexico-grammar (i.e. making
vocabulary and grammar choices) capable of sustaining a video demonstration aimed at
facilitating scientific reproducibility; in other words, a text meant to be read aloud, i.e. a
―scripted‖ or ―prepared speech‖ text. Learners may be invited to access a VMA of their
discipline, e.g. biology, and use it as a model. They can watch the video, which contains
both voice-over and speech from one of the authors and then they can reflect on the
reasons for the occurrence, in either the voice-over or the researcher‘s introduction, of
any Step-ups they identify, especially by relating them to the function of the Move
where they take place. With help from the instructor, they may also use visualization
software to verify the Step-ups. Then, as a second sub-task, they can use their own
research and write a VMA script which emulates the intonation in the model, i.e. its
communicative purposes for the genre.
VI. CONCLUSION
Despite its exploratory nature, the present study illustrates how to account for the
interplay between intonation and genre. For this purpose, we analysed a small-scale
corpus of five clips from Video Methods Articles (VMAs) published by the Journal of
Visualized Experiments. VMAs are thus dealt with as an instance of genre. We focused
on their Researcher‘s Introduction (RI) section where researchers face the camera and
make statements about their research. It is the hybridization of promotional and
scientific discourse occurring in this section that made us consider the analysis of
intonation as a very suitable procedure for the investigation of the strategies which
researchers deploy for the particular purposes of a genre. As explained above, this
approach to the study of genre is justified because a growing scholarly interest in new
forms of research communication has not yet generated enough research into the
communicative impact of intonation.
This said, we decided to examine the communicative potential of the changes in pitch
(whether in terms of direction or relative height) shown by some intonation units in
VMAs. The exact object of study was the complex phenomenon constituted by the
voice moving up to various degrees of higher level in pitch and the position inside the
intonation unit in which the rise to higher pitch takes place. In our study, the
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
22
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in
Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
phenomenon is presented as an intonational device to be referred to with the term ‗Step-
up‘.
The main asset of the present study is that it adopts a data-driven perspective. As our
main goal was to explain how the study of intonation can contribute to the exploration
of the multimodal resources of the digital environment, corpus size was not considered
an overriding factor for a study aimed at that type of setting. With this in mind, the
preliminary results presented in this paper suggest that the general English intonation
framework is not appropriate to analyse digital research English. Accordingly, as a data-
driven decision, we also present a pedagogical proposal for the adaptation of intonation
manuals to the teaching of Step-ups in an Academic Spoken English (ASE) genre. Our
data reveal that intonation can be viewed as a linguistic resource subject to contextual
constraints and as a mode contributing to the meaning-making process. In VMAs, Step-
ups are used to introduce new topics in Move-initial intonation units, and also to
contrast or highlight as depending on the function of a specific Move in the rhetorical
structure,
―Explaining Significance‖. On the other hand, our data do not reveal
functional differences between canonical and non-canonical Step-ups.
In conclusion, our study indicates that it is not only possible to relate intonation usage to
genre but that it is necessary to do so, and that, as a result, English intonation manuals
dealing with these types of features should be modified to teach intonational strategies,
the Step-up being a case in point. While in EAP literature the role of pronunciation for
ASE is generally judged to be rather limited (as one of several ―sources of knowledge‖
in
―bottom-up processing‖), in this paper the concept of genre has been used to
highlight the rhetorical, communicative importance of pronunciation, since it examines
and discusses the Step-up as a genre-driven teaching/learning topic which results from
the formal constraints of the rhetorical structure of VMAs.
For this reason, we have complemented our study with a pedagogical proposal for the
Step-up based on the adaptation of Barbara Bradford‘s (1988) method in Intonation in
Context to the generic factors described above. The most important characteristic of our
proposal is the adoption of speech visualization as a pedagogical tool, the use of ‗Step-
up‘ as a more pedagogical terminology than ‗High Key‘, ‗Onset‘, or ‗Stepping Head‘,
and a set of tasks in which the type of response to be elicited from the learner is based
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
23
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
on the notion of communicative function as determined by the Move where Step-ups
tend to occur. This type of analysis and subsequent pedagogy is in its initial stage, and it
remains to be seen whether its results, or the pedagogical proposal itself, are sustained
by the analysis of a larger corpus compiled from texts similar to VMAs, or can be
extended to other intonational phenomena or strategies in the genre.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness
(project code: FFI2015-68638-R MINECO/FEDER, EU) and by the regional
Government of Aragón (project code: H16_17R).
Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla also acknowledges funding from the Spanish Ministry of
Education, Culture and Sports (research fellowship FPU2016/04734).
REFERENCES
Bhatia, V. 2017. Critical genre analysis. London and New York: Routledge.
Blanpain, K. and Lafutt, A. 2009. Academic Spoken English: A Corpus-Based Guide
to Lectures, Presentations, Seminars and Tutorials. Leuven: Acco.
Bloor, T. and Bloor, M. 2013. The Functional Analysis of English: A Hallidayan
Approach (3rd edition). London: Routledge.
Boersma, P. and Weenink, D. 2019. Praat: doing phonetics by computer. 15 October
Bradford, B. 1988. Intonation in Context. Cambridge: CUP.
Brazil, D.
1975. Discourse Intonation. Birmingham: University of Birmingham,
English Language Research.
— 1994. Pronunciation for Advanced Learners of English: Student’s Book. Cambridge:
CUP.
Charles, M. and Pecorari, D. 2016. Introducing English for Academic Purposes.
London: Routledge.
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
24
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in
Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
Cheng, W. Greaves, C. and Warren, M. 2008. A Corpus-Driven Study of Discourse
Intonation. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Collins, B. and Mees, I. 2013. Practical Phonetics and Phonology: A Resource Book
for Students (3rd edition). London and New York: Routledge.
Coulthard, M. 1985. An Introduction to Discourse Analysis. London: Routledge.
Cruttenden, A. 1997. Intonation (2nd edition). Cambridge: CUP.
Crystal, D. and Davy, D. 1969. Investigating English Style. London: Longman.
D’Angelo, L. 2012. ―From posters to e-posters: the evolution of a genre‖. University of
Reading Language Studies Working Papers, 4, 46-54.
English, F. 2011. Student Writing and Genre. London: Bloomsbury.
Greaves, W. 2007. ―Intonation in systemic functional linguistics‖. In Hasan, R., C.
Matthiessen and J. Webster (Eds.) Continuing discourse on language, vol. 2.
London: Equinox, 979-1025.
Hafner, C.
2018.
―Genre innovation and multimodal expression in scholarly
communication: Video methods articles in experimental biology‖. Ibérica, 36,
15-42.
06
October
2019
Hafner, C. and Miller, L. 2019. English in the disciplines: A multidimensional model
for
ESP
course
design.
London:
Rougledge.
Halliday, M. 1963. ―Intonation in English Grammar‖. Transactions of the Philological
— 1967. Intonation and Grammar in British English. The Hague: Mouton.
Halliday, M. and Greaves, W. 2008. Intonation in the Grammar of English. London:
Equinox.
Hewings, M. 2007. English Pronunciation in Use Advanced. Cambridge: CUP.
Hyon, S. 2018. Introducing Genre and English for Specific Purposes. New York:
Routledge.
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
25
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
Johns-Lewis, C. 1986. ―Prosodic Differentiation of Discourse Modes‖. In Johns-Lewis,
C. (Ed.) Intonation in Discourse. London and Sidney: Croom Helm, 199-219.
Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. 2001. Multimodal Discourse: the Modes and Media of
Contemporary Communication. London: Arnold.
Lillis, T. and Curry, M. J. 2010. Academic Writing in a Global Context. London and
New York: Routledge.
Lorés, R.
2018.
―Online conference announcements as spaces for disciplinary
communication‖. English Text Construction,
11
(2),
256-284.
Luzón, M. J. 2013a. ―Public Communication of Science in Blogs: Recontextualizing
Scientific Discourse for a Diversified Audience‖. Written Communication, 30
— 2013b. ―This is an erroneous argument‖: Conflict in academic blog discussions.
Discourse,
Context
and
Media,
2
(2),
111-119.
— 2019. ―Bridging the gap between experts and publics: the role of multimodality in
disseminating research in online videos‖. Ibérica, 37, 167-192.
Martin, J. R., Christie, F. and Rothery, J. 1987. ―Social processes in education: A
reply to Sawyer and Watson (and others)‖. In Reid, I. (Ed.), The place of genre
in learning: Current debates. Geelong: Deakin University Press, 46-57.
Mehlenbacher, A. 2017. ―Crowdfunding Science: Exigencies and Strategies in an
Emerging Genre of Science Communication‖. Technical Communication
Morell, T. 2018. ―Multimodal competence and effective interactive lecturing‖. System,
Mott, B. 2011. English Phonetics and Phonology for Spanish Speakers (2nd edition).
Barcelona: Publicacions i Edicions de la Universitat de Barcelona.
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
26
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in
Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
Mur-Dueñas, P. 2018. ―Disseminating and constructing academic knowledge in online
scholarly journals: An analysis of virtual special issue introductions‖. Discourse,
Nagy, J. 2014. ―The use of speech visualization technology in prosody teaching‖. In
Varga, C. (Ed.), New trends in language didactics: Noj direcţii in didactica
limbilor. Cluj: Presa Universitară Clujeană, 95-107.
O’Grady, G. 2020. ―Is there a role for prosody within Register studies: and if so what
and how?‖ Language Context and Text, 2 (1), 59-92.
Paltridge, B., Harbon, L., Hirsch, D., Shen, H., Stevenson, M., Phakiti, A. and
Woodrow, L. 2009. Teaching Academic Writing. Ann Arbor: The University of
Michigan Press.
Paltridge, B., Starfield, S. and Tardy, C.
2016. Ethnographic Perspectives on
Academic Writing. Oxford: OUP.
Pérez-Llantada, C. 2013. ―The Article of the future: Strategies for genre stability and
change‖.
English
for
Specific
Purposes,
32
(4),
221-235.
— 2016. ―How is the digital medium shaping research genres? Some cross-disciplinary
trends‖. ESP Today, 4 (1), 22-42.
Querol-Julián, M. and Fortanet-Gómez, I. 2012. ―Multimodal evaluation in academic
discussion sessions: How do presenters act and react?‖ English for Specific
Ravelli, L. and Ellis, R. 2004. Analysing Academic Writing. London: Continuum.
Reinhart, S. 2013. Giving Academic Presentations. Ann Arbor: The University of
Michigan Press.
Rivas, L. and Germani, M. 2016. ―Analysing correlations between generic patterns
and prosodic realizations in interviews in English‖. International Journal of
Language Studies, 10 (2), 103-126.
Roach, P. 2009. English Phonetics and Phonology: A practical course (4th edition).
Cambridge: CUP.
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
27
Ignacio Guillén Galve and Miguel A. Vela-Tafalla
Ruiz-Madrid, N. and Fortanet-Gómez, I.
2017.
―An Analysis of Multimodal
Interaction in a Webinar: Defining the Genre‖. Ibérica,
2,
274-264.
Sancho-Guinda, C. 2016. ―Semiotic shortcuts: The graphical abstract strategies of
engineering students‖. Hermes - Journal of Language and Communication in
Simpson, R., Briggs, S., Ovens, J. and Swales, J. 2002. The Michigan Corpus of
Academic Spoken English. Ann Arbor: The Regents of the University of
Michigan.
Swales, J. 1990. Genre Analysis. Cambridge: CUP.
— 2019. ―The futures of EAP genre studies: A personal viewpoint‖. Journal of English
Tardy, C. 2016. Beyond Convention: Genre Innovation in Academic Writing. Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Tench, P. 1996. The Intonation Systems of English. London: Cassell.
Thaine, C. 2018. EAP Learners and Pronunciation - Craig Thaine Webinar. 15
Thompson, P., and Nesi, H. 2001. ―The British Academic Spoken English (BASE)
Corpus Project‖. Language Teaching Research,
5
(3),
263-264.
Valeiras-Jurado, J., Ruiz-Madrid, N., and Jacobs, G. 2018. ―Revisiting persuasion in
oral academic and professional genres: Towards a methodological framework
for multimodal discourse analysis of research dissemination talks‖. Ibérica, 35,
93-118.
Wichmann, A. 2013. Intonation in Text and Discourse: beginnings, middles and ends.
London and New York: Routledge.
Zou, H., and Hyland, K. 2019. ―Reworking research: Interactions in academic articles
and
blogs‖.
Discourse
Studies,
21
(6),
713-733.
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
28
New research genres and English prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in
Video Methods Articles in experimental biology
— 2020. ――Think about how fascinating this is‖: Engagement in academic blogs across
disciplines‖. Journal of English for Academic Purposes,
43,
100809.
Received: 12 December 2019
Accepted: 23 May 2020
Cite this article as:
Guillén Galve, Ignacio and Vela-Tafalla, Miguel A. 2020. ―New research genres and English
prosody: an exploratory analysis of academic English intonation in Video Methods Articles in
experimental biology‖. Language Value, 12 (1), 1-29. Jaume I University ePress: Castelló, Spain.
http://www.languagevalue.uji.es.
ISSN 1989-7103
Language Value 12 (1), 1-29
29
Language Value
June 2020, Volume 12, Number 1 pp. 30-55
ISSN 1989-7103
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral
presentations skills
Bojan Prosenjak
LABOS language training and translations, Croatia
Iva Lučev
Libertas International University, Croatia
ABSTRACT
The aim of contemporary language for specific purposes (LSP) is to prepare students for independent and
competent performance in the globalised world of English as a lingua franca, with oral presentations as an
indispensable element. Recognising that many students experience anxiety when faced with public
speaking, teachers need to boost their self-confidence and improve their oral presentation skills, which
can be achieved by promoting team-work and collaborative learning. The aim of this paper is to explore
whether peer assessment of oral presentations influences the level of students’ attainment of oral
presentation skills. The research was conducted at the Dag Hammarskjöld University College of
International Relations and Diplomacy in Zagreb. The participants assessed their colleagues’
presentations at the beginning and the end of the semester by using rubrics. They appeared to have
improved after receiving peer feedback, at least according to their peers’ comments and slightly higher
rating on the rubric. Additionally, the analysis of the participants’ attitudes toward peer assessment
complements the quantitative findings, demonstrating that participants recognise its importance and are
able to self-reflect more efficiently on their own and their colleagues’ work.
Keywords: ESP, oral presentation skills, peer assessment, peer assessment tool, attitude towards peer
assessment
I. INTRODUCTION
I.1. Peer assessment
One of the aims of education is to enable students to function independently in the
labour market where they will be required to assess their colleagues' strong and weak
points, as pointed out by Nortcliffe (2012). Teachers of English in LSP courses are in an
advantageous position as they can assist their students in achieving that goal by helping
them develop three indispensable sets of skills - oral presentation skills in English,
teamwork and collaborative learning, and active participation in learning together with
taking responsibility for their own learning
- thereby increasing their autonomy
(Everhard and Murphy 2015). One method that teachers of English have at their
disposal is peer assessment, a tool that learners use in order to reflect on and specify the
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103
30
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral presentations skills
level, value, and quality of their peers’ performance
(Topping 2009). Since peer
assessment has been shown to result in improvements in the effectiveness and quality of
learning
(Topping 2009), we decided to explore whether peer assessment of oral
presentations influences the level of students’ attainment of oral presentation skills.
I.2. Benefits of peer assessment
Peer assessment can be generally regarded as an active agent in stimulating engaged and
substantial involvement of students in the overall learning process, by which they
become more independent in setting and evaluating their own learning criteria. In
addition, peer assessment provides an objective and functional tool for making detached
and informed decisions concerning the assessment of one’s peers, as well as self-
assessment (De Grez, Valcke and Roozen 2012).
On the one hand, peer assessment activities in today’s pedagogical practices are
favoured because they decrease the central role of the teacher in the classroom (De
Grez, Valcke and Roozen 2012), which is especially important given the unrelenting
reality that teachers often lack the time to provide their students with individual, timely,
and quality feedback on their work (Andrade and Valtcheva 2009).
On the other hand, peer assessment is a crucial element of observational learning.
Observational learning, according to Bandura (1997), can help students comprehend
more explicitly the learning outcomes, or goals, that they are attempting to achieve,
both by observing their peers and by receiving meaningful feedback from them. In that
way, they can compare their performance to the performance of their peers sustained by
a defined measurement tool, or standard. As research has suggested (e.g. Murillo-
Zamorano and Montanero 2017), peer feedback aimed at improving the presentations or
the process that was used to prepare them, structured around precisely defined and pre-
explained rubrics, may well improve the students’ perception and reflection upon their
performance in the role of speakers. As they strive towards improving their presentation
skills - the goal they have set for themselves - the desired level of performance ceases
to be an abstract ideal and becomes much more comparable, compatible, and attainable
(De Grez, Valcke and Roozen 2012).
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
31
Bojan Prosenjak and Iva Lučev
I.3. Peer assessment vs. teacher feedback
Another argument for the implementation of peer (and self-) assessment in the language
classroom, as already suggested, is that its application can positively unburden the role
of teachers in assessment, as well as allow for the more beneficial inclusion of students
as active participants in self- and peer evaluation, and in the broader process of
formative assessment (De Grez, Valcke and Roozen 2012). Formative assessment in
this context, as suggested in Ozogul and Sullivan (2007), refers to the evaluation of
student work that is not yet in its final form, and can thus be exploited for its potential
for subsequent learning. In this way students become more involved in the language
acquisition process because they assess the quality of each other’s progress formatively
and estimate the level up to which they have fulfilled the set criteria or goals, thus
assessing for revision and improvement of results, and not for grades (Andrade and
Valtcheva 2009).
More to the point, peer feedback is richer in both volume and immediacy (Topping
2009), while an increased number of assessors decreases subjectivity and increases
reliability, as stated by Falchikov (2004). Nortcliffe (2012) mentions further advantages
of peer assessment, namely that more assessors provide more sources of feedback,
which in turn leads to better self-reflection and enables those assessed to apply the
feedback they have received in their subsequent work, e.g. oral presentations. Equally
important is the possibility of an ensuing discussion in which the student who received
the feedback has the opportunity to request clarification and communicate directly with
the assessor, especially when the whole process of peer assessment is part of a repetitive
process which allows the student present their work, demonstrating the improvements
or defending their initial positions (Murillo-Zamorano and Montanero 2017). In this
way, students become partners in the teaching-learning process, their self-esteem is
raised, they become more self-critical and proactive learners, and they focus on their
future learning goals, which they see as set by themselves, not externally (Lindsay and
Clarke 2001).
The complexity of the issue at hand could be summarised as a “caveat” to both
researchers and practitioners (Topping 2009: 26):
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
32
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral presentations skills
Providing effective feedback is a cognitively complex task requiring understanding of the goals
of the task and the criteria for success, and the ability to make judgments about the relationship
of the product or performance to these goals. […] Do not assume the teachers are any more
reliable than the peers! You might want to match yours against the average of several peer
assessments.
I.4. Efficient peer assessment
Teachers still play a crucial role in peer feedback activities. They must teach students
how to give efficient feedback because without it such activities are futile. Comparable
results have been achieved by other researchers as well
(Murillo-Zamorano and
Montanero
2017): participation in traditional assessment methods, based on the
teachers’ immediate feedback in the classroom, produces favourable outcomes. The
feedback with which students provide one another on their oral presentations, on the
other hand, should be useful and accompanied by non-judgmental comments in order to
show the presenters where improvements can be made for their subsequent
presentations (Harlen 2006). Hodgson and Pyle (2010) add that feedback should not be
given only as points but should be accompanied by comments which are to be discussed
both by the assessors and the presenter after the presentation. The results of their
research show that the students experienced the greatest learning gain when feedback is
given as comments only.
According to Falchikov (2004), feedback should be given in three stages - first, student-
assessors should start with some good points regarding the presentation, as this boosts
the presenter’s self-confidence; second, they should move onto advice for improvement,
since the presenters will then be more willing to accept criticism; third, feedback should
end with other good points, thus embedding constructive feedback within positive
feedback (the so-called “sandwich method”).
I.5. Possible problems with peer assessment
Peer assessment has some potential downsides that are not to be disregarded when
teachers consider using it in their teaching practice. Its strengths and weaknesses have to
be weighed against each other, and teachers should decide for themselves whether such
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
33
Bojan Prosenjak and Iva Lučev
an approach is the best option in their LSP classes. Ross (2006) and Falchikov (2004)
list several disadvantages of peer assessment activities for students. The results of their
research show that some students objected to doing the teacher’s job, lacked the
confidence to mark fairly, took these activities as an opportunity to embellish their
grades, feared retaliation in response to awarding low grades to their peers,
misunderstood the data from assessment sheets, and let friendship and hostility
influence peer assessment outcomes. Jelaska (2005) add that peer assessment is also
dependent on different learner types, namely that collaborative learners are the ones
most likely to fully participate in such activities and thus fully benefit from them; that
participant learners may participate in them and benefit from them to some extent; and
that independent, dependent, avoidant and competitive learners will not participate in
them nor fully benefit from them.
Falchikov (2004) and Lavrysh (2016) also list several disadvantages of peer assessment
from the teachers’ perspective: some did not comprehend its benefit, some were afraid
to include it in their classes, some experienced difficulty in building a positive
environment focused on improving, some believed that students lacked the necessary
experience for these activities, some thought that students would collude and award
each other over-inflated grades, and finally some felt uncomfortable with the change of
role and giving students control.
II. RESEARCH AIMS AND QUESTIONS
After teaching ESP to university students of international relations for several years, we
have come to recognise that many of them experience anxiety, nervousness and stage
fright when they are given the task of delivering an oral PowerPoint presentation in
front of their peers, a task which will be everyday practice in their professional career. It
was felt that using only teacher assessment contributed to their anxiety, so we wanted to
investigate whether the advantages of efficient peer assessment observed by previous
researchers would influence the level of our students’ attainment of oral presentation
skills, i.e. improve their results. In other words, we aimed to see whether pre-instructed
and pre-structured feedback from peers might provide a positive stimulus in the sense
that the students begin to recognise and appreciate consequential feedback coming from
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
34
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral presentations skills
someone in the same position. Furthermore, we were interested in gaining insights into
our students’ attitudes towards peer assessment and examining whether its previously
researched shortcomings would be outweighed by its benefits.
In our research, we wanted to explore whether the students’ level of oral presentation
skills would be measurably higher in their second presentation after having received
peer feedback on their first presentation and whether their attitude towards peer
assessment would change after the second presentation. Therefore, we asked ourselves
the following research questions (RQ):
(i)
RQ1: Will there be any difference in the students’ attainment of oral
presentation skills between the first and the second presentation based on
peer assessment?
(ii)
RQ2: Will there be any difference in the attainment of oral presentation
skills in the second presentation between first-year and second-year
students based on peer assessment?
(iii)
RQ3: Will there be any difference in attitude towards peer assessment
after the second presentation?
(iv)
RQ4: Will there be any difference in attitude towards peer assessment
between first-year and second-year students?
III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Our study was conducted at the Dag Hammarskjöld University College of International
Relations and Diplomacy in Zagreb in the summer semester of the academic year
2018/2019. All students in Year 1 and Year 2 were included in it - 36 participants in the
peer assessment of oral presentations (17 participants from Year 1 and 19 from Year 2)
and 28 participants in the evaluation of peer assessment activities via a questionnaire
(13 participants from Year 1 and 15 from Year 2). The data used in this study was
collected using the two instruments - the peer assessment table (Figure 1) and the
questionnaire (Figure 2).
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
35
Bojan Prosenjak and Iva Lučev
Figure 1. Peer assessment table
Figure 2. Peer assessment questionnaire
Rubrics were used in the peer assessment table as students understand assessment
criteria better if they use rubrics, and they become more realistic judges of their own
performance since they monitor their own learning, without having to rely on their
teacher's feedback (Thomas, Martin and Pleasants 2011). There are fifteen elements in
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
36
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral presentations skills
the table, divided into three categories with five elements in each - four for assessing
the presenters themselves, and the fifth one for assessing the PowerPoint elements
(shaded grey in the table). Before the participants saw the table for the first time, they
mentioned all the elements in the discussion on what constitutes a good presentation,
guided by the researchers; thus, nothing in the table, once presented, was new or unclear
to them. Responses from the questionnaire about participants’ self-perception of
potential learning values when engaging in peer feedback activities are also found and
tested in other recent studies (Rodríguez-González and Castañeda 2016).
An almost identical peer assessment table and the questionnaire had been used in a pilot
study in the Private High School for the Arts in Zagreb several months prior to this
study. On the one hand, the rubrics in the peer assessment table had been designed by
the researchers and high school students together, and they were almost identical to the
ones in this study - they only lacked the three elements related to the PowerPoint, as the
presentations were only oral, without any visual aids. On the other hand, the items in the
questionnaire, which had been designed by the researchers, were identical to the ones
used in this study. As the answers to these five questions given by high school students
had proved very useful in the pilot study, and as the questions had been fully understood
by the students, the same questions were used in this study.
For the purposes of this study, the answers to open-ended questions in the questionnaire
were classified into three categories
- positive, negative and neutral. Such rubrics
completed by participants who examined their peers’ presentations were used by other
researchers as well (Rodríguez-González and Castañeda 2016).
Firstly, positive answers included comments which stated that the rubrics helped the
students, that they were useful for the preparation of both their own presentations and
the assessment of their peers’, specifying at least one helpful element they had learnt
from this assignment which they would implement in future presentations as well as
peer assessment assignments. Secondly, in their negative answers the participants said
that the rubrics had not helped them during the preparation of their own or the
assessment of their peers’ presentations, that they had not learnt anything from this
assignment, and that they would not prepare differently for their future presentations,
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
37
Bojan Prosenjak and Iva Lučev
nor would they assess their peers differently. Finally, the neutral answers were those
which did not give clearly negative or positive answers to the questions asked.
The data was collected in eight stages as described below.
1)
In the introductory lesson, the study was presented to the participants, and
they were given an opportunity to give their consent to participate in it;
then, the elements of oral presentations were presented and discussed with
the participants.
2)
The benefits and potential disadvantages of peer assessment were
discussed.
3)
The peer assessment table was presented to the participants and its
elements were discussed, drawing parallels to the same elements discussed
in Stage 1 above.
4)
A video of a student giving an oral presentation was shown to the
participants, and they used the peer assessment table to assess the
presenter in the video, followed by a discussion regarding their points and
comments.
5)
The participants took the peer assessment tables home in order to prepare
their first presentation. The topic that they presented was very closely
related to the material covered in their classes - Year 1 presented on
chosen countries and Year 2 on chosen (sub)cultures. They later gave their
presentations in class and other participants assessed them using the same
peer assessment tables, after which a discussion on the given feedback
followed.
6)
After the first round of presentations, all the participants completed a
questionnaire in which they commented on their peer assessment
experience.
7)
The presenters took all the completed peer assessment tables home in
order to study their peers’ feedback and prepare for their second
presentation, which was on the same topic.
