ENGLISH LANGUAGE IV-2021

1st MIDTERM EXAM

Name:.....Martinez Paula...................................
Date: ........June 14th..............................

Mark: NOT ACCEPTED (44%)

A) ACADEMIC LISTENING STRATEGIES12/25=48%

You will listen to part of a lecture by Scott Thornbury, a recognized linguist and
methodologist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf4IfEbxF4s

1. Listen and complete the outline with relevant information.

2. Label the unnamed sections.

A. Topic/Concept The history of (1) ………………communicative language tteaching

B. ……dogme Selected four key (2) ……dates……………………….in his timeline.

Warm-up / Introduction Good example to practise (3) …speaking activities with students.

simple past

C. Warning! No teaching method is brought into existence

40 years on! (4) …………without metholodogy overnight…………………

Inevitably influenced by the (5) ideological…… developments of the

 time.

1960’s →: Scott was raised in a (6) ……school song……in Britain

D. ………Origins…of
mono-cultural, (7) mono-sexual and monolingual environment.
the approach……….

Context / Background

1966 Hymes introduced (8) …his paper “on communicative

competence.

Learning a language ≠ mastering its grammar & (9) ………lexis…

Newmark: impossibility to learn every single discreet unit. Focus

E. Early steps placed on the (10) …methodology, on the whole

picture………………………

Proposed building curriculum on (11) dialogues/scenarios

task based approach……………………………..

Pete Corder: a language is not a (12) …knowledge… subject but a

set of (13) …skills………………………………

Alexander: students must learn a language without

(14) ………grammatical structures making mistakes

F. pedagogical (15) …dialog rather transmision of facts Drills: the best method to
principle
learn the structure of the language.
Structural / Traditional
Methods More examples from Abbs, Cook and Underwood (1978).

3. Now, listen to the talk again and mark the statements below T (True),
F (False) or DS (Doesn’t Say).

a) In 1986, after earning a PhD, Scott moved to Spain. _T__

b) Due to technical problems, he jokes at the beginning about presenting an

“underview” of the teaching method. __f_

c) Right in the middle of his talk, Scott checks whether the audience remembers
why he chose to be a teacher. _DS__F
d) At first, Thornbury openly refused to use First Things First in his classes. _F__DS

e) In the late 70’s, Portman and Weingarten prompted teachers to deconstruct

traditional models of education. __T_

f) Paulo Freire never ventured into teaching a second/foreign language. _F DS___

g) Paraphrasing Freire, Thornbury concludes that meaningful education comes

down to communication. _DS T___

B) ACADEMIC DISCOURSE 7/17= 41%

1. Read the following RA Abstract and identify its moves. 4/5

2. Analyze the first sentence according to the types studied and refer to the way in
which it is linked with the second sentence. 0/2

Effects of ASR-based websites on EFL learners’ vocabulary,

speaking anxiety, and language enjoyment

Abstract
(1) A vocabulary deficit negatively affects students’ language performance.
(2) Emotions such as speaking anxiety and language enjoyment in the
English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom can affect students’
achievements as well. (3) We investigated the effects of two Automatic
Speech Recognition (ASR)-based websites, I Love Indonesia (ILI) and
NovoLearning (NOVO), on students’ vocabulary knowledge, speaking
anxiety, and language enjoyment. (4) A total of 232 secondary school
students in Indonesia participated in our quasi-experimental study. (5)
They were divided into three groups: two experimental groups received
ASR-based intervention (ILI, NOVO), and a control group attended regular
classes. (6) Findings revealed that the students from the two experimental
groups (ILI and NOVO) significantly outperformed those of the control
group: both websites successfully increased the students’ knowledge of the
targeted vocabulary (40 words), reduced the students’ level of speaking
anxiety, and stimulated the students’ language enjoyment. (7) Additionally,
we interviewed 12 of these students and three English teachers. (8) These
qualitative outcomes corroborate the quantitative conclusions. (9) Future
studies should investigate further benefits of ASR-based websites on
speaking skills, especially for long term effects, with in-depth evaluations,
as this would help teachers to optimally design and adapt these systems for
foreign language learning.

Move 1 b: Starting with Real World Phenomenom.

Move 3: Methods
Move 4: Findings
Move 5: conclusion (general implications)

2. The first sentence is linked with the second one by using a capturing subject. (The
second part of the first sentence is used as the first part of the second sentence).

