Professional and Academic English, Volume 28, Number 1

Journal of the IATEFL English for Specific Purposes Special Interest Group Vol. 28 No 1 June 2021 WHITE PANTONE 213 C ISSN: 2520-2545 Copyright Notice Copyright for whole issue IATEFL 2021. IATEFL retains the right to reproduce part or all of this publication in other publications, including retail and online editions as well as on our websites. Contributions to this publication remain the intellectual property of the authors. Anyrequests to reproduce a particular article should be sent to the relevant contributor and not IATEFL. Articles which have first appeared in IATEFL publications must acknowledge the IATEFL publication as the original source of the article if reprinted elsewhere. Published by IATEFL, 2-3 The Foundry, Seager Road, Faversham, ME13 7FD, UK. www.iatefl.org Disclaimer Views expressed in Professional and Academic English are not necessarily those of the editor(s), of the IATEFL ESPSIG, of IATEFL or its staff or trustees. Contributions Professional and Academic English encourages the submission of previously unpublished articles on topics of significance to its readers. If you wish to contribute, you should first send the Editor-in-Chief an outline of the proposed article. If you are interested in reviewing a book for Professional and Academic English, contact the Editor-in-Chief at [email protected]. Editor-in-Chief Dr Katalin Egri Ku-Mesu University of Leicester, United Kingdom Editors Dr Mona Syrbe Rykkyo University, Japan Dr Julio Gimenez University of Westminster, United Kingdom Editorial Board Patricia Lorena Bustos Gonzalez Universidad de los Andes, Colombia Dr Victor Guillen Solano University of Sheffield, United Kingdom Michelle Joubert University of the Free State, South Africa Andrew Northern Imperial College London, United Kingdom Dr Jemma Prior Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy Dr Veronico Tarrayo University of Santo Tomas, Philippines Layout design © Express Publishing, 2021 Price £4.50, free for ESPSIG members http://espsig.iatefl.org www.iatefl.org Journal of the IATEFL English for Specific Purposes Special Interest Group Vol. 28 No 1 June 2021 5 Katalin Egri Ku-Mesu Editorial ............................................................................................................................................................. 6 Articles Jiyu Min and Yuko Hajikata Speaking assessments in English for occupational purposes: A systematic research synthesis ........................................................................................................... 7 Mark Brooke Teaching Theme choice in literature reviews to undergraduate students .................... 19 Muhammad Fazle Ramzan Khan Use of language learning strategies in ESP and EGP: Perspectives from Saudi Arabia .......................................................................................................... 37 From the classroom Li Yun Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays ............................................................................................... 53 Book review Susan Caie Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes ............................................................................. 77 Contents 6 Editorial The present issue of Professional and Academic English marks an important point in the evolution of the journal. Our new partnership with Express Publishing has enabled us to have the journal cover and layout redesigned professionally, alongside the ESPSIG logo, and to create not only an easily recognisable identity for the journal but also offer our authors and readers an enhanced aesthetic experience. In the past few months, we have also been making improvements to our publishing processes. We have established an editorial board that now oversees the content and operates a double-blind review system, which, together with our publishing policy, is a step towards meeting industry-wide indexing standards. The content has undergone some changes, too. We have transitioned from the previous mixture of newsletter and journal to a professional journal, currently with three sections entitled ‘articles’, ‘from the classroom’ and ‘book reviews’, which will allow us to publish not only academic research but also classroom action research and insights into teaching and classroom practice, together with reviews of books relevant to our readership. In this issue, the ‘articles’ section contains three papers: Jiyu Min and Yuko Hijikata discuss the literature on speaking assessments in English for occupational purposes, while Mark Brooke applies a systemic functional linguistic approach to analyse and teach the academic language of the literature review section of articles in the field of the sociology of sport. Last but not least, Muhammad Fazle Ramzan Khan compares English for specific purposes and English for general purposes language learning strategies in a Saudi Arabian context. The ‘from the classroom’ section offers Yun Li’s guidance on helping intermediate and higherlevel learners with writing argumentative essays for EAP, IELTS and TOEFL exams. Finally, in the ‘book reviews’ section Susan Caie summarises the contents of and reflects on Darby and Lang’s (2019) Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes. As communicated in the previous issue of Professional and Academic English, this time round the journal is published in an electronic form only due to the hardships brought about by the pandemic. We hope we can count on the understanding of ESPSIG members whose regular subscription is to the paper copy. Dr Katalin Egri Ku-Mesu Editor-in-Chief Professional and Academic English 7 Speaking assessments in English for occupational purposes: A systematic research synthesis 1 Introduction In workplaces, effective communication skills are essential as they are regarded as a fundamental way to success (Crosling & Ward, 2002; Moslehifar & Ibrahim, 2012). Due to globalization, however, workplaces have rapidly become multilingual environments where people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds interact with one another (Lam et al., 2014; Li, 2000). This situation has considerably increased interest in workplace English over the last few decades. As a result, English has been widely used not only for communication in global work settings but also in daily operations among employees (Mohamed et al.,2017), expanding the need to develop appropriate assessments for performance-based workplace English. English assessment for occupational purposes is used to determine test takers’ ability to use the English language and communication skills to participate in the target English use situation. Assessing test takers’ speaking ability is particularly significant in English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) context as their speaking ability is directly related to customers’ health (medical context) and safety (aviation context) as well as a company’s management and achievement (business context). Although all language tests share the same principles (e.g., defining the test’s purpose, conducting a needs analysis, gathering language use data in context, analyzing the target communicative tasks, and developing test tasks that reflect the target tasks), English for specific purposes (ESP) assessment is defined considerably narrowly, as it reflects a specific area of language use (e.g. English for nursing, aviation English, or English for business purposes). Thus, the development of ESP speaking assessment is particularly difficult, as such evaluation must be based on our understanding of certain specific purpose language qualities, including contextual variation in language use, This paper presents findings from a systematic research synthesis that examined existing literature on speaking assessments in the English for occupational purposes (EOP) field. Among 6,795 studies initially retrieved, 34 studies were selected for the synthesis. The major findings are as follows. First, research on EOP speaking assessments is primarily conducted in health-related fields, and less attention is given to other professional fields. Second, numerous studies have used pre-recorded data as the primary data source, which is limited in its ability to capture nonverbal cues of test-takers during face-to-face speaking tests. Third, considering the importance of the input from multiple points of view, research on EOP speaking assessment tended to include not only test-takers and ESL-related professionals but also domain specialists as major data sources. Considering these findings, directions for future studies regarding EOP speaking assessments and potential contributions for practitioners, program developers, and researchers are discussed. Jiyu Min Ohio State University, USA email: [email protected] Yuko Hijikata University of Tsukuba, Japan hijikata.yuko[email protected] ABSTRACT ARTICLES 8 preciseness of specific purpose language, and an interaction between specific purpose language ability and background knowledge (Douglas, 2013). Unlike standardized, general language tests that measure direct, skill-oriented learning outcomes, EOP tests involve a large degree tests involve a large degree of customization and use authentic tasks and materials related to particular jobs (Ekkens & Winke, 2009). This approach is necessary because representing the target situation in a way that engages the ability required for communication in a specific context is considered critical in language for specific purposes (LSP) testing (Elder, 2016). Considering these characteristics of LSP testing, ESP speaking assessment has been developed in a way that focuses largely on field-specific issues and needs for particular testtaker groups. However, this model has also contributed to interfering with our comprehensive understanding of speaking assessment in the EOP field. The features of specificity and authenticity of ESP testing, in particular, have expanded gaps in perceptions of effective assessment instruments and ratings among stakeholders (e.g. test developers and raters) engaged in EOP speaking assessment. Knoch (2014) compared pilots with language specialists to identify whether they agreed on speakers’ language ability and found that domain specialists’ ratings differed from those of language professionals in some ways. On the contrary, van Naerssen and Riggenbach (1987) showed that there was very little difference in rating on professional tasks between domain specialists and language professionals who were native English speakers, adding that rating performances were not largely influenced by raters’ different professions. These gaps may hinder practitioners and researchers engaged in EOP from understanding what effective speaking assessment means in EOP and how inclusion of different variations, such as raters and rating criteria, explains EOP speaking assessment differently, and what other features should be more discussed to develop effective EOP speaking assessment. In order to help them better understand these issues and develop more effective and comprehensive EOP programs and assessment tools, therefore, it is important to encourage them to communicate and share ideas within and across professional domains. Generating knowledge and understanding about current situations and problems engaged in a specific study area is significant, serving to inform future researchers. Synthesizing and reviewing the current state of knowledge on a selected topic helps reveal existing weaknesses, needs, and gaps in the given area (Norris & Ortega, 2007). Many individual studies examined EOP speaking assessment in distinct professional domains. For example, Manias and McNamara (2016) and Pill and McNamara (2016) investigated raters in EOP speaking assessment in health, and Friginal (2013) dealt with assessment criteria for those engaged in customer service. Alderson (2010) and Kim and Elder (2015) examined assessment instruments used in the aviation field, and O’Hagan et al. (2016) focused on rating scales in the Occupational English Test (OET). Nevertheless, little effort has been made to examine the studies as a whole and identify issues related to the development and implementation of EOP speaking assessment. The first step to achieve this goal is to systematically review EOP speaking assessment within and across professional domains and learn what and how research has been conducted. We conducted a systematic research synthesis on EOP speaking assessment, and part of this synthesis (focusing on rating) has already been reported (Hijikata & Min, 2021). We discussed (a) the characteristics of raters in EOP speaking research, (b) similarities and differences between domain specialists and language professionals in rating, and (c) rating scales and evaluation criteria commonly used in EOP speaking assessment research. In this paper, we attempt to examine the currents and trends of EOP speaking assessment research, which were not covered in our previous paper. This study, therefore, attempts to answer the following questions: Speaking assessments in English for occupational purposes: A systematic research synthesis ARTICLES 9 RQ1: What professional categories were examined in EOP speaking assessment research? RQ2: What research focuses were explored in EOP speaking assessment research? RQ3: What data sources were used in EOP speaking assessment research? 