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
38
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral presentations skills
8)
Towards the end of the semester, two months after the first round of
presentations, the participants gave their presentation for the second time,
after having studied their colleagues' feedback given in the peer
assessment tables. This presentation was once again also followed by the
peer assessment activity, then by a discussion. Finally, the participants
were asked to comment on the peer assessment experience using the same
questionnaires.
The data collected was then entered into Microsoft Excel, followed by a t-test in SPSS
which calculated whether there was a statistically significant difference between the
analysed sets of data.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
IV.1. The difference in the students’ attainment of oral presentation skills between
the first and the second presentation
The primary focus of macrostructure analysis is on major forms and structures. These
major forms and structures refer to the semantic structures. The results of our study
showed that, out of maximum 75 points, the total average peer assessment points were
68.17 for the first presentation and
71.01 for the second presentation
(Figure
3),
indicating that the participants awarded their peers higher points for the second
presentation than for the first one. Looking more closely at the average peer assessment
points for each of the three categories
(organisation, language and non-verbal
communication), it is also evident that the participants awarded their peers higher points
for the second presentation in all three categories (Figure 4).
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
39
Bojan Prosenjak and Iva Lučev
Figure 3. Total average peer assessment points
Figure 4. Average peer assessment points per category
However, even though there is a difference between the average points for the two
presentations overall, as well as in each individual category, those differences were not
proven to be statistically significant (Table 1).
Table 1. The difference in the peer assessment points between the first and the second presentation.
Variable
Round
N
M
SD
t
p
1
36
23.0558
1.38821
Organisation
-3.059
.063
2
36
23.9051
.92076
Language
-1.981
.250
1
36
22.7029
1.93269
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
40
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral presentations skills
2
36
23.5399
1.64098
1
36
22.4084
1.52894
Non-verbal communication
-3.693
.266
2
36
23.5694
1.10509
1
36
68.1672
4.19630
TOTAL
-3.223
.294
2
36
71.0144
3.23813
When looking at the peer assessment points awarded for each of the fifteen constituent
elements of presentation skills as set out in the peer assessment table (Figure 5), it can
be observed that the participants were constantly awarded higher points by their peers in
their second presentation. The lowest average points in the first presentation were
awarded for the element of eye contact (4.25 points out of maximum 5.00), followed by
accuracy (4.34 points). Furthermore, the biggest differences between the first and the
second presentation were observed in the categories of eye contact (0.31 points), voice
(0.28 points) and persuasiveness (0.27 points), all of which pertain to the category of
non-verbal communication.
Figure 5. Average peer assessment points per element
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
41
Bojan Prosenjak and Iva Lučev
This small and thus not statistically significant increase between the first and the second
presentation could be attributed to a relatively small sample of participants (36), or to
the fact that they were awarding high points to each other for the first presentation, so
there was little room for measuring improvement in the second one. Moreover, the
participants could have avoided giving each other low scores because their relationships
affected their ability to assess objectively, or even because some of the rubrics might
have been unclear to them.
However, this increase is seen as relevant to the aims of our study because it
demonstrates that some improvement in the attainment of oral presentation skills did
occur in the second presentation. The comments that the participants included in their
assessment tables and in the discussion that followed after each peer assessment
strengthen the relevance of this increase. The peer feedback after the first presentation
was very constructive and objective, whereas the one following the second presentation,
apart from also including advice on what to improve, contained comments on the
progress in the second presentation - whether there had or had not been any. The level
of the participants’ oral presentation skills might have improved in their second
presentation owing to the very feedback they had received after the first presentation,
which was both discussed in class immediately after the presentation and studied at
home in order to be comprehended more thoroughly and applied more competently in
the subsequent presentation.
Given below are some examples of constructive feedback from the peer assessment
tables after the first presentation for each of the fifteen constituent elements (the letter P
with the number stands for the participant who was being assessed):
introduction: P2: No hook. P12: Her own story. Impressive. P24: Put something
interesting. P35: I liked the hook.
development: P5: Put contents and conclusion. P6: No structured parts at all.
P26: Clearly structured parts.
conclusion: P6: The end was quick. P20: The quote at the end was beautiful.
P24: Very good ending with a famous person.
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
42
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral presentations skills
length: P2: Too short. P5: On point. P16: It was more than 10 minutes. P26:
Longish but interesting.
visual impression: P5: Images are really good. P16: Small letters. P21: Just facts
on slides. Not too much text.
fluency: P5: Because of the reading, you didn’t show your expression well. P18:
Some stuttering. P35: I couldn’t understand some word.
range: P23: Work on extending your vocabulary. P28: No linking words. P49:
Has a little problem with longer words.
accuracy: P1: Some minor errors. P5: Some mistakes, but you can do it better.
P10: Try to work on your pronunciation. P21: Indirect speech.
appropriateness: P31: Too much information. P35: I understood everything. P49:
Good language, but needs work.
written language: P2: Misspelt words. P16: Little mistakes, overall really good.
P33: A few spelling and grammar errors. P34: No mistakes found.
body: P13: Too many gestures. P23: Work on your posture. P42: Crossed hands
on chest. P46: A lot of smiling, which is very nice and cute.
eyes: P2: No eye contact at all. P6: You are reading, no eye contact. P34: Try to
make more eye contact. P46: Not facing the audience.
voice: P2: He needs to speak louder. P5: She is too quiet, but not fast. P16:
Maybe too slow. P49: Too many pauses.
persuasiveness: P21: She was nervous a little bit, too many ‘um’s. P23: We can
see you’re nervous because you were playing with the pointer.
interaction: P42: Not a lot of pointing, which was needed to explain all those
pictures. P43: He showed everything in the presentation, pictures, etc.
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
43
Bojan Prosenjak and Iva Lučev
Below are some examples of the feedback for some of the elements of the peer
assessment table following the second presentation in which the participants compare
the results and assess whether the presenters made any progress in relation to the first
presentation:
development: P16: Better than last time.
length: P22: Much better than the last time. P22: Big improvement.
visual impression: P2: Some new information. P5: Like always, nice to look due
to all the pictures. P16: Better than last time. P28: I’m still impressed with the
layout of your slides.
fluency; P5: Great improvement in pronunciation. P15: Great pronunciation, big
improvement. P26: Pronunciation has been improved.
range: P16: Much better.
accuracy: P10: Improvement.
body: P31: Better than last time. P35: You have much more movement.
eyes: P6: Much better. P22: More than usual, but still not enough. P35: More
eye contact. P49: Better than last time.
voice: P17: This time you smiled, love it! P35: Everything was at the same level.
persuasiveness: P5: Great! More confident! P10: Little bit nervous, but much
better than last time. P20: First
IV.2. The difference in the attainment of oral presentation skills in the second
presentation between first-year and second-year students
The points that participants in Year 1 were awarded by their peers for both presentations
were compared to the points awarded to the participants in Year 2 (Figure 6). It is
evident that Year 1 participants received slightly higher total average points for the first
presentation than Year 2 participants: 68.47 compared to 67.89 out of 75.00 maximum
points. The situation was, however, reversed in the second round of presentations -
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
44
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral presentations skills
Year
2 participants received slightly higher total average points than Year
1
participants: 71.04 compared to 70.04. The increase for Year 1 participants between the
first and the second presentation equalled 2.51 points (or 3.35%), whereas the for Year
2 participants it was 3.15 points (or 4.20%).
Figure 6. Total average peer assessment points per year
As the results above demonstrate, Year 2 participants attained a higher level of their oral
presentation skills in their second presentation based on peer assessment than Year 1
participants. Although the difference might not seem categorical (71.04 points for Year
2 participants compared to 70.98 points for Year 1 participants), Year 2 participants
increased their overall number of points in the second presentation by 4.20%, whereas
in the case of Year 1 participants, the increase was only 3.35%. This goes to show that
that Year 2 participants could be more successful in applying the received peer feedback
in their subsequent presentation than Year 1 participants. The reasons for that might be
that they have more experience in giving presentations and had already been given
feedback in the past, which is corroborated by their responses in the questionnaire.
Another reason could be that they are more academically skilled and agile and can thus
achieve better results in scholastic endeavours presented to them than their younger
colleagues.
IV.3. The difference in attitude towards peer assessment after the second
presentation
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
45
Bojan Prosenjak and Iva Lučev
After each of the two rounds of presentations, the participants’ attitudes towards the
experience of peer assessment were examined using the peer assessment questionnaire.
Upon analysing all five questions of all the participants of both years, the results
demonstrated a positive response to 79% of all the questions after the first presentation
and to 89% of all the questions after the second presentation (Figure 7). In comparison,
the number of neutral responses decreased from 9% to 3%, and so did the number of
negative responses - from 12% to 8%.
Figure 7. Total attitude change towards peer assessment between the first and the second presentation
Taking into consideration the participants’ responses to each question separately (Figure
8), it becomes clear that the number of their responses in which they expressed a
positive attitude towards peer assessment was higher after the second presentation than
after the first presentation for all questions except the third one (What have I learnt from
this assignment?)
- the number of positive responses was lower after the second
presentation than after the first presentation:
88.00% compared to 91.43%. That
question is also the one to which negative responses were higher after the second
presentation than after the first presentation: 8.00% compared to 2.86%. In all other
questions, there was a decrease in the number of responses expressing a negative
attitude after the second presentation in comparison to those after the first presentation.
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
46
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral presentations skills
Figure 8. The attitude expressed in the participants’ responses in the peer assessment questionnaire
Given below are some examples of positive, neutral and negative attitudes expressed in
the participants’ responses:
1)
“How did the evaluation elements in the table contribute to the preparation
of my own presentation?”
Positive attitude: P25: The elements from the table were good guidelines
while preparing a presentation. They were like small reminders of what to
pay attention to. P21: The elements in the table helped me to prepare my
presentation better, to put less text and more pictures and charts in the
presentation.
Neutral attitude: P2: They helped somewhat, but since I already had a
decent presenting experience, I was familiar with most of the elements.
Negative attitude: P4: To be honest, I didn't really use the table while
making my presentation, but since I was aware I was going to be judged
according to it, I did put more effort into my PPT.
2)
“How did the evaluation elements in the table help in assessing my
colleagues' presentations?”
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
47
Bojan Prosenjak and Iva Lučev
Positive attitude: P4: Helped me see how many factors go into making a
PPT & knowing those factors enables you to see faults & issues people
have in their PPTs that you can help them with or advise them on those
issues. P30: I was more focused on some things, while before I would
assess the whole presentation without thinking about their posture, for
example, which also really matters.
Neutral attitude: P25: They made the peer assessment simpler, but it would
be good to add a few more elements.
Negative attitude: P5: I focused more on assessing than on the content of
the presentations. It would be better to have fewer of them.
3)
“What have I learnt from this assignment?”
Positive attitude: P3: That the sandwich practice is great & really helps
people give advice without being too mean. P31: I have learned that I'm
too nervous during the presentation and everybody sees it. So I need to
work on this 'problem'.
Neutral attitude: P46: Honestly, not much; learned how to be more
compassionate and understanding towards somebody's mistakes/flaws, or
more objective.
Negative attitude: P38: That colleagues do not need to assess
presentations.
4)
“How will I prepare for future/upcoming presentations?”
Positive attitude: P13: I am not going to read, put more pictures on slides
and practise before the presentation. P14: I am going to prepare using
your concept of elements because it is much easier in this way. Thank
you!!!
Neutral attitude: P10: With little changes, but basically in a similar way
like until now.
Negative attitude: P41: The same as until now.
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
48
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral presentations skills
5)
“How will I evaluate/assess my colleagues' presentations from now on?”
Positive attitude: P13: I am going to be honest because it is for their own
good, and I expect the same from them. P31: I will evaluate them
remembering all the aspects I learned from the table.
Neutral attitude: P45: In the same way, not to strictly, not too leniently.
Negative attitude: P38: The same as my colleague evaluated mine.
Overall, the participants expressed a more positive attitude towards peer assessment
after the second presentation than after the first one. This might indicate that with
practice and more frequent exposure to presentations, followed by peer assessment
activities, the participants recognised the benefits of peer assessment and provided more
positive responses in the questionnaire regarding peer assessment. Furthermore, if one
looks at the responses to each question separately, it is probable that for questions 1, 2,
4 and 5 the participants expressed a more positive attitude after the second presentation
than after the first one due to the fact that they understood the benefits of the peer
assessment elements as guidelines in preparing their own and assessing their colleagues’
presentations. Their responses suggest that they might have become aware of those
skills that they had not previously mastered up to the desired level, such as not reading
from their notes, putting more pictures and less text on the slides, improving their
fluency and accuracy, their speech speed, etc. The responses also show that the
participants appear to have decided to plan their later preparations more carefully and
on time, using the elements in the table, and rehearsing before the actual presentation.
The responses to question 3 were the only ones where there was a noticeable decrease in
the number of positive attitudes expressed after the first presentation than after the
second presentation, and where a rise in the number of negative attitudes became
apparent. This could be explained by the fact that the participants might have
misunderstood the question and expected to have gained more knowledge from this
activity, and not skills. Although the results of our study show that the participants did
acquire more skills, they were possibly not aware of that when directly asked.
The above results demonstrate that the participants could have recognised that the peer
assessment table elements are a useful guideline in their preparation for the
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
49
Bojan Prosenjak and Iva Lučev
presentations, which might provide a focus in order to address all the constituent parts,
and finally encourage them to work on their weaknesses. They emphasised the
importance of feedback coming from different sources, thereby making it more
objective, and they especially valued the constructive criticism which guided them in
improving their subsequent presentations. Furthermore, they were active participants in
the teaching-learning process because they provided feedback to their peers and in that
way helped them to improve, but they also simultaneously become more familiar with
the requirements of a successful presentation, which finally resulted in the strengthening
of their own presentation skills. The majority of the participants in our study said they
would continue using the peer assessment table for their future presentations, specifying
how they would improve them - by adopting the practice of rehearsing, allowing
themselves more time for preparation, not reading their notes, paying attention to the
text-image ratio, working on their fluency, accuracy, and pace, etc. Finally, their
responses to the questions regarding future peer assessment showed that they plan to
continue being objective, professional, serious, constructive, honest, realistic, critical,
strict, but also more careful and thorough.
IV.4. The difference in attitude towards peer assessment between first-year and
second-year students
After having analysed the questionnaire responses of each year separately, it can be seen
that the number of positive responses for Year 1 participants increased from 86% to
98%, whereas the number of neutral responses decreased from 8% to 2% and the
number of negative responses from 6% to 0% (Figure 9). On the other hand, the number
of positive responses for Year 2 participants increased from 73% to 80%, whereas the
number of neutral responses decreased from 9% to 4% and the number of negative
responses from 18% to 16% (Figure 10).
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
50
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral presentations skills
Figure 9. Year 1 attitude change towards peer assessment between the first and the second presentation
Figure 10. Year 2 attitude change towards peer assessment between the first and the second presentation
The above results clearly show a difference in attitude between Year 1 and Year 2
participants. Year 1 participants improved their attitude towards peer assessment since
after the second presentation there was not a single negative attitude expressed in any of
the responses to all five questions, and an overwhelming majority,
98% of the
participants, expressed a positive attitude in all of their responses after the second
presentation, which was an increase of 12% compared to the first presentation. Such
results could suggest that Year 1 participants benefited from peer assessment to a great
extent since many of them had never even given a presentation, so they might have seen
this table as a useful tool and guide. On the other hand, although Year 2 participants
also expressed a more positive attitude after the second presentation than after the first
one, this increase in positive attitudes in their responses was only 7%, a rise from 73%
to 80%, and the number of responses expressing a negative attitude dropped by only
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
51
Bojan Prosenjak and Iva Lučev
2%, from 18% to 16%. This could suggest that a number of them were relatively
experienced in giving presentations and familiar with some of the assessment criteria, so
this activity was not as beneficial for them as for Year 1 participants. It might also be
the case that not all Year 2 participants used the elements in the table for the preparation
of their presentations or took into consideration their colleagues’ feedback for the
preparation of their second presentation.
V. CONCLUSION
The results of this study seem to offer insights into the effectiveness of peer assessment
as an indispensable activity, not only in ESP classes in higher education but also in
other English classes and even other courses and subjects. Students in programmes such
as the International Relations programme will most likely be required to deliver
presentations in English in front of an audience, using visual aids such as PowerPoint.
That is why it is considered to be fundamental for ESP teachers to instruct and train
their students to master the skills of presentation, using peer assessment activities and
peer assessment tools.
The primary aim of this study was to find the answers to our research questions, and
they showed us that the participants attained more oral presentation skills in their
second presentation in comparison to the first presentation based on peer assessment;
that the second-year participants attained more oral presentation skills in the second
presentation based on peer assessment; and that all the participants expressed a more
positive attitude towards peer assessment after the second presentation, but first-year
participants more than second-year participants.
From this point, it is possible to continue researching other potential correlations in the
process of teaching and assessing oral presentation skills in ESP courses. However,
some limitations of our study have to be taken into account. One of them is the
previously mentioned small sample of participants who delivered and assessed the
presentations - only 36 participants took part in the quantitative part of our study and
only 28 in the qualitative part - as well as the number of presentations given by the
participants in this study - only two. It might also be interesting to see whether the
participants would attain an even higher level of presentation skills in the third or even
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
52
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral presentations skills
fourth presentation, i.e. if they would receive even higher points in the subsequent
presentations and whether there would be a statistically significant difference between
each round of presentations, especially between the first and the last. Another limitation
could be the fact that not all students in all classes can be given such training in peer
assessment and be guided by their teacher as was the case with the participants in this
study.
This study can be expanded to investigate the participants’ attitudes more thoroughly: it
would be relevant to see if their attitudes would continue to be more positive with every
subsequent presentation, or if a ceiling after a certain number of iterations might be
expected, after which positive attitudes would no longer continue to increase, but
would, perhaps, even decrease. Another matter worth considering is whether to change
the topic of the presentation for each performance, exploring the effect that such an
intervention would have on the attainment of presentation skills of the participants.
Additionally, peer assessment could be compared to teacher assessment to provide
further insight into the degree of objectivity of peer assessment. Furthermore, future
research could use a more objective measure to test improvement, by for instance asking
teachers or assessors to use the rubric and to analyse video recordings of both
presentations, preferably without knowing which was the first and the second
presentation. Finally, the peer assessment table could be changed according to the needs
of other ESP teachers - some elements could be left out, and others could be added, the
point scale could be expanded to include more points, the table could be in a digital
form, etc.
In conclusion, final emphasis needs to be placed on the double, or even triple, effect of
peer assessment in the context of improving ESP students’ presentations skills. Such an
endeavour could provide the students with feedback on their work, giving them the
much-needed focus on and appreciation of all of the indispensable elements an oral
presentation should comprise, and teaching them how to adopt both roles they had been
cast in - the role of the assessor and the role of the assessed. Moreover, it would
necessarily implicate the teachers themselves in a very different and non-traditional
way. Their role in the process of peer assessment, in general, is to be able to appreciate
fully how their students react to direct appraisal and commentary by their peers as
opposed to a figure of authority, how (and if) they confront criticism and fault-finding,
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
53
Bojan Prosenjak and Iva Lučev
how to discern between potential ill will, inexperience, and carelessness by the
assessors, and finally how to define their own position in the process of peer
assessment. All things considered, we contend that it is only when all the participants of
a learning environment - the student presenter, the student assessors and the teacher -
act together, that the level of oral presentation skills of ESP students can really be
improved.
REFERENCES
Andrade, H. and Valtcheva A. 2009. “Promoting Learning and Achievement Through
Self-Assessment”. Theory Into Practice, 48 (1), 12-19.
Bandura, A. 1997. Self-efficacy: the exercise of self-control. New York: W.H. Freeman
and Company.
De Grez, L., Valcke, M. and Roozen, I. 2012. “How effective are self- and peer
assessment of oral presentation skills compared with teachers’ assessments?”.
Active Learning in Higher Education, 13 (2), 129-142.
Everhard, C. J. and Murphy L. (Eds.). 2015. Assessment and Autonomy in Language
Learning. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan
Falchikov, N. 2004. “Involving students in assessment”. Psychology Learning and
Teaching, 3 (2), 102-108.
Harlen, W. 2006. “Assessment for learning and assessment of learning”. In Harlen, W.
(Ed.) ASE Guide to Primary Science. Hatfield: Association for Science
Education.
Hodgson, C. and Pyle K. 2010. A literature review of Assessment for Learning in
science. Slough Berks: National Foundation for Educational Research.
Jelaska, Z.
2005. Hrvatski kao drugi i strani jezik. Zagreb: Hrvatska sveučilišna
naklada.
Lavrysh, Y. 2016. “Peer and Self-Assessment at ESP Classes: Case Study.” Advanced
Education, 6, 60-68.
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
54
The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level of oral presentations skills
Lindsay, C. and Clarke, S. 2001. “Enhancing primary science through self- and paired
assessment”. Primary Science Review, 68, 15-18.
Murillo-Zamorano, L. R. and Montanero, M. 2017. “Oral presentations in higher
education: a comparison of the impact of peer and teacher feedback”.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43 (1).
Nortcliffe, A. 2012. “Can Students Assess Themselves and Their Peers? - A Five Year
Study”. Student Engagement and Experience Journal, 1 (2).
Ozogul, G. and Sullivan, H. 2007. “Student performance and attitudes under formative
evaluation by teacher, self and peer evaluators”. Educational Technology
Research and Development, 57 (3), 393-410.
Rodríguez-González, E. and Castañeda, M. E. 2016. “The effects and perceptions of
trained peer feedback in L2 speaking: impact on revision and speaking quality”.
Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 12 (2).
Ross, J. A. 2006. “The Reliability, Validity, and Utility of Self-Assessment”. Practical
Assessment Research & Evaluation, 11 (10).
Thomas, G., Martin, D. and Pleasants, K. 2011. “Using self- and peer- assessment to
enhance students’ future learning in higher education”. Journal of University
Teaching & Learning Practice, 8 (1).
Topping, K. J. 2009. “Peer Assessment” Theory Into Practice, 48 (1), 20-27.
Received: 07 November 2019
Accepted: 22 May 2020
Cite this article as:
Prosenjak, Bojan and Lučev, Iva. 2020. “The impact of peer assessment on the attainment level
of oral presentations skills”. Language Value, 12 (1), 30-55. Jaume I University ePress: Castelló,
Spain. http://www.languagevalue.uji.es.
ISSN 1989-7103
Language Value 12 (1), 30-55
55
Language Value
June 2020, Volume 12, Number 1 pp. 56-87
ISSN 1989-7103
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive
approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
Teresa Morell
Universitat d’Alacant, Spain
ABSTRACT
The growing use of English as the medium of Instruction (EMI) in non-Anglophone universities has
provided specialists in Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) with a broader scope for research and
teaching. ESP experts are now called upon not only to carry out research to support EMI teacher training,
but also to be the teacher trainers. In this study, an ESP scholar explores what constitutes successful
interactive lecturing according to academics who have taken part in her interdisciplinary EMI teacher
training workshop. This was done by analyzing the engaging, verbal and non-verbal discourse of
participants‟ video recorded exemplary mini-lessons. It was found that the mini-lectures that had been
voted as successful made greater use of questions and had a higher concentration of verbal and nonverbal
modes of communication in comparison to the lesser effective ones. The findings lend support to EMI
training with an interactive and multimodal approach.
Keywords: English-medium instruction (EMI); Language for Specific Purposes (LSP); teacher training;
multimodality; interaction; discourse analysis
I. INTRODUCTION
The growing global phenomenon of English-medium instruction (EMI) (Dearden 2015)
in the broad range of disciplinary subjects of countless non-anglophone universities has
brought numerous challenges for stakeholders - policy makers, teachers and students.
Among these trials are those faced by teachers and researchers of languages for specific
purposes (LSP). The increasing number of content teachers who have switched from
using their mother tongue to English has had an effect on specialists of English for
specific purposes (ESP). As recent research has indicated (e.g. Aguilar 2018, Ball and
Lindsay 2012, Dafouz-Milne 2018, Morell 2018, Sánchez-García 2019, Sancho Guinda
2013), LSP specialists are needed to train content specialists and to do research to
support „best practice‟ in classrooms of the ever-increasing and diverse EMI scenarios.
In this study, an example of how LSP specialists can use their expertise to train EMI
instructors and carry out research to explore effective classroom discourse will be
provided. The training and the research take into account interaction and multimodality,
two essential competences for improving EMI classroom communication and learning.
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103
56
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
I.1. Interaction in EMI teacher training
Classroom interactional competence
(CIC),
“teachers and learners‟ ability to use
interaction as a tool for mediating and assisting learning” (Walsh 2011:158), has been
put at the forefront for effective teaching in EMI university contexts (Airey 2011,
Bjorkman 2010, 2011, Hellekjaer 2010, Klaasen 2001, Morell 2018, Suvinity 2012,
Tazl
2011). These studies claim that effective lecturing behavior is considered a
necessity for information processing in second language instructional contexts. Klassen
(2001), for example, asserted that good classroom teaching performances depend on
lecture structuring and the use of interaction supported by appropriate non-verbal
behavior and well-prepared visuals. In addition, she discovered that lecture quality had a
much greater effect on how students experienced lectures than the language used.
Similarly, Suviniitty (2012) found, in her doctoral study comparing Finnish university
students‟ outcomes in EMI and L1 classes, that students were better able to understand
lectures with a higher degree of interaction, regardless of the language of instruction.
The amount of classroom participation has much to do with the use of questions (Brock
1986, Chang 2012, Crawford Camiciottoli 2008, Fortanet-Gómez and Ruiz-Madrid
2014, Morell 2004, 2007, Sánchez-García 2019). According to these studies, classroom
questioning and negotiation of meaning
(i.e. comprehension checks, confirmation
checks and clarification requests) are potential enhancers of students‟ engagement. The
use of referential questions, those that ask for audience‟s contributions from their own
experiential knowledge or perspectives, have proven to promote more and longer
responses in language classrooms (Brock 1986) and in interactive lectures (Morell
2004).
In lecture discourse studies that have drawn from English L1 corpora (Chang 2012,
Crawford Camiciottoli 2008, Fortanet-Gómez and Ruiz-Madrid 2014), questions have
been classified as either audience-oriented, which elicit responses, or content-oriented,
which are often rhetorical questions. In addition, these studies have explored lecture
corpora to find out how many questions per 1000 words lecturers use in their discourse.
Chang (2012) found that L1 lecturers‟ questions in the Humanities, Social and
Technical Sciences had more similarities than differences and concluded that they are
not discipline specific, but lecture genre specific. This entails that questions and
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
57
Teresa Morell
negotiation of meaning can be used to support students‟ understanding in lectures of any
discipline. In addition, they are precisely the types of interactive features acclaimed by
research on effective lecturing in English as a lingua franca (ELF) settings. In the words
of Bjorkman (2011: 196):
“ELF settings are by nature challenging settings for all speakers involved, and without
opportunities to negotiate meaning, there is an increased risk of disturbance in communication. It
is, therefore, highly recommended that lecturers in lingua franca settings create as many
opportunities as possible for the deployment of pragmatic strategies through which they can
increase interactivity in lectures”.
