TEACHING WRITING THROUGH TEXTS IN LITERATURE AND

THROUGH TWO SUBSKILLS: SENTENCE-COMBINING AND VOCABULARY

Thesis submitted for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy
at the University of Leicester

by

Loulou Al-Akl Khoury

Department of Education
University of Leicester

June 2000
 UMI Number: U601260

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 I

Abstract

Teaching Writing Through Reading Texts in Literature and

Through Two Subskills: Sentence-combining and Vocabulary

It is understood that reading literature texts and writing essays are

interrelated and multidimensional. This study investigates the teaching of writing
focusing on two subskills: sentence-combining and vocabulary within the context
of study-reading texts in literature.

The study was carried out by the teacher-researcher in Beirut, Lebanon at

the Lebanese American University (LAU). The research method comprised a
threefold approach: a Counterbalancing Experiment including an experimental
and control group that used two contrasting approaches to teaching writing in the
classroom; an Attitudinal Questionnaire, to take into account the learners attitude
and to control bias; and Transcript Analyses of 5 class sessions, to analyze the
discourse of the teacher/learner interaction. The Quantitative and Qualitative
Analyses of transcribed sessions included a focus on various classroom activities:
vocabulary analysis, vocabulary revision, vocabulary correction, sentence-
combining and reading comprehension.

Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) and T-tests among others

were used to analyse the data of the Experiment. The results of the Quantitative
Experiment reveal significant differences of both experimental groups in Essay
Performance in the Counterbalancing Study. Furthermore, T-test results of the
Attitudinal Questionnaire coincide in most instances with the quantitative results.
However, the correlation among the 3 variables: vocabulary, sentence-combining
and essay gave, in general, inconsistent results. In addition, the model of patterns
of lexis, which is an innovation in research on vocabulary, has been analysed in the
learners’ written discourse with implications for the teaching of lexis.

The study shows that vocabulary is useful in a context in which it has long
been neglected. It emphasises the benefits of sentence-combining as a pedagogical
means for teaching writing. Finally, it highlights the dilemma of the teacher as a
researcher within a traditional context of language teaching.
 II

Dedicated

to

Peace and Unity in my country, Lebanon

Intrinsic Values, the beacon o f light

The beloved ones I have lost

 Ill

Acknowledgements

Set your objectives and work. Do not let anything stand in your way.
Patience, patience, patience, my daughter.

This is what Dr Tony Kassab (Director of REP, AUB) and Dr Hisham Nachabe (Dean of
Education, Makassed Islamiyah Association, Beirut, Lebanon) told me when I asked for
their advice before starting my PhD Studies. Their advice served far beyond my studies, and
I wish to thank them.

My thanks also go to Dr. A. Hallab (Special Advisor to the President, AUB); Dr S. Thabet
(Vice-president Emeritus for Academic Affairs, AUB); Hariri Foundation and His
Excellency David Tathem (previous British Ambassador in Lebanon), who believed in me
and helped provide me with a scholarship.

Furthermore, my stay at Leicester was a pleasurable one thanks to the wonderful members
of the library of the School of Education, who often went out of their way to provide me
with the materials I needed for my research and planned walks and cycling weekends that
allowed me to see the lovely countryside of England.

My thanks also go to both my cousins, Bob Tabet and Dr Joseph Tabet, who called
regularly from the USA, making me feel at home when I was faraway abroad. I wish to
thank the Elliots, where I lodged during my studies; the Gregsons, the Greigs and the
Thatems, who made me feel part of their family when I felt lost in a foreign country. My
acknowledgement goes to Dr. Clive Sutton (Post Graduate Research Tutor), Mr Tom
Whiteside (Director of the School of Education), Prof. Ken Fogelman (Dean of the School
of Education) as well as many other academic members at the University of Leicester, AUB
and LAU (Beirut, Lebanon), who helped in difficult academic times; to my brother Captain
M. Al-Akl, my daughter Dana and my nephew, Philip Nahhas, who had to work on me to
get rid of a malignant disease: the Computer.

Last but not least, I wish to thank both my children, Sari and Dana, whose moral support
and belief in my academic potentials never failed, though times and times I thought I would
never make it. But both told me, Mum, the air is fresher at the top o f the mountain.

I also wish to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Martin Cortazzi, who gave my

dissertation the touch of le coup de maitre.
 IV

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pages
ABSTRACT I
DEDICATION II
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS III
TABLE OF CONTENTS IV
APPENDICES VII
LIST OF FIGURES IX
LIST OF TABLES IX

CHAPTER ONE BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 The Recent Context in ELT in Lebanon 3
1.2 The Scope and Purpose of this Study 7
1.3 Arguments about Teaching Language Through Literature 8
1.3.1 Approaches 9
1.3.2 Motivations 13
1.3 .3 Choice of Texts 14
1.3.4 Including Nonnative Literature 17
1.3.5 Including Native Literature 19

1.4 Conclusion and Implications for the Design of this Study 20

1.5 The Concept of the Teacher-researcher 21
1.6 Applying Action Research in this Case 25

CHAPTER TWO ISSUES IN LANGUAGE TEACHING: VOCABULARY

2.0 Introduction 26
2.1 The Neglect of Vocabulary Teaching 27
2.2 Importance of Vocabulary 28
2.3 Lebanese Learners and English Vocabulary 29
2 .4 The Meaning of Knowing a Word 31
2.5 Teaching Strategies for Vocabulary 32
 V

2.5.1 Link between Vocabulary and Sentence-combining 33

2.6 Learning Vocabulary 36
2.7 The Lexical Syllabus and Concordancing 42
2.8 Lexical Inventory and Vocabulary Materials 46
2.9 Further Principles and Current Practices in Vocabulary Teaching 50
2.101 Conclusion 54

CHAPTER THREE: CURRENT TRENDS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING:

WRITING
3.0 Introduction 58
3.1 Writing as a Challanging Skill 58
3.2 Arabic Speakers, Writing in English 59
3.3 Sentence-combining Teaching and Writing 71
3.4 Integrating Skills for Writing 89
3.5 Process Approaches to Developing Writing 94
3.6 Different Trends in Writing Sentence-combining 97
3.7 Conclusion 99

CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH DESIGN AND INVESTIGATING

TESTING MATERIALS
4.1 Research Design 102
4.1.1 Rationale 102
4.1.2 General Overview of the Counterbalancing Experiment 104
4.1.3 Significance of the Study 106
4.1.4 Treatment 106

4.2 The Pretest Materials and Attitudinal Questionnaire 107

4.2.1 Possible General Vocabulary Tests 107
4.2.2 The Actual Vocabulary Pretests Used in the Study 109
4.2.3 The General Sentence-combining Tests 111
4.2.4 Attitudinal Questionnaire 113

4.3 The Texts 119

4.3 .1 Linguistic Characteristics of the Hemingway Texts 122
4.3 .2 Linguistic Characteristics of Gibran Texts 138
 VI

4.3.3 Comparison Between the Texts 146

4.4 Procedures 149

4.4.1 Administering the Texts 152
4.4.2 Teaching Procedures 15 7

CHAPTER FIVE: INITIAL ANALYSIS

5.1 The Subjects 161
5.2 The Essays 166
5.2.1 Scoring the Essays 166
5.2.2 Criteria for Essay Analysis 167
5.2.3 Results 170

5.3 Conclusion from the Essay Analysis 180

5.3.1 Summary of Results and Some Limitations 181
5.3.2 Interpretation and Discussion 182

5.4 The Classroom Transcript 183

5.4.1 Approaches to the Analysis 183
5.4.2 The Vocabulary Session 186
5.4.3 Vocabulary Revision 189
5.4.4 Vocabulary Correction 193
5.4.5 Sentence-combining 196
5.4.6 Reading Comprehension 202
5.4.7 Conclusion 218

CHAPTER SIX: FURTHER DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

6.1 The Multivariate Analysis 220
6.1.1 The Pretest 220
6.1.2 Midtest 221
6.1.3 Posttest 222

6.2 The AttitudinalQuestionnaire Results 224

6.2.1 At Midpoint 224
6.2.2 Results of the Attitudinal Questionnaire at the End Point 231

6.3 The Essay Analysis 242

6.3.1 Posttest Essays (A’ and B’) 242
6.3.2 Inter-rater Reliability 243
6.3.3 Other Essays (A and B; A’ and B’) 243
6.3.4 Correlation Between Vocabulary, Sentence-combining
 VII

and Essays 246

6 .4 Patterns of Lexis in The Treatment of Group A and B’ 249
6.4.1 The Patterns of Lexis in Group A 249
6.4.2 The Patterns of Lexis in Group B’ and its Comparison
with Goup A 260

6.5 Patterns of Lexis in the Pretest/Posttest of Group A and B ’ 272

6.5.1 Patterns of Lexis in the Pretest/Posttest of Group A 272
6.5.2 Patterns of Lexis in the Pretest/Posttest of Group B’ 277
6.6 Comparing and Interpreting the Results of the Pretest/
Posttest of Group A and B’ 282
6.7 Conclusion 284

CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION

7.1 Summary of Main Results 292
7.1.1 Initial Analysis 292
7.1.2 Multivariate Analysis 293
7.1.3 Essay Analyses 295
7.1.4 Analysis of the Patternsof Lexis 298

7.2 Limitations of the Study 300

7.3 Issues Arising from This Study 302
7.3.1 Action Research 302
7.3.2 Vocabulary Teaching 304
7.3.3 Sentence-combining 305
7.3.4 Using Literature 306
7.3.5 Implications 306

7.4 Recommendations for Further Investigations 307

7.5 Concluding Comments 309
Appendices
Appendix 1: Pretest/Midtest/Posttest, General Sentence-combining 311
Appendix 2: Pretest/Posttest, Gibran and Hemingway
Sentence-combining 314
Appendix 3: Pretest/Midtest/Posttest, General Vocabulary 317
Appendix 4: Pretest/Posttest, Gibran and Hemingway Vocabulary 320
Appendix 5. Indian Camp 323
Appendix 6: On Reason and Passion 326
Appendix 7. Words Likely to be used in the Pretest/Posttest Essay 329
 VIII

Appendix 8: Analysis of the Patterns of Lexis of the Essays of

Three Learners in Group A and B’ 330
Appendix 9: Hills Like White Elephants and Indian Camp (texts) 361
Appendix 10: On Reason and Passion and On Work (texts) 369
Appendix 11: Classroom Transcript 372
Appendix 12: Cobuild Frequency Count 382
Appendix 13: The Syllabus of the AUB - EEE 384

Appendix 14: Attitudinal Questionnaire (Group A’ and B) 387

Appendix 15: Attitudinal Questionnaire (Group B’ and A) 391
Appendix 15’: Correlation of Teachers’ Essay Correction 395
Appendix 16 : Background Information Questionnaire 396

Bibliography 397
 IX

LIST OF FIGURES
Pages

Figure 1.0: Literature a Resourse of Content and Form 11

Figure 1.1: The Teaching of Literature According to Talif 12
Figure 1.2: Action Research in Process 25
Figure 3 .1: Structured and Less Structured Writing Tasks
with Advanced and Less Advanced Learners 70
Figure 3 .2: Interconnection of Reading, Writing, Vocabulary
and Sentence-combining 73
Figure 3 .3: Complexity and Density of Sentences 91
Figure 4.0: The Groups in the Experiment 109
Figure 4.1: Counterbalancing Experiment 110
Figure 5.1: Essays in the Counterbalancing Experiment 169
Figure 5.2. Examples of I-R-F Patterns 208
Figure 6.0: Counterbalancing Experiment 220
Figure 6.1: Texts Used in the Syllabus and the Treatment 224
Figure 6.2: Chart Representing Results of the Essays in the
Treatment of Group A and B; A’and B ’ 243

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3 .1. Textbook Extracts of Sentence-combining 76

Table 4.1 : Average of Sentences in 30 lines Taken from Beginning,
Middle and End of the 5 Short Stories by Hemingway 123
Table 4.2 . Grammatical Frequency and Cohesive Devices at the
Beginning, Middle and End of the 5 Short Stories
by Hemingway 123
Table 4.3 : Lexical Cohesive and Frequency Devices at the
Beginning, Middle and End of the 5 Short Stories
by Hemingway 124
Table 4.4 . Lexical Density at the Beginning, Middle and End
of the 5 Short Stories 125
Table 4.5 : Vocabulary Density at the Beginning, Middle and End
of the 5 Short Stories by Hemingway 126
Table 4 .6 : Cobuild Frequency Count of the Selected Vocabulary
List from the Stories by Hemingway used in the Treatment 127
Table 4.7 : Average T-units at the Biginning, Middle and End of
the 5 Short Stories by Hemingway 129
Table 4.7’ Links, Bonds and Types of Repetition in the Two sample
Texts by Hemingway 13 8
Table 4.8 . Average of Sentences in 30 Lines Taken from the
Beginning, Middle and End of the 4 Excerpts by Gibran 139
Table 4.9 : Grammatical Frequency and Cohesive Devices at the
Beginning, Middle and End of the 4 Excerpts by Gibran 140
 LIST OF FIGURES
Pages

Figure 1.0: Literature a Resourse of Content and Form 11

Figure 1.1: The Teaching of Literature According to Talif 12
Figure 1.2: Action Research in Process 25
Figure 3 .1: Structured and Less Structured Writing Tasks
with Advanced and Less Advanced Learners 70
Figure 3 .2: Interconnection of Reading, Writing, Vocabulary
and Sentence-combining 73
Figure 3 .3: Complexity and Density of Sentences 91
Figure 4.0: The Groups in the Experiment 109
Figure 4.1: Counterbalancing Experiment 110
Figure 5.1: Essays in the Counterbalancing Experiment 169
Figure 5.2: Examples of I-R-F Patterns 208
Figure 6.0: Counterbalancing Experiment 220
Figure 6.1: Texts Used in the Syllabus and the Treatment 224
Figure 6.2: Chart Representing Results of the Essays in the
Treatment of Group A and B; A’and B ’ 243

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3 .1: Textbook Extracts of Sentence-combining 76

Table 4.1 . Average of Sentences in 30 lines Taken from Beginning,
Middle and End of the 5 Short Stories by Hemingway 123
Table 4.2 . Grammatical Frequency and Cohesive Devices at the
Beginning, Middle and End of the 5 Short Stories
by Hemingway 123
Table 4.3 : Lexical Cohesive and Frequency Devices at the
Beginning, Middle and End of the 5 Short Stories
by Hemingway 124
Table 4.4 . Lexical Density at the Beginning, Middle and End
of the 5 Short Stories 125
Table 4.5 : Vocabulary Density at the Beginning, Middle and End
of the 5 Short Stories by Hemingway 126
Table 4 .6 : Cobuild Frequency Count of the Selected Vocabulary
List from the Stories by Hemingway used in the Treatment 127
Table 4.7 : Average T-units at the Biginning, Middle and End of
the 5 Short Stories by Hemingway 129
Table 4 .7’ Links, Bonds and Types of Repetition in the Two sample
Texts by Hemingway 13 8
Table 4.8 . Average of Sentences in 30 Lines Taken from the
Beginning, Middle and End of the 4 Excerpts by Gibran 139
Table 4.9 : Grammatical Frequency and Cohesive Devices at the
Beginning, Middle and End of the 4 Excerpts by Gibran 140
 X

Table 4.10: Lexical, Cohesive and Frequency Devices at the Beginning,

Middle and End of the 4 Excerpts by Gibran 140
Table 4.11: Lexical Density at the Beginning, Middle and End
of the 4 Excerpts by Gibran 142
Table 4.12: Vocabulary Density at the Beginning, Middle and End
of the 4 Excerpts by Gibran 142
Table 4.13: Cobuild Frequency Count of the Vocabulary List
of the Stories by Gibran used in the Treatment 143
Table 4.14: Average of T-units at the Beginning, Middle and End
of the 4 Extracts by Gibran 144
Table 4.14’: Links, Bonds and Types of Repetitions of the Two
Sample Texts by Gibran 146
Table 4.15: Comparative Lexical, Grammatical and Syntax Devices
in the Excerpts of Gibran and Hemingway 147
Table 5.1: Educational Background 162
Table 5.2 : Grades of English Courses of Group A and B 163
Table 5.3 : Foreign Language Spoken at Home in Group A and B 164
Table 5.4 : Reading English Outside the Classroom in Group A and B 165
Table 5.5 . Summary of Lexical and Cohesive Devices, Syntax, T-units,
Marked Themes and Other Features in the 3 Treatments
of Group A 170
Table 5.6 . Summary of Lexical and Cohesive Devices, Syntax, T-units,
and Marked Themes and Other Features in the 3 Treatments
of Group B’ 173
Table 5.7 : Analysis of Lexical and Cohesive Devices, syntax, T-units
and Other Features in Pretest/Posttest of Group A 175
Table 5.8 : Analysis of Lexical and Cohesive Devices, Syntax, T-units
and Other Features in Pretest/Posttest of Group B’ 178
Table 5.9 : Results of Features Analysed in Essays in the Treatment and
Pretest/Posttest of Group A and B’ 180
Table 5.10: Teacher/Learners’ Interaction on Comprehension Questions 205
Table 5.11: Teacher/Learners’ Interaction on Resuming Comprehension 205

Table 6.1 : Multivariate Analyses of the Pretests of Group A and B 221

Table 6.2 : Multivariate Analysis of Midtests of Group A and B 222
Table 6.3 : Posttest Multivariate Analysis Results of Group A’ and B’ 223
Table 6.4 : Suggestions made by Group A and B at Midterm Point 225
Table 6.5 : T-test Related to Part III questions 1, 3, 4 and 5
of the Attitudinal Questionnaire 226
Table 6.6 : Suggestions Made by Group A and B, question 2
in Part III of the Attitudinal Questionnaire 227
Table 6.7 : T-test Related to Questions 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 of Part I in
the Attitudinal Questionnaire of Group A and B’ 228
Table 6.8 : T-test Related to Questions 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 in Part I of
the Attitudinal Questionnaire Related to Sentence-combining 230
Table 6.9 : T-test Related to Part III Questions 1, 3, 4 and 5 of
the Attitudinal Questionnaire 232
 XI

Table 6.10: Suggestions Made by Group B7 and A’ 233

Table 6.11: T-test Results of Group A’ Concerning The Enjoyment
of Texts 1, 2 and 3 Studied in the Treatment and the syllabus 234
Table 6.12: T-test Results of Group B 7 Concerning the Enjoyment
of Texts 1, 2 and 3 Studied in the Treatment and the Syllabus 235
Table 6.13: Reasons for Enjoying the Texts in the Treatments
by Group B7 and A’ 236
Table 6.14: Reasons for Enjoying the Texts in the Syllabus
by Group B’ and A’ 239
Table 6.15: Choice of Texts by Group B 7 and A7 240
Table 6.157: Posttest Essay Results of Group A7 and B7 242
Table 6.16: Results of Essays in the Treatment (A and B; A7and B7) 244
Table 6.17 : Correlation of the Three Variables of Group A, inTexts
1,2 and 3 246
Table 6.18 : Correlation of the Three Variables of Group B7 in
Texts 1,2 and 3 248
Table 6.19 :T-test Results of Paragraph 1, 2 and Essay 1 and 2 250
Table 6.20 :Links and Bonds of the Essays of the 3 Participants
of Group A 254
Table 6.21: T-test Results of Group A, Concerning Types of
Repetition in Texts 1 & 2 of the Treatment 255
Table 6.22: T-test Results of Group A, Concerning Types of
Repetition in Texts 2 & 3 of the Treatment 256
Table 6.23: T-test Results of Group B7, Concerning Types of
Repetition in Texts 1, 2 & 3 of the Treatment 260
Table 6.24: Percentage of Target Vocabulary Used in the Essays
of both Groups A and B7 264
Table 6.25: Links, Bonds and Ratio of the 3 Participants of Group
B7 studied in detail 265
Table 6.26: T-test Results of Group B7, concerning Types of
Repetition in Texts 1 and 2 of the Treatment 266
Table 6.27. T-test Results of Group B7, concerning Types of
Repetition in Texts 2 and 3 of the Treatment 267
Table 6.28: Opening Sentence of the 3 Participants in Group Aand B7 272
Table 6.29: T-test Results of the Pretest/Posttest of Group A,
Concerning Links, Bonds and Ratios 272
Table 6.30: T-test Results of the Pretest/Posttest of Group A,
Concerning Types of Repetition 274
Table 6.31: Links, Bonds, Ratios and Opening Sentence in the
Pretest/Posttest of Group A 276
Table 6.32: T-tests Results of Pretest/Posttest of Group B7, Concerning
Links, Bonds and Ratios 277
Table 6.33: T-test Results of Pretest/Posttest of Groujp B7, Concerning
Types of Repetition 279
Table 6.34: Links, Bonds, Ratios and Opening Sentence in the Pretest/
Posttest of the 3 Subjects in Groub B7 281
 XII

Table 6.35: Significant Results of the Patterns of Lexis, Types of

Repetition in the Posttest of Group A and B’ and the
Results of the 3 Participant Studied in Detail 283
Table 6.36: Significant Results of the Counterbalancing Experiment,
Patterns of Lexis and Types of Repetition 284
Table 6.37: Significant Results of the Attitudinal Questionnaire 285

Table 7.0 : Pretest Results 293

Table 7.1 : Midtest Results 293
Table 7.2 : Posttest Results 294
Table 7.3 : Results of the 3 Essays in the Treatment of Group A and B’ 295
Table 7.4 : Results of the Features Analysed in the Essays of the
Treatment and the Pretest/Posttest of Group A and B’ 296
Table 7.5 : Significant Results of the Patterns of Lexis in the
Treatment and The Posttest of Group A and B’ 298
 1

CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

This chapter presents the reasons and the purpose of the study. It also outlines a
justification for studying English as a Foreign Language (EFL) within the context of
study-reading of literary texts, discusses briefly the inclusion of native as well as
nonnative literature, and the different factors that are involved in the choice of the
literature to be studied.
Literature or study-reading of literary texts is an authentic context for the teaching
of language and in particular for the teaching of vocabulary and sentence-combining,
the 2 subskills used in assessing writing in this study. This is authentic in the sense that
the texts are not written specifically for language learning and are therefore not
selected, limited, or controlled for language level but are written for their own literary
purposes.
No precedent for this study which has included 2 focuses, vocabulary and sentence-
combining in the authentic context of study-text in literature. Further, the research is
classroom based and while it has adopted an experimental design, the research is
conducted in the normal classroom context with normal classroom teacher (i.e.
researcher).

1.0 Introduction
English is a compulsory subject for students at American universities in Lebanon.
Many students find aspects of English difficult, particularly writing. This is, perhaps,
not surprising since for many it is a second (L2) or even a third (L3) language, and
some may not see English as being relevant to their major subject, even though this
major is taught in English.
 2

This section examines the reasons for the study by briefly surveying the
language and literature contexts at two Lebanese universities: the American University
of Beirut (AUB) and the Lebanese American University (LAU), with consideration of
writing skills courses.

Our students do not know how to write English. This complaint from subject
specialists has regularly hammered the ears of English instructors at the English
Department of AUB and LAU. Senior staff and administrators have frequently
complained that the decline of the students' writing ability is due to the lack of proper
teaching by the English teachers. Zughoul (1986) after examining a number of English
departments at Arab universities, including the American Universities of Beirut and
Cairo, stated that the curricula of these departments were based on literature. AUB is
an exception because the English Department’s objectives aim mainly at developing
language skills, having students write grammatically correct and rhetorically coherent
short essays, rather than increasing the students' appreciation o f literature and
knowledge of literary criticism. It is a university requirement for all students to take
English courses, the number and level of which depend on the result of a placement
test, regardless of the students' major.

Furthermore, in the late 1980s, there was an attempt to remove literature (i.e. the
study of short stories and novels) from the curriculum of the Communication Skills
Program at the English Department of AUB. Although the English Department of
AUB is not based on literature, short stories and novels are nevertheless normally part
of the curriculum. There should be good reasons to add or to remove activities from a
syllabus (Widdowson 1983). In that particular case, no reasons were advanced. LAU,
on the other hand, did not attempt any removal of literature, that is, the study of short
stories and/or novels.
 3

1.1 The Recent Context in ELT in Lebanon

The recent reforms of the pre-university curricula in both private and public schools in
Lebanon (1994-1996) are designed, among other things, to abolish tests of memory, to
develop students’ ability to learn how to learn and make choices (Osman 1997). These
1997 reforms will affect university teaching because of the extensive revisions in the
secondary curriculum. The new English language curriculum (Ministry of National
Education 1996) includes not only the teaching of the four skills but a strong emphasis
on English for Academic Purposes, which entails the development of thinking skills. It
also includes a cultural element, to be introduced from grade 1 onwards, in which
language learning starts with universal themes then introduces characteristics of the
culture of English-speaking people, with the purpose of developing cross-cultural
openness, tolerance and understanding. The proposed curriculum therefore highlights
foreign language literature at all grade levels and includes a special section on cultural
awareness skills. Thus the new Lebanese high school curriculum for English language
uses literature, quite specifically to develop both language skills and cultural awareness
(Osman 1997; Research Center 1997; Shaaban and Gaith 1997). It will be strange if
English courses at AUB and LAU do not build on this (though it may take 5 years or
more before the new curriculum has a significant impact on university students).

Furthermore, government and private schools in Lebanon teach basically two

languages: Arabic and French or Arabic and English, with an average of 6 hours of
foreign language teaching weekly. The L3, French or English, is usually added at the
secondary level. The majority of the universities have English as an L2. Students
entering the university should pass the English Entrance Exam (EEE). English, even as
an L3, is gaining importance in upper secondary classes. English, at this level, is
taught with the objective of passing the EEE. Therefore, mock EEE booklets are
studied, including Reading Comprehension, Listening Comprehension, Vocabulary,
Grammar and Writing. There are also schools for specific communities, such as
Armenian. In those schools, Arabic and English are taught and Armenian is the L3.
 4

The new curriculum will be implemented in schools having English as L2 and/or

French as an L2 (Research Center 1997).

Lebanese American University Language Requirements

As the researcher, during the course of this study, moved her teaching position from
AUB to Beirut University College (BUC), the study continued at BUC, later renamed
Lebanese American University (LAU). Hence, a review of the English language
courses of this university is given.

Students entering both universities (AUB and LAU) have to pass a validated pre­
university English Entrance Exam (EEE), given at specific time at the Office of Test
and Measurement (OTM), AUB (Appendix 13). This test includes five multiple-choice
sections: listening comprehension, grammar, writing, vocabulary and reading (OTM
1994). OTM offers this test to both universities: AUB and LAU. An appropriate
score on the equivalent English exam, Test of Teaching Overseas English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL) taken at the AMIDE AST Center (American Center for the Middle
East) is also considered valid. This is the English Entrance test normally required for
international students entering American Universities. It also includes 5 multiple-
choice sections: listening comprehension, English structure, vocabulary, reading
comprehension and writing ability (Raimes 1990). The section of the TOEFL that
comprises sentence grammar and written expression (usage) is considered highly
reliable and correlates well with holistic measures of writing samples (Carlson et al.
1985; DeMauro 1992). If prospective LAU students' score is 600 or above, they are
required to write a diagnostic essay which determines the level of the initial English
course to which they will be assigned. Otherwise, learners are placed in English 5511
(later renamed English II). In 1996 the EEE was replaced by Scholastic Assessment
Test (SAT) taken at the AMIDEAST Center, Beirut. SAT is a test prepared by a
college board (Princeton) and its scores measure the verbal and mathematical abilities
learners are likely to do in college.
 5

The following paragraphs present a view of the English courses that students
entering LAU are required to take. There are four English courses to be taken by most
of the students entering LAU regardless of their major. These courses are: English
5511 (English II), English 5512 (English III), Sophomore Rhetoric, and
Communication Art. However, if learners’ EEE score is between 500-549, they are
required to take a noncredit course, English I. For the 1st year at the university, the
syllabus places heavy reliance on reading, with writing as an indirect response to a
reading passage. The first two courses, English II and III, are basically reading
comprehension and writing courses. Reading includes the study of a novel and the
reading of a selection of texts chosen mainly From Reading,Writing (Winkler and
McCuen 1992). However, writing is developed as an indirect outcome of reading,
often without previous discussion of the topic to be written about, and without any
particular focus on vocabulary. This emphasis on reading and writing prepares
students for their academic study in which, for most disciplines, reading in English is
crucial, while most assessment may be through writing, also in English. The higher the
academic level of the learner, the shorter the reading and the more complex the writing
assignment should be (Johns in Hamp-Lyons 1991). At lower academic levels, learners
need to write through study-text in literature. This task requires students to restate
and recast information and ideas from literary readings. Thus, learners develop
strategies of collecting, synthesising, as well as connecting new information to previous
knowledge and beliefs (Shih 1986). In class, writing is undertaken under the pressure
of time in a 50 minute class session. Writing at the university level is performed in a
highly evaluative climate. Students tend to focus on grades which limits how they
approach writing tasks (McCarthy 1987; Biggs and Watkins 1993). Literature, on the
other hand, is confined to the reading and discussion of a novel in the classroom.
On the other hand, Sophomore Rhetoric is basically a literary criticism course,
and Communication Art is a course based on the teaching of how to deliver speeches.
The element of writing will necessarily be restrained in both courses. Hence, the
importance of teaching writing in English II and English III. Furthermore, all courses
taken at the university require quizzes and final exams, in class, under specific time
 6

limits and circumstances. Learners have to comprehend what is being demanded in

exam questions, analyse, synthesise and organise the material learned before writing
answers. All these tasks are taught through writing in study-text in literature. In
addition, the skills of writing are taught through writing (Jacob 1982; Zamel 1982,
1983; Jones 1985). However, in the context of English II and III, by skills o f writing
is meant the writing of sentences with no fragments or run-ons, appropriate vocabulary
and overall coherent essay performance. This definition of writing skills, in these
courses, is the over-riding one in the local university context, and it is this definition
which has influenced the choice of two subskills (vocabulary and sentence-combining)
which are the particular focus of this study.
Besides the above mentioned approach to writing, other definitions of writing
are widely circulated and stress different aspects (see Chapter 3). Some definitions
emphasise content rather than form. As long as the writer communicates the message
appropriately to the reader, the writing process is achieved. However, some focus on
form seems entirely justifiable, otherwise it is doubtful whether content can be
meaningfully and appropriately expressed, using appropriate conventions particularly in
academic writing. Furthermore, some approaches, mainly in Europe and the USA, put
the emphasis of expression of the writer in relation to readers’ knowledge. It is the
duty of the writer to make writing easy and clear to the reader. However, such
concepts may vary across cultures, for example, Japanese writers may expect the
reader to put effort into understanding the text (Hinds 1983). This reader orientation
would involve decoding much more implicit meaning and reading between the lines,
which readers are given credit to be able to work out. This is in contrast to the Anglo-
American writer-orientation which is generally much more explicit since it is held to be
the responsibility of the writer to make things clear. Such binary divisons between
cultures are oversimplifications, yet there is also considerable research on contrastive
rhetoric to support this (Connor 1996). Hence, different cultural contexts may require
different writing procedures. As to Lebanese, they are neither reader nor writer
oriented. Many are socially oriented. Time is mostly spent socialising, favouring oral
expression. In fact, a recent survey carried at LAU revealed that learners do not feel
 7

confident writing in L2 because writing is based on a western culture of independence

rather than the dependent social Middle Eastern interaction (Thonhauser, 1999).

1.2 The Scope and Purpose of this Study

The scope of this study includes the following:
The role of study-reading of literary texts as a context for teaching writing, and the
interconnection of reading and writing at all academic levels. The purpose is to
investigate the effectiveness of two subskills: vocabulary and sentence-combining in
the teaching of writing. Both will be provided through reading applied in the writing
task. These two subskills are to be taught with awareness of genre in writing (see
Chapters 2 and 3).

As Lebanon has recently experienced civil war (1975-1991), little research has
been undertaken in the last 20 years. The researcher hopes that this study, with its
choice of texts and subskills, will be beneficial for the teaching/learning of L2 learners
in Lebanon and the upright of its civil war aftermath citizens. Vocabulary and
sentence-combining are two areas of weaknesses in EFL students’ writing in Lebanon.
Some academic faculty at LAU note students’ weakness in lack of vocabulary, unless
learners have the good fortune to come from a Romance language LI background in
which case, the use of cognate lexical items may disguise vocabulary weaknesses in
non-cognate lexis. Until, recently, vocabulary has interested scholars far less than
grammar in quantitative research on L2 production (Nation 1983; 1990; Wilkins 1972,
Johns in Hamp-Lyons 1991; Cowie in Arnaud and Bejoint 1992; Aitchison in
Anderman and Rogers 1996; Coady and Huckin 1997). Lexical richness may affect the
quality of writing, as a number of applied linguists have maintained (Linnarud 1986;
Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988; Engber 1993; Laufer and Nation 1995; Grabe
and Kaplan 1996). Raising students’ awareness of vocabulary learning strategies may
help to improve their writing.
 8

A second area of weakness is sentence-combining (Cooper 1973; Bridgeman and

Carlson 1983). Mellon (1969); Daiker et al.(1978); DeBeaugrande (1984); Hillocks
(1986); Grabe and Kaplan (1996) summarise the evidence that raising awareness of
sentence-combining leads to writing improvement. It is one of the subset skills for
assessing writing. Sentence-combining exercises are no panacea, but they may enable
learners to focus their language-learning energies and to figure out patterns for
themselves (Strong 1994).

