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Exploring the interplay of mode of discourse and proficiency level in ESL writing performance: implications for testing

Recent theory in discourse and practice in rhetoric has suggested that writers require different skills and strategies when writing for different purposes, and in using different genres and modes (Kinneavy, 1972; Carrell & Connor, 1991) in writing. The importance of taking into account these va...

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Main Authors: Md Rashid, Sabariah, Chan, Swee Heng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Malaysian English Language Teaching Association 2008
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/14665/1/Exploring%20the%20interplay%20of%20mode%20of%20discourse%20and%20proficiency%20level%20in%20ESL%20writing%20performance.pdf
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spelling oai:psasir.upm.edu.my:14665 http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/14665/ Exploring the interplay of mode of discourse and proficiency level in ESL writing performance: implications for testing Md Rashid, Sabariah Chan, Swee Heng Recent theory in discourse and practice in rhetoric has suggested that writers require different skills and strategies when writing for different purposes, and in using different genres and modes (Kinneavy, 1972; Carrell & Connor, 1991) in writing. The importance of taking into account these various aspectual skills and forms of writing is recognised in teaching (e.g. Scarcella & Oxford, 1992), and in the assessment of writing (e.g. Odell & Cooper, 1980). For instance, Odell and Cooper argue that “we cannot make claims about writing ability until we have examined students’ performance on a variety of writing tasks” (ibid: 40). With this in view, in this study the researchers seek to investigate the modes of narration and argumentation in order to fi nd out whether i) ESL learners perform better in writing narrative than argumentative essays, ii) Level of ESL profi ciency has an effect on writing ability according to the modes of discourse used, iii) ESL argumentative writing is syntactically more complex than the narrative as measured by T-units, and iv) ESL writers produce longer essays in the narrative compared to the argumentative mode. The sample for the study was drawn from a population of 384 lower sixth secondary students in 6 secondary schools. The instruments used to obtain data were essays written in the two modes. The tasks were scored holistically using an adapted version of the revised Test of Written English (TWE) six-point scale (1990). They were also analysed for T-units and overall length. A two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) (mode of discourse x profi ciency level) was used to analyse the data with the three dependent variables —holistic score, mean T-unit length, and overall length. Wilks’ Lambda was used to obtain the multivariate F values for examining the infl uences of each independent variable and the relevant interactions. This was followed by three univariate analyses of variance (ANOVAs) in order to identify which of the three dependent variables seemed to account for signifi cant multivariate F values Spector, 1977). Results were tested for signifi cance at .05 level. Malaysian English Language Teaching Association 2008 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/14665/1/Exploring%20the%20interplay%20of%20mode%20of%20discourse%20and%20proficiency%20level%20in%20ESL%20writing%20performance.pdf Md Rashid, Sabariah and Chan, Swee Heng (2008) Exploring the interplay of mode of discourse and proficiency level in ESL writing performance: implications for testing. The English Teacher, 37. pp. 105-122. ISSN 0128-7729 http://www.melta.org.my/The-English-Teacher-2008/q?cid=68&doit=showclass
institution UPM IR
collection UPM IR
language English
description Recent theory in discourse and practice in rhetoric has suggested that writers require different skills and strategies when writing for different purposes, and in using different genres and modes (Kinneavy, 1972; Carrell & Connor, 1991) in writing. The importance of taking into account these various aspectual skills and forms of writing is recognised in teaching (e.g. Scarcella & Oxford, 1992), and in the assessment of writing (e.g. Odell & Cooper, 1980). For instance, Odell and Cooper argue that “we cannot make claims about writing ability until we have examined students’ performance on a variety of writing tasks” (ibid: 40). With this in view, in this study the researchers seek to investigate the modes of narration and argumentation in order to fi nd out whether i) ESL learners perform better in writing narrative than argumentative essays, ii) Level of ESL profi ciency has an effect on writing ability according to the modes of discourse used, iii) ESL argumentative writing is syntactically more complex than the narrative as measured by T-units, and iv) ESL writers produce longer essays in the narrative compared to the argumentative mode. The sample for the study was drawn from a population of 384 lower sixth secondary students in 6 secondary schools. The instruments used to obtain data were essays written in the two modes. The tasks were scored holistically using an adapted version of the revised Test of Written English (TWE) six-point scale (1990). They were also analysed for T-units and overall length. A two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) (mode of discourse x profi ciency level) was used to analyse the data with the three dependent variables —holistic score, mean T-unit length, and overall length. Wilks’ Lambda was used to obtain the multivariate F values for examining the infl uences of each independent variable and the relevant interactions. This was followed by three univariate analyses of variance (ANOVAs) in order to identify which of the three dependent variables seemed to account for signifi cant multivariate F values Spector, 1977). Results were tested for signifi cance at .05 level.
format Article
author Md Rashid, Sabariah
Chan, Swee Heng
spellingShingle Md Rashid, Sabariah
Chan, Swee Heng
Exploring the interplay of mode of discourse and proficiency level in ESL writing performance: implications for testing
author_facet Md Rashid, Sabariah
Chan, Swee Heng
author_sort Md Rashid, Sabariah
title Exploring the interplay of mode of discourse and proficiency level in ESL writing performance: implications for testing
title_short Exploring the interplay of mode of discourse and proficiency level in ESL writing performance: implications for testing
title_full Exploring the interplay of mode of discourse and proficiency level in ESL writing performance: implications for testing
title_fullStr Exploring the interplay of mode of discourse and proficiency level in ESL writing performance: implications for testing
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the interplay of mode of discourse and proficiency level in ESL writing performance: implications for testing
title_sort exploring the interplay of mode of discourse and proficiency level in esl writing performance: implications for testing
publisher Malaysian English Language Teaching Association
publishDate 2008
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/14665/1/Exploring%20the%20interplay%20of%20mode%20of%20discourse%20and%20proficiency%20level%20in%20ESL%20writing%20performance.pdf
_version_ 1782718751260540928
score 12.935284

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