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Analyzing Topical Structure in ESL Essays

Not All Topics Are Equal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2008

Melanie Schneider  and
Ulla Connor
Melanie Schneider
Affiliation:
Monterey Institute of International Studies
Ulla Connor
Affiliation:
Indiana University, Indianapolis
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Abstract

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.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , December 1990 , pp. 411 - 427
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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