1. Judy Axelby & Nick Moore Sheffield Hallam University
Playing Catch-Up: Linguistic Knowledge about Language in Tertiary Education
Judy Axelby & Nick Moore
Sheffield Hallam University

2. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
KAL Innovations in Primary & Secondary to Close the Attainment Gap
Tertiary Attainment Gaps
Model of Change
Identifying Students' Academic Needs
Interventions: Genre Analysis, Legitimation Code Theory, Functional Linguistics
Preliminary Evaluation & Evaluation Strategy

3. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
KAL Innovations in Primary & Secondary to Close the Attainment Gap
Educational Interventions
Closing the Attainment Gap: Is it possible?
(Children's Commissioner 2018, p.20)

4. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
KAL Innovations in Primary & Secondary to Close the Attainment Gap
More than just more money?
BAAL LKALE SiG
Reading to Learn
(Rose 2010, p.113)

5. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Tertiary Attainment Gaps: Getting In
Source: Jerrim, 2013

6. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Tertiary Attainment Gaps: Getting On
The dominant culture of higher education is middle class, and working class students can be made to feel they do not ‘belong’, ranging from feeling disconnected from their peers to being bullied by other students because of their class.
Working class students are more likely to leave their course before achieving the final qualification, with other intersections including race and disability affecting course retention
(NUS Poverty Commission, 2018)

7. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Tertiary Attainment Gaps: Staying On
Drop-out rates for 1st year UG
(Hammonds, 2017)
2013/14
2014/15
Young 6
6.2
Mature
11.8
11.7
POLAR 1
8.2
8.8
POLAR = Participation Of Local AReas

8. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Tertiary Attainment Gaps: Getting Out
Source: HEFCE, 2018
POLAR = Participation Of Local AReas

9. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Tertiary Attainment Gaps: Getting Out
Analysis of HE outcomes for different student groups shows some consistent patterns, with the least-advantaged students (those from low socio-economic groups) having consistently lower attainment and progression outcomes even after controlling for other factors such as type of institution. (Mountfort-Zimdars et al., 2015)

10. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
How do you envisage the project working to lead to outcomes; What are the programme's 'enabling characteristics'?
What are the intended short, medium and longer term outcomes?
Model of Change
What are the intervention activities?
What are the contextual factors that are likely to influence whether or not the intended outcomes are achieved?

11. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
How do you envisage the project working to lead to outcomes; What are the programme's 'enabling characteristics'?
What are the intended short, medium and longer term outcomes?
Model of Change
What are the intervention activities?
What are the contextual factors that are likely to influence whether or not the intended outcomes are achieved?
Antecedents: What pre-existing contextual factors influence the intended outcomes?
Moderating Factors: What contextual factors came to light?

12. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Identifying Students' Academic Needs
Tardy, C.M. (2009). Building Genre Knowledge. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press
Four domains of knowledge in university context
Heuristic - needs analysis tool - in conversations with module leaders (Lisa McGrath, Forthcoming)

13. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Identifying Students' Academic Needs

14. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Identifying Students' Academic Needs
Rhetorical Knowledge
Subject-matter Knowledge
Formal Knowledge
Process Knowledge
concepts & metaphors
technical distinctions
models & types of analysis
key ideas & relationships between them
jargon & specialist terms

15. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Identifying Students' Academic Needs
Rhetorical Knowledge
concepts & metaphors
technical distinctions
models & types of analysis
key ideas & relationships between them
jargon & specialist terms
Formal Knowledge
Subject-matter Knowledge
interpreting assignment brief
reading around subject matter
applying learning to tasks
analysing tasks
searching for additional literature
developing a network of literature to refer to
drafting
editing
proofreading
Process Knowledge

16. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Identifying Students' Academic Needs
- essay structure
- vocabulary: 'epistemologies, discourses'
- using literature and experience to support ideas
- clear expression
- language choices to demonstrate academic authorship
Rhetorical Knowledge
concepts & metaphors
technical distinctions
models & types of analysis
key ideas & relationships between them
jargon & specialist terms
Formal Knowledge
Subject-matter Knowledge
Process Knowledge
interpreting assignment brief / reading around subject matter / applying learning to tasks / analysing tasks / searching for additional literature / developing a network of literature to refer to / drafting / editing / proofreading

17. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Rhetorical Knowledge
Subject-matter Knowledge
Process Knowledge
Formal Knowledge
reader awareness
purpose of assignment task
language of persuasion in writing
values of EAP academics and practitioners
Identifying Students' Academic Needs
- essay structure
- vocabulary: 'epistemologies, discourses'
- using literature and experience to support ideas
- clear expression
- language choices to demonstrate academic authorship
concepts & metaphors
technical distinctions
models & types of analysis
key ideas & relationships between them
jargon & specialist terms
interpreting assignment brief / reading around subject matter / applying learning to tasks / analysing tasks / searching for additional literature / developing a network of literature to refer to / drafting / editing / proofreading

18. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Rhetorical Knowledge
Subject-matter Knowledge
Process Knowledge
Formal Knowledge
reader awareness
purpose of assignment task
language of persuasion in writing
values of EAP academics and practitioners
Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Identifying Students'
Academic Needs
concepts & metaphors
technical distinctions
models & types of analysis
key ideas & relationships between them
jargon & specialist terms
- essay structure
- vocabulary: 'epistemologies, discourses'
- using literature and experience to support ideas
- clear expression
- language choices to demonstrate academic authorship
expertise
interpreting assignment brief / reading around subject matter / applying learning to tasks / analysing tasks / searching for additional literature / developing a network of literature to refer to / drafting / editing / proofreading
by the Academic Language & Literacy group
based on Tardy, C.M. (2009). Building Genre Knowledge. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press

19. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Interventions
BA History. Module: Empires and Encounters Level 4 module
Needs: Raise attainment (from 2:2 ->2.1), 'improve' written standard, argumentative essay plus exam analysis of historical source.
Response: (6x2 hr seminars) 'Literacy Windows' (Wingate, 2015); Academic Literacies: content expert, literacy expert, students; SFL: Engagement (Miller, et al., 2014); Genre analysis: analysing samples of work.

20. Genre Analysis
analysis of task
analysis of samples

21. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Interventions
BA Business. Module: Business Enterprise Management (Level 5)
Needs: Reflective Writing
Response: (2 x 2h seminars) Genre pedagogy: structure move analysis of extracts of texts; LCT: semantic gravity waves

22. Legitimation Code Theory: Semantic Gravity Waves
Applying theory to practice & practice to theory

23. Legitimation Code Theory: Semantic Gravity Waves
Identifying 'waves' in samples
Language used to move from concrete to generalised to abstract

24. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Interventions
BA Education Studies. Module: Language & Learning
Needs: BAME attainment gap; reflective writing; reading demands
Response: (2 x 2hr seminars) Genre pedagogy: accessing difficult reading; SFL: process types for writing reflections

25. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Interventions
BA Education Studies - Language & Learning
Academic text most often relates things to each other
Process Types:
English grammar allows us to use verbs to describe the world in these terms
English grammar needs a Sensor to talk about feelings, desires and memories.
From Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014

26. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Interventions
BA Education Studies - Language & Learning
Writing reflectively in an academic context requires nominalisation of Mental processes
From Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014

27. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Preliminary Evaluation & Evaluation Strategy
Each intervention is specific to students & module
Indicators of success:
module leader satisfaction
achievement of module objectives
student satisfaction
university indicators (reduced drop-out, non-discriminatory results, increased mean scores)

28. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
Preliminary Evaluation & Evaluation Strategy
Methods of data collection
survey / interview module leader & tutors
student surveys
marking & grading of assignments
university data
Work in Progress!!

29. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
KAL Innovations in Primary & Secondary to Close the Attainment Gap
Tertiary Attainment Gaps
Model of Change
Identifying Students' Academic Needs
Interventions: Functional Linguistics, Genre Analysis, Academic Literacies
Preliminary Evaluation & Evaluation Strategy

30. Axelby & Moore: Playing Catch-Up
References
Children's Commissioner. (2018). Growing Up North. Available: North-March pdf
Coffin, C. & Donohue, J. (2014). A Language as Social Semiotic‐Based Approach to Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Chichester: Wiley
Halliday, M.A.K. & Matthiessen, C.M.I.M. (2014). Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Routledge
HEFCE (2018). Differences in Student Outcomes. Available:
Jerrim, J. (2013). Family Background and Access to 'High Status' Universities. Sutton Trust. available: content/uploads/2013/11/john-jerrim-report-final-4.pdf
Kirk, S. (forthcoming). Waves of Reflection: Seeing Knowledges in Academic Writing.
Miller, R., Mitchell, T. & Pessoa, S. (2014). Valued Voices: Students' use of Engagement in argumentative history writing. Linguistics and Education 28. p
Mounfort-Zimdars, A., Sabri, D., Moore, J., Sanders, S.. Jones, S. & Higham, L. (2015). Causes of Differences in Student Outcomes. HEFCE. Available:
NUS Poverty Commission. (2018). Class Dismissed: Getting in and Getting on in Further & Higher Education. Available:
Rose, D. (2010). Beating educational inequality with an integrated reading pedagogy. In Christie & Simpson (Eds.) Literacy and Social Responsibility. London: Equinox
Tardy, C.M. (2009). Building Genre Knowledge. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press
Wingate, U. (2015). Academic Literacy and Student Diversity: A Case for Inclusive practice. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

31. Judy Axelby & Nick Moore Sheffield Hallam University
Playing Catch-Up: Linguistic Knowledge about Language in Tertiary Education
Judy Axelby & Nick Moore
Sheffield Hallam University