1.3 Arguments about Teaching Language through Literature

The study of literature in a foreign language can help students master the vocabulary
and grammar of the language as well as the four skills. Arguably, literature is a link to
culture, and language and culture are inseparable. In addition, literature gives English
teaching a dimension of depth which is a deeper context dimension in language
learning than the emphasis often involved in communicative approaches or ESP
(Marquardt 1975; Stevick 1976; Smith 1982; Stem 1987; Kennedy in Carter 1988;
Gilroy and Parkinson 1997). Furthermore, the three activities of reading, composing
and responding to literature, that are usually taught separately, can be viewed as similar
processes when taught through literature. Literature may assist learners to think
critically, to formulate ideas, to look closely at a text for evidence to support
generalisations and to find the right lexicon (Spack 1985, Talif 1995; Engber 1995).
And in the particular setting of Lebanon, the literature chosen is to trigger their
conscience on dead born values.

Although the Communication Skills Program at AUB does not base its syllabus on
literary criticism, Long and others note that literature could still be used as a source for
writing, as a model and as subject matter content (Long in Brumfit and Carter 1986;
Stem 1987; Coulthard 1994; Talif 1995). Yet literature does not seem to be fully
exploited as a language teaching tool. Professional involvement in this situation at
AUB, and the researcher’s awareness of the possible roles of literature led her to study
the relevance of literature to language teaching, and to seek new and relevant ways to
 9

maximise the acquisition of skills for ESL students in the Communication Skills
Programme at the English Department of AUB, in particular, having students write
grammatically correct and rhetorically coherent short essays.

1.3.1 Approaches
Linguists often question the role of English literature courses in teaching the English
language to nonnative speakers at university level. English departments in Arab
countries have not been able to graduate students with a native-like competence, nor
have literature courses apparently had much effect upon the students’ linguistic
proficiency (Zughoul 1986).

On the other hand, some writers believe that it is unreasonable to expect normative
speakers to approach literary text in the same way as native speakers do (Kachru in
Brumfit and Carter 1986; Hong Chua and Chew 1993). Others (Matalene 1985)
believe that approaching literary text in the same way as native speakers reveals
ethnocentricity, dismisses linguistic and cultural differences (Hinds 1983) and does not
take into account the multidemensional constructs of language (Connor 1996; Grabe
and Kaplan 1996).

Several arguments presented against the teaching of English literature and

literature in English in ESL can be refuted. Concerning the argument regarding
ethnocentricity, Fishman (as quoted by Phillipson 1992) maintains that many British
and American English writers did not have a deep view of ethnic or ideological
contexts other than their own, in the past quarter century, and that the language has
been associated with western civilization and culturally-loaded values. However,
students must study such literature so as to respond to conflicting codes and become
critical and analytical learners (Saleh 1989).

Others have maintained that literature is an indispensable component of a

foreign language course which aims to produce competent language learners. Such
 10

competence, it can be argued, includes cultural competence, among other elements

(Brumfit 1985; Quirk and Widdowson 1985; Carter and Long 1991; Kachru 1992;
Willis 1997). Indeed, there are strong arguments that intercultural competence should
be a goal for language teaching. This concept is widely recognised in social
psychology and studies of communication (Hammer 1989; Martin 1989; Ting-Toomey
and Korzenny 1991; Wiseman and Hoester 1993; Willis 1997). However, this has only
recently come to seem a goal for language classrooms, and even curriculum
development has been largely confined to European contexts (Fennes and Hapgood
1997; Byran 1997).

Among other aspects is the argument that reading passages will somehow
function as models from which writing skills can be learned (Collie and Slater 1991;
Lazar 1993). A major element of writing skills is vocabulary (Grabe and Kaplan
1996), and one significant element which affects the perception of the quality of
writing is lexical richness (Linnarud 1986; Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988;
Engber 1993; 1995; Laufer and Nation 1995; Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers
1996). In a study carried at AUB: University Orientation Programme (UOP), students
expressed the importance and need of vocabulary in language teaching (Artanian
1997). Furthermore, if writing is preceded with study of a topic, there is active
control of ideas and extensive processing of new information (Anthony 1985), whereas
in traditional writing tasks where non content-based instruction is given to students,
ESL teaching has often failed to develop writing academic skills (Shih 1986). One can
add that Means is a function offocus on form (Widdowson in Channell 1989, pp. 57),
and form is interwoven in the lexico-grammatical context (Halliday and Hassan 1976).

Further world-wide support for literature in ELT comes from two recent
reviews of English language teaching (Brumfit and Benton 1993; Sell 1995; Paran
2000) which make it clear that literature is currently accepted as a necessary and useful
element for developing language skills in an impressive range of countries: Denmark,
Finland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, China, the Philippines, Sri
 11

Lanka, Kenya, Uruguay, Brazil, Turkey and Bahrain. Literature in this context is to
be exploited as a resource rather than an object of study (Talif 1995). Hence, literature
should be considered as discourse and as a means to develop a sharper awareness of
language use in which the parameters of the setting and role relationship are defined
(Widdowson 1975; Talif 1995). The following figure (figure 1.0) shows how literature
interweaves through different elements in discourse, as used in the present study.

Literature
as a stimulus
and
resource r
Form «- for * Content
i.e
subject to write about
vocab. learning
development of
within a defined
speculative thinking
setting.
reflecting human
s-c. learning as an
motives, conflicts &
aspect of the complex
values.
composition process.

Figure 1.0 Literature, a resource for content and form in the present study
Key: vocab. = vocabulary
s-c = sentence-combining

Now that a positive link between the study of literature in ELT and developing
skills in reading and writing is established, a methodology of both will be presented.
Grammar is one obvious feature to be emphasised in the study of language and
literature (Shaughnessy 1977; Short in Carter 1988). For instance, Carter’s (1988)
analysis of Hemingway’s story, Cat in the Rain, comprises the exploration of nominal
group structure, verbal structures, cohesion, repetition and ambiguity. Carter bases his
analysis on intuitions in reading and rereading the story and on linguistic analysis of the
literary text. He uses both intuitions and linguistic analysis. The contrast between
subjective (literary) and objective (linguistic) standpoints is unrealistic (Sinclair in
Carter 1988). It is equally unhelpful to view a text as a communication between
individuals subject to no rules, or to see it as a rigid pattern with a known
communicative value.
 12

In addition, the listener or receiver are necessary when one is to describe the
style of a literary piece (Sinclair in Carter and Burton 1982). Text analysis is a
multidimensional construct including socio-cultural aspects, genre, situation and
students' individual backgrounds (Connor 1996; Grabe and Kaplan 1996).
Furthermore, literariness can be defined on two axes: a vertical and a horizontal axis
(Carter and Brumfit 1986). The vertical axis within a literary tradition implies that any
particular literary experience needs to be understood as part of a literary tradition. The
horizontal axis implies a knowledge of the socio-cultural and literary conventions upon
which texts are based. This horizontal axis corresponds to the multidimensional
constructs of Connor (1996); Grabe and Kaplan (1996) and Willis’ (1997) cultural
access, universal address, the timelessness of the textual appeal and the individual
interpretation of the reader. Hence, the use of Hemingway and Gibran’s texts, which
are assumed to correspond to the socio-cultural knowledge of the Lebanese.

A Sample of Literary Teaching

The following is a practical classroom application for ESL learners. Talif (1995)
suggested the following plan, (figure 1.1) mainly for the teaching of literature as a
resource for language learning.

The Initial Stage: Preparing students for the literary text

• To inititiate preliminary work to stimulate
interest and motivation in preparing the
students for the literary text.

The Middle Stage: Exploring the literary text

• Pre-reading: to introduce students and

familiarise them with the text.

• During reading: to assist students to

understand the language and content of
the literary text.

• Post-reading: to determine the students’

understanding of the text: review and
consolidation exercises.
 13

The Final Stage: Extension beyond the literary text

• To stimulate further understanding of the

literary text through the use of
supplementary reading materials and
follow-up activities and exercises.

figure 1.1 Teaching of Literature according to Talif (1995)

The Initial Stage includes, among other activities, a focus on vocabulary with which
learners must be familiar in order to understand the text. This stage also includes the
use of complex sentences jumbled up. The Middle Stage seems to the researcher
equivalent to the stage of Comprehension in reading. The Final Stage could also be
summed up by the word Production. It also includes activities such as debates and
role-play. Hence, one may say that Talif (1995) uses literature to group 3 basic skills
of language learning: speaking, reading and writing, and he reconfirms the present
research.

Literary texts focus on language competence. They are seen as more of a

bottom-up than a top down interpretative strategy (hence the focus on form). L2
learners lack the appropriate schemata, which needs further to be automatically
retrievable, as schemas often have only representational and not referential relevance.
The learner is thrown back on the text (Willis 1997). Both bottom-up and top-down
lead to the two subskills vocabulary and sentence-combining that the present study is
based upon. By reading Hemingway and Gibran texts, top down is provided and by
writing, bottom up is produced. Whatever approach is followed, it is to be linked to
different teaching situations around the world, to the reasons literature is taught and
examined (Carter and Long 1991; Talif 1995; Willis 1997; McDonough 1999).

1.3.2 Motivations
Literature is widely held to be a motivating agent and an effective tool in the teaching
of writing (Collie and Slater 1991; Carter and Long 1991; Coulthard 1994; Connor
1996; Grabe and Kaplan 1996; Stubbs 1996).
 14

Perhaps one should question the reasons for de-emphasising literature in

foreign language teaching. In the functional traditions, literature is often regarded as
elitist, remote from most students’ lives, deviant from everyday communication and
not authentic (Widdowson 1984; Maley 1989). However, this view has been
challenged in the communicative era and literature is back in favour (Widdowson 1984;
Maley 1989; Carter and Long 1991; Gilroy and Parkinson 1997). And yet, the kinds
of literature used, the reasons for their choice and how they are seen as classroom
resources are important components contributing to its effectiveness in English
teaching. For optimal learning to take place, students should be interested in the
choice of the material. Reading is a way of achieving success in language learning, and
language is essentially lexical (Lewis 1993) since it is mainly composed of a string of
words. Hence, teachers should take into account the learners' choice (Hazenberg and
Hulstijn 1996). The language learner's interest is an intrinsic part of the language using
process itself. Otherwise, students will tend to slip back into their accustomed and
comfortable roles as passive recipients of knowledge (Widdowson 1983, p. 33; Dixon-
Krauss 1996).

13 .3 Choice of Texts
How one defines literature influences the choice of a syllabus, and classifies the
purpose of literature in the teaching of nonnative speakers. Criteria for selecting
definitions, and clarifying purposes of teaching literature, may guide the choice of
texts.
Some writers, such as Fowler (1971), define literature as a text that is well
written regardless of its subject or author. Brumfit (1985) claims that the criteria for
the selection of literary texts must be guided by the needs of the learners, and by the
fact of stimulating a process of variable interpretation, which encourages responses
(Quirk and Widdowson 1985). Gilroy and Parkinson (1997) give literature a definition
which includes a wide scope, from clearly EFL situations where literature is used to
help low-level learners improve their English, to contexts where the learners are very
 15

advanced and the teaching is barely distinguishable from that in English LI literature
classes. These different literary or non-literary varieties of language are not mutually
exclusive. Style is a relational phenomenon and literariness is a feature to be found in
texts which are traditional or not (Carter and Nash 1995).

Selection of texts does not necessarily mean the selection of native English
literature. By native English literature is meant American, Australian literature or
other literature from native English-speaking countries which have much in common
with English literature and with each other since these literatures are linked by deep-
rooted religious, philosophical, scientific, intellectual and other traditions (Kachru
1992). However, English literature is classified by some specialists into three
categories (Quirk and Widdowson 1985):

1. Native language, that is, English and American literature (England, Ireland,
USA, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa).

2. Second language, that is, literature in English in Commonwealth coimtries

(India, Pakistan, Africa, Philippines, M alaysia and Singapore etc).

3. Foreign language, that is, literature in English in non-Commonwealth

countries which has been translated into English (Japan, China, Russia,
W est Germany, Saudi Arabia).

Countries in category 1 provide models and linguistic standing of authority for

countries in category 2 and 3. It is noticeable that these three categories correspond
to Kachru’s widely-circulated concept of three concentric circles for the English
language: the inner circle of countries of the traditional bases of English where it is
the primary language (category 1); the outer circle in which English has spread to
nonnative setting and is used as a second or official language (category 2); and an
expanding circle of countries in which English is recognised as an international
language and is taught as a foreign language (category 3) (Kachru 1992). Lebanese
literature would belong to the expanding circle.
To be an effective tool the choice of texts in language teaching, such as that
found in AUB and LAU, should be neither those typically found in English for Specific
 16

Purposes (ESP) nor classical literature texts. The study of a text should develop both
literary awareness and language competence (Carter and Long 1991; Icoz 1992; Carter
and Nash 1995; Talif 1995). Furthermore, one should avoid fossilised literature of a
bygone age and linguistically complex authors like Faulkner. Too much emphasis on
studying the latter runs the risk of teaching foreign language students to shy away from
literature (Zughoul 1983; Leki 1986; Icoz 1992).

A further consideration in the choice of texts is the literary genre(s) to concentrate

on: novel, short story or poetry. The disadvantage of choosing a novel is the fact that
students of ESL in Lebanon complain about the lack of time and inclination for reading
long texts in English. They feel the pressure of the requirements of other courses. At
AUB and LAU students have Cultural Studies courses which do require the reading of
several works of fiction and non-fiction. So reading another novel in English classes is
seen by some as a burden. Moreover, under the regular schedule of students, which
comprises 12 class hours/week, some learners tend to replace reading the assessed
novel by reading study guides such as York Notes, comprising a summary, an analysis
of the characters and theme. This process of substitute reading defeats the purpose of
language teaching since, almost by definition, the study guides are written in simplified
terms. Yet novels or plays of average length could be assigned if the themes are
relevant to students, such as A Streetcar Named Desire by T. Williams. This play
was used by the researcher, followed by viewing a film and by a critical analysis of the
main characters.

As to poetry, it depends on the choice of poems. Poems included in Duff and Maley
(1990), for example, are accessible to EFL learners in terms of level. And yet, for the
sake of introducing the learner to poetry as a genre, popular or modern poems, whose
language does not deviate excessively from the norms, could be taught in language
classes (Carter and Long 1991; Short 1996), for instance, T.S. Elliot's Choruses from
The Rock or A Poison Tree by W. Blake.
 17

Taking the above into account, the choice is then reduced to a selection of short
stories, extracts or simplification of a text. Simplification of syntactic complexities
may reduce cohesion and readability (Carter in Brumfit and Carter 1986; Coady in
Coady and Huckin 1997), and while it may help learners at lower levels (hence
published series of simplified readers by such publishers as Longman’s), this argument
seems very weak for university level English. Modem authors may be clearer in the
original than the simplified or abridged versions. What is more complex in ideas and
characterisation is not necessarily more complex in vocabulary and syntax. For
example, at school the researcher was always given simplified versions of English
novels to read, whereas her son, who was in an American school, was given original
versions of English novels. She once attempted to explain some passages of a novel,
she could hardly understand the English of the original version. The result of
simplification is that students leave the ESL programme with a wide gap between the
academic English they are expected to understand at university and the simplified
English they have been reading.

Short stories seem to be the compromise, for students can probably read them in a
single sitting, and this may help to arouse motivation or capture learners’ attention
(Akyel and Yalcin 1990; Gilroy and Parkinson 1997). In this case, learners can
dedicate more time to thinking when reading and, therefore, spend more time analysing
the content, and reflecting on the topics. This, in fact, will help the learner to produce
more meaningful writing content which is the goal of the researcher.

1.3.4 Including Nonnative Literature

Since literature in English does not necessarily mean English literature, and motivation
and identification play a role in the effectiveness of the language learned, the researcher
has included the teaching of nonnative literature as a means for teaching writing. The
target texts selected for this study as a base for students to develop reading and writing
skills come from the first and third categories distinguished above. Many EFL learners
look at the nonnative circle of the English language as part of the culture with which
 18

they identify (Kachru in Brumfit and Carter 1986; Carter and Long 1991). In countries
where English is used for extrinsic purposes (in the third category), nonnative English
literature may be more appropriate. Another factor for choosing nonnative literature is
that speakers or authors perceived to be similar to learners are seen as stimulating
learning (Reid 1982). Further, in recent years language teachers have become more
aware of teaching language as a meaning system related to various societal functions
(Short and Candlin in Brumfit and Carter 1986). Among societal functions are the
relation between learners, the target language and the needs of their own society. In
Lebanon this includes the request of the students for the teaching of the literature of
their own people. Hence, the selection of nonnative authors helps to make the content
relevant and acceptable to students (Kachru 1976; Zughoul 1986).

Gibran represents the third category of Quirk and Widdowson (1985), and in
the light of the above argument, it follows that the choice of The Prophet by Gibran
Kahlil Gibran, a Lebanese writer of world standing who mirrors the lives of Lebanese
people and writes on themes of universal values, would increase student
responsiveness in language learning. And in a country which was at war for sixteen
years (1975-1991) with increasingly complex problems and deteriorating values, the
theme of truth and brotherhood, among others found in Gibran’s work, is appropriate
to the learners’ circumstances.

Gibran’s style is typified in a wide range of his work. In The Madman new
tendencies were manifested (Hawi 1963). There were intensity of thought, brevity of
expression, a growing use of symbolism, the emergence of a new type of symbol and
the insistent use of parable, without any loss in emotional vehemence.

Other works by Gibran such as The Wanderer, The Forunner and most of
his Arabic works are inferior to The Madman as literature (Hawi 1963). Gibran’s
motto was the inevitable word in the inevitable place which he applied in his work The
Madman and later. Gibran used parables in The Madman but in more discre^ and
 19

indirect way than in his earlier work or later work such as The Forerunner and The
Wanderer.

However, in The Prophet, Gibran used an epigrammatical style. This is

clearly shown in the sermons that A1 Mustafa gives to the people of Orphalees and in
the nostalgic, meditative prologue and epilogue of this book. The strong influence of
the Bible on The Prophet is revealed in expressions such as you have been told... but
I say unto yon. In spite of the different influences which shaped Gibran’s style, Gibran
was and still is famous for the peculiar qualities which made the Gibranian style a
synonym for originality and idiosyncrasy (Hawi 1963).
Books by Gibran are in private school libraries and are read as an extraculicular
activity. Yet, governmental schools have some of his books part of the Arabic
literature syllabus.

1.3.5 Including Native Literature

If a people and their language are inseparable, their literature becomes a prominent
feature representing language. It is through the writing of English native speakers that
ESL students learn a wide range of idioms and the connotative meaning of words
(Fowler 1971; Carter and Long 1991; Icoz 1992). Native literature helps students to
work out, on their own, the expressions a writer uses in his writing (Kachru in Brumfit
and Carter 1986). Hence, the choice of native literature as part of the teaching of
reading which may lead to writing. In the present research, a selection of short stories
by Ernest Hemingway as an American writer is used as a text to meet this need. Both
Gibran and Hemingway’s simplicity of style in English has an appeal to students and is
an appropriate model of a clear, apparently simple style.

In brief, if native literature is important to language learning, normative literature is

equally so though for different reasons (Brumfit 1985; Burke and Brumfit in Brumfit
and Carter 1986; Carter and Long 1991). The decision to teach exclusively the native
or nonnative variety could deny students the challenge to experience wide varieties of
 20

the English language in action (Talif 1995). Hence, the present study uses also
Hemingway, who represents the first category of Quirk and Widdowson (1985).

The comments on the style of Hemingway will be limited to the short stories
used in the research which are taken from In Our Time and Men without Women, part
of The Essential Hemingway. Levin (in Weeks 1962) comments that Hemingway
has severely cut down on his English vocabulary. And yet, stated Gaggin (1988), his
craft of words is a craft of life. Hemingway's style could be summed up by Pascal's
maxim, True eloquence makes fun of eloquence. Furthermore, Hemingway's diction is
thin and in the technical sense, his syntax is weak, often using, simple verbs such as the
verb to be. Also his adjectives are not colourful and his verbs not particularly
energetic. And yet, a dynamic style is obtained by presenting a succession of images,
each of which has its brief moment when it commands the reader's undivided attention.
Kame and Peters (1986) and Carter (1988) comment that the short story collection
from In Our Time (1925) is as simple as a style can be without appearing childish. Its
prose is highly sophisticated and its impact is powerful. This, perhaps, is a proof that
style is more than the sum of its parts.

On the other hand, Huxley among others has accused Hemingway of aggressive
anti-intellectualism (Levin in Weeks 1962). Levin’s argument against this accusation is
that Hemingway has been attempting to restore some decent degree of correspondence
between words and things when slogan-mongers have debased the language.

1.4 Conclusion and Implications for the Design of this Study

There has been, in the recent years, a renewal of interest in the use of literature in ELT
(Murdock 1992; Biggs and Watkins 1993; Winkler and McCuen 1993; Brumfit and
Benton 1993; Sell 1995; Johnson 1996). Furthermore, there is a correlation between
the study of literature and degree of linguistic knowledge (Brumfit 1985, Quirk and
Widdowson 1985; Carter and Long 1991; Coulthard 1994).
 21

The implications for the design of this study are that literature is not to be
divorced from language teaching, for it is the other side of the coin. Writing could be
effectively taught within the context of study-reading texts in literature as literature is
an effective tool for teaching language when it motivates. Literature lightens the
burden of the writing process when it provides content, form, takes into account the
needs of the learner and advances the objectives of language teaching. As a result of
societal needs and the objectives of language teaching, native and nonnative literature
have been used as a vehicle in teaching ESL.

1.5 The Concept of the Teacher-researcher

The fact that there was an attempt to remove literature from language teaching at
AUB, and the fact that literature is a means to societal functions led the researcher to
investigate the potential of studying literature in language learning and to attempt a
study, partly by action research mode. Stenhouse defines action research as follows:
Action research is the reflective process whereby in a given
problem area [...] inquiry' is carried out by the practitioner-first, to
clearly define the problem; secondly, to specify a plan of action-
including the testing of hypotheses by application of action to the
problem. Evaluation is then undertaken to monitor and establish
the effectiveness of the action taken. Finally, participants reflect
upon, explain developments, and, communicate these results to
the community' of action researchers (Stenhouse 1981. p. 113).

This definition stresses two essential points:

1. Action research is rigorous, systematic inquiry through scientific procedures.
2 Participants (teacher-researchers) have critical-reflective ownership of the process
and the results (Gebhard et al in Richards and Nunan 1990; Somekh 1995;
McKernan 1996).

One may wonder which type of action research is relevant here: action
research undertaken by the teacher-researcher or action research that refers to aspects
of critical education practice (Crookes 1993). The latter emphasizes educational
research which is committed to emancipating individuals from the domination of
assumptions which are part of the status quo (Ericson in Sirotnik and Oakes 1986).
 22

Although both the foregoing are important, the present focus is on the teacher-
researcher as the concept which has mainly surfaced in the action research projects
reported in L2 literature (Long in Brumfit and Mitchell 1989; Nunan in Brumfit and
Mitchell 1989; Brindley 1990; Allwright and Bailey 1991). There is a further definition
of action research which distinguishes it from other forms of research and which fits
the nature of this study. Action research starts from practical questions arising from
concerns in teachers’ everyday work (Elliot 1991; Wallace 1998). What distinguishes
it from research conducted by researchers who are not full-time classroom
practitioners is the fact that human action is rooted in routines developed through the
experience and fundamental beliefs of the individual (Somekh 1995). To reflect on
such beliefs and experience in the light of problem-centred classroom-based research
(informed by current developments in relevant fields) is therefore also part of this
research. There is thus a self-reflexive element, but without the emancipatory stance
mentioned above which does not, at present, fit the Lebanese context.

The settings of action research are naturalistic and behaviour is highly

influenced by the naturalistic surroundings in which it occurs. Leading on from the
belief that the participant is one of those who are best placed to conduct inquiry into
pressing professional problems, it follows that practitioners must engage in curriculum
inquiry to improve their art and practice. This leads to a rationale which places the
practitioner in the centre of this new research role, and to extend the debate about the
criteria for a new conception of teaching as a profession and confronts teacher
participants with the following dilemmas (Winter 1982; Elliot 1991):
1. Encouraging pupils to critique one’s professional practice. Here the dilemma arises from a
conflict between the value o f critical openness to pupils and respect for the professional
expertise o f colleagues and their right to exercise authority within the confines o f their own
classroom. A w ay out o f the dilemma is to let colleagues know what the teacher-researcher
is doing (James and Ebbut in Nixon 1981). This is all problematic in the present
teacher/student relations in Lebanon, although the researcher invited students’ comments on
the teaching approaches adopted.

2. Some teacher-researchers are reluctant to produce case studies o f their reflective practices.
Teachers doubt the generalizability o f their work. They assume that case studies are low in
generalizability. The dilemma here consists in wanting to report something interesting to
professional colleages, while believing there may be little more o f general interest to report
 23

(Simon 1978). However, reflective teachers can engage in a meta-reflection on how they
deliberate about what to do in a particular situation such as comparing and contrasting
cases drawn from their past experience. In this process teachers generalize from past to
present experience (Elliot 1991). The process o f meta-reflection and this kind o f
generalizing may have wide validity among teachers beyond the specific case o f context-
bound reflection.

3. A further problem is finding time to undertake research. This problem is viewed as a

teaching versus research dilemma which generally gets resolved by classroom teachers in
favor o f the former (James and Ebbutt in Nixon 1981; Hollingsworth 1997).

However, despite dilemmas the idea of the teacher as a researcher is of crucial

importance for the future development of the profession and of the curriculum in
general (Giroux and McLaren in Popkewitz 1987).

Carr and Kemmis (1986) believe that action research should go beyond
identifying a problem and move towards solving it. They wish to see the development
of a cyclical program of reform, whose results are reflected on and developed in
collaborative investigative communities among teachers, between teachers and
researchers or teachers and students. This will lead to progessive action research
which may dispute standard research practice and highlight the difference between
action research and research.

There seems to be a degree of antipathy between action researchers and what they
call traditional research. Some philosophers of education (McNiff 1993; Whitehead
1993) dismiss action research out of hand and many action researchers (Carr and
Kemmis 1986; Elliot 1991) dismiss such a philosophy of education based on traditional
research paradigms as irrelevant and elitist (Newby 1997). However, there has been an
attempt to integrate the insights of deliberative discourse, to which action research
belongs, and utopeian discourse to which such philosophy of education is said to
largely belong (Walsh 1992).

Action research benefits and influences the professional and perhaps the
personal self of the investigator as well as on the outcomes (Newby 1997). These
 24

influences on the self imply reflexive awareness of the knower upon him or herself as a
motivated subscriber. However, these insights are not innocent of psycho-social
ambition such as those which belong to or oppose the oppressor (Newby 1997).
Reflexivity also implies influence on learners. There should be no distinction between
subjects and objects. That is, the researcher who studies and learners who are studied
are not considered as two distinct breeds. There is only one breed on which the results
of reflection are continuously transformed into practice and practice continously
throws up reasons for reflection and development of these practical theories (Gouldner
1970; Altrichter 1993; Walsh 1993).
Action research is used in ESL as well. It encourages teachers to have a
beneficial effect in different areas of the curriculum and the potential for professional
developtment and renewal (Richards and Nunan 1990). In the present study, action
research reviews a range of actual proposals and sugggests the bridging of some gaps
such as the teaching of vocabulary and sentence-combining, the 2 subskills set for the
experiment, and judges their impact in practice.

The prospect of action research is a difficult and controversial task, as shown

above, besides the fact that analysis and introspection are not skills generally attributed
to all teachers. These difficulties and the above dilemmas mean that an action research
aoproach is challenging. In the Lebanese context of the near absence of linguistic or
educational research, this is a double challenge. The researcher believes that perhaps
Teacher Centers as described by Gebhard (in Richards and Nunan 1990) could serve
as an alternative. That is, teachers can go to teachers’ meetings find answers to
questions, use resources and talk about problems with other teachers or special
consultants. This application of teachers’ centers allows teaching to describe rather
than prescribe (Gebhard in Richards and Nunan 1990). Describing worldwide teaching
has been the topic of a recent BBC programme (BBC 2000). Teachers used
introspection and reflection on their teaching experience.
 25

1.6 Applying Action Research in this Case

One of the first starting points of action research should be an analysis of the
constraints on one’s action. Thus, action research is a form of applied or operational
field research whose real reason may be the lifting of the oppressive situation (the
emancipatory aspect) (Somekh 1995; McKeman 1996). All this leads to the thought
of the teacher-researcher investigating the study of literature in the teaching of a
foreign language and particularly the teaching of writing through literature.
In the constraints of the Lebanese context, which limits the approaches of
teaching to the one chosen by the department and which does not give the opportunity
to learners to be critical, action research is hard practice. Figure 1.2 represents the
research process used in the actual study in spite of many difficulties to investigate a
problem, specify a plan of action, evaluate its effectiveness and allow participants to
communicate their attitude towards the approach.

Starting point
removal ofliterature from the syllabus

Clarifying the situation

reinstalling literature into the syllabus

Developing Action Strategies

inclusion o f vocabulary' and sentence-combining
within studied-reading texts aiming at writing

M aking Teacher’s Knowledge Public

figure 1.2 Action research in process (elaborated from Somekh 1995).

In conclusion, literature is a basic and natural context for the teaching of vocabulary
and sentence-combining, the two subskills highlighted in the teaching of essay
performance. The particular texts used in the study were chosen to evoke students’
interest and motivation (Lebanese teachers often comment that these features are
lacking in many English classes).
 26

CHAPTER TWO: ISSUES IN LANGUAGE TEACHING:

VOCABULARY

2.0 Introduction
This chapter shows how vocabulary teaching has been widely re-instated in language
teaching in the 1990s after a period of relative neglect. However, while research
has developed in some areas of the field of vocabulary teaching, research in other
areas is still lacking. The chapter outlines the complexity of vocabulary
teaching/learning as an independent skill. A variety of vocabulary learning
strategies are presented which might suit individual differences of learners, their
intralinguistic and extralinguistic context. It recognizes a dichotomy between
comprehension and production, and briefly explores the dilemma which this and the
above factors present to classroom teachers, especially those who focus on teaching
reading and writing.
Some of the strategies mentioned above have been used in the study, and other
problematic issues such as the dichotomy between comprehension and production
have been considered while the study was carried out.
In the light of the above, the lexical syllabus has been developed for LAU, taking
into account general clues, learners' self-reliance, awareness and teachers' ways of
presenting unfamiliar words.

I have put my faith in language-hence the panic when

a simple word eludes me... I control the world so long
as I can name it.
(Lively 1987 p.57)

With this quotation in mind, vocabulary could be looked upon as a subset skill,
among other skills, for assessing writing ability (Lewis 1993; Grabe and Kaplan
1996; Coady in Coady and Huckinl997; McDonough 1999). In the present study,
 27

vocabulary is one of two subskills (together with sentence-combining, Chapter 3)

which are particularly highlighted in the empirical research on students' writing.

2.1 The Neglect of Vocabulary Teaching

In the 1970s, the literature about language teaching tended to emphasise grammar
rather than vocabulary under the influence of structural approaches (Wilkins 1972;
Nunan 1991; Bensoussan in Arnaud and Bejoint 1992; Zimmerman 1994; Meara in
Brown et al. 1996). This relative disinterest in vocabulary was an unfortunate
outcome of developments in ELT (Coady in Huckin et al.1993), and such
disinterest has been widely noted ( Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988; Carter
1988, Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996; Coady and Huckin 1997).
Furthermore, Zimmerman (1994; 1998); Maiguashca (1993) and Lessard-Clouston
(1996) claim that vocabulary is still neglected though many students seem to give
priority to learning vocabulary (Kruse 1978-79; Zughoul 1986; Meara 1998;
Zimmerman 1998). Vocabulary for L2 learners requires instruction and strategy
training (Huckin et al 1993; Coady and Huckin 1997; McDonough 1999). Whether
the learning of a particular lexical item is easy or not may depend on a variety of
contextual factors, students’ interest and motivation, but instructional focus makes a
word salient and facilitates learning (Wittrock 1986; Coady in Coady and Huckin
1997; Schmitt in McCarthy 1997).
There is now a general feeling among teachers, publishers and researchers
that vocabulary acquisition was not treated seriously enough in the past, and that our
beliefs about how people acquire vocabulary in a foreign language are due for a
thorough examination (Cowie in Arnaud and Bejoint 1992; Zimmerman 1994;
Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996; Coady and Huckin 1997; Mobarg 1997;
McDonough 1999; Jiang 2000). The above authors believe also that little research
on advanced L2 learners has been done concerning vocabulary skills. Furthermore,
research on vocabulary development in L2 acquisition is largely limited to
morphology, syntax and phonology (Nunan 1991) rather than concentrating on, say,
 28

semantic or discoursal aspects of lexical development. Perhaps this is due to the fact
that it is difficult to carry out effective research on measuring the size of the lexicon.
Although some studies developed a model which was able to predict the rate at
which individual learners were able to acquire word lists of paired-associates, these
studies were ignored by linguists because of what has been called hard math (Meara
in Schmitt and McCarthy 1997). Tests are simple to administer and remarkably
sensitive to knowledge across a range of different frequency bands or a range of
different specialist areas of lexis (Meara et al. 1996; Mobarg 1997). In addition, the
main problem areas, which are still problems today, are that researchers have
relatively little idea of the extent to which individual differences affect vocabulary
acquisition, though it is known that individual differences in LI vocabulary skills are
very large (Ringbom 1983; Johns in Hamp-Lyons 1991; Schouten-Van Parren in
Arnaud and Bejoint 1992; Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996; Hazenberg and
Hulstijn 1996; McDonough 1999; Singleton 1999).

