Browsing by Author "Connor, Ulla, 1948-"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 18
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Analyzing Topical Structure in ESL Essays: Not All Topics are Equal
    (Copyright © Cambridge University Press [BREAK]The original doi for the as-published version of the article is 10.1017/S0272263100009517. To access the doi, open the following DOI site in your browser and cut and paste the doi name where indicated: [LINK]http://dx.doi.org[/LINK][BREAK]Access to the original article may require subscription and authorized logon ID/password. IUPUI faculty/staff/students please check University Library resources before purchasing an article. Questions on finding the original article via our databases? Ask a librarian: [LINK]http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/research/askalibrarian[/LINK]., 1990) Schneider, Melanie; Connor, Ulla, 1948-
    Topical structure analysis (TSA), a text-based approach to the study of topic in discourse, has been useful in identifying text-based features of coherence. It has also been used to distinguish between essays written by groups of native English speakers with varying degrees of writing proficiency (Witte, 1983a, 1983b). More recently, TSA has distinguished between higher and lower rated ESL essays, but with different results from those found with native speakers of English (Connor & Schneider, 1988). The present study replicated the previous ESL study of two groups of essays written for the TOEFL Test of Written English with three groups of essays. Findings indicate that two topical structure variables, proportions of sequential and parallel topics in the essays, differentiate the highest rated group from the two lower rated groups. We offer explanations for the results and propose that all occurrences of a particular type of topic progression do not contribute equally to the coherence of a text.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Correctness and Clarity in Applying for Overseas Jobs: A Cross Cultural Analysis of U.S. and Flemish Applications
    (Publisher of the original article: Walter de Gruyter. [BREAK][LINK]http://www.degruyter.com/[/LINK], 1995) Connor, Ulla, 1948-; Davis, Ken, 1945-; Rycker, Teun de
    This study examined cross-cultural similarities and differences between US and Flemish letters of job application as a promotional business-writing genre. Altogether 74 letters were collected and analyzed for 'correctness' and 'clarity', two linguistic properties that strongly correlate with communicative success in getting invited for a job interview. The results show that a typical US applicant writes more than the Flemish applicant and makes fewer mistakes. Differences were also found in the degree of clarity, i.e., content and length of information. The typical US applicant provided more supporting arguments for the application, discussed benefits for the employer and the applicant, but was not as direct in asking for an interview. The results correspond with previous contrastive rhetoric research showing cultural differences in writing for specific purposes (Bhatia, 1993; Jenkins and Hinds, 1987; Maier, 1992).
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Culture in an English-language Training Program
    (Publisher of original article: Chinese University Press. Copyright © 2004 Chinese University Press[BREAK]The definitive publisher-authenticated version of: Connor, Ulla, Rozycki, William, and Kyle McIntosh. "Culture in an English-Language Training Program". Asian Journal of English Language Teaching 16, (2006): 89-112, is available online at:[BREAK][LINK]http://cup.cuhk.edu.hk/ojs/index.php/AJELT/issue/view/30[/LINK][BREAK]Access to the original article may require subscription and authorized logon ID/password. IUPUI faculty/staff/students please check University Library resources before purchasing an article. Questions on finding the original article via our databases? Ask a librarian: [LINK]http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/research/askalibrarian[/LINK]., 2006) Connor, Ulla, 1948-; Rozycki, William V.; McIntosh, Kyle
    The received notion of culture as monolithic national identity has in recent decades given way to a new conceptualization. Culture is increasingly viewed as dynamic and multidimensional. Culture can include national or ethnic, but also disciplinary or professional, institutional, consumer, technological, and individual dimensions. This new understanding of culture plays a role in analysis of relationships in the English language classroom between students and instructor, and in negotiations between students and administrators.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Discourse Analysis and Writing/Reading Instruction
    (Copyright © 1991 Cambridge University Press.[BREAK]The definitive publisher-authenticated version of: Ulla Connor. "Discourse Analysis and Writing/reading Instruction". Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 11 (1990):164-180, is available online at:[BREAK][LINK]http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?iid=2708164[/LINK][BREAK]Access to the original article may require subscription and authorized logon ID/password. Please check University Library resources before purchasing an article via the publisher. Questions on finding the original article via our databases? Ask a librarian:[BREAK][LINK]http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/research/askalibrarian[/LINK][BREAK], 1990) Connor, Ulla, 1948-
    In the 1984 volume of the Annual review of applied linguistics, Grabe (1985) presented a comprehensive discussion of discourse analysis explaning its history, frameworks, models, taxonomies, and operationalizations. The approach of the present article complements Grabe's as a review with a more direct concern for instructional applications of discourse analysis in student reading and writing.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Discourse Approaches to Writing Assessment
