Data commentary in science writing
Using a small, specialized corpus for formative self-assessment practices
Data commentary, the verbal comment on visual material, is a complex area in
science writing; yet, few studies in academic writing focus on it. This chapter
presents an approach to the teaching and learning of data commentary in ESP
writing within the science disciplines involving direct application of a small,
specialized corpus of data commentaries drawn from published research articles
and master’s theses, all annotated for rhetorical moves. We exemplify how formative
self-assessment practices of data commentaries can be developed from
corpus-informed computer-assisted learning activities combining top-down
discourse analysis with bottom-up corpus analysis, and outline a methodology
for self-assessment practices. Our approach illustrates how a specialized corpus
and purposefully crafted learning activities can assist students in continuous
self-assessment practices. Such facilitation is of crucial value today as pedagogical
and curricular developments in science education increasingly emphasize
students’ awareness of communicative practices.
References
Ädel, A
2010 Using corpora to teach academic writing: Challenges for the direct approach. In
Corpus-Based Approaches to English Language Teaching [
Research in Corpus and Discourse],
M.C. Campoy-Cubillo,
B. Belles-Fortuño &
M.L. Gea-Valor (eds), 39–55. London: Continuum.
Basturkmen, H
2009 Commenting on results in published research articles and masters dissertations in language teaching.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes 8(4): 241–251.
Berkenkotter, C. & Huckin, T.N
1995 Genre Knowledge in Disciplinary Communication: Cognition/Culture/Power. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bhatia, V.K
2004 Worlds of Written Discourse: A Genre-Based View. London: Continuum.
Bhatia, V.K., Langton, N.M. & Lung, J
Bianchi, F. & Pazzaglia, R
2007 Student writing of research articles in a foreign language: Metacognition and corpora. In
Corpus Linguistics 25 Years on [
Language and Computers 62],
R. Facchinetti (ed.), 259–287. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Biber, D., Connor, U. & Upton, T.A
Blåsjö, M
2011 From percentage to prediction: University students meeting a parallel language of visuals and numerals.
Ibérica 22: 123–140.
Bloch, J
2009 The design of an online program for teaching about reporting verbs.
Language Learning and Technology 13(1): 59–78.
Boud, D. & Molloy, E
2013 Rethinking models of feedback for learning: The challenge of design.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 38(6): 698–712.
Brett, P
1994 A genre analysis of the results section of sociology articles.
English for Specific Purposes 13(1): 47–59.
Chang, C. & Kuo, C
2011 A corpus-based approach to online materials development for writing research articles.
English for Specific Purposes 30(3): 222–234.
Charles, M
2007 Reconciling top-down and bottom-up approaches to graduate writing: Using a corpus to teach rhetorical functions.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes 6(4): 289–302.
Charles, M
2012 ‘Proper vocabulary and juicy collocations’: EAP students evaluate do-it-yourself corpus building.
English for Specific Purposes 31(2): 93–102.
Feez, S
2002 Heritage and innovation in second language education. In
Genre in the Classroom: Multiple Perspectives,
A.M. Johns (ed.), 43–72. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Fløttum, K., Dahl, T. & Kinn, T
Flowerdew, L
2010 Using a corpus for writing instruction. In
The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Linguistics,
A. O’Keeffe &
M. McCarthy (eds), 444–457. London: Routledge.
Geisler, C
1994 Literacy and expertise in the academy.
Language and Learning Across the Disciplines 1(1): 35–57.
Gibbs, G. & Simpson, C
2004–5. Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning.
Learning and Teaching in Higher Education 1: 3–31.
Gilquin, G., Granger, S. & Paquot, M
2007 Learner corpora: The missing link in EAP pedagogy.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes 6(4): 319–335.
Granger, S
2003 The International Corpus of Learner English: A new resource for foreign language learning and teaching and second language acquisition research.
TESOL Quarterly 37(3): 538–546.
Granger, S., Meunier, F., & Dagneaux, E
2002 The International Corpus of Learner English. Handbook and CD-ROM. Louvain-la-Neuve: Presses Universitaires de Louvain.
Guinda, C.S
2012 Proximal positioning in students’ graph commentaries. In
Stance and Voice in Written Academic Genres,
C.S. Guinda &
K. Hyland (eds), 166–183. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hyland, K
2000 Disciplinary Discourses: Social Interactions in Academic Writing. Harlow: Longman.
Hyland, K
2008 Genre and academic writing in the disciplines.
Language Teaching 41(4): 543–562.
Jacobs, C
2007 Towards a critical understanding of the teaching of discipline-specific academic literacies: Making the tacit explicit (Kenton Special Issue).
Journal of Education 41: 59–81.
Johns, A.M
2008 Genre awareness for the novice academic student: An ongoing quest.
Language Teaching 41(2): 237–252.
Kanoksilapatham, B
2005 Rhetorical structure of biochemistry research articles.
English for Specific Purposes 24(3): 269–292.
Kearney, S
2013 Improving engagement: The use of ‘authentic self- and peer-assessment for learning’ to enhance the student learning experience.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 38(7): 875–891.
Kress, G
2010 Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication. London: Routledge.
Krishnamurthy, R. & Kosem, I
2007 Issues in creating a corpus for EAP pedagogy and research.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes 6(4): 356–373.
Kosem, I
2008 User-friendly corpus tools for language teaching and learning. In
Proceedings of the 8th Teaching and Language Corpora Conference,
A. Frankenberg-Garcia (ed.), 183–192. Lisbon: Associação de Estudos e de Investigação do ISLA-Lisboa.
Lee, D. & Swales, J.M
2006 A corpus-based EAP course for NNS doctoral students: Moving from available specialized corpora to self-compiled corpora.