In addition, compared to other languages, English seems to rely less on systematic

combination of items, and rather more on discrete items (Ringbom 1983; Hanks
1987), although this would be disputed by advocates of the idiom principle (Sinclair
1991), lexical phrases (Nattinger and DeCarrico 1992) or the lexical approach
(Lewis 1993) and related approaches to vocabulary development, which call for
much greater emphasis on collocation, often using insights from corpus linguistics to
elaborate a pedagogic approach (Stubbs 1996).

2.2 Importance of Vocabulary

With the development of the communicative approach to language teaching, some
linguists believe that learners can bypass grammar, to express meaning, provided
that the learner's knowledge comprises a reasonable vocabulary base (Wilkins 1972;
Rivers 1983). Furthermore, research has shown that L2 readers rely heavily on
vocabulary knowledge and lack of vocabulary is a major obstacle for those readers
to overcome (Brown in Huckin et al. 1993; Lewis 1993; Engber 1995; Dixon-
 29

Krauss 1996; Sokmen in Schmitt and McCarthy 1997). To obtain such knowledge
of vocabulary, extensive learning through reading is recommended as well as
systematic vocabulary instruction. These approaches are more successful than
simply learning through context alone (Parry 1991; Nation in Schreuder and Weltens
1993; Zimmerman 1994 and 1998; Lawson and Hogben 1996; Grabe and Stoller in
Coady and Huckin 1997). Also, in contrast with the development of other aspects
of L2, vocabulary acquisition does not slow down with age. In fact, vocabulary
augmentation becomes easier as one matures: the more one's vocabulary develops,
the easier it is to add new words by integrating them into systems of known related
words and conceptual frameworks (Rivers 1983; Nunan 1991; Bensoussan in
Arnaud and Bejoint 1992; Meara in Schmitt and McCarthy 1997; Jiang 2000). In
other words, the pendulum has to swing between implicit and explicit learning
(Sokmen in Schmitt and McCarthy 1997).

2.3 Lebanese Learners and English Vocabulary

The implications of Channell's paper (Channell cited in Nunan 1991) stating that
lexical items appear to be an independent entity in processing justify the fact of
teaching vocabulary as a separate learning activity (Nunan 1991). This implication is
based on her research which compares speech errors of native speakers with those
of L2 learners. The implications are that a learner's LI and L2 vocabulary
knowledge are linked phonologically, semantically and associationally (Liang-Tsu
Hsieh in Katchen and Leung 1997; Singleton 1997; 1999). Further, three methods
of instruction for Arabic students’ learning of English vocabulary have been
contrasted. That is, presenting the new word, its definition and a keyword. The
keyword-semantic strategy was found to increase retention above other conditions
(Brown and Perry 1991).

However, some writers argue that L2 learners have more facility if the learner's
LI language is closer to L2 vocabulary acquisition (Aitchison in Anderman and
Rogers 1996; Hazenberg and Hulstijn 1996). For instance, Arabic and Vietnamese
 30

speakers learning English have very little such help from their LI compared to
speakers of Romance languages and the process of acquiring new words in English
will never get any easier unless they build up L2 systems of vocabulary.
In the view of the researcher, this does not apply to Lebanese learners since all
schools and university students have been exposed to English or French as an L2 at
a very early age. Some families, of middle or high social status, speak a foreign
language at home in addition to the mother tongue. Those Lebanese students who
attended French-medium (as opposed to English-medium) secondary schools may
nevertheless have a major advantage over their fellow Arabic-speaking students in
neighbouring countries; the Lebanese students’ knowledge of French should be of
help in reading English, given the high percentage of Greco-Latin vocabulary in
English (Corson 1985) and the relatively high number of common cognate words
between French and English. However, this might cause a problem because of the
close relationship between the lexicons of the 2 languages (Meara 1996). In the
view of the researcher this might cause an interference problem or be a source of
vocabulary learning, depending on the learner’s awareness of the close relationship
between lexicons, and whether they are L2 advanced learners. Singleton (1999)
agrees on the last point.

In Corson’s (1985) terms there is a high chance that large numbers of Lebanese
students who reach university will have passed ihe lexical bar in English, either
because their English has reached that level or because their French has. This
assumes, of course, a high rate of transfer of cognates from French L2 to English
L3, which, in the researcher’s experience, is in fact the case. The researcher moved
from a French system to an American-English one in the third secondary class with
no problem or extra help. Erten (1998) seems to agree on this point. If vocabulary
is poor among Lebanese students, it is most likely because of its relative neglect in
language teaching skill.
 31

2.4 The Meaning of Knowing a Word

Now that the importance of vocabulary teaching as an independent entity has been
established, some pertinent questions are: what does it mean to know a word? What
social dimensions of word usage are to be considered in the teaching of vocabulary?

Basic Aspects of Knowing a Word Are:

Connotative and Denotative Meanings
Knowing a word involves what it means to know lexical items of various kinds,
being aware of their connotative as well as denotative meanings in a particular
context (Richards 1985; Lewis 1993; Read 2000).

Syntactic Features
Knowing a word means knowing the syntactic features associated with it. A learner
should know the types of grammatical relations that may enter into account with the
knowledge of a word (Richards 1985; Lewis 1993). Halliday (1976) goes one step
further as he uses the term lexico-grammatical for L 1 and L2 language learners and
believes that the lexico-grammatical system is a resource for creating meaning. The
increasing use of this term among linguists and language teachers firmly places the
vocabulary element in a centre-stage position, along with syntax. In fact, Lawson
and Hogben (1996) and Nation (in Jacobs 1997) emphasize the importance of the
lexico-grammatical interconnection in vocabulary teaching.

Semantic Values
Knowing a word means knowing the semantic value of it. For instance, the table
was damaged and not the table was hurt. Furthermore, the major strategy that is
available for entering the language system is a semantic one (Halliday 1973). If
learners are not aware of the semantic values of words in their writing, this will lead
them to referential and social errors (Corder 1981) as this will be discussed in
Chapter 3.
 32

Meaning is a richer concept than many people assume (Richards 1985; Read
2000). Which meaning to teach is another problem faced by linguists and teachers
(Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988; Nation 1990), although in practice when
teaching vocabulary in reading literature most teachers will almost certainly give
priority to the meaning(s) of a word or phrase in its immediate textual surrounding,
rather than to other potential meanings of the word which do not apply to this
particular context. However, many vocabulary items that may be nuclear for a
particular genre may not be as central in other genres (Coady in Huckin et al. 1993;
Lewis 1993).

The above basic features need to be taken into account as vocabulary is

taught. In learning vocabulary, learners should be encouraged to become self-reliant
(Stem 1987; Riggenback 1990; Nattinger and DeCarrico 1992; Schmitt 1995; Van
Lier 1996). They need to learn to observe language tasks which foster
comprehension and take into consideration the social contexts in which lexical
phrases and vocabulary items are encountered.
Besides, discussions on what knowing a word means have not yet led to any
working models or tests which might be used in psycholinguistic experiments
(Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996; Meara in Brown et al. 1996). Most of
the current research still looks at vocabulary in terms of discrete items which can be
marked correct or incorrect on the basis of simple recognition or production tests.
However, in this study, the target vocabulary items are to be used correctly in
sentences and in essay writing. A further exception to this is the corpus linguistics
approach, to be discussed briefly along with the lexical syllabus.

2.5 Teaching Strategies for Vocabulary

Considering all these assumptions and others about word knowledge, one gets a
picture of the complex task that teachers should be aware of when teaching
vocabulary. Moreover, one should question how and to what extent teaching
strategies could accomplish these objectives, and how successful learners are if they
 33

have not been taught these strategies (Read 2000). However, in spite of the
complexity of the problem, a major feature of an L2 teaching programme, beyond
the elementary level, should include a component of massive vocabulary expansion
(Richards 1985, Zimmerman 1994 & 1998; Nation 1995; Coady and Huckin 1997).
There are some major syllabuses which do clearly specify numerical targets for
vocabulary levels and, in fact, list items expected to be learnt by students at such
levels. A good example is the College English Scheme for all non-English majors in
China which has 4 Band levels with expected vocabulary items listed for each level.
These are tested, and students need to pass each level before proceeding further.
They need to pass Band 4 to graduate (Cortazzi and Jin 1996). Although other
syllabuses do not specify precisely the number of words a learner at a specific level
should recognize and use, including the LAU and AUB syllabuses, it is clear that
learners who are constantly adding to their vocabulary knowledge are better
prepared for both productive and receptive language skills (Grobe 1981; Richards
1985; Linnarud 1986; Johns in Hamp-Lyons 1991; Engber 1993; Lewis 1993;
Laufer and Nation 1995). However, the relationship between EFL learners'
vocabulary size and other aspects of language ability, as measured by the JET test
has been investigated (Meara and Jones 1987). Results reveal a significant
correlation suggesting that there is a strong link between vocabulary size and other
language abilities (Connor 1987; Laufer and Nation 1995; Engber 1995; Meara in
Brown et al 1996; Coady in Coady and Huckin 1997).

2.5.1 The Link Between Vocabulary and Sentence-combining

The link between vocabulary and sentence-combining will now be considered. The
link can be seen in terms of such specific areas as conjunction, coherence, cohesion,
lexical reference among others. However, this study particularly focuses on lexical
items within the context of a sentence, aiming at the construction of paragraphs, a
major component of teaching writing at LAU.
 34

The knowledge of appropriate use of lexical items avoids wordiness and

circumlocution in writing. Sometimes wordiness even leads to sentence structure
mistakes as revealed in the analysis of learners’ essays.

Naming a word, i.e. to call out o f nothingness, (Beebe 1994, p.287) takes
place within the context of a sentence. A cloze exercise can be used as a link and as
a context for the acquisition of lexical items. Long-term retention of vocabulary is
facilitated by asking students to do second-hand cloze, i.e. fill in gaps in a
summarised version of a text that they have already studied (Laufer and Osimo
1991). As a prewriting activity, cloze exercises, which are formed of sentences,
demonstrate a high correlation with direct writing measures (Fotos 1991; Grabe and
Kaplan 1996).
This study focuses on L2 learners, and in particular learners whose LI is
Arabic. Appropriate vocabulary usage and sentence-structure are perceived in the
English Departments of American universities as being among serious nonnatives’
problems (Bridgeman and Carlson 1983; Grabe and Kaplan 1996, Artanian 1997).
Furthermore, L2 readers rely heavily on vocabulary knowledge (Huckin et al. 1993;
Scott 1996; Singleton 1999). Hence, if lexical items are constructed into larger
units, that is in sentences and sentence-combining, students learn to form word
groups into meaningful units rather than simply strings of words. It is, perhaps, the
psycholinguistic model which cements the bond between vocabulary and sentence-
combining. From here, one structures paragraphs, which are a basic feature of
Essay writing (Robinson 1980; Scheifer 1985; McCarthy 1991).

Appropriateness of Strategies
One should question the appropriateness of strategies for vocabulary teaching.
Perhaps this depends on individual differences to a certain extent. Learners differ
with respect to the abilities they bring to the task. However, the intralinguistic and
extralinguistic relations are so vast that the acquisition of meaning is a gradual
process of progressive discrimination of equivalence between LI and L2 lexical
 35

items (Wilkins 1972; Meara and Ingle 1986; Palmberg 1990; Johns in Hamp-Lyons
1991; Nattinger and DeCarrico 1992; Bensoussan in Arnaud and Bejoint 1992;
McDonough 1999).
This point would seem particularly relevant to French-educated Lebanese
students learning English (given the many cognate words in common between
French and English) but perhaps less to the English-educated groups, whose
knowledge of French is much less. Either group might be influenced by Arabic as
LI, but as pointed out earlier Arabic has far fewer English or French cognates,
although students are still fundamentally likely to look for lexical equivalence
between their LI and English.

For the past 25 years or more, there has been a widespread assumption that
discovery-learning as a teaching strategy is likely to lead to good retention
(Mondria and De-Boer 1991; Gu and Johnson 1996). A further teaching/learning
procedure is role-play (Clarke 1991). Simulation entails more physical movement,
more deadlines for actions, more decision making and more freedom of opinion
hence, facilitating practice in conversational skills that can aid acquisition.

A Massive Exposure to Vocabulary

It is rather difficult to achieve vocabulary learning, at the academic level, without
massive exposure to the target language through extensive reading, systematic
vocabulary instruction and independent vocabulary learning within and outside the
classroom (Wilkins 1972; Purves and Purves 1986; Carter and Long 1991;
Zimmerman 1994; Grabe and Kaplan 1996; Grabe and Stoller in Coady and Huckin
1997). Gaining vocabulary from context tends to be gradual (Nagy et al. 1985;
Bensoussan in Arnaud and Bejoint 1992). Yet, if uptake is probabilistic and occurs
once in a 100 encounters, then it would be unrealistic to find evidence of acquisition
in a small sample of a few encounters (Meara in Schmitt and McCarthy 1997).
Further, learners understand more than they are able to produce. Therefore, it might
 36

seem unnatural to limit vocabulary teaching to helping the foreign learner to have
control over an active vocabulary.

Some linguists say that teachers should limit the learner's extensive reading,
for learners may misunderstand the meaning of lexical items over which they have no
productive control. Wilkins' (1972) counterargument is that this is an experience for
which the learner needs to be prepared since he will be exposed to it outside the
classroom. However, if learners misunderstand the meaning of any lexical items, the
recurrence of such meaning in context, or adding new contexts of meaning, may
correct the misunderstanding.

Language learning requires also cognitive effort. It is too easy to think that a
brief explanation or an exposure to a new word is sufficient for a learner to decode
its meaning (Palmberg 1990; Gu and Johnson 1996). A new word has to be
matched and integrated into the knowledge store and, above all, success in
comprehension depends on activating the appropriate cognitive domains (McCarthy
1992). Vocabulary is also essential to engage with content (Dixon-Krauss 1996;
Ellis in Schmitt and McCarthy 1997).
In this study, the concept of cognitive effort was seen in students’ attitude and
comment. Learners often asked anxiously whether vocabulary would be taught
before undertaking the writing of an essay, and the same comment was given in the
Attitudinal Questionnaire. Further evidence for such anxiety is found in Sommers’
study (1982). In fact, vocabulary in foreign language learning cannot be viewed as
emerging on its own (Halliday and Hassan 1976; Grabe and Stoller in Coady and
Huckin 1997; McDonough 1999), but it needs inference of meaning from context,
which is a form of education (Jensen 1980).

2.6 Learning Vocabulary

Besides knowing the meaning of a word, its social dimensions and being aware of
the complex task of the teacher, psycholinguistic factors of L2 vocabulary must be
 37

taken into account. Although there is an increased awareness on the part of

teachers/learners of the importance of vocabulary development, understanding of the
psychological aspect of L2 vocabulary acquisition and use is still rather limited
(Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988; Bensoussan in Arnaud and Bejoint 1992;
Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996; Meara in Schmitt and McCarthy 1997).
However, there is a large literature on psycholinguistic research of the mental lexical
items which largely focuses on balanced bilingualism rather than on L2 acquisition.
Three factors, important in psycholinguistics, are outlined below.

The First Factor

The first factor consists in defining the terms learning and acquisition. Learning is
the process of acquiring a word, while acquisition requires meaningful interaction in
the target language. Hence, L2 lexical items are acquired when: their meaning can
be understood in and out of context, and they can be used appropriately to
situations. Then learning leads to acquisition (Krashen 1981; Nattinger in Carter
and McCarthy 1988). Sometimes these two words are used differently by writers
(Brown in Brown et al. 1996).
The careful reading of literature in the classroom can be regarded as
comprehensible input for language acquisition. Drawing attention to vocabulary
items is one way to ensure that this input is comprehensible. The present study sort
to achieve this, by giving systematic attention to selected vocabulary items and at the
same time the focus on sentence-combining recycles text meanings to allow students
to recombine and reexpress segments of the text. Both the vocabulary and sentence-
combining are used in classroom activities to promote more productive use of
comprehended input.

The Second Factor

The second factor draws a hypothesis on how the speech process might take place.
Comprehension, in the learner, decodes sounds into word length segments and
searches for meanings to pair with. Such a view implies that the users of LI and L2
 38

make a differential use of the store of words in the mind for comprehension
(whether listening or reading) and production (whether speaking or writing) (Coady
in Coady and Huckin 1997; Jiang 2000).

Part of the production process consists in the selection of appropriate words

according to the meaning to be conveyed. Production connects meaning to
situation. The word form is then converted into a phonological shape and then
speech. Thus, the direction in production is meaning = > sound, whereas the
direction in comprehension is sound = > meaning (Nattinger in Carter and
McCarthy 1988; Parry 1991; Singleton 1999). This might suggest that for the
optimal arrangement of production, meaning should come first, while for the optimal
arrangement of comprehension sound should come first. In addition, some
experimental and clinical neurological evidence confirms that the linguistic processes
of perception and production are partially independent of each other (Nattinger in
Carter and McCarthy 1988) or that production involves a higher level of knowledge
(Read 2000). Others suggest that vocabulary acquisition may involve the
establishment of random connection between words (Meara in Schmitt and
McCarthy 1997; Jiang 2000). To be on the safe side as to whether linguistic
processes of perception and production are partially independent, the researcher
used comprehension in the form of study-reading texts and production in the form of
essay writing whereby vocabulary and sentence-combining were used as prewriting
activities. Thus, using the second factor of psycholinguistics in the actual study, that
is, bottom up and top down.

Drawing attention to the meaning of vocabulary items in context might be

considered a top down approach under the condition that the students already
appreciate the gist and overall meaning of the text. Sentence-combining, on the
other hand, would be regarded as bottom up because it encourages students to
recombine sentence elements in larger units.
 39

The first objective of teachers who aim at teaching vocabulary is to help learners
to be aware of the fact that not knowing some words in a passage does not
necessarily prevent comprehension. Within the framework of this context of the
overall meaning, the meaning of particular words can often be deduced. Students
should then be encouraged not to look up words in a dictionary except as a last
resort. Some EFL teachers in Lebanon encourage learners to look for meaning
through context, and the use of dictionary in the classroom does not have any place.
In fact, there is little time for looking up words in the dictionary in a
classhour of 50 minutes, with a specific number of texts to read, a specific number of
essays to write and rewrite within a semester. This is the reason that led the
researcher to give the learners a list of vocabulary words with their meaning.
Besides, learners not so interested in learning English would very rarely look up the
meaning of words. From the learners’ viewpoint, having to cope with an average of
12 credits/semester, it is time consuming to look up words.
However, the above view (i.e. that learners should strive to understand
utterances) has been modified and using the dictionary is widely considered as a
valid activity for EFL learners both for comprehension and production, especially
since often meaning is not deducible from contextual clues (Carter in Carter and
Long 1991).

It is also worth noting that the mid 1990’s generation of EFL dictionaries do
not only define words. They give: the pronunciation; word classes and major
grammatical patterns; guides to the frequency of usage of different meanings;
exemplifying sentences, and often synonyms, antonyms and further indications of
major collocations and uses [such as Oxford Learners Dictionary (1989), Longman
Dictionary of English Language and Culture (1992), and Collins Cobuild English
Dictionary (1995)]. These dictionaries generally use a limited defining vocabulary;
authentic examples, and contexts taken from corpuses of hundreds of millions of
words. However, on the basis of the researcher’s observation and talking to English
 40

teachers, these dictionaries are not used systematically as tools for lexical
development by students in Lebanon.

In the viewpoint of the researcher, though the text itself may give clues to the
meaning of unknown words, when learners need information for productive
purposes, the dictionary is quite a helpful device. Generally, the use of a thesaurus
might be more appropriate for lexical production in writing. Most thesauruses are
somewhat complex and designed for mother tongue users of English, except for
some such as the Oxford Word Guide (1991) and Dictionary of Collocations
(Hill and Lewis 1997). These seem useful for EFL writing production. The
researcher herself uses the dictionary for her writing. In her own studies of the
English language in the 1970s, vocabulary was hardly taught. And if taught, it was
taught in context without context clues or any teaching strategy. This fact, with the
reading of abridged stories, led to what she considers, after reflection as an action
research mode, to a poor knowledge of vocabulary. It seems very likely that current
French-educated students at LAU and AUB may similarly draw heavily on French
cognates in their English lexical production. In learning the French language, target
vocabulary was printed in bold letters in context in textbooks and given a dictionary
explanation in the footnotes.
There seems to be a threshold effect by which when more than
approximately 50 per 1000 words are unknown, perception of overall structure may
be effectively blocked in terms of successful guessing for comprehension (Hirsh and
Nation 1992; Coady in Coady and Huckin 1997). And yet comprehension does not
necessarily guarantee production.

The Third Factor

The third factor focuses on whether the mental lexicon of an L2 resembles the
mental lexicon of an LI within the same individual. The literature on neurological
and psychological aspects of bilingualism remains equivocal on that issue. Ringbom
(1983) believes that the fundamental difference between LI and L2 learning to a
 41

great extent, in LI learning, runs parallel with the formation of concepts in the child,
whereas L2 learners enter the language with a ready-made set of concepts.
A further aspect of psycholinguistics to be accounted for is that lexical
association and LI lemma (i.e. semantic and syntactic) mediation would lead to
lexical errors when an L2 word and its LI translation do not have a complete
overlap in semantic or grammatical specifications. Further, lexical fossilization
occurs also when development stops at the second stage (i.e. syntax) even when
extensive contextualized input is available (Jiang 2000).
However, most studies seem to show an interaction between lexical items of
the two languages in the same user (Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988;
Palmberg 1990; Bensoussan in Amaud and Bejoint 1992; Laufer and Nation 1995;
Singleton 1997; Fromkin and Rodman 1998, Jiang 2000). In fact, some of the
clutter words used by learners in this study were transferred from L I.

Part of the third factor questions whether bilingual linguistic processing is similar
to that of the monolingual processing. As discussed previously, it might be that if
the L2 lexis is closely related to that of the LI, then psychological models of
monolingual lexical processes in cognition are applicable (Nattinger in Carter and
McCarthy 1988; Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996). This factor was not
under control in the present Counterbalancing Experiment, for it was difficult to
omit needed vocabulary items simply because they were cognates. However,
cognate words were avoided in the vocabulary Pretests and Posttests.

Besides the 3 factors in psycholinguistics, there are 3 points of interest

concerning the nature and the domain of the lexicon. First, one cannot deal
adequately with the meaning of a lexical expression without regard to the ways in
which that expression relates semantically to other expressions. Second, the lexicon
cannot be just an inventory of individual words but must also cover a large variety of
combinations of words such as colligation (i.e. compound word) and collocation.
Third, a consideration of context is necessary in the very definition of lexical sense-
 42

relations and that contextual influence on meaning is a major issue. Hence,

orientation to context is one of the lexicon’s vital parts and attempt to address the
meanings of individual lexical entries in isolation from context is doomed to failure
(Singleton 1999). Nevertheless, it is still possible to identify linguistic phenomena
which can be described without reference to lexical particularites such as universal
grammatical principles.

In sum, in the absence of definite research evidence either way, it is advisable for
L2 theorists to draw on LI models and test their validity for L2 theory until further
definite evidence (Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988; Palmberg 1990; Lewis
1993; Singleton 1997), and to use different strategies to suit individual differences
(Parry 1991; McDonough 1999). However, teachers should use their expertise as
teacher-researchers, their subtle understanding of individuals in different situations
as well as the different psycholinguistic factors. The above factors were taken into
account as the researcher was carrying out the Experiment.

2.7 The Lexical Syllabus and Concordancing

Psycholinguistic researchers on L2 vocabulary acquisition are well aware of the
possible differences between comprehension and production and many other factors
involved in vocabulary learning. However, two other aspects which are relevant to
research in classroom situations are corpus creation and in particular the lexical
syllabus for language learning.

Corpus Linguistics
Corpus linguistics is the study and creation of the linguistic syllabus. Its creation is
hardly a job for linguists (Sinclair 1991). It is more appropriate to the sociology of
culture. The stance of a linguist is to describe and analyze instances of language.
As not much is known about the effects of the design strategies, linguists rely on
what is published in a corpus (Sinclair 1991; Stubbs 1996). However, users and
critics can consider and balance the corpus.
 43

The first consideration is the aim of the activity of corpus creation. Then
follows the size and a study of priorities for selection. A further consideration is the
consulting of catalogues for the inclusion of the text to be chosen. The chosen texts
are then to be tested through one of the following procedures, or all of them, since
each suits a different class of material:
a. Adaptation of the material in electronic form
b. Conversion by scanning
c. Conversion by keyboarding.

As the purpose of this study is to focus on vocabulary as one of the subskills

(the second being sentence-combining), the focal point of the discussion of a corpus
will be on the lexical syllabus. A lexical syllabus is what teachers aim at when
making their choice of the target vocabulary. The lexical syllabus is considered as a
vast ocean in which teacher and learner can be easily drowned if some kind of
operative strategy is not planned (Schleifer 1985; McCarthy 1992; Bensoussan in
Amaud and Bejoint 1992; Aitchison in Andelman and Rogers 1996). Also, at
present, the lexical syllabus is linked to other language skills and has no independent
identity. Yet assessment of progress in a language is often related to estimates of
given numbers of words a learner should know. Graded reader books which
produce word lists at different levels are an example of the procedure. What
determines productive vocabulary is the size of vocabulary used in the writing of L2
learners (Grobe 1981; Laufer and Nation 1995; Engber 1995). Furthermore,
measuring lexical richness can help to distinguish some of the factors that affect the
qualitiy of a piece of writing (Linnaurud 1986; Engber 1993; Laufer and Nation
1995; Scott 1996; Meara in Brown et al 1996).

The lexical approach has not generally been systematic, because it is

practically impossible to teach meaning without grammar, nor is it coordinated with
the objectives set, nor is it easy to measure the size of the vocabulary acquired
 44

(Meara in Brown et al. 1996). This is due to the fact that vocabulary is looked upon
as the means to facilitate the development of other language skills (Nattinger in
Carter and McCarthy 1988). However, with Willis' (1990) new approach to syllabus
design, words seem easier to teach. Words are presented through concordances,
databases and dictionary entries. If the teaching strategy adopted illuminates the
meaning, vocabulary teaching may be useful. Willis (1990) insists that if learners are
to create appropriate meanings, they need to become aware of the choices realized
in genuine language use. Then vocabulary items are more likely to be noticed again.
Bongaerts (1988); Honeyfield (1989); Palmberg 1990; Garrett (1991); Gu and
Johnson 1996; Altman (in Thomas and Huckin 1997) share this view.
Although the lexical syllabus has no independent entity from other kinds of
syllabus and is not entirely systematic, (Grobe 1981; Nattinger in Carter and
McCarthy 1988; Laufer and Nation 1995), the researcher attempted in her choice of
lexical items to give vocabulary an independent entity. This was made possible by
focusing on a limited number of lexical items. Vocabulary was taught as one of the
four skills by giving learners a list of words with their meanings. In the view of the
researcher, the teaching of vocabulary was systematic and could be taught without
direct teaching of grammar, but within the context of discourse since collocation and
the formation of sentences were required. Teaching vocabulary in this approach
used the sentence level, the knowledge of words and genre as is required by linguists
at present (Knapp and Watkins 1994). Furthermore, vocabulary teaching,
sometimes, is coordinated with essay performance. In fact, in this study, the
correlation between vocabulary and essay was significant in Essay 2 of the
Counterbalancing Experiment. Although the choice of words to be taught was
selected with the objectives of writing Essays, the Cobuild Frequency Count was
taken into account, among other factors (see Chapter IV).

Concordance
Various uses of concordancing constitute another lexical approach. This can
generate multiple authentic instances of usage in context and presents these
 45

instances to students when teaching a particular point (Flowerdew 1993; Wichmann

1995). It also presents a host of possibilities for the contrastive investigation of
vocabulary through examination of contexts of occurrence (Baker et al. 1993;
Murphy 1996). This approach counters the argument of some linguists who
advocate that it is better to limit learners' extensive reading in case they
misunderstand the meaning of lexical items, and these become fossilized.

Databases
The use of databases is a further approach to the lexical syllabus. In this approach,
the main semantic fields involving a word are listed together with a number of
discourse uses. Grammar is not necessarily excluded. The figures based on a
computer analysis of the Cobuild Corpus reveals the following results (Willis 1990):

The most frequent 700 words of English constitute 70% of English text.
The most frequent 1.500 words constitute 76% of text.
The most frequent 2.500 words constitute 80% of text.

However, the classic objection to the uses of databases and concordances is the
fact that they are affected by memory limitations (Flowerdew 1993; Stubbs 1996).
Further, these procedures do not fit all vocabulary learning strategies as is the case
in this study. In fact, analysis is restricted mainly to surface forms identifiable with a
concordance program (Hoey 1993; Halliday in Aijmer and Altenberg 1991). It is
often seen as useful only for studying individual words or phrases (Leech in Aijmer
and Altenberg 1991). The above mentioned features of the lexical syllabus reveal the
dilemma between practioners and researchers (Elliot 1991).
The use of database lists and concordances is also time consuming in the
EFL classrooms. Such innovations are not easily applied in some situations in EFL
around the world, nor are they easily adopted by educators and administrators who
sometimes resist changes. Not the least of the difficulties is the limited access to
computers in many countries. While LAU certainly has good computing facilities,
 46

these are not necessarily available for large numbers of students for English II and
III classes, and they could not be used for the present research.

2.8 Lexical Inventory and Vocabulary Materials

Having different lexical syllabi in mind, let us view the criteria for lexical inventories.
Many linguists (Thorndike and Lorge 1944; Richards et al. 1956/1974) attempt to
establish criteria for creating lexical inventories for teaching purposes generally
based on frequency counts. These procedures have been widely used, but they have
not passed the test of time. Yet students’ LI may help in knowing words, even
some of the least frequent words in a word list. For instance, the word suppuration
and calumniator in Thorndike's 3000 word list are readily known by Spanish
speakers because they are Spanish cognates (Lado 1961). Yet clearly it cannot be
assumed that learners know all the vocabulary items that precede these words in
Thorndike's word list?
Sinclair (1991) formulated a word list based on the observation that a
relatively small number of English words account for a very high proportion of
English texts and more specifically writing. Nation (in Shreuder and Weltens 1993)
goes one step further than Sinclair (1991); he recommends that students learn the
2000 most frequent words represented in the University Word List (Nation 1990)
and then focuses on repeated reading to integrate this core knowledge and extensive
reading. Nation’s (in Schreuder and Weltens 1993) approach seems to have worked
well in the present study using a vocabulary list extracted from reading texts,
reviewed within reading texts and produced in essay writing. Nation’s approach (in
Schreuder and Weltens 1993) seems to be supported by Zimmerman (1994) who
believes that systematic vocabulary instruction in addition to learning through
reading is a successful approach. Finally, Coady (in Huckin et al. 1993), Parry
(1991), and Engber (1995) support the hypothesis that reading improves vocabulary
knowledge and vocabulary knowledge supports reading and writing development: A
pattern that has been used in this study.
 47

Frequency Word Lists

Frequency is another criterion for lexical inventories. Guessing words from context
is most appropriate with low frequency vocabulary because of the narrow range and
lower probability of meeting these words again (Nation 1983; Liu and Nation 1985;
Nation in Schreuder and Weltens 1993). Spending a lot of time on learning low
frequency words is not always good use of time. Again this may depend on the
context of occurrence. Clearly, some infrequent words are crucial in some contexts
and in those contexts it is worth spending time to teach them. Hence, one should
look at 3 groups of vocabulary: high-frequency vocabulary; specialized vocabulary
taught through a list of words; and low frequency taught through context
(Hazenberg and Hulstijn 1996).

As shown earlier, most of these criteria are readily met with in the relatively well-
established corpora such as the Collins Cobuild, and the teaching/learning materials
which have been published based on their frequency counts. However, a frequency
list may be consulted in the course of choosing words to be taught to students
(Flowerdew 1993), but ultimately the words to be learned are to be selected by the
teacher-researcher.