2. Read the following RA Introduction. Write a paragraph, using an appropriate

academic style, in which you explore the rhetorical pattern known as the “create-a-
research-space” (Swales, 1990) model. Be sure you include names for moves and
sub-moves, sentence numbers, and examples from the text that justify your choices.
Within the analysis, indicate which option for establishing a niche has been chosen.
3/10

Examining lexical features and academic vocabulary use in

adolescent L2 students’ text-based analytical essays

Introduction
(1) Developing proficiency in academic writing is a requisite for college and career
success (Scarcella, 2003), and students who strive to pursue a path of higher
education must learn to use academic language effectively in a variety of content
areas. (2) For academic language development, students’ vocabulary knowledge and
lexical competence play an important role, and the deployment of academic
vocabulary is a relevant dimension of academic language skills. (3) As the school
tasks become increasingly complex throughout middle and high school,
adolescent writers are expected to know and use academic vocabulary effectively in
order to be successful in school (Nagy & Townsend, 2012). (4) However, productive
use of advanced, academic vocabulary can be particularly challenging for
adolescent L2 writers who are developing their language proficiency. (5) Having rich
and complex vocabulary, as well as an in-depth knowledge of academic register, is
needed to engage in an academic discourse. (6) Both the breadth and depth of
students’ academic vocabulary, therefore, are crucial components that contribute
to the quality of their academic writing. (7) Over the past several decades, there
has been considerable learner-corpora based research that has examined
the lexical features of students’ writing. (8) The development of linguistic analysis
tools and software programs, such as Coh-Metrix (McNamara et al., 2014),
VocabProfiler (Cobb, 2018) and TAALES or Tool for the Automatic Analysis of
Lexical Sophistication (Kyle et al., 2018) have made important contributions to
lexical analyses of corpus data. (9) These tools have been used in numerous studies
to analyze the lexical features of learner-generated texts and how various lexical
features relate to language proficiency and writing quality (Crossley & McNamara,
2012; Crossley et al., 2011;2014; Durrant et al., 2019; Guo et al., 2013; Kin &
Crossley, 2018). (10) These studies demonstrate that vocabulary measures and
lexical analysis of students’ writing are crucial and useful indicators of students’
writing and language development and offer a window into how one’s lexicon affects
the quality of writing.

(11) However, much of the research exploring the lexical features of student writing
and text analysis of learner corpora have focused on student writing at the collegiate
and pre-collegiate levels in a post-secondary context. (12) In fact, adolescent L2
students in the secondary education setting, despite their growing rate, are an
underexplored group in the field of L2 writing and have remained "outside the
purview" in L2 research (Ortmeier-Hooper & Enright, 2011, p. 167). (13) This study
focuses on adolescent L2 students in mainstream classrooms in US public secondary
education settings to analyze their productive vocabulary use within the context of
academic writing. (14) To examine lexical attributes and academic vocabulary use in
text-based analytical essays written by adolescent L2 students, this study focuses on
lexical density, lexical variation or diversity, and lexical sophistication, which are
three main types of measure suitable for quantitative analysis of productive
vocabulary (Durrant et al., 2019; Read, 2000). (15) The goals of this research are
multiple: to analyze broadly the lexical features of text-based analytical writing on
the aforementioned vocabulary measures, to examine specifically the extent to which
adolescent L2 students incorporate academic vocabulary in their writing, and to
investigate how these three lexical features (density, variation, and sophistication)
predict the human-judged quality of text-based analytical essays. (16) The achieved
outcomes, on the whole, are valuable in the sense that they will inform researchers
and practitioners of not only the relation between lexical features and writing quality
in text-based analytical essays but also the lexical skills adolescent L2 writers need to
meet the demands of academic writing.

To begin with, from sentence number 1 to sentence number 3, the author establishes
a research territory (move 1 a). He is claiming centrality by stating the importance of
acquiring proficiency in academic writing for college and career success. This is
possible to be recognized by the using this words: “Developing proficiency in
academic writing is a requisite for college and career success (Scarcella, 2003), and
students who strive to pursue a path of higher education must learn to use academic
language effectively in a variety of content areas. (2) For academic language
development, students’ vocabulary knowledge and lexical competence play an
important role, and the deployment of academic vocabulary is a relevant dimension
of academic language skills.”