2 Method A systematic research synthesis refers to ‘the systematic secondary review of accumulated primary research studies’ (Norris & Ortega, 2006, p. 4). A research synthesis and a traditional reviewing approach are different, as the latter does not offer specific set of strategies to conduct a review of existing literature. Moreover, a research synthesis is particularly useful to “uncover gaps, weaknesses, and needs in a given domain in ways that few narrative literature reviews can” (Norris & Ortega, 2007, p. 809). For example, Hulstijn (2012) examined ways in which language proficiency had been measured across 140 studies published in a bilingualism journal. By adopting a systematic research synthesis, the author identified important issues related to the assessment of language proficiency in bilingualism studies and offered helpful suggestions for future cognitive study of bilingualism regarding the topic. Considering the usefulness and appropriateness of a systematic research synthesis in examining the current situation of a particular research field and identifying gaps, we also adopted this method for the study; we used keywords to identify previous empirical studies on the topic and selected the final studies based on particular inclusion criteria. Then, an indepth review and analysis of the studies were performed to answer the questions proposed in the study. 3 Data collection The procedure is the same as that of Hijikata and Min (2021), except coding. Selected articles were retrieved by searching relevant electronic databases: The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), PsycINFO, and ScienceDirect. We selected them because previous meta-analyses and research syntheses have frequently used the databases (e.g. Suri & Clarke, 2009). First, 10prominent peer-reviewed journals in applied linguistics were identified, and papers published before August 2019 in these journals were initially reviewed: Applied Linguistics, English for Specific Purposes, Language Assessment Quarterly, Language Learning, Language Teaching Research, Language Testing, Modern Language Journal, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, System, and TESOL Quarterly. Among these journals, we selected seven for this synthesis based on Hashemi and Babaii’s (2013) selection of comprehensive international peer-reviewed journals in the field of applied linguistics: Applied Linguistics, English for Specific Purposes, Language Learning, Language Teaching Research, Language Testing, Modern Language Journal, and TESOL Quarterly. Three additional journals (Language Assessment Quarterly, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, and System) were included in this study by considering that this study focuses on speaking assessment and referring to In’nami and Koizumi’s(2009) meta-analysis. Keyword descriptors for publications on ESP speaking assessment included (1)ESP assessment, (2)ESP testing, (3)oral assessment, (4)oral test,ESP, (5)speaking assessment, (6)speaking fluency, (7)speaking test, professional English, (8) speaking test, ESP, (9) spoken fluency, (10) interpreter test, (11) English aviation test, (12) business English test, (13) health professional English test, (14) legal English test, and (15)professional English test. These keywords were developed based on the key terms and synonyms identified in the books and articles that were initially reviewed, the authors’ teaching and learning experiences, and major professional domains of interest described by Douglas(2013). The year of publication was not particularly limited because there were not many empirical and corpus studies in ESP speaking assessment. Speaking assessments in English for occupational purposes: A systematic research synthesis ARTICLES 16 Speaking assessments in English for occupational purposes: A systematic research synthesis ARTICLES *Elder, C., Pill, J., Woodward-Kron, R., McNamara, T., Manias, E., Webb, G., & McColl, G. (2012). Health professionals’ views of communication: Implications for assessing performance on a health-specific English language test. TESOL Quarterly, 46(2), 409–419. Evans, S. (2010). Business as usual: The use of English in the professional world in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes, 29(3), 153–167. *Farris, C., Trofimovich, P., Segalowitz, N., & Gatbonton, E. (2008). Air traffic communication in a second language: Implications of cognitive factors for training and assessment. TESOL Quarterly, 42(3), 397–410. *Friginal, E. (2013). Evaluation of oral performance in outsourced call centres: An exploratory case study. English for Specific Purposes, 32(1), 25–35. *Han, C. (2016). Investigating score dependability in English/Chinese interpreter certification performance testing: A generalizability theory approach. Language Assessment Quarterly, 13(3), 186–201. Hashemi, M. R., & Babaii, E. (2013). Mixed methods research: Toward new research designs in applied linguistics. Modern Language Journal, 97(4), 828–852. Hijikata, Y., & Min, J. (2021). Systematic research synthesis on rating in ESP speaking assessments. Journal of Teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes, 9(3), 465–473. Hulstijn, J. H. (2012). The construct of language proficiency in the study of bilingualism from a cognitive perspective. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 15(2), 422-433. In’nami, Y., & Koizumi, R. (2009). A meta-analysis of test format effects on reading and listening test performance: Focus on multiple-choice and open-ended formats. Language Testing, 26(2), 219–244. *Kim, H. (2018). What constitutes professional communication in aviation: Is language proficiency enough for testing purposes? Language Testing, 35(3), 403–426. *Kim, H., & Elder, C. (2015). Interrogating the construct of aviation English: Feedback from test takers in Korea. Language Testing, 32(2), 129–149. *Kim, H., & Billington, R. (2016). Pronunciation and comprehension in English as a lingua franca communication: Effect of L1 influence in international aviation communication. Applied Linguistics, 39(2), 135–158. *Knoch, U. (2011). Investigating the effectiveness of individualized feedback to rating behavior: A longitudinal study. Language Testing, 28(2), 179–200. *Knoch, U. (2014). Using subject specialists to validate an ESP rating scale: The case of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) rating scale. English for Specific Purposes, 33, 77–86. Knoch, U., & Macqueen, S. (2020). Assessing English for professional purposes. Routledge. Lam, P. W. Y., Cheng, W., & Kong, K. C. C. (2014). Learning English through workplace communication: An evaluation of existing resources in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes, 34, 68–78. Li, D. (2000). The pragmatics of making requests in the L2 workplace: A case study of language socialization. Canadian Modern Language Review, 57(1), 58-87. *Lockwood, J., & Raquel, M. (2019). Can subject matter experts rate the English language skills of customer services representatives (CSRs) at work in Indian contact centre? Language Assessment Quarterly, 16, 87–104. *Lumley, T. (1998). Perceptions of language-trained raters and occupational experts in a test of occupational English language proficiency. English for Specific Purposes, 17(4), 347–367. *Lumley, T., & McNamara, T. F. (1995). Rater characteristics and rater bias: Implications for training. Language Testing, 12(1), 54–71. 17 Speaking assessments in English for occupational purposes: A systematic research synthesis ARTICLES *Macqueen, S., Pill, J., & Knoch, U. (2016). Language test as boundary object: Perspectives from test users in the healthcare domain. Language Testing, 33(2), 271–288. *Manias, E., & McNamara, T. (2016). Standard setting in specific-purpose language testing: What can a qualitative study add? Language Testing, 33(2), 235–249. McNamara, T. F. (1990a). Assessing the second language proficiency of health professionals [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. The University of Melbourne. *McNamara, T. F. (1990b). Item response theory and the validation of an ESP test for health professionals. Language Testing, 7(1), 52–75. *McNamara, T. F., & Lumley, T. (1997). The effect of interlocutor and assessment mode variables in overseas assessments of speaking skills in occupational settings. Language Testing, 14(2), 140–156. Mohamed, A. A., Radzuan, N. R. M., Kassim, H., & Ali, M. M. A. (2017). Conceptualizing English workplace communication needs of professional engineers: The challenges for English language tertiary educators. Selangor Business Review, 1(1), 1–11. Moslehifar, M. A., & Ibrahim, N. A. (2012). English language oral communication needs at the workplace: Feedback from human resource development (HRD) trainees. ProcediaSocial and Behavioral Sciences, 66, 529-536. Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (2006). The value and practice of research synthesis for language learning and teaching. In J. M. Norris & L. Ortega (Eds.), Synthesizing research on language learning and teaching (pp. 1-50). John Benjamins Publishing Company. Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (2007). The future of research synthesis in applied linguistics: Beyond art or science. TESOL Quarterly, 41(4), 805–815. Occupational English Test. (2018). OET Sample Test: Radiography. https://prod-wpcontent.occupationalenglishtest.org/resources/uploads/2018/06/19150223/SpeakingRadiography-Sample-Test-1.pdf *Ockey, G. J. (2014). The potential of the L2 group oral to elicit discourse with a mutual contingency pattern and afford equal speaking rights in an ESP context. English for Specific Purposes, 35, 17–29. *O’Hagan, S., Pill, J., & Zhang, Y. (2016). Extending the scope of speaking assessment criteria in a specific-purpose language test: Operationalizing a health professional perspective. Language Testing, 33(2), 195–216. *Pill, J. (2016). Drawing on indigenous criteria for more authentic assessment in a specificpurpose language test: Health professionals interacting with patients. Language Testing, 33(2), 175–193. *Pill, J., & McNamara, T. (2016). How much is enough? Involving occupational experts in setting standards on a specific-purpose language test for health professionals. Language Testing, 33(2), 217–234. *Powers, D. E., & Stansfield, C. W. (1985). Testing the oral English proficiency of foreign nursing graduates. The ESP Journal, 4, 21–35. *Smith, J. (1989). Topic and variation in ITA oral proficiency: SPEAK and field-specific speaking tests. English for Specific Purposes, 8(2), 155–167. Spence, P., & Liu, G.-Z. (2013). Engineering English and the high-tech industry: A case study of an English needs analysis of process integration engineers at a semiconductor manufacturing company in Taiwan. English for Specific Purposes, 32(2), 97–109. *Stansfield, C. W., & Hewitt, W. E. (2005). Examining the predictive validity of a screening test for court interpreters. Language Testing, 22(4), 438–462. *Staples, S. (2019). Using corpus-based discourse analysis for curriculum development: Creating and evaluating a pronunciation course for internationally educated nurses. English for Specific Purposes, 53, 13–29. 18 Speaking assessments in English for occupational purposes: A systematic research synthesis ARTICLES *Staples, S., Laflair, G. T., & Egbert, J. (2017). Comparing language use in oral proficiency interviews to target domains: Conversational, academic, and professional discourse. Modern Language Journal, 101(1), 194–213. Suri, H., & Clarke, D. (2009). Advancements in research synthesis methods: From a methodologically inclusive perspective. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 395–430. *van Naerssen, M., & Riggenbach, H. (1987). Evaluating oral skills in an EST program: Native English-speaking scientists respond to Chinese scientists’ English. English for Specific Purposes, 6(3), 219–232. *Wette, R., & Hawken, S. J. (2016). Measuring gains in an EMP course and the perspectives of language and medical educators as assessors. English for Specific Purposes, 42, 38–49. *Woodward-Kron, R., & Elder, C. (2016). A comparative discourse study of simulated clinical roleplays in two assessment contexts: Validating a specific-purpose language test. Language Testing, 33(2), 251–270. Jiyu Min is a PhD candidate in Foreign, Second, and Multilingual Language Education at Ohio State University, USA. She is working on her research project on international employees’ learning transfer between an ESP program and their workplace. Her research interests are ESP for adult learners and workplace language socialization. Yuko Hijikata is an assistant professor at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. She has taught general and academic English in Japan. She also worked as a content developer and a lecturer in a professional English program in the US. Her research interests are secondlanguage reading and English for occupational purposes. Author biography 19 ARTICLES 19 Teaching Theme choice in literature reviews to undergraduate students 1 Introduction This research investigated students’ use of Theme for attribution in literature reviews. Students employed a limited range of Themes as circumstantial Adjuncts to provide extra information to the clause, and few reporting verbs such as ‘claim’, ‘conclude’, also known as verbal/ mental processes, in projecting clauses. Students’ use of Theme for attribution demonstrated a tendency to solely employ information-fronted linguistic resources. From these observations, an action research cycle was devised. The research sought to explore how effective explicit instruction of Theme use could be taught in class through a detailed text deconstruction, text mining and a corpus comparison technique to develop students’ employment of author-fronted attribution. Preand post-intervention student writing was observed to gauge the effectiveness of the instruction. A higher frequency and wider range of circumstantial Adjuncts and reporting verbs (mental/verbal processes) were observed across all student texts confirming instructional uptake. These observations demonstrated a shift away from an over-emphasis on information-fronted attribution, which was construed by attributing authors in parenthesis at the end of a clause. The research applies a systemic functional linguistic (SFL) approach to analyse and then teach academic language of the IMRD (Introduction-Method-Results-Discussion) type structure in the social sciences, and specifically the literature review section in the field of the sociology of sport. Using NVivo 12, corpus analyses of the module’s six published articles from ranked journals (14,777 words) from the sociology of sport as well as student drafts (15, 949 words) were conducted and comparisons made. Students’ texts differed considerably in their use of Theme for authorial stance development, and specifically attribution. With these findings, a text deconstruction was conducted in class to raise students’ awareness of the linguistic choices possible for Theme. The paper provides evidence from the intervention. Following students’ redrafting of their literature reviews, another corpus analysis of students’ texts was conducted, and the post-intervention texts (corpus size of 15,334) compared with the students’ originals. Students’ use of Theme resources for attribution clearly developed from the input session in terms of both range and frequency of circumstantial Adjuncts and projecting clauses employing reporting verbs (VTHAT) structures. This demonstrated a move away from solely employing information-fronted linguistic resources for attribution. The paper therefore shows how SFL can be concretely used by English for academic purposes (EAP) educators. Mark Brooke National University of Singapore, Singapore email: [email protected].sg ABSTRACT 20 The paper first addresses how Theme for attribution is conceptualised for this research. It was found that using a version put forward by researchers such as Berry(1995), Davies (1997), Forey(2002), and more recently by Bowen and Thomas (2020) was conducive to students’ learning in this context. The article then goes on to describe research on Theme use in academic writing. Next, the paper presents how Theme was taught in this research context to facilitate the writing of a literature review section of an IMRD research paper in the Sociology of Sport. To conclude, the research intervention and its impact on student writing is discussed. 2 Literature review 2.1 Defining Theme The study and pedagogical application of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) described in this paper concerns the area of Theme. Theme is one of the major textual systems as it is ‘the resource for setting up a local context for a clause by selecting a local point of departure in the flow of information’ (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2013, p. 13). Theme choice is ‘crucial to the construal of meaning’ (Forey, 2002, p. 52) in advanced writing on research, as part of a literature review of an IMRD paper. In English, Theme is found in initial position within the clause (ibid). To identify Theme, Halliday (1994) states that ‘theme extends from the beginning of the clause and up to (and including) the first element that has a function in transitivity’ (p. 53). Thus, according to Halliday (1994), the Theme of a clause ‘ends with the first constituent that is either participant, circumstance, or process’ (p. 52). An ‘unmarked’ or commonly distributed Theme following Halliday’s definition is ‘Kaepernick’ in the following as it is the first element before the finite verb or predicate: Kaepernick left the 49ers. Theme Rheme Table 1: Example of Theme applying Halliday’s (1994) definition Rheme is ‘the remainder of the message’ (Halliday, 1994, p. 67) commencing with the predicate, as illustrated by ‘left the 49ers’ in Table 1. Using Halliday’s (1994) model, a circumstantial Adjunct may also realise Theme coming before the Subject, as in the following example: In 2016, Kaepernick left the 49ers. marked Theme Rheme Table 2: Example of Theme applying Halliday’s (1994) definition Halliday (1994) refers to this as a ‘multiple Theme’ (p. 52), whereby a textual and/or interpersonal Theme is placed before the topical Theme or Subject. The topical Theme ‘Kaepernick’ in this case, now belongs to the Rheme. For Halliday, the circumstantial Adjunct is a marked Theme as it does not function in transitivity. Several researchers have argued that Halliday’s (1994) definition of Theme requires adaptation for pedagogic purposes (Berry, 1995; Davies, 1997; Forey, 2002, Bowen & Thomas, 2020). Berry (1995), Davies (1997), Forey, (2002) and Bowen and Thomas (2020) suggest that Theme should include the Subject. Thus, Theme in a declarative clause might include Teaching Theme choice in literature reviews to undergraduate students ARTICLES 21 everything up to and including the first participant involved in the process of transitivity. In Table 3, there is an example of an extended Theme comprising a circumstantial Adjunct as well as a projecting clause. A projecting clause, also referred to as a VTHAT clause (Taşçi & Oztürk, 2021), is a proposition grounded in the subjecthood of an external voice, e.g. ‘X (author) said that…’. Circumstantial Adjuncts are additional elements in a clause, often separated by a comma and function to provide extra information about events. They convey notions of when, where, how, and why events happen. A circumstantial Adjunct is commonly a prepositional phrase or adverb. ‘In a 2-year study of unorganized and spontaneous schoolyard soccer with 9–12-year-old children, Jonasson (2010) observed that players demonstrated overt signs of male domination’ (in Larneby, 2016, pp. 1203-1204). Marked Theme Projecting Theme Subject Rheme Extended Theme Table 3: An alternative Theme Non-Subject Themes in this example (up to but not including ‘players’ in Table 3) can be viewed as ‘framing elements’ for the Subject (Davies, 1997, p. 55). The prepositional phrase as circumstantial Adjunct ‘In a 2-year study of unorganized and spontaneous schoolyard soccer with 9–12-year-old children’ signals temporality and location; the projecting clause ‘Jonasson (2010) observed that…’ provides interpersonal as well as experiential meaning as the writer cites the author, giving both the source and herself credibility, while simultaneously providing information about the paper (author and date of publication). The Subject Theme ‘players’ is viewed as the recurrent element that can be repeated in lexical chains to provide continuity or a change in topic. According to Forey (2002), this extended Theme approach makes the boundary between Theme and Rheme more accessible to researchers and teachers. Forey (2002) explains that ‘when conducting an analysis of Theme, including the Subject as part of Theme allows the researcher to see the lexical chains, cohesion and all other choices in the Theme which may have occurred’ (p. 56). Based on Forey’s (2002) claim, this extended Theme could also be an effective strategy for teaching attribution in literature reviews. 2.2 Attribution The normative function of the Theme in literature reviews is to orientate readers to the research cited, as writers present the area of study, highlight the debates in the field, and position their study within a context. The linguistic system for citing other authors’ works is referred to as attribution in the larger system of APPRAISAL (Martin & White, 2005) from systemic functional linguistics (SFL). Effective use of this linguistic resource helps to construct a writer’s academic voice because knowledge of research in the field conveys author credibility (Martin & White, 2005). This function of Theme therefore helps to build the author’s persona of expertise. Additionally, authors can position themselves by ‘acknowledging’ or ‘distancing’ from the research cited (Martin & White, 2005). Distance could be created by using a reporting verb such as ‘claim’, which has less endorsement than ‘conclude’. The writer’s use of the reporting Teaching Theme choice in literature reviews to undergraduate students ARTICLES 22 Teaching Theme choice in literature reviews to undergraduate students ARTICLES verb, or mental/verbal process, is therefore conveying the writer’s stance towards the work cited, or interpersonal meaning. Moreover, authors can employ circumstantial elements in the form of prepositional phrases (e.g., ‘In their study on …’) and adverbial groups (e.g.‘According to …’) to provide extra information about a study as shown in Table3. The functional value of these circumstantial elements is to provide extra information about entities such as people or authors (‘Hoberman’), products (‘research/findings’), locations in time or place (‘in 2017’; ‘in the focus group’), and research objects (‘the social media site’/ ‘15participants’). 2.3 Research on Theme in academic English language teaching and learning Effective use of Theme has been cited as an essential characteristic of successful second language writers of academic English (e.g. Chang, 2010; Chen, 2010; Chen, 2018; Cummings,2003; Firbas, 1987; Green et al., 2000; Hawes & Thomas, 2012; Jing, 2015; McCabe & Alonso, 2000; Monbec, 2018; 2020; Wang, 2007; Wang, 2010; Yang, 2008). For example, Ma (2001) and Wang(2010) concluded from their corpus research that low scoring English language student writing was characterised by limited use of the various thematic progression strategies, based on Danes’ (1974) typology of linear, constant and split Theme patterns. Further research by Ventola (1994) concluded that Themes in low scoring student papers were not effectively constructed to link to prior or following information (for anaphoric and cataphoric referencing respectively). In the same way, Christie and Dreyfus (2007) analysed a weak student’s use of Theme and found that there was a ‘lack of unity’ or development of meanings in the way that the Theme choices unfold in the text. This, they state, has a significant impact on the quality of the writing and it is one of the prominent reasons why papers can be graded as poor even if the teacher grading the piece is not aware of the concept of Theme. Hawes and Thomas (2012) investigated students’ deployment of ‘it-Subject’ in Theme position for anaphoric reference as dummy subject in cleft sentences. These authors reported that comprehension is affected if too much information is encapsulated in the subject pronoun ‘it’. Other research on Theme use has found that learners fail to correctly construct circumstantial Adjuncts in Theme position (e.g. Don & Sriniwass, 2017) or that overuse of circumstantial Adjuncts in Theme position produces an overly emphatic discourse (e.g. Green et al., 2000). Moreover, studies (e.g. He, 2020) have demonstrated that more successful writers employ more information-rich Themes in the form of nominal construction. Despite a presence of the analysis of Theme use in successful student writing in the literature, as both Bonhnacker (2010) and Jing (2015) also point out, very few studies present how teaching materials are informed by Theme analysis to improve students’ academic writing. In her comprehensive literature review, Jing (2015) states that ‘a very limited number of studies have attempted to investigate with empirical evidence how instruction in Theme can enhance English learner writing’ (p. 75). What does exist focuses explicitly on coherence. Jing (2015) and Yang (2008) present how they trained students to analyse Theme-Rheme patterning in texts based on Danes’ (1974) proposal. Thompson (2013) explores teaching Theme’s ‘encapsulation’ function and how that facilitates retrospective and prospective endophoric reference. That is, it helps students to work on summing up meanings from preceding clauses to carry content forward to following clauses. To the authors knowledge, no research has focused on reporting the teaching of Theme choice for attribution in literature reviews to proficient but inexperienced undergraduate writers. The research emerged from the reading of students’ writing. It was observed from preliminary investigations that students lacked a range of linguistic resources for attribution construed through Theme choice in the literature review section of their IMRD research papers. Their Themes were very much information fronted, with very little employment of 23 Teaching Theme choice in literature reviews to undergraduate students ARTICLES circumstantial Adjuncts or VTHAT clauses as Theme to provide extra information about research or views on the research based on choice of reporting verb, e.g. ‘claim’ versus ‘demonstrate’. Therefore, an intervention was conceived as part of an action research project. In the next section, the context of the study is explained. 