Vocabulary Lists
In an experiment for teaching vocabulary lists, Kankashian (1979) found that gain
increased proportionately to the increase in the frequency of words. This seems to
coincide with the findings of writers stating that the more one’s vocabulary develops
the easier it is to add new words (Wunan 1991; Bensoussan in Arnaud and Bejoint
1992; Meara in Schmitt and McCarthy 1997; Jiang 2000).
Strategies such as teaching through the three skills of reading, writing and
oral discussion are more effective than others in advanced vocabulary acquisition of
EFL learners (Schleifer 1985; Coady and Huckin 1997). Further, different strategies
fit ESL learners differently (Sokmen in Schmitt and McCarthy 1997; McDonough
1999).
 48

The Learner’s Need

Although the choice of lexical items for teaching a giving group of students is a
complex problem (Judd 1978; Carter and McCarthy 1988; Arnaud and Bejoint
1992; Coady and Huckin 1997) and highly subjective with gaps in preferences and
priorities (Kankashian 1979), this choice should be determined by the learners’
present and future need (Nation 1983; Schleifer 1985; Hazenberg and Hulstijn
1996). Thus, the selection process should start with objective criteria, then the
words preselected should be filtered through experts' intersubjectivity, taking into
account language needs, any learning burden and the importance of metacognitive
awareness in the process of acquisition (Richards 1979; Nation 1990; Parry 1991;
Oxford and Scarcella 1994; Van Lier 1996; AJtman in Coady and Huckin 1997).
In sum, objective criteria, experts’ intersubjectivity, learners’ needs and
metacognitve awareness are procedures used in the study (some of these procedures
have been used in the vocabulary syllabus proposed for LAU) (see the following
section).

Besides choosing lexical items, how the learning materials are present also needs
to be considered in EFL teaching. There is some difficulties because the variables
affecting the organization of learning materials are not well known nor has sufficient
research been undertaken according to textbook writers and educational researchers
(Croft 1972; Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996; Hazenberg and Hulstijn
1996).

From Simple to Complex

The most common practice of arranging learning materials is to order them from
simple to complex or from concrete to abstract. This assumes that complex and
abstract are more difficult than simple and concrete (Rogers 1969; Croft 1972;
Bensoussan in Arnaud and Bejoint 1992; Coady in Coady and Huckin 1997). The
concept of difficulty is relative and mainly related to the learners’ past and present
 49

experience, their familiarity with the topic, which makes the material difficult or easy
(Carrell 1983; Johns in Hamp-Lyons 1991; Stubbs 1996; Laufer in Schmitt and
McCarthy 1997). Such background experience obviously varies from country to
country, class to class, or student to student. When speakers of Romance languages
learn English, they have difficulty learning phrasal verbs such as call up, meaning to
telephone (Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996; Arnaud and Savignon in Coady
and Huckin 1997). Also a word may be logically complex because of its structure
and meaning but psychologically simple (Croft 1972; Hazenberg and Hulstijn 1996).
Further, it is important to take into account that organisation is a property of the
vocabulary as a whole, not a characteristic of individual words (Meara in Brown
1996; Singleton 1999), and how target items relate to this whole.

A Planned Syllabus
No matter what approach is used, a properly constructed and planned syllabus is
believed to facilitate successful learning since it represents a linguistically and
psycholinguistically optimal introduction to the target language (Richards 1990).
With Taba's well known model of a curriculum syllabus in mind, the researcher
suggests the following plan for a vocabulary syllabus can be proposed for LAU:

1. Diagnosis of needs in vocabulary.

2. Formulation of specific target (comprehension/production).
3. Selection of topics to write about.
4. Selection of vocabulary and systematic instruction within
a reading context.
5. Use of vocabulary in the context of essays.
6. Use of old and new vocabulary in writing and oral skill.

The final step is essential if the goal is to help learners move along the continuum of
recognition/acquisition/production (Clark and Paivo 1991; Hatch and Brown 1996;
Connor 1996; Grabe and Kaplan 1996; Altman in Coady and Huckin 1997).
 50

Further, appropriate teaching methods are not predetermined. They evolve out of
the teaching process itself, selected by the teacher in order to achieve learning
(Richards 1990; Carter and Long 1991; Stubbs 1996; Van Lier 1996; Connor 1996).
Hence, the teacher-researcher expertise is accounted for.

2.9 Further Principles and Current Practices in Vocabulary Teaching

Whatever strategies teachers use for teaching vocabulary, these have benefits as well
as drawbacks. Hence, it is advisable at this juncture to look at some general
strategies that could help vocabulary teaching (Rivers and Temperley 1977;
Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988). Nation 1990; Nunan (1991) Liang-Hsieh
(in Katchen and Leung 1997; Sokmen in Schmitt and McCarthy 1997) suggest the
use of the following:
• Prefixes and Suffixes
• Phonological Distinction (eg. to digest vs Reader’s Digest)
• Compounds (eg. look down and look after)
• Diagrams (connecting diagrams and charts withitems)
• Definitions (eg. parentheses, words in italics, footnotes)
• Inferences (eg. in other words, for example, in sum )
• Wider Context (coherence patterns such as cause/effect sentences)

In brief, teaching the skill of general clues allows students with no previous
knowledge of vocabulary items to equal or exceed students who have been taught
the vocabulary (Kruse 1978-79). Kruse's results coincide with what Van Lier
(1996) calls learner's awareness, Gu and Johnson (1996) as self-initiation, and what
Altman (in Coady and Huckin 1997), Fleming and Walls (1998) call metacognitive
awareness. In this study, learners in Group A of the Counterbalancing Experiment
did not require any teaching of vocabulary when they became a control group. It is
assumed that vocabulary teaching called on their metacognitive awareness or self-
initiation.
 51

Translation
Verbal explanation seems a common strategy to teach vocabulary to university
learners since students are assumed to have reached maturity and since verbalization
is assumed to assist learners to reach the productive level. If one looks at the
teaching of meaning from the viewpoint of communication, one could replace the
word encode by translate. The teacher's description is a translation of an idea, for
example chair, into something that can be heard. The teacher can also literally
translate and use the mother tongue to explain a word. Translation pairs are
believed to be more effective in terms of word retention and is more effective in the
long run (Jiang 2000). In fact, during the Nabatean period in Petra, Jordan (200
BC-300 AD), a soldier carved an inscription including magic words in 2 different
languages: Aramaic, which was written and Arabic, which was the vernacular. Dr
Kropp (2000) interpreted the above as the need of an individual to go back to the
vernacular to express emotional statements. Perhaps one may conclude that
translation to one’s vernacular is a need and that has been so since the dawn of
times. However, some criticize this method saying that there is no exact
correspondence between one language and another, and that translation is time
consuming (Halliday 1973; Nation 1978). It also encourages learners to use
bilingual lists and one-to-one equivalents rather than building up systems in the
target language via, for example, the direct method. Fundamentally, frequent use of
translation may impede learners’ ability to build up lexical systems in the L2 since
rather than relating L2 words to other L2 words, they are likely to use LI words as
mediators. Again, in practice, much depends on the context and on the learners.

However, translation lends itself to a comparison between both languages and

helps the learner to be aware of their own errors made in L2 (Nation 1978; Connor
1996; Grabe and Kaplan 1996). The researcher sometimes uses the Arabic-English
corresponding lexicon to clarify the errors of students, a contrastive method that
she found effective and time saving, provided learners are also aware of the danger
of translation.
 52

Prohibiting translation is seen by learners as implicit criticism of the mother

tongue, thus, making it seem like a second-grade language. The researcher
experienced a clash with one of her students when she asked the learner to express
herself in English as the student asked further information outside the classroom.
The student felt that her LI had been insulted and said so.

Words in Context
The use of words in context to infer meaning is another strategy. Such use of words
in context differs from simply using general clues. General clues mean referential
items found in context and learners are made aware of them through learning
techniques, whereas teaching words in context means asking the learner to guess the
meaning through trial and error. There should be a context to teach ESL vocabulary
out of context. This is rarely encountered in Lebanese teachers’ experience. In fact,
learners at AUB and LAU could lose 20% of their Midterm and Final grades on
guessing words in context. If words are to be guessed in context, 95% of the words
should be known (Coulthard 1994; Hazenberg and Hulstijn 1996). On the other
hand, other linguists point out that, for vocabulary acquisition, presenting words in a
context is likely to result in less efficient learning of the new words because rich
context reduces the need for attention to the word itself (Lawson and Hogben
1996). Further, inferring word meaning is an error-prone process. Studies have
shown students seldom guess the correct meanings (Pressley, Levin and McDaniel
1987; Kelly 1990). Besides, poor achievers show no interest in learning words in
context (Ahmad in Meara 1989; Read 2000). In fact, this is the view of the
researcher whose belief stems out of her teaching experience.

Investigators seem to favor the teaching of words in sentential contexts

although experimental reports sometimes deny the advantages of using the context.
These views may not be so meaningful since the learning of a foreign language
involves the simultaneous learning of vocabulary, pronunciation and syntax (Higa
1963), semantics and morphology (Jiang 2000). Furthermore, guessing in
context is not without its problems. It is a reading strategy, not primarily a
vocabulary acquisition strategy, although its use involves semantic treatment of the
input and therefore may facilitate incidental learning (Hulstijn in Arnaud and Bejoint
1992). Yet, experimental results do not unanimously show such an effect of
guessing on vocabulary retention (Mondria and Wit-de-Boer 1991). However, pre­
exposure to words, that is, priming glosses difficult words and phrases with their
meanings or seeing them listed on a sheet with synonyms and in a sentential context
yields better results on learning from context because this procedure may require the
learner to do much work disambiguating meaning once into context (Widdowson
1978; Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988; Sinclair 1991; Altman in Coady and
Huckin 1997). This approach has been used by the researcher successfully (see
Chapters 4 and 6).

Cloze Procedure
Another procedure for teaching vocabulary is cloze although it is more commonly
thought of as a procedure for testing, rather than for teaching. Lexical items in a
text are part of a stable and unstable relationship which can make different
interpretations possible (Carter and McCarthy 1988). The attractiveness of this
principle is that it gives emphasis to the creative power of language and to the value
of controlling a set of productive grammatical patterns (Sinclair 1991). Further,
words are learned within particular contexts and students’ learning of meanings is
gradually extended to a full range (Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996).
In fact, cloze procedure has been quite effective with the researcher, who used
to take the test with the students. It helped her fix and remember the words within
chunks of speech. However, the researcher noticed in her application of action
research, that those words were only recalled because of their context. She could
not recall them independently. In fact, Carter (1998) rectified his belief by saying
that cloze procedure encourages skills of lexical comprehension.
 54

Collocation
The use of collocation is another technique of vocabulary teaching. It involves the
matching of an item with one matching phrasal possibility. In collocation learners
produce sentences or phrases in which they incorporate newly acquired items. The
attractiveness of this principle focuses attention on vocabulary and collocation rather
than on more abstract patterns (Sinclair 1991; Sokmen in Schmitt and McCarthy
1997). Hence, these items become active vocabulary which led to the use of both
cloze and collocation strategies, among other activities, in this experiment (see
appendices 5 & 8).

Collocation also has the advantage of directing learners’ attention to a larger

structure of the discourse and to the social aspects of the context, besides the fact
that knowledge of language is a combination of words and categories of words
(Chapman 1983; Hanks 1987; Carter and McCarthy 1988; Nation 1990). As
learners' vocabulary begins to increase, their sentences often contain misused content
words. So, presenting learners with one matching phrasal possibility helps in using
vocabulary items appropriately without violating lexical restrictions (Brown 1974;
Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988). Advanced high proficiency learners rely
on associated meanings to register vocabulary in memory (Henning 1973; Palmberg
1990, Coady in Coady and Huckin 1997, Jiang 2000). Hence, learners should be
given collocations starting with the normal meaning of a word followed by the
reoccurrence of the word in its multiple meanings (e.g. wrinkle).

2.10 Conclusion
In the 1970s the structuralist approach in language teaching emphasised grammar
rather than vocabulary (Wilkins 1972; Nunan 1991). Nonetheless, with the
development of the communicative approach to language teaching, vocabulary
teaching was up-graded, and in the 1990s vocabulary is reconsidered as an important
skill and textbook writers focus again on the learning and use of lexical items. Yet,
some persist in saying that vocabulary is still neglected (Zimmerman 1994 and 1998;
 55

Lessard-Clouston 1996). Few studies have made comparisons between learners

from different backgrounds acquiring the same L2. Also, few attempts have been
made to assess how the overall structure of the L2 vocabulary develops and how the
size of a learner's vocabulary affects the way new words are acquired (Aitchison in
Anderman and Rogers 1996; Meara in Brown et al. 1996). Knowledge of words
and their structures is one of the basic forms required in writing which affects its
quality (Halliday and Hassan 1976; Purves and Purves 1986; Laufer and Nation
1995; Hazenberg and Hulstijn 1996; Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988;
Engber 1993, Laufer and Nation 1995; McDonough 1999; Singleton 1999).

Considering the assumptions about word knowledge, vocabulary is sometimes

held to be an independent component of language teaching. Moreover, strategies
for vocabulary teaching are questioned (Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988;
Sokmen in Schmitt and McCarthy 1997). However, individual differences of
learner's intralinguistic and extralinguistic relations are factors to be considered as
one selects vocabulary strategies. Some of the main areas which remain problems
today are that researchers do not know the extent to which individual differences
affect vocabulary acquisition, and few longitudinal studies have been carried to study
different features affecting L2 vocabulary acquisition (Nattinger in Carter and
McCarthy 1988; Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996; Lawson and Hogben
1996; Singleton 1999).

Linguists differ concerning which vocabulary teaching approaches they advocate.

Some believe that a massive exposure to vocabulary through extensive reading is
needed (Wilkins 1972; Carter and Long 1991; Grabe and Kaplan 1996; Coady in
Coady and Huckin 1997). Others (Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988) believe
that such an exposure leads to the misunderstanding of the meaning of lexical items.
Yet others believe that systematic vocabulary instruction should be linked to
extensive reading (Nation in Schreuder and Weltens 1993; Zimmerman 1994;
Schmitt 1995). Hence, the necessity of using a broad range of strategies
 56

(Bensoussan in Arnaud and Bejoint 1992; Hatch and Brown 1996; Aitchison in
Anderman and Rogers 1996; Meara in Brown et al. 1996; McDonough 1999).
Among these activities are the following: listing and explaining words (Kankashian
1979; Nation 1978; 1990; 1995); using collocation, words in context and the cloze
technique (Bensoussan in Arnaud and Bejoint 1992). Among these strategies, LAU
stresses words in context, but with no guarantee of a context.
Studies about acquiring vocabulary commonly draw a distinction between
comprehension and production. In comprehension, the objective of the teacher is to
make the learner aware of the fact that different devices could help in deciphering
the meaning of words (Connor 1996; Grabe and Kaplan 1996; Altman in Coady and
Huckin 1997), and provide learners with multiple exposures to a word (Palmberg
1990; Meara 1995; Coady in Coady and Huckin 1997; Read 2000). In production,
the objective of the teacher is to emphasise meaning of vocabulary and its use.

At LAU the actual lexical syllabus for language learning perceives no

distinction between comprehension and production. Yet, assessments of progress in
a language often include an estimate of the number of words a learner should know
(Purves and Purves 1986; Engber 1993; Laufer and Nation 1995; Hazenberg and
Hulstijn 1996). The estimated number of words a learner is assumed to achieve for
given levels remains equivocal among linguists (Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers
1996; Meara in Brown et al. 1996; Nation and Waring in Schmitt and McCarthy
1997). Furthermore, many factors determine the input of lexical items (Richards
1970; Nation 1990; Palmberg 1990; Hatch and Brown 1996; Grabe and Kaplan
1966; Connor 1996; McDonough 1999; Jiang 2000).

Finally, researchers have realized that words are not just isolated but part of
a complex interlocking linguistic system, and that there is much more to vocabulary
knowledge than the associative links between an L2 word and its equivalent word in
LI. (Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996; Hatch and Brown 1996; Hazenberg
and Hulstijn 1996; Altman in Coady and Huckin 1997; Carter 1998; Read 2000),
 57

and that L2 learners rely heavily on vocabulary (Liang-tsu Hsieh in Katchen and
Leung 1997; Coady in Coady and Huckin 1997; McDonough 1999; Jiang 2000).
Hence, the use of literature as an authentic context to the teaching of vocabulary,
and the second subskill, sentence-combining, will be discuseed in chapter 3.

If one takes an overview of the current situation in Lebanon, one could say
that vocabulary is hardly taught or focused upon. Yet, vocabulary is regularly tested
at both universities involved in this study, AUB and LAU. Little research has been
undertaken due to the 16 years of war, the socio-economic situation and the postwar
recovery. It seems that few learners and teachers are aware of the importance of
this feature in writing. Learners are assumed to learn vocabulary from reading for
comprehension.
The innovation of this study used focused concepts and strategies to make
learners systematically aware of vocabulary learning as a skill involving cognitive
effort, contextual meaning and word learning. With such a situation and research
gap in mind, the next chapter examines current developments in writing.
 58

CHAPTER THREE: CURRENT TRENDS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING:

WRITING

3.0 Introduction
Chapter three sums up different approaches to teaching writing which include
sentence-combining, integrating reading and writing, and process writing. It also gives
a general view of recent trends in the teaching of writing in an L2.
Some of the approaches discussed such as sentence-combining and integrating
reading and writing (i.e. study-reading of literary texts) have been used in the present
experiment.

3.1 Writing as a Challanging Skill

Teaching the skill of writing is widely held to be relatively difficult, compared to other
skills, in the teaching of ESL learners as well as in the teaching of native speakers
(Kroll 1979). The results of a survey on the needs of foreign and American college
freshman students reinforce the need for the mandatory freshman English writing
course for both these groups (Kroll 1979). For example, Hairston (1982), Berlin
(1987), North (1987) and Grabe and Kaplan (1996) recognise the problem of students'
writing in the English departments at Harvard and the university of Michigan where
English professors realised the failure of school and college teachers to teach the skill
of writing and handed this problem over to language specialists outside the
departments. The long-standing system for learning academic writing that they have
always depended on does not seem effective (Kuhn in Hairston 1982). Although,
word processing, a new approach to writing has been recently used, it is not clear that
this has improved writing quality; the results are ambiguous (Snyder 1993).
 59

3.2 Arabic Speakers’ Writing in English

A Multidimensional Construct
The analysis of written text is in many respects a relatively new research area (Grabe
and Kaplan 1996; Connor 1996). Text analysis has grown rapidly over the past 20
years in quantity and variety with contributions from sociolinguistics, applied
linguistics, cognitive psychology and contrastive rhetoric (Grabe and Kaplan 1996;
Connor 1996; Hatch and Brown 1996). Further, once it is recognised that a text is a
multidimensional construct, it becomes clear that no simple definition of text or writing
can possibly suffice (Kachru 1992; Grabe and Kaplan 1996). For much of the last 20
years, Lebanon was in civil war and postwar recovery and little of the new research
could be applied or contribute to academic progress.

In the recent past, much discussion has been given to debate among teachers
over process approaches versus product orientations. Yet study of text product alone
will not lead to improvement in writing instruction which needs to be seen as a process
(Grabe and Kaplan 1996). However, theories of the writing process alone do not form
a comprehensive interpretation of the written text which, after all, needs to lead to a
product. This is especially the case in academic contexts in which students’ progress
is evaluated from their written products mainly in the form of exam scripts. Although it
is widely recognised that texts are multidimensional constructs, this claim seldom
appears to be accounted for in research in a way that will allow for the exploration of
these dimensions and their interrelationships. A major effort to overcome these
limitations can be seen in the corpus linguistic work of Biber (1988, 1992, 1995),
using numerous syntactic dimensions to characterize written texts and speech from a
register perspective.

Contrastive Rhetoric Studies

Theories of L2 learning current in the 1950s and 1960s suggested that LI interfered
with L2 acquisition (Connor 1996; Caudery in Fulcher 1997; Jiang 2000). The
dominant model of the contrastive analysis hypothesis emphasised the negative, and
 60

harmful interfering effects of the LI language on L2 acquisition. By the late 1960s, L2

learning was compared to LI acquisition processes in which language learners are
considered intelligent beings creating rules and systems based on the rule systems of
the language they hear and use. Since such creative construction approach may use
LI rhetorical patterns, L2 texts need not necessarily be viewed as deficient but, rather,
in terms of creative transfer.

Teachers of ESL are generally familiar with the more obvious negative effects of
transfer such as the use of present tense forms in L2 writing to express the past that
reflects the absence of specific past forms in LI, a tendency exemplified by, for
example, Chinese writers in English. Three approaches concerning transfer have
dominated: contrastive analysis, error analysis, and the transitional systems of
inierlangnage. Later research, involving error analysis and analyses of interlanguage
systems of learners actual performance, suggests that the influence of transfer on L2 is
more complex than was previously understood. Factors that have been more recently
considered include knowledge about the target language itself, the learner's
communicative strategies, the instructional situation and the combined effects of such
factors, among others (Connor 1996).

A more recent approach is contrastive rhetoric. This approach focuses on the

comparison of discourse structures across cultures and genres rather than focusing on
purely syntactic issues in writing. This approach also has drawbacks, and there is
some recognition of these. One criticism is that Anglo-American English rhetorical
patterns are taken as the norm, and hence other cultural rhetorical patterns are often
seen as deficient when measured by this norm, especially for learners of English
writing in English. Indirectly, this argument effectively downgrades the teaching of
non-Anglo-American English as an international language. However, an increasing
number of scholars (Hong and Chew 1993; Kachru 1992, Crystal 1997) advocate
tolerance towards a much wider diversity of World Englishes (Indian English or
Nigerian English). These are seen as having a local and regional validity which could
 61

be extended to global uses, perhaps even in writing. The language adheres to a fuzzy
set of standard English norms, but diversity is found in phonological patterns,
vocabulary, and the structuring of information. As long as intelligibility is not
jeopardised, the recognition of nonnative English norms is recommended, and
therefore this broadens tolerance of diverse cultural rhetorics in English (Hongand
Chew 1993). Besides, as time passes, the contact varieties acquire stable
characteristics in their pronunciation, syntax, vocabulary and discoursal and style
strategies (Kachru 1992).

However, such tolerance is seen by many English teachers (especially nonnative

speakers who, after all have invested considerable effort into mastering standard
forms) to symbolize falling standards of correctness and, since this has repercussions
on educational values and professional practices, this tolerance is often negatively
evaluated. Such evaluation is reinforced by the generally conservative examination
svstems which in most countries focus on correct expression in English rather than on
contextual appropriateness or discourse structuring.

In the 1990s, further changes have taken place in this contrastive rhetoric
approach. Those include a broader definition that gives more weight to cognitive and
sociocultural variables of writing instead of employing a purely linguistic framework
to analyse products. Contrastive rhetoric took new directions in 5 domains,
contrastive text linguistics; the study of writing as a cultural activity; contrastive
studies of the classroom dynamics of L2 writing; contrastive rhetoric studies
conducted in a variety of genres, in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes and
contrastive rhetoric studies, dealing with the inculcation o f culturally different
intellectual traditions and ideologies (Connor 1996; Carter 1996).

Writing of Arabic Speakers

As writing has become more widely seen as a complex task and is increasingly viewed
through multidimensional constructs, some of the errors of particular groups of writers
 62

writing in English as another language (such as Arabic speaking students) have been
found to originate from their LI and to extend beyond language, culture and genres
(Friedlander in Kroll 1994; Connor 1996). It will be recalled that most of the students
in the present research have learned Arabic as their L I.
Conjunctions and theme repetition patterns are used frequently by Arabic
learners, and this is often perceived as over-use by native speakers of English (Kaplan
1967; Mosenthal and Tierney 1984; Bar-lev 1986). Furthermore, much Arabic writing
is characterised by a series of parallel structures (Kaplan 1966; 1972; Al-Jubouri in
Swales and Mustafa 1984). The latter writers suggest that this style is influenced by
the forms of classical Arabic as found in the Koran. In English, subordination is
preferred in many situations and is taught to students through sentence-combining and
other syntactic methods. However, in Arabic, there is a strong tendency for sentences
to be coordinated and paragraph development also adheres to principles of
coordination through parallel constructions. Instead of developing paragraphs through
a general statement followed by specific examples, Arabic writers often develop
paragraphs through a series of parallel constructions (Kaplan 1972).

Many researchers agree that Arabic writing is characterised by such

parallelism, but they object to the explanation that it stems from the influence of
classical Arabic texts (Connor 1996). Bar-Lev (1986) contests that fluidity rather than
parallelism characterises Semitic languages and is achieved by the use of so and and
whereas Sa'adeddin (1989) claims that Arabic has two styles of text development,
aural and visual. The aural style is characterised by repetition, a limited and
imprecise lexicon and overreliance on generalisations. On the other hand, the visual
stvle (the written style) favours linear development, varied lexis and more complex
svntax. In addition, the social function of the text determines the style (Sa'adeddin
1989). The visual rather than the aural style is held to be preferred in scholarly
writing. Inappropriate choice between these styles is likely to be made by students,
when writing in Arabic as LI. This is in addition to the possibility of rhetorical
transfer of one of these styles to English, which could again lead to different
 63

evaluations of such writing by English LI readers. Evidence that such transfer occurs
is given by Al-Jubouri (in Swales and Mustafa 1984) who compares English essays
written by Saudi Arabian students with English paragraphs selected from different
books. The results show that the essays written by Saudi Arabians had a significantly
higher number of co-ordinated sentences than the English passages. In addition, the
discourse patterns in the analysed two languages differ in the use of discourse blocks
and discourse units. The essays by Arabic-speaking students contained more discourse
units (supporting ideas or what Bar-Lev 1986 named fluidity) than the English
passages.
In the view of the researcher, whose beliefs come out of her teaching
experience and the fact that she is familiar with both languages, Arabic and English,
Kaplan's (1972) and Sa'adeddin's (1989) arguments concerning the development of
paragraphs through a principle of co-ordination might be appropriate explanations, for
Arabic does not seem to develop paragraphs following a general statement. However,
learners, at AUB and LAU, are exposed to several systematic composition courses
which explicitly teach American English patterns of college rhetoric. Students are
bombarded with examples of the rhetorical construct in English of general statement
followed by specific examples. Learners are also made aware of the fact that this kind
of organisation is greatly valued in English essay performance. Furthermore, in
Lebanon, most of the subjects in schools are taught in a foreign language, in contrast
to neighbouring countries since most learners at high school level are French or
English educated because these are the media of secondary education. Hence, learners
are exposed from an early age to a rhetoric different than the rhetoric of their
vernacular. Also at both universities, teachers as raters of English writing
continuously meet and evaluate anchor papers, and among the criteria of essay
evaluation, organisation features strongly, so teachers of English writing systematically
coordinate their understanding of what they teach and how they assess it. Yet, if one
needs to find out whether learners' rhetoric has changed, studies should be carried out
in the written performance of other subjects over time. In fact, Jones and Comprone
(1993) agree to this.
 64

Concerning the use of co-ordination in the English writing of Arabic speakers,

it seems from the researcher’s teaching experience that this aspect is not so strong
among Lebanese learners at AUB and LAU. Further, unlike learners in neighbouring
countries many daily activities, including watching films and TV, take place in English
as well as French. In other words, informal learning of a foreign language is a
confluence o f opportunity to formal learning (Altman in Coady and Huckin 1997).
Also learners who enter AUB and LAU, and whose English writing is below a certain
level, are required to take a noncredit English course whose basic content is grammar
reading and writing. This course includes a focus on typical rhetorical patterns such as
cause/effect, comparison/contrast, with the appropriate uses of conjunctions,
transitions and subordinators. These patterns are highlighted in the American
textbooks used to teach composition.

As to the influence of the *Koran on learners' style of writing, this seems far
fetched since the Koran is not taught as such in private or public schools in Lebanon.
Crucially, it is noteworthy that about a third of the Lebanese population is Christian
besides those who are Moslem. For the Christian groups, at least, it seems highly
unlikely that the Koran would have a significant influence. Again, Lebanon is unlike
its neighbouring countries in this respect.

On the other hand, the researcher accepts the influence of what Bar-Lev
(1986) names fluidity in writing, and of what Sa'deddin (1989) calls discourse units in
writing. This fluidity is mainly due to sociocultural factors. If one had to compare the
aural explanation on the same topic expressed by a Lebanese and a native speaker,
what could be explained in five sentences by a native speaker might well be explained
in eight sentences by a Lebanese. This has been observed by the researcher in the
writing of her students, and it corresponds to what Bar-Lev (1986) characterised as

*Koran, being a holy book, has been written in bold.

 65

fluidity. Furthermore, if one probes Sa’adeddin’s (1989) claim that Arabic has aural
and written styles, English also has aural and written styles. The written style itself
could also be subdivided by sociocultural concepts, for example, as to whether the
situation is formal or informal.
A further influence from LI that the researcher approves of is that composing
competence is different in Arabic. In fact, Krapels (in Kroll 1990) and McDonough
(1999) believe that learners of English as a L2 suffer from a lack of composing
competence rather than linguistic competence. Moreover, having Arabic as LI, the
researcher observed that commas and fullstops are sometimes interchangeable in LI,
and learners often use commas instead of fullstops in ESL writing. This takes us back
to what Connor (1996) calls writing as an activity embedded in culture.
Some writers do not consider transfer from LI as solely a negative influence
(Connor and Kaplan 1987; Hinds 1983; Raimes 1991). Normative varieties of English
could also be considered as norms, certainly within their own local or regional context
(Kachru 1983; 1992; Hong and Chew 1993). The following 2 versions of the same
text, one nativized and the other Englishized, present an example as to whether
nonnative varieties of English are to be accepted or not (Achebe in Whitley 1964):

I want one of my sons to join these people and

be my eyes there. If there is nothing in it you
will come back. But if there is something then
you will bring back my share. The world is like a
mask, dancing. If you want to see it well, you
do not stand in one place. My spirit tells me that
those who do not befriend the white man today
will be saying, had we known, tomorrow.

Then Achebe (in Whitley 1964) gives the second version:

I am sending you as my representative among

those people - just to be on the safe side in case
the new religion develops. One has to move
with the times or else one is left behind. I have a
hunch that those who fail to come to terms with
the white man may well regret their lack of
foresight.
 66

Achebe (in Whitley 1964) concludes that the material is the same, but the form of the
first version is in character (for African English in that context), while the second is
not. There is, therefore, some argument that local varieties of English, i.e. those in
Kachru’s (1992) outer circle, may have some formal status and a degree of
acceptability in context, although exactly to what degree remains controversial. It
would seem a lot more contentious, at present, to argue that foreign-language varieties
of English, i.e. those from Kachru’s (1992) expanding circle, should be accepted in a
written form, although some degree of influence is perhaps inevitable in future if
present trends towards the globalization of English continue (Crystal 1997). If one
goes back to Achebe’s (in Whitley 1964) African English version, the researcher
believes that the former is more expressive and communicative. The African English
version communicates the fear and threat of losing one’s identity and link with the
past. Further, if one looks at the fluidity of the original version, one observes that it
contains 79 words, whereas the 2nd version comprises 60 words. This again takes us
back to sociocultural factors. The same observation applies to the fluidity of AUB and
LAU learners writing English.

In the present study, Lebanese use of English might be considered an

expanding variety in Lebanon. This would be reinforced by widespread uses of
English in the media and streets and by English medium schools. There has been
virtually no research on Lebanese uses of English, and it is not possible to come to
definitive conclusions on this point. However,from the school and university
requirements, one can assume thatAmerican English is predominant at both
universities.

Word Processing and Writing

A new approach to writing has been the use of the computer in the writing process
(Snyder 1993). Some studies, which carried out using statistical analyses of learners'
 67

writing, have focused on the quality of writing produced by the effects of the word
processor. Some studies report an improvement in quality (Etchison 1985; Eaton
1986; Snyder 1990, 1992), while others report no difference (Anderson 1983; Miller
1984; Dulling 1985, Piper in Meara 1989). Other studies (Burnett 1984; Pivarnik
1985, Dalton and Watson 1986; Cheever 1987) claim that the writing of weaker
students improves with the use of computers, but Bryson et al. (1986) found that
talented students in their study benefited the most. LAU students certainly have
access to computers but, at present, there are no facilities or training available for them
to use computers for the English courses which are the focus of the present study.
The researcher tends to believe that word processing and writing using electronic
media may be useful as skills in their own right but ultimately do not short-cut the
route to achieving quality in writing.

Problems in Assessing Writing

Besides the above mentioned complexities of the writing task, a further problem of
writing is bridging the gap between teaching and assessing (White 1985, Meara 1998).
Teachers assign writing for different instructional purposes to meet students' personal
learning goals. Also, different types of writing are selected to be consistent with
personal and academic purposes (Comen 1994). In addition, it has been found that a
lack of L2 writing competence resulted more from the lack of composing competence
than from the lack of linguistic competence. Also skill or lack of skill in LI composing
is carried over to the L2 composing task (Comen 1994; Caudery in Fulcher 1997).
This point might be relevant to the Freshman or Sophomore levels of writing in
English at LAU and AUB assuming that their ability in composing in LI needs
improvement. In fact, students at the Sophomore level are also required to take an
Arabic course.

