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Organization Strategies in EFL Expository Essays in a Content-Based Language Learning Course

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Abstract

Attaining coherence in writing remains a huge challenge for English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners. This study investigated how EFL college students structured their expository essays and attained coherence in a content-based language learning course by comparing the effects of the cognitive and linguistic approaches. Three classes participated, each of which was introduced to a scaffold: linguistic Theme–Rheme (TR), an approach to examine text structure, cognitive concept mapping (CM), tools to structure content knowledge, and a traditional approach for the control group. Pre- and post-knowledge tests and post-intervention essays were collected. The results showed that prior knowledge and different organization strategies played different roles in predicting overall writing scores and, specifically, the organization scores. Generally, a wider range of organization features predicted CM group’s essays. Among the organization features, linear thematic progression, often contributing to effective flow, consistently predicted both overall writing and organization scores in the combined samples, and had the strongest predictive power in the TR group. By contrast, none of the organization features was found to significantly predict the control group’s writing performance. The results suggest that the two experimental approaches have different potentials in developing different organization strategies in attaining coherence in writing.

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Notes

  1. A clause in every language exhibits three metafunctions: interpersonal, textual, and ideational (Halliday and Kirkwood 1993). Interpersonal meanings deal with attitude and author–reader engagement; textual meanings concern how a text is organized; and ideational meanings involve the substance or content of the text.

  2. While it is possible that different essay topics may suggest different levels of difficulty, we have very carefully written the essay topics to make sure they are broad in a way that students in either group can equally develop their ideas to their fullest. These topics actually converge in numerous messages sent in all the 6 talks.

  3. While producing a summary map might suggest possible recency effect in learning, the summary done in the CM group is not a critical aspect evaluated. Instead, it was the extent to which the students organized and transformed what they have learned that was evaluated in the CBLL-informed class. Given this, summary, mostly related to repeating facts or ideas, was far from sufficient based on our evaluation rubrics. Instead, the ability to interpret, generalize, and infer from what is learned is valued more to be convincing and show depth of understanding, as depicted in the evaluation rubrics.

  4. The second rater is a secondary school English teacher and was the first author’s research assistant, who was very familiar with theories and research related to academic writing.

  5. First, the students generally lacked the knowledge to write a formal expository essay to be compared to a post-test essay. Expository essay is not a genre commonly tested in the entrance exams, which therefore may be too demanding for the students. Second, given that writing has been a daunting task to these students, obliging them to write in the beginning of the course may very likely have negative affective impact which causes them to drop the course.

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Acknowledgements

This research work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan [Grant No. MOST 104–2410-H-003–057] and the “Institute for Research Excellence in Learning Sciences” of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) from The Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 162, Heping East Road Section 1, Taipei, 10610, Taiwan

    Peichin Chang

  2. Program of Learning Sciences & Institute for Research Excellence in Learning Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 162, Heping East Road Section 1, Taipei, 10610, Taiwan

    Chin-Chung Tsai

  3. Teacher Education Center, Ming Chuan University, No. 5, Deming Rd., Guishan Dist., Taoyuan, 333, Taiwan

    Pin-ju Chen

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  1. Peichin Chang
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  2. Chin-Chung Tsai
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  3. Pin-ju Chen
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Correspondence to Peichin Chang.

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Appendices

Appendix A: Examples of Students’ Theme–Rheme Analysis and Concept Map Drawing

TR Group

Student A: TED Talk – Psychedelic Science

Identifying MT (operationalized as Bigger Wave in class) and HT (operationalized as Medium Waves).

figure f

Student A: TED Talk – Taking Imagination Seriously

Identifying TP (operationalized as Small Waves in class).

figure g

CM Group

Student B: TED Talk – Summary Map

figure h

Appendix B: Knowledge Pre-test

Quiz: Your initial understanding about art

  1. 1.

    Modern art is generally characterized by which of the following feature?

  2. (A)

    orderly

  3. (B)

    realistic

  4. (C)

    abstract

  5. 2.

    What may be considered an innovation in artistic creation?

  6. (A)

    A sculpture which can move with wind.

  7. (B)

    A wall projected with multi-colored lights.

  8. (C)

    A door which opens automatically whenever people approach.

  9. 3.

    In creating an art work, which of the following may be LESS likely a challenge for artists?

  10. (A)

    Searching for innovative materials.

  11. (B)

    Collaborating with people from different fields.

  12. (C)

    Negotiating with potential buyers.

  13. 4.

    Which of the following topics can be a potential topic for artistic creation?

  14. (A)

    Tsunami.

  15. (B)

    A library.

  16. (C)

    Sound wave.

  17. (D)

    All of the above.

  18. 5.

    Which of the following statement may better characterize art?

  19. (A)

    Life imitates art.

  20. (B)

    Art refreshes people.

  21. (C)

    Running business is art.

  22. 6.

    Why is imagination so important in artistic creation?