3 Data collection The research was conducted over one semester of 13 weeks during the academic year (AY) 2019-2020 (August to December) following an action research cycle defined as ‘a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action and fact-finding about the result of the action’ (Lewin, 1948, p. 206). Performing action research is similar to conducting an experiment because it focuses on hypothesis forming based on observations followed by testing and then evaluating and reporting the outcomes of the tests (Chandler & Torbert, 2003). It involves a systematic process of planning, action, and reflection on action or ‘self-correcting investigative process’ (Angrosino & Mayes de Perez, 2000) because often the researcher sees in hindsight that different actions could have been taken and so seeks to make amends retrospectively. The participants in this study were 60 second year students, 15 in four classes, from multiple faculties, including science, engineering, business, law, mathematics, accountancy, arts and social sciences (e.g. sociology, economics, and history). Students on the module are primarily Singaporean Chinese but there are students from other ethnic backgrounds in Singapore such as Singaporean Malay and Singaporean Indian. There are also Korean, Japanese, Indonesian, Malaysian and Chinese scholars. The sample is, therefore, diverse with a wide range of academic needs in English. Most students in Singapore function with English as a first language, having been exposed to English as a medium of instruction in primary and secondary schools. However, as undergraduates, they lack experience in academic research and writing. Students from other nations, such as Korea, may be at IELTS level 6 and require more language support. For the module, students are required to read 12 academic journal papers from the sociology of sport over 3 weeks, which acts as the reading corpus. Journals used are indexed and internationally peer-reviewed: Communication and Sport, The European Journal for Sport and Society (EJSS), The European Physical Education Review, The International Journal of Sport and Society, The International Review for the Sociology of Sport (IRSS), The Journal of Sport and Social Issues (JSSI), Leisure Studies, Quest, The Sociology of Sport Journal, and Sport in Society. The papers explore gender, race, class, age, and disability issues as well as other foci such as identity construction in fandom, character building through sport, and dropout from sport due to other commitments or ineffective coaching. Students are required to conduct research for a 2200-word IMRD paper on a subject of their choice that they have to produce at the end of the module. The research began when students’ draft literature reviews (generally 250-300words in length) were examined. Student texts demonstrated that they were poorly equipped to make the very difficult and subtle meaning making requirements of attribution. Initial observations of students’ literature review texts revealed an overuse of reference to sources in parenthesis at the end of the proposition: ‘Skiing as an extreme sport increases resilience’ (Hetland et al., 2018). Using NVivo 12, a series of word frequency analyses and text searches were conducted for Themes employed for attribution in six of the literature reviews of the module’s reading corpus of academic journal research articles. The same searches were then carried out on the 60 students’ literature review texts. Based on differences of usage from these two corpora, a pedagogical intervention in the form of a text deconstruction was 24 Teaching Theme choice in literature reviews to undergraduate students ARTICLES prepared. This idea was influenced by Christie and Dreyfus’ (2007) suggestion that deconstructing texts using a genre-based approach is an effective pedagogical method. This intervention was then followed by post-intervention analyses of students’ literature review sections to observe its impacts. The action research process is explained in diagrammatical form below in Figure 1. 4 Findings 4.1 Journal article corpus (module reading list) As the students were required to write a research paper within the field of the sociology of sport, it was decided that the corpus should also be drawn from that subject field. As Halliday and Matthiessen (2013) point out, academic language production is field-related. Each field represents a certain register, which differs lexicogrammatically. Using a corpus of readings from the sociology of sport would make the grammar instruction more authentic as the students would be producing their own sociology of sport research papers. The corpus of literature reviews from the six IMRD academic journal research articles in the sociology of sport comprised 14,777 words. An analysis of extended Themes in the literature reviews was conducted. To do this, word frequency counts of circumstantial Adjuncts in the form of common prepositions such as ‘in’, ‘at’, ‘for’, ‘within’ and ‘like’ as well as other common adverbials such as ‘according to…’, and ‘regarding’ were first conducted. Then, text mining for other examples of Theme in literature reviews for attribution occurred to confirm that all examples had been identified. The circumstantial Adjuncts employed as extended Themes for attribution in the corpus are provided in Table 4. All of these are followed by nominal groups in the academic reading texts. The most common followed the preposition ‘in’ such as ‘In a study of unorganized and spontaneous schoolyard soccer with 9-12-year-old children, Jonasson (2010) observed overt signs of male domination’ (Larneby, 2016, pp.1203-1204). Figure 1: Action plan for research and pedagogy • Analysis of the literature review sections of six IMRD journal articles constituting the module’s reading corpus • Analysis of the literature review sections of the students’ first drafts • Plan teaching activities on Theme use for students’ literature reviews based on corpus evaluations • Text deconstruction in class using an authentic example student text example • Analysis of the literature review sections of the students’ second drafts • Report on successes and challenges of the interventions Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 25 Teaching Theme choice in literature reviews to undergraduate students ARTICLES Circumstantial Adjunct Frequency In + noun, e.g. In a study of’/In her study on/ 14 According to + author 11 As + verb + by + author, e.g. as suggested/ identified/explained/ stressed by … (author), 6 Through + noun, e.g. Through analysis of …, (author) concludes … 4 Like/unlike + noun, e.g. (Un)like + author, 3 Within + noun, e.g. Within this field of study, 3 Regardless of + noun, e.g. Regardless of these findings, 3 Due to + noun, e.g. Due to the rarity of these findings, 1 In addition to + noun, e.g. In addition to fear, (author) found that … 1 Apart from + noun, e.g. Apart from these findings, 1 Table 4: Circumstantial Adjunct as extended Themes from the literature reviews of the module’s reading corpus An analysis of the projecting clauses for reporting research in the literature review was also conducted through text mining of the journal articles. Word frequency counts were also produced (see Table 5). Mental/verbal process Frequency argue 10 suggest 9 defend 3 discuss 3 states 3 observe 3 show 3 acknowledge 2 emphasise 2 explains 2 identify 2 assert 2 claim 2 noted 2 demonstrate 2 remark 2 conclude 2 propose 2 report 2 agree 1 establish 1 highlight 1 maintain 1 Table 5: Mental/verbal processes as extended Themes from the literature reviews of the module’s reading corpus 32 Teaching Theme choice in literature reviews to undergraduate students ARTICLES claim or because their research mainly centres on male participation in netball. This subtle ambiguity helps to represent the difficulty in writing a literature review using attribution resources and the importance of circumstantial Adjuncts. It was possible to convey to students that ambiguity exists like this with the example text deconstruction for the intervention. Additionally, the use of ‘assert that’ conveys a relatively strong writer alignment, again a possible teaching point in class with the example. In the post-intervention text, the student also employs another extended Theme: ‘With the lack of female perspectives in research, Tagg (2018) and Treagus (2005)’. This circumstantial Adjunct provides extra information about the research in the field and simultaneously references anaphorically to the first and second clauses as well as functioning to encapsulate the gist of what has already been conveyed summing up the two authors’ main points from their research. There is also both linear and zigzag Theme-Rheme patterning in the second student text, providing a more complex cohesion which is more information-rich than the simpler linear formation used in the first student example. 6 Conclusion This paper has provided an overview of interventions explicitly teaching the use of Theme for attribution in a literature review of an IMRD paper in the sociology of sport. Through examination of students’ draft texts, it was found that one of the main teaching concerns with most of the students was their limited use of Theme for attribution in their literature review sections. Corpus analyses of the modules’ readings of journal articles as well as students’ first draft literature reviews were conducted. It was observed that there were clear distinctions between these sets of texts, particularly regarding information and authorfronted attribution as well as circumstantial Adjunct employment to provide extra information related to a study. With these findings, a text deconstruction was conducted in class to raise students’ awareness of the linguistic choices possible. In the second student corpus, it was observed that real learning had occurred as a richer linguistic use of extended Theme choice was present, and these Themes helped the students to provide experiential and interpersonal meanings as well as to produce an effectively cohesive text (textual meanings). The use of metalanguage and the amount of focus on grammatical subject matter proves to be a challenge for language teachers of English for academic purposes. There is much debate related to the question as to whether metalanguage should be reduced for student learning. Quinn (2004) and Basturkmen et al. (2002) conclude that metalanguage is essential as it plays ‘a role in making linguistic forms more explicit and thus noticeable’ (Basturkmen et al., 2002, p. 11) so that students can ‘incorporate them into their production’ (ibid). In this research, the students’ writing required input in several areas, of which attribution was only one. Thus, time was limited for the pedagogy. Moreover, the multi-disciplinary and multilingual context of the study meant that too much of a focus on metalanguage in terms of what represents unmarked and marked Themes might have been negatively received. Consequently, there was a carefully measured input structure for metalanguage. The version of extended Theme from Berry (1995), Davies (1997), Forey (2002), and more recently by Bowen and Thomas (2020) that treats everything up to and including the Subject