The assessment of writing has been described as a complex interaction among

several sets of factors: the knowledge that the assessor has about how to construct the
assessment task and the knowledge of the learner or test taker (Ruth and Murphy
 68

1984). In an essay test where the topic or focus of assessment is not clear to the
writer, a misinterpretation may result and have serious consequences (Ruth and
Murphy 1984).

If the concept of thesis statement and controlling ideas is applied to essay test
directions, misinterpretation of essay tests would probably happen less frequently,
provided learners are taught how to compose thesis statements and make effective use
of controlling ideas (Raimes 1992; Grabe and Kaplan 1996). The skill in using these
concepts is assumed to help solve the two factors mentioned by Ruth and Murphy
(1984). These concepts are certainly taught in the English courses, yet still LAU and
AUB teachers observe how their students do not use them effectively in their writing
unless they are continuously monitored. In addition, there are individual differences
among teachers although most teachers emphasise this aspect. It seems that some
English teachers know the researcher’s previous students by the inclusion of the above
mentioned concepts in their Essay writing.

In sum, writing is much more complex than different and specific approaches. It is
also much more complex than some theories seem to suggest. Research on writing
should draw on several related fields of study of Sociolinguistics, Applied Linguistics,
Contrastive Rhetoric, and take into account that writing is a Multidimensional
Construct and an Interdisciplinary Field. With this complexity of the writing task in
mind, an overview of the main methods of teaching writing is presented below.

Relying on Textbooks
Scarcity of research investigations on rhetorical concerns has left many teachers to rely
largely on the recommendations of textbooks (Meade and Ellis 1970; Zamel 1982;
Kroll 1994). The emphasis of so many composition textbooks is basically on different
methods of developing paragraphs, such as cause/effect, comparison/contrast etc. The
majority of handbooks concentrate mainly on one aspect of the rhetorical approach
which hinders the development of a more global .approach to good writing (Kitzhaber
 69

1958; Meade and Ellis 1970). However, this is much less true in the 1990s.
Researchers in one study carried out an investigation on 300 paragraphs randomly
selected, from contemporary materials, magazines and English journals, to investigate
the rhetorical procedures used. Results showed that writers generally use different
rhetorical procedures separately or in combination. Hence, a teacher may question
the validity of teaching the rhetorical procedures recommended in such textbooks or
whether there is any necessity for direct instruction in particular methods of paragraph
development. Regardless of the validity of rhetorical procedures, AUB and LAU
universities rely heavily on textbook materials. English II and III courses have a
certain number of essays, based on specific genres, to write during the semester.

Recent researchers (Connor and Schneider 1988; Weissberg and Buker 1990; Kroll
1994; Connor 1996; Grabe and Kaplan 1996) have argued that genre could affect the
quality of ESL learners' writing and that some genres elicit better writing quality i.e.
some genres are easier or more accessible for student writers. For instance,
argumentation, which needs greater attention to logic and sequencing of information,
is for more advanced levels, and is less likely to elicit high quality writing at lower
proficiency levels (Carrell and Connor 1991; Grabe and Kaplan 1996). The present
study used argumentation in Essay 1 of the experimental group, cause/effect as genre
in Essay 2 and comparison and contrast in Essay 3(see Chapter 4).

In addition, with the complexity of writing and its social-culture interrelation, it

can be concluded that no one factor is responsible for good or poor writing. (White
1985; Sinclair 1991; Grabe and Kaplan 1996). The nature of writing is multiconstruct
Even with this clear recognition of the complexities which must, of necessity, be
involved in teaching writing, it is true that for both logistic and pedagogic reasons
some simplification and sequencing is necessary in teaching writing. Since not every
aspect can be engaged at all stages in teaching, a strategy of simplification must be
employed in practical classroom situations, certainly in initial stages.
 70

Several points can be made concerning the establishment of pedagogic

priorities. It is argued that ESL learners at the Freshman level in Lebanon need to be
taught particular methods of paragraph development and their writing needs to be
structured, especially if they are poor performers, for they lack the skill of expression.
Later, when they become advanced writers, more freedom would be given, as
visualised in figure 3.1. Certainly, the composition courses required of all Freshmen
who do not achieve high scores on English entry tests stress these elements, so to this
extent they are institutionalized in LAU English courses.

more advanced learners

Less structured writing tasks
less advanced learners
More structured writing tasks

Figure 3.1 Structured and less structured writing tasks with

adv anced and less adv anced learners.

The researcher, who had the possibility of learning languages in both

approaches, French ( in which classes did not structure writing) and English (in which
classes structured writing), had better results and felt the improvement when she was
taught to write according to specific structured methods. Also, such methods used the
concept of thesis statement, a set of schemes to support the thesis such as facts,
illustration, authority helped her to understand the process as well as the skill of
writing. It gave her the possibility of knowing what to include in her Essay
performance. These schemes have been discussed by Oshima and Hogue (1991),
Raimes (1992) and Grabe and Kaplan (1996). Moreover, if the question is whether
formal practice in methods should be made conscious or not, one could also question
whether the four language skills need to be taught separately rather than in an
integrative approach. Compartmentalizing the 4 skills inhibits rather than assists
students in language learning (Zamel 1987). Teachers of writing should keep pursuing
their intuitive feeling or conduct insider research and describe what works better even
 71

though they may perhaps lack the means to prove it initially (Shaughnessy 1979;
Widdowson 1990). Certainly research gives the teacher insight into the complexities
of language learning, but what one understands from Widdowson's phrase is that
teachers' wisdom o f practice (Shaughnessy 1979) is to be valued, especially when
combined with such notions as the teacher-researcher (Stenhouse 1980; Widdowson
1990) and the reflective practitioner (Schon 1983) (see Chapter 1). Such notions
seem very useful for professional development in Lebanon, but they are quite
challenging in an environment in which, until recently, research practice has been
difficult in universities and in which teaching based on awareness of research was
largely out of the question during the war years (1975-1991) when it was a
considerable achievement to keep schools and universities open.

Schon’s (1983) concept of reflective practioner is linked, in fact, to action

research which is the demands of reflection on one’s own practice. However, the
notion of reflective practioner needs to be bridged to the collaboration within a group
to provide an effective means of empowering the self and bringing about changes
(Carr and Kemmis 1983). Questions tackled in action research emerge from the
teacher’s concerns and problems (Crookes 1993). One can say that action research is
the outcome of applying research to problems located in classroom experience and
reflection on these problems is the outcome of thoughtful and perhaps research-aware
practice. But it is also the improvement of the reflective awareness of experience and
systematic formulation of what that experience means, perhaps in personal
professional terms but certainly in research terms. This experience, critically, includes
the attemp to solve classroom problems and the careful monitoring of the research-
action process.

3.3 Sentence-combining Teaching and Writing

Another tool, which has been used in the skill of writing and which has, more recently,
been widely discredited, is the teaching of formal grammar (Wilkins 1972; Cooper
 72

1973; Widdowson 1984; Widdowson in Carter 1988). All language activities foster
syntax and there is no reason for the teacher to separate grammar since it is one of the
language skills (Cooper 1973; Nation in Jacobs 1997). Furthermore, some subset
skills for assessing writing ability include vocabulary and sentence grammar among
others such as genre, organisation, content (Carter and Nash 1995; Grabe and Kaplan
1996). Most of these indirect measures (grammar, vocabulary, sentence-combining)
were developed during the 1950s and 1960s, but they were retracted in favour of
direct measures (genre, organisation, process) of writing ability. And yet, indirect
measures are rules of use without which the rules of grammar are useless (Hymes in
Pride and Holmes 1972; Halliday and Hassan 1976; Nation in Jacobs 1997; Hughes
and McCarthy 1998).

Sentence-combining and Syntax

By developing the skill of sentence-combining, learners develop the use of different
syntactic formats such as simple, compound and complex sentences. Furthermore, as
the combination of sentences requires subordinations and conjunctions, learners are
made aware of a further device: cohesion i.e. the surface features linking sentences
together, including the specific use of vocabulary to do this (in lexical cohesion).
Learners are also exposed to different ways of writing the same sentence as it has been
revealed in the transcript analysis of sentence correction (Chapter V). They are able to
compare their sentences with the original, comment on the rhetoric of the sentences
and its semantic which is partly an outcome of rhetoric. The continuing popularity of
sentence-combining can be gauged by the fact that Soars (1989; 1990, 1996) in her
best-selling series Headway has used sentence-combining at different levels and
forms. In fact, contextual awareness of syntax becomes discourse (Hughes and
McCarthy 1998), and courses with a form-focused component achieve better results
than courses without such a component (Nation and Waring in Schmitt and McCarthy
1997). In fact, contextual awareness of syntax becomes discourse (Hughes and
McCarthy 1998). In this study, sentence-combining was related to Hemingway and
Gibran’s texts.
 73

Comb (1976); Zamel (1990) and Johnson (1992) measured the quality of
writing resulting from practice in sentence-combining. Results show that the
experimental groups who had used sentence-combining exercises wrote compositions
that were syntactically more mature than those of the control group. In the present
study, both Experimental Groups, that have used sentence-combining and vocabulary
as subskills, have done significantly better than the two Control Groups. Further,
some authors stated that a repertoire of sentence-combining has the same advantages
as the use of wide vocabulary (Hunt 1965; Halliday and Hassan 1976).

It is recalled that the focus of the Experiment is on two subskills: sentence-

combining and vocabulary. Both are an integral part of Essay performance which is a
result of study-reading texts. Vocabulary is a major component of writing, for it is
hard to conceive how one can express complicated thoughts without a command of
the relevant lexical items (Kirkman 1967; Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988;
Carter and Long 1991; Hatch and Brown 1996). Furthermore, using vocabulary
accurately and writing sentences correctly are some of the basic features of Essay
writing (Robinson 1980; Grobe 1981; Scheirer 1985; McCarthy 1991). These two
subskills are based on the principle that language is actually grammaticalised lexis and
tightly interconnected (Sinclair 1991; Lewis 1993). Learners in the Experimental
groups followed the pattern in (figure 3.2).

Figure 3.2: Interconnection of Reading. Writing. Vocabulary and Sentence-combining.

Literature

Reading

Vocabulary Sentence-combining
V
-Writing
 74

Authors such as Johnson (1992) also show that there are benefits of sentence-
combining regardless of whether paired sentences to be combined are given with or
without due words (such as linking words). Hunt (1965) shows that beginning writers
do not have the ability to use different sentence building procedures which allow more
mature writers to say what they want to say. This is due to the fact that complex
syntactic structures are more difficult to process than simple ones (Stemglass 1980)
and, pleasurably, more difficult to write for this reason. Davies (1978) summarises a
number of studies of adolescent and adult L2 learners which suggest that receptive
skills should be emphasised at the early stages of introductory classes. Torrance et al.
(1993), in drawing out implications for thesis writing instruction, note that it is
important to base the content of the course, on which an experiment was carried out,
upon the grammatical features found in academic text, particularly above the sentence
level. Furthermore, sentence complexity and vocabulary are important factors, among
others such as organisation and the use of genre, in the evaluation of writing (Grobe
1981; Scott 1996). A limiting factor is that most of the studies cited above are
concerned with LI writers of English. Nevertheless, Grabe and Kaplan (1996)
conclude that sentence-combining techniques in L2 offer a means to raise student
awareness of various clause and sentence types and of the possibilities of combining
them which is an important component of writing skills.
Sentence-combining, and more specifically the use of relative clauses, is a
problem for Arab speaking students (Schachter 1974; Scott and Tucker 1974; Kaplan
1972; 1987; Connor 1996). A prevalent problem in writing among nonnative speakers
in American University was centred on sentence-structure (Bridgeman and Carlson
1983). This is a further obstacle for L2 readers to overcome (Huckin et. al 1993;
Coady and Huckin 1997).

Sentence-combining and Psycholinguistics

A sentence-combining approach is consistent with the psycholinguistic model which
assumes that fluency develops as readers learn to process larger units of language
more efficiently and to draw on their linguistic resources in the target language. As
 75

students transform sentences to phrases and clauses during their writing activities, they
learn how word groups form meaningful units rather than a string of words.
Futhermore, word groups that form meaningful units are formed of an appropriate
range of vocabulary items (Bensoussan in Amaud and Bejoint 1992; Hatch and Brown
1996; Grabe and Kaplan 1996; Connor 1996). Hence, vocabulary and sentence-
combining activities should develop fluency in reading and provide a springboard for
learners’ writing practice (Ney 1974; Stemglass 1980; Strong 1994; Altman in Coady
and Huckin 1997; Coady and Huckin 1997).

Drawbacks of Sentence-combining and Refutation

Some writers have cautioned against sentence-combining: it could become a
mechanical routine with little value (Ney 1976; Daiker et al. 1978; Witte and Faigley
1981). Yet, when sentences can be written automatically, more energy and time can
be allotted to planning other needs that writing requires (Johnson 1992; Strong 1994).
In fact, one can observe that in the sentence-correction of the transcript, learners asked
themselves questions beyond the structure level: questions pertaining to rhetoric and
semantics (see Chapter V). For instance, learners realised that if the following two
sentences, from the text Indian Camp are linked, the meaning changes:

S: He was smoking a pipe, and the room smelled very bad.

H: He was smoking a pipe. The room smelled very' had.

Furthermore, by comparing their sentences with the author, the learner’s reason for
not linking them was justified That is, the effective teaching of sentence-combining
should include, as here, awareness by students when it is more effective not to
combine what are potentially combinable clauses. In fact, Widdowson (1979)
confirmed this possible positive outcome by stating that classroom situations may be
effective for teaching the semantic significance of sentences and their constituents.
With sentence-combining the focus is mostly on sentence level grammar (Knapp and
Watkins 1994).
 76

This technique could be adapted to the needs of the students and used in their
writing (Comb 1976). In the case of LAU students, for instance, organisation and
sequencing of events could be practised. Christensen (1968) developed a generative
rhetoric approach to teaching sentences. Students are given a base sentence which
they should compose, expand and add to. Composing is thus seen as an act of
synthesis which promotes student confidence and increases familiarity with syntactic
patterns (Christensen 1968; DeBeaugrande 1984; Hillocks 1986). It also requires
organised and logical paragraph writing which cannot be taken for granted even for
advanced writers (Grabe and Kaplan 1996). The discoursal importance of sentence-
combining arguably constitutes one of the basics of paragraph writing, a constituent of
essay writing. Table 3.1 presents an analytic listing of textbooks using sentence-
combining. These are important examples because they are current, wide ranging, and
themselves include a variety of techniques and contexts for sentence-combining.

table 3.1 Textbook Extracts of Sentence-combining

Authors Date Title S-C Exercises Comments

L^ngan. J. (1997) English Skills 1. Correct fragments. Eg. Langan uses a wide variety
Since I was tired of sentence-combining as
2. Correct run ons. Eg. Phil well as error analysis.
cringed at the sound o f the What is important is that
dentist’s drill it buzzed like he includes a revision of
a fifty pound mosquito. different features used to
3. Combine to form a combine sentences. This
compound sentence. Eg. I gives learners a general
married at age 17. I never view of the different
got a chance to live on my features and draws on what
own. they have learned
4. Combine to form a previously
complex sentence (use Review docs not seem to
subordinators). Eg. Lola have been used by mam
doesn 7 enjoy cooking. authors.
She often eats at fast fo o d
restaurants.
5. Combine sent, using
participials. adverb etc..
Eg. -ed word Dimitri was
annoyed by the poor 77'
reception.
He decided to get a new
antenna.
6. Review: Combine the
 77

cluster using conj. or

subord. Then read them
aloud to find which
combination sounds best.
Eg. I don't like to ask for
favors. I must borrow
money from my brother-in-
law. I know he won 't turn
me down. I still fe el guilty
about it.

Smal/.er, W. (1996) W rite to Be Read 1. Identifying run-on & A twofold approach:

fragments. Eg.: In order to identifying and correcting
distribute the resources and structuring sentences to
evenly. form a paragraph have been
2. Correcting run-on & used by Smalzer.
frag.:
Two only children who
marry each other may ha\>e
problems.
3. Connecting sent, to form
parg. using subord.. trans..
& conj.

Soars. L. (1996) New Headway Learners are asked to Soars focuses on the parg.
combine sent, using their as s-c exerc. are structured.
own linking words and She also presents parag. as
form parag. Eg.: a sample to follow. No
Elzeard Bouffier was a mechanical procedure is
shepherd. used.
He was poor.
He was solitary.
He lived in the mountains...

Jackson. A&A (1995) Advanced 1. Linking sent, with wh Jackson seems to use s-c
G ram m ar wrds. eg. 1 — the MP does w ithin grammar.
in private
h) is his own affair.
2. Error analysis
eg. Susan as a child played
in the garden.
3. Worksheets are
presented to work at if
learners made mistakes.

Strong. W (1994) Sentence Combining Unit 1: Warm-up Strong's procedure is an

a Composing Book Combining: excellent one and has diff
eg: Carol was working hard types of s-c which make
on her test. learners aware of the fact
Sue slipped her a note. that sent, build up into
paragraph & into essay. It
Unit 2: Intermediate also gives, at the last stage,
Comb.: a rhetorical aspect of
Angie took a deep breath. sentences.
 79

adopt the one plan or the

other.
Whichever...

Taylor. G (1992) The Student’s Does not seem to provide It is as its title says, a
Writing Guide exercises. guide. It presents the
theoretical part rather than
the practical.

Willis. D. (1992) Student’s G ram m ar Matching sent, using only Willis focuses on matching
prediction. Eg. 1. John sentences rather than
starts his new school grammar.
tomorrow.
e. I'm sure he '11 enjoy it.
2. Matching sent, using
general belief. Eg. 1. John
starts his new school
tomorrow.
e. I'm sure he '11 enjoy it.
3. Complete the dialogue
using will or going to.

Burton & Humphries (1992) Mastering Does not seem to provide B.&H. present the
English Language exercises. theoretical aspect of
different types of sentences
such as simple and complex
sentences and talk about
their rhetorical effects.

Authors explain the causes Warn learners about

of fragments. fragments.

Shaw, K. (1991) English G ram m ar 1. Combining sentences Shaw seems to focus rather
Exercises aiming at choosing the on grammar. Grammar is
suitable conditional clause. worked out through
Eg. a. I f it hadn't rained. comprehension and
c. the plants would have production.
died. And yet, grammar is put
2. Find out whether the in an authentic situation as
linking words are conj. or the author decides a poem
subordinators. for a context
Eg. We wouldn 't ha\’e got
so uptight, i f he hadn t kept
nagging us.
3. Read the poem &
underline all conditional
clauses. Eg. The Rum Turn
lugger is a curious cat: If
you offer him pheasant he
would rather have grouse.
If you put him in a house he
would much prefer a flat.
 80

4. Sentence Completion.
Eg. I'd be delighted if, ...

Qshima & Hogue (1991) W riting 1. Rewrite sentence Oshima & Hogue have a
Academic English fragments. wider variety of sentence
Eg. The best movie that I problems for students to be
saw last year. aware of. correct and
2. Rewrite choppy recognise. This textbook
sentences. has been of great help in
Eg. The computer has both universities. AUB &
undeoubtedly benefited LAU.
humanity. The computer
has also created problems
for humanity.
3. Correct the following
run-on sentences using the
method indicated. Eg. A
foreign student faces many
problems, for example, he
has to cope with a new
culture. (Add a period)
4. Improve the following
stringy sentences. Eg. He
enrolled in an advanced
calculus class, but he found
it too difficult, so he
dropped it.

Hamp-Lyons & Heasley (1987) Study Sentences are used to mark Circling transitions &
Writing transitions, contrast words contrast words is a passive
and to become aw are of way of learning sentence-
grammar techniques and combining that H-L & H
logical connectors. Eg. use. Producing sentences is
Learning to drive a car more of an active way of
requires a lot of patience. learning writing.
Similarly, learning a
language requires a
considerable amount of
patience.

Me Arthur. T (1984) The W ritten 1. S-c using conjunction McArthur uses 2 stages in
W ord Book 1 and subordinator. Eg. a. At s-c that are needed to make
that time there vra.s no learners aware that s-c aim
railway. There is now (but). is beyond the sentence
2. S-c ending in the level. That is, s-c authentic
formation of a paragraph. situation is writing
Eg. a. In those days, it was performance.
necessary to tra\>el on foot
or on horseback, (because)
There were no trains, buses
or cars in that part o f the
country.
 81

C oeetal. (1983) W riting Skills 1. Scrambled sentences to Coe et al. suggest in most
put in the proper order. Eg. of the exercises group work
a. In spite o f this damage which is another approach
the two ships managed to of effective learning.
reach the nearby port o f
Dunkirk under their own Some passages are taken
steam, b. However, because from newspapers and
o f the weather conditions, brochures. exposing
the captains did not realise learners to diff. forms of
the danger until only writing.
seconds before the collision Co. et al. go beyond the
took place. sentence level since they
2. Sentence-combining also ask learners to write a
using transitions and paragraph presenting them
ending in the formation of with a sample
a paragraph. Eg. I do n ’t
know whether you heard
that I was a member o f the
club team in the folk
dancing
before the collision took
place.
2. Sentence-combining
using transitions and
ending in the formation of
a paragraph. Eg. 1 d o n ’t
know whether you heard
that I was a member o f the
club team in the folk
dancing competition last
month I didn 7 think I
was good enough, but
w e’ve danced several times
in public recently, and the
leader said that I did very
well
3. Free sentence-
combining. Stage no. 3 is a
continuation of stage no. 2.
That is, it is the same
paragraph that the author
uses, but the method
changes. Eg. Late at night
buses and trains can be
dangerous ........ , i f you want
to a\’oid trouble, take a
taxi.
4. An introductory
paragraph is presented to
the learners, and they are
asked to write an
introductory paragraph as
the one shown.
 82

Hedge, T (1983) In A W ord 1. Put the scrambled Hedge uses sentences to

sentences in a proper order. make learners conscious of
Eg. They are very curious. organization and logical
Both her parents had to sequence: to make a
take tranq ui Hisers. difference between fact,
In other words, they are opinion ; and combining
intellectually very bright. sent, using appropriate
2. Differentiate between conj.
facts and opinion. Eg. a. All these approaches are
Gifted children are usually needed to the improvement
active babies, b. Mozart of essay performance.
started composing music However. Hedge emphasis
when he was five. is rather sequencing of
3. Combine sentences using ideas, and the use of
the right connective word, different supporting ideas.
eg in fact, fo r example. Eg.
In some countries there are
special groups to help
gifted children. He has only
ju st learnt to tie his
shoelaces.

Glendinnin & Mantell (1983) W rite 1. S-c joined by relative G. and M use s-c aiming at
Ideas clauses aiming at the writing a paragraph with
production of a paragraphs. relative clauses, and then
Eg. Gandhi was a using proper punctuation.
politician.
He led the independence The author goes back to a
movement in India simple stage: the simple
2. collocation structure of a sentence.
Eg. a. laboratory b. place The free production of a
c. experiments can be sentence.
made.
3. Using commas with He works on different
relative clauses. genres of paragraphs He
4. The student gives his also works on causes and
own definition of some argumentation modes.
terms. Eg. a university. There is a good wide
5. a) Grouping the causes variety that the author uses.
(given in sentences) of the However, he stops at the
passage. The Health paragraph.
Revolution in Europe.
b) Join the causes to
make paragraphs.
5. a) Grouping the causes
(giv en in sentences) of the
passage. The Health
Revolution in Europe.
b) Join the causes to
make paragraphs.
 83

McKay, S. (1983) Fundamental of Some words are provided McKay encourages

W riting for a Specific Purpose and learners are asked to controlled writing in the
write additional sentences form of s-c. However, this
using expression such as stops at the sentence level.
the second, the last. Eg. This approach might not
Inner- includes Jupiter, reach its final target i.e.
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. essay performance.
Outer- includes Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

Pmcas & Hadfield (1982) W riting in 1. Sentences are linked Pincas & Hadfield present
English Book 3 through specific linking learners with linking
words such as time, words, then they asked
purpose etc.. Eg. The shoes them to produce their own.
are completely worn out The second stage pertains
(although^ I've only worn to production and test their
them six times. comprehension of the
2. Cluster of sentences to matter produced. All
combine aiming at forming within a paragraph context.
a paragraph. Topic is taken
from a newspaper and no
linking words are
suggested. Eg. The blue
car turned right without
warning. It collided with
the cyclis. It knocked him
over.
3. Notes are written and
learners are to develop
them into a paragraph
using proper linking words
(linking words are not
suggested).

Johnson, K (1981) Communicate in 1. Putting sent, in order and Johnson uses good exerc.
writing combining them. Eg. for logical sequences of
a. An invader must cross events.
the water to reach Britain.
b. The history o f Europe is
full o f invasions.
2. Compare the paragraph Good approach leading to
with the original text. rhetoric is part of writing.
3. State the events and the Author ends with
causes of the topic of the comprehension rather than
paragraph. starting with it.
4. Complete sentences Revision is a means of
using phrases already learning and looking at
learned. learning in perspective.

Carrier, M, (1981) Intermediate 1. Put the scrambled Carrier’s sentence-

Language Skills sentences in the proper combining focuses mostly
sequence. Eg. a. The driver on sequencing of ideas.
was killed instantly. Sequencing of ideas or
 84

b. It had a puncture. organization is an

2. Combine sent, using a important factor in writing
linking word. Eg. a. The and can’t be taken for
photographer took pictures. granted.
b. The policeman made
chalk-marks on the road.

Moore, J. eds. (1980) Reading and 1. Sentences are presented Moore's sentence-
Thinking in English separately, then combined. combining stops at the
The focus is on cohesion sentence-level. No
through reference such as paragraph context nor
pronouns, synonyms, reading context. This
repetitions and transitions. might lead to a mechanical
Transition leads to writing approach.
organisation.
2. Diagrams are presented,
and learners are asked to
complete sentences by
looking at the diagram.

Summing up the impression given by so many textbooks, it is clear that

sentence-combining is still popular and many authors used it in a variety of ways.
Some focus on the sentence level others go beyond and aim at paragraph writing.
Within sentence-combining some authors recommend reading aloud their sentences so
that in hearing their own versions, learners become aware of their mistakes (Langan
1997). Others (Shaw 1991) emphasise grammar in sentence-combining. Others
include a total review of the different approaches used (Langan 1997). The latter was
used at LAU, for it gives learners a perspective on learning and reinforces long term
memory. Often writers use the receptive as well as the productive approaches
(Langan 1997; Strong 1994; Oshima and Hogue 1991). If there is a dichotomy
between these two features, as some writers claim, learners will be exposed to the two
essential approaches of learning: acquisition and production. Furthermore, some
authors mention group work as a first step and then individual work. This approach
gives more possibility for active and co-operative learning of writing. Others (Oshima
and Hogue 1991; Lagan 1997) (both used at LAU and AUB) make learners explicitly
aware of the different types of sentence problems such as fragments, run-ons, stringy
sentences and choppy ones. This is a basic aspect of sentence-combining, derived to
help learners to identify mistakes, label them and find solutions to their mistakes within
 85.

the frame of sentence-combining. Finally, Strong (1994) includes some aspects of

rhetoric as part of sentence-combining. This is a more advanced step that polishes
learners’ sentences. Another approach that could be considered part of rhetoric is
getting students to read their sentences aloud (Langan 1997). Other writers (Hedge
1983) emphasise the logical sequence of ideas by the inclusion of getting students to
sequence scrambled sentences in a proper order. It is recalled that the aim of
sentence-combining is to go from word formation, to sentence, to paragraph and
finally to essay writing.

Sentence-combining and Rhetoric

Some writers believe that sentence-combining techniques might lead learners of
English to fall back into rhetoric which is not English, for language is shaped by the
experience of the society of its speakers (Kaplan 1967; Connor 1996). And yet,
rhetorical problems should be central to the content rather than the forms of various
types of texts (Spilka 1993). The results of a study carried out by Edelsky (1982)
show that what a writer knows about writing in LI forms the basis of new hypotheses
with writing in another language. Friedlander (in Kroll 1990; 1994) and Caudery (in
Fulcher 1997) seem to agree. In addition, style seems to persist over the years, across
media and mode. Discourse structure extends beyond language to culture and genres
(Friedlander in Kroll 1994; Connor 1996). For instance, Arabic makes more frequent
use of conjunctions and a theme repetition pattern than English (Kaplan 1967; Bar-lev
1986). Through sentence-combining activities, one could make learners aware of the
Arabic translated rhetoric used in English (if this occurs), especially when comparison
takes place between learners’ writing and other learners/writers. However, the reader
is reminded that Lebanese students, as compared to those of neighbouring countries,
seem to have fewer of the above mentioned problems, but there are still problems of
sentence-structure and organisation. These findings also coincide with those of Church
and Bereiter (1983) who found that students, not particularly in Arab countries, pay
little attention to style until they overcome other problems.
Kaplan (1967) tried to overcome these difficulties in a study at the English
 86

department of AUB whereby learners were asked to change sentences from the use of
coordination to the use of subordination: a sentence-combining technique. Learners
wrote in paragraphs with non-English rhetoric. Yet Kaplan's (1967) work in
contrastive rhetoric has been criticised for the following reasons:
• for being too ethnocentric and priviledging the writing of native English speakers
(Hinds 1983; Matalene 1985);
• for examining only L2 products and ignoring educational process variables (Mohan
and Au-Yeung Lo 1985; Raimes 1991)
• and for not taking into account that ESL coming from different cultural
backgrounds present different organisational patterns (Purves 1988; Kroll 1994).
Not withstanding the above criticisms, one could use sentence-combining
taking into account nonnative English rhetorical patterns which are often used by
particular groups of students; to use sentence-combining not mechanically as Kaplan
did, but to use it aiming at specific objectives within a linguistic and cultural setting,
and certainly not stopping at the sentence level. By specific objectives is meant the
combining of sentences aiming at paragraph writing as Step 1, and Essay writing as
Step 2. This process is used in China at various academic levels (Cortazzi and Jin
1996).
Perhaps one can add to the criticism against Kaplan (1967) that changing sentences
from the use of conjunction to the use of subordinate does not necessarily work out as
will be seen in the Transcript (Chapter V). Language is partly a matter of usage, and
therefore some expressions do not necessarily fit in a different context, let alone the
fact that there might not be an exact equivalence in the use of subordinates and/or
conjunctions. It seems, to the researcher, that Kaplan’s (1967) study was rather done
mechanically.

As contrastive rhetoric develops, it is beginning to consider the variation in

American, British and other native Englishes (Canadian, Australian and New Zealand
English) as well as nonnative varieties of English as norms (Connor 1996). As long as
intelligibility is not jeopardised, nonnative English could be the norm (Kachru in
 87

Purvey 1988; Kachru 1992; Hong and Chew 1993). The question that arises is who is
and how to define norm. This exploration is not part of the present study. Regardless
of what the norm is, sentence-combining, if followed, taking into account the criticism
faced by Kaplan and framing it within the context of reading texts, it could be a basic
tool in teaching writing.

Sentence-combining and its Multiple Functions

Sentence-level studies can provide teachers with information on error which transfers
to composition studies (Cooper 1973; Vann 1984; Johns in Hamp-Lyons 1991). In
the researcher’s teaching experience, sentences that have been translated from Arabic
as LI are easily picked out from essays and can be pointed out to learners in
teacher/student conferences. As learners become more aware that a paragraph is made
out of sentences, the teacher points to an expression or structure which is typically
Arabic. The teacher just needs to let the student backtranslate the structure to Arabic
to make the student understand what she means. This approach, which makes learners
conscious and aware of such practical aspects of contrastive error analysis, has had a
positive effect on the essays of Lebanese students raising conscious. Awareness is a
means of promoting learning (Van Lier 1996; Altman in Coady and Huckin 1997;
Sokmen in Schmitt and McCarthy 1997; McDonough 1999).

There are several functions of sentence-combining (Stern 1987; Celce-Murcia

1991; Dixon-Krauss 1996). Students need to use sentences as a means of retaining
newly acquired lexical items. Producing sentences actively helps learners to
incorporate newly acquired items into their active vocabulary. As a matter of fact, the
present study used cloze test, collocation along the writing of sentences as a
mnemonic to retain newly acquired vocabulary items (for the results see Chapter 6).
Furthermore, grammar and vocabulary in foreign language learning cannot be viewed
as emerging on their own. They are both resources for creating meaning through text
and relating systematically to each other, hence, Halliday’s (1975) use of the term
lexico-grcimmatical. Sentence-combining may be an effective way of working out
 88

some of these systematic links between grammar and vocabulary (Nation in Jacobs
1997; Sokmen in Schmitt and McCarthy 1997). The researcher believes that by
combining or converting complex sentences to simple ones, writers learn and practice
their grammatical skills within one sort of authentic setting (the setting of classroom
academic writing). In fact, research suggests that sentence-combining in which the
focus is on the construction of whole discourses, with attention to cohesion, coherence
and transitions may be more appropriate to stimulate overall writing ability,
particularly at the college level of ESL. It is in the conjunction of grammar and
rhetoric that learners bring about a mature style (Christensen 1968; Engber 1995;
Nation in Jacobs 1997; Hughes and McCarthy 1998).
Besides sentence-combining, lexical cohesion, discussed in chapter 6, is one of the
factors that aims to help students to write well constructed sentences and therefore,
well constructed paragraphs. Focussing on lexis, as a cohesive device, is an innovation
in research in Lebanon with implications for the teaching of vocabulary. The model of
lexical cohesion adopted to partially analyse students’ essays is that of Hoey (1991).
This is explained in chapter 6.