I.2. Multimodality in EMI teacher training
Multimodality, the representation and communication of meaning through a multiplicity
of modes, as defined by Gunther Kress et al. (2005, 2010) - the father of multimodal
studies- also plays a crucial role in EMI contexts. This is true in light of the fact that
content specialists are often not fully proficient in the language and need to rely on
written words, visual materials and body language in combination with their speech to
convey and elicit meaning (Morell 2018). Until recently, improving oral expression
constituted developing speakers‟ linguistic and communicative competences, that is,
their knowledge and use of the language. However, a broader view on language, and the
semiotic resources we use to communicate and represent meaning, calls for the
development of “multimodal competence”. This competence has been defined by Royce
(2002: 193) as “the ability to understand the combined potential of various modes for
making meaning so as to make sense of and construct texts”.
Developing students and teachers‟ multimodal competence has proven to be
instrumental for improving comprehension and expression in language (Choi and Yi
2016, Norte Fernández-Pacheco 2018, Sueyoshi and Hardison 2005) and content (Airey
and Linder 2009, Morell 2018, Morell and Pastor 2018, Tang, 2013) learning and
teaching contexts. Studies based on cognitive theories of learning that have examined
interactive multimodal learning environments (e.g. Moreno and Mayer 2007) claim that
student understanding can be enhanced by the addition of non-verbal knowledge
representations to verbal explanations. Ainsworth
(2006:
185), who asserts that
combinations of auditory and visual representations may complement, constrain or
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
58
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
construct learners‟ deeper understanding, states “it is not sufficient to consider each type
of representation in isolation - representations interact with one another in a form of
„representational chemistry”. Furthermore, Airey and Linder
(2009) suggest that
meaning is distributed across modes and that there is, therefore, a critical constellation
of modes that needs to be mastered by students for appropriate disciplinary
understanding. Thus, it follows that if lecturers are aware of the potential, or
affordances, of each individual representation (mode), they will be better able not only
to combine them so as to facilitate students‟ comprehension, but also to support
students‟ learning.
With regard to multimodality and university academic oral discourse, studies have
examined speakers‟ use and combination of semiotic resources in presentations and in
lectures (e.g. Crawford Camiciottoli and Fortanet-Gómez 2015, Morell 2015), but with
the exception of Morell (2018), very few studies if any have looked at the development
of EMI lecturers‟ interactive and multimodal competence.
I.3. An EMI teacher training workshop with a multimodal and interactive
approach
In the large public Spanish university, where this study took place, there has been a
continuous growth of EMI subjects in all disciplines and for the past decade lecturers
have been offered 20-hour EMI training workshops with a multimodal and interactive
approach. To date, 220 academics from a wide range of university departments have
voluntarily taken part in one of its 12 editions. In each of the sessions of the workshops
between 15 and 20 participants of a wide-range of disciplines work in pairs and in
groups to reflect on, become aware of and practice: a) verbal and non-verbal
communication, b) varying interactive teaching methodologies and c) planning a
multimodal and interactive mini-lecturei. In the final two sessions each participant puts
into practice what they have learned by carrying out a 10 to 20-minute mini-lesson on a
basic concept of their field of study. These mini-lessons, which are constructively co-
evaluated by workshop peers, using the criteria in Morell (2015), are video-recorded
and used for research purposes with the consent of the participants.
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
59
Teresa Morell
The main objective of this mixed method study was to explore what constitutes
successful interactive lecturing, according to academics who have taken part in the
aforementioned interdisciplinary EMI teacher training workshops. This aim was
fulfilled by analyzing the video recorded interactive and multimodal discourse of
participants‟ exemplary mini-lessons.
II. METHODOLOGY AND MATERIALS
To determine what characterizes effective interactive lecturing according to experienced
academics, the participants of diverse editions of the EMI workshops, described above,
were asked to vote for what they considered to be the two most effective mini lectures
they had observed and participated in during their training sessions. The two most voted
for mini-lectures of three EMI workshop editions, i.e. a total of 6 highly rated video
recorded lessons, were the object of study.
As indicated in Table 1, the lecturers of these mini-lessons had varying degrees of
English competence level (from B1-B2 to C1), teaching experience in their mother
tongue (1 - 17 years), and only one had previous experience using EMI. In addition,
they each taught content subjects in a different field
(i.e. Chemical Engineering,
Business Administration, Architecture, Sociology, Mathematics and Biology).
Table 1. Description of EMI workshop participants‟ background and their mini-lectures‟ subject, topic,
duration and words per minute (wpm).
Duration
Teaching
Experience
English
mini
experience
in English
Mini-
Competence
Degree
Mini- lecture
lecture/
in higher
as a
lecture
Level
teaching in
topic
words per
education
Medium of
(CEFR)
minute
(yrs)
Instruction
(wpm)
1
B1-B2
7
No
Chemical
Management
11 min 59
engineering
Systems in
sec / 90
Chemical
wpm
Industry
2
B2-C1
17
No
Business
What is
17 min 08
Administration
Marketing?
sec / 99
wpm
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
60
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
3
C1
4
Yes
Architecture
Construction
20 min 33
of domestic
sec / 108
imaginaries
wpm
4
B2
10
No
Sociology
Survey
09 min 39
interpretations
sec / 143
wpm
5
B2-C1
1
No
Mathematics Applications of
15 min 07
derivatives and
sec /129
integrals
wpm
6
C1
2
No
Biology
Seafood: do
17 min 11
we know what
sec /125
we are eating?
wpm
These 6 samples of study, which together entail 1 hour, 31 minutes and 38 seconds of
video streaming and a total of 10, 448 words, were used to carry out the audio-visual
discourse analysis that was done in two phases. In the first phase, the spoken discourse
was transcribed verbatim and then tagged for questions to determine the quality and
quantity of interactive verbal discourse. In the second phase, the written (W), the non-
verbal materials (NVMs) and the body language (B) modes together with the spoken
language (S) were annotated with the support of ELANii (The European Distributed
Corpora Project - EUDICO Linguistic Annotator), a professional linguistic annotation
tool.
In the following results section, the verbal interactive and multimodal discourse analysis
of the 6 mini lessons is presented. Then, the combined audio-visual analysis of one of
the mini-lessons is illustrated. Finally, a comparison is made between the highly rated
mini lessons with 6 other less effective ones.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
III.1. Results of the interactive discourse analysis
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
61
Teresa Morell
The verbal
(auditory) discourse of the
6 video-recorded mini-lessons was first
transcribed verbatim and tagged for content and audience-oriented questions. As in
Chang (2012), the questions were categorized as content-oriented or audience-oriented.
The content-oriented questions are the rhetorical questions (i.e. responded to by the
teacher or used to structure the discourse), whereas the audience-oriented questions are
those that elicit a response. The audience-oriented questions (defined below) include
display and referential types, as well as the sub-questions for negotiation of meaning
(i.e. comprehension checks, confirmation checks and clarification requests), which
maintain the interaction initiated by previous questions (i.e. display or referential) and
ensure that the lecturer and the students share the same assumptions and identification
of referents (Morell 2000, Pica, Young and Doughty 1987).
- Display questions - check the audience‟s knowledge or familiarity (e.g. Do you
know what surveys are?)
- Referential questions
- ask for audience‟s contributions from their own
experiences or perspectives (e.g. When you go to the fish market, which do you
prefer, fish from aquaculture or fishing?)
- Sub-questions for negotiation of meaning:
o Comprehension checks - check for receivers‟ understanding of message
(e.g. Do you understand?
o Confirmation checks - ask to confirm previous message (e.g. Did you
say…?)
o Clarification requests
- seek understanding (e.g. I don’t understand,
Could you explain?).
It is important to highlight that display questions, those that ask for students‟ recall of
factual information at a low cognitive level, have been found to be more often used in
classrooms than referential questions, those that ask for students‟ evaluation, judgement
or offering of new ideas at a higher cognitive level. In addition, referential questions
have been proven to promote more and longer responses with more complex syntax
(Brock 1986, Lendenmeyer 1990, Morell 2004). Furthermore, episodes of interaction
usually initiated by either display or referential questions are often followed by
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
62
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
comprehension or confirmation checks and sometimes clarification requests
(See
section III.3).
The number of specific questions, instances of negotiation of meaning
(i.e.
comprehension checks, confirmation checks and clarification requests) and the total
number of questions (Qs) per 1000 words of each mini lesson can be found in Table 2.
Table 2. Questions, and negotiation of meaning in mini-lessons 1-6 (T= Teacher, S= Student).
Audience-oriented questions
Content-oriented
Negotiation of meaning
Total
Qs per
Mini-
Rhetorical
Display
Referential
Comprehension
Confirmation
Clarification
questions
1000ws
lesson
questions
questions
questions
checks
checks
requests
1
5
5
10
2
1T; 2S
0
25
23
2
3
10
10
0
2T; 2S
1T
28
16.5
3
0
6
2
0
0T; 3S
1T; 1S
13
5.8
4
1
3
4
0
4T
0
12
8.8
5
7
6
6
11
3T; 1S
2T; 1S
37
19
6
4
1
10
3
4T; 2S
5S
39
13.6
Total
20
31
42
16
14T; 10S
4T; 7S
154
Avg
14.6
In each case, the lecturers made greater use of audience-oriented than content-oriented
questions. The most often used questions were the referential ones, those that elicit
students‟ contributions based on their own experiential or logical representation of the
world and that contain more features characteristic of genuine communication. Here are
examples of referential questions taken from the mini-lessons that ask students to
evaluate (d), judge (a, f) or offer new information (b, c, e):
a. What is the first thing that I can do with all these belts? What do you think?
(Mini-lecture 1)
b. Have you studied marketing before? (Mini-lecture 2)
c. What does this photograph communicate to you? (Mini-lecture 3)
d. What do you think this person would feel about it? Good? Bad? (Mini-lecture 4)
e. Have you ever seen a derivative in real life? (Mini-lecture 5)
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
63
Teresa Morell
f.
When you go to the fish market, which do you prefer, fish from aquaculture or
fishing? (Mini-lecture 6)
It is also interesting to note that the negotiation of meaning or sub-questions that served
to check or confirm comprehension and to clarify meaning, which occurred after the
teachers‟ display or referential questions, was carried out by both the teachers (T) and
the students (S).
Although referential questions have proven to be the most effective, in so far as
promoting more and longer students‟ responses (Morell 2004, Brock 1986), there is no
specific mention of them in other studies that have focused on questions in lectures (e.g.
Crawford-Camiociottoli 2008 and Chang 2012). Chang (2012: 106) describes eliciting
response questions as those that “invite students to supply a piece of information related
to the course content” and gives two examples of what has been referred to as display
questions (those that check what students know). The fact that no distinction is made
between display and referential questions in lecture discourse studies may be an
indication of the lack, or limited degree, of overt student participation found in the
lecture corpora studied.
Another distinguishing characteristic of these effective mini-lectures is that they have a
greater number of questions per 1000 words (14.45) than the L1 Physical Science (9.9)
and Social Science (8.6) lectures analyzed in Chang (2012), which also indicates a
higher degree of interactivity in the samples studied.
The degree of interactivity (Table 3) in this study was estimated by calculating the
number of tokens used to engage in the questions and negotiation of meaning. Thus, the
percentage of interactive discourse is the estimation of the tokens used by both the
lecturer and the participants while asking and responding to or elaborating on the
audience-oriented questions
(i.e. display and referential questions, comprehension
checks, confirmation checks and clarification requests) divided by the total number of
verbal discourse tokens and multiplied by 100.
Table 3. The degree of interactivity in mini-lessons 1-6.
Mini-
Interactive discourse
Verbal discourse
Percentage interactive
lecture
tokens
tokens
discourse
1
496
1090
45%
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
64
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
2
762
1698
45%
3
442
2225
19%
4
171
1365
13%
5
440
1940
23%
6
804
2130
38%
The verbal discourse analysis of the mini-lessons revealed a relatively high usage of
audience-oriented questions and, thus, an overall high percentage of interactive
discourse. Mini-lessons 1 and 2 that made greater use of referential questions had a
greater degree of interaction. In both cases, nearly half the time was spent in
collaborative discourse. It is also interesting to note that these two mini-lectures had the
lowest rate of words per minute. As is indicated in Table 3, mini-lecture 1 had 90 words
per minute and mini-lecture 2 had 99 words per minute. These rates of words per
minute in lecture discourse are considered slower than normal according to Tauroza and
Allison (1990: 102). Consequently, it seems that more interactivity implies more time or
pauses, which have been claimed favorable for facilitating comprehension (Griffiths
1990: 311). This raises the question on the amount of content that can be delivered and
the amount that can be understood by learners during a lecture session. Apparently, the
extra time spent in interaction will reduce the quantity of material covered, but will
provide students with the time needed for comprehension.
III.2. Results of the multimodal discourse analysis
The multimodal discourse (auditory + visual) was analyzed with ELAN. This tool
allows users to analyze the orchestration of modes in captured digitalized audiovisual
data by making linguistic annotations in tiers to describe the performance of modes
during specific times. A 5 tier template was designed with the transcribed spoken
discourse (S) in the first tier, and the linguistic annotations of the written (W), non-
verbal materials (N), body language (B) and their multimodal combinations in the
subsequent tiers (see Figure 1).
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
65
Teresa Morell
Figure 1. Sample ELAN window with 5 tiers
The main characteristics of the teachers‟ use of each mode and their combinations is
found in Table
4. Besides the aforementioned common use of audience-oriented
questions in the spoken discourse, the mini-lessons also shared the following
characteristics:
- Stressed key words and simple syntactic structures through the spoken and
written modes,
- Implemented illustrative non-verbal materials (realia, images, diagrams, tables,
or charts) on the screen,
- Made use of eye contact, body and facial gestures to accompany speech, written
and non-verbal materials (NVMs), and
- Combined 4 modes (Sp + W + NVMs + B) throughout the greater part of the
lessons.
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
66
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
Table 4. Multimodal discourse description of mini-lessons 1-6.
Body language
Multimodal
Non-verbal
Mini-
(B)
combinations
Spoken (Sp)
Written (W)
materials
lessons
(percentage of
(NVMs)
time)
1
Simple
key words and
Images,
Eye contact and
Sp + B - 10%
syntactic
simple syntactic
diagrams, tables
gaze towards
Sp + B + NVMs
structures,
structures on
on slides and
audience, screen
Sp + B + W -
stressed key
slides and board
realia
and realia, Hand
13%
words, some
accompanying
accompanying
gestures and
linguistic
speech
speech
body movements
Sp + W +
inaccuracies
referring to
NVMs + B -
content and
67%
realia
2
Combinations
key words and
Images and
Eye contact and
Sp
+ W + B
of simple and
simple syntactic
diagrams
gaze towards
Sp + W + NVMs
complex
structures on
accompanying
audience, screen
W + NVMs + B
syntactic
slides and board
and before
and board. Hand
-10%
structures,
accompanying,
speech
gestures, body
stressed key
before and after
movements, and
Sp
+ W
+
words, accurate
speech
shifting
NVMs
+ B
-
speech
positions Walks
90%
around class to
ensure students‟
participation
3
Combinations
key words and
Many images
Eye contact and
Sp + NVMs + B-
of simple and
simple syntactic
on slides
gaze towards
1%
complex
structures on
accompanying
audience, screen
syntactic
slides and board
speech at all
and board. Hand
Sp + W +
structures,
accompanying
times
gestures and
NVMs + B -
stressed key
speech
facial
99%
words, accurate
expressions to
speech
emphasize ideas
and express
opinions.
4
Combinations
key words and
Images and
Eye contact and
Sp + W + B
of simple and
simple syntactic
tables on slides
gaze towards
Sp + W + NVMs
complex
structures on
accompanying
audience and
- 25%
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
67
Teresa Morell
syntactic
slides
speech
screen.
structures,
accompanying
Continuous hand
Sp + W +
stressed key
speech
and arm
NVMs + B -
words, accurate
movements.
75%
speech
5
Simple
key words and
Images, graphs
Eye contact and
syntactic
simple syntactic
and tables
gaze towards
structures, some
structures on
accompanying
audience, screen
linguistic
slides and board
speech
and board.
inaccuracies
accompanying
Facial gestures
speech
6
Simple
key words and
Images,
Eye contact and
W - 4%
syntactic
simple syntactic
diagrams,
gaze towards
W + NVMs
structures,
structures on
graphs, tables
audience and
Sp + W
stressed key
slides
and charts
screen.
Sp + B - 13%
words, some
accompanying,
accompanying
Continuous body
Sp + W + NVMs
linguistic
before and after
and before
movements.
Sp + W + B -
innacuracies
speech
speech
30%
Sp + W +
NVMs + B -
53%
As is indicated in the last column of Table 4, the multimodal combinations or ensembles
that included the four modes were prevalent throughout each of the mini lessons. In
fact, the percentage of time in which the teachers combined the spoken, written, non-
verbal materials and body language modes together to communicate, ranged from 53%
in mini-lesson 6 to 99% in mini-lesson 3. Nevertheless, a closer look at how the
speakers orchestrated the modes (Kress 2010: 162), moment by moment, to create the
specific multimodal ensembles reveals that they were arranged either simultaneously or
consecutively. For example, the lecturer in mini-lesson 2 (see Table 5) at times used the
written slides or the ones with NVMs at the same time as he spoke, but at other
moments he either spoke before or after having shown the written or NVMs. In other
words, teachers can choose to use other modes at the same time as they are speaking or
to use them before or after having spoken. Consequently, we may state that the 6 mini-
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
68
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
lessons coincide in so far as the tendency to use 4 mode ensembles, but not in their
orchestrations or organization of modes.
Another distinguishing characteristic of the mini-lessons worth-mentioning, which is
positively influenced by the use of multimodal ensembles, is the spoken linguistic
inaccuracies and complexities. In mini-lessons
1,
5 and 6 a number of linguistic
inaccuracies concerning pronunciation, intonation and syntactic structures were found.
In contrast, some complex syntactic structures were used in mini-lessons 2, 3, and 4.
Nevertheless, the spoken inaccuracies and complexities were nearly all accompanied by
clarifying written or non-verbal materials. Thus, the co-occurring reiteration of meaning
through visual modes allowed the audience, with varying degrees of proficiency, to
understand what the speaker was trying to convey despite the inaccuracies or
complexities.
III.3. A sample multimodal interactive discourse analysis of a mini-lecture
Now that the mini-lessons have been examined, we will have a closer look at the verbal
and visual transcription of mini-lesson
2 (see Table
5), the most interactive and
multimodal of the six lessons explored (as indicated in Tables 2, 3 and 4). The aim of
this lesson was to introduce Marketing and it was given by a lecturer of the Department
of Business Administration, who had between a B2 and a C1 English proficiency level
and had never used EMI in his 17 years of teaching experience. In this lesson, as in
most of the others analyzed, the instructor began by greeting and then attempting to
attract the students‟ attention. This was done by projecting images of controversial
marketing campaigns and asking if they were familiar with them. Then, the participants
were asked to work in pairs for 2 minutes to discuss and define marketing. The
instructions were given verbally and also projected on the screen. While the pairs were
working, the instructor went around monitoring the discussions. Once the time was up,
each pair was encouraged to contribute their definitions, whose keywords were written
on the board by the teacher. The given responses led to a series of interactions, or
instances of negotiation of meaning, that allowed several students to bring their
experience and perspective to the class. The remaining part of the mini-lesson was
dedicated to the interpretation of a published definition on marketing. The definition
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
69
Teresa Morell
was projected on the screen and visually supported by gradually highlighting key points
in red, which were illustrated through images of marketing campaigns and a final mind
map.
The three columns of Table 5 illustrate how this lecturer combined verbal and visual
modes to carry out pedagogical interpersonal functions in the first 13 minutes of this 17
minute long mini-lesson. The first column indicates the interpersonal pedagogical
function carried out during each of the timed frames. The second column contains a
snapshot taken during the performance of the pedagogical function that allows us to
observe the lecturer‟s constantly changing body language and use of slides and
blackboard. The third one permits us to read the spoken discourse and to take note of
the labeled questions and negotiation of meaning highlighted in boldface. A combined
view of columns 2 and 3, that is of the visual and the verbal, for each of the frames
(rows), where students are given opportunities to participate (see frames 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 and
9), reaffirms the multimodal and interactive characteristics of classroom interpersonal
communication.
On the one hand, if we explore this mini-lecture from a visual multimodal perspective
by having a close look at the lecturer‟s use of body language, non-verbal materials and
written content, it becomes apparent that this instructor uses many more semiotic
resources besides the spoken in his performance. Each of the interpersonal pedagogical
functions is realized through the orchestration of facial gestures, arm-hand movements,
changing body positions, writing on board and specific slides that contain concise
written texts or illustrative images together with the verbal discourse. On the other
hand, if we examine it from the verbal discourse perspective, we note that the mini-
lecture starts with interactive discourse during the first
13 minutes and ends with
expository discourse in the remaining 4 minutes. The interactive discourse consists of a
number of questions, or elicitation markers, that entail a broad range of interpersonal
pedagogical functions such as:
- greeting (i.e. How are you doing today?),
- announcing objectives (i.e. What is exactly marketing?),
- attracting attention (e.g. Have you ever seen this picture before?)
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
70
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
- setting up activity (e.g. Working in pairs . . . two minutes maximum, what is
marketing for you?
- eliciting information (When you don’t know the meaning of a word, what do you
do?).
All the questions in this mini-lesson (10 referential and 10 display questions) were
answered by the students. Consequently, we can claim that this instructor has been
successful in engaging the students in co-creating the discourse of this multimodal
interactive mini-lecture.
Table 5. Verbal and visual transcription of Mini-lesson 2.
Interpersonal
Visual representation
Verbal representation (spoken
Pedagogical
(body language, writing on slides
interactive and expository discourse)
Functions
and board, and images)
question types: d=display,
(Time Sequence)
r=referential, rh=rhetorical
negotiation of meaning:
conf=confirmation check,
comp=comprehension check,
clar=clarification request
1. Greets &
T- Well, good morning everybody. How
announces topic
are you doing today?(R)
SS- Fine, thank you.
T- Well, today, this morning we are
going to talk about what is
0-0.35”
marketing?(D)
2. Projects (on slide),
First, the main goal of this subject, of
announces &
this mini lesson is to understand what is
reformulates
exactly
marketing, what does
objective
marketing means? (D) And the second
objective of this mini lesson is that you
Announces show of
are able to answer the question to:
images
which is the scope or what is the scope
of marketing? (D)
First of all, I would like you to see some
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
71
Teresa Morell
images that perhaps you have seen
0.35-1.06”
before and think about about them.
3. Motivates by
Have you ever seen this picture
showing 3
before?(R)
controversial images
SS- No.
of marketing
T- Is a marketing campaign from
campaigns and asks
Benetton. You know this brand?(R)
students if they are
SS- Yes.
familiar with them
T- Very controversial. Have you ever
seen this picture before?(R)
SS- Yes. No.
1.06-2.02
T- Is also a brand. It‟s a clothes' brand,
textile brand.
And the last one, another
marketing campaign from Dolce &
Gabbana. Have you seen this picture
before?(R)
SS- Yes. No.
T- Some common marketing campaigns
that arrived to the mass media because
they
are very controversial and many people
breaks their beliefs when they see this
images
4a. Gives assignment
Well, after that, I would like you to work
on slide. Asks to
in pairs and from your previous
work in pairs
experience I would like you to, working
in pairs, to try to define, one minute, one
minute and a half, two minutes
4b. Writes outline on
maximum, what is marketing for you?
board
(R) What do you think marketing is
from your previous experience? (R)
4c. Circulates among
SS- Inaud SS (Working in pairs)
pairs
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
72
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
2.02-5.00
5a. Elicits
T- You have a limited time, so I would
information from
like to continue, please. Well, what is
students through
marketing for you? What do you think
questions
marketing is? (R)Which is the main
activity marketing does?(D)
S1- The main objective is to sell.
T- To sell. Yes. Everybody and I was
sure that most of you, in your definitions
is to sell, money, profits, inaud T And I
was sure that most of you, in your
definitions have a word... like this.
S2- We defined like the process that you
can sell your best image of your
company or our professional project, in
global.
Negotiates meaning
T- In global, but to sell your image?
5b.fills-in outline on
(Clar)
board according to
S2- To sell everything that you have.
students‟ responses
Your structure, your quality, for your
global service, everything that you have.
5c. Evaluates
No, No... at the end no is for... the
student‟s response
activity is not to sell something by
money. Maybe, I don't know...
5d. Praises student‟s
T- That‟s a very accurate definition of
comments
marketing, but who does this
activity?(D)
Who
applies
marketing?(D)
S3- But, I'm… I not agree with this
definition. Why? And the section what?
Sometimes when the government want
change something or sell, not sell
exactly,
“sell” a project, they use
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
73
Teresa Morell
marketing.
5e. Reformulates to
T- Yes.
elicit classifying
S3- For example, Hacienda somos
term
todos, I think is marketing
100%.
(laughter)
T- Have you studied
marketing
5f. Shows activity
before?
(R) Or you have read
slide with keywords
something about marketing before?
filled-in
(R)
S3- No, nothing.
T- No? Hacienda somos todos and the
campaigns we saw before, which is,
which is the technique employed
here? (D)
S4- Visual? Visual impact.
5.00-7.49
T- Visual impact, but the technique,
how do we call... which is the name of
this...? (D)
S5- Pictures?
T- Pictures? (Conf) No, yes they are
pictures but...
S6- Advertisement.
T- Advertisement. Promotion. Publicity.
Promotion. Most people relate
advertisement, publicity, promotion,
commercial adds as an activity, as a
marketing activity, no? And who does
this activity?
(D) Who applies
marketing? (D)
S7- Companies.
T- Companies, firms.
S1- Institutions, public institutions,
States,
governments.
Sometimes,
individuals.
T- Individuals, you can also apply
marketing. Most of people when try to
think about marketing and try to define
marketing, employ this words in their
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
74
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
definitions: promotion, advertisement,
firms, also companies, institutions, and
most people think or believe that the
main objective of marketing is to
improve the sales, the revenue of firms
to earn money. This is a very applied
definition of marketing, but this is
marketing as was understood in the
sixties. And today, as I have realized,
you have a good idea of what marketing
is. The scope of marketing is larger, and
this is very narrow definition of what
marketing is. At the present, nowadays,
marketing has two main problems. First,
is that marketing has become a very
popular term, and this is a problem.
6. Shows Google
Most people when try to know what is
search of marketing
marketing, go to the Google search
engine, and
write the term marketing, and marketing
7.49-8.55
gives us on this search engine up to five
hundred
millions of web pages talking about
marketing. And most of them make a
bad connotation
of marketing and don't employ the term
marketing in a proper way.