was selected for pedagogical purposes in this study for its functionality. Engaging students in a text construction followed by text mining of research articles in class helped to facilitate more independent noticing later on. The text deconstruction in the classroom was a sound strategy for focusing on linguistic features (Christie & Dreyfus, 2007). In this way, the knowledge was explicitly made visible – a key in effective teaching (Maton, 33 Teaching Theme choice in literature reviews to undergraduate students ARTICLES 2014). Moreover, using a less successful text from a previous student was advantageous as it enabled students to engage at an appropriate threshold level. From feedback in postintervention consultations, students reported that after the intervention, while reading journal articles, they were noticing the language of attribution. They also reported that prior to the classroom interventions, they knew the language used for referring to academic sources but that they were not employing these resources in a similar way due to their inexperience in the IMRD structure. The intervention enabled students to be more aware of these resources and to notice them, and this encouraged students to do the same noticing in their own reading of research articles and to employ similar linguistic resources. Additionally, being able to present to students the corpus results from their first drafts in comparison to some of the module readings was a powerful pedagogical tool. Students reported that this had motivated them to implement more of these linguistic resources in their own writing. When students are guided by a significant other to attend to linguistic features in this way, they are helped in the shift from input to intake and begin to notice structures independently more readily (Christie & Dreyfus, 2007). One limitation of the research is the small corpus size. Only six of the twelve academic journal papers were used. Clearly, a more extensive corpus would provide more generalisable findings about the most frequently used linguistic resources in this field. It is the author’s intention to extend the journal article corpus as an ongoing project as different academic papers are used for the module. Despite the size of the sample corpus, common effective language patterns for attribution were discernible in these texts. Other sources were also used to verify reporting verbs for projecting clauses (BAWE corpus; Biber et al., 1999; Taşçi & Oztürk, 2021). Attribution constitutes a crucial element of academic meaning-making in writing about research. However, students can be poorly equipped in these very difficult and subtle meaning making requirements. This was initially shown in their tendency to simply attribute in information-prominent citation style using linear Thematic progression. By expanding their repertoire, students gained access to a range of resources enabling them to craft their literature reviews to better create a multi-voiced, information-rich text, to support stance more effectively and develop the textual cohesion of their literature reviews considerably. These are skills that remain challenging even for highly experienced academic writers, so making these resources visible to our undergraduate students early on could be empowering for their future research writing requirements. It is hoped that this study on the use of extended Theme for attribution in IMRD literature reviews might enthuse other academic tutors in higher education to explore this important pedagogical field. 34 Teaching Theme choice in literature reviews to undergraduate students ARTICLES References Angrosino, M. V., & Mays de Péres, K. A. (2000). Rethinking observation: From method to context. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 673-702). Sage. Basturkmen, H., Loewen, S., & Ellis, R. (2002). Metalanguage in focus on form in the communicative classroom. Language Awareness, 11(1), 1-13. British Academic Written English Corpus (BAWE). 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English Language Teaching, 1(1), 29-33. 35 Mark Brooke currently designs and teaches undergraduate academic writing courses combining Sociology of Sport and English for Academic Purposes. In the academic literacy field, he predominantly investigates practical classroom applications of Systemic Functional Linguistics and Legitimation Code Theory (LCT). Author biography 37 ARTICLES 37 Use of language learning strategies in ESP and EGP: Perspectives from Saudi Arabia 1 Introduction Using various language learning strategies is a common practice in learning a new language. However, choice of such strategies differs according to individual learner differences and the learning context. There are numerous factors – mostly dependent on the learners – that determine such choice and frequency of use of learning strategies. Oxford (1990b, as cited in Khan, 2012) points out learners’ internal factors (awareness, motivation, learning style, age, ethnicity, personality, etc.) and external factors (field and level of study, expectations from others, task requirements, socio-cultural aspects etc.). Similarly, Ellis (1994) claims that individual learner differences like learners’ affective state, attitude towards the topic, and other relevant factors determine the choice and frequency of use of learning strategies. Such deciding factors are evident in comparing the domains of English for specific purposes (ESP) and English for general purposes (EGP). Rose (2012) claims that adults engage in different sets of language learning strategies in ESP than those they use while learning EGP. However, though these learning strategies are of varying types, they are all linked to success in learning (Rubin, 1987) and making learning more effective (Oxford, 1990b). This paper focuses on the differences in use of language learning strategies in ESP and EGP. It starts with introducing some relevant terms. 1.1 Language learning strategies Language learning strategies are deliberate actions that help learners learn the target language (Cohen, 2007, as cited in Khan, 2012) and achieve their learning goals (Richards & Muhammad Fazle Ramzan Khan Former Faculty, Jazan University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Currently pursuing a PhD at Jadavpur University, West Bengal, India email: [email protected] Using various language learning strategies is a common practice in learning a new language. However, choice of such strategies differs according to individual learner differences and the learning context. Various learning contexts like English for specific purposes (ESP), English for general purposes (EGP), or English for any other purposes require learners to use different types of learning strategies. This paper investigates the choice and use of various types of language learning strategies employed by students studying ESP and EGP at Jazan University, Saudi Arabia. Findings show that on an average, learners studying EGP make more use of learning strategies than those studying ESP. Moreover, there are also differences among the types of learning strategies used – particularly evident in cases of Compensation and Memory strategies. This paper concludes by drawing a relationship between the major learning characteristics and the preferred language learning strategies employed by these Saudi students studying ESP and EGP. ABSTRACT 38 Lockhart, 1996, as cited in Oxford, 1999). They are the ‘mental processes which learners employ to learn and use the target language’ (Nunan, 1991, p. 167). Williams and Burden (1997) define these strategies as particular skills deployed by the learners in a particular learning context, involving learners’ ability to assess the learning context; to plan required measures; to select, sequence, and coordinate among appropriate strategies; and to revise them if necessary. Scarcella and Oxford (1992) defined language learning strategies as ‘specific actions, behaviours, steps, or techniques […] used by students to enhance their own learning’ (p. 63). They are ‘problem oriented’ (Ellis, 1997, p. 532) and ‘transferrable to new situations’ (Oxford, 1990b, p. 8). They ‘affect the learner’s motivational or affective state, or the way in which the learner selects, acquires, organizes, or integrates new knowledge’ (Weinstein & Mayer, 1986, p. 315), and improve their performances (Tudor, 1996). Therefore, effective use of such strategies enables learners to find out the reasons of their failure and make proper plans for future success (Gregersen et al., 2001). 1.1.1 Classification of language learning strategies Various researchers have classified language learning strategies from different points of view. Table 1 below depicts the major types of language learning strategies commonly referred to in literature. Proponent/s Year Categories Zoltán Dörnyei 2005 Cognitive, Metacognitive, Social and Affective strategies Andrew D. Cohen 2000 i. Language learning strategies (Cognitive, Metacognitive, Social, and Affective strategies) ii. Language use strategies (Retrieval, Rehearsal, Cover, and Communication strategies) Rebecca L. Oxford 1990b i. Direct strategies (Memory, Cognitive and Compensation strategies) ii. Indirect strategies (Metacognitive, Affective, and Social strategies) J. Michael O’Malley and Anna Uhl Chamot 1990 Cognitive, Metacognitive, and Socio-affective strategies Joan Rubin 1987 i. Learning strategies (Cognitive learning strategies, and Metacognitive learning strategies) ii. Communication strategies iii. Social strategies ARTICLES Use of language learning strategies in ESP and EGP: Perspectives from Saudi Arabia 39 Proponent/s Year Categories Donald F. Dansereau 1985 Primary strategies and Support strategies Anita Wenden 1983 i. Knowing (knowledge of language and the learning process) ii. Planning (what to learn and how) iii. Self-evaluation (assessment of progress and response in different situation) Table 1: Major types of language learning strategies commonly referred to in literature However, the most commonly referred to language learning strategies in literature are those of Oxford’s (1990b). She classifies language learning strategies into two initial categories, ‘Direct strategies’ and ‘Indirect strategies’ and then divides each of those into three further sub-categories. The Direct strategies are directly linked to the process of learning a language and are divided into Memory, Cognitive and Compensation strategies. Memory strategies implicate establishing mental links between the known and the new information through images and sounds, recalling information, formulas etc. Cognitive strategies consider making and taking notes, reorganizing information, and rational analysis for adequate understanding. And Compensation strategies empower learners to compensate for their lack of adequate knowledge in a given context. Guessing, rephrasing, gesture, asking for help etc. are common forms of Compensation strategies. The Indirect strategies, on the other hand, do not have direct links with learning a language. These only assist the process of learning and are divided into Metacognitive, Affective and Social strategies. Metacognitive strategies help learners to identify, regulate, and evaluate the whole process of their learning. Affective strategies facilitate learners to adjust their emotion, motivation, attitude, and encouragement towards learning. And Social strategies include social interaction and cooperation, cultural empathizing, asking questions, seeking assistance, practicing the target language with native speakers, etc. 1.1.2 Factors affecting the choice of language learning strategies Various factors related to the learner and the learning context like ethnicity, gender, age, cultural identity, language awareness and proficiency, beliefs and attitudes, motivation, learning context, learning style, teaching methods, type of tasks, etc. influence learners’ choice and application of individual language learning strategies (Liang, 2009; Oxford, 1990b). Ellis (1994) claims learners focusing on learning the rules of language prefer Cognitive strategies, whereas those focusing on learning the use of it prefer Communication strategies. He also asserts that grownups prefer generalized rules and strategies whereas young children prefer tasks-specific strategies. Moreover, highly motivated learners use more strategies than the less motivated ones. In addition, learning strategies are also influenced by learners’ learning experiences – more experienced learners prefer more functionalpractice strategies than the less experienced ones. Lastly, the type and difficulty of the task also determines the choice of learning strategies. Learners employ more strategies when learning languages much different than their mother tongue. ARTICLES Use of language learning strategies in ESP and EGP: Perspectives from Saudi Arabia 40 Use of language learning strategies in ESP and EGP: Perspectives from Saudi Arabia ARTICLES 1.2 English for Specific Purposes (ESP) ESP is the teaching of English to learners with specific goals and purposes (Basturkmen, 2003; Robinson, 1980) and is best effective when contextualized to their professional and academic needs (Johns & Salmani, 2015). It analyses learners’ needs and learning objectives, places particular importance on their linguistic repertoire in real life situations (Master, 2005) and, accordingly, decides on the relevant teaching materials, methods, and ways of evaluation (Anthony, 2018). ESP is thus ‘a learner-centered approach to teaching English as an additional language, which focuses on developing communicative competence in a specific discipline, such as accounting, business, IT, and teaching’ (University of Winnipeg, 2019). 