English for Specific Purposes 25(1): 56–75.
Lemke, J
1998 Multiplying meaning: Visual and verbal semiotics in scientific text. In
Reading Science: Critical and Functional Perspectives on Discourses of Science,
J.R. Martin &
R. Veel (eds), 87–113. London: Routledge.
Liu, Y. & Owyong, Y.S.M
2011 Metaphor, multiplicative meaning and the semiotic construction of scientific knowledge.
Language Sciences 33(5): 822–834.
Luzón, M.J
2009 The use of we in a learner corpus of reports written by EFL engineering students.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes 8(3): 192–206.
Martin, J.R. & Rose, D
2012 Learning to Write/Reading to Learn: Genre, Knowledge and Pedagogy in the Sydney School: Scaffolding Democracy in Literacy Classrooms. Sheffield: Equinox.
Nicol, D
2009 Assessment for learner self-regulation: Enhancing achievements in the first year using learning technologies.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 34(3): 335–352.
Nicol, D. & Macfarlane-Dick, D
2006 Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice.
Studies in Higher Education 31(2): 199–218.
Nordrum, L., Evans, K. & Gustafsson, M
2013 Comparing student learning experiences of in-text commentary and rubric-articulated feedback: Strategies for formative assessment.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 38(8): 919–940.
O’Donovan, B., Price, M. & Rust, C
2004 Know what I mean? Enhancing student understanding of assessment standards and criteria.
Teaching in Higher Education 9(3): 325–35.
O’Donnell, M
2008 The UAM corpus tool: Software for corpus annotation and exploration. In
Applied Linguistics Now: Understanding Language and Mind / La Lingüística Aplicada Hoy: Comprendiendo el Lenguaje y la Mente,
C.M. Bretones Callejas,
S. Salaberri Ramiro,
E. García Sánchez,
M.E. Cortés de los Ríos,
M.S. Cruz Martínez,
J.F. Fernández Sánchez,
J.R. Ibáñez Ibáñez,
N.P. Honeyman &
B. Cantizano Márquez (eds), 1433–1447. Almería: Universidad de Almería.
O’Halloran, K.L
2005 Mathematical Discourse: Language, Symbolism and Visual Images. London: Continuum.
Peters, S
2011 Asserting or deflecting expertise? Exploring the rhetorical practices of master’s theses in the philosophy of education.
English for Specific Purposes 30(3): 176–185.
Poe, M., Lerner, N. & Craig, J
2010 Learning to Communicate in Science and Engineering: Case Studies from MIT. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.
Posteguillo, S
1999 The schematic structure of computer science research articles.
English for Specific Purposes 18(2): 139–158.
Robinson, M.S., Stoller, F.L., Costanza-Robinson, Molly S. & Jones, J.K
2010 Write Like a Chemist. A Guide and Resource. Oxford: OUP.
Römer, U
2011 Corpus research applications in language teaching.
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 31: 205–225.
Roth, W.-M
2013 Data generation in the discovery sciences – learning from practices in an advanced research laboratory.
Research in Science Education 43(4): 1617–1644.
Roth, W.-M., Pozzer-Ardenghi, L. & Han, J.Y
2005 Critical Graphicacy: Understanding Visual Representation Practices in School Science. Dordrecht: Springer.
Sadler, D.R
1989 Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems.
Instructional Science 18: 119–144.
Samraj, B
2008 A discourse analysis of master’s theses across disciplines with a focus on introductions.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes 7(1): 55–67.
Sinclair, J.M
2001 Preface. In
Small Corpus Studies and ELT: Theory and Practice [
Studies in Corpus Linguistics 5],
M. Ghadessy,
A. Henry &
R.L. Roseberry (eds), vii–xv. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Smith, C.D., Worsfold, K., Davies, L., Fisher, R. & McPhail, R
2013 Assessment literacy and student learning: The case for explicitly developing students ‘assessment literacy’.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 38(1): 44–60.
Stoller, F.L. & Robinson, M.S
2013 Chemistry journal articles: An interdisciplinary approach to move analysis with pedagogical aims.
English for Specific Purposes 32, 45–57.
Swales, J.M
1990 Genre Analysis. English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: CUP.
Swales, J.M. & Feak, C.B
2004 Academic Writing for Graduate Students. Essential Tasks and Skills, 2nd edn. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press.
Swales, J.M. & Feak, C.B
2012 Academic Writing for Graduate Students. Essential Tasks and Skills, 3rd edn. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press.
Thompson, P. & Tribble, C
2001 Looking at citations: Using corpora in English for Academic Purposes.
Language Learning and Technology 5(3): 91–105.
Upton, T.A. & Cohen, M.A
2009 Discourse analysis. An approach to corpus-based discourse analysis: The move analysis as example.
Discourse Studies 11(5): 585–605.
Weber, J.J
2001 A concordance- and genre-informed approach to ESP essay writing.
ELT Journal 55(1): 14–20.
Wharton, S
2012 Epistemological and interpersonal stance in a data description task: Findings from a discipline-specific learner corpus.
English for Specific Purposes 31(4): 261–270.
Williams, I.A
1999 Results section of medical research articles.
English for Specific Purposes 18(4): 347–366.
Cited by
Cited by 3 other publications
Flowerdew, Lynne
2020.
The Academic Literacies approach to scholarly writing: a view through the lens of the ESP/Genre approach.
Studies in Higher Education 45:3
► pp. 579 ff.
Jin, Bixi
2018.
Rhetorical Differences in Research Article Discussion Sections of High- and Low-Impact Articles in the Field of Chemical Engineering.
IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 61:1
► pp. 65 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 19 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.