7. Uses humor to
The second problem with marketing is
demonstrate
that has become very popular, especially
popularity & elicit
due to the digital environment, and most
what is done to find
people when applies or try to know what
definitions
marketing is, begin as Homer Simpson
does, (laughter) with the most advanced
techniques, and forget the basics, and
forget the basics. They want to know the
most updated techniques, and forget the
basics of marketing. When you don't
know the meaning of a word, what do
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
75
Teresa Morell
8.55-9.32
you do? (D)
S5- To go to the dictionary.
8. Shows and reads
T- You go to the dictionary and this is
definition of
what I did, go to the dictionary and read
marketing
the definition of marketing. I did not go
to any dictionary, but the dictionary of
the American Marketing Academy.
(laughter) This is a best dictionary in
9.32-10.22
marketing field. And this is the
definition that the American Marketing
Association, which is also a definition
adopted by the European Marketing
Academy. This is how this association
defines what marketing is. In this
definition as we can read, marketing is a
process, is a process, as you stated, very
well, of planning and executing the
conception, pricing, promotion and
distribution of ideas, goods and services
to create exchanges that satisfy
individual
needs,
organizational
objectives and society at large. This is
the
mostup-today
definition
of
marketing.
9a. Highlights the
From this definition, I would like to
keypoints in
highlight three points. First, which is the
definition
goal of marketing and who does
marketing? (D) If we carefully read this
9b. Elicits example
definition, the goal of marketing is to
of commercial and
create exchange. If we think in
non-commercial
exchange, we can have, of course,
exchange
commercial exchange. An example of
commercial exchange?(R)
9c. Relates present
S8- When you go to a shop. inaud ST
teaching activity
T- When you go to a shop and buy a
with „exchange‟
mobile phone. But we can also have
non-commercial
exchange.
Any
10.22-11.25
example
of
non-commercial
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
76
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
exchange? (R) You said it before.
S1- When you try to change the way of
thinking of some person or….
T- For example, now. Teaching, the
teacher and the students. There is an
exchange, and I am trying to transmit
my knowledge, I am trying that you
learn, and you are here making an effort
to hear me. So, wherever there is a
exchange, marketing can be applied.
Wherever there is a exchange, marketing
can be applied. In this definition, we
don't have the word firm, we don't have
the word company, we don't have the
word enterprise. We have the word
exchange, and wherever there is
exchange,
commercial
or
non-
commercial, we can apply the word
marketing.
10. Illustrates
As Pablo said very well before,
political marketing
politicians can apply marketing. Most
people agree that when Barack Obama
won or became president of the United
States of America, it employed or he
11.25-12.45
employed marketing techniques very
well. It is a branch of marketing which is
called political marketing. There is a
exchange, he is a politician, people who
vote him, and they want to make an
exchange. I am inaud T your vote, and I
tell you what I say if you vote me. There
is an exchange of marketing can be
applied.
11. Highlights the
Which is the second idea I would like
goal of marketing
to highlight from this definition? (RH)
Why people or why organizations can
apply and which is the goal of
marketing. (Rh) The goal of marketing
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
77
Teresa Morell
12.45-13.20
is
to
satisfy
individual
needs,
organizational objectives, and society at
large. Nowadays, because of the media,
most people have a bad connotation of
marketing,
because
the
most
controversial
marketing campaigns
arrive to the media, and this is what
most people can see on TV related to
marketing. But marketing should also
take care about society, and most firms
that apply marketing strategies take into
account this concern.
12. Illustrates cause-
For example, we have here a marketing
related marketing
campaign which is a cause-related
marketing campaign. In this case, one
firm, Kentucky Fried Chicken concerns
13.20-14.12
about breast cancer, and every time they
make an exchange with the consumer,
every time we buy a chicken bucket,
they give an amount of money to
research against this breast cancer.
Because marketing also concerns about
the society and that. Of course, they
want to earn money, but they can't
forget that the consumers could ever
have a problem like this, and they
concern about the individual needs with
which they relate.
13. Highlights what
And the last point I would like to
marketing does
highlight from my definition, well, not
my definition, from the American
Marketing
Academy Association
14.12-15.05
definition is what marketing does.
Marketing has a lot of techniques, a lot
of variables, and most people think that
only promotion is a variable that
marketing can be applied, and, we can
see, sorry, in this definition there are
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
78
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
four marketing variables which are
employed to define the marketing
strategy of a firm, of an organization,
which are: the conception of the product,
the idea, good or service; the price; the
promotion; and distribution.
14. Explains and
When we think in a marketing strategy,
illustrates 4 main
when we think about marketing, we
points involved in
should think in the four variables all
marketing
together. Maybe, the most non variable
is promotion, but before to promote you
need the product. You have to put the
product available to the consumer, and
15.05-16.43
then you have to price the product.
Because in the exchange, you give the
product and obtain the price. And also
you have to consider this variable when
you define your marketing strategy. To
think that marketing is promotion, is a
very narrow definition of marketing. Of
course, promotion is a variable of
marketing, but is not the only, and is not
the most important variable.
15a. Reviews
And this is what marketing is.
definition
I hope that after this class, you have a
15b. Ends with final
better knowledge of what marketing is,
message
and I hope that the next time you think
about marketing you forget the bad
connotations that usually marketing has
for most of the consumers. And thank
16.43-17.08
you very much.
III.4. A comparison of the more and less effective lessons
Besides exploring the common interactive and multimodal aspects of the 6 highly
rated mini-lessons, 6 other recordings that had not been selected as effective were also
reviewed to determine if they had similar characteristics. It was found that in most cases
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
79
Teresa Morell
these lecturers used a limited number of questions and that little or no negotiation of
meaning occurred. Concerning their use and combination of modes, they shared some
similar aspects, especially in terms of the written and non-verbal materials, with the
ones that had been voted for as being effective. The written mode on their slides also
made use of key words and simple syntactic structures. Similarly, their non-verbal
materials consisted of illustrative images, tables and diagrams, though they were used to
a lesser extent. Unlike the highly rated lessons, these less effective ones foregrounded
speech throughout a greater part of the session and had much lower percentages of time
in which 3 or 4 modes were combined to represent and communicate meaning. In
summary, the less effective ones were not as interactive or as multimodal as the more
effective ones.
IV. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
The main objective of this study was to explore the characteristics of lessons considered
to be effective according to trained EMI instructors. This was achieved by carrying out
a verbal and multimodal analysis of 6 highly rated mini-lectures, then having a closer
look at one of them, and finally comparing the more effective with the lesser ones. What
follows is a summary of the findings and their pedagogical implications.
The verbal interactive discourse analysis revealed that the more highly evaluated
lessons had a greater use of audience than of content-oriented questions. In addition,
there were more referential than display questions, both of which were in many cases
followed by instances of negotiation of meaning (i.e. comprehension and confirmation
checks) initiated by teachers and students. These lessons had more questions per 1000
words and higher percentages of interactive discourse in comparison to those in other
corpora (e.g. Chang, 2012). It was also found that these lessons had lower rates of
words per minute than other less interactive lectures. Thus, in terms of training EMI
instructors in the use of verbal interactive discourse, the study points to the need to a)
teach the differences among types of questions, b) practice formulating referential type
questions, and c) encourage and give students time to negotiate meaning.
The multimodal discourse analysis of the chosen lessons showed that the EMI
instructors‟ spoken and written language was made up of stressed key words and simple
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
80
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
syntactic structures. They each made use of diverse non-verbal materials that illustrated
concepts. In all cases, the speech, writing and NVMs were accompanied by eye contact
and gestures. In fact, the 6 mini-lessons were highly multimodal because they made use
of four modes (i.e. speech, writing, NVMs and body language) throughout most of the
lessons, unlike 6 other mini-lessons that had not been selected and that foregrounded
speech and accompanying body language most of the time. The findings of the
multimodal analysis highlight the importance of raising awareness among EMI
instructors of modal and multimodal affordances. In other words, EMI trainers should
dedicate time with their trainees to make clear how modes or semiotic resources can be
used and combined to facilitate students‟ comprehension.
The combined verbal interactive and multimodal discourse analysis of mini-lesson 2,
represented in Table 5, gives further support to the benefits of instructors‟ conscious use
of interactive and multimodal discourse. In this exemplary lesson, the instructor‟s use of
audience-oriented questions and combinations of varied semiotic resources allowed him
to carry out interpersonal pedagogical functions that engaged the audience. Detailed
analysis, as this one, of other successful EMI lessons in diverse fields should not only
be object of study for ESP specialists, but also a resource for their teacher training
In general terms, a number of implications emerge with regard to training lecturers who
switch from teaching in their L1 to English. First, in line with Morell (2004) and (2007),
audience-oriented questions, especially referential questions, will enhance interaction
that will not only promote students‟ engagement, but also allow for negotiation of
meaning. Second, in line with Morell (2015) and Norte Fernández Pacheco (2018), co-
occurring reiteration of meaning through visual modes allows the audience, with
varying degrees of proficiency, to understand what the speaker is trying to convey
despite linguistic inaccuracies or complexities. Finally, it is important to point out, in
line with Klaassen (2001), Hellekjaer, (2010) and Bjorkman, (2011), that effective
lecturing skills are not directly proportional with high linguistic proficiency.
As far as research to improve EMI classroom instruction is concerned, there is much to
be done to begin to determine „best practices‟ and to ensure quality in EMI teaching
contexts of diverse disciplines. Here I have only explored the discourse of 6 well-rated
mini-lectures, albeit of distinct fields, and I have found that they all have a high degree
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
81
Teresa Morell
of interactivity and multimodality. Through this study as in others cited, it seems quite
clear that effective EMI instruction involves students in the language and the content.
And, in terms of the verbal mode we know that this is done through a deployment of
engaging questions and negotiation of meaning. However, in terms of the visual modes
and their combinations, it is not so clear. In line with Ainsworth (2006), it is not enough
to consider each representation
(mode) in isolation, we need to explore how
representations interact to form “chemical representations”. In other words, research
needs to look into how EMI instructors of specific disciplines use multimodal
ensembles to effectively represent and communicate the particular inherent meanings of
their fields. Consequently, to start to corroborate best practices in each of the many
fields that have adapted EMI, LSP specialists need to analyze characteristic multimodal
ensembles found in larger lecture corpora.
In this study, I have provided an example of how LSP specialists can use their expertise
to train teachers and to do research in EMI. However, and more importantly, this study
provides further evidence of the many new teaching and research avenues open to the
specialists of languages for specific purposes as a consequence of the ever-increasing
university EMI scenarios.
Notes
i In this paper the term „interactive mini-lecture‟ is used interchangeably with „mini-lesson‟ and it refers
to a short university classroom session that incorporates student overt participation by means of engaging
activities such as group brainstorming, pair work or debates.
REFERENCES
Aguilar, M. 2018. Integrating intercultural competence in ESP and EMI: From theory
to
practice.
ESP
Today,
6
(1),
25-43.
Ainsworth, S. 2006. “DeFT: A conceptual framework for considering learning with
multiple representations”. Learning and Instruction,
16
(3),
183-198.
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
82
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
Airey, J. and Linder, C. 2009. “A disciplinary discourse perspective on university
science learning: Achieving fluency in a critical constellation of
modes”. Journal of Research in Science Teaching,
46
(1),
27-49.
Airey, J.
2011. “Talking about teaching in English: Swedish university lecturers‟
experiences of changing teaching language”. Ibérica, 22, 35-54.
Ball, P. and Lindsay, D. 2012. “Language demands and support for English medium
instruction in tertiary education. Learning from a specific context”. In Doiz, A.,
D. Lasagabaster and J. M. Sierra
(Eds.), English medium instruction at
universities: Global challenges, 44-64. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Bjorkman, B. 2010. “So You Think You Can ELF: English as a Lingua Franca as the
Medium of Instruction”. Hermes - Journal of Language and Communication
45-bj%C3%B6rkman.pdf.
— 2011. “Pragmatic strategies in English as an academic lingua franca: Ways of
achieving communicative effectiveness?” Journal of Pragmatics, 43, 950-964.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.07.033.
Brock, C. 1986. “The effects of referential questions on ESL classroom discourse”.
Chang, Y.-Y. 2012. “The use of questions in lectures given in English: Influences of
disciplinary cultures”. English for Specific Purposes,
31,
103-116.
Choi, J. and Yi, Y. 2016. “Teachers‟ integration of multimodality into classroom
practices for English language learners”. TESOL Journal,
7 (2),
304-327.
Crawford Camiciottoli, B. 2008. “Interaction in academic lectures vs written text
materials: the case of questions”. Journal of Pragmatics, 40 (7), 1216-1231
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2007.08.007.
Crawford Camiciottoli, B. and Fortanet-Gómez, I. 2015. Multimodal Analysis in
Academic Settings. New York, NY: Routledge.
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
83
Teresa Morell
Dafouz-Milne, E.
2018.
“English-medium instruction and teacher education
programmes in higher education: ideological forces and imagined identities at
work”. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21 (5),
Dearden, J.
2015.
“English as a Medium of Instuction: A growing global
phenomenon”.
British
Council
Report.
ELAN, Version
5.2
(April
2008). Nijmegen: Max Planck Institute for
Fortanet-Gómez, I. and Ruíz-Madrid, N. 2014. “Multimodality for comprehensive
communication in the classroom: Questions in guests lectures”. Ibérica, 28,
203-224.
Griffiths, R. 1990. “Speech rate and NNS comprehension: A preliminary study in time-
benefit analysis”. Language Learning, 40 (3), 345-364.
Hellekjaer, G. O.
2010.
“Lecture comprehension in English-medium higher
education”. Hermes- Journal of Language Communication, 45, 11-28.
Klaassen, R. 2001. The international university curriculum: Challenges in English-
medium engineering education: Doctoral Thesis. Department of Communication
and Education, Delft University of Technology: Delft, The Netherlands.
Kress, G.
2010. Multimodality: A social semiotic approach to contemporary
communication. London: Routledge.
Kress G., Jewitt C., Bourne J., Franks A., Hardcastle J., Jones K. and Reid E.
2005. A multimodal perspective on teaching and learning. London: Routledge.
Lendenmeyer, S. 1990. “Study of referential and display questions and their responses
in adult ESL reading classes”. Dissertations and Theses. Paper
4070.
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
84
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
Morell, T. 2000. “EFL Content Lectures. A Discourse Analysis of an Interactive and a
Non-Interactive Style”. Working Papers 7. Alicante, Spain: Departamento de
Filología Inglesa, Universidad de Alicante.
— 2004. “Interactive discourse for university EFL students”. English for Specific
— 2007. What enhances EFL students‟ participation in lecture discourse? Student,
lecturer and discourse perspectives. Journal of English for Academic Purposes,
— 2015. International paper conference presentations: A multimodal analysis to
determine effectiveness. English for Specific Purposes, 37,
137-150.
— 2018. “Multimodal competence and effective interactive EMI lecturing”. System, 77,
Morell, T. and Pastor Cesteros, S.
2018.
“Multimodal communication in oral
academic presentations by L2 Spanish students”. Spanish Language Teaching, 5
(2), 125-138.
Moreno, R. and Mayer, R. 2007. “Interactive multimodal learning environments”.
Norte Fernández-Pacheco, N. 2018. “The Impact of Multimodal Ensembles onAudio-
Visual Comprehension: Implementing Vodcasts in EFL Contexts”. Multimodal
Pica, T., Young, R. and Doughty, C.
1987.
“The impact of interaction on
comprehension”. TESOL Quarterly, 21 (4), 737-758.
Royce, T. 2002. “Multimodality in the TESOL classroom: Exploring visual-verbal
Sánchez-García, D. 2019. “„I can‟t find the words now‟: Teacher discourse strategies
and their communicative potential in Spanish and English-medium instruction in
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
85
Teresa Morell
higher education”. CLIL. Journal of Innovation and Research in Plurilingual
and Pluricultural Education, 2 (2), 43-55.
Sancho Guinda, C. 2013. ―Teacher Targets: A model for CLIL and ELF teacher
education in polytechnic settings”. Language Value,
5
(1),
76-106.
Seoyoshi, A. and Hardison, D.M. 2005. “The Role of Gestures and Facial Cues in
Second Language Listening Comprehension”. Language Learning, 55 (4), 661-
699.
Suviniitty, J. 2012. Lectures in English as a Lingua Franca: Interactional features.
Doctoral thesis. University of Helsinki.
Tang, K.-S. 2013. “Instantiation of multimodal semiotic systems in science classroom
discourse”. Language Sciences,
37,
Tauroza, S. and Allison, D.
1990.
“Speech rates in British English”. Applied
Linguistics 11 (1), 90-105.
Tazl, D. 2011. “English-medium masters‟ programmes at an Austrian university of
applied sciences: Attitudes, experiences and challenges”. Journal of English for
Walsh, S.
2011. Exploring Classroom Discourse Language in Action. London:
Routledge.
Received: 08 November 2019
Accepted: 23 May 2020
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
86
EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new horizon for LSP specialists
Cite this article as:
Morell, Teresa. 2020. “EMI teacher training with a multimodal and interactive approach: A new
horizon for LSP specialists”. Language Value, 12 (1), 56-87. Jaume I University ePress: Castelló,
Spain. http://www.languagevalue.uji.es.
ISSN 1989-7103
Language Value 12 (1), 56-87
87
Language Value
June 2020, Volume 12, Number 1 pp. 88-111
ISSN 1989-7103
English, Spanish o los dos? Teaching professional writing on
the U.S.-Mexico border
Theresa Donovan
Teresa Quezada
Isabel Baca
The University of Texas at El Paso, USA
ABSTRACT
In ―Spanish for the Professions and Specific Purposes: Curricular Mainstay,‖ Doyle discusses how SPSP
is poised to become an ―adaptable signature feature of future Spanish curricula‖ (2018: 96). For SPSP to
become a mainstay, Doyle argues that it requires ―greater needs-grounded imagination (…) whose
potential SPSP portfolios will vary according to educational missions and contexts‖ and proposes
certificate programs as responsive and adaptable programs to fit diverse curricular contexts (2018: 96-
97). In this paper, the authors discuss the development of a cross-disciplinary certificate program in
Bilingual Professional Writing (Spanish/English) at a public university on the U.S./Mexico border to
meet the needs of our unique student body and to better prepare students as globally-minded writing
professionals. This model values students’ home languages and echoes Collier and Thomas’ (2004)
assertion that a bilingual and dual language approach can be astoundingly effective at the university level.
Keywords: Professional Writing Programs, Bilingual Writing in Higher Education, Language for
Specific Purposes
I. INTRODUCTION
―English, Spanish o los dos?‖ To faculty in the Rhetoric and Writing Studies program at
the University of Texas at El Paso (UT-El Paso), the answer was unquestionably los dos
when we began to redesign the curriculum for a professional writing certificate for
undergraduate and graduate students. At the core of the certificate design is a
curriculum that emphasizes written communication and strives to incorporate both
Spanish and English equally in the required courses. The redesigned curriculum was
launched in fall of 2018 as the Bilingual and Professional Writing Certificate (BPWC)
program. The BPWC is the first and perhaps only program of its kind in the U.S. to
focus specifically on writing in Spanish and English for professional contexts. In the
BPWC, two languages are then used for the specific purpose of communicating
professionally. This UT-El Paso program attends to both local and global needs. At the
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103
88
English, Spanish o los dos? Teaching professional writing on the U.S.-Mexico border
local level, it honors our students’ language assets and maximizes our university’s
unique location on the U.S.-Mexico border. At the global level, it prepares students for
today’s workforce, which is quickly becoming more multilingual and globalized, and
provides them the opportunity to become effective, ethical and dynamic bilingual
professionals. Our goal in this paper is to explain the significance of the program, the
curricular design choices made by the founding instructors and its unique position at the
crossroads of both Language for Specific Purposes and Rhetoric and Writing Studies.
Before entering into the particulars of the program, it is important to note why we
situate the BPWC within the broader approaches of Language for Specific Purposes
(LSP)i and Rhetoric and Writing Studiesii as we draw upon scholarship from LSP and
our discipline, Rhetoric and Writing Studies (RWS). LSP curricula are interdisciplinary
by nature, and draw upon the research and methods of the disciplines they serve. More
often than not, LSP is part of a foreign language curriculum or departments; in our case,
the BPWC is a joint effort with the Translation program in the Department of
Languages and Linguistics but forms an administrative unit of the Rhetoric and Writing
Studies Program within the Department of English at UT-El Paso. On a basic level, the
primary goal of LSP is to prepare students for the practical application of a target
language in professional environments (Lafford 2012), while the primary goal of RWS
is to prepare students for the rigors of writing in professional and academic contexts.
The key tenets of our disciplinary approach to teaching writing is that writing is a
rhetorical, situational and social act, and values students’ own language or language
varieties. Thus the BPWC program allows students to embrace their English-Spanish
bilingualism, value their home languages and enrich their education while improving
their workplace discourse.
The present article focuses on both curriculum design and implementation of the BPWC
and examines the topic in relation to a particular geographical context. The article is
organized by first discussing the background of the university and its student body, the
requirements for the certificate, and then the process of creating the courses and
materials with particular emphasis on three trends in LSP and RWS pedagogies:
technology, ethics, and service-learning. In tandem with the discussion, we argue that
the BPWC is an LSP-writing program and advocate for the advantages of using a
rhetorical approach in LSP instruction.
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
89
Theresa Donovan, Teresa Quezada and Isabel Baca
II. GEOGRAPHIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND
The University of Texas at El Paso is a public, doctoral-granting institution located in
one of the world’s largest bi-national and bilingual metropolitan areas which includes
840,000 residents of the far-west Texas city, El Paso, and 1.39 million residents of
Ciudad Juárez, México. Founded in 1914, the university began with an enrollment of 27
students and one degree program. Today, UT-El Paso offers 170 bachelor’s, master’s
and doctoral degree programs in 10 colleges and schools to its more than 25,000
students. As a commuter campus, the student body reflects the demographics of the bi-
national region where it is located;
82% of UT-El Paso students self-identify as
Hispanic and 78% of them further identify as being of Mexican heritage (U.S. Census
Bureau 2018). Additionally, two-thirds of El Paso households identify as Spanish
speakers (U.S. Census Bureau 2018). These statistics do not include the approximately
1,000 Mexican nationals who also attend the university each semester—thus making
UT-El Paso a Mexican-American majority student population that is highly bilingual
and multicultural.
Apart from our student demographics, the geographic, cultural and economic ties
between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez provide prolific options for bilingual employment.
Geographically, the two cities share an international border and three ports of entry
where millions of passenger vehicles and pedestrians cross annuallyiii, yet the
relationship between the cities transcends this divide. The concept that is used often to
describe the link between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez is symbiosis (Chamberlain 2007),
and the interaction between the cities is, according to El Paso city leaders, ―a unique and
unbreakable historical, familial and economic connection that has resulted in a rich
culture and vibrant economy...bolstered by $51.1 billion in trade‖ that ―account[s] for
18% of all trade between the two countries‖ (El Paso City Resolution 2010: 3).
Furthermore, every year ―Juarenses spend $1.2 Billion in the El Paso economy and over
60,000 jobs in El Paso are dependent upon economic activity in Juarez‖ (El Paso City
Resolution 2010: 3)iv.
This brief snapshot of the relationship between the sister cities and the larger regional
economy demonstrates the extraordinary business and job opportunities available for
bilingual professionals on the border, and explains the impetus for the development of a
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
90
English, Spanish o los dos? Teaching professional writing on the U.S.-Mexico border
Bilingual Professional Writing Certificate Program at UT-El Paso. Our unique
situatedness and student body made it an obvious choice to implement a bilingual
writing certificate.
III. THE BILINGUAL PROFESSIONAL WRITING CERTIFICATE
Housed in the Rhetoric and Writing Studies
(RWS) Program within the English
Department, the certificate program aims to prepare students:
1)
to analyze the workplace situations that demand written responses in
English, Spanish or both
2)
to ethically consider the audience and purpose when composing
The certificate was also designed to enhance the students’ specific discipline rather than
focusing on writing within a discipline. In other words, the certificate can complement
any degree plan or be earned as a stand-alone certificate, and students have flexibility in
choosing the courses required for the certificate from a limited menu of options, which
will be discussed in a later section.
Although an administrative unit in the English department, the BPWC is a cross-
disciplinary endeavor with the Translation Program in the Department of Languages
and Linguistics. However, it’s important to highlight the atypical nature of the
program’s placement in the Department of English and define it within the LSP
framework. To do this, we draw upon national survey results on the state of LSP
reported in 1990 and 2012 to demonstrate that this program is, based on the survey data,
the only LSP that we know of that comes out of an English Department and is the first
of its kind to focus on the study of writing. In 1990, Grosse and Voght published the
results from a mail-in surveyv on the state of LSP in U.S. higher education which
included information on the types of institutions that offer LSP; the number and types of
LSP courses and degree tracks; the LSP partnerships among administrative units; the
perceptions of administrators regarding LSP offerings and expected growth of the field,
among others. Two decades later, in light of advances and challenges to LSP, Long and
Uscinski sought to understand how much the field had progressed since 1990 and
―deemed it fit to conduct a new survey modeled on Grosse and Voght’s work‖ (2012:
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
91
Theresa Donovan, Teresa Quezada and Isabel Baca
174). The new survey incorporates and expands upon the questions used in Grosse and
Voght (1990). In ―Evolution of Languages for Specific Purposes Programs in the United
States: 1990-2011,‖ Long and Uscinski present the results of their 2011 survey and
compare and contrast them to the 1990 survey. Much like Grosse and Voght, Long and
Uscinski sent invitations to participate in the survey to department administrators of
foreign languages. Of the
1,435 survey invites, only
13%, or
183 departments
responded (2012: 174). The researchers used the online platform, Survey Monkey, to
administer the 53-question survey, ―27 of which came from the survey conducted by
Grosse and Voght (1990)‖ (Long and Uscinski 2012: 175). The survey results reported
are extensive, but we would like to focus on three areas that are pertinent to the current
discussion: LSP partnerships, LSP courses taught by non-foreign language faculty, and
LSP programs offering a degree track, minor or certificate. Respondents were asked
whether they partner with other academic units to provide LSP courses and to identify
who they partner with across campus. Twenty-four percent of foreign language
departments answered ―yes‖ and indicated that partners included professional schools of
business, nursing, public programs and education (Long and Uscinski 2012: 182) -that
is disciplines with specialized language and vocabulary. The researchers also asked
about the teaching of foreign languages by other (non-foreign-language) departments at
their institution. Ten percent of the respondents answered that other departments or
units on campus taught their courses (Long and Uscinski 2012: 182). Of all of the
responses for departments or units that were involved in foreign language teaching, the
Department of English was not listedvi, nor was it listed in the original Grosse and
Voght study in 1990 (Long and Uscinski 2012:182). Given the data collected and the
participants in both studies, UT-El Paso’s BPWC, then, may be the first non-English
LSP that emerges from a Department of English.