1.2.1 Domains of ESP Flowerdew and Peacock (2001) classified ESP into two types – English for academic purposes (EAP) and English for occupational purposes (EOP). i English for Academic Purposes (EAP) EAP assesses learners’ specific needs (Gillett & Wray, 2006) and provides them with language support in areas of other subjects studied in English (Jordan, 2002). Kennedy and Bolitho (1984) claim ‘EAP is taught generally within educational institutions to students needing English in their studies’ (p. 4). ii English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) EOP is for learners who need English for occupational purposes and it focuses on taskoriented learning. Kennedy and Bolitho (1984) claim that ‘EOP is taught in a situation in which learners need to use English as part of their work or profession’ (p. 4). 1.2.2 Differences between ESP and EGP Smoak (2003) claims that in contrast to EGP that focuses on overall language skills, ESP deals with learners’ specific needs to perform effectively in their target situation. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) claim that ‘in theory there is no difference between ESP and General English teaching; in practice, however, there is a great deal of difference’ (p.19) and that ESP needs to be taught not as a product but as an approach. Whereas teaching EGP is identified as ‘TENOR – the teaching of English for No Obvious Reason’ (Abbot, 1981, as cited in Jordan, 1997, p. 4), ESP is more practical, focused and target-oriented (Dudley-Evans et al., 1998). 1.3 Justification for this study Various researchers (Oxford, 1989; Oxford & Nyikos, 1989; Peacock & Ho, 2003; Peacock, 2001; Politzer & McGroarty, 1985) have claimed that very few studies have been conducted comparing the use of language learning strategies accross various disciplines and there is a need for more investigation. Peacock (2001) mentions that although there is a proven connection between proficiency and strategy use, ‘few studies have focused specifically on EAP or compared results among students from different academic disciplines’ (p. 269). Moreover, finding out learners use of learning strategies across disciplines would enable teachers contextualise their teaching approaches (Cohen, 2014). Therefore, this study is of much importance. 41 Use of language learning strategies in ESP and EGP: Perspectives from Saudi Arabia ARTICLES 2 Literature review Soe (2020) investigated the use of language learning strategies in relation to motivation in learning specialised ESP vocabulary in Thailand. The findings revealed that providing adequate training on vocabulary learning strategies help students become more autonomous, acquire more vocabulary and display better communicative skills. Gaffas (2019) studied students’ perception of how ESP and EGP courses affect their academic language development in Saudi Arabia. The findings indicated that recognising unfamiliar vocabulary was the biggest challenge as well as the cause of their poor performance in English. In addition, ESP and EGP courses were unable to upgrade their overall linguistic performance though they successfully increased their understanding of the technical expressions. Saiful (2019) studied the relationship between language learning strategies and achievement in speaking skills among undergraduate students studying ESP in Indonesia. The findings revealed that though there is a correlation between learning strategies and students’ achievement in speaking skills, the level of correlation is not very significant. Kobayashi and Little (2018) investigated the suitability of vocabulary learning strategies and the effectiveness of vocabulary learning strategy instruction among ESP students in Japan. The findings revealed that vocabulary learning strategy instructions were effective and that students were happy with that. However, inadequate stock of vocabulary was found to hamper the use of different forms of Memory strategies. Kuo (2017) compared a control and an experimental group in terms of their proficiency in ESP vocabulary in Taiwan. The experimental group had prior training in cognitive processing, but the control group relied on traditional approaches towards learning vocabulary. The findings indicated that the control group was outperformed by the experimental group in terms of their proficiency in ESP vocabulary. Gonzalez Ardeo (2016) studied how motivation and language learning strategies affect the academic performances of a group students studying ESP in Spain. The results showed that these factors are closely related to academic performances. It was further revealed that students had a preference for Instrumental motivation and Cognitive and Metacognitive learning strategies. Tabatabaei and Hoseini (2014) investigated the use of language learning strategies deployed by EFL and ESP students in Iran in handling collocations in reading tasks. The findings indicated differences in the use of learning strategies between these two groups. The EFL participants made more use of Social strategies while the ESP participants preferred Cognitive strategies. Moreover, the EFL participants also benefitted from Social, Memory and Affective strategies, which was not the case with the ESP participants. Al Naddabi (2006) conducted a study on both students and teachers from an ESL program in Canada. The findings revealed differences in the use of language learning strategies between the students of ESP and EAP. Students studying ESP had a strong preference for Cognitive strategies compared to their counterparts from EAP. However, they made minimal use of Affective strategies whereas their counterparts from EAP made maximum use of it. Baker and Boonkit (2004) studied the use of language learning strategies among students of EAP learning reading and writing in Thailand. The findings identified Metacognitive, Cognitive and Compensation strategies as the most frequently used strategies. They also identified some strategies as inappropriate in the local context and highlighted the differences in use of learning strategies among successful and less successful learners. 48 Use of language learning strategies in ESP and EGP: Perspectives from Saudi Arabia ARTICLES art (An online interview with Ann M. Johns). International Journal of Language Studies, 9(2), 113-120. Jordan, R. (1997). English for academic purposes: A guide and resource book for teachers. Cambridge University Press. Jordan, R. R. (2002). The growth of EAP in Britain. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 1(1), 69-78. Kennedy, C., & Bolitho, R. (1984). English for specific purposes. Macmillan Pub Limited. Khan, M. F. R. (2012). Language learning strategies: A study of teacher and learner perceptions. BUP Journal, 1(1), 140-153. Kobayashi, K., & Little, A. (2018). Explicit instruction of memory vocabulary learning strategies in an ESP context. Journal of Second Language Teaching & Research, 6(1), 20-49. Kuo, S. M. (2017). Evaluating the ramifications of ESP vocabulary instruction through facilitating cognitive processing. Asian Journal of Humanity, Art and Literature, 4(1), 59-72. Liang, T. (2009). Language learning strategies – The theoretical framework and some suggestions for learner training practice. English Language Teaching, 2(4), 199-206. Macaro, E. (2006). Strategies for language learning and for language use: Revising the theoretical framework. The Modern Language Journal, 90(3), 320-337. Master, P. (2005). Research in English for specific purposes. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 99-116). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Nunan, D. (1991). Language teaching methodology. Prentice Hall. Oxford, R. L. (1989). Use of language learning strategies: A synthesis of studies with implications for strategy training. System, 17(2), 235-247. Oxford, R. L. (1990a). Strategy inventory for language learning, Version 7.0 (ESL/EFL). In R. L. Oxford (Ed.), Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know. Newbury House. Oxford, R. L. (Ed.). (1990b). Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know. Newbury House. Oxford, R. L. (1999). Relationships between second language learning strategies and language proficiency in the context of learner autonomy and self-regulation. Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses, 38(1), 108-26. Oxford, R., & Nyikos, M. (1989). Variables affecting choice of language learning strategies by university students. The Modern Language Journal, 73(3), 291-300. Peacock, M. (2001) Language learning strategies and EAP proficiency: Teacher views, student views, and test results. In J. Flowerdew & M. Peacock (Eds.), Research perspectives on English for academic purpose (pp. 268-85). Cambridge University Press. Peacock, M., & Ho, B. (2003). Student language learning strategies across eight disciplines. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 13(2), 179-200. Politzer, R. L., & McGroarty, M. (1985). An exploratory study of learning behaviors and their relationship to gains in linguistic and communicative competence. TESOL Quarterly, 19(1), 103-123. Rose, H. L. (2012). Language learning strategy research: Where do we go from here? Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 3(2), 137-148. Rubin, J. (1987). Learner strategies: Theoretical assumptions, research history and typology. In A. Wenden & J. Rubin (Eds.), Learner strategies and language learning (pp. 15-29). Prentice Hall. Saiful, M. (2019). The correlation between learning strategies and students achievement in 49 Use of language learning strategies in ESP and EGP: Perspectives from Saudi Arabia ARTICLES speaking for English specific purpose (ESP) in Administration Faculty of University of Islam Malang. Jurnal Penelitian, Pendidikan, dan Pembelajaran, 14(11). http://riset. unisma.ac.id/index.php/jp3/article/view/3867 Scarcella, R. C., & Oxford, R. L. (1992). The tapestry of language learning: The individual in the communicative classroom. Heinle & Heinle. Smoak, R. (2003). What is English for specific purposes? English Teaching Forum, 41(2), 22-27. Soe, W. N. (2020). Specialized vocabulary learning across disciplines: Exploring ESP learners’ needs and fostering vocabulary learning strategies for professional communication. Suthiparithat, 34(111), 1-16. Tabatabaei, O., & Hoseini, H. S. (2014). EFL and ESP learners’ use of language learning strategies: A study of collocations. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 5(1), 112-120. Tudor, I. (1996). Learner-centredness as language education. Cambridge University Press. University of Winnipeg (2019). Overview: English Language Program. https://www.uwinnipeg. ca/elp/esp/overview.html Weinstein, C. E., & Mayer, R. (1986). The teaching of learning strategies. In M. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (3rd ed., pp. 315-327). Macmillan. Williams, M., & Burden, R. (1997). Psychology for language teachers: A social constructivist approach. Cambridge University Press. 50 Use of language learning strategies in ESP and EGP: Perspectives from Saudi Arabia ARTICLES Appendix: Guidelines for scoring the Strategic Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) (Version 7.0; ESL/EFL) Worksheet for Scoring the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) Version 7.0 (ESL/EFL) © R.L. Oxford, 1989 1 The blanks (........) are numbered for each item on the SILL. 2 Write your response to each item (write 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) in each of the blanks. 3 Add up each column. Put the result on the line marked SUM. 4 Divide by the number under SUM to get the average for each column. Round this average off to the nearest tenth, as in 3.4. 5 Figure out your overall average. To do this, add up all the SUMS for the different parts of the SILL. Then divide by 50. 