  23. (A)

    Imagination often pushes the limit of artistic creation.

  24. (B)

    Imagination can accommodate an artist’s weak skill.

  25. (C)

    Imagination can help artists to escape from real life.

  26. 7.

    Which of the following statement is true?

  27. (A)

    Art is something that ordinary people cannot do.

  28. (B)

    Art is an irrational approach to its surroundings.

  29. (C)

    Science and art have been a good match in artistic creation.

  30. 8.

    Which of the following materials can be used to create art?

  31. (A)

    fishnet

  32. (B)

    alcohol

  33. (C)

    wine bottles

  34. (D)

    all of the above

  35. 9.

    What may art do?

  36. (A)

    To remind people of noticing the beauty in the world.

  37. (B)

    To innovate life and make it more convenient.

  38. (C)

    To convince people art is easy to define.

  39. 10.

    How may an artist become socially responsible?

  40. (A)

    in helping a sick child feel happy again.

  41. (B)

    in making the 911 disaster funny so people will remember it.

  42. (C)

    in revealing the darkest soul of the artist.

  43. 11.

    Why do people suffer from gallery fatigue?

  44. (A)

    They have little experience going to the museum.

  45. (B)

    They could not find people to explain the paintings to them.

  46. (C)

    They do not feel connected to every painting on the wall.

  47. 12.

    What is special in Johannes Vermeer's “Girl with a Pearl Earring” ?

  48. (A)

    The plain clothes.

  49. (B)

    The bright colors.

  50. (C)

    The special material used.

  51. 13.

    What does it mean that beauty is in the “culturally conditioned” eye of the beholder?

  52. (A)

    Everyone has his or her own criteria about what is beautiful

  53. (B)

    Beauty is closely related to personal tastes

  54. (C)

    People from the same culture share common views about beauty

  55. 14.

    Why is beauty sometimes universal?

  56. (A)

    Appreciating beautiful things requires much knowledge

  57. (B)

    Appreciating beautiful things takes much experience in touring around the world

  58. (C)

    Appreciating beautiful things may be deep in our genes

  59. 15.

    Arts and crafts are usually not two separate terms in most cultures. What aspect of arts can be derived from this view?

  60. (A)

    practicality

  61. (B)

    simplicity

  62. (C)

    originality

Appendix C

Essay Scoring Rubrics

Criteria

Sub-components

Mechanics (8)

Length (1–3)

 

“1″: write far under the prescribed word limit

“2″: write slightly under the prescribed word limit

“3″: fall within the prescribed word limit

 

Grammar (1–5)

 

“1″: Mostly ungrammatical and seriously affect comprehension

“2″: Numerous grammatical mistakes which affect comprehension

“3″: Some grammatical mistakes and somewhat affect comprehension

“4″–“5″: Contains few/fewer grammatical mistakes and comprehension is not compromised

Vocabulary (10)

Vocabulary/usage (1–10)

 

“1″–“2″: Very weak command of vocabulary and inaccurate usage

“3″–“4″: Weak command of vocabulary and many inaccurate usages

“5″–“6″: Acceptable command of vocabulary and usages

“7″–“8″: Good command of vocabulary and usages (somewhat rich and use of vocabulary introduced in the talks)

“9″–“10″: Excellent command of vocabulary and usages (rich and use of vocabulary introduced in the talks)

Genre (5)

Expository essay structure and tone (1–5)

 

“1″–“2″: Lack of both structure (i.e., Intro, body, and conclusion) and argument (i.e., thesis statement, evidence/justification, and concluding remarks)

“3″–“4″: Structure and argument not fully developed

“5″: Well structured and argument fully developed

Organization (10)

Local/inter-sentential connection (1–5)

Global coherence (1–5)

 

“1″–“2″: Local/inter-sentential connection is absent or very weak, so is the same with global coherence

“3″: Local/inter-sentential connection is present but is sometimes ineffective, so is the same with global coherence

“4″–“5″: Local/inter-sentential connection is satisfactory, making the argument easy to follow and so is the same with global coherence

Content (15)

Convincing (1–5)

 

“1″–“2″: Lacks a central line of argument (i.e., random thoughts)

“3″: Somewhat maintains a central line of argument

“4″–“5″: Maintains a line of argument and argues effectively

 

Use of Evidence (1–5)

 

“1″- “2″: Mostly unfounded claims

“3″: Some use of evidence (some appropriate and some not) to support the claims

“4″–“5″: Good use of evidence to effectively supports the claims

 

Depth of Understanding (1–5)

 

“1″–“2″: Mostly descriptive and presents random facts taken from the talks

“3″: Somewhat effective attempts to interpret beyond the facts

“4″–“5″: Able to generalize and infer what is introduced in the talks

Total

48

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Chang, P., Tsai, CC. & Chen, Pj. Organization Strategies in EFL Expository Essays in a Content-Based Language Learning Course. Asia-Pacific Edu Res 29, 183–197 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-019-00464-2

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