Moreover, to assess the strength of LSP offerings at U.S. institutions of higher
education, Long and Uscinki added a question not included in the original survey by
Grosse and Voght (1990) regarding whether the LSP was part of a formal program such
as a degree track, certificate or minor (2012: 181). At least 27% of the 183 departments
responded that they offer at least one of the above (degree track, minor or certificate);
the most common was a minor in Spanish for Business, followed by other degree
offerings in Spanish for Translation (Long and Uscinski 2012: 181). Long and Uscinski,
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
92
English, Spanish o los dos? Teaching professional writing on the U.S.-Mexico border
however, provide a quick overview of the data on LSP programs and do not offer
specific information on certificate programs. We believe that it is of great significance
that certificate programs are not explained, and there is no mention of a bilingual
certificate program. Nevertheless, since the publication of the survey results (2012),
there has been a call from scholars to deepen and expand LSP offerings, and specifically
in the area of certificate programs. Doyle (2018: 98) promotes certificate programs and
their flexible nature and sees certificates becoming an ―adaptable signature feature of
future Spanish Curriculum‖. Although the BPWC is not strictly part of a foreign
language curriculum or department, we agree with Doyle that the certificate program is
adaptable and relevant to diverse disciplines and degree plans.
At this juncture, we would like to further define the BPWC within the LSP framework.
We have discussed earlier that, because of the nature of the program, we have drawn
upon literature in LSP to include English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and Spanish for
the Professions and Specific Purposes (SPSP), yet our program does not fit into the
traditional labels as it shares some commonalities with ESP and SPSP but its primary
emphasis is written discourse in both languages. To determine how to situate the
program within an LSP framework, we turn to Doyle
(2013). In
―Continuing
Theoretical Cartography in the LSP Era,‖ Doyle predicts that non-English LSP will
undergo ―its fuller maturation process within American Higher Education‖ (2013: 3)
and:
the maturation will surely continue as all language use can be defined as LSP, one way or
another, either narrowly…or more broadly and less traditionally (e.g. LSP-Literature, i.e., the
specific use of language for literary studies and criticism, or even the supposedly more general
LSP of being able to engage in tourism…) (2013: 4).
Doyle’s emphasis on the future maturation of non-English LSP allows for ―all language
use‖ to be defined as an LSP and includes ―broader‖ and ―less traditional‖ programs that
focus on the specific use of language for diverse study areas. As such, we apply this
broader definition to the bilingual certificate program and identify it as an LSP-writing
program.
Finally, we should point out that there are different types of LSP programs. In
―Languages for Specific Purposes Business Curriculum Creation and Implementation in
the United States,‖ Fryer
(2012:
132) notes that some LSP programs focus on
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
93
Theresa Donovan, Teresa Quezada and Isabel Baca
acquisition and proficiency of the target language while others, ―special collaborative
programs,‖ such as the MEXUSvii program at San Diego State U., ―requires a high
degree of language proficiency in English and Spanish, the target language‖. The
BPWC program falls into the latter category, where students must take an entrance
exam to demonstrate a high degree of language proficiency in both languages. UT-El
Paso’s program seems to be unique in its faculty’s expertise and orientation. While LSP
programs aim to teach subject matter in the target language, the BPWC faculty are
specifically trained to teach in two languages and to teach communication, both written
and oral communication, with a partnership between RWS and Translation faculty.
Thus, the certificate program’s unique blend of RWS and Translation faculty and
courses provides opportunities: learning opportunities for its students and research and
pedagogical opportunities for its faculty not previously explored in the teaching of
languages for specific purposes. Undoubtedly, the fact that the certificate program at
UT-El Paso falls under the auspices of the Rhetoric and Writing Studies program within
the Department of English has allowed for the flexibility to create curricula that are not
bound by an English-only language policy. Further, the cross-disciplinary collaboration
among the faculty also allows for cross-pollination of teaching practices from one
discipline to the other. We argue that this cross-disciplinary approach provides fertile
ground for exploring themes from multiple perspectives. In the following sections, we
present the course requirements for the certificate and discuss themes and practices that
emerged from our collaboration to support our position.
III.1. Certificate Requirements
As indicated in the UT-El Paso academic catalog (2019), the BPWC program ―is
intended to prepare students to communicate in print and digital environments ethically
and responsibly in both English and Spanish‖. UT-El Paso’s program curriculum also
emphasizes
―the practice of rhetoric, technology, and language as they apply to
bilingualism and translation in professional settings.‖ The certificate is open to students
enrolled at the undergraduate and graduate levels to enhance their degree plan or as a
stand-alone certificate. The certificate comprises
12 credit hours and 4 courses: 2
courses in Translation and 2 in Rhetoric and Writing Studies. The courses include
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
94
English, Spanish o los dos? Teaching professional writing on the U.S.-Mexico border
Introduction to Translation, an elective in Rhetoric and Writing Studies (either Bilingual
Workplace Writing or Bilingual Technical Writing), an elective in Translation (Legal,
Business or Healthcare Translation), and a Rhetoric and Writing Studies Practicum
course. Students can choose from these pre-approved electives and enroll in the courses
that most align with their career goals. This allows for a versatile and adaptable
certificate that is applicable to numerous degree plans. So far, the majority of students
who have completed the certificate have been from the Translation Program, but interest
in the certificate program is growing as more students recognize bilingualism as a
personal and professional asset. The certificate program not only honors students’
home/heritage language; it prepares them to write professionally in two languages
regardless of their discipline. Students who leave the borderland can boast an asset that
no other university develops: bilingual composition in a professional setting. Students
who remain in the borderland region can demonstrate documented proficiency in
written bilingualism in both languages. Either way, proficiency in professional writing
in both languages, according to an European Union Report on Languages and
Employability, translates into increased employability as ―multilingualism is no longer a
choice or an option; it has become a must for business growth‖ (European Commission
Joint Research Centre 2015: 20).
III.2. Theoretical foundations
As mentioned previously, the certificate also emphasizes rhetoric, technology and
ethics. All program instructors, regardless of departmental affiliation, have received
targeted training in these three areas, including training in teaching bilingual writing as
a requirement for their teaching in the program. The courses’ theoretical foundation is
rhetoric since the certificate is aimed at the teaching of effective writing in professional
contexts - whether the resulting text is in English, Spanish or both, the focus is on the
written word. Given its rhetorical orientation, the program looks to the National Council
of Teachers of English’s position statement on Understanding and Teaching Writing,
Guiding Principles (2018) to guide the program’s teaching and course objectives. As
the position statement explains, ―when it is effective, writing is rhetorical, i.e., it takes
into account the values, ideologies, interests, needs, and commitments of the people, the
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
95
Theresa Donovan, Teresa Quezada and Isabel Baca
audiences, for whom it is intended.‖ It is necessary to point out that we rely heavily on
using the rhetorical situation as a means to teach students how to create effective
messages for diverse audiences and contexts. Scholars in RWS have used the term
rhetorical situation since Bitzer defined it in 1968. Loosely, we follow Grant-Davie’s
characterization of the rhetorical situation ―as a set of related factors whose interaction
creates and controls discourse‖ (1997: 265). The NCTE Position Statement (2018)
names the related factors of writers, purposes, audiences and contexts as key to
informing the choices that writers make when composing. The related factors should
guide writers’ (NCTE 2018):
content (the subject or focus of the writing);
form (the shape of the writing, including its organization, structure, flow, and composition
elements like words, symbols, images, etc.);
style/register (the choice of discourse and syntax used for the writing, chosen from among the
vast array of language systems [often called ―dialects‖] that are available for the writer), and
mechanics (punctuation, citational style, etc.).
Particularly in the RWS courses within the BPWC, students are asked to carefully
consider how their specific audience will use their text. That audience analysis leads
them to identify appropriately worded content, form, register and language, to include
dialect. Assignments are designed where students must consider the specific rhetorical
situation of an assigned prompt in order to do well; for example, in the Workplace
Writing course, students have a sensitive letter assignment that is scenario-based.
Students are provided with the assignment and important details that they will use when
analyzing the writing situation. For example, one scenario asks students to respond to
the president of the local chamber of commerce. The president requests free or reduced
prices for a company’s services as a ―favor‖ because of his/her position. The student
responds as the owner of the company where the services are requested. It is not enough
for the student to craft a letter in the correct format or in ―good‖ English or Spanish, for
the letter to be effective students must carefully analyze the scenario and the interaction
of the factors when crafting their response because the response must consider their
standing in relation to the president of the chamber of commerce to choose the right
tone. They have to weigh carefully their word choice because the letter could have real
consequences (i.e., blacklisting from the chamber of commerce or alternately other
business owners could expect the same ―deal‖). In the Technical Writing course,
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
96
English, Spanish o los dos? Teaching professional writing on the U.S.-Mexico border
students are asked to develop a set of instructions for a process or procedure of their
choosing, and ideally in their field or future profession, and also prepare an
accompanying memo that identifies the cultural elements that must be considered as the
instructions are prepared for translation to be used in a specific Spanish-speaking
country. To complete the assignment successfully, students must demonstrate that they
understand not only how the language must be tailored to the instruction set users, but
what language, register, and cultural aspects must be considered when composing the
instructions.
This deliberate and explicit focus on rhetoric enhances what Ruggiero alludes to in her
―Graduate Courses in Languages for Specific Purposes: Needs, Challenges and Models‖
(2014). Ruggiero’s survey of graduate programs in the area of languages for specific
purposes identified
―few opportunities for graduate students to gain the necessary
experience, training and expertise to either teach or pursue non-academic interests in
this area‖ (2014: 56). She thus recommends transforming graduate foreign language
programs from their current focus on training future academics by developing courses
―that situate language within broader social, historical, geographic and cross-cultural
perspectives‖ as advocated by the 2007 Modern Language Association assessment of
the state of foreign languages
(2014:
59). Her re-centered course
―presents a
multicultural approach to the teaching of Spanish for Specific Purposes (SSP)viii and
civic engagement‖ (2014: 62). Although Ruggiero does not specifically address how
she incorporates rhetorical studies or theory into her re-centered course, the 2nd section
of her
5-part course focuses on
―The Rhetorical View of Specialized Languages:
Effective Communication in Intercultural Context‖ (2014: 64). Ruggiero’s background
and expertise is not rhetoric and writing rather a foreign language discipline, yet she has
nonetheless woven rhetoric into her language teaching. Her rhetorical approach
emphasizes the need to communicate effectively for broad audiences and provides
students the opportunity to develop cultural and intercultural competence. For the
BPWC, both its graduate and undergraduate students can expect to incorporate
rhetorical theory in their coursework that expectation is explicit in all program courses.
Our goal is to thus provide students with the opportunities Ruggiero found lacking in
graduate language education.
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
97
Theresa Donovan, Teresa Quezada and Isabel Baca
We also believe in using Bitzer’s (1992) formal exploration of rhetorical situations
across the disciplines as a way to frame the intentional choices we made in curriculum
design and instruction. Also echoed in the NCTE’s position statement, Blitzer defined a
rhetorical situation as one where ―a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations
presenting an actual or potential exigence which can be completely or partially removed
if discourse, introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action as
to bring about significant modification of the exigence‖ (1992: 6). Our curriculum
design and instruction both utilized this concept and included it as part of the
curriculum. We understood that the certificate program involved: 1) people, that is, the
University’s administration, both faculty departments teaching in the program, students
desiring to augment their skill set to become more marketable in a burgeoning
interconnected and global society; 2) events, in the sense of an increasing awareness of
multilingualism as an asset in the border region, the appropriate mix of capable
instructors; and 3) relations, meaning the complex of the people and circumstances
identified. These interrelated factors allowed us to address the need to teach writing in
two languages: the exigence. Our curriculum is designed to help students recognize the
exigence in situations that demand an appropriate response and then teach them to use
appropriate rhetorical strategies to craft the appropriate response. Along with our
understanding of the rhetorical situation in which we developed the program, we also
recognized trends in higher education that would also inform our pedagogies and
practices in the program. We discuss those in the following section.
IV. PEDAGOGIES AND PRACTICES
Many scholars assert that students who take LSP courses tend to approach the courses
as applied learning environments—meaning that they ―intend to use that knowledge on
a frequent basis in their future work environments for the benefit of the enterprise for
which they work and/or the clientele base with whom they will interact‖ (Lafford 2012:
21). With that in mind, we knew that we had to approach course design by carefully
considering both student and future employer expectations. Three main trends emerged
from faculty discussions and research that we believed had to be addressed in course
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
98
English, Spanish o los dos? Teaching professional writing on the U.S.-Mexico border
content, delivery, or as part of the final program outcomes to address student and
industry expectations: digital technologies, ethics for writers and service-learning.
IV.1. Digital technologies
In regards to digital technologies, we aimed to understand Generation Z, also known as
iGeneration. Gen Z are students born between 1995-2012 (see Stillman and Stillman
2017). General observations that can be made about Gen Z students may be helpful in
informing teaching practices; they are the first generation, from birth, to have access to
technology and the Internet
(Seemiller and Grace
2016), and they have been
characterized as having short attention spans and expecting the use of up to date
technology in their educational experiences. Scholars such as Hopkins et al. (2018) have
suggested the use of social media and other web-based tools such as podcasts, YouTube
and FaceBook instead of traditional methods of teaching. Arnó-Macià (2012: 95)
asserts, too, that online learning: ―seems to be especially appropriate for LSP given that
it allows for the customization of learning to suit students’ needs…‖ For this reason, the
BPWC was designed as a 100% online program where instructors could customize the
learning experience albeit within the university-selected learning management system.
Our courses are conducive to an online environment because they are writing intensive,
and students have to use writing as the primary means to communicate they are writing
more in this delivery format than any other because much of the student-teacher, and
student-student interaction must be in the form of written discussion boards or emails.
The RWS courses, as bilingual classes, are designed using a 50-50 model such that the
content and assignments are divided equally between Spanish and English. This may
take on diverse structures in the online environment, but the most common format is
alternating weeks between Spanish and English. The determining factor in selecting the
language for major assignments is the nature of the assignment and its fit into the
overall course. In informal assignments, such as discussion board posts, students are
also encouraged to use both languages. Often, students are told they need to
compartmentalize the use of different languages; our courses afford students the
opportunity to choose the language/s that they have commonly used to write. Further,
while RWS courses require writing as the principal mode of completing an assignment,
not all assignments follow traditional print format. Students may complete assignments
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
99
Theresa Donovan, Teresa Quezada and Isabel Baca
that call for a twitter feed, a presentation deck, a podcast script or they may have to
determine the most rhetorically effective mode to use for a specific scenario.
The overall instructional design is one of a flipped classroomix that incorporates a
variety of educational sources from YouTube videos, academic articles and other web
content, and students engage in their learning through peer, teacher, team and external
audience interactions. For example, for a module on writing an application letter (cover
letter) and résumé for a current job or internship, in addition to readings in the
textbooks, students learn about the different terms that are used to refer to a résumé in
Spanish (C.V., hoja de vida, etc.), read an academic article on ―Translating Politeness in
Bilingual English-Spanish Business Correspondence‖ by Fuertes-Olivera and Nielson
(2008), watch YouTube videos on tips for creating an effective CV and visit websites
from diverse countries such as Chile, Mexico, and Spain. Students engage with the
content in three discussion boards: a class, reading and team forum. Discussion board
questions foster debate, problem-solving and reflection so students gain a critical
understanding of the rhetorical choices they make in communicating effectively with
multicultural audiences. According to King de Ramírez (2017: 68), ―...this is especially
important for HLs [Heritage Learners] who may assume that cultural practices learned
at home are shared by all Hispanics in their community‖. Typical questions posed in the
discussion forums are designed for students to consider the rhetorical situation to help
them to understand and manage cultural differences, such as:
What is the appropriate tone in professional writing contexts?
Are there differences in how appropriate tone is defined in English and Spanish?
What does goodwill mean? How do you create this in your writing?
After the reading, explain what differences you found in the norms for writing
résumés in Spanish and English? Did you identify any differences among the
examples from Spanish-speaking countries?
By way of discussion boards and other collaboration tools, the courses foster
engagement, and also teamwork. In the technical writing course, students complete their
final project in teams and are expected to develop their own parameters and roles for
group members to finalize their technical report. Online and distributed collaboration is
intended to mirror today’s globalized workforce environment and aligns with the
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
100
English, Spanish o los dos? Teaching professional writing on the U.S.-Mexico border
attributes that employers value most: ―problem-solving skills and an ability to work in a
team‖ (National Association of Colleges and Employers 2018). We recognize students
are navigating different time zones, and personal, work and school schedules, so they
are encouraged to use both the university’s learning management system and other
communication technologies that foster collaboration and coordination as they produce
a multi-step and complex text. The goal is to foster adaptability and awareness of
various technology that allows for collaboration and coordination—the same
adaptability that employers will expect our graduates to demonstrate when they join a
global workforce.
To reinforce concepts of external audiences, that is audiences other than the instructor,
and foster intercultural sensitivities, we have laid the groundwork for collaboration
between sections of technical writing at UT-El Paso and the University of Puerto Rico,
Mayagüez campus. In a pilot study, students participated in peer reviewing a technical
report and presentation and provided feedback on the process. The peer review is
important because it allows students to appreciate the complexities of writing for a
global audience while developing cultural sensitivity and intercultural competencies.
Donovan and Quezada assert that the peer review brings to life the Conference on
College Composition and Communication (CCCC) ―Principles for Post-Secondary
Teaching of Writing;‖ specifically our writing instruction ―considers the needs of real
audiences,‖ ―recognizes writing as a social act [and] writing processes as iterative and
complex,‖ and
―depends upon frequent, timely, and context-specific feedback to
students…‖ (2015). The cross-cultural peer review added another audience to both the
UT-El Paso and UPR-Mayagüez students. They knew they were now writing not only
for their respective instructors, but that other readers would be reviewing their work for
overall understanding and clarity and that these new readers were culturally diverse.
Their peers would also be looking for ideas to strengthen their own writing since both
sets of students were enrolled in technical writing courses. Students were then asked to
reflect on the process and comment on the strengths and weaknesses in the drafts they
reviewed and consider how the review further informed their subsequent revision
process. Although there were challenges to conducting peer review digitally, across
time zones, and with unique student populations, we believe that this is a sustainable
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
101
Theresa Donovan, Teresa Quezada and Isabel Baca
pedagogical practice and important to LSP curriculum development for the
21st
century.
Recognizing Gen Z’s desire to customize and have additional resources available to
them at the push of a button, BPWC faculty have collaborated with UT-El Paso Library
professionals and developed a Library Research Guide (or LibGuide) that includes
carefully curated additional electronic resources for all courses. The LibGuide provides
both students and faculty with bilingual and monolingual resources for writing in
different contexts as well as glossaries, and style and grammar handbooks. The
LibGuide and an embedded course/program librarian, who has been a critical resource
to the certificate program since its inception, provide students an organized reservoir
that can further enhance their sources while managing the materials instructors must
require or provide in individual courses.
IV.2. Ethics for writers
An ongoing element of RWS curriculum has been writers’ ethical considerations and
the development of those considerations as students develop their assignments.
Recognizing that having the certificate program designation on student transcripts
would increase prospective employers’ or graduate programs’ expectations of our
graduates, we understood that ethics had to be foregrounded for students and
incorporated into the overall program structure. The desire to infuse more general skills,
such as leadership, in foreign language study was also forwarded in 2011 in the 21st
Century Skills Map by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
(ACTFL) and P21 (2011). Other scholars such as Uribe et al. (2014), Long et al. (2014)
and Doyle (2017) propose developing leadership with integrity as a core value within
the curriculum. The need for leadership skills is also seconded by the National
Association of Colleges and Employers study (2018) that lists leadership as the fourth
most desirable attribute that employers seek. We agree, then, with Derby et al. (2017:
85) that
―leadership as an educational notion is rising in importance throughout
academe that we should ...find creative ways to incorporate this key concept into FL
[Foreign Language] curricula as often as possible‖.
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
102
English, Spanish o los dos? Teaching professional writing on the U.S.-Mexico border
For the BPWC curriculum, we focused on one key attribute of leadership: the principle
of ethics. Following Uribe et al. (2014) and Doyle (2017), ethics was ―infused‖ into the
curriculum, starting first with the program outcome statements and then into each of the
course outcomes in the syllabi. For example, the Bilingual Workplace Writing syllabus
highlights in the outcomes statements that students will ―consider the ethical dimensions
of composing and working within and with organizations as well as the ethical
dimensions of translation in professional settings.‖ Ethics instruction is supported in
BPWC courses through specific modules that ask students to consider the ethical
implications of their writing. While translation brings with it a specific ethical
consideration usually found in professional associations’ codes of ethics (See American
Translators Association Code of Ethics and Professional Practice 2019), students are not
always aware of how ethics relates to their professional and technical communication.
The RWS faculty carefully considered the inclusion of ethics discussions in their
textbook and instructional material selection; they provide specific discussions of
ethical implications for student writing at the outset of the courses, and also weave those
ethical considerations into subsequent assignments. In Workplace Writing, an ethics
section is included in every weekly lecture. Students are asked to explore the
Professional Ethics-Code of Conduct on the Association for Business Communication
website (2019). They also discuss recent ethics’ scandals in the local, state or national
government. In the Technical Writing course, students are introduced to the ethical
considerations for technical writers as described in the Society for Technical
Communication Ethical Principles
(2018). Further discussion regarding specific
scenarios through assignments helps students understand how their writing can result in
or respond effectively to ethical dilemmas or ethical lapses. As we continue to refine the
BPWC curriculum, we see ethics as a fundamental part of a curriculum that responds to
the growing need to develop future leaders and professional, ethical writers.
IV.3. Service-Learning
In the Rhetoric and Writing Studies Practicum course, students are asked to work with a
non-profit organization as bilingual, professional writers. The benefits that come from
this experience are underscored by Deans (2000) who argues how service-learning is
one means by which we can emphasize how writing is a social act. He relates service-
learning to writing by showing us how service-learning exposes students to multiple
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
103
Theresa Donovan, Teresa Quezada and Isabel Baca
discourses and asks them to write within these different nonacademic discourse
communities. In addition, service-learning asks students to situate their work in wider
non-academic communities, and it has students cross cultural and class boundaries by
working with community organizations and their clients who often hold subject
positions different from their own (Deans, 2000). In short, service-learning can be
viewed as the fruition of some of the most important contemporary theoretical claims of
rhetoric and writing studies.
Furthermore, in the practicum course, Deans’ paradigm of ―writing for the community‖
is used. By having students write in both English and Spanish for the community, the
primary site for learning is the nonprofit organization rather than the classroom, and
workplace discourse becomes the most highly valued discourse. Students work with the
agency contact (their agency mentor) and the instructor becomes a facilitator of the
process (Deans 2000: 17). Thus, students learn nonacademic writing practices and
reflect on the differences between academic and workplace discourses, and students
provide needed writing products for agencies, focusing on different audiences,
purposes, and contexts. In addition, other benefits come from this service-learning
experience. As King de Ramírez (2017: 56) states: ―service learning allows students the
opportunity to observe authentic language usage, network with individuals outside
academia, and become familiar with sociocultural issues that affect their immediate
community‖.
The writing practicum begins by students selecting a community writing partner (a non-
profit organization who has partnered with the Department of English for this type of
service-learning experience) and developing a practicum contract with the agency
mentor. Students are informed ahead of time what the organization’s literacy, writing,
and communication needs are, and these needs include the production of texts in
English, Spanish, and/or both
(bilingual). Based on these needs and the student’s
academic background, skills, and interests, the student negotiates the projects to be
completed with the agency mentor. The instructor must approve and sign off on this
contract before the student begins working with the agency mentor. A major
requirement is for students to produce texts in both languages, English and Spanish.
Throughout the course, students provide progress reports to the course instructor where
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
104
English, Spanish o los dos? Teaching professional writing on the U.S.-Mexico border
they outline the status of their projects and how close they are to completion of the tasks
listed in their contract.
Consequently, students, by the end of the practicum, have produced texts, in print
and/or digital, in English and Spanish, for their community. Deliverables can include
websites, newsletters, grants, recommendation reports, brochures, PowerPoint
presentations and other workplace and professional texts. At times, students will create
these texts in English, Spanish, or both. At other times, students may translate existing
texts from one language to the other. But for the texts created and/or translated, students
revise, edit, and proofread these texts before submitting them to the non-profit
organization. The deliverables are evaluated by both the course instructor and the
agency mentor; this way, as Bacon (1997) advises, instructors call upon the expertise of
the community writing partners (the agency mentors). Students then benefit from the
input of two experts—the writing instructor and the agency mentor. This practice helps
instructors too in that it can support the teacher’s expectations of students in the
classroom when the same expectations and standards are echoed by the agency mentor
who represents the needs of real readers (1997: 39-55). In addition, students, through
their writing practicum, are working now with professionals outside academia, and as
Long (2017) asserts, ―the most successful LSP programs include courses in a variety of
approaches to several disciplines and put students into contact with experts in the field‖
(2017: 4).
Moreover, aside from being grounded in service-learning scholarship, the practicum
course responds to Wu’s lament that ―a limited number of foreign language programs in
the United States...provide their students with experiential learning opportunities that
require them to functionally use their linguistic and intercultural skills in professional
contexts‖ (2017: 567). As students work with their agency and faculty mentors, they
practice writing, in English and Spanish, within a professional context and for an actual
audience in the community.
V. CONCLUSION
We asked English, Spanish o los dos? The BPWC program most emphatically answers
―los dos‖. Achieving los dos, however, in ways that meet current industry and student
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
105
Theresa Donovan, Teresa Quezada and Isabel Baca
demands as well as meeting pedagogical and curricular trends presents both challenges
and opportunities. As we developed the program, we considered UT-El Paso and the
program’s location, both geographically, interculturally and within the University
structure. The program developed in response to the El Paso community’s implicit and
tacit need for bilingual communicators, but it also responds to the global and
intercultural realities our students are expected to navigate once they graduate,
certificate in hand. Making the program attractive to students and effective as an online
certificate meant we had to design the program with current trends in mind and
operationalize those trends in each of the courses. We believe in doing so, we will
become part of future LSP transformation and can contribute to the specific purpose by
introducing rhetorical theory used in monolingual and general purpose composition
courses. As the program grows, we anticipate we can evaluate individual courses, assess
pedagogical practices, enhance digital technologies used and track our students’
successes while keeping our program’s goal, to develop ethical, bilingual, culturally
sensitive and dynamic communicators, firmly in mind.