In sum, in spite of some drawbacks when sentence-combining has not been used
properly, it has been a useful addition to the language arts curriculum for stimulating
syntactic gains in writing (Kaplan 1966; Perron 1976; Widdowson 1979; Johnson
1992; Strong 1994; Grabe and Kaplan 1996; Hughes and McCarthy 1998). English
language or teachers can, then, justifiably expect gains in syntactic maturity and quality
of students' writing if students are exposed to sentence-combining exercises, ranging
from the highly formulaic exercises of O'Hare (1973) to the less rigidly conceived ones
of Strong (1994). It is not, of course, simply the exercise of sentence-combining
which makes it effective but, rather, how possible grammatical and discoursal features
are envisaged, discussed and employed by students and how their growing awareness
of the corresponding communicative effects contributes to improve writing. What also
makes sentence-combining an effective means of writing is the way teachers use this
approach. This can be developed by post-exercise discussion in which, guided by the
 89

teacher, the class collectively constructs interpretations of alternate sentence

combinations to judge readability, effectiveness of expression and likely effect on an
audience. Such a practice can meet five of the ten fundamental routines identified by
successful ESL writing teachers: focusing student attention, assigning specific tasks,
collectively constructing interpretations, establishing criteria o f judgement,
consolidating the newly acquired vocabulary and enhancing autonomy rather than
dependence (Cunning 1992, Lewis 1993; Van Lier 1996; Grabe and Kaplan 1996;
Connor 1996; Altman in Coady and Huckin 1997).

3.4 Integrating Skills for Writing

Integrating reading and composition is a further approach for teaching writing.
Reading in the writing classroom is understood as appropriate input for acquisition of
writing skills, for it is assumed that reading passages will somehow function as models
from which writing skills can be learned (Stem 1987; Purves 1988; Carter and Long
1991; Collie and Slater 1991; Carson and Leki 1993). What makes a text as a written
product communicative can contribute to an understanding of the writing process itself
(Connor 1987). Although there is no clear comprehensive model of what constitutes a
communicative text, there is a general agreement that the lexicon is a significant
component in both the construction and interpretation of meaningful text (Grabe in
Kaplan et al. 1985; Lewis 1993). Others claim that research has recently begun to
explore this connection (i.e. reading/writing) (Kroll 1994; Coulthard 1994; Grabe and
Kaplan 1996; Connor 1996). Furthermore, modelling may be highlighted by teachers
during intensive reading and exploitation of study-texts. For L2 writers, reading texts
and studying the details are essential features of a writing course. One can hardly
expect learners to be able to produce written texts unless they also obtain written
language input through reading. In comparison with LI classroom, there is a need for
more explicit focus on language in the form of vocabulary. L2 learners are likely to
have much to learn that LI learners will have acquired in their normal development of
their mother tongue (Engber 1995; Caudery in Fulcher 1997; Zimmerman 1998).
 90

Support for the transfer of skills from reading to writing comes from Eckhoff s
(1983) study, in which children's writing was found to reflect the structures and styles
of reading used in class Other reviews of reading-writing connections show
significant results when students are taught reading strategies by examining structures
applicable to both reading and writing (eg. sentence, paragraph analysis, summaries)
(Belanger 1987; Leki 1993; Eisterhold in Kroll 1994; Coulthard 1994; Grabe and
Kaplan 1996). The likelihood of effective transfer of reading awareness to writing is
improved if teachers draw attention to transferable elements and set specific classroom
goals for identifying and producing specific elements of texts which have been studied.
Hence, lexical, grammatical and rhetorical errors are learned through reading and
writing (Shaughnessy 1977; Engber 1995).
In the Counterbalancing Experiment, the researcher used texts by Hemingway and
Gibran as a springboard for writing. These texts were analysed and interpretations
discussed. A variety of classroom approaches were used for students to take sides,
back up their viewpoint with logical arguments, use also vocabulary, sentence-
structure and types of sentences. The purpose of these approaches is to aid the
effective transfer from study-reading texts to content and writing.
By types of sentences and by simple sentences the researcher does not mean
the literal grammatical meaning of clause elements: Subject Verb Object. She means
that writing needs not be a complex matter as learners assume. Ideas can be correctly
expressed in an accessible and simple procedure. The same sentence, which starts as a
simple sentence, could be progressively expanded into a compound, a complex then a
compound-complex one. For example,
a . I ate an apple, (simple sentence)
b I ate an apple, and I ate a mandarin, (compound sentence)
c. I ate an apple which was delicious. (complex sentence)
d. I ate an apple which was delicious, and I ate a mandarin which was juicy, (complex-compound)

Furthermore, these sentences can also increase in lexical density as the following
sentences show (figure 3.3).
a ’ I ate a fresh, delicious, golden apple.
b‘ I ate a fresh, delicious, golden apple, and I ate a big, juicy and strongly smelling mandarin.
c' I ate an apple which was fresh, delicious and golden.
d' I ate an apple which was fresh, delicious and golden, and I also ate a big. juicy and strongly
smelling mandarin.
 91

k dense
d'
4 d
c'
b'
3 c
a'
simple c o m p ound complex comp-complqx
i P
1 2 3 4

b 2

a 1

r less dense

figure 3.3 Complexity and density of sentences

In one simple procedure, the researcher wrote a sample of the previous sentences
on the blackboard and asked learners to produce similar ones, taken from their own
essays. The purpose of this procedure was to show learners the possible simplicity of
writing sentences and their progression in complexity and density.

The Abuse of Models in ESL Writing Classes

The use and abuse of models has been criticised in ESL writing classes (Watson 1982).
Models can provide powerful input, but what about intake? How much of this input
do learners utilise and incorporate in their work? (Krashen 1984). Most models have
both virtues and disadvantages. Some of the virtues consist in providing support and
reassurance to learners with the use of specifically highlighted aspects of texts,
whereas one might wonder whether artificial models are not, partly, responsible for the
short repetitive sentences one encounters in student work afterwords. However, it
depends on the nature of the model:
which aspects of writing?
how these models are used,
how teachers help students internalise models,
how teachers wean students off models.
 92

Hence, it seems that whether models help writing develop or become the cause of
repetitive sentences depend on the teacher’s approach and way of teaching.

Writing: A Thinking Process

Recent instructional reforms have advocated the improvement of writing instruction as
a means to improve the thinking and reasoning ability of students in academic subjects.
Writing represents a powerful instrument of thought by virtue of its analysis and
synthesis process as well as its self-reviewing structure (Simon 1971; Fulkerson 1979;
Purves 1982; Takala 1988; Grabe and Kaplan 1996). This may be the case, providing
that writing is taught in a way which encourages students to develop these aspects of
developing thinking. However, some conclusions about the cognitive qualities, effects
or benefits involved in writing such as those cited stem from study or reflection on
mature writers in LI and simply cannot be transferred to L2 learners of writing
without qualification. For example, writing is a self-reviewing structure only if writers
are taught to review and have systematic awareness about how to improve their draff
texts: not many L2 writers do this, beyond a cursory re-reading to check grammar and
spelling. The self-review also needs to be carried out with the awareness that writing
creates its context and some awareness of what the envisaged reader may or may not
know. This is a continual creation of Given-New relationships (Grabe and Kaplan
1996).
In addition, the ability to hold larger units of discourse together is in fact an
important measure of the learners' intellectual growth, and writing can be viewed in
part as a technology for holding vast and complex units of thought together
(Shaughnessy 1979). Again, this is only likely to be the case if L2 writers are taught
to view their writing in such a discourse perspective. It is said that Napoleon would
not upgrade a soldier unless he passed the test of writing a well organised paragraph
(Kane and Peters 1986). In fact, Napoleon’s belief is a reconfirmation of Piaget’s (in
Petrosky 1986) saying that writing is thinking made tangible.
 93

In sum, there is a general recognition that a positive correlation exists between LI

and L2 reading and writing. However, teaching is itself an important factor which
helps positive transfer, awareness and control of this relationship.

Speech and Composing

Besides the several techniques mentioned previously, some linguists (Emig 1977;
Semke 1984; Kroll 1994) argue that verbal interaction represents an available medium
for composing. Speech makes use of the learners' intuitive knowledge of the structure
of the English language. Speaking obviously comes before writing in the four skills of
language teaching in the traditional structuralist approach and sequence of skills
(Thornton 1983). Using speech in planning writing allows students to see the decision
making that occurs in mature composing. Besides, speaking aloud allows students to
find mistakes and catch the rhythm of the text (Fan in Biggs and Watkins 1993; Kroll
1994; Stubbs 1996; Grabe and Kaplan 1996).
This is, perhaps, somewhat artificial. Protocol analysis of think-aloud
procedures with writing show that such spoken thoughts are not always easy to
follow, if they are authentic: they are often idiosyncratic, and not necessarily
grammatical and easy to understand. This indicates that the above suggestion evokes
more complex aspects than may at first be apparent. Nevertheless, the researcher
believes that speaking out loud one’s thoughts, especially when the idea is not clear in
the mind of the learner, as he is writing an essay which is the outcome of reading text,
helps clarifying the idea and writing it. Speaking out loud does not solve problems
such as the need for the right lexico-grammatical choices, but clarity and awareness of
one’s thoughts become clearer. Furthermore, the idea that writing is complex and
scary procedure becomes less complex and authentically less scary. Table 3.1 reveals
that some authors such as Lagan (1997) include the speak out loud procedure in their
exercises.

However, the general tendency among authors commenting on writing is to

differentiate between the spoken and written language. (Connor and Kaplan 1987;
 94

Bloomfield 1993; Grabe and Kaplan 1996; Hatch and Brown 1996). They might be
more productively envisaged as interwoven strands on the fabric of language. In
practice at LAU, speech and writing are separated into different academic courses, and
writing means, in effect, writing certain types of essays. Hence, no matter which
process of writing the teacher chooses, it is important to consider the circumstances
under which learners work as well as their motivation and needs of the task to be
done.

3.5 Process Approaches to Developing Writing

A widely-cited approach to writing is to focus primarily on the process rather than
product of writing. Proponents of this approach believe that when learners understand
the experience of composing as a process, their written products will improve (Jacobs
1982; Zamel 1982, 1983; Rose 1985; Rorschach 1985). Other writers (Zamel 1982;
1983; Jones 1985) go further and provide support for the use of process-oriented
composition pedagogy in L2 classes claiming that focusing on the writing process
enables the acquisition of English rather than just the learning of English. That is,
acquisition of writing gives tangible results, whereas learning to write is still at the
theoretical stage. Furthermore, Diaz (1985) observed that children acquire three
significant composing skills: a sense of audience, voice and power in language.
However, Cohen and Cavalcanti (in Kroll 1994) pointed out that most studies of
process writing have relied on the case study as a research methodology, with a small
number of subjects. The focus on the writing process as a trend has been promoted to
such a degree that it has become a cult (Rodrigues 1985; Purves 1988). Hence, some
teachers have ceased to teach grammar and the mechanics of writing. Yet Nation (in
Jacobs 1997) cautions about forgetting too much of the methods which have worked
successfully in the past.
On the other hand, White and Arndt (1991) saw the process approach more
positively than Rodrigues (1985) and Purves (1988). It requires a sequence of
activities which would include some of the following: discussion, brainstorming
(making notes, asking questions), fastwriting/selecting ideas, rough draft, preliminary
 95

self-evaluation, arranging information/structuring the text, first draft, peer evaluation

and responding, conference, second draft, self-evaluation/editing/proof-reading,
finished draft, final responding to draft, for writing is a recursive process.

Yet, this approach can be time consuming, especially for non-English majors at
LAU who take English courses as a requirement and whose attitude towards the
language is sometimes rather negative. One has also to take into account that there is
a set syllabus that institutions have to follow and finish. However, it could be argued
that, even if it takes up much time, the process approach is worth using if it brings
good results. Yet any such results depend upon the understanding of the approach. In
fact, there is some confusion about it. A good example is brainstorming (often
regarded as a key stage of generating ideas in the process approach) which seems to
be the antithesis of organisation, considered a major criterion by ESL correctors of
academic essay writing.
Although advocates of such techniques as brain storming point out that they
are only stages towards an organised final product, many Lebanese students find the
multiplicity of such stages confusing, unless the stages themselves have a clear
organisation and purpose. Writing approaches should suit learners' situation. In the
case of the present Lebanese university students, whose formative years were during
the Civil War (1975-1991), daily planning and organisation are not activities that they
seem to know much about. While the creative aspects of brainstorming might be
natural and culturally appropriate among North American students, this is far from
normally the case for the Lebanese war generation. Process writing originated with
the teaching of LI writing. One may expect similarities between LI and L2 writing
classroom, but one can hardly expect LI technique to be transferred wholesale to L2.
There are differences between LI teaching situation and L2, such as age of L2
students and proficiency of learners in LI which may or may not be transferred to L2
writing. L2 writers may have greater difficulty in applying some techniques such as
invention strategies which are frequently used in LI process writing classes (Caudery
in Fulcher 1997). Hence, process writing might not be as effective with L2.
 96

The study of text product of writing alone will not lead to fluent writing either. To
break free from past theories and move towards a theory of writing abilities, new
questions should be asked (Grabe and Kaplan 1996).
1. How may texts be examined as product and process?
2. How may product and process be viewed as reflecting an interactive model of
writing?
3. How do process and product issues embed themselves within a coherent
interpretation of wider social contexts for writing, and how we want learners to
produce genres of texts?

Purves (1988) focused on question 2 and took as a specific example the writing of
Arabic learners. He argued that writing in Arabic rests on the language of a text not
on its propositional structure. Therefore, both the process and the product deserve
serious consideration. One may add that there is no such thing as the writing process,
rather there are various writing processes (Rodrigues 1985; Caudery in Fulcher 1997;
McDonough 1999). Zamel (1982) interviewed 8 ESL proficient learners, among
whom were two Arabs. The results of her study show that the principle features of the
composing process belong to different writing paradigms. Zamel (1982) concluded
the following:

Students must be given time to write and rewrite so as to learn that several drafts
may be needed before intentions are conveyed (Thornton 1980; Krashen 1981; Kroll
1994). Yet this does not seem to be what learners believe, especially if they are
inexperienced, as many or most will be in academic writing at Freshman level at LAU
(Grilfin 1982; Horowitz 1986).
Learners should be encouraged to use the brainstorm procedure rather than the
more linear traditional way of planning academic writing, but this approach does not
appeal to all ESL learners, whose learning abilities differ (Reid 1985). Perhaps, like so
many other techniques, students need to be taught not only the technique per se, but
 97

when and how to use it. Without a clear perception of the advantages of such a
technique, students are not likely to use it.

Moreover, teacher-student conferences need to take place regularly between

drafts so that students learn to improve their writing while creating. Writers in
Donovan and McClelland (1980); Grabe and Kaplan (1996); Scott (1996) strongly
believe in the effectiveness of individual conferences, and that they should take place in
all classes.

In the writer’s viewpoint, the student-teacher conference (office hours set by the
teacher within university regulations) is one of the major features that are beneficial for
learners. Learners come to class with their preoccupations and problems that distract
them from what takes place in the classroom. When a student-teacher conference
takes place, learners’ attention is harnessed and focused. Learners are forced to
comprehend their mistakes since they have to correct and show the correction to the
teacher before student-teacher conference ends. Such office hours can be dedicated to
conferences (in writing courses) thus, obviating the need to give too much classroom
time to individual conferences.

Finally, Zamel (1982) pointed out that syntax, vocabulary and rhetorical form are
important features of writing, but they need to be taught as means with which to better
express one's meaning rather than as ends in themselves. If they are taught separately,
students may never understand the importance of these features. Many authors agree
with this finding (Halliday and Hassan 1976; Engber 1995; Zimmerman 1994; Coady
and Huckin 1997; Nation in Jacobs 1997).

3.6 Different Trends in Writing and Sentence-combining

Having looked at the different trends in the teaching of writing, it is appropriate to
focus on the approach used in this study. Formal grammar has been widely discredited
in the skill of writing (Grabe and Kaplan 1996), and it is acknowledged that grammar
 98

and vocabulary are some of the subset skills needed for the assessment of writing
(Cooper 1973; Carter 1988; Hughes and McCarthy 1998). Furthermore, grammar and
vocabulary are basic criteria in writing evaluation though these are not always
mentioned by correctors when the criteria are set (Scott 1996). As a matter of fact,
appropriate lexical richness affects quality of writing (Linnarud 1986; Nattinger in
Carter and McCarthy 1988; Engber 1993; Laufer and Nation 1995; McDonough
1999).

Furthermore, at an advanced level, learners are requested to vary the types of

sentences they use. To do so, learners have to be conscious of syntactic formats. By
its very nature sentence-combining includes general principles of rhetoric which
learners could apply in writing (Christensen 1968; Grabe and Kaplan 1996). In the
experiment carried out by Torrance et al. (1993) learners were taught writing through
a cognitive strategies course. This course devoted relatively little time to rhetoric and
was of little help to students whose writing productivity lacked inadequate rhetorical
knowledge. Also it is more difficult to convey or express ideas if the format
(grammar) is incorrect (Torrance et al. 1993). In spite of the fact that linguistic
features were not stressed in the criteria for assessment, raters gave considerable
weight to the former (McNamara 1990). Most of these factors are essential features
of sentence-combining. Besides, the new grammar teaching approach operates at
three levels: two of which are sentence level knowledge and the knowledge of word.
At the sentence level, it is the clause grammar, and at the word level, it is the grammar
of graphology concerned with spelling, pronunciation and the grammar of morphemes.
Both factors were adopted by Lewis (1993) and called grammatical!sed lexis and
from Halliday by Knapp and Watkins (1994). Hence, both subskills sentence-
combining and vocabulary in this study are approaches that linguists use in the
classroom and are part of a genre-based approach (Gee in Fulcher 1997).

To avoid the drawbacks of sentence-combining, so that it might not become a

routine with little value (Daiker et al. 1978; Witte and Faigley 1981), this approach
 99

should be part of a wider construct which is the integration of reading and writing.
Furthermore, teachers have to use this approach thoughtfully, that is, to fit sentence-
combining to the needs of the learners and their objectives.

The purpose of this study is to show the role of study-reading texts in the
teaching of writing through the interconnection of reading and writing at different
academic levels. It is argued that this interconnection requires the effective use of two
subskills: vocabulary and sentence-combining. While other subskills are no doubt
involved, the present study focuses particularly on these two skills within the context
of reading texts, or what Knapp and Watkins (1994) labelled level o f text.

Arabic Speakers’ Errors in Written English

L2 speakers’ errors are often a transfer from LI, and they extend beyond language, to
culture and genres (Friedlander in Kroll 1994; Connor 1996). However, what has
been reported by Kaplan (1967, 1972), Al-Jubouri in Swales and Mustafa (1984);
Mosenthal and Tierney (1984) and Bar-lev (1986) concerning L2 writing of Arabic
speakers do not necessarily apply to Lebanese writers. What applies mostly, as seen in
this study, is the use of conjunctions rather than transitions and the use of
circumlocutions. From the syntax point of view, the use of fragments, run-on
sentences and what has been labelled sentence structure do apply. The latter refers to
sentences that could be fragment and run-on simultaneously as well as incorrect
structure and transfer from LI (see Chapter V). Other types of errors can also occur.

3.7 Conclusion
In conclusion, writing has increased in importance for many purposes and many
contexts for ESL learners (Swales 1990; Connor 1996, Grabe and Kaplan 1996). It
has now a higher profile for teachers and researchers, as shown by recent publications
(Ellis 1996; Glenn 1997, Crystal 1997; Fulcher 1997) although it is still a new area
(Grabe and Kaplan 1996). It is evident that there are different approaches to the
teaching of writing, and that researchers are more aware of the complexity involved in
 100

fair and appropriate assessment of student writing abilities, yet this claim seldom
appears to be accounted for in research (Biber 1992; 1995). It is recognised that no
approach to writing assessment is without problems. Furthermore, recent research has
also indicated that different types of assessment are better suited to distinct
instructional contexts, student abilities and goals, teacher preferences and purposes
and institutional expectations (Grabe and Kaplan 1996; Connor 1996; McDonough
1999). Although writing has gained in importance, there are many gaps still to fill.
When research is carried out, researchers are to define subjects, that are not the
researcher’s own students, LI learners’ background, age group and nationality of
learners if results are to be specifically determined (Biggs and Telfer 1987; Fan in
Biggs and Watkins 1993; Reid in Kroll 1994; Stubbs 1996).

In the light of these findings, and in the light of the instructional contexts suited
to LAU University where the researcher works, the following factors are to be
accounted for: Learners at AUB and LAU Universities are required to take 2 or 3
English courses depending on the results of the EEE and/or SAT and the placement
test. Therefore, English courses become compulsory. This results in the fact that
urgency for learning L2 cannot be taken for granted (Pfaff 1987; Ringbom 1987;
Birdsong 1989).

Hence, the need to present learners with topics that could appeal to their
interest, the interest of their major studies and their work in the future. Subjects need
content to write about, and form to shape their ideas. They should be provided,
therefore, with directed study-text tailored to their needs and interests. These texts
are analysed and comprehended with the teacher’s help, whose objective is the writing
task, and whose form includes the focus upon which this study relies: vocabulary and
sentence-combining.

The researcher does not hold that writing requires just these 2 subskills. As
the review of the literature has shown, there is much more to writing than the skills of
 101

language. However, within the multidimensional constructs that are part of the writing
process, language skills are needed, and this study focuses on the two mentioned
subskills, vocabulary and sentence-combining. Looking at this assessment from a
different perspective, one could compare the sentence-combining approach to the trees
in the forest. Trees make the forest as sentences make paragraphs and paragraphs the
composition. And yet, one needs to keep the forest in sight.
It is hoped that the approach using the two subskills vocabulary and sentence-
combining, which are based on study-reading literary texts, would lighten the burden
of learners by providing them with interesting content that they can draw from, and
that vocabulary and sentence-combining focus their attention on form.

Summing up the broad spectrum of the composing process, which is culture and
context bound (Fulcher 1997), one could quote Darnell (in Sauers 1987, p.25) who
states:

The next to worst reason for doing anything in a particular way is,

It's traditional.
The worst possible justification is,
It's not traditional.
The best justification is a combination of these,
It's novel
(so w e may learn something from it)

And it has logical roots in past experience

(so it entails minimal risk).
 102

CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH DESIGN AND INVESTIGATING

TESTING MATERIALS

This chapter investigates a set of quantitative and qualitative materials prepared

to control the Counterbalancing method used in the empirical study. An overview o f
the Counterbalancing Experiment is displayed in figure 4.1, where the various
elements, that are measured, are shown in three phases: a Pretest, Midtest and
Posttest. This chapter also states the rationale for undertaking the study and the
hypothesis. The latter focuses on an investigation o f two o f the subskills related to
writing: vocabulary and sentence-combining teaching.
The chapter also investigates and measures the linguistic characteristics o f Gibran
and Hemingway texts, aiming at relating some o f the grammatical and lexical
cohesive devices in the studied texts to the devices used by learners in their essay
performance.

4.1 Research Design

4.1.1 Rationale
Various scholars believe literature to be a motivating agent and an effective tool in
the teaching o f writing (Smith 1982; Gwin 1990; Carter and Long 1991; Coulthard
1994; Short 1996; Nation in Jacobs 1997; Singleton 1997). Literature is said to
encourage students to read pleasurably. It teaches with delight (Taylor 1982) and
provides the learners with the content they need for writing skills (Murray 1968;
Thornton 1980; Carter and Long 1991; Talif 1995) (see Chapter 1).

It can be concluded, therefore, that if learners are given motivating texts to read
and discuss, this will provide them with the inspiration and perhaps the content they
 103

need for writing. Furthermore, nonnative speakers rely on decisions about content
much more than native speakers as they start on their writing (Campbell in Kroll
1990); Nunan 1991; Engber 1995; Talif 1995; Nation in Jacobs 1997). As the
content is provided, the task o f the student is lightened and attention could be
focused on form. By focus on form, in the present study, is meant the focus o f
learners on vocabulary and sentence-combining. When writing focuses on sentence-
combining, learners develop the use of different syntactic formats (Carter and
McCarthy 1995; Grabe and Kaplan 1996) which are progressive in complexity and
density (figure 3.3). If sentences are written automatically, more energy and time can
be allotted to planning other needs that writing requires (Strong 1994). And this is
the discoursal importance of sentence-combining which arguably constitutes one o f
the basics o f paragraph writing and hence essay writing (see Chapter 3). This brings
us to another component o f essay writing: vocabulary.

Some authors claim a dichotomy between comprehension and production

(Aitchison in Anderman & Rogers 1996; Nation in Jacobs 1997; Hui-Lung Chia in
Katchen and Leng 1997). If this is the case, there is no guarantee that if learners
comprehend the lexis they will produce the words. Therefore, one should provide
them with a context for production. In that case, by its very nature sentence-
combining constitutes one o f the basics o f paragraph writing and hence, essay
writing. Furthermore, the knowledge of words and their structures is one o f the
basic forms required in writing (Halliday and Hassan 1976; Laufer and Nation 1995;
Hazenberg and Hulstijn 1996). It is impossible to perform at an acceptable level o f
learning a language without controlling an appropriate range o f multiword units
(Bensoussan in Arnaud and Bejoint 1992; Hatch and Brown 1996; Grabe and Kaplan
1996; Connor 1996; Nation in Jacobs 1997).

• Aim
The aim o f the study is to investigate the following general hypothesis in the context
of the Lebanese American university:
 104

Learners, at the university level, who are taught writing through study-reading
texts in literature with a focus on two subskills, vocabulary and sentence-
combining, will improve their writing performance as compared to learners
who are taught writing as an independent activity (with no particular focus on
these two subskills).
As teaching through literature is carried out, in the experimental classroom (not
in the control classroom), attention is drawn to vocabulary and sentence-combining.
What one says and in the choice of the word, one discovers what he wants to say
(Murray 1968; Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988; Willis 1990; Lucas 1992). In
addition, vocabulary may be better remembered if the words are listed and explained
(Nation 1982; Sinclair 1991). Also, the more attention a word receives, the more
likely it is to be learned (Xue-Guo-yi and Nation 1984; Zimmerman 1994; Altman in
Coady and Huckin 1997).

4.1.2 General Overview o f the Counterbalancing Experiment

A series o f five Pretests were designed to obtain baseline data from both groups (see
figure 4.1). These Pretests comprised the following: an Essay to measure the writing

knowledge o f the learners before any experimental teaching methodology was used;
a General Vocabulary Test (GENVC) to measure the general vocabulary knowledge
of both groups; a vocabulary test focusing particularly on the vocabulary to be
taught through the texts o f Gibran and Hemingway (G&HVC); a General Sentence-
combining Pretest (GENSC) to measure the general sentence-combining ability o f
the learners and a further pretest focusing on the sentence-combining to be taught
through the texts by Gibran and Hemingway (G&HSC).
In addition, a Background Information Questionnaire (Back.Inform.Quest.)
inspired by Reid (1987) aiming at controlling variables among students was designed.
Also the research included an Attitudinal Questionnaire, given after the Midtests and
another parallel one given after the Posttests, evaluating the students' attitude toward
the methodology used. A Classroom Analysis is also used, whereby teaching
sessions for each critical learning skill were taped and transcribed. This was
 105

designed to support a predominantly quantitative approach with some qualitative

analysis. The extracts selected from Gibran and Hemingway for classroom use were
analysed, to confirm the apparently simple style, according to a criterion adapted
from Halliday and Hasan (1989) and Nation's (1990) procedures. The criteria
included lexical and vocabulary density, grammatical and lexical cohesive devices,
theme and rheme patterns, T-units and the patterns o f lexis.

The Groups in the Experiment

A B’
(Experimental) (Control)

B A’
(Control) (Experimental)
figure 4.0

Counterbalancing Experiment
PRETEST M TU TE5T P O S I I bS I

^- Q Q V f Gen. Voe. | i Gen. Voc. J

1': Quest. .
1 Back. ]. | G.&H.Voc.j 1G.&H.VOc.!
GROUP Inform. |
A ;■ Quest, !• ' G en.S-C | GIBRAN & HEMINGWAY | Gen.Voc. SYLLABUS i Gen.S-C | | Q u est |A '

G .& H .S-C j | G .& H.S-C | :

| Gen.S-C
V yi Essay ] | Essay j
............................................... ... ......................._

' ' : : ■■I Gen.Voc. j Gen.Voc: J

I Q uest
B ack ; 1G.&H.Voc.! G.&H.Voc-i
GROUP Inform, i
B Quest. . j [ Gen.S-C j SYLLABUS | Gen.Voc. j GIBRAN & HEMINGWAY ‘ Gen.S-C ] j Q uest J B '

■ r G .& H. S-Ci G.& H.S-C j

1
. . ..' : | : Gen. S-C . j
Essay 1-| i ■ Essay |;

Figure 4.1
Key: Gen.Voc: General vocabulary
G.&H.Voc: Gibran and Hemingway vocabulary Quest: Attitudinal Questionnaire
Gen.S-C: General sentence-combining Essay: Pretest and Posttest Essays
G.&H.S-C: Gibran and Hemingway sentence-combining
Back.Inform.Quest: Background Information Questionnaire
 106

4.1.3 Significance o f the Study

The study is expected to identify the extent to which classroom activities relating to
vocabulary and sentence-combining, drawn from the study-reading texts in literature,
might help students' writing performance, provided the purpose for reading on
writing is specific.
Some research has focused on combining the reading and writing process, but
many studies examine reading and writing separately (Kennedy 1985). Other
research studies stress that academic writing cannot be tested without accepting the
interactivity o f the skill o f reading with writing (Thornton 1980; Stern 1987; Johns in
Hamp-Lyons 1991; Coulthard 1994; Engber 1995).

It is hoped that this study will improve the writing o f Lebanese students with,
perhaps, some implications about causes o f weakness (although this is not the focus
o f the study). The information acquired from the study may assist administrators in
establishing curricula programs that best meet the needs o f learners. In addition, this
study aims at shedding light on the question o f how literature may be an integral part
of language teaching as it has been part o f both groups control and experimental

It is also hoped that educators would look at teaching as insider research

(Stenhouse 1981; Widdowson 1984; James and Ebbut in Nixon 1981; Elliot 1991),
an approach which is practically without precedent in Lebanon. This would
stimulate further investigation into problems o f essay writing pertaining to
interdisplinary fields in social-cultural studies that could shed light on the important
skill o f writing in an L2.

4.1.4 Treatment
The treatment includes a counterbalancing experiment which involves an
experimental and control group. Three texts by Hemingway were used with the
experimental group. The control group studied three texts from the syllabus (see fig.
6.1). In the counterbalancing design, both groups studied the texts in the syllabus
 1 07

and the treatment, hence, learners were equally exposed to any difficulty
encountered.

4.2 The Pretest Materials and Attitudinal Questionnaire

4.2.1 Possible Vocabulary Tests
The 2,000 word list by West (1953) is one o f the possible sources considered to
construct the General Vocabulary Test since it has long been considered suitable as
the basis o f vocabulary for learning English as a foreign language. However, this
word list is impossible to administer in 50 minutes, which is the maximum time
allotted to standard classes at the university level and, therefore, this was the time
available for testing subjects in this study. Furthermore, this word list does not take
into account difficulty levels. Although this list is an old one, it represents a fairly
complete frame o f words that learners are likely to know (Read 1988; Willis 1990;
Laufer and Nation 1995). In some respects, West's list is outdated and has been
surpassed by current databases of hundreds o f millions o f words held in such
corpuses as Collins Cobuild (1991; 1993), British National Corpus (1996). Yet,
tribute is still being paid to West’s General Service List (1953) and Sinclair (1991)
proposed a return to these words since it is observed that a relatively small number
o f English words account for a very high proportion o f English text, including those
words in the General Service List (Willis 1990).
Another more recent vocabulary test developed by Nation (1990) and based
on cloze procedure was considered. However, this test based on the first 1,000 base
words o f the General Service List by West (1953) had the following weaknesses:

The words used, according to Nation (1990), are not o f university level. If used,
they would not have a discriminatory function to test the students' vocabulary
knowledge at this level.
The topic of the passage was Forestry. This would test students' general
knowledge as much as their knowledge of vocabulary on a topic that hardly exists in
the local context in Lebanon. Furthermore, deletions were used every 4 or 5 words,
 108

the norm being every 8-12 words (Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988). These
two factors would make comprehension difficult and time consuming, given that
approximately 20 minutes of class time was allotted to the learners for the general
vocabulary test. A further test, in General Sentence-combining, was also to be
given during the same class hour. Finally, this type o f passage tests production
rather than recognition which is a more difficult task (Hymes 1971; McCarthy 1991).
Often learners recognise a word but cannot produce it, let alone the fact that learners
know more words than what they produce.

