Topical Structure Analysis as an Assessment Tool in Student Academic Writing

Eden Regala-Flores, Kexiu Yin

Abstract


In an attempt to establish the validity of Topical Structure Analysis (TSA) as an assessment tool in student academic writing, this study applies TSA in both high- and low-rated comparison-and-contrast essays. Following Simpson’s (2000) model, the study consists of two parts. The first part quantitatively describes the physical structure of freshman college students’ high- and low-quality comparison-and-contrast essays, and the second part presents how the topical development is carried out in the said essays. Results show that although there is a remarkable parallel preference of topical progressions between the two groups of data, over 60 percent of independent clauses in the low-quality writing introduce new topics compared to less than 50 percent in high-quality writing samples. Two-proportion z-test shows that the difference is significant, p=.012 <.05. Therefore, it may be inferred that low-quality writing tends to introduce more new topics in the independent clauses than in high-quality writing.

 

Keywords: topical progressions; internal coherent structure; sentence elements; students’ essays; TSA


DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/3L-2015-2101-10


Full Text:

PDF

References


Almaden, D. O. (2006). An analysis of the topical structure of paragraphs written by Filipino students. The Asia-Pacific Education Research, 15(1), 127-153.

Carreon, M.E.C. (2006). Unguarded patterns of thinking: Physical and topical structure analysis of student journals. The Asia-Pacific education research, 15(1), 155-182.

Connor, U., & Kaplan, R. B. (1987). Writing across languages: Analysis of L2 text. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Connor, U., & Farmer, M. (1990). The teaching of TSA as a revision strategy for ESL writers. In B. Kroll (Ed.), Second language writing: research insights for the classroom (pp. 126-139). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Connor, U. (1996). Contrastive Rhetoric: Cross-cultural Aspects of Second Language Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dumanig, F. P., Esteban, I. C. Lee, Y. P., Gan, A. D. (2009). Topical structure analysis of American and Philippine editorials. Journal for the Advancement of Science and Arts 1(1), 63-71.

Ghabanchi, Z., & Avali, S. Z. (2011). The relationship between types of paragraphs and topic progression used in paragraphs written by Iranian EFL students. Journal of International Education Research-Fourth Quarter, 7, 39-46. In S. Liangprayoon, W. Chaya, & T. Thep-ackraphong, (2013). The effect of topical structure analysis instruction on university students’ writing quality. English Language Teaching, 6(7), 60-71.

Jonassen, D. H. (1991). Objectivism versus constructivism: Do we need a new philosophical paradigm? Educational Technology Research and Development, 39(3), 5-14.

Kawaguchi, K., Haenouchi, H., & Ichinose, S. (2010). Thematic structure analysis of Japanese advanced EFL college student writing. In A. M. Stoke (Ed.), JALT2009 Conference Proceedings. Tokyo: JALT.

Lautamatti, L. (1987). Observations on the development of the topic in simplified discourse. In U. Connor & R. B. Kaplan (Eds.), Writing Across Languages: Analysis of L2 Texts (pp. 87-114). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company Inc.

Liangprayoon, S., Chaya, W., & Thep-ackraphong, T. (2013). The effect of topical structure analysis instruction on university students’ writing quality. English Language Teaching, 6(7), 60-71.

Matsuda, P. K. (2001). On the origin of contrastive rhetoric: A response to “The Origin of Contrastive Rhetoric Revisited” by H. G. Ying (2000). International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 11, 257–260.

Oshima, A., & Hogue, A. (2006). Introduction to academic writing (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Longman. In S. Liangprayoon, W. Chaya, & T. Thep-ackraphong, (2013). The effect of topical structure analysis instruction on university students’ writing quality. English Language Teaching, 6(7), 60-71.

Silva, T. (1990) Second language composition instruction: developments, issues, and directions in ESL. In B. Kroll (Ed.), Second language writing: research insights for the classroom (pp. 11-23). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Simpson, J. M. (2000). Topical structure analysis of academic paragraphs in English and Spanish. Journal of Second Language Writing, 9(3), 293-309.

Sommers, N. I. (1978). Revision in the composing process: A case study of experimental writers and student writer. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Boston University. In B. Kroll (Ed.), Second language writing: research insights for the classroom (pp.126-139). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Zamel, V. (1983). The composition processes of advanced ESL students: Six case studies. TESOL Quarterly 17, 165-187.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


 

 

 

eISSN : 2550-2247

ISSN : 0128-5157