Notes
i Language for Specific Purposes is an approach most often applied to the teaching of English for
professional contexts (English for Specific Purposes) although there is increasing demand and growth in
Spanish for Professional and Specific Purposes (SPSP) in the US. Given the bilingual nature of the
BPWC, we include LSP scholarship from all three of these areas.
ii Rhetoric and Writing Studies (RWS) in the United States emerged from English Departments and
literary studies in an effort to study, initially, the traditional Greco-Roman concepts of rhetoric and how
students learn and instructors teach composition. Since about the mid-twentieth century, however, the
discipline has grown to encompass multiple concepts of rhetoric and explores writing process(es) through
various lenses. The discipline has continued to grow and is a separate field of study from its English
Department roots. Degrees at undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels are awarded by a number of
programs. In many instances, RWS programs have become independent academic departments within
their universities.
iii In
2011, the City of El Paso International Bridges Department reported that ―more than 3.6 million
passenger vehicles, 4.2 million pedestrians and 300,000 commercial vehicles crossed into Ciudad Juárez
through the three bridges‖ (City of El Paso 2020).
iv See also El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation. REDco (2005-2006 Labor Market
Assessment by the Wadley Donovan Group).
v The mail-in survey consisted of a two-sided questionnaire and was mailed to chairs of departments of
foreign and classical languages at 4-year institutions in the U.S. The total surveys sent out were 3,093;
26%, or 790, responded (Grosse and Voght 1990: 37).
vi In the
1990 survey, departments that taught foreign languages included Continuing Education,
Theology, Religion, History, Asian Studies, Native American Studies, Schools of Law, Engineering,
Social and Behavioral Sciences, Education, Foreign Service and Diplomacy. In 2011, Long and Uscinski
added to this list: Anthropology, Biblical Studies, Business, Humanities, Linguistics, Philosophy, and
Pan-African Studies (2012: 182).
vii Undergraduate transnational dual degree program in the U.S. and Mexico (Office of Postsecondary
Education 2007).
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
106
English, Spanish o los dos? Teaching professional writing on the U.S.-Mexico border
viii Some scholars use Spanish for Specific Purposes (SPS); Others use Spanish for the Professions and
Specific Purposes (SPSP). Depending on the context and the material we are citing, we use both terms
and acronyms in this article.
ix Flipped classroom model or inverted classrooms occur when instructors assign class content to students
to be completed outside of traditional class time. The content may include traditional readings or multi-
media content such as videos from multiple sources. The goal is to allow for more active learning during
class time. Class time is then dedicated to working through problems, discussing complex, complicated
concepts and engaging in collaborative learning (Roehl et al. 2013). In the RWS class, these activities
may include workshopping students’ writing, discussing rhetorical concepts, peer review and student-
teacher conferences or reviews.
REFERENCES
Andrade, H. and Valtcheva A. 2009. ―Promoting Learning and Achievement Through
Self-Assessment‖. Theory Into Practice, 48 (1), 12-19.
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and P21. 2011.
21st Century Skills Map. Washington, DC.
American Translators Association. 2019. Code of Ethics and Professional Practice. 1
Association for Business Communication.
2019. Professional Ethics: Code of
Arnó-Macià, E. 2012. ―The Role of Technology in Teaching Languages for Specific
Purposes Courses‖. The Modern Language Journal, 96, 89-104.
Bacon, N. 1997.
―Community Service Writing: Problems, Challenges, Questions‖. In
Adler-Kassner, L., R. Crooks and A. Watters (Eds.), Writing the Community:
Concepts And Models for Service-Learning in Composition. Washington, DC:
AAHE.
Bitzer, L. F. 1968. ―The Rhetorical Situation‖. Philosophy and Rhetoric, 1, 1-14.
Chamberlain, L. 28 March 2007. ―2 Cities and 4 Bridges where Commerce Flows‖.
The New York Times.
City
of
El
Paso.
International
Bridges.
1
May
2020.
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
107
Theresa Donovan, Teresa Quezada and Isabel Baca
Conference on College Composition and Communication 2015. ―Principles for the
Postsecondary Teaching of Writing‖. National Council of the Teachers of
English.
1
September
2019.
Deans, T. 2000. Writing Partnerships: Service-learning in Composition. Urbana, IL:
NCTE.
Derby, L., LeLoup, J.W., Rasmussen, J. and Sales de Souza, I. 2017. ―Developing
Intercultural Competence and Leadership through LSP Curricula‖. In Long,
M.K.
(Ed.) Language for Specific Purposes: Trends in Curriculum
Development. Georgetown University Press, 73-86.
Doyle, M.S. 2010 ―A Responsive, Integrative Spanish Curriculum at UNC Charlotte‖.
Hispania, 93 (1), 80-84.
Doyle, M.S. 2013. ―Continuing Theoretical Cartography in the LSP Era‖. In Sanchez-
Lopez, L. (Ed.) Languages for Specific Purposes, University of Alabama
Birmingham Digital Collections, 2-14.
Doyle, M.S.
2017.
―Core Didactic Thematics in Business Spanish: Developing
Leadership with Integrity as a Priority for Language for the Professions and
Specific Purposes‖. Hispania, 100 (2), 261-273.
Doyle, M.S. 2018. ―Spanish for the Professions and Specific Purposes: Curricular
Mainstay‖. Hispania. 100 (5), 95-101.
El Paso City Resolution. Feb. 2010. ―Reso-Violence in Juarez‖. Document#54215.v2.
El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation. 2005-2006. REDco (2005-
2006 Labor Market Assessment by the Wadley Donovan Group)
European Commission Joint Research Centre. 2015. Report on Languages and
Employability. Luxembourg Publications Office of the European Union.
Fryer, T. 2012. ―Languages for Specific Purposes Business Curriculum Creation and
Implementation in the United States‖. The Modern Language Journal, 96, 122-
139.
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
108
English, Spanish o los dos? Teaching professional writing on the U.S.-Mexico border
Fuertes-Olivera, P. A. and Nielsen, S. 2008. ―Translating Politeness in Bilingual
English-Spanish Business Correspondence‖. Meta, 53 (3), 667-678.
Grant-Davie, K. 1997. ―Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents‖ Rhetoric Review.
15(2), 264-279.
Grosse, C. and Voght, G. 1990. ―Foreign Languages for Business and the Professions
at US Colleges and Universities.‖ The Modern Language Journal, 74 (1), 36-47.
Hopkins L., Hampton B.S., Abbott J.F., Buery-Joyner S.D., Craig L.T. B.,
Dalrymple J.L., Forstein D.A., Graziano S.C., McKenzie M.L., Pradham A.,
Wolf A. and Page-Ramsey S.M. 2018. ―To the point: medical education,
technology, and the millennial learner‖. American Journal of Obstetrics and
Gynecology, 218 (2), 188-192.
Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geografía e Informática, México.
2010.
15
King de Ramírez, C. 2017. ―Preparing Students for the Workplace: Heritage Learners’
Experiences in Professional Community Internships‖. In Long, M.K.
(Ed.)
Language for Specific Purposes: Trends in Curriculum Development.
Georgetown University Press, 55-71.
Lafford, B. 2012. ―Languages for Specific Purposes in the United States in a Global
Context: Commentary on Grosse and Voght (1991) Revisited‖. The Modern
Language Journal, 96, 1-27
Long, M. 2017. ―Introduction: LSP Studies and the Creation of Translingual and
Transcultural Competence‖. In Long, M.K.
(Ed.) Language for Specific
Purposes: Trends in Curriculum Development. Georgetown University Press, 1-
12.
Long, M. and Uscinski, I. 2012. ―Evolution of Languages for Specific Purposes
Programs in the United States: 1990-2011‖. The Modern Language Journal, 96,
173-189.
Long, S. S., LeLoup, J.W., Derby, L. and Reyes, R.J. 2014. ―Fusing Language
Learning and Leadership Development: Initial Approaches and Strategies‖. In
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
109
Theresa Donovan, Teresa Quezada and Isabel Baca
Hoyt, K. and P. Swanson (Eds.) Dimension 2014: Uniting the Corps: Uniting
the Core. Decatur: Southern Conference on Language Teaching, 11-30.
National Association of Colleges and Employers.
2018. The Key Attributes
Employers Seek on Students’
Resumes.
15
October
2019.
National Council of Teachers of English. 2018. Understanding and Teaching Writing:
Guiding
Principles.
(Position
Statement).
1
October
2019.
Office of Postsecondary Education. 2007. The MEXUS Program. 1 May 2020.
Ruggiero, D. M. 2014. ―Graduate Courses in Language for Specific Purposes: Needs,
Challenges and Models‖. Global Business Languages, 19 (5), 55-69.
Roehl, A., Reddy, S. L., and Shannon, G. J. 2013. ―The Flipped Classroom: An
Opportunity to Engage Millennial Students Through Active Learning
Strategies‖. Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences, 105 (2), 44-49.
Seemiller C., and Grace M. 2016. Generation Z Goes to College. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
Stillman D., and Stillman J. 2017. Gen Z @ Work: How the Next Generation Is
Transforming the Workplace. New York, NY: HarperBusiness.
Society for Technical Communication. 2018. Ethical Principles. 1 September 2019.
The University of Texas at El Paso.
2019.
2019-2020 Academic Catalog.
15
— 2019. Library Research Guide for the Bilingual Professional Writing Certificate
Uribe, D., LeLoup, J.W., Long, S.S. and Doyle, M.S. 2014. ―Spanish at the United
States Air Force Academy: Developing Leaders of Character as an LSP
Curricular Focus‖. In Doyle, M.S. and C. Gala (Eds.) Cuadernos de ALDEEU.
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
110
English, Spanish o los dos? Teaching professional writing on the U.S.-Mexico border
Español para las profesiones y otros usos específicos. Spanish for the
Professions and Other Specific Purposes. 28 (Otoño), 189-225.
U.S. Census Bureau.
2018. American Community Survey.
28 September
2018.
Wu, S. 2017. ―The Planning, Implementation, and Assessment of an International
Internship Program: An Exploratory Case Study‖. Foreign Language Annals, 50
(3), 567-583.
Received: 28 November 2019
Accepted: 23 May 2020
Cite this article as:
Donovan, Theresa; Quezada, Teresa and Baca, Isabel. 2020. ―English, Spanish o los dos?
Teaching professional writing on the U.S.-Mexico border‖. Language Value, 12 (1), 88-111.
Jaume I University ePress: Castelló, Spain. http://www.languagevalue.uji.es.
ISSN 1989-7103
Language Value 12 (1), 88-111
111
Language Value
June 2020, Volume 12, Number 1 pp. 112-147
ISSN 1989-7103
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for
teaching academic and professional Spanish language
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
Universidad de Chile, Chile
ABSTRACT
Textual genres written by university students have become the focus of attention due to their importance
within disciplinary learning (Parodi 2010). This paper has been developed in the field of study called
student genres (Navarro 2018) and it uses the analysis of situated genre (Swales 2018, Pérez-Llantada
2015) as its methodological platform. This study has two main objectives: a) to create a map of student
genres from a learner corpus of the engineering field and b) to propose a didactic model for teaching
academic and professional Spanish language using this map. Hence, linguistic research and description
are linked to students‟ pedagogical needs (Breeze and Sancho Guinda 2017ab) and take into account the
actual practice in the communities as well as the writers in these disciplines (Curry and Hanauer 2014).
Finally, implications for configuring specific didactics in LSP are discussed.
Keywords: Discourse genres, writing in STEM, academic and professional Spanish language, genre
pedagogy, genre maps, analysis of situated genre
I. INTRODUCTION
I.1. Student genres in engineering field
This research addresses the field of academic writing in university education,
specifically, the genres found in undergraduate academic training, through the
description and analysis of a text corpus and of the thinking expressed by academics
and students in the context of different stages and trajectories of disciplinary and
professional learning. Textual genres written by university students have become the
focus of attention due to their importance, and the recognition that they have a wide
range of functions within disciplinary learning (Parodi 2010). This paper is concerned
with the emergent field of study around “student genres” (Navarro 2018) and seeks to
provide more information about teaching languages for specific purposes at the rhetoric-
discursive level, reporting innovative practices in teaching Spanish for academic and
professional purposes.
Another motivation is to obtain deeper understanding of the dynamics, complexity and
nature of the relations between discursive communities and the genres involved. By
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103
112
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
probing this area, it will be possible to understand the interconnections and tensions
between academia and the profession through the study of the communication patterns
in the disciplinary knowledge in specific learning communities. Hence, the study of
academic cultures and genres can contribute to our knowledge of the trajectories of
learners or new students when learning engineering related genres, and facilitate
interdisciplinary collaboration between teachers of Language for Specific Purposes
(LSP) and the disciplinary communities in engineering and sciences.
In this context, this research seeks to answer the following question: How can teachers
and researchers in Languages for Specific Purposes take full advantage of
contemporary trends in higher education (in this case engagement with professional
communities) to develop innovative pedagogies and practices? In this respect, mapping
student genres
(Navarro
2014) is proposed using the analysis of situated genres
(Dressen-Hammouda 2014, Pérez-Llantada
2015) informed by Swales‟ notion of
textography (1998, 2018). Swales developed this idea from his research from the
university herbarium located on the second floor in the biology building: “something
more than a disembodied textual or discoursal analysis, but something less than a full
ethnographic account” (Swales 1998: 1).
In this way, the analysis of the corpus (identification and definition) is complemented
with ethnographic information collected from interviews with teachers and students
who are part of the community of practice, as well as curricular documents related to the
plan of studies or learning community that is being studied. The purpose of this analysis
is to propose a way for this map of student genres to be valuable to develop innovative
methodologies as well as collaborative and interdisciplinary practices between teachers
of Language for Specific Purpose (LSP) and teachers of the different disciplines of
engineering. Viewed from this perspective, the present article is organized as follows:
firstly, theoretical statements that support the research are presented. Secondly, the
theoretical-methodological platform used is detailed. Thirdly, results are introduced and
discussed in the light of the research question above proposed. Finally, a didactic model
for teaching academic Spanish in the engineering area is designed and conclusions and
pedagogical implications for LSP are provided.
113
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
I.2. Classification of student genres
Research carried out in the past decades has revealed that some discursive genres may
show a significant intra and interdisciplinary variation (Bhatia 1993, 2004, Parodi 2007,
2008, 2015a, 2015b, Kanoksilapatham 2015, Venegas, Núñez, Zamora and Santana
2015), while other genres may remain very stable and are homogeneous across different
scientific fields (Venegas 2006, 2007). In this respect, notions of genre sets and systems
(Bazerman 1994), genre colonies (Bhatia 2004), genre families or macro-genres (Martin
and Rose 2008) are highly productive. They specify the relations and overlap between
genres, circulation field and comprehension and production from different disciplines:
“any text is best understood within the context of other texts‟‟ (Devitt 1991: 336).
The concept of set of genres was introduced in research conducted by Devitt (1991,
2004) on the work of tax accountants. She focuses on a limited group of genres, twelve
in total, that interact with each other to develop the activities in the tax department
where each genre “is aimed at carrying out particular work with specific audiences, such
as clients or the tax system” (Andersen, Bazerman and Schneider 2015: 306). Thus, a
set is conceived as a group of genres used by a person in his/her role within a
community, for example, an undergraduate student. Bazerman (1994) broadened the
notion from group to genre system, linking it to the concept of activity system proposed
by Russell (1997). This idea is intended to emphasize that the relation between genres is
part of a circulation system “where documents were produced in orderly sequences,
responsive to each other” (Andersen et al. 2015: 306).
Since Text Linguistics was born, the interest in classifying and organizing text reality
has been a recurrent concern for researchers, analysts, and language professionals.
Classification of texts written by students during their academic training has become a
main research task for a number of research studies recently (Parodi 2010, Gardner and
Nesi 2013). In the specific field of Civil engineering, Callut (1990) identifies seven
genres particular to this field, described as scientific-technical genres, as seen in Table
1.
Table 1. Discursive genres in engineering.
Scientific-technical genres in engineering
1) Technical brochure
114
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
2) Technical memoranda
3) Contact
4) Technical manual
5) Product specification
6) Report
7) Tender basis
Conrad (2017), in research on the Civil Engineering Writing Project Corpus based at
Portland State University, identified at least ten discursive genres written by students
and practitioners of civil engineering. Genres selected in this project applied to the
teaching of the disciplinary writing are listed in Figure 1:
Figure 1. Identified genres in the Civil Engineering Writing Project Corpus (Conrad 2017)
As observed, some of the genres identified by Callut (1990) such as proposals, technical
memoranda and reports are found in the map drawn by Conrad (2017). In addition, four
report types are highlighted in the list: reports, cover letter with reports, lab reports and
site visit reports. This demonstrates the importance of the „Report‟ in the field of
engineering.
Genre instances linked to the work and professional world of engineering are also
underlined: tender basis, projects, e-mails, plan sheet notes and regulations. Finally, the
„essay about engineering topics‟ emerges as an exclusive academic genre that can have
a wide circulation. It is written by engineering students only, showing the continuity of
115
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
its high educational value in education in USA, even after high school years and
freshman level in university (Harvey 2009).
All the reviewed research studies point to the importance of making reading and writing
maps in university education. By doing this, it is possible to access the preferred
discursive genres in different areas and the ones used for transmitting, producing and
spreading specialized knowledge and tools for learning in the different fields. This
research seeks to better understand the discursive genres of academic training in
Spanish, specifically in a sub discipline of civil engineering. In this respect, the aim is to
deepen the findings stated above in the links established with the practice of writing,
organization of the curriculum, challenges and obstacles in the process of academic and
disciplinary literacy. Consequently, these results will provide empirical data sustained
in linguistic corpora to guide and provide feedback on teaching efforts in academic
reading and writing in the institutions studied, and with projections to promote
pedagogical devices in other contexts, either within Chile or in Latin America as a
whole.
II. METHODOLOGY
II.1. Analysis of situated genre
Research is based on a qualitative multi-stage approach that considers a concurrent
triangulation (Creswell & Creswell, 2018) of the methodological strategies that will be
conducted in order to accomplish the objectives. These are: Stage 1: interview analysis,
Stage 2: corpus analysis and Stage 3: data integration and didactic proposal. This study
has a descriptive exploratory scope, a non-experimental and cross-sectional design
(Pagano 2012), that is to say, ex post facto single-time design: research developed in a
determined time frame (2016-2019). It will be a basic-applied approach (Perry 2010),
focused on exploration and description. Qualitative techniques (Creswell, 2014) and
methods of ethnographic nature are used to cover the complexity of the teaching-
learning process in academic writing. The situational variables chosen are the discursive
genre, as a relevant written communicative activity for acquiring and confirming
116
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
knowledge, curriculum as a key academic and social organizer, and computer science
civil engineering as a subdiscipline.
The qualitative element of this research will provide perspectives from the participants
in the discourse community in detail (academics and students) in order to enrich the
genre studies field. A qualitative phase helps to listen to the participants, that is, to
incorporate an emic perspective
(Creese
2010) or obtain insights from inside the
communities. It provides valuable contextual information that allows for understanding
the phenomenon studied in a comprehensive way, related to the practice in the
university classroom in Computer Science Civil Engineering in three Chilean
universities: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Universidad Técnica
Federico Santa María and Universidad de Chile.
This last factor helps us to give meaning to the wider production of academic genres in
the practice of the writing and production of knowledge, as well as pedagogical
interaction in the micro and in the macrocurricular level focusing on the singularity
(Stake 2008) of the subject of study. This study, given the above, considers three
approaches to genre studies, focusing on academics, students and texts, that is, the
product. An informed ethnographic approach (Gardner 2008) is assumed, using some
ethnographic research tools (Sheridan 2012). In the following Table 2, techniques and
instruments for collecting information and participant selection criteria are specified:
Table 2. Tools and selection criteria for interviews and focus groups.
Data collection tool
Selection criteria
Number
1) In-depth interviews
Academics/faculty members of each
-
4 academics per studies
study program where teaching is
program
developed in the capstone cycle.
-
1 head teacher or director
-
3 academics of the cycle
Total participants: 14 academics
2) Focus group
Students in the capstone cycle (seven to
-
5 to 8 students per program
twelve semester accordingly).
study, from each university
Total participants: 37 students.
Total participants in interviews and focus group
51 participants
117
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
Guideline questions for the in-depth semi-structured interview are shown in Table 3:
Table 3. Protocol with main questions and probes for interview and focus group.
In-depth and semi-structured interview questions
Main question
What do students write in the capstone cycle in Computer Science civil Engineering?
Probes
What texts are requested to be written?
How are they called?
What is the structure of these texts?
Who are the recipients?
What are the differences with other texts?
What topics do they cover?
What are the most difficult texts to write? Why?
What are the difficulties of these texts?
II.2. Learner corpus HÉLICE 2017
In order to describe student genres written by students of the capstone cycle of computer
science civil engineering as part of the requirements of the specialization courses, a
learner corpus was developed, called HÉLICE 2017. This multigenre corpus includes
467 texts from three study programs in civil engineering from the three afore-mentioned
prestigious Chilean universities (Quacquarelli Symonds 2019), written from 2015 to
2019. It contains
1,413,437 words, exceeding the minimum of one million
recommended for specialized corpora (Pearson 1998, Rea Rizzo 2010).
This description will contribute to understanding the formative role of these genres in
the teaching-learning context in the classroom of computer science civil engineering.
Thus, through an ascending-descending approach, as a starting frame the proposal of
Parodi et al. (2008, 2010, 2015a) will be used. These genres were identified in a corpus
of 467 texts from 2016 to 2019, and later characterized and defined under criteria such
as communicative purpose, discursive organization, semiotic mode, circulation context,
relation between participants and learning objective. For this an Identification of
Discursive Genres Matrix (MIGD in Spanish) was developed using Parodi et al. (2008).
A non-probabilistic purposive sample (Pagano 2012) by convenience (Corbetta 2006,
Pagano 2012) was obtained for the corpus. Given they are occluded genres (Swales
1996), and difficult to gather, a collection strategy was followed consisting of asking the
118
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
students of the capstone cycle for the largest possible number of pass-grade written
assignments (>=5.5)i. Therefore, the corpus was formed by the students‟ selection of
their own work in these courses; effectively, this presents some characteristics of self-
compiled corpora
(Lee and Swales
2006). Additionally, a small portion of the
assignments were collected in the academic office or requested by e-mail to each
academic. In this sense, it is a learner corpus (university capstone students). The courses
of this cycle in each study program is detailed in Appendix 1. A total of 103 students
provided texts for the student text corpus, and each student contributed an average of 5
texts.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
III.1. Genres in the disciplinary discourse: genre system in the capstone cycle in
Computer Science Civil Engineering (ICI)
III.1.1. Description by the teacher and student discourse
Each of the academic and disciplinary cultures possesses a potential genre group or
genre system (Martin and Rose 2008) recognizable by their own members. In this
section, a summary of discursive genres selected by academics and students from the
practice communities of ICI will be presented. As genre analysts have outlined (Parodi
et al.
2019), in order to tag genres written by student engineers, it is necessary to
reconcile a wide range of terminology used to describe the texts, as in the case of the
paper and the article or report, among others.
Genres identified in the capstone cycle of ICI that students must write as part of the
disciplinary training and integration are included. Through the interviews and focus
groups, 32 genres emerged, ascribed to the training stage as observed in Table 4.
Table 4. Student genres described by academics and students with code and number.
Nº
Code
Genre
Nº
Code
Genre
1
AIC
Research article
18
ICA
Case report
2
CAS
Case of use
19
INF
Technical report
3
CER
Exam
20
LIC
Tender basis
4
COD
Code
21
MAI
Implementation manual
119
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
5
COM
Commentary
22
MAP
Procedure manual
6
CU
Questionnaire
23
MET
Methodology
7
DEFO
Oral defense graduate project
24
MOD
Model
8
DT
Technical description
25
PW
Webpage
9
ESC
Scenario of use
26
PN
Business plan
10
EA
State of the art
27
POS
Poster
11
FOR
Forum
28
REQ
Requirement
12
TFG-a
Progress report of graduate project
29
ERP
Problem solving
13
ILAB
Lab report
30
RES
Abstract
14
IPP
Internship report
31
TAIC
Paper translation
15
IPRO
Project report
32
TFG
Undergraduate Project report
16
INV
Research report
17
IAL
Algorithm report
As seen in the Venn diagram in Figure 2, academics identified a greater number of
genres (30 in total) whilst students identified 18 genres. From these 18 genres, 15 of
them were identified by academics and only three were exclusively named by students:
Code (COD), algorithm report (IAL) and research report (INV). This conforms to the
extensive discussion in the literature about the low degree of transparency when
teaching genres to students (Shaver 2007, Graves, Hyland and Samuels 2010, Navarro
2013, Navarro et al. 2019).
120
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
Figure 2. Genres identified by teachers and students of Computer Science Civil Engineering program
studies.
Within the genres shared by both groups, the research article (AIC) is outlined as it
behaves as a macrogenre and can eventually subsume training genres such as state of
the art (EA) and methodology (MET), given their relation with prototypical sections of
an AIC (Venegas 2006, Sabaj 2012). Thus, different specific varieties of reports are
described: technical report (INF), internship report (IPP), project report (IPRO), lab
report (ILAB), including the oral report as part of a genre chain (Swales 2004). In
effect, the report is articulated as a macrogenre (Parodi et al. 2018) or family of genres
that gathers specific genres together. In the economics and business field, descriptions
of these genre forms for Spanish language are found, such as the Monetary Policy
Report (Parodi et al. 2015, Vásquez-Rocca and Parodi 2015, Vásquez-Rocca 2016) and
the Financial Stability Report for Spanish and German (González and Burdiles 2018),
121
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
while research on the civil engineering field is more scarce (Marinkovich, Sologuren
and Sahwy 2018, Sologuren 2019; Sologuren and Castillo 2019).
Another of the student genres mentioned by students and teachers is the dissertation,
bachelor‟s degree thesis or thesis, according to the name assigned by the academic unit,
or Undergraduate Graduation Project (TFG or “Trabajo fin de grado”). A member of the
faculty commented:
“I usually ask my students not to be satisfied with what they wrote, but I ask them to think about
other work that can result from what they already did. I, at least, demand that they write”
(P06_DCC_05-1)
Thus, research writing emerges in the curriculum as a key component for developing
complex thought. Therefore, the TFG becomes a macrogenre (Venegas 2010) inside
which it is possible to find subgenres or genre resources that can be parts of a genre or
can act independently such as EA and MET. From there it is possible to see the
necessity of describing student genres on their own, because “there is no systematic
engagement between a potential genre expert and his/her own training „version‟” (Ávila
and Cortés 2017: 165-166). In effect, student genres mutate dynamically depending on
the perceived pedagogical necessities and according to social teaching motivations and
knowledge credentials (Dias et al. 1999, Ávila and Cortés 2017, Bazerman 2017).