A further vocabulary test designed by Nation (1990), which includes the use o f
guessing the meaning o f nonsense words in context, was also considered. In the
opinion o f the researcher who is familiar with the learners and their knowledge o f
English, this procedure seemed distracting and misleading to nonnative speakers.
Besides, learners’ knowledge of vocabulary should be o f a certain level before they
are confronted with misleading words (Meara in Grunwell 1987).

Further lists o f words taken from the General Service List (West 1953) and
used in the studies o f Barnard (1961) and Quinn (1968) were also considered.
Although these tests have been validated, they are tests o f pre-university vocabulary
students.
Sinclair's (1991) frequency list as well as concordance processing were
considered. However, the frequency list is thought to be redundant since Nation's
vocabulary density, lexical density (1990) and the patterns o f lexis were used in the
text analysis o f this chapter. As to the concordance processing, it was considered
inappropriate since the target texts in this study are short and linguistically important
patterns could not be distinguished from other statistical effects o f the process
(Sinclair 1991; Wichmann 1995). However, depending on the size o f the corpus and
the frequency of the items chosen, the concordancer may provide too few or too
many examples o f a particular usage. This might overwhelm and frustrate learners
(Wichmann 1995).
 10 9

Nation's (1990) own university level vocabulary test was also considered. This
test included lexical items from the Thorndike and Lorge List checked against items
in the West (1953) General Service List, and against A Computational Analysis
of Present-Day American English (Kucera and Francis 1967). The comparison
with the latter was done by Nation (1990) to avoid the effect o f some o f the outdated
material used in the Thorndike and Lorge counts.

Nation's vocabulary test is divided into 5 parts pertaining to the following levels:
2,000-word level, 3,000-word level, 5,000-word level, university word list level and
a 10,000-word level. This means that the first level was chosen from the General
Service List, the vocabulary o f which is used in simplified reading books. The
second level is found in the reading of a variety o f texts; the third level comprises a
wide vocabulary found in novels, newspapers and university texts. The university
word list level comprises specialised vocabulary drawn from university texts, and the
last level pertains to a larger wide vocabulary. Nation (1990) stated that the whole
test was given to a native speaker who did it in 5 minutes and got full marks. This
vocabulary test seems the most appropriate. However, some adaptations were
needed since many o f the Lebanese students in this study are French-educated at
primary and secondary school level, their knowledge o f French would very likely
facilitate recognition o f French-English cognates (although this would not apply to
English-educated students to the same extent). To avoid this problem, French-
English cognate words were therefore replaced by noncognate ones o f the same
frequency count. And yet, no matter what type o f test is used, there would still be
loose ends (Sinclair 1991).

4.2.2 The Actual Vocabulary Pretests Used in the Study

The Lebanese Educational system, whether private or public, crucially involves the
learning o f an L2, which is used as a medium o f education in primary and secondary
schools along with Arabic. As Lebanon was under the French mandate (1920-1943),
the majority o f private schools and all public schools teach French as an L2 (Gaith
 110

1991). But the L3 in that case, if taught, is not taken seriously. It is given only 2 or

3 hours per week. As The General Service List (1953) includes words o f Latin
origin, this would very likely be recognised by French speakers and interfere with
testing students' knowledge o f English. Therefore, they have been substituted by
non-Latinate words o f the same frequency count (see above comment on cognates).
Without such modification, this vocabulary test would not be appropriate for
Lebanese learners whose L2 is French. A total o f 50 words were, therefore,
replaced as follows: the first 36 words were taken from the university word list by
Nation (1990) and arranged in an alphabetical order. These were chosen from the
words in the following manner: they were selected from the letters A, C, D, E, F, I,
L, M, P, R, S and T. Every third word with these initial letters whose frequency
range is equal or closely equal to the replaced word, was used (Frequency was
marked by a number next to each item). Twelve other words were chosen from the
alphabetical letters B, G, H, L, N, and O. Every second word in the list under the
above letters made up the 12 used words, and one W and one X word, the only
available ones in the list, were used to complete the 50 replaced ones. Furthermore,
20 words whose range of frequency was between 5 and 11 were added to the
vocabulary level test to replace the words o f the 2,000 and 3,000-word level
considered as below university level (Barnard 1961; Quinn 1968). Nation (1990)
also used this list. Learners were asked to give the meaning o f these words through
an example, a synonym or a definition (see Appendix 3). These three options were
offered to learners in case they feel more comfortable in producing items in one way
rather than another (Heaton 1991; Carter 1998). This part o f the test was designed as
a subjective one to counterbalance the objective part. As the test format might affect
the learner's performance (Weir 1990), it seemed advisable to include more than one
variety o f test format. In addition, subjective tests permit the use o f techniques that
are natural and outwardly valid, whereas objective tests reduce items to mechanical
scoring and are rendered outwardly artificial (Lado 1961). Objective tests pertain
rather to comprehension, whereas subjective ones pertain to production (Carter and
McCarthy 1988; Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996).
 Ill

After adapting the test to the actual circumstances, it was pretested on two native
speakers since a subjective part had been added and words had been replaced. These
native speakers took 10-15 minutes to complete the test. One o f them got a
complete mark. The fact that it took them more than 5 minutes was probably due to
the subjective part which requires more time. The General Vocabulary Test was
then piloted on 15 nonnative male and female speakers to measure the time needed.
An average o f 30 minutes was taken. Nation (1990) allotted 50 minutes for the
whole test although most subjects would need less.
In pretesting the experimental and control groups only twenty to 25 minutes
could be allotted to learners since there were a total o f 5 Pretests, 5 Posttests, 2
Questionnaires, a syllabus to finish in a semester o f 45 hours, without allowing for
possible strikes or other unforeseen events, quite common in universities in Lebanon
in recent years.

4.2.3 The General Sentence-combining Test

The General Sentence-combining Pretest was based on Tinkel's (1988) and Strong's
(1994) approaches. It included 19 clusters o f sentences taken from Strong's Sentence
Combining: A Composing Book (1994) unit 3, advanced combining. The clusters
o f sentences used ranged between 2 and 7 sentences. Learners were asked to
combine each cluster o f sentences by means o f meaningful conjunctions, relative
pronouns and/or subordinators as the instruction next to each cluster indicated. The
cluster o f sentences pertained to two themes thought to be o f interest to learners as
well as being related to contemporary issues: A Right to Die and Black Death (see
Appendix 1). It is very unlikely that students would have seen these materials since
Strong’s book (1994) was not available in Lebanon. Furthermore, the materials
taken from Gibran’s books are not likely to have been taught in private schools, and
if they are it would be part o f the Arabic syllabus. This is, unfortunately, an
aftermath effect o f the action of the Maronite clergy who considered his books
heretical, for his characters represent open criticism o f the clergical feudal system o f
 112

the time (Hawi 1963). However, learners could have read some o f his novels as
extensive reading.
The reason for limiting the cluster o f sentences to 19 was again due to the
fact that only 20 minutes could be allotted to the Pretest. A pilot study was thought
to be unnecessary since the researcher has been teaching sentence-combining in one
o f the English classes at AUB for 8 years, and an average o f 19 clusters was normally
given during a 30 minute exam. Hence, the researcher's experience in this area
obviated the need for a full pilot test. There was also an attempt to give the test to 3
native speakers as well as to 3 nonnatives. This was a failure, for none o f these
learners understood the meaning of the terms conjunction, relative pronouns and/or
subordinators. The testees confirmed that the meaning o f specific directions given
for sentence-combining was unknown. The teaching o f grammar has been de­
emphasised from English teaching in England unlike the teaching o f English among
foreign students (Widdowson 1975; Carter and McCarthy 1998). The following is a
sample o f the directions given for sentence-combining:
Combine the following cluster o f sentences by means o f meaningful conjunctions (eg. and),
relative pronouns (eg. who) and subordinators (eg. as, while).

Follow the indication next to each cluster. Delete words i f necessary and punctuate
appropriately.

Here is an example: Our Constitution guarantees certain rights,

relative pron. The rights are inalienable.
+ conjunction It does not guarantee 'the right to die.'

Answer: Our Constitution guarantees certain rights

which are inalienable, but it does not
guarantee 'the right to die'.

One should take into account the fact that with the communicative approach, the
teaching o f grammar has been toned down in language teaching. Yet, these
particular learners, on whom the experiment was carried out, had successfully
completed Freshman English II. (The teaching o f grammar within the context o f
sentence-combining as exemplified in Oshima and Hogue (1991) was taught in the
course textbook o f English II).
 113

Perhaps specifying the nature o f the sentence-combining limits the test.

However, the aim o f the test is to measure the knowledge o f the learner’s ability in
combining sentences according to specific directions. A few samples o f free
combining were also included in the test. During sentence-combining correction, the
teacher asked the students which way was easier in their opinion: that is, with
directions or without. Some students found it easier with directions and others
found free sentence-combining easier.

4.2.4 Attitudinal Questionnaire

Besides the background information questionnaire (Appendix 16) that was given at
the beginning o f the academic year, a questionnaire evaluating the students' attitude
toward the methodology used was designed and administered after the Midtests and
Posttests. The questionnaire represents the evaluative aspect o f the study and
comprised 3 techniques: an attitude scale, a rating-scale and an open-ended response
to give learners the possibility o f evaluating the advantages o f different techniques
used in the experiment. The questionnaire was revised after a pilot test: the structure
o f the sentences o f the attitude scale was changed from an objective form to a
subjective form which is more likely to elicit involvement o f the learners. For
instance, Given a list o f the words with an explanation helps learning these items
was rephrased as Giving me a list of the words with an explanation helps me
learning these items (see Appendix 15).
The questionnaire was pilot tested on native speakers for the clarity o f the
instructions given. No changes were made. The Attitudinal Questionnaire was
given after the first and second quantitative experiments were over. Learners were
reassured that this was simply a questionnaire and not another test.

• Attitudinal Questionnaire o f Group A

The first Attitudinal Questionnaire of the Experimental Group consisted o f three
parts. The first part , which was rating questions, included eleven items, 5 o f which
 11 4

investigated students’ attitudes towards vocabulary teaching, and 6 asked them

about sentence-combining teaching.

The second type o f questions included the rating o f the texts studied in the treatment
as to whether the passages helped learners in the following matters:
1. In understanding the meaning o f unknown words.
2. In using the vocabulary in the essays.
3. In improving essay writing.

The last type o f questions included one question on how learners perceived their
improvement in essay writing. Another question asked for suggestions as to the
improvement o f the course. Finally, the last three questions asked the subjects to
rate their reception o f teacher's knowledge o f the subject, the teacher's liking o f the
material and the teacher's teaching method. These last three questions were put to
control teacher/researcher subjectivity across the Control and Experimental Groups
(Appendix 15).

• Attitudinal Questionnaire o f Group A’

At the end o f the semester, after administering the Posttests, another Attitudinal
Questionnaire comparing the content of the syllabus and the content o f the treatment
was given to all subjects (figure 4.1).

• Attitudinal Questionnaire o f Group B ’

Group B, which was at that time following the treatment and was hence called B ’,
was given the same Attitudinal Questionnaire but with an organisation that fits the
Counterbalancing Experiment (Appendix 15). Again when the handout was
distributed, learners were assured that this was simply a questionnaire and not
another test. (The results o f the Attitudinal Questionnaire will be discussed in
Chapter 6).
 115

Variables
Dependent Variable
In this study, the quality o f the students’ writing as measured by their scores on the
three essay tests is chosen as a dependent variable since it is assumed that there is a
relationship between the study o f literature and language learning.
Writing through study-reading texts in literature requires two basic subskills:
vocabulary learning and sentence-combining. These subskills are taught within the
context o f normal classes using a selection o f short stories from The Essential
Hemingway by Ernest Hemingway and selections from The Prophet by Gibran
Khalil Gibran. (The Control Group, see figure 4.0, was taught within the context o f a
selection o f literary texts which are part o f the normal syllabus, but with no particular
focus on vocabulary or sentence-combining).

It might be questioned that sentence-combining and vocabulary, being an

innovation for these students, could have caused the Hawthorne Effect. Other skills
such as comprehension o f the text studied, discussion o f the topic and debates
among students have also been emphasised in both groups: control and experimental.
Within these variety of activities, the researcher could claim that the Hawthorne
effect has been avoided or that, at least, it can be monitored at the points o f the
midtest and posttest in the counterbalancing design (see figure 4.1).
Vocabulary was widely recognized until the 1990s as one o f the neglected
subskills o f writing (Nunan 1991; Grabe and Kaplan 1996; Zimmerman 1998). It
was a skill which many commentators recognised as not treated seriously enough in
the past (Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996; Cowie in Arnaud and Bejoint
1992), and L2 vocabulary acquisition was due for thorough examination
(Bensoussan in Arnaud and Bejoint 1992; Zimmerman 1994; Aitchison in Anderman
and Rogers 1996). Furthermore, research has shown that L2 readers rely heavily on
vocabulary knowledge and lack of vocabulary is a major obstacle for those readers
to overcome (Huckin et al. 1993, Spack in Leki 1993; Engber 1995) (Chapter 2).
 1 16

Others (Mellon 1965; Daiker et al. 1978; DeBeaugrande 1984; Hillocks 1986;
Grabe and Kaplan 1996) mention evidence that sentence-combining leads to writing
improvement. These authors maintain that this approach has achieved some measure
o f success and should not be discredited (see Chapter 3).
In contrast, writing as an independent activity in the control classroom means
teaching according to the syllabus o f English III at LAU. Learners are given 9
literary texts from From Reading, Writing (1992). These texts are read and
explained in class. After every other text an essay is given. The essay is usually an
indirect outcome o f the reading. For instance, subjects read and discuss two texts on
the creation o f the universe. According to the syllabus, learners are then required to
write their own story o f the creation o f the universe.
However, as the researcher believes that writing is an outcome o f reading and
that complex writing, as an inference activity, is too much o f a burden on university
students using English as an L2 or L3 language, she altered the writing approach.
Hence, the essay topic o f the control group was related to the reading text. For
example, one o f the reading texts was Once More to the Lake by E.B. White. After
the class had read, the teacher explained and discussed the text, and the following
essay topic was given:
In a well developed essay, compare and contrast the two visits o f E.B. White to the
lake in Main. However, no vocabulary list was given or explained unless learners
asked for the meaning o f a word. Furthermore, no attention was drawn to the
sentence structures found in the reading text, nor had learners specific exercises on
vocabulary or sentence-combining.

As the study is a Counterbalancing Experiment, all reading texts were given to

both groups: experimental and control, depending on which group learners happened
to be in. In addition, the 9 literary texts, which would normally have been on the
syllabus, were reduced to 6 in order to fit them into the time scale o f the experiment.
Learners were asked to read the other texts as homework. The 4 reading texts that
 117

were used in the treatment were selections from The Prophet by Gibran and from
The Essential Hemingway by Hemingway.
Further, the Counterbalancing Experiment has been chosen to test whether the
content of the syllabus had any effect on the learners, and whether primacy/recency
o f the treatment affected the results o f the study. However, no design is perfect, and
this one has some drawbacks. Learners were overtested, and the 5 Posttests
administered to Group A were given 8 weeks after the experiment was over.

Independent Variable
The independent variable is the treatment. That is, whether the students who
received training in sentence-combining and vocabulary improved their essay writing
as measured by their scores.

A group o f 105 vocabulary words were chosen from the 4 texts by Gibran and
Hemingway to be part o f the treatment, and one o f the independent variables. In
other words, students were given training in the use and meaning o f these words.
The criteria on which vocabulary items were selected depended on several factors:
on the knowledge the researcher has concerning the general standard o f English o f
the learners; on the Cobuild Frequency Count o f these words (discussed later in this
chapter); and the likelihood o f their usefulness in writing compositions. Although
vocabulary selection should start with the use of objective criteria such as frequency
or familiarity (Hazenberg and Hulstijn 1996), vocabulary selection for L2 instruction
ultimately remains a subjective affair (Richards 1970; Nation 1990; Brown 1994;
Hazenberg and Hulstijn 1996).

Sentence-combining is the second subskill used in the treatment and the

second independent variable. Sentences from the study-reading texts were chosen as
the basis o f sentence-combining exercises to be done in class. The criterion for the
selection o f sentences is based on the possibility o f combining these sentences
through relative pronouns, subordinators and/or conjunctions. Some o f the
 118

sentence-combining elements are authentic clusters (i.e. unaltered from those

focused on in the original texts), others are constructed using the Gibran and
Hemingway texts as sources to meet the aim o f the study (Appendices 5 and 6).
The link between both authors is the fact that both Hemingway's style, in the short
stories, and Gibran's are relatively simple. While Hemingway's literature is the
literature o f a native speaking prize winning writer, Gibran was chosen for the
inclusion o f nonnative literature, and in particular he is a well-known Lebanese
writer who wrote in English. This factor is assumed to motivate learners in
Lebanese American universities and to be a model with which they can identify.
Furthermore, the topics selected from Gibran i.e. On Reason and Passion and On
Work are likely to appeal to the interest o f the learners, and values that the
generation o f the aftermath o f the Lebanese war (1975-1991) seems to have
forgotten. The Prophet (1923), from which these selections were chosen, is a book
o f which millions o f copies have been and are still printed. This book is commonly
considered the masterpiece o f Gibran's work.

Control Variables
Variables such as age, gender, intelligence and proficiency o f the experimentees and
o f the teacher are thought to be neutralised in a Counterbalancing Experimental
Design (see figure 4.1). In other words, if any difference exists between these two
incidental groups, since each group would be experimental and control in turn, the
supposed differences would be neutralised or, at least, will be evident through cross
data analysis or matching at the first or second stage. Furthermore, since the
researcher would teach both groups and her performance was monitored through the
analysis o f classroom transcripts and the Attitudinal Questionnaire, any biased
behaviour would be controlled or can be described in detail and accounted for.

Finally, the Essay writing task, whose topics are an outcome o f studied texts by
Gibran and Hemingway and designed in a way that students will be likely to use the
vocabulary and sentence-combining taught, was administered to the subjects.
 119

Different genres along the 3 treatment Essays were applied. The control group had
their essay topics as an outcome o f the literary texts and an equivalent genre to the
ones given to the experimental group.

Nonparametric tests are used since the sample (N=25), although valid, was not
necessarily representative o f the larger population o f the university (Heyes et al.
1994) (see Chapter 6). The essays were corrected holistically by two markers and an
average o f both scores was computed.

4.3 The Texts

An attempt was made to characterise some o f the elements o f the style o f the target
texts, in order to compare the extracts from Hemingway and Gibran with each other
and, later, with students’ essays. A combination o f Halliday & Hasan (1989) and
Nation's (1990) procedures were used to come up with a criterion used in the
analysis. Further, the pattern o f lexis model o f cohesion (Hoey 1991) was used to
measure cohesion and the types of categories of lexical cohesion used in the sample
texts. Five out o f 24 short stories (i.e. 20%) were selected from The Essential
Hemingway by Hemingway for text analysis. Two o f the texts, Hills Like White
Elephants and Indian Camp were used in the treatment. The three other texts, The
Revolutionist, My Old Man both written in 1925 and In Another Country (1927)
were chosen for the variety o f their themes, the date o f their publication, and from
consideration o f some negative as well as positive criticism o f critics (Benson 1975).

In order to provide a fairly precise linguistic characterisation of the texts, a

sample o f 10 lines from the beginning, middle and end o f each text was analysed to
assess the accessibility o f the texts used in the experiment. The rationale for
restricting these samples was as follows: Hemingway’s short stories are
approximately 4 pages, and Gibran’s stories are shorter. Analysing 10 lines o f a
page would represent 40 % o f the content, considering an average o f 250 words per
page.
 120

The following eight items were calculated in the ten selected lines o f each o f these
parts o f the texts:
1. no. o f sentences.
2. no. o f grammatical cohesive devices.
3. no. o f lexical and cohesive devices (These were limited to the needs o f the
learners' writing). Such characterisations are needed to track their influence on the
subjects’ essays in the treatment.

4. lexical density: (no of main words)

(no o f clau ses)

Although some authorities (Nation 1990) point out that lexical density is a
measure o f intelligibility o f a text, others state that intelligibility o f a text depends
rather on a function o f situation and group membership o f readers (Perren and Trim
1971; Stubbs 1996), for intelligibility depends on the available schemata o f the
reader (Carrell and Eisterhold 1983; Carrell 1983; Coulthard 1994). However, in
the opinion o f the researcher, all 8 items mentioned are essential procedures o f
accessibility, and therefore they were calculated. Other possibilities such as
readability scores were considered but found not suitable for the study. There is no
readability measure that is suitable to all age levels and no particular measure
designed for university levels. A readability score is only useful if the measure is a
valid one, and if the prose is suitable for analysis (Harrison 1980).
5. vocabulary density:
(no o f p reviou sly en cou n tered w ords at regular intervals)
(no o f n ew w ord s in on e page)

For the purpose o f this study, the denominator has been limited to the sample o f 10
lines at the beginning, middle and end of the selections by Hemingway and Gibran.
This is arguably too little text to yield a meaningful measure o f lexical density.
However, the decision to limit text samples to chunks o f 10 lines was taken for other
reasons as mentioned earlier.
 121

The features o f the texts used by the control group have not been analysed
since both groups were control and experimental, and therefore, any further
complexity in those texts would have equally been experienced by both groups.
These texts are not the focus o f the present study.
6. Cobuild Frequency Count
7. T-Unit analysis
8. A Theme and rheme analysis
9. Pattern o f lexis in text (details of items 6, 7, 8 and 9 will be discussed
further on in this chapter)

Some other features o f text and cohesion in Halliday and Hasan’s sense (1989) such

as ellipsis and substitution were considered. However, the chosen items were
thought to be more appropriate and helpful to less advanced L2 learners o f LAU.
Grammatical and lexical frequency and cohesive devices were analysed in both texts,
to test their accessibility as an appropriate context to teach vocabulary and sentence-
combining within the context o f study-reading o f literary texts.

Other measures o f lexical devices were investigated such as lexical originality

(LO), lexical variation (LV) and lexical sophistication (LS) (Laufer and Nation’s
1995). However, these devices were not found suitable to the objectives o f the
present study. These two items were believed to test advanced learners and perhaps
LI learners. The purpose o f the present study is to improve the learners vocabulary
not to render it original or sophisticated.

The three texts used by the Control and the Experimental group in a
Counterbalancing Method were the following: Women in the Eskimo World, Why
We Fall in Love and Diogenes and Alexander. These texts were selected from
From Reading, W riting (Winkler and McCuen 1992), the textbook used in English
III. They have been part o f the syllabus for some years. It is assumed then that the
texts are comprehensible, o f fairly complexity to learners and o f interest to them.
Familiarity and interest in a topic facilitate comprehension and ease guessing o f
 123

* The Revolutionist is a very' short story, th erefore, there

w as no p o ssib ility o f a n a ly z in g a m id d le excerpt.

Table 4.1 reveals that more sentences and more consistency in the average number o f

sentences is found in the 2 short stories, Hills Like White Elephants and Indian
Camp, selected for the treatment. Three out o f 5 stories (i.e. 60%) o f the selections
is consistent in the average number o f sentences.

table 4.2: Grammatical frequency an d c o h e siv e d e v ic es at the b eg in n in g , m id d le,

and en d o f the 5 short stories by H em in gw ay.

sent. conj. trans. end op h or. anaphor. cataphor

b egin . 43 40 0 3 16 29
m id d le 39 39 0 6 9 93
en d 63 20 0 7 4 69

One observes that table 4.2, which analysed the grammatical frequency and
cohesive devices at the beginning, middle and end o f Hemingway’s 5 short stories,
showed conjunctions as the most frequent grammatical cohesive device used. That
is, 40, 39, 20 respectively. Hemingway used conjunctions and more particularly and
as a key word (Weeks 1962). Furthermore, zero transitions were used in all the
stories. Transitions have not long been stressed in teaching L2 writing as a cohesive
device. Perhaps, this is the reason for not finding them in Hemingway's short stories,
which were written in the 1920s. Among the 3 other devices, endophoric, anaphoric
and cataphoric, that add to the cohesion o f a text, cataphoric was mostly used. That
is, 29, 93, 69 respectively.

table 4.3: Lexical cohesive and frequency devices at the b eg in n in g , m id d le an d en d o f

the 5 short sto ries by H em in gw ay.

sent, repet, svn on . near-svnon. anton. hvpon. m eron

b egin . 43 16 5 5 1 1 3
m idd le 39 21 1 1 2 1
en d 63 25 - - 4 2 3
 124

Table 4.3 reveals that Hemingway's most common lexical device at the beginning,

middle and end o f the 5 short stories is repetition, that is, 16, 21, 25 repetitions
respectively. In connection with Hemingway’s writing this has been called Elegant
repetition (Fenton in Benson 1975). As a matter o f fact, Hemingway has severely
cut down his use o f English vocabulary (Weeks 1962). Although Hemingway’s
most common lexical device is repetition, one cannot assume that repeated words
retain the same meaning (Hoey 1991). Differences are introduced, even when the
whole sign is repeated. Differences are introduced through the very fact o f
repetition, the accumulation o f significance it entails and the change effected by the
different context in which it is placed (Rimmon-Kenan 1980). The following is an
example from Hills Like White Elephants:

...If you d o n ’t want to you don ’t hove to. I wouldn 7 have

you do it i f you didn 7 want to. But I know i t ’s
perfectly simple.

A nd you really want to?

/ think it's the best thing to do. But I don 7 want you
to do it i f you don 7 really want to.

Perhaps one can look at the repeated words in Hemingway’s dialogue as rather a
complex lexical repetition. The repeated items are sometimes sentence initial but
otherwise are posponed to later positions. In other words, sometimes the doing is
stressed, sometimes it is not. A possible interpretation o f the lexical complex
repetition is that it may be subject of a novelistically portrayed renegotiation between
the partners (McCarthy in Carter 1987), but with a slight shift in meaning. Actually,
the dialogue taking place between the couple has been called playing the game o f
democracy (Icoz 1992).
Next to repetition, comes near-synonyms: 5, 1, 0 and then synonyms: 5, 0, 0.
 125

ta b le 4 .4 : L e x ic a l d e n sity at the b e g in n in g , m id d le an d e n d o f th e 5 short stories by H em in gw ay.

Stories L ex ica l d e n sit.(b e g .) (m id d le) (en d ) a verage

per story

HLW E 3 .6 4 1.34 2 .2 6 2 .4
Indian C. 3 .5 6 2 .8 0 3 .4 7 J. J

T h e R evol. 3 .0 7 — 2 .4 2 2 .7
M v O. M an 5 .3 8 4 .2 6 1.6 3 .7
In A n. C oun. 3 .3 5 2 .5 5 3 .5 6 3.2

A verage 3 .8 2 .7 2 .6 3.1

Again one notices that in ta b le 4 .4 , 4 out o f 5 o f the stories have consistent lexical
density at the beginning, except for My Old Man whose density is quite high, 5.38.
One might expect high lexical density initially in short stories if there is a descriptive
section to establish orienting information. 80% o f the lexical density is consistent at
the beginning (there are 3 sentences only, in 12 lines at the beginning o f My Old
Man. In the middle lines o f the short stories, 50% o f the lexical density is consistent,
whereas the lexical density of My Old Man is again quite high (4.26) and the lexical
density o f Hills Like White Elephants is low (1.34). The relatively low lexical
density o f the latter story is likely due to the fact that the middle part is a dialogue.
As to the lexical density o f the last part o f the short stories, two by two short stories
have consistent lexical density. That is, 2.26 and 2.42; 3.47 and 3.56 (t a b le 4 .4 ). On
the other hand, the lexical density o f My Old Man is quite low, 1.6. Again this might
be due to the number o f sentences in this part which is 8 sentences versus the
beginning and middle parts which comprise 3 sentences each. In sum, the purpose o f
studying lexical density is again to check on the ease or difficulty o f the material used
in the experiment; the stories seem fairly consistent in this respect.
 126

ta b le 4 .5 : V o c a b u la r y d e n sity at the b e g in n in g , m id d le an d en d o f the 5 short stories

by H em in gw ay.

Stories V ocab. density' b eg in . (m id d le) (en d ) a v era g e per story

H LW E .16 1.14 .92 .74

Indian C. .58 .60 .96 .71
T he R evol. .26 — .66 .46
M v O ld M an .29 .36 2 .88
In A n o.C ou n . .41 .92 1.42 .91

A v erage .34 .76 1.2 .74

T a b le 4 .5 displays the calculations o f vocabulary density in these stories. If one

compares vocabulary density at the beginning, middle and end o f the short stories,
one observes that vocabulary density is at its lowest in the extracts at the beginning.
This is natural since the number o f previously encountered words at the beginning o f
the stories would be few. In contrast, the highest vocabulary density, in the sample
o f the middle short stories, pertains to Hills Like White Elephants. Again this seems
natural since most o f this story is a dialogue and not many new words are
encountered in a dialogue, where a specific issue, abortion, is discussed. The lower
vocabulary density pertains to My Old Man. Next to the lowest is Indian Camp.
This text had a long vocabulary list to teach. The high number o f vocabulary in
Indian Camp is due to the topic o f the story. The researcher assumed that Lebanese
learners, living in a semi-arid area with few forests and practically no lakes, would
not know the meaning o f words such as hunk, squaw, logging, meadow or words
pertaining to medicine such as peroxide and taper.
The highest vocabulary density o f the sample at the end o f the short stories is
found, for a change, in My Old Man. This is due to the fact that the end sample
contains a larger number o f sentences. In the 8 sentences, there are 44 previously
encountered words over 22 new ones. The same seems to apply to In Another
Country whose end excerpt contain the largest number o f sentences i.e. 9 sentences.
In these 9 sentences, the number o f previously encountered words are 27 over 19
new words.
 127

T a b ic 4 .6 : C ob u ild frequency co u n t (in a corpus o f 110 m illio n w ords. 19 9 4 ) o f the se lected

vocabulary list from the stories by H em in g w a y u sed in the treatm ent.

F requency O rder HLIVE Indian Camp Indian Camp

lo o k o ff 13 o a r-lo ck 0
a b sin th e 33 rem in isce n tly 5 sterm 2 3 8 9
liq u orice 112 sh o v ed o ff 14 shore 3311
bead 913 flo w d ow n 29 trail 3 3 4 9
ja ck -k n ife 32 r o llo v e r 1391
row boat 75 blow out 1437
b righ tly 1057 squaw 77 sew 3 3 4 8
pad 1283 stroke 3 9 1 0
i o o
cut out 2684 b ass 1jj gut 3 9 7 6
strin g 4329 ch ill 215 soak 4 4 9 1
label 6005 ch op p y 191 lake 7614
ju n ctio n 13232 taper 125 tip p ed 9 5 9 8
track 13618 p eroxid e 239 leader 1 0 6 2 9 9
felt 338 4 1 shanty 256 still 136870
HLVVE (h ills lik e ex a lted 346
w h ite elep h an ts) lantern 379
in labour 420
bunk 501
a n a esth etic 551
d ew 568
stitch 597
sa g g ed 794
lo g g in g 800
m ead ow 984
razor 1063
bitch 1247
m ist 1255
axe 1271
scrub 1704

Cobuild Frequency Count

Although frequency count is monitored in this research as displayed in ta b le 4 .6 , Xue
and Nation (1984); Coady et al. (1993); Hazenberg and Hulstijn (1996) consider the
division between high and low vocabulary frequency artificial. Furthermore, they
state that it is up to the teacher to make an arbitrary decision about where to draw
the line on what is obviously a continuum. Some words are neither frequent nor
infrequent, and items which are frequent in specialized texts are infrequent ones in
 128

more general texts. Braddock (1963) also added that before using a frequency
count, a person should determine what the purpose is since the topic, and the style
among other factors affect the standard of a learner's writing.

A frequency list can be rendered in several ways (Sinclair 1991). The most
common are: alphabetical order and frequency order. In a text o f a thousand words
or more, a frequency count is worth studying. If the text is shorter, the usefulness of
word-frequency is limited. The advantage of a frequency list is that it can be
compared to that o f other texts or to a large corpus o f language. The most frequent
items tend to keep a stable distribution, and so any marked change in the order can
be significant. Although Nation's lexical and vocabulary density are used, the
Cobuild frequency count is considered though it seems less delicate than might be
apparent. This is because most o f the present target words are in the less frequent
20%. The most frequent 2,500 words constitute 80% o f English texts (Willis 1990).

The Cobuild data base in 1994 was (when this survey was carried out on the
present target words) 110 million words. Words with high frequency, in ta b le 4 .6 ,

are more frequently encountered, and those with low frequency are less frequently
encountered. The purpose o f presenting such a frequency count is a further means
to show the ease or difficulty of the vocabulary to be taught on the assumption that
less frequent words are less frequently encountered by learners and are therefore
more difficult to learn or less likely to have been learned previoulsy. In fact, T a b le

4 .6 shows that some vocabulary items that Hemingway used have an extremely low
frequency count such as absinthe 33, liquorice 112 or even 0 frequency such as oar­
lock. Hemingway also used frequent verbal phrases which have low frequency
counts such as look o ff 13, shoved off 14 and are difficult to learn as L3 items when
learners' L2 is French.

