1. St. Andrew’s University EAP Conference Saturday 9th March 2019
Students’ Writing as a Resource to Inform Practitioners on the Redesigning of EAP Course Materials (source) with focus on connectors.
Dr Usha Mani and Chris Jannetta,
University of Dundee
St. Andrew’s University EAP Conference Saturday 9th March 2019

2. “Education is not achieved unless transfer occurs”
(Perkins and Salomon, 1988).
“I know what I should do, but I don’t know how to do it!” (Alcelik, 2018).

3. Context
An analysis of knowledge transfer from the EAP Pre-sessional Business to the Business Module.
Profile of Sample Set
IELTS – Applicants with scores as low as 5.5 were enrolled
Conversion degree – UG field of study different from Masters
All Chinese L1
Different specialisations on the Business modules

4. Terminology Cohesive devices (Yang and Sun, 2012) Opposition relations
(Kuzborska and Soden, 2018)
Categorised into:
Reference, conjunction, substitution, ellipsis, and lexical cohesion
Categorised into:
Contrastive, concessive and corrective markers.
Contrastive – but, however, by contrast, on the other hand, etc.
Concessive – although, despite, notwithstanding. 
Corrective – instead, rather etc.…
However* could be used as both contrastive and concessive.

5. Correlation between use of cohesive devices and writing quality in L1 Chinese learners of English
Yang and Sun (2012) found a positive correlation.
Liu and Braine (2005, cited in Crossley et. al., 2016) noted only a ‘moderate correlation’.
Alarcon and Morales (2011, cited in Kuzborska, 2018) did not find any ‘significant correlation’ between use of cohesive devices and writing scores.

6. Aims and Methodology Aims: Intended Outcome
To analyse knowledge transfer of the correct use of connectors in academic writing
To assess how use of connectors affects quality of writing
Intended Outcome
How the findings of this research could inform future material design and delivery
Methodology: Adopting an inclusive approach in curriculum design
Student surveys
Student interviews
Analysis of final exam scripts
Peer tutor consultation

8. Writing Tests: Pre-sessional and Business Module
Time allowed: 1 hour
23-point scale
Task:
Write an essay
350 words
Do not have to include a reference list
Must include Harvard citations from two academic articles

9. PS Handout (Unity and Coherence)
Usage
Connectors
To list ideas in time order or order of importance
first (second, etc.)
first of all
then
next
after that
finally
To add another idea
furthermore
also
in addition
moreover
besides
and
To add an opposite idea
on the other hand
however
but
although
even though
To add a similar idea
similarly
likewise
Usage
Connectors
To give an example
for example
for instance
To give a cause (or reason)
for
because
since as
To give an effect (or result)
therefore so
thus
consequently
as a result
To add a conclusion
in brief
all in all
indeed
in other words
in short
in the end

10. Preliminary Findings from the Survey
50% of respondents knew the connectors taught on the pre-sessional BEFORE enrolling on the course
Almost 64% learned ‘in brief’ DURING the pre-sessional
Avoiding Plagiarism –
BEFORE pre-sessional – 9% ‘very good’
AFTER pre-sessional – 70% ‘very good’
Paragraph Structure
BEFORE pre-sessional – 25% ‘very good’
AFTER pre-sessional – 36% ‘very good’
Building an Argument
BEFORE pre-sessional – 18% ‘very good’
AFTER pre-sessional – 40% ‘very good’

11. Strategies for Improvement

12. Summary of Student Interviews
Student Name
Suggestions to Tutors
Writing Practice
Peer Feedback
New Knowledge
Andy
More in-class writing to reinforce the use of connectors.
Homework - effective - immediate feedback.
Not useful as peers themselves are not clear on the use of connectors.
Learnt about paraphrasing which helped in the module.
Wendy
Force students to use unfamiliar connectors.
More in class writing & immediate feedback to be given.
Not effective as they are not knowledgeable enough on the subject.
Learnt new connectors- besides, in other words, in brief, consequently etc., but always used familiar ones.
Rita
Immediate feedback to be given by tutor.
More in class and out of class writing.
Peer feedback is better if given in Chinese to be understood correctly.
Use of quotations while writing and choosing the correct tense in writing.

13. Student Name
Suggestions to Tutors
Writing Practice
Student Peer Feedback
New Knowledge
Kirsty
More examples from tutors.
In-class collaborative writing can improve writing and speaking.
Feedback from tutors is clearer than from peers.
Wim
Tutors need to show us how to use them more.
First give students a model with no gaps, then one with gaps.
Using connectors makes it easier for my readers.
A way of receiving different ideas.
Zuber
Learning connectors is helpful because without them I have to use long quotations.
After the pre-sessional I notice connectors more.

14. Analysis of Final Exam Scripts
Number of Connectors Used by Total Sample Set
pre-sessional – 178
Business module – 166
Effective use of Connectors Used by Total Sample Set
pre-sessional – 88.2%
Business module – 87.95%

15. Key References
Alcelik, H., ‘I know what I should do, but I don’t know how to do it!’. Students perspectives on applying what they learn about argument and critical evaluation. EAP Conference 2018 No Innocent Bystanders: Stance and Engagement in Academic Discourse, St. Andrew’s University, February 2018.
Crossley, S., Kyle, K., and McNamara, D., 2016, The development and use of cohesive devices in L2 writing and their relations to judgements of essay quality, Journal of Second Language Writing, 32, pp.1-16.
Kuzborska, I., and Soden, B., 2018, ‘The Construction of Opposition Relations in High-, Middle-, and Low-Rated Postgraduate ESL Chinese Students’ Essays.’ Journal of English for Academic Purposes, vol. 34, pp. 68–85.
Perkins, D.N., and Salomon, G., 2012, Knowledge to Go: A Motivational and Dispositional View of Transfer, Educational Psychologist, 47(3),
Yang, W., and Sun, Y., 2012, The use of cohesive devices in argumentative writing by Chinese EFL learners at different proficiency levels, Linguistics and Education, 23, pp

16. Discussion How similar/different is this from your students?
Do you have any suggestions on how to apply knowledge of connectors from the pre-sessional courses to Masters degree modules?
How do we facilitate the teaching of cohesive devices?
Do we present exemplars of competent students’ writing/BAWE corpus to our pre-sessional students?