Developing autonomy through awareness of textual features in academic texts

Authors

  • Hedy M. McGarrell Brock University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18192/olbiwp.v7i0.1360

Keywords:

Self-editing, Autonomy, Learner concordancing, Corpus Analysis

Abstract

Research on ESL writing suggests that current pedagogical practices typically
train developing writers to submit their texts to their teacher for comments and “correction”, without opportunities to develop independent self-editing skills. These practices focus primarily on sentence-level grammar, vocabulary and mechanics. This study reports on an exploration into introducing university-level writers to online corpus tools to develop their ability to edit their own work. Ten native and non-native speaking participants analysed corpus materials and published journal articles relevant to their discipline to compare selected uses of grammar and vocabulary with their own texts. Insights from triangulated data sources (participant
texts, participant and teacher interview data) show how participants edited their work using the corpus tools. Benefits related specifically to awareness of lexical conventions and sentence structure.

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Published

2015-07-21

Issue

Vol. 7 (2015): Literacies and Autonomy of the Advanced Language Learner

Section

Research

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