6 When you have finished, look at the Profile or Results. Copy your averages from the Worksheet onto the Profile. Part A Part B Part C Part D Part E Part F Q1 Q10 Q24 Q30 Q39 Q45 Q2 Q11 Q25 Q31 Q40 Q46 Q3 Q12 Q26 Q32 Q41 Q47 Q4 Q13 Q27 Q33 Q42 Q48 Q5 Q14 Q28 Q34 Q43 Q49 Q6 Q15 Q29 Q35 Q44 Q50 Q7 Q16 Q36 Q8 Q17 Q37 Q9 Q18 Q38 Q19 Q20 Q21 Q22 Q23 SUM Part A: SUM Part B: SUM Part C: SUM Part D: SUM Part E: SUM Part F: A+B+C+D +E+F= SUM ÷ 9 (Average SUM ÷ 14 (Average SUM ÷ 6 (Average SUM ÷ 9 (Average SUM ÷ 6 (Average) SUM ÷ 6 (Average) A+B+C+D +E+F ÷50= 51 Use of language learning strategies in ESP and EGP: Perspectives from Saudi Arabia ARTICLES Profile of Results This Profile shows your SILL results. These results will tell you the kinds of strategies you use in learning English. There are no right or wrong answers. To complete this profile, transfer your averages for each part of the SILL, and your overall average for the whole SILL. These averages are found on the Worksheet, at the bottom. Part Which strategies are covered Your Average on this ARemembering mroe effectively. BUsing all your mental processes. CCompensating for missing knowledge. DOrganizing and evaluating your learning. EManaging your emotions. FLearning with others Key to understanding your averages: High Always or almost always used. 4.5 to 5.0 Always used. 3.5 to 4.4 Medium Sometimes used. 2.5 to 3.4 Generally not used. 1.5 to 2.4 Low Never or almost never used. 1.0 to 1.4 The overall average tells you how often you use strategies for leaning English. Each part SILL represents a group of learning strategies. The averages for each part of the SILL show which groups of strategies you use most for leaning English. A (Remembering more effectively) B (Using all your mental processes) C (Compensating for missing knowledge) D (Organizing & evaluating your learning) E (Managing your emotions) F (Learning with others) A – F (Your overall average) Muhammad Fazle Ramzan Khan is a former faculty of English at Jazan University, Saudi Arabia. He holds a Cambridge CELTA, Cambridge TTT (Train the Trainer) and a Cert-TESOL from the University of Oregon, USA. He is currently pursuing a PhD at Jadavpur University, India. He has been teaching English since 2005. Author biography 5.0 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 5353 Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays 1 Introduction Learners of English for academic purposes at intermediate or higher levels often need to write argumentative essays, which, for the purposes of this article, are the type of essay that requires at least 250 words in IELTS, TOFEL, and EAP exams. Learners often find it difficult to tackle these essays in several areas, of which generating ideas, choosing a stance and rebutting arguments of the opposite side seem to be the most obvious. Since writing is a continuous process, I aim to deal with these problems through the process of tackling an essay, focusing on generating ideas and responding to opposing arguments, which I use on a UK pathway organisation’s international foundation programme in China, preparing students for university entry in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. 2 Tackling the title Understanding the title, which is often a statement accompanied by a question or an instruction, is very important. After reading it, it is helpful to paraphrase the key terms instead of brainstorming directly. Though brainstorming is an effective and indispensable step, one problem of brainstorming immediately might be that if students do not paraphrase at this stage, they may forget to paraphrase later as well, and the key terms of the title may be repeated all the time throughout the whole essay. Paraphrasing from the very start can have two benefits. Firstly, it can help avoid the repetitive use of vocabulary. Secondly, when thinking about and choosing appropriate words and phrases with which to replace the This work addresses two problems in argumentative exam essay writing for IELTS, TOFEL and English for academic purposes (EAP). Firstly, when writers feel that brainstorming counterarguments is difficult, considering various perspectives and different stakeholders of a topic can be useful. Secondly, writers sometimes have difficulty responding to counterarguments. The process is reviewed, starting with tackling the title, then considering brainstorming and organising ideas, taking a nuanced stance, responding and structuring ideas. ABSTRACT FROM THE CLASSROOM Li Yun International Department, Chengdu No. 7 High School, Cogdel Educational Group, Chengdu, China email: [email protected] 54 original key terms, it can help learners to deepen the understanding of the title. They can be clearer about the range, purpose and mission of the topic. As a result, students are less likely to be off topic. Having paraphrased the key terms, it will be very effective for the writer to identify the topic and frame of the essay title (Wallace, 2004, p. 91). The ‘topic’ is about the content of a title, and ‘frame’ is about the aspects of the content to be covered, which implies the structure of an essay (ibid). Actually, the aspects of the content to be covered in an essay are also the ‘task’ to be accomplished, which is closely related to the structure of an essay. For example, in the title ‘Discuss the costs and benefits of teamwork,’ the topic is ‘teamwork,’ and the two tasks are discussing the ‘costs’ and ‘benefits’ of teamwork. The frame, or the structure should include two body paragraphs in this essay: one for the ‘costs’ of teamwork, and the other for the ‘benefits’ of teamwork. Often, an argumentative essay asks for the opinion of the writer about a particular issue, especially about whether something should be done or not, and why. For example, a frequent essay title is about whether manned space exploration should be done (Oshima & Hogue, 2006, p. 151). In this case, the topic is ‘manned flight to Mars,’ and the task is asking for the writer’s opinion whether to explore space or not, and why; therefore, reasons for the writer’s views and a response to counterarguments (Oshima & Hogue, 2006, p. 143) should be expressed in two or three body paragraphs in the frame. Thus, distinguishing ‘topic’ and ‘frame’ is essential in order to write a good essay since it makes the writer clearer about the general expectation of the essay. Before moving to the brainstorming stage, the writer can think about his or her general attitude towards the title and draw a tiny man on the attitude line (see Appendix 2). This tiny man shows the initial impression the writer has of the essay topic, and this first general attitude may change after considering all sides of the issue. A new attitude due to this change is often expressed in a sentence, which is known as the nuanced thesis statement (Argent & Alexander, 2013, p. 181). Therefore, it is important to have this initial position about an essay title at this early stage. 3 Brainstorming ideas Brainstorming is an important step; however, it is not as easy as it looks. Students sometimes may find it difficult to get ideas, and it appears they find it even harder to think of counterarguments. Therefore, they may simply ignore opposing arguments and provide only arguments for their own stance. Even when they struggle to think of some counterclaims, the ideas tend to be superficial and brief. In this situation, they simply list arguments on both sides briefly, which means simplifying the title into listing advantages and disadvantages. Finally, they give a sweeping generalisation in the concluding paragraph by saying, arbitrarily, that the writer’s arguments are better or that there are more advantages than disadvantages or vice versa. Before brainstorming, firstly, it is very useful for students to be reminded that argumentative essay topics are mostly controversial topics, and these topics are closely related to the real world and to their current and future life, too. Also, most of the topics are not imaginary, designed specifically for their exams, but real problems in the world. This is because question designers also live in the same world as students do, which means question writers may share at least some of the same background knowledge and general problems as students do (Cook, 1997). For example, controversial issues about translation machines, self-driven cars, capital punishment and the wealth gap are all related to present and future social Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays FROM THE CLASSROOM 55 trends and, therefore, may affect their own life. It is essential for students to be reminded that their views have a value in solving a particular problem or resolving a certain argument. When students realise that their response to the essays has a practical social value besides merely finishing an essay and an exam, they are more likely to think more actively and to contribute more ideas. Just as McCarter and Jake (2009) mention, it is essential for learners to be clear about the audience and purpose of their essay writing. Secondly, it is essential to emphasise that to consider the opposing arguments is as important as providing the writer’s own reasons. As Graff and Birkenstein (2014, p. 3) observe, besides giving ideas of the writer’s side, it is also important to respond to the other side. Therefore, though a general practice is to rebut the counterclaims, it would be far more useful and effective to consider the rebuttal as a kind of sensible response to the other side. To respond to a counterclaim, the writer has to know what these claims are in the first place. In fact, approaching an essay topic is like approaching an oral conversation or a debate about a topic. People on both sides are already involved in a heated discussion, and the writer has to catch up with the points both sides are making. Before responding to the topic, the writer or the listener needs to listen to both sides first, and then has to summarise the key points of both sides (Graff & Birkenstein, 2014, p. 13). The brainstorming stage is like doing notetaking of the key ideas of both sides. This idea of discussing and taking notes of both sides thoughts is demonstrated in the picture on the top of Appendix 1. The second picture provides an example of this idea with an essay title. These two pictures remind students that they are not just writing an essay but are also trying to resolve a debate or discussion, and their final decisions may make a difference to this world. After realising the practical value of their own ideas and the importance of the counterarguments, students are generally more willing to think more actively to contribute ideas. At this step, some techniques of brainstorming can be helpful, which include considering stakeholders and perspectives. To help learners generate more ideas, one of the most effective ways is to emphasise different viewpoints of various stakeholders (Argent & Alexander, 2013, p. 180). In the context of essay writing, ‘stakeholders’ refers to people or groups that are possibly involved in an issue discussed in the title. Argent and Alexander (2013, p. 180) emphasise that considering the ideas of another side not only helps the writer to be clear about which ones to rebut in order to hold his or her own stance, but it also enables the writer to re-consider his or her original opinion. By putting themselves in the shoes of different stakeholders and considering their viewpoints, students can brainstorm more ideas of the opposing side, and they can often find new ideas of their own side, too, especially after considering why some groups may feel positive or negative if the issue goes a certain way. Also, students may find that even in the same group of stakeholders, different attitudes may occur. For example, one essay topic is whether old people should retire early so that young people have more job opportunities (Argent & Alexander, 2013, p.180). Senior people who want to retire early may support the idea, but those who enjoy working may dislike the proposal. Another effective approach to generate counterarguments is to consider different perspectives (de Chazal & Rogers, 2006, pp. 21-22), e.g. economic, social, educational, technological perspectives, and so on. A perspective is a certain ‘way of looking at or thinking about an idea’ (ibid), which can be understood as a broader way of looking at things than just considering stakeholders. It is essential to think through the possible perspectives of an essay title (Waters & Waters, 1995). The table in Appendix 2 shows how more ideas can be generated by considering various stakeholders and perspectives. It can be seen in Appendix2 that an acronym is used to remember some key perspectives: a help miss gift, in which ‘a’stands for ‘age’, ‘h’ for health, with the rest of the letters standing for education, legal, Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays FROM THE CLASSROOM 56 Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays FROM THE CLASSROOM political, military, international, science, social, geographical, financial, industrial, and