Second language learners and real-life contexts of writing

Katja Mäntylä and Mirja Tarnanen

katja.mantyla@jyu.fi, mirja.tarnanen@jyu.fi

CEFLINGLinguistic Basis of the Common European Framework

for L2 English and L2 Finnish

project funded by the Academy of Finland 2007-2009

based at the University of Jyväskylä; part of the European SLATE network (Second Language Acquisition and Testing in Europe)

homepage:http://www.jyu.fi/cefling

Formulaic sequences

problems with the terminology – collocations, phrases, greetings, idioms, etc .

role in language learning (and teaching*)

learner texts have to an extent been studied– Forsberg et al. (2008), Erman (2007)– challenges in looking at texts (Wray 2008)– at lower levels of proficiency, examining just the sequences is not very

fruitful other aspects to be taken into account

how to examine – quality/quantity. Finnish and English very different types of languages

(Finnish synthetic with its rich use of inflections)– functions– (L1 effect)

Research questions

appearance/development of formulaic sequences from one CEFR level to another

functions of various expressions– informative, situational, organizational, evaluative,

modal (Moon 1998)

DataIn the Cefling -project

7th-9th grade English (FL) and Finnish (L2) learners

893 Finnish as a L2 and 2 534 English as a FL learners

each learner/subject completed 3-4 writing tasks

the English performances were rated by 4 raters, and Finnish ones by 3 raters (to assure the reliability of ratings)

the performances were rated using a CEFR-scale (a compilation of different writing scales) and a national (curriculum) writing scale based on CEFR

In this study

2 task types: a message to the teacher and a message to an Internet store

over 40 texts per language and per tasks

The main focus on the levels A1-B1

Task 1E-mail to the teacher

You have not been able to go to school during one week, and you will have an English test soon. Send your teacher, Mary Brown, an e-mail in which you

tell why you have been absent,

ask about two details regarding the exam, and

ask about two more details of the classes of the week.

Do not forget to begin and finish the e-mail appropriately.

structured; limitations to the content

no instructions as to the register a challenge to Finns writing in English

some instructions as to the structure of the text

FUNCTIONS: conveying information, explaining the situation, modality

Task 2E-mail to an Internet Store

Your parents have ordered you a computer game from an Internet store, but the software is not working as you wished. Send the store an e-mail in which you tell

who you are,

why you are contacting them (mention and describe two problems),

what you would like to be done, and

how you can be contacted.

Do not forget to begin and finish the e-mail appropriately.

structured; limitations to the content

the task requires a semi-formal register

given advice on the content helps in structuring the text

FUNCTIONS: conveying information, explaining the situation, asking questions

Analysis

functions of the expressions (according to Moon)

– informational, situational, organizational,evaluative, modal rough figures

– the definition of a sequence fairly loose modality/pragmatic aspect

– the use of the conditional/imperative/questions– beginning/ending the message– please

clause structures

– the use of conjunctions cohesion, coherence and fluency greatly affect the grading

Results - Rough figures: EnglishWords Clauses Inf. Sit. Org. Ev. Mod. Conj.

TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS

A141.8 37.5 9.3 8.2 2.2 3.4 1.5 0.8 2.8 2.0 0.2 0.2 1.0 1.3 1.3 2.0

A2 51.0 63.4 10.7 11.1 2.6 3.4 2.5 2.1 2.9 3.6 0.1 0.3 1.7 2.4 3.1 4.1

B1 74.3 64.3 13.0 10.2 3.0 4.4 4.1 1.9 4.1 3.5 0.4 0.6 2.8 2.3 4.8 4.2

B283.5 85.4 14.7 13.6 2.2 4.6 4.7 3.0 4.2 4.8 0.3 0.6 5.5 3.6 6.5 5.4

Results - Rough figures: Finnish

Words Clauses Inf. Sit. Org. Ev. Mod.

TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS TE IS

A123.8 27.7 5.8 7.3 3.5 6.7 1.4 0.5 1.6 2.5 0.4 0.4 0.5 2.1

A2 35.7 48.6 9.0 12.4 4.9 7.7 2.6 0.7 3.3 3.7 0.3 0.1 0.7 2.5

B1 52.1 54.7 13.1 12.7 8.1 9.8 3.9 1.4 5.4 4.5 0.4 0.3 2.3 2.2

Results: MeTE=Message to the teacherIS=Message to an Internet store

Results – A1English Finnish

Sequences

- Organizational thats why sitten ’then’, vielä ’yet’

-beginning and ending of the message usually missing

- Situational Prepositional phrases

from Finland, out from school

eilen ’yesterday’, kaksi kertaa ’two times’, joskus ’sometimes’

- Modal Very straightforward; imperative

I want you send

some attempts to be polite : If you can, Can I have

Very straightforward

Haluan että ’I want that’

Also conditional used but inaccurately

Haluasin vaiha ’I would like to change’

Collocations Mostly evaluative Adj/adv

work well, good and beautiful

toimia huonosti ’does not work’, saada rahat takaisin ’get money back’

Conjunctions co-ordinators

so, and, but – used quite frequently but not idiomatically

co-ordinators and some subordinators

ja ’and’, koska ’because’

A1

Typical of a performance at this level:

texts are short

the task is not completed

a text can be partly illegible and to an extent incoherent BUT it is a text not ”separate words”

Results – A2English Finnish

Sequences

- Organizational metatext: I want to tell you about, the first reason is

more metatext: Ongelma on se, että ’the problem is that’

- Situational last week, in your shop viikon aikana ’during the week’, pari päivää sitten ’a couple of days ago’

- Modal Conditional: I wud like a new better game, I like you to send

Imperative + please: anser quigly please. Give me please the homeworks.

more appropriate: jos on mahdollista ’if it is possible’, kiitos paljon ’thank you very much’

Collocations more target-like high temperature

tulla läksyjä ’get homework’, sammuttaa tietokone ’switch off the computer’

Conjunctions subordinators

because, that

more frequent

siis ’accordingly’ , kun ’when’

A2

Typical of a performance at this level:

texts are slightly longer and more detailed

the task is almost completed

the text is quite clear BUT it may be impolite but quite well organized or the other way round. Idiomaticity and accuracy may still be very much lacking.

Results – B1English Finnish

Sequences

- Organizational much more metatext: This e-mail is about; the reason is that, first of all, secondly, that’s all

more metatext: Minulla on pari kysymystä ’I have a couple of questions’, Haluisin myös tietää ’I would also like to know’

- Situational the number of situational expressions increases adds to the coherence for a week, last Friday

viikon päästä ’after a week’, vihdoin ’at last’

- Modal more variation: Please, answer me soon; I want to ask you some questions, I would be very happy if you could send

more accurate use of the conditional: voisitko kertoa ’Could you tell’, moderation: saanko ’can I have’

Collocations adv+adj combinations asentaa peli ’install the game’, se (burana) vaikuttaa ’ it (Parasetamol) has an effect’

Conjunctions the number increases

several clauses in a sentence

more variety, the number increases

joten ’thus’, joko-tai ’either-or’

B1

Typical of a performance at this level:

organizational and situational sequences more frequent

modal expressions much more accurate and polite

sequences get more complex

the task (almost) fully completed

Results – B2English and Finnish:

-more complex sequences, in particular organizational and modal ones:

If either of those can’t be done, I’d appreciate your help, I’d like you to cover the costs

Voisitteko korjata sen tietokonepelin jotenkin tai lähettää uuden? Tai onko mahdollista saada rahaa siitä takaisin?

’Could you fix the game somehow, or send a new one? Or is it possbile to get some money back?’

Conclusions

modality more obvious and more accurate at level B1

organizational elements appear across the levels but differences in variation, accuracy and complexity

the effect of the task

different types of languages: strongly inflectional vs. analytic/synthetic language

Conclusions – pedagogical challenges

towards more real-life writing (context, reader, register, functions) vs. traditional school writing (separate expressions and sentences, translating sentences and short descriptions)

focusing in teaching and assessing on pragmatic aspects rather than on grammar