In Figure 1 it can be observed that teachers and students recognize two curricular genres
(Anson 2008): exam (CER) and abstract (RES). In relation to the first genre, one of the
interviewed academics who identified it quickly commented:
“That‟s what they read, but they write very few documents, in general, as far as I know they
answer exam questions and it‟s not uncommon when asked something they answer something
completely different because they didn‟t understand the question, and that‟s a problem because
they sometimes know the answer” (P02_INF_06-3)
From the perspective of the teacher, this genre would be one of the most frequent, and
one where students show comprehension and approach production problems. It seems to
be a projection of general school genres (Parodi et al. 2015). In the same way, the
abstract genre (Parodi, Ibañez and Venegas 2014) emerges as a genre resource that is
highly valued from the textual production field. It is considered for the development of
122
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
the ability to synthesize and for its enabling function when it is a supporting genre
oriented to the realization of other genres guided by academic purposes of knowledge
acquisition, such as the poster (POS):
“That‟s different, the ability to synthesize is not well developed, like writing and speaking, and if
you give the task of producing a poster they will write everything that comes to their minds,
that‟s why they need to be given the format” (P07_ICI_009-10).
The interrelation of the written and the oral mode and the importance given to orality is
also manifested in the Poster genre
(POS). It is defined as
“a multimodal
communicative genre, with text, graphics, colour, speech, and even gesture used to
convey meaning” (Kress and van Leeuwen 2001). It is often labelled as a less
prestigious genre among the constellation of academic genres (Swales 2004) and it is
perceived as second-class (MacIntosh-Murray 2007) compared to oral presentations
(Swales and Feak 2000). However, the situation is changing nowadays because posters
“are an increasingly important part of scientific conferences and constitute a valid and
interesting alternative to paper presentations at conferences” (D‟Angelo 2010). Now,
the relevance of the sociodiscursive practice of innovation (Sabaj 2017, 2019) is added,
as well as entrepreneurship, especially in engineering, that has promoted new genres
and the revaluing of discursive practices that help the display and development of an
idea from conception until completion.
Finally, among genres recognized by both groups, there is a set of student genres
colonized (Bhatia 2002) by the professional discourse (Bolívar and Parodi 2015) or
defined in another way, namely as genres belonging to non-academic professional
discourse (Navarro 2012), of an instructional or educational nature. They are the genre
forms named here as tender basis (LIC), webpage (PW), requirement (REQ) and
commentary (COM). Meanwhile, LIC can be classified as an imported genre (Parodi
2014, Bolívar and Parodi 2015) widely shared within the engineering discipline (Callut
1990 for an early classification of the types of texts in engineering, REQ and COM).
They are genres that future computer science civil engineer will have to produce when
working.
123
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
Table 5. Genres, requirements and comments emerged by academics and students of ICI.
REQ
Selection criteria
“Yes, I think we know how to identify
“It is ironic because in programming we are taught alt
the requirements the best and,
command to comment a code and we write a commentary and
therefore, to know how to express
the commentary doesn‟t affect you what the program has to do
them better and write them in a
or the person reading it, it helps us, but when we write it down
document” (E11_DCC_21-24).
in the test, I say this because I didn‟t think about it or because I
did it so, we are not given point, not because we are
“Reports titled under a required
commenting if I want the code, then why do they teach us that
specification and a required design.
if they don‟t want that”
They have a narrative portion and
(E10_ICI_22-6).
many graphics of nomenclature
portions that we use to identify
“For example, in a code we write a commentary about the
systems” (P09_INF_004-1)
function it receives, stays there and what it does and everything
explained in few lines so later one week reading codes”
“Our program studies work with too
(E09_ICI_23-8).
many
softwares,
they
have
requirements we need to meet and we
“For example in computer science, in programing there is a
are experts reading a document, to take
topic that… commentaries, I don‟t know, I have a program and
the requirements of the software asked
I should have commentaries, then what commentary level
and then write it in a report under a
should I have, to be understood, because if no one will use this
requirement
1, requirement
2 and
program why I am commenting, but maybe in the future
explain and explain it again in detail”
somebody will have to change something here or they will use
(E12_DCC_21-25).
it as a base for another one, then I should leave commentaries”
(P07_INF_004-5).
For REQ, teachers and students agreed to point out the disciplinary relevance of this
resource as part of the typical work in computer science civil engineering, emphasizing
a narrative, explanatory and descriptive element in the explanation. For its part, COM is
also a typical genre in computer science. Students E09 and E10 in Table 4 explain the
utility of this genre form in programming, but they express a mismatch in the teaching
and evaluation of this genre. For teachers, commenting involves considering the
development of future programming experts, as observed in Table 2,the idea being that
their programming notes can be used, improved and adapted by other professionals of
the field.
124
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
III.1.2. Student genres in the HÉLICE-2017 learner corpus
For Bhatia (2004, 2016) genre theories can be defined in different ways, since they have
an ongoing life in “the real world of discourse”. In this sense, we face a challenge in the
process of analysing the interrelations and connections between different genres. In fact,
relations and connections between genre forms is for Swales (2016) one of the most
important current topics for LSP. In this context, it is necessary to consider the notions
of macrogenre and microgenre as relevant analytic categories to understand the complex
relations between genres. A macrogenre is defined as “a genre unit of higher hierarchy
formed by genres” (Venegas, Zamora and Galdames 2016: 252) where varied genres
can be included. Additionally, a microgenre can work as an element of a macrogenre, as
„embedded‟ in terms of Martin and Rose (2012), as part of a genre (Breeze 2016) or as
functional rhetoric segments (Cotos and Chung 2019).
Based on these ideas, my results from the identification, delimitation and
characterization of student genres from a double perspective
(typological and
topological) will be expounded and discussed in the following sections.
The analysis results in the identification of 33 GEFICs, as seen in Table 3, meaning that
there is great diversity in this subdiscipline of civil engineering. Figure 3 shows the
genres identified and the percentages of texts that belong to each genre.
125
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
Figure 3. Configuration of HÉLICE-2017 multigenre corpus.
Table 6 contains the 33 student genres in Computer Science Engineering with the access
number to the text corpus and the identification code:
Table 6. List of the 33 discursive genres identified from the text learner corpus HÉLICE-2017.
Nº
Code
Genre
Nº
Code
Genre
1
IPRO
Project report
18
IEV
Evaluation report
2
PN
Business plan
19
EA
State of the art
3
GLO
Glossary
20
IAN
Business analysis report
4
LIC
Tender basis
21
TFG-a
Progress report of TFG
5
ERP
Problem solving
22
TFG-p
Exam proposal report
6
TFG
Undergraduate Project report
23
MET
Methodology
7
ISOFT
Software report
24
EN
Essay
8
ILAB
Lab report
25
ESC
Scenario of use
9
IPP
Internship report
26
FI
Card of state
10
ICAS
Case report
27
IDIAG
Knowledge evaluation
11
CU
Questionaire
28
PENT
Protocol of interview
12
CAS
Use of case
29
EF
Financial statement
13
MOD
Model
30
ICON
Consultancy report
14
IAL
Algorithm report
31
IRREFLEX
Reflexive report
126
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
15
DT
Technical description
32
ITERR
Field report
16
RES
Abstract
33
IEV
Evaluation report
17
INV
Research report
18
IEM
Market research report
The overview of the genre composition of this corpus shows the appearance of the
report macrogenre with an appreciable variety of genre instances (15), the emergence of
professional oriented genres, and other mostly didactic ones. In addition, genre
resources linked to processes of scientific research and to genres of discourse on
economics are noted. In this respect, the genre conformation of this corpus is similar, as
expected, to that for the academic discourse in civil engineering and industrial
chemistry engineering (Parodi 2008), physics and chemistry (Parodi 2012, 2014) and
economics (Parodi et al. 2015). Other genres linked to social sciences, information
sciences and other disciplinary specific genres from the computer science field have
also emerged.
Furthermore, genre forms in the professional world surface, displaying a diverse
intertwine (Flowerdew 2003, Bolívar and Parodi 2015) between academic discourse and
professional discourse. In this perspective, we find overlaps with innovation (Sabaj
2017) and entrepreneurship (Varas 2017) discourses. This wide diversity of identified
genres shows the interdisciplinary nature and considerable hybridization in this
subdiscipline of civil engineering.
The results of my characterization of student genres in computer science civil
engineering make it possible to group genres into seven macrogenres or genre families
as defined in Table 7.
Table 7. Macrogenres identified from text corpus and the definition.
Nº
Macrogenre or genre family
Code
Genre
1
Technical report
MGITEC
Genres that belong to this category share the
macropurpose of writing the state of a procedure, an
experiment work, a development or a project.
Genres that belong in this category are the following
15 student genres: IPRO, ISOFT, ILAB, IPP, ICAS,
IAL, INV, IEM, IEVAL, IAN, IDIAG, ICON, ITERR
127
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
and IRREFLEX. In addition, this family takes into
account the microgenre: EF
2
Plan
MGPLA
The genre resources that belong to this genre family
N
share as a communicative macropurpose persuading a
professional audience about a determined proposal in a
work context.
Genres that belong to this category are: PN and LIC.
3
Requirement
MGREQ
This macrogenre integrates genres that share the
U
communicative macropurpose of guiding a specialized
audience about the criteria to start or to hold a process.
Macrogenres that belong to this category are: CAS,
ESC and FI.
4
Model
MGMO
Genres that belong to this collection share the
D
communicative macropurpose of representing a
procedure, a phenomenon or an entity to emerge the
meaning within a determined process.
Macrogenres that belong to this category are: MOD
and DT.
5
Methodology
MGMET
This genre family is formed by discursive genres
which communicative macropurpose is to describe the
procedures developed by the academic writer in a
determined research or innovation project.
The represented microgenres in this category are: MET
and PENT.
6
Didactic Exercise
MGEJE
The macrogenre is formed by genres that share the
D
communicative macropurpose of instructing about a
specific disciplinary topic. They are genres that
“display didactic resources with a clear emphasis on
teaching/learning processes” (Parodi et. al 2015: 183).
This intends to favor an autonomous learning of the
students and to strengthen the knowledge of
disciplinary key concepts.
Discursive genres that belong to this genre family are:
CU, GLO and RES.
7
Undergraduate Project Report
MGTFG
Genres in this category answer to a “Research written
report of evaluative accreditative nature, submitted by
university students as the dissertation, a requirement to
obtain a such as a Bachelor degree, a Master‟s degree
128
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
or a Ph.D., and it must be presented and orally
defended before a commission of experts to be
approved” (Venegas 2010: 13).
The shared communicative macropurpose is
persuading about a particular research or development.
Genres that belong to this genre family are: TFG-p and
TFG-a.
Moreover, it is possible to understand from this text analysis how each macrogenre is
situated on a continuum from a prominently professional academic nature to a
professional non-academic nature that connects training with work areas (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Continuum of macrogenre conforming disciplinary discourse in undergraduate studies for
Computer Science Civil Engineering Program.
It can be observed on this continuum that the predominance is given by intertwining and
overlapping (Flowerdew 2003, Bolívar and Parodi 2015) between what is known as
„academic‟ discourse
(+academic) and
„professional‟ discourse
(+NO academic)
showing hybridization as a characteristic phenomenon of the genres produced by
students of computer science civil engineering. In effect, three out of the seven genre
families are located in the middle of the continuum: MGITEC, MGMET and MGMOD.
This occurs because the genre resources do not correspond exclusively to either of the
poles, but the genres conforming them are either related to a strictly academic field, a
strictly professional field or they are hybrid genre instances that facilitate the
disciplinary learning.
129
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
MGTFG is situated at one end of the continuum, representing the final episode of the
program studies in which the author submits a text that evaluates his/her knowledge of
the field (Montemayor-Borsinger 2014: 268). On the other end, the MGREQU family
gathers those defining genres of the work sphere of any computer science civil engineer
and that characterize their daily duties.
As seen in Figure 3, the MGPLAN family is situated slightly further away from the NO
academic end. Although it contains strongly professionally oriented genres, its focus on
academic training has assisted in surfacing situated variations of the genre, which:
“plays a key role in entrepreneurship and is used in educational settings” (Navarro
2015b: 150). Additionally, closer to the academic end, the MGEJD family appears in
the university undergraduate training of this discipline gathering curricular genres
(Christie 2002), genres that for this author are realized in a regulatory register related to
instructions and educational objectives to be covered, and an instructional register
connected to curricular content and cognitive abilities to be developed. In this sense,
they respond to the sociosemiotic process (Mathiessen 2007, 2015) of enabling, which,
in a secondary degree of delicacy, established in the register cartography (Mathiessen
2007), considers instruction and regulation.
III.3. Didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish in civil
engineering
A group of phases and criteria is proposed from this mapping, thus facilitating the
articulation of a model to teach academic Spanish language and to develop a didactic
proposal based on textual genres which are important for training and for professional
performance, including genres which are actually used in the scientific, academic and
professional fields of civil engineering.
Phase 1: Diagnostic knowledge evaluation of requirements and difficulty in writing
different genres in the capstone cycle of civil engineering study programs.
This phase aims to understand the characteristics that academics and students identify in
genres that must be written as part of the different courses in order to efficiently achieve
the informative-evaluative function of academic discourse. Moreover, it is intended to
130
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
evaluate the main difficulties experienced by academics and students during the
academic writing process of each genre.
Phase 2: Description of discursive genres in the civil engineering field
The focus of this phase is to describe genres based on lexical grammar, semantic-
discursive, rhetoric and stylistic features (Manrique, Zapata and Venegas 2019), and at
the same time, to relate the student genre map to the communicative purposes of the
genres, the key courses in the curriculum and the functions for which the genres are
used.
Phase 3: Collaborative and interdisciplinary work with teachers in the engineering field
(Bauerle, Hatfull and Hanauer 2014).
This phase is based on a group of steps that may help the curricular insertion of
discursive abilities in Spanish in courses on computer science civil engineering.
1)
Validation of the genre description together with academics of the
engineering field in order to develop a verification process with the
specialist (Bhatia 2002) and to enrich the possible use of the genre.
2)
Presentation and analysis of genres organized in macrogenres, genre
families or colonies
(Bhatia
2004, Luzón
2005) considering the
communicative macropurpose and the disciplinary learning unit where it is
inserted. At this stage it is also important to consider more or less
specialized possible contexts in which each genre is used. From the results
obtained, an explicit teaching of the seven identified and defined
macrogenres is proposed, so that the students will strengthen their genre
knowledge, and they will be ready to approach emerging genres that enter
the system or genre colony.
3)
Design of writing tasks with the collaboration of LSP teachers and
professors of engineering that help students to display their genre skills,
paying attention to the communicative purposes in the diverse discursive
communities where these genres are used and analysis of lexicogrammar
and rhetoric-discursive features.
131
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
4)
Specification of the relations between discursive genres, and, in particular,
pedagogical activities promoting analysis and development of genre chains
that involve the development of discursive trajectories not only displaying
writing skills, but also oral and reading skills, such as the business plan
(PN), tender basis (LIC) or internship report (IPP).
5)
Comparison of different genres with similar communicative purposes, for
example, knowledge evaluation (IDIAG) and evaluation report (IEVAL),
in order to observe the communicative and linguistic differences produced
in terms of communicative function, writing objective and target audience.
In addition, it is relevant to observe how they are integrated, and how
different genres and microgenres from the corpus can be used, e.g., the
abstract (RES), state of the art (EA), problem solving (ERP), the case of
use (CAS), scenario of use (ESC), model (MOD), financial statement
(EF). These can behave as embedded genres or parts of a genre (Breeze
2016).
IV. CLOSING COMMENTS
Progressive analysis of genres that are situated in and connected to the community of
practice and the learning community allows for a gradual development of more
comprehensive rhetoric knowledge. This knowledge will be fundamental to successfully
address multiple communicative contexts and problems that engineering students will
face throughout their undergraduate years, as well as in their future work, either in the
industry or in other organizations.
Additionally, the use of a sound theoretical background and the incorporation of
research resources
(such as the learner corpus HÉLICE-2017) are likely to assist
students in discovering the academic and specialized Spanish language used in
computer science civil engineering, so they can become language „detectives‟ (since
“every student [is] a Sherlock Holmes” (Johns 1997: 101)). This learning process will
equip them with a more nuanced metadiscursive awareness and strategies of text
metaproduction. Their heightened level of awareness of texts and textuality is bound to
132
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
enhance writing quality in a given subdiscipline, being an element of great importance
for transmitting and proving knowledge.
In this sense, and trying to answer the research question: How can teachers and
researchers in Languages for Specific Purposes take full advantage of contemporary
trends in higher education (in this case engagement with professional communities) to
develop innovative pedagogies and practices? LSP teachers may use reading and
writing maps as a valuable input to negotiate processes with academics, to increase
students‟ rhetorical sensitivity (Guerra 2016), and to help them build knowledge about
professional discourse and its diverse forms since: “They also build bridges between
higher education and the real world, by motivating learners with authentic documents
from their fields of expertise and improving their information literacy and
communicative abilities” (Breeze and Sancho-Guinda 2017: 215).
Finally, and as a projection, one of the future challenges lies in organizing the transition
from the discursive genres produced during the formative stage in the Faculty of
Engineering, to incorporate specificities about all the subdisciplines such as geology,
and produce didactic resources for the curricular insertion of genres in the reports
written in each key course of the engineering field. This process will contribute to
developing a situated and contextualised support system, as well as providing more
informed feedback on academic and professional writing. This will also lead to an
update of the curricular tools in engineering education. Owing to the above initiatives, a
refined model of text production will emerge that considers all the stages and strategies
necessary for genre-based didactics in the STEM field.
Notes
i According to the university grading system of Chile.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the three departments of Computer Science Civil Engineering that
participated in this research: Escuela de Ingeniería Informática (PUCV), Departamento
de Ingeniería Informática (USM) y Departamento de Ciencias de la Computación
133
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
(UCHILE). Also, the projects of consorcios Ingeniería y Ciencias para el
2030
(CORFO): DOC-INNOVA-Proyecto 14ENI2-26905 (Pontificia Universidad Católica de
Valparaíso, Chile) y Proyecto
14 INNOVA 14ENI2-26863 (Universidad de Chile,
Chile). Special thanks to the English Language Consultants Rosa Catalán and Jorge
Carroza.
REFERENCES
Adelstein, A. and Kuguel, I. 2005. Los textos académicos en el nivel universitario. Los
Polvorines: Universidad de General Sarmiento.
Altbach, P., Reisberg, L. and Rumbley, L. 2010. Trends in Global Higher Education:
Tracking an Academic Revolution. Rotterdam: Sense.
Andersen, J., Bazerman, C. and Schneider, J. 2015. “Beyond single genres: Pattern
mapping in global communication”. In Jakobs, E. M. and D. Perrin (Eds.),
Handbook of Writing and Text Production. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH,
305-322.
Anson, C. 2008. “Closed systems and standardized writing tests”. College Composition
and Communication, 60 (1), 113-128.
Ávila, N. and Cortés, A. 2017. “El género „informe de caso‟ en la formaciyn inicial
docente: una aproximaciyn basada en la actividad”. Lenguas Modernas, 50,
153-174.
Barrios, A., Meneses, F. and Paredes, R. 2011. Financial Aid and University Attrition
in Chile. Santiago de Chile: Documento de Trabajo, Pontificia Universidad
Católica de Chile.
Bauerle, C., Hatfull, G. and Hanauer, D. 2014. “Facilitating STEM education through
interdisciplinarity”. Language, literacy, and learning in STEM education, 167-
179.
Bazerman, C. 1988. Shaping written knowledge: The genre and activity of the
experimental article in science (Vol. 356). Madison: University of Wisconsin
Press.
134
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
— 1994. “Systems of genre and the enactment of social intentions”. In A. Freedman and
P. Medway (Eds.), Genre and the new rhetoric. London: Taylor & Francis, 79-
99.
— 2005. Reference guide to writing across the curriculum. Indiana: Parlor Press LLC.
— 2012. “Actos de habla, géneros y sistemas de actividades: de qué manera los textos
organizan las actividades y los grupos sociales”. In Bazerman, C. (Ed.) Géneros
textuales, tipificación y actividad. Puebla: Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de
Puebla, 122-136.
— 2017. “The interpretation of disciplinary writing”. In Brown, R. (Ed.) Writing the
Social Text. New York: Routledge, 31-38.
Bhatia, V. 1993. Analysing genre-language use in professional settings. London:
Longman.
Bhatia, V. 2002. “A generic view of academic discourse”. In Flowerdew, J. (Ed.)
Academic discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 21-39.
— 2004. Worlds of written discourse: A genre-based view. Londres: Continuum.
— 2016. Investigating interdiscursive performance in professional practice. London:
Routledge.
Biber, D.
2004.
“Representativeness in corpus design”. In Sampson, G. and D.
McCarthy
(Eds.) Corpus Linguistics: Readings in a widening discipline.
London: Continuum, 174-197.
— 2006. University Language: A Corpus-Based Study of Spoken and Written Registers.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Bolívar, A. and Parodi, G. 2015. “Academic and professional discourse”. In Lacorte,
M. (Ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Hispanic Applied Linguistics. USA:
Roudledge, 459-476.
Bosio, T. 2012. Discourse Markers: Their Role and Function in Animated Movies in
English and Slovene Language. Doctoral thesis. University of Ljubljana, Faculty
of Arts.
135
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
Breeze, R. 2016. “Tracing the development of an emergent part-genre: The author
summary”. English for Specific Purposes, 42, 50-65.
Breeze, R. and Sancho Guinda, C. (Eds.) 2017a. Essential competencies for English-
medium university teaching. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Breeze, R. and Sancho Guinda, C. 2017b. Genre-based strategies for integrating critical and
creative thinking in engineering and journalism. ESP today journal of English for
Specific Purposes at tertiary level, 5(2), 196-221.
Callut, J. 1990. “Les approches de la traduction de textes scientifiques et techniques”.
Le linguiste, 36 (3/4), 41-52.
Carlino, P. 2003. “Alfabetizaciyn académica: un cambio necesario, algunas alternativas
posibles”. Educere, 6 (20), 409-420.
— 2013. “Alfabetizaciyn académica diez años después”. Revista Mexicana de
Investigación Educativa, 18 (57), 355-381.
Cassany, D. and López, C. 2010. “De la universidad al mundo laboral: continuidad y
contraste entre las prácticas letradas académicas y profesionales”. In Parodi, G.
(Ed.) Alfabetización académica y profesional en el siglo XXI. Leer y escribir
desde las disciplinas. Santiago: Ariel, 347-374.
Charles, M. 2006. “The construction of stance in reporting clauses: a cross-disciplinary
study of theses”. Applied Linguistics, 27, 492-518.
Christie, F. 2002. Classroom Discourse Analysis: a functional perspective. London:
Continuum.
Ciapuscio, G.
2010.
“Estructura ilocucionaria y cortesía: La construcción de
conocimiento y opiniyn en las cartas de lectores de ciencia”. Revista signos, 43,
91-117.
Ciapuscio, G. and Kuguel, I. 2002. “Hacia una tipología del discurso especializado:
aspectos teyricos y aplicados”. Texto, terminología y traducción, 37-74.
Conrad, S. 1996. Academic discourse in two disciplines: Professional writing and
student development in biology and history. Flagstaff: Northern Arizona
University.
136
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
— 2017. “A comparison of practitioner and student writing in civil engineering”.
Journal of Engineering Education, 106 (2), 191-217.
Corbetta, P. 2007. Metodología y técnicas de investigación social. Madrid: McGraw-
Hill.
Creese, A. 2010. “Linguistic ethnography”. In E. Litosseliti (Ed.) Research methods in
linguistics. London: Continuum, 138-154.
Creswell, J. W. 2014. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches. Los Angeles: Sage publications.
Creswell, J. W. and Creswell, J. D. 2018. Research design. Qualitative, quantitative,
and mixed methods approaches. United States of America: SAGE Publications.
D’Angelo, L. 2010. “Creating a framework for the analysis of academic posters”.
Language Studies Working Papers, 2, 38-50.
Devitt, A. J.
1991.
“Intertextuality in tax accounting: Generic, referential, and
functional”. Textual dynamics of the professions: Historical and contemporary
studies of writing in professional communities, 336- 357.
— 2004. Writing Genres. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press.
Dias, P., Freedman, A., Medway, P. and Paré, A. 1999. Worlds apart: Acting and
writing inacademic and workplace contexts. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Dressen-Hammouda, D. 2014. “Measuring the voice of disciplinarity in scientific
writing: a longitudinal exploration of experienced writers in geology”. English
for Specific Purposes, 34, 14-25.
Ezcurra, A.
2011.
“Abandono estudiantil en educaciyn superior. Hipótesis y
conceptos”. In Gluz, N. (Ed.) Admisión a la universidad y selectividad social.
Cuando la democratización es más que un problema de
“ingresos”. Los
Polvorines: Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, UNGS, 23-62.
— 2013. Igualdad en Educación Superior. Un desafío mundial. Buenos Aires:
Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento.
137
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
Flowerdew, L. 2003. “A combined corpus and systemic- functional analysis of the
problem- solution pattern in a student and professional corpus of technical
writing”. Tesol Quarterly, 37 (3), 489-511.
García de Fanelli, A. and Adrogué de Deane, C. 2015. “Abandono de los estudios
universitarios: dimensión, factores asociados y desafíos para la política pública”.
Revista Fuentes, 16, 85-106.
Gardner, S. 2008. “Integrating Ethnographic, Multidimensional, Corpus Linguistic and
Systemic Functional Approaches to Genre Description: An Illustration through
University History and Engineering Assignments”. In Steiner. E. H. and S.
Neumann (Eds.) Data and Interpretation in Linguistic Analysis. Saarbrücken,
Universität des Saarlandes, 1-34.
Gardner, S. and Nesi, H. 2013. “A classification of genre families in university student
writing”. Applied Linguistics, 34, 25-52.
Gardner, S., and Xu, X. 2019. “Engineering registers in the 21st century: SFL
perspectives on online publications.Language, Context and text.” The Social
Semiotics Forum, 1 (1), 65-101.
Gilmore, A. and Millar, N. 2018. “The language of civil engineering research articles:
A corpus-based approach”. English for Specific Purposes, 51, 1-17.
González, C. and Burdiles, G. 2018. “Rhetorical organization of the genre Financial
Stability Report: a contrast between the report of the Central Bank of Chile and
the German Federal Bank”. Círculo de Linguistica Aplicada a la Comunicación,
(73), 145-160.
González, L., Uribe, D. and González, S.
2005. Estudio sobre la repitencia y
deserción en la educación superior chilena. Santiago: Chile, Unesco.
Gotti, M. 2003. Specialized discourse. Linguistic features and changing conventions.
Bern: Lang.
— 2008. Investigating specialized discourse. Bern: Peter Lang.
138
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
Graves, R., Hyland, T. and Samuels, B. 2010. “Undergraduate writing assignments:
An analysis of syllabi at one Canadian college”. Written Communication, 27 (3),
293-317.
Groom, N. 2005. “Pattern and meaning across genres and disciplines: An exploratory
study”. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 4 (3), 257-277.
Guerra, J.
2016.
“Cultivating a rhetorical sensibility in the translingual writing
classroom”. College English, 78 (3), 228-233.