    (Copyright © 2002 Cambridge University Press[BREAK] Original publisher version at: [LINK]http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1394200401&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=13225&RQT=309&VName=PQD[/LINK].[BREAK]Access to the original article may require subscription and authorized logon ID/password. IUPUI faculty/staff/students please check University Library resources before purchasing an article. Questions on finding the original article via our databases? Ask a librarian: [LINK]http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/research/askalibrarian[/LINK]., 2002) Connor, Ulla, 1948-; Mbaye, Aymerou
    At present, mastery of English for educational and professional purposes contributes significantly to expansion of the role of English as a language of world communication. In this context, the teaching--and, consequently, the assessment--of EFL/ESL writing is receiving more attention than ever before. This chapter argues that, although this renewed interest in the evaluation of writing has resulted in advances in the field of language testing, it has by and large failed to incorporate insights gained from recent developments in text analysis. There is a considerable gap between current practices in writing assessment and criteria suggested by advances in knowledge of discourse structure. We illustrate this gap by contrasting current practices in the scoring of two major EFL/ESL writing tests with knowledge of text characteristics generated from recent developments in text analysis. The review concludes by making the case for bridging the gap and by proposing a model of writing assessment that incorporates both linguistic and discoursal features of texts.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    An ESP Reading Course: Methods and Materials
    (2008-10-13T19:29:42Z) Kiefer, Marvin R.; Connor, Ulla, 1948-; Duerksen, Aye Nu E.; Orlando, Honnor
    This research project evaluated four reading projects and their authentic materials. The projects were used in a U.S. university ESP program for post-bachelor Afghan students. By utilizing field-related American biographies, online academic articles, various news articles, field-specific article databases, and short fiction for in-depth reading and writing projects, the Afghan students’ reading performances proved and disproved the relevance and importance of these authentic materials as ways to improve their IBT TOEFL reading scores and academic reading proficiencies related to their future work at a U.S. graduate school. Data were collected and evaluated from three TOEFL scores and an in-depth, post program survey.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    "Everything in the Middle:" A Case Study of a Generation 1.5 Student's Academic Writing Process
    (2009-09-30T18:32:58Z) Zwald, Regan Lee; Connor, Ulla, 1948-; Upton, Thomas A. (Thomas Albin); Beck, M. Catherine
    This case study of a Generation 1.5 university student presents the participant’s experiences in an EAP writing course and a text analysis of her revision process in that course. The study shows the participant's complex educational and English language learning experiences both before and after her immigration to the U.S.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Exploring the Dynamics of Cross-Cultural Collaboration in Writing Classrooms
    ([BREAK]Publisher of the original article: TWI Publications. Copyright © 1990, TWI Publications. From the publisher's web site: "We are committed to the open access publishing model."[BREAK], 1990) Allaei, Sara Kurtz; Connor, Ulla, 1948-
    As teachers of writing have adopted the idea that writing should be taught as a process ,from the generation of ideas to the fine-tuning of the final editing, much interest has been focused on the use of peer collaboration at various stages of the writing process, particularly in guiding students in responding to the writing of peers. Bruffee ("'Conversation'"), an early advocate of the use of peer collaboration, argues that "collaborative learning provides the kind of social context .... in which normal discourse occurs: a community of knowledgeable peers". In this context, "students can practice and master the normal discourse exercised in established communities in the academic world and in business , government and the professions" (644). Of course, students are not yet members of these established knowledge communities, but Gere argues that they can negotiate their way toward acceptable discourse: many of the comments they make as they respond to each other's writing begin with the phrase, "I don't know..." or "I don't think...". Student writers comment on and question their own work: they ask, "Does this example make sense here?", or "I'm trying to show why Joe is so alienated from his family. Does this idea come trough clearly?" (70)
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Grant Proposal Writing: A Case Study of an International Postdoctoral Researcher
    (2008-10-09T17:48:11Z) Strickland, Clyde William; Connor, Ulla, 1948-; Rozycki, William V.; Upton, Thomas A. (Thomas Albin)
    The subject of this case study is an international postdoc, a principal investigator of a large medical research laboratory. The study’s objective: examine the systematic process of writing a grant proposal in L2 English from start to finish. Obtaining original computer files exempt from being saved-over became a significant obstacle in examining the systematic process. Ethnographic data reveal pedagogical implications for L2 instruction in grasping the big picture, summarizing to fit word limitations, understanding the application process, familiarity of the grant genre of a specific discipline, and the skills to network with peers. This study opens the door to further studies that might provide a better window of understanding in the systematic writing process of an international postdoctoral’s grant proposal.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The impact of health beliefs and culture on health literacy and treatment of diabetes among French speaking West African immigrants
    (2010-02-01T16:03:35Z) Ndiaye, Malick; Connor, Ulla, 1948-; Smith, Frank M.; Orlando, Honnor
    Talks about health literacy, beliefs about health of immigrants from the French speaking countries of West Africa in the USA. How they handle diabetes, navigate the health care system and how they get their information.