technological, respectively (see Appendix 2). In Appendix 2.1, a student’s work shows an example of this brainstorming practice. At first, students may be concerned about the vast amount of time spent on brainstorming and may worry they do not have so much time during an exam. Therefore, they need to be assured that when practising, especially at the initial stages, they should take their time to think and write down their ideas in note form carefully. After some practice, they will be familiar with these common perspectives and will be much quicker to think of different viewpoints and ideas. Then, all their time invested will be worthwhile and well rewarded. It is also worth mentioning that ideas generated based on perspectives and stakeholders may overlap sometimes, but it should not be a problem. Ideas should be listed under both sides in a T-shaped table at a later stage (see Appendix 3), so repetitive ideas can be avoided and dropped during this process. The photo of a student’s work in Appendix 3.1 shows an example of this idea. 4 Organising ideas After different stakeholders’ viewpoints and perspectives have been considered and arguments on both sides have been brainstormed, it is very important to list ideas of both sides in a T-shaped table (see Appendix 3). This stage is crucial. This is because after all ideas are listed, it is about choosing a stance and how to respond to the topic as a writer or listener of the imaginary debate or conversation (Graff & Birkenstein, 2014, p. 13). This imaginary debate or conversation may actually cause a revolutionary shift of mind. It has been generally accepted that the writer needs to find the weaknesses of the opposite side and try to rebut them (Oshima & Hogue, 2006, p. 143). However, the fact that the writer needs to write an essay does not mean that the reasons of the opposite side are all ’wrong’. The opposing arguments are different simply because they are in different positions and look at the issue from different perspectives. Therefore, it has to be admitted that at least some of the arguments of the opposite side might be reasonable. Thus, two aspects have to be considered. Firstly, after re-evaluating, a nuanced stance may emerge. Secondly, since some opposing arguments are reasonable, they deserve to be treated or responded to differently from the weaker ones. These two aspects are closely interwoven sometimes, and a nuanced stance often stems from the stronger counterarguments. 5 A nuanced stance Listing the ideas under both sides in a T-shaped table helps the writer to be clearer about his or her real stance (see Appendix 3). The various viewpoints and perspectives from the imaginary debate (Graff & Birkenstein, 2014, p. 13) can be divided clearly under both sides in the table. As can be seen in Appendix 3, ideas of negative or against side can be put on the left hand of the T-table, and ideas of for or positive side can be placed on the right, or vice versa. Sometimes the writer’s stance may become more balanced after considering the possible reasonable part in the counterarguments; however, the writer still has a general tendency towards the issue provided in the topic (Graff & Birkenstein, 2014, p. 33). Under this general tendency, a more balanced stance providing a reasonable and practical response to the counterarguments can be considered as a nuanced stance on the topic, which means that 57 Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays FROM THE CLASSROOM rather than simply agreeing or disagreeing with an issue, the stance is refined with conditions, limits and caution (Argent & Alexander, 2003, p. 181). Compared with the original position of the tiny man the writer has drawn on the attitude line previously, this nuanced stance is generally more balanced and detailed because of the added limitations, conditions and caution. This is because when a topic is given, it is often general, and no specific context is provided. Therefore, it is not really easy to simply agree or disagree with the view in an essay title. With the brainstorming process, different stakeholders and perspectives are considered; thus, a topic becomes more vivid and real in the writer’s mind. Also, since everybody has his or her own experience and knowledge, when the writer chooses a certain perspective, it provides a context to the essay title, which makes it easier to produce a personal response to the arguments of the other side. Sometimes, this certain context or perspective means ‘caution, limits and conditions’ (Argent & Alexander, 2003, p. 181) based on each individual writer’s own experience and knowledge. Besides writers’ experience and knowledge, some general concepts can also be used to form a context for writing a proper thesis statement; for example, time range, area and cost, people, and synthesis. Firstly, in terms of time range, short term or long term can be used as an indicator when considering whether a practice is feasible or not. For instance, a sample essay suggests waiting one or two decades until technology is more mature before investing heavily in manned exploration of Mars (Oshima & Hogue, 2006, pp.154-155). This idea can be applied to many other topics related to technology such as whether translation machines or robots will replace humans, or whether driverless cars should be promoted. The possibility of replacing humans in the short term is different from that in the long term. Therefore, a time perspective can be considered when writing a thesis statement (see Appendix7.1). Secondly, area and cost can be considered as another limitation. Taking space exploration (Oshima & Hogue, 2006, pp. 151-152) as an example, as the cost is huge, developing countries might be more careful than developed nations. In other words, the exploration may be more suitable for more wealthy states, and this idea can be incorporated in a nuanced stance. Thirdly, different groups of people can be considered as another limitation. Depending on gender, age and health condition, some practices might be more appropriate and beneficial for certain groups of people. For example, when discussing creating job opportunities through early retirement (Argent & Alexander, 2013, p. 180), instead of providing a sweeping statement, it would be safe to narrow the focus with some limits and caution. For instance, young people who want to pursue further education may not be interest in this idea, but older people who want to retire early may appreciate it, especially those who consider their current job boring. Lastly, sometimes ideas of the two sides can be synthesised to form a balanced stance. For example, an essay title asks whether the future status of English as a global language is/is not assured (Oshima & Hogue, 2006, p. 156). While one side emphasises the beauty of other rich languages such as Portuguese, the other side stresses the influence of English in academia, international business and the internet (ibid). A synthesised stance can link ideas of both sides and time range together by saying that English will be the global language in the next few decades, though in the long term it might thrive together with other major influential languages (see the ‘for’ side sample about ‘English’ in Appendix 7.1). Another example can be translation machines. Instead of supporting either side, it can be assumed that a cooperation between translation machines and humans will work very well in the long term. As can be seen in Appendix7, with a general tendency towards the essay title, by listing all possible limitations and some phrases to show limitation and condition, students can learn 64 Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays FROM THE CLASSROOM Appendix 3 Step 5: • List arguments of both sides. • Reasonable arguments: find a solution. • Weak arguments: rebut. Essay title: Many countries are now developing ways of exploring space. Do you think this is a good idea or are there any better ways to spend the money? Limits/caution/condition/context Your stance now? Negative (against) Negative For (Positive) Positive 65 Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays FROM THE CLASSROOM Appendix 3.1 Student sample 66 Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays FROM THE CLASSROOM Appendix 4 Step 6: Organize my arguments and response to the counterarguments. 67 Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays FROM THE CLASSROOM Appendix 4.1 Student sample 68 Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays FROM THE CLASSROOM 68 Appendix 4.2 Student sample 69 Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays FROM THE CLASSROOM Appendix 5 Attacking Criteria Practice Sheet Example 1 Example 2 You are not working hard. I love you! Peter doesn’t work as hard as you. I love beautiful girls. Now you are doing worse than Peter. Even Peter handed in the homework! You are so beautiful! Example 3 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems are intended to reduce traffic accidents and fatalities. The design of these systems is usually based on research on driving in Western countries. However, with the increase in car ownership in countries such as China, there is a need to investigate how these systems should be designed for developing markets. …there is a need to investigate how these [ADAS] systems should be designed for developing markets. China (and other developing markets) are different from Western (developed) countries. Support 1 …design of these systems is usually based on research on driving in Western countries. Support 2 …increase in car ownership in countries such as China… Source: Argent and Alexander (2013) 70 Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays FROM THE CLASSROOM Appendix 5.1 Looking for and attacking the weak link 1.1 Boys and girls should be mixed. (hidden link/criterion): ____________________________________________________________________ Support: Test scores in all boy/girl schools are no higher than in mixed classes. Rebuttal: ________________________________________________________________ 1.2 Boys and girls should be mixed. (hidden link/criterion): ____________________________________________________________________ Support 1: In all work place, people need to cooperate with opposite sex. Support 2: single sex schools prevent students from cooperating with the other gender. Rebuttal: ________________________________________________________________ 2.1 Space exploration should not be considered. (hidden link/criterion): ____________________________________________________________________ Support: It is extremely dangerous to send manned flight to the outer space. Rebuttal: ________________________________________________________________ 2.2 Space study is significant for human beings. (hidden link/criterion): ____________________________________________________________________ Support 1: Resources on the earth is limited and humans have used up some of them. Support 2: New resources may be found in other planets, such as the Mars and the Moon. Rebuttal: ________________________________________________________________ Language to mention and attack a hidden criterion: ✧ However, … are the wrong measuring sticks. ✧ However, such an argument completely ignores the fact that… ✧ … Source: Oshima and Hogue (2004) 71 Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays FROM THE CLASSROOM Appendix 5.2 Student sample 72 Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays FROM THE CLASSROOM Appendix 6 Response Practice Sheet Title: To what extent do you agree that machines will replace human translation from one language to another? 1. My stance: ______________________ Opposite side’s stance: _______________________ 2. Counterargument 1 argument: _______________________ link (assumption): _______________________ support: _______________________ 5.1 If I think the link is reasonable, how do I respond without losing my stance? _____________________________________________________________________ 5.2 If I think the link is weak, how do I rebut it? _____________________________________________________________________ 6. Write the counterargument and your response below: _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 73 Helping intermediate and higher-level learners with idea generation and responding in argumentative essays FROM THE CLASSROOM Appendix 6.1 Counterargument 2 argument: _______________________ link (assumption): _______________________ support: _______________________ If I think the link is reasonable, how do I respond without losing my stance? ___________________________________________________________________________ If I think the link is weak, how do I rebut it? ___________________________________________________________________________ Write the counterargument and your response below: ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________