Harvey, A. 2009. “Acerca de la alfabetizaciyn académica y sus manifestaciones
Discursivas”. In Shiro, M., P. Bentivoglio and F. Ehrlich
(Eds.) Haciendo
Discurso. Homenaje a Adriana Bolívar. Caracas: Universidad Central de
Venezuela, 627-645.
Hyland, K. 2011. Continuum companion to discourse analysis. London: Bloomsbury
Publishing.
Hyland, K. and Paltridge, B.
(Eds.)
2011. Continuum companion to discourse
analysis. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Ibáñez, R.
2010.
“El Texto Disciplinar en la transmisiyn del conocimiento
especializado”. Estudios filológicos, (46), 59-80.
Ibáñez, R., Moncada, F., Santana, A. and Bajos, P. 2015. “Variaciyn disciplinar en el
discurso académico de la Biología y del Derecho: un estudio a partir de las
relaciones de coherencia”. Onomázein, 2 (32), 101-131.
Kanoksilapatham, B. 2015. “Distinguishing textual features characterizing structural
variation in research articles across three engineering sub-discipline corpora”.
English for Specific Purposes, 37, 74-86.
Kress, G. and Van Leeuwen, T. 2001. Multimodal discourse: The modes and media of
contemporary communication (Vol. 312). London: Arnold.
Lee, D. and Swales, J. 2006. “A corpus-based EAP course for NNS doctoral students:
Moving from available specialized corpora to self-compiled corpora”. English
for specific purposes, 25 (1), 56-75.
139
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
Lim, J. M. H. 2012. “How do writers establish research niches? A genre-based
investigation into management researchers' rhetorical steps and linguistic
mechanisms”. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11 (3), 229-245.
Luzón, Mª J. 2005. “Aplicaciyn del concepto de „colonia de géneros‟ a la enseñanza de
Inglés para Fines Específicos”. IBÉRICA, Journal of the European Association
of Language for Specific Purposes, 10, 133-144.
MacIntosh-Murray, A.
2007.
“Poster presentations as a genre in knowledge
communication: a case study of forms, norms, and values”. Science
communication, 28 (3), 347-376.
Manrique, B., Zapata, C. and Venegas, R. 2019. “Applying rhetorical analysis to
processing technical documents”. Acta Scientiarum, 41 (1), 1-11.
Marinkovich, J. and Velásquez, M. 2010. “La representaciyn social de la escritura y
los géneros discursivos en un programa de licenciatura: una aproximación a la
alfabetizaciyn académica”. In Parodi, G.
(Ed.) Alfabetización académica y
profesional en el siglo XXI: leer y escribir desde las disciplinas. Santiago de
Chile: Ariel, 127-152.
Marinkovich, J., Velásquez Rivera, M. and Córdova Jiménez, A. (Eds.) 2012.
Comunidades académicas y culturas escritas: construcciones discursivas desde
las ciencias y las humanidades. Valparaíso: Ediciones Universitarias de
Valparaíso.
Marinkovich, J., Sologuren, E. and Shawky, M. 2018. “The process of academic
literacy in Civil Engineering Computer Science. An approach to academic
writing and its genres in a learning community”. Círculo de Lingüística
Aplicada a la Comunicación, 74, 195-220.
Martin, J. and Rose, D. 2008. Genre relations: Mapping culture. London: Equinox.
Matthiessen, C.
2007.
“The architecture" of language according to the systemic
functional theory of language”. Book, 10, 505-561.
— 2015. “Register in the round: Registerial cartography”. Functional Linguistics, 2 (1),
1-48.
140
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
McGrath, L. 2016. “Open-access writing: An investigation into the online drafting and
revision of a research article in pure mathematics”. English for Specific
Purposes, 43, 25-36.
Montemayor-Borsinger, A. 2014. “La tesis”. In Cubo, L. (Ed.) Los textos de la
ciencia. Principales clases de discurso académico-científico. Córdoba:
Comunicarte, 267-284.
Montolío, E.
2007.
“Lingüística, Retyrica y procesos argumentativos en las
corporaciones”. In Escofet, A., B. de Jonge, A. Van Hooft, K. Jauregui, J.
Robisco and M. Ruiz (Eds.) Actas del Tercer Congreso Internacional de
Español para fines específicos. Ultrecht: Instituto Cervantes, 17-34.
Montolío, E. and López, A.
2010.
“Especificidades discursivas de los textos
profesionales frente a los textos académicos: el caso de la recomendación
profesional”. In Parodi, G. (Ed.) Alfabetización académica y profesional en el
siglo XXI: Leer y escribir desde las disciplinas. Madrid: Planeta, 215-245.
Moyano, E. 2007. “Enseñanza de habilidades discursivas en español en contexto pre-
universitario: una aproximaciyn desde la LSF”. Signos, 40 (65), 573-608.
Mudraya, O. 2006. “Engineering English: A lexical frequency instructional model”.
English for Specific Purposes, 25 (2), 235-256.
Navarro, F. 2012. "Alfabetización avanzada en la Argentina. Puntos de contacto con la
enseñanza-aprendizaje de L2". Revista Nebrija de Lingüística Aplicada a la
Enseñanza de las Lenguas, 2 (6), 49-83.
— 2013. “Trayectorias de formaciyn en lectura y escritura disciplinar en carreras
universitarias de humanidades: diagnystico y propuesta institucional”. Revista
mexicana de investigación educativa, 18 (58), 709-734.
— 2014. “Géneros discursivo e ingreso a las culturas disciplinares. Aportes para una
didáctica de la lectura y la escritura en educaciyn superior”. Manual de escritura
para carreras de Humanidades, 29-52.
— 2015a. “Análisis situado del plan de negocios en español y portugués: perspectivas
de emprendedores, docentes y estudiantes”. Calidoscópio, 13 (2), 189-200.
141
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
— 2015b. “Business plan: A preliminary approach to an unknown genre”. Ibérica,
Revista de la Asociación Europea de Lenguas para Fines Específicos, 30, 129-
153.
— 2018. “Más allá de la alfabetizaciyn académica: las funciones de la escritura en
educaciyn superior”. In Alves, M. and V. Bortoluzzi
(Eds.) Formação de
professores: ensino, linguagens e tecnologías. Porto Alegre: Editora Fi, 13-47.
Navarro, F., Uribe, F., Lovera, O. and Sologuren, E. 2019. “Encuentros con la
escritura en el ingreso a la educación superior: representaciones sociales de
estudiantes en seis áreas de conocimiento”. Revista Ibérica, 38, 75-98.
Nekrasova-Beker, T. M.
2019.
“Discipline-specific use of language patterns in
engineering: A comparison of published pedagogical materials”. Journal of
English for Academic Purposes, 41, 1-12.
Nesi, H. and Gardner, S. 2012. Genres across the disciplines. Student writing in
higher education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pagano R. 2012. Understanding statistics in the behavioral sciences. Belmont, CA:
Cengage Learning.
Parodi, G. 2005. “Discurso especializado y lingüística de corpus: hacia el desarrollo de
una competencia psicolingüística”. Boletín de Lingüística, 17 (23), 61-88.
— 2007. “El discurso especializado escrito en el ámbito universitario y profesional:
constituciyn de un corpus de estudio”. Revista Signos, 4 (63), 147-178.
— (Ed.) 2008. Géneros académicos y profesionales: accesos discursivos para saber
hacer. Valparaíso: Ediciones Universitarias Valparaíso, EUV.
— (Ed.). 2010. Alfabetización académica y profesional en el siglo XXI. Leer y escribir
desde las disciplinas. Santiago de Chile: Ariel.
— 2014. Comprensión de textos escritos. Teoría de la Comunicabilidad. Buenos Aires:
Eudeba.
— 2015a. “Corpus de aprendices de español (CAES)”. Journal of Spanish Language
Teaching, 2 (2), 194-200.
142
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
— 2015b. “Leer a través de las disciplinas en la Universidad: “¿Qué género permite
accede al conocimiento en la formaciyn doctoral?”. Leer y escribir en contextos
académicos y profesionales. Géneros, corpus y métodos, 31-66.
Parodi, G., Ibáñez, R. and Venegas, R. 2014. “¿Cymo escribir un buen resumen?” In
Montolio, E. (Ed.) Manual de escritura académica y profesional. Barcelona:
Ariel, 93-119.
Parodi, G., Julio, C. and Vásquez-Rocca, L. 2015. “Los géneros del Corpus PUCV-
UCSC-2013 del discurso académico de la economía: el caso del Informe de
Política Monetaria”. Revista ALED, 15 (3), 179-200.
Parodi, G., Burdiles, G., Moreno de León, T. and Julio, C. 2018. “Hábitos lectores y
géneros del discurso en filosofía y en economía y negocios: del discurso
académico al discurso profesional”. RLA. Revista de lingüística teórica y
aplicada, 56 (2), 117-152.
Parodi, G., Moreno, T., Julio, C. and Fernández, G. 2019. “Generaciyn Google o
Generación Gutenberg: Hábitos y propósitos de lectura en estudiantes
universitarios chilenos”. Comunicar: Revista científica iberoamericana de
comunicación y educación, 58, 85-94.
Pearson, J. 1998. Terms in Context. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Perez-Llantada, C. 2015. “Genres in the forefront, languages in the background: the
scope of genre analysis in language-related scenarios”. Journal of English for
Academic Purposes, 19, 10-21.
Perry, F. 2010. Research in applied linguistics: becoming a discerning consumer.
Londres: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Quacquarelli Symonds. World University rankings.
2019.
15 October
2019
rankings/out-now-qs-brics-university-rankings-2019>
Rea Rizzo, C. 2010. “A first approach to the lexical profile of telecommunication
English: frequency, distribution, restriction and keyness”. Revista de Lingüística
y Lenguas Aplicadas, 4 (1), 161-173.
143
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
Rose, D. and Martin, J. R. 2012. “Learning to write, reading to learn”. Genre,
knowledge and pedagogy in the Sydney School. London: Equinox.
Sabaj, O. 2012. “Uso de movidas retyricas y patrones léxico-gramaticales en artículos
de investigación en español. Implicancias para la enseñanza de la escritura
científica”. Boletín de Filología, 47 (1), 165-186.
— 2017. The discourse of innovation: Socio-discursive practices in the stages of
innovation projects. Fondecyt grant number 1170133
Shaver, L. 2007. “Approaches/Practices: Eliminating the Shell Game: Using Writing-
Assignment Names to Integrate Disciplinary Learning”. Journal of Business and
Technical Communication, 21 (1), 74-90.
Sheridan, M. P. 2012. “Making ethnography our own: Why and how writing studies
must redefine core research practices”. Writing Studies Research in Practice:
Methods and Methodologies, 73-85.
Sologuren, E. 2019. “Approche de l‟écrit académique dans un milieu d‟apprentissage
de l‟Ingénierie Civile en Informatique”. Policromias Reveu [in press]
Stake, R. E. 2008. “Qualitative case studies”. In Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds.)
Strategies of qualitative enquiry. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 119-149.
Stubbs, M. 1996. Text and corpus analysis: Computer-assisted studies of language and
culture. Oxford: Blackwell.
Swales, J.
1998. Other floors, other voices: A textography of a small university
building. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
— 2004. Research genres: Explorations and applications. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
— 2018. Other floors, other voices: A textography of a small university building. (20th
anniversary edition). Ann Arbor: university of Michigan Press.
Swales, J. and Feak, C. 2000. English in today’s research world: a writing guide. Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
144
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
Tarone, E., Dwyer, S., Gillette, S. and Icke, V. 1998. “On the use of the passive and
active voice in astrophysics journal papers: With extensions to other languages
and other fields”. English for specific purposes, 17 (1), 113-132.
Teberosky, A. 2010. “Alfabetizaciyn, tecnologías y materiales de literatura infantil”.
Lectura y Vida, 31 (4), 54-55.
Thaiss, C. J. and Zawacki, T. 2006. Engaged writers and dynamic disciplines:
Research on the academic writing life. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.
Varas, G. 2017. “Explorando el discurso de la innovación: análisis de valoraciones y
conjunciones en Tres videos institucionales relacionados con el proceso de
transferencia tecnológica”. Working paper.
Vásquez-Rocca, L. 2016. Estudio multidimensional del género Informe de Política
Monetaria (IPOM) en el discurso de la economía. Doctoral thesis. Pontificia
Universidad Católica de Valparaíso: Valparaíso, Chile.
Vásquez-Rocca, L. and Parodi, G. 2015. “Relaciones retyricas y multimodalidad en el
género Informe de Política Monetaria del discurso académico de la Economía”.
Calidoscópio, 13 (3), 388-405.
Venegas, R.
2006.
“La similitud léxico-semántica en artículos de investigación
científica en español: Una aproximaciyn desde el Análisis Semántico Latente”.
Revista signos, 39 (60), 75-106.
— 2007. “La similitud léxico-semántica (SLS) en artículos de investigación científica
en español”. In Parodi, G.
(Ed.) Lingüística de corpus y discursos
especializados: Puntos de mira. Valparaíso: Euvsa, 411-433.
— 2010. Caracterización del macro-género trabajo final de grado en licenciatura y
magíster: Desde los patrones léxico-gramaticales y retórico-estructurales al
andamiaje de la escritura académico disciplinar. Informe Proyecto
FONDECYT 1101039.
Venegas, R., Núñez, M. T., Zamora, S. and Santana, A. 2015. Escribir desde la
Pedagogía del Género. Guías para escribir el Trabajo Final de Grado en
Licenciatura. Valparaíso: PUCV.
145
Enrique Sologuren Insúa
Venegas, R., Zamora, S. and Galdames, A. 2016. “Hacia un modelo retyrico-
discursivo del macrogénero Trabajo Final de Grado en Licenciatura”. Revista
signos, 49 (1), 247-279.
APPENDIX 1
Table 8. Courses in applied engineering.
Nº
Code
University 1
Code
University 2
Code
University 3
1
ICI5240
Artificial
ILI225
Software Engineering
CC5401
Software
Sem 9
intelligence
Sem 7
Sem 9
Engineering II
2
ICI5440
Human factors in
ILI255
Introduction
to
CC5402
Software Project
Sem 9
software projects
Sem 7
computer theory
Sem 10
3
ICI5540
Database workshop
ILI256
Computing networks
CC4102
Algorithm design
Sem 9
Sem 7
Sem 8
and analysis
4
ICI5341
Distributed systems
ILI264
Systems
and
CC4302
Operating systems
Sem 10
Sem 8
organizations
Sem 8
5
ICI5544
Business
ILI285
Scientific computing
CC4303
Networks
Sem 10
engineering
Sem 7
I
Sem 8
6
ICI6440
New technologies
INF293
Operation research
IN3301
Project evaluation
Sem 11
in organization
Sem 7
Sem 9
7
ICI6441
Administration of
INF322
Interface design
CC5901
Professional
Sem 11
computing projects
Sem 8
Sem 9
internship
8
ICI6442
Business
INF295
Artificial intelligence
CC5601
Preparation
and
Sem 11
intelligence
Sem 8
Sem 10
evaluation
of
projects TI
9
ICI6540
Bachelor‟s degree
INF343
Distributed systems
CC6908
Introduction
to
Sem 11
seminar
Sem 8
Sem 10
Thesis project
10
ICI6541
Thesis project
INF266
Administrative
CC6909
Thesis project
Sem 12
Sem 8
systems
Sem 11
11
ICIPRAC
Internship 2
INF228
Workshop
of
CC5206
Elective class
Sem 10
Sem 10
computing
Project
Sem 10
development
12
ICI5542
Computer Project
INF309
Thesis project 1
Sem 9
design
Sem 10
13
ICI6003
Elective class
INF310
Thesis project 2
Sem 12
Sem 11
146
Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for teaching academic and professional Spanish
language
14
ICI5142
Research
of
ICN270
Information
and
Sem 10
advanced
Sem 7
financial
operations
mathematics
Received: 06 November 2019
Accepted: 30 May 2020
Cite this article as:
Sologuren Insúa, Enrique. 2020. “Maps of student genres in engineering: a didactic model for
teaching academic and professional Spanish language”. Language Value, 12 (1), 112-147. Jaume
I University ePress: Castelló, Spain. http://www.languagevalue.uji.es.
ISSN 1989-7103
147
Language Value
June 2020, Volume 12, Number 1 pp. 148-153
ISSN 1989-7103
BOOK REVIEW
Specialised English: New Directions in ESP and EAP Research and Practice
Ken Hyland and Lillian L. C. Wong
Routledge: London and New York, 2019 (1st ed.). 260 pages.
ISBN: 978-1-138-58877-6
Reviewed by Gang Yao
Universidad de Murcia, Spain
Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
The field of specialized English has expanded on an unprecedented scale. We have
already seen that there is a plethora of research articles in specialized top journals like
Journal of English for Academic Purposes and English for Specific Purposes, as well as
influential volumes and handbooks: in English for Specific Purposes
(ESP),
publications like The Handbook of English for Specific Purposes edited by Paltridge
and Starfield (2013), Introducing English for Specific Purposes by Anthony (2018); in
English for Academic Purposes (EAP), publications such as the seminal collection
Research Perspectives on English for Academic Purposes edited by Flowerdew and
Peacock (2001), Introducing English for Academic Purposes by Charles and Pecorari
(2016), and The Routledge Handbook of English for Academic Purposes edited by
Hyland and Shaw (2016).
The field, however, is moving so fast that many researchers and practitioners are unable
to keep current with its developments and trends. Hyland and Wong‟s volume,
therefore, seeks to contribute to the evolving and dynamic scholarship of specialized
English by gathering cutting-edge chapters on current and international perspectives on
specific varieties of English. It covers a wide range of recent issues of EAP and ESP,
such as English as a lingua franca, workplace English, academic interaction, practitioner
identity, data-driven learning, and critical thinking. In addition, diverse genres are
included, among others, research articles, workplace talks, university tutorials, builders‟
diaries, and personal statements.
Language Value, ISSN 1989-7103
148
Specialised English: New Directions in ESP and EAP Research and Practice
The volume contains 17 specially commissioned chapters by some of the world‟s
leading experts. The chapters are grouped in a thematic way, covering key concepts of
specialized English (Chapter 1-Chapter 6), textlinguistic analyses (Chapter 7-Chapter
12), and classroom practices (Chapter 13-Chapter 17).
The first thematic module focuses on a series of current issues in specialized English
language research and teaching. It starts with a chapter by Anna Mauranen where she
looks at the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in the trend of globalization and
language contact from macro-social, individual‟s cognitive, and micro-social
perspectives. By exploring authentic data from corpora of spoken and written ELF in
academic settings, the author shows that ELF as a dynamic and complex system brings
about linguistic changes in English through the process of approximation and fixing. In
Chapter 2, Jane Lockwood raises the conceptual issue of „workplace English‟ that
oversimplifies the specialized and contextualized communicative needs. She thus
proposes a multilayered analytical framework to unpack and theorize workplace English
and suggests a specially tailored syllabus planning and assessment design. Vijay Bhatia
in Chapter 3 argues that the application of critical genre analysis that focuses on
interdiscursive performance (Bhatia, 2017) will benefit the curricular design of English
for Professional Communication (EPC), thereby plugging the remaining gap between
school practices and professional practices in the world of work.
The fourth chapter by John Flowerdew provides some thought-provoking insights into
the notion of power, which is closely related to different aspects of EAP, including
institutions, EAP practitioners, the environment of English as a global lingua franca,
disciplinary communities, pedagogy, and discourses. He concludes that EAP
practitioners need to familiarize themselves with those different power relationships and
adopt a critical and assertive approach in order to change the marginalized situation of
EAP. Echoing Flowerdew‟s viewpoint, Alex Ding in Chapter
5 focuses on the
peripheral and marginal role of EAP practitioners and examines the cause and effect
relationship between “professional disarticulation” (Hadley, 2015: 57) and practitioner
identity crisis. He argues that the status, development, and recognition of EAP
practitioner identity are diminishing, due to the impact of neoliberalism, a lack of
socialization and cultural capital, and some internal conflicts within the field. He
concludes by advocating a collective consideration of the identities that EAP
Language Value 12 (1), 148-153
149
Book Review
practitioners are willing to develop and commit to. The first section ends with a chapter
by Lynne Flowerdew where she first raises several conceptual issues in both ELF and
learner corpus research of disciplinary writing, such as native-speaker norms and
comparability. By discussing four previous corpus studies of both fields, the author
suggests that future research should seek to build bridges between the two fields and to
find their similarities and differences.
The second part of the volume concerns texts of various genres, including research
articles, university tutorials, students‟ texts, and personal statements. Ken Hyland in
Chapter 7 explores the use of interaction by disciplinary writers over the past 50 years.
By implementing Hyland‟s (2005) model of stance and engagement, he attempts to
uncover whether writers‟ commitment and attitude towards what they said, as well as
their engagement with readers, have changed over time and across disciplines. His
findings suggest that changes in stance and engagement do exist but are slow and barely
noticed. In Chapter 8, Ian Bruce proposes a social genre/cognitive genre model in order
to examine the expression of critical thinking through written text. The successful
application of this model in two genre studies demonstrates that it is important to
incorporate resources such as rhetorical moves, metadiscourse devices, metaphor, and
engagement markers into the expression of critical thinking. Chapter 9 by Coxhead and
Dang seeks to explore the usefulness of existing single-word and multi-word academic
lists in preparing learners for the vocabulary used in university laboratory and tutorial
scenes. The results show that Academic Spoken Word List (ASWL) outperforms other
single-word lists in terms of coverage and number of items and that the overlap of
multi-word lists that consists of core items is useful. The study further provides
suggestions for EAP pedagogy, materials, and course design.
In Chapter 10, Janet Holmes shifts her attention to the workplace and especially focuses
on how different levels of social constraints of the „culture order‟ (Holmes, 2017) affect
workplace interaction. Her analysis based on recorded data foregrounds the
sociopragmatic skills that newcomers should acquire for professional identity
construction. The study ends by providing practical instruction to develop teaching and
learning materials. Jean Parkinson in Chapter 11 calls scholarly attention to multimodal
student texts, where visual elements are becoming increasingly common. Drawing upon
prior studies, Parkinson explores the possible use of social semiotic and move analyses
Language Value 12 (1), 148-153
150
Specialised English: New Directions in ESP and EAP Research and Practice
in student‟s multimodal texts. Finally, she suggests that ESP teachers raise student‟s
awareness of rhetorical conventions in visual meaning, as well as coherence between
visual and written meaning. Interested as well in students‟ texts, Ann Johns focuses on
student‟s personal statement (PS) writing task in Chapter 12. By looking at the PS
writing processes of three secondary students, she illustrates what the challenges in
writing are and how the students meet them. She concludes the chapter by offering
pedagogical suggestions to help students construct identity and explore
accomplishments.
The last section of the volume consists of five chapters that explore pedagogic practices
both as general principles and specific classroom situations. It begins with Laurence
Anthony‟s research which addresses some common issues when EAP instructors or
learners implement data-driven learning (DDL) in classrooms, such as the construction
of corpus and the interaction with it. He introduces a variety of corpus analysis tools
and accompanying teaching strategies in order to integrate DDL effectively into
classroom practices. In Chapter 14, Lilian Wong continues the topic of DDL and applies
this approach to multidisciplinary thesis writing courses. The feedback from students
and instructors suggests that while students tend to have a positive attitude towards the
corpus-assisted writing resource, teachers seem to feel ambivalent about it.
Jill Northcott in Chapter 15 investigates the academic feedback on student writing
provided by EAP tutors and subject tutors, respectively. Her analysis found that there
are some areas where both tutor groups can provide meaningful feedback, whereas in
other areas one or the other tutor group is more qualified as feedback providers. This
gap suggests the need for collaboration between EAP and subject tutors. In Chapter 16,
Wingate and Ogiermann explore writing tutors‟ use of directives in relation to dialogic
versus monologic teaching styles. The results, based on the analysis of ten academic
tutorials, did not meet their expectations. The tutor with the dialogic approach was
expected to use fewer directives and more mitigated devices than the tutor with the
other approach. Further analysis suggests that the contradictory results were influenced
by the sequential position of the directives in the dialogue. Following the same research
topic as in Northcott‟s study (Chapter 15), in the final chapter (Chapter 17), Li and
Cargill also explore the collaboration between EAP practitioners and subject experts,
but in the setting of a Chinese university. They analyze and reflect on why the second
Language Value 12 (1), 148-153
151
Book Review
author‟s attempt at facilitating an attitude of openness to collaboration at the said
university is unsuccessful. The views from both discipline supervisors and students
suggest implications for Chinese EAP teachers.
Taken together, the chapters encompassed in this collection capture some of the most
interesting and important developments in the field, contribute to expanding reader‟s
knowledge of specialized varieties of English, and suggest avenues that could be
explored in future studies. The chapters cover wide-ranging topics, theories, methods,
and tools that are tailored to suit teachers‟ and learners‟ specific needs. It is noteworthy
that although it explores the same focal field, this volume differs from other relevant
publications in that it synthesizes the most up-to-date studies and authoritative
discussions from established scholars of the field. Moreover, a special section of the
volume is devoted to introducing approaches, tools, and practical advice for diverse
classroom settings, which would be particularly appreciated by EAP/ ESP practitioners
and teachers.
Overall, the edited volume Specialised English: New Directions in ESP and EAP
Research and Practice by Hyland and Wong brings together differing views on
specialized English and provides fascinating insights into the theories and practices of
EAP/ESP. It is an invaluable resource for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate
students and researchers in EAP/ESP or applied linguistics in general, as well as pre-
and in-service teachers and tutors of EAP/ESP.
REFERENCES
Anthony, L. 2018. Introducing English for Specific Purposes. London: Routledge.
Bhatia, V. K. 2017. Critical Genre Analysis: Investigating Interdiscursive Performance
in Professional Communication. London: Routledge.
Charles, M. and Pecorari, D. 2016. Introducing English for Academic Purposes.
London: Routledge.
Flowerdew, J. and Peacock, M. (Eds.) 2001. Research Perspectives on English for
Academic Purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Language Value 12 (1), 148-153
152
Specialised English: New Directions in ESP and EAP Research and Practice
Hadley, G. 2015. English for Academic Purposes in Neoliberal Universities: A Critical
Grounded Theory. Heidelberg, London and New York: Springer.
Holmes, J. 2017. “Leadership and change management: Examining gender, cultural and
„hero leader‟ stereotypes”. In Cornelia, I. and S. Schnurr (Eds.) Challenging
Leadership Stereotypes: Discourse and Power Management. Singapore: Springer,
15-43.
Hyland, K. 2005. “Stance and engagement: a model of interaction in academic
discourse”. Discourse Studies, 7 (2), 173-192.
Hyland, K. and Shaw, P. (Eds.) 2016. The Routledge handbook of English for
academic purposes. London: Routledge.
Paltridge, B. and Starfield, S. (Eds.) 2013. The Handbook of English for Specific
Purposes. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Received: 05 June 2020
Accepted: 08 June 2020
Language Value 12 (1), 148-153
153