Moreover, from sentence number 4 up to sentence number 12 (included), the author

establishes the niche (Move 2 a) by indicating a gap. This can be seen through the
introduction of the first “however” in sentence number 4 which indicates a brake in
the line of reasoning. Besides, from sentence number 7 to sentence number 12 he
indicates more than one gap, so this means that this kind of move is recycling due to
the fact that these sentences include comments about previous research and in
sentence number 11 another “however” is introduced. All these comments mentioned
previously can be seen in the following example: “Over the past several decades,
there has been considerable learner-corpora based research that has examined the
lexical features of students’ writing. (8) The development of linguistic analysis tools
and software programs, such as Coh-Metrix (McNamara et al., 2014), VocabProfiler
(Cobb, 2018) and TAALES or Tool for the Automatic Analysis of Lexical
Sophistication (Kyle et al., 2018) have made important contributions to lexical
analyses of corpus data. (9) These tools have been used in numerous studies to
analyze the lexical features of learner-generated texts and how various lexical
features relate to language proficiency and writing quality (Crossley & McNamara,
2012; Crossley et al., 2011;2014; Durrant et al., 2019; Guo et al., 2013; Kin &
Crossley, 2018).”

To conclude, from sentences number 13 up to the end, the author is occupying the
niche by stating the purpose (move 3 a) of the study for example, “This study focuses
on…”. The same happens in sentence number 14, “To examine lexical attributes and
academic vocabulary use in text-based analytical essays written by adolescent L2
students, this study focuses on lexical density…”and in sentence number 15 “ The
goals of this research are multiple”. In sentence number 16, the author announced
some findings, and this can be clearly seen in this example: (16) The achieved
outcomes, on the whole, are valuable in the sense that they will inform researchers
and practitioners of not only the relation between lexical features and writing quality
in text-based analytical essays but also the lexical skills adolescent L2 writers need to
meet the demands of academic writing.
C) WRITING: Not Passing (45%)

1. Writing a short story SCENE

Choose ONE of the following text extracts or images and write a suitable scene (350
words).

I don’t sleep well, especially these nights when dissatisfaction crests up through me like some
awful wave. Where it will come to land and how much damage it will do, I don’t know. Large
change is ahead, I feel myself hurtling towards and through it, but I can’t fathom where I will land.
It’s a brew of unrest and boredom, the primeval itch to be elsewhere, a search for a settle-spot
and a way to get there. It’s a need for a plan.

From “The Nighttide” by Nuala O’Connor

I was still complaining about what to do. Full of rage. All the emptiness of my heart let me recognized
I hadn’t accept it. I love him dearly, but it was not possible to forgive him for such an episode. Those
bodies will chase me forever. He was always present every day and night, in every breath I take.
Something unsolved. I did not want to think even in that poor idea of a turning point in all my
miserable life. “More changes?. New sensations?” What a stressfull moment. It was as I was falling
as if I was in a dream, but I was not. Those feelings and thoughts were overtaking my brains. “What?”.
I continue wondering..”Why?. I finally got there. I finally came to land, but nobody was there. Nobody
who I was expecting to was there, or at least that was I thought. I remembered I did my best but I
couldn’t. It was a rimy morning, a cold, freezing winter morning., I could feel the damp completely
lying on the bare hedges and spare grass. One or two trees that were not swaying as if it was the
perfect picture with the moonlight in a horror story, but they were all covered with layers of thick ice. I
knew I had to start looking for shelter, otherwise I will freeze to death. After trudging for at least half an
hour, the fog let me visualize an isolated house in the middle of nowhere. “Arthur?. Could you hear
me?.Are you there?. I know nobody except for you could feel that nip in the air”. a perfect silhouette
of a middle-aged woman with chesnut brown hair questioned from the inside. No movements.
Complete silence. Heavy breath. Worried. She told the person next to her they should search for me.
“Please, hurry up”. The tall man with dark thick hair in the red sofa suddenly stood up and without
paying attention he put his black jacket and white hat. “What?”. The man brushed the trigger smootly
as if he was a serial assassin.

Creates a nice atmosphere of regret and suspense.

Employs some strong sensory images.
Appropriate inclusion of direct speech, though, do not overuse it.
Scene in part does not clearly spring from given excerpt. It is somehow difficult to understand some
events in the narrative sequence. If you want to include quotes from other literary works, remember
you have to acknowledge them somehow.
Many serious problems with grammar and punctuation.
Mind verb tenses.