If the researcher had to rely on frequency count only as the criterion for selecting
items for teaching and testing, many of those words, that are part o f the treatment,
 129

would have been excluded as being rare items in general English. However, the
items occur in these particular Hemingway texts, which are commonly used in
language and literature courses at this level. What is more important than frequency
count is the purpose o f the vocabulary to be taught (Braddock 1963; Engber 1995;
Nation in Jacobs 1997). In this particular case, the purpose is comprehension that
might reasonably lead to production in essay performance.

table 4.7 : A verage T-units at the b eg in n in g , m iddle and end o f the 5 short stories
by H em in gw ay.

average % o f
snb. clau se b eg in .____ m id d le______end

6 .9 % 32.2% 20.7%

Table 4 .7 reveals the average percentage of T-units in Hemingway 5 short stories.

By T-unit (minimal terminal unit) is meant one main clause plus any subordinate or
nonclausal structure attached to or embedded in it (Hunt 1965). T-units are used
just to reconfirm the fact that Hemingway's style is simple. Hence, the focus o f this
conclusion is to find the percentage o f the subordinate clauses whether at the
beginning, middle or end o f the short stories. It is noticeable from table 4 .7 that the
highest percentage o f subordinate clauses in the 5 stories o f Hemingway is 32.2 %.
By using Hemingway’s sentences (as well as Gibran’s) in a sentence-
combining process, learners are expected to recall the authors’ simple style and
construct their sentences in the manner o f the studied model or as requested in the
directions (subordinate clauses, relative clauses, simple or compound sentences).
As learners have learned previously how to combine sentences according to specific
directions, simple sentences can easily progress to subordinates. A repertoire of
sentence-combining has the same advantages as use o f wide vocabulary (Hunt 1965;
Halliday and Hassan 1976).
Widdowson (Allen and Widdowson 1974) devises sentence-combining
which he calls rhetorical transformation whereby learners are required to transform
 130

a set o f propositions (i.e. simple clauses) into an appropriate communicative act, or

transform one communicative act into another. In other words, Widdowson used
progressive clause-combining or sentence-combining to form a paragraph. By
transforming one comparative act to another, Widdowson used comparison that the
researcher has used by comparing learners’ sentences to the authors’, and as some
authors o f textbooks have done (Oshima and Hogue 1991; Soars 1996; Langan
1997) (table 3.1).

The T-units in the texts of Gibran and Hemingway are analysed to reconfirm
the existence o f one element o f the simple style used by both authors as this is one of
the criteria for choosing these two authors. Learners are reminded that writing does
not necessarily require complexity or complex devices, but that one can choose
between types o f sentences in terms o f effectiveness (Wilkinson et al. 1980; Thomas
and Peters 1986). A further limitation on using T-units to judge the maturity of style
is the fact that long T-units throughout a text may give an impression o f verbosity of
sentences (Faigley 1980).
However, as a fairly standard general measure o f writing development, T-
units have been used for 30 years. They reveal certain features o f writing such as
style and maturity o f the learner through the number o f embedded clauses and
nonclausal structures (Hunt 1965). Yet, the purpose o f this study is not to measure
the maturity o f the authors’ style nor that of the students’, but rather to check on the
simple style o f the chosen authors and the type o f incorrect sentences that learners
wrote in their essays. For instance, by checking on the T-units o f the students’
essays, one can detect mistakes such as fragments in which the main clause is absent,
and ascertain how far the learners have used simple rather than complex sentences.

Theme and Rheme

In this study, theme means the element which serves as the point o f departure o f the
message o f the speaker/writer. If some element, other than the subject, comes first,
it constitutes a marked (m) choice o f theme (Halliday 1994). However, if the
 131

sentence is complex, thematization will take into account the different clauses in the
sentence. This would lead to consideration o f the theme as, marked or unmarked, o f
different nested themes in the complex sentences.
Before choosing theme/rheme as one of the features to be analysed, other
criteria subsumed under the general headings o f Halliday and Hasan’s (1989)
ideational, interpersonal and textual aspects o f language were considered.
However, as learners at LAU are familiar with them, theme/rheme was considered
more appropriate. Theme/rheme calls attention to some information that the author
has marked to emphasise it with highly charged quality primary by positioning in the
sentence (Vande Kopple 1991). Hence, by focusing the learner’s attention on
theme/rheme, learners become aware o f the author’s highlighted points or focus of
information. Learners sometimes like to vary the beginning o f their sentences, by
understanding the function o f theme/rheme, they would know what and why it is
worth varying the beginning (Vande Kopple 1991). Ford and Thompson (in
Traugott et al. 1986) speculate that when conditionals follow independent clauses,
one reason could be because they are loaded with heavy and important meaning. In
fact, learners realised what and why some clauses are marked and the meaning that
marked themes convey when they compared their own sentences with those of
Hemingway. This was clearly revealed in the classroom analysis o f sentence-
combining correction session.
The use o f a variety o f theme and rheme patterns is a wide and complex strategy
which gives the clause its character as a message (Halliday 1994). The theme also
works to signal genre (i.e. comparison/contrast etc.). The thematic structure, among
other ways o f emphasising thematization, is a form o f organisation which gives the
status o f a communicative event (Fries 1981). Furthermore, a text which consists
entirely o f unmarked themes, particularly if the theme is the same participant over a
long stretch, can seem flat, monotonous and sometimes rather childish (Lock 1996).
To a certain extent the analysis o f thematization might vary according to different
authors and schools (Halliday 1994; Lock 1996; Thompson 1996). However, for
practical purposes, an analysis rarely needs to show much detail (Lock 1996).
 133

instance, sentence 2: But I don't want you to do it if you don’t really want to. If

marked themes do not start with a conjunction, they mark the cause o f the action, a
condition or both, for instance, sentence 14: Because I don't care about me.

In The Indian Camp, fewer themes are marked. Also 4 out o f 5 marked themes
constitute a reverse o f the expected order o f clauses. For instance, sentence 5
represents the following: While his father washed his hands very carefully and
thoroughly, he talked. One would normally expect the much shorter simpler clause
to be first.
A great number o f marked themes are within the sentences. M ost marked
themes within the sentences in My Old Man are conjunctions as well as the marked
themes at the beginning o f sentence 2. Two marked themes appear at the beginning
o f the sentences in In Another Country. One o f them uses a subordinator, after that
(sentence 3); and the other one is a conjunction, but (sentence 6). There are more
marked themes in the middle extracts o f the stories not used in the treatment than the
used ones. Knowing Hemingway's concision in writing, marked themes indicate
what the author wishes to stress.

There are an equal number o f marked themes at the end and the beginning
selections o f Hills Like White Elephants. Sentence 7: Coming back, he walked
through the bar-room, where people waiting for the train were drinking marks the
return o f the American. Sentence 12, Do you feel better? he asked, is a formal
question, whereas a question in a dialogue might be informal such as You feel better?
Perhaps this formal question forshades the distance taking place in the relationship
between the couple.

The last excerpt in The Indian Camp is a dialogue, and again many themes are
marked as the dialogue in the middle excerpt o f Hills Like White Elephants. The
dialogue between Nick and his father seems formal although in an authentic situation
a dialogue would not normally be so. For instance, sentence 5 represents the
 134

following: Do many men kill themselves, Daddy? Perhaps this formal dialogue
conveys the gravity o f the topic: death. Lock (1996) mentions that a text which
consists o f entirely unmarked themes is flat and monotonous. The researcher does
not believe that this is the case with Hemingway though most o f the patterns he uses
are flat and made out o f unmarked themes. However, flatness and monotony are
intentionally produced to cast emphasis on marked themes.

In fact, Hemingway’s style is an example to learners that writing does not

need to be complex or to include complexity in patterns o f thematic variation. One
can write simple but clear sentences, and these sentences can be progressed to
complex and dense ones if necessary (figure 3.3). Learners in both universities (AUB
and LAU) assume that writing is a complex task, but this needs not necessarily that
they should write complex sentences.

The marked theme at the beginning o f the sentences o f The Revolutionist are 3
sentences and the emphasis is on negation, No... in sentence 5; a place At Bologna...
in sentence 3; and sentence 10 marks time, the last.... The marked theme within
sentence 1 emphasises the pronoun, that.
In My Old Man, the two marked themes at the beginning o f sentences 5 and 7 are
conjunctions: and, but. The marked themes within the sentences are conjunctions.
On the other hand, the marked theme o f In Another Country indicates time in
sentence 5, When..., and place in sentence 6, In front o f the machine...

In sum, the study o f the linguistic characteristics o f the texts by Hemingway

appears to show a simplicity o f style and vocabulary. Further, the study o f theme
and rheme focuses one’s attention on what is assumed to be important to Gibran and
Hemingway in the texts studied. This made learners realised that rhetoric writing o f
sentences is based on semantics, organisation and style. Learners realised this
rhetorical aspect by comparing their sentence-combining with those by Gibran and
Hemingway.
 There is an apparent paradox here that authors with a relatively simple style are
being used as the bases for sentence-combining exercises. However, it would seem
to be a mistake to teach sentence-combining for its own sake, as often happens in the
course books listed in chapter 3. Those course books implicitly suggest that
complexity is good in itself In the present study, this is counteracted by showing the
virtue o f simplicity on occasion. Therefore, the present study carries the implicit
suggestion (and the teacher-researcher’s clarification of this point in the classroom)
that the key factor in resolving the paradox is appropriateness o f stylistic complexity
in relation to the w riter’s purpose.
In the sentence-combining exercises the students become writers. Thus, the
students have to judge the appropriateness where to construct complex sentences
and when it is effective. Chapter 5 illustrates how classroom discusion, shown in the
transcript analysis reveals students awareness o f the effects o f the simplicity on
occasion and the effect o f complexity through sentence-combining on other
occasion. The sentence-combining approach, in this study is, in this way somewhat
different from the one normally found published in ELT materials.

The Patterns of Lexis in Text

A study o f the patterns o f lexis o f the texts presented to learners was undertaken
based on Hoey’s (1991) model o f lexical cohesion. The purpose o f this study was to
reconfirm the fact that lexical cohesion is a significant part o f the excerpts and to
examine the potential role o f the target vocabulary in patterns o f repetition in the
texts. This is important because if the target words enter into salient patterns of
links and bonds, in Hoey’s (1991) terms, they would be lexically more prominent
because of this role in repetition across sentences. In turn, this would imply that
they stand out to learners and might possibly receive more attention and, perhaps, be
more easily learned. Also simplicity o f style could be verified in this model by
examining adjacent links, hence, the analysis o f beginning, middle and end parts of
Hills Like White Elephants, Indian Camp, On Reason and Passion and On Work.
No further studies o f the other texts by Hemingway and Gibran was undertaken, in
 136

this respect, for it was assumed that if lexical cohesion and simplicity o f style are part
o f learners’ essays, it will be due to the samples presented. Further, as lexical
cohesive and frequency devices have been studied in all texts, it will be redundant to
study the patterns o f lexis again.

Perhaps lexical cohesion (which was not taught explicitly) had an indirect effect
on learners through the discussion of reading, the practice o f vocabulary and
cohesive devices used in sentence-combining.
The following are H oey’s (1991) definitions according to which lexis in the
texts and essays were studied.
Simple lexical repetition (sr) is the simplest form o f repetition. It occurs when a
lexical item that has already occurred in a text is repeated with no greater alteration
than what is entirely explicable in terms o f closed grammatical paradigm. For
example, Indian and Indians, the only variation between them is the singular and
plural paradigm.
Complex lexical repetition (cr). This occurs when 2 lexical items share a lexical
morpheme but are not necessarily morphologically identical such as abort and
abortion. Hence, the complex repetition is not true direct repetition.
Simple mutual paraphrase (s). It occurs whenever a lexical item may substitute for
another in context without loss or gain in specificity and with no discernible change
in meaning. It corresponds to Hasan’s category o f synonymy (1984). An example
o f simple mutual paraphrase is cause and reason within the context o f On Reason
and Passion. For example, Another reason for his staying is the fact that the nurse
won 7 come until tomorrow morning (11). Finally, the most important cause is the
fact that he loves the Indians and would like to help them (12) (see Appendix 8).
Complex paraphrase (cp). A broad interpretation o f this item is the occurrence o f 2
lexical items such that one o f the items includes the other although they share no
lexical morpheme, for instance, cesarean and operation in the context o f Indian
Camp. That is, The doctor sought exaltation because he performed a cesarian on
an Indian squaw without any anasthetic and he used primitive instruments such as a
 137

jack-knife (4). Furthermore, due to his outstanding operation, he thought that he

will be famous and therefore, he would be recognised in the medical journal (5).
Other ways o f repeating such as types o f textual connection are exemplified
by the pronoun systems. Only he, she, it and they are part o f the significant
repetition sets. I, you and we are not treated since learners have not used quotation
and Hoey (1991) stated if otherwise the latter are deemed to be exophoric reference.
The demonstrative pronouns, this, that, these and those are also considered
repetition links. Furthermore, items such as other, the other, the same, similar and
different are treated like demonstrative modifiers. If they accompany a lexical item
in a repetition link with an earlier item, they are ignored to avoid double counting.
Co-reference repetition is sensitive to date and place o f composition. However, this
is not the case in the essays o f students, for participants are strongly advised to be
objective in their essays and not to use co-reference except in the conclusion where
they state their opinion. In such a case, usually, the expression in my opinion is
used. My , being exophoric, has not been counted as a lexical repetition.
Substitution and ellipses are also taken into account. Although these types o f
repetition may stand for more than one lexical item, or can substitute for whole
stretches o f text, they are considered as single links and are so recorded.

The study o f the patterns of lexis in Hills Like White Elephants and Indian
Camp revealed that both stories have a great number o f links and bonds, and the
ratio o f bonds to links is rather high compared to learners ratio in their essay
performance (tables 6.20, 6.25 and 4.7’). There are also more links and bonds in Hills
Like White Elephants. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the middle part o f this
text is mostly a dialogue, and therefore the conversation is predetermined by the
topic. Having dialogues in stories by Hemingway and Gibran made the researcher
take into account the I, You and We since in a dialogue or quotation these references
are anaphoric (Hoey 1991). The links o f Hills Like White Elephants are mostly
adjacent in the middle and end part. However, in Indian Camp links are mostly

adjacent in the middle part.

 138

The analysis o f the types o f repetitions also revealed that in both stories
simple repetitions and synonyms are mostly used (t a b le 4 .7 ’) . This again reconfirms
the results o f lexical cohesive and frequency devices used in the 5 short stories.

T a b le 4 .7 ’ L in k s, b on d s an d types o f rep etition in th e tw o sa m p le texts by H em in gw ay

Stories N o. o f sen ten ces no. o f lin k s no. o f b o n d s ratio

(b eg in , m id d le, end)

HJJVE 30 91 37 .4
Indian Camp 30 79 19 .2

T y p e s o f R e p e titio n
svn cr son sr cd anto
HLWE 30 21 1 5 61 1 2
Indian Camp 30 20 3"■> 8 49 1 J

Key:
HLWE: Hills Like White Elephants
syn: syn on ym sr: sim p le rep etition
cr : co m p lex rep etition cp: c o m p lex paraphrase
spp: sim p le partial paraphrase anto: an to n y m

In sum, the previous analysis o f grammatical, lexical and frequency items,

lexical and vocabulary density, the Cobuild frequency count, T-unit, theme and
rheme and the patterns of lexical analyses reveal that Hemingway's vocabulary is
simple. This simplicity is rendered coherent mostly through the use o f cataphoric
device, repetition, bonds and high ratio o f bonds to links. The analysis o f T-units
and theme/rheme reconfirms the fact that Hemingway's sentences are simple rather
than complex. Hence, the reason for choosing these texts seems justified.

4.3.2 Linguistic Characteristics o f Gibran Texts

Gibran Khalil Gibran is the second author whose texts are analysed and used in the
treatment. The passages On Reason and Passion and On Work are taken from
The Prophet written in 1923. Another passage taken from his early work, The
Madman (1918) and a later work, The Garden of The Prophet (1933) are also
analysed to attempt to draw conclusions on the general style o f the author.
 139

ta b le 4.8: A verage o f se n te n c e s in 3 0 lin es taken from th e b eg in n in g , m id d le and en d o f the

4 excerp ts by G ibran.

E xcerp ts N o. o f lin e s A v era g e o f sent. C alcu la ted average

(begin, m id d le& en d ) o f sent, in 3 0 lin es

O n R .& P a s. 22 (b e g in .& e n d o n ly ) 3 .5 4 .8
O n W ork 35 * 4.3 3 .7
T h e M adm an 33 4 .6 4 .2
T h e G arden o f
the Prophet 27 5 .6 6 .2

T otal A verage o f sent, in 3 0 lin e s o f

the 4 excerpts by G ibran 4 .7

N B On Reason and Passion is to o short a p a ssa g e to h a v e a m id d le ex cerp t analysed.

T a b le 4 .8 reveals that the average of sentences in the Gibran extracts, in 30 lines,

is slightly inconsistent. The average of sentences in On Reason and Passion and The
Madman are consistent. That is, 4.8 and 4.2 respectively, whereas the the two
others, On Work has an average of 3.7, and The Garden of the Prophet has an
average of 6.2. It is recalled that those books were written in English at different
periods of Gibran's life, and that could be the reason for the difference in the average
of sentences in 30 lines.

ta b le 4 .9 : G r a m m a tic a l fr e q u e n c y and c o h e siv e d e v ic e s at the b e g in n in g , m id d le and

en d o f the 4 ex cerp ts by Gibran.

sent. conj. trans. endophor. anaphor. catap h or

begin. 18 27 0 6 4 32
m iddle 14 23 1 12 2 30
en d 18 38 0 6 6 26

T a b le 4 .9 which sums the grammatical frequency and cohesive devices at the

beginning, middle and end of the excerpts by Gibran show that the most common
grammatical cohesive device is conjunction. That is, 27, 23 and 38 conjunctions
 140

respectively. Hawi (1963) also mentioned the fact that Gibran used the conjunction
and quite often which signals explicit temporal sequence. When and is not used as is
the case sometimes in Hemingway, the relations between all kinds of propositions
are frequently left implicit which involves the reader more closely in the text (Hatim
and Mason 1990). No transitions are used except for one in the middle excerpt of
Gibran's latest book The Garden of the Prophet.

ta b le 4 .1 0 : L e x ic a l, c o h e s iv e an d fr e q u e n c y d e v ice s at the b e g in n in g , m id d le an d
en d o f th e 4 ex cerp ts by Gibran.

sent, repet, svn on . near-svn on . anton. h vpon. m eron

begin . 18 19 1 7 9 2 5
m iddle 14 30 0 3 1 1 1
end 18 29 6 6 7 1 6

T a b le 4 .1 0 sums the lexical, cohesive and frequency devices at the beginning, middle
and end excerpts by Gibran. The table displays that Gibran's most common lexical
device at the beginning, middle and end of the 4 excerpts is simple repetition.
(Simple repetition is also the lexical device that Hemingway used most.) These
repetitions act as a hammer on the reader's mind. When words are repeated, they
carry different meanings within the context of repetition which carries along
accumulation of significance (Hoey 1991). The following is an example taken from
On Work (middle excerpt) by Gibran.
You ha\>e been told also that life is darkness,
and in your w eariness you echo what was said by the weary.
And I say that life is indeed darkness
save when there is urge,
A nd all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all know ledge is vain save when there is work,
And all w ork is empty save when there is love;

One notices also that Gibran uses complex lexical repetition such as weariness and
weary. The different grammatical function of these two words include semantically,
the doer as well as the concept. That is, weariness and the weaiy. Further, the other
words, with the exception of said'say, are simple repetition, that is,
 141

darkness/darkness; urge/urge; knowledge/knowledge; save/save; and workAvork.

Although simple repetition is mostly used, their place in the sentence is different. At
one time, it is in a final position and at another time it is medial. When simple
repetition is repeated, it alters the meaning of words (Hoey 1991), and their different
positions in the sentences also affects meaning (Rimmon-Kenan 1980). One may
also add that punctuation is another feature that emphasizes or deemphasizes the
meaning of those words.
Next to repetition, Gibran used antonyms: 9, 1, 7 respectively (ta b le 4 .1 0 ). Perhaps
the topic and genre Gibran used lend themselves to antonyms rather than other
lexical devices. Gibran used mostly epigrams in his book The Prophet (Hawi 1963)
This may be the reason for the difference in the number of sentences in 10 lines
between Gibran and Heminway. Furthermore, the use of antonyms is due to the
frequent use of antithetical statements (Hawi 1963). In fact, this is what Gibran used
in the extracts selected for the study.

ta b le 4.1 1: L e x ic a l d e n sity at th e b e g in n in g , m id d le an d e n d o f th e 4 ex cerp ts by Gibran.

Excerpts lex ica l den s, (b eg in .) (m id d le) (end) a verage

per story

O n R .& Pas. 2 .8 _ 4 .3 6 3 .5 8
O n W ork 3.1 3 .2 7 3 .1 4 3 .1 7
T h e M adm an 2 .7 5 2 .6 6 2 .6 2 .6 7
T he G arden o f
the Prophet 2 .7 5 2 .5 7 2 .6 8 2 .6 6

A verage 2 .9 2.8 3.2 3.0

T a b le 4 .1 1 shows that the lexical density at the beginning of the 4 excerpts by

Gibran is rather consistent, with the exception of the selection On Reason and
Passion. The lexical density in On Reason and Passion is high at the end (i.e. 4 .3 6 ),

whereas the other excerpts taken from The Madman and The Garden of the
Prophet are rather consistent. Then comes the lexical density in the middle excerpt
of On Work. Learners found difficulty in comprehending the excerpt from On Work.
 142

Perhaps the high lexical density is one of the factors that explains the students'
difficulty in this section.

ta b le 4 .1 2 : V o c a b u la r y d e n sity at the b eg in n in g , m id d le an d en d
o f the 4 ex cerp ts by Gibran.

E xcerpts V ocab. d en sity b eg in . (m id d le) (end) A v erage

per story

O n R& Pas. .55 — 1.5 1.03

O n W ork .14 .2 .7 7 .3 7
T h e M ad m an .1 7 .45 .25 .29
T h e G arden o f
the Prophet .32 .40 .35 .35

A verage .3 .35 .72 .51

T a b le 4 .1 2 reveals that the vocabulary density of On Reason and Passion is the

highest at the beginning and end of the selections. That is, not many new words
appear in this selection. Further, the difference in vocabulary density among the
excerpts from different books by Gibran is less than 1 point in all the selections. This
might reconfirm the difficulty that learners found in Gibran’s excerpts. However,
here comes the role of the teacher who has to facilitate the task of the learners.

ta b le 4 .1 3 : C ob u ild F req u en cy C ount (in a corpus o f 110 m illio n w ords, 1 9 9 4 ) o f th e vocabulary

list o f the stories by G ibran u sed in the treatm ent.
F requency O rder On Reason and Passion On Work

seafarin g 82 in m o st 52
n au gh t 268
w ea rin ess 247
furthest 310
peacem aker 116 u n iso n 556
co n fin in g 172 w h isp erin g 565
a fflictio n 588
unattended 188 m isfortu n e 650
priestess 200 curse 901
nay 240 in fin ite 102 0
pop lars 250 id le 109 7
d iscord 262 dum b 1155
m indful 337 p ro cessio n 1177
serenity 338 w eary 1327
rudder 447 ech o 1 474
brow 2062
 143

standstill 710 appetite 1702 sw eat 2298

sails 874 m ig h ty 1751 reed 2607
aw e 937 resurrection 1887 urge 2672
in tim ate 469 1
rivalry 1131 w age 2579 p ace 7140
b attlefield 1155 ju d g m e n t 3 6 7 5 b in d 16532
toss 1241 breath 5 3 3 2
ash es 1242 storm 6301
m elody 161 0 co n sid er 14641
drift 1685
p h o en ix 1688

Table 4.13 shows the frequency of the target items in the Gibran texts in the
Cobuild corpus (1994). It reveals that lexical items selected from On Reason and
Passion do not go below a frequency count of 82 (seafaring), whereas those selected
from On Work's have 52 (inmost) as the lowest. If one compares Hemingway's
lowest frequency count, one observes that the count 0 corresponds to the word, oar­
lock, let alone the fact that several words have a frequency count less than the lowest
in Gibran i.e. 52 inmost. And yet some learners complained about the difficulty of
Gibran's selections. This may prove that frequency count is not a major factor to
take into account, for high or low frequency count may be a relative matter.

Apart from the factors of text considered above, these are further factors
which might influence text intelligibility. Intelligibility of a text depends, among
other aspects, on a function of situation and group membership (Perren and Trim
1971; Stubbs 1996). Perhaps then one may conclude that ultimately frequency count
is only one factor among others that could influence comprehension and readability.
What might be more important is the familiarity of the reader with the topic. In this
study, as revealed in the results of the Attitudinal Questionnaire, learners in Group
A7 did not seem to like philosophical issues as they seemed to enjoy the texts in the
syllabus, (table 6.11), wheras Group B’ enjoyed philosophical issues. One might also
add that schemata is an important factor in comprehension (Carrell 1983), and
comprehension is mainly in the reader’s mind since the text might be comprehended
by some and not comprehended by others (Coulthard 1994).
 144

ta b le 4 .1 4 A v erage o f T -u n its at th e b eg in n in g , m id d le and en d o f th e 4 extracts by Gibran,

av erage % o f
sub, c la u se s b eg in . m id d le________ e n d

3 0 .5 % 11.4% 30.4%

T-unit analysis has been analysed to reconfirm the impression of the simple style of
Gibran. This is displayed in ta b le 4 .1 4 . In learners’ essays, T-units have been
analysed to find out mainly the number of main clauses and subordinates.

T a b le 4 .1 4 shows that the total average percentage of the subordinates at the

beginning of the 4 extracts by Gibran is 30.5 %. The total average percentage of the
subordinates in the middle 4 extracts is 11.4 % and 30.4 % at the end of the 4
extracts.
Both beginning of extracts used in the treatment start with marked themes.
In On Reason and Passion, 3 sentences start with conjunctions and the fourth starts
with a modal, Would. Again 2 sentences On Work start with a conjunction, the 3rd
starts with then and the 4th starts with when. On the other hand, only 1 sentence,
taken from the beginning of The Madman, starts with a marked theme which is
and, and 3 sentences from The Garden of the Prophet have the conjunction and as
a marked theme.

The middle extract taken from On Work, which is used in the treatment, has 1
sentence with and as a marked theme at the beginning of the sentence, whereas many
marked themes occur within the sentences. Sentences 2, 3 and 4 marked themes,
within the sentence, use the words, even as if’ an archaic expression which is another
factor that makes comprehension slightly more difficult. The two extracts from The
Madman and The Garden of the Prophet start mostly with marked themes that
are conjunctions, at the exception of sentence 5 in the latter text whose marked
theme is a transition, Therefore.
 145

The 2 extracts taken from On Reason and Passion and On Work, which are part
of the treatment, have mostly marked themes at the beginning of the sentences, and
sometimes marked themes within the sentences. Again most of the marked themes
at the beginning of the sentences use conjunctions and in particular, the conjunction
and.
There are more selections with marked themes in Gibran's at the beginning of
the sentences and within the sentences of On Reason and Passion than in the
equivalent part of On Work. (No middle selection from On Reason and Passion was
analysed because the text is short.) There are also more marked themes in the end
extract of On Reason and Passion than in the end excerpt of On Work.

The 2 extracts selected from The Madman and The Garden of the Prophet,
have mostly marked themes at the beginning of the sentences, and the conjunction
and is mostly used. Gibran seems to use the conjunction and frequently. Perhaps
one can conclude that it is a key word in his work as it is in Hemingway’s, marking
what the author wishes to emphasise, and rendering the relationship among
propositions explicit (Hatim and Mason 1990).
For example: A nd as his ship approached the harbour...
A nd he spoke and the sea was in his voice

The Patterns of Lexis

table 4.14’ L in k s, b o n d s a n d types o f rep etition o f the tw o sa m p le texts by Gibran

Stories N o. o f sen ten c no. o f lin k s no. o f b on d s ratio

(b eg in , m id d le end)

On R. & P. 20 24 22 .9
On Work 30 29 14 .5

T y p e s o f R e p e titio n
svn. cr sp p sr cp anto
O nR .& P . 20 2 1 17 - 4
On Work 30 10 2 13 - 3

N B O n ly the b e g in n in g an d en d o f On Reason and Passion w ere an alysed

for th is text w a s too short.
 146

Key:
On R & P: On Reason and Passion
syn: sy n o n y m sr: sim p le rep etition
cr : c o m p le x rep etition cp: c o m p le x paraphrase
spp: sim p le partial paraphrase anto: a n ton ym

The study of the patterns of lexis in the 2 study texts by Gibran, analysed according
to the model of lexical repetition (Hoey 1991), revealed that both have numerous
links and bonds and the ratio of bonds to links is relatively high (table 4. 14’). Further,
the links are all adjacent in the beginning of On Reason and Passion and almost the
same applies to the end part. On Work has adjacent and nonadjacent links, but most
of them are adjacent (see Appendix 8).
In sum, the study of the linguistic characteristics of the texts revealed that
Gibran as Hemingway used mostly simple repetition, synonyms in order of
frequency. However, Gibran used more antonyms. This might be due to the
epigrams and aphorisms he used in the texts selected from The Prophet. Further,
the patterns of lexis revealed that links, bonds and the ratio of bonds to links are
respectively numerous and high. Again, it is assumed that the study of the texts,
which has these linguistic characteristics and the patterns of lexis of the study-
reading texts will have an implicit effect on essay performance. Clearly, not every
linguistic feature of the target text could be studied in the classroom. Therefore,
inevitably, some features are selected for study and others are left apparently to have
an implicit effect.

4.3.3 Comparison Between the Texts

Table 4.15 charts the similarities and differences in the analysis of the style of both
authors, Gibran and Hemingway, chosen as a sample to teach participants essay
performance. A number of general points can be concluded as listed below.
 147

ta b le 4 .1 5 C om parative le x ic a l, gra m m a tica l an d syntax d e v ic es in th e ex cerp ts o f G ibran an d

H em ingw ay

A v e r a g e o f se n te n c e s U se o f g r a m m a tic a l U se o f le x ic a l c o h e s iv e L e x is b elo w 1000

in 3 0 lin e s c o h e s iv e d e v ic e s d e v ic e s fr e q u e n c y c o u n t

G ibran = 4 .7 G & H = con ju n ctio n s G & H = sy n o n y m s G = 27 out o f 51 (53% )

H em in gw ay = 11 G & H = catap h oric H = near sy n o n y m s H = 23 out o f 54 (43% )
d e v ic es G = a n ton ym s
G = 1 transition

A v e r a g e o f le x ic a l A verage of A v e r a g e in % o f M a r k e d th e m e s
d e n sity v o c a b u la r y d e n sity su b o r d in a te s e n t e n c e s

Gibran = 3 .0 G = .51 G = 24% G = con ju n ction s

H em in gw ay = 3 . 1 H = . 74 H = 2 0 .% H = dates, p laces,
subordinators & conj.
A v era g e o f P a tte r n o f L e x is A verage o f
B o n d s L in k s R atio syn cr spp sr cp anto
G ibran 18 27 .7 6 - 3 1 5 - 4

H em in gw ay 28 85 .3 21 - 7 55 1 3

Key: G = G ibran H = H em in g w a y

• Hemingway's average number of sentences in 30 lines in all 5 extracts is 11

versus Gibran's average, 4.7 (ta b le 4 .1 5 ).

Both authors, Hemingway and Gibran, use conjunctions mostly as a grammatical

cohesive device. In addition, as a second grammatical cohesive device, both
authors use cataphoric devices, but they differ in the total number of this device.
That is, Hemingway's total use of cataphoric devices is 191, whereas Gibran's
total cataphoric devices is 88 (tables 4 .2 & 4 .9 ).

Both authors do not use transitions except for once whereby Gibran used
therefore in The Garden of The Prophet.
Both authors use mostly synonyms as a lexical cohesive device, but Hemingway
uses also near-synonyms, whereas Gibran favours antonyms. Perhaps this is due
to the style of Gibran who uses parables in The Prophet as well as epigrams and
aphorisms in the two other studied works. This style lends itself to the use of
antonyms rather than other lexical devices ( ta b le s 4 .3 & 4 .1 0 ).
 14 8

There is little difference in the lexical density of the selections of both authors.
The total average of lexical density in Gibran's studied work is 3.0 and
Hemingway's total average lexical density is 3.1 (ta b le 4 .1 5 ). (There is too little
text to yield a meaningful measure of lexical density, but the decision to limit text
samples to chunks of ten lines was taken for other reasons as mentioned earlier.)
• There is a difference in the total average vocabulary density of the work by
Gibran and Hemingway. Gibran's average of density in vocabulary is .51, but
Hemingway's is .74 (ta b le 4 .1 5 ). Perhaps this is one of the reasons that made
Gibran’s texts more difficult to some students.
There is a lower frequency count in the vocabulary selected from the texts by
Gibran than the vocabulary selected from the texts by Hemingway (53% is below
1,000 frequency count in Gibran, while 43% is below in Hemingway in ta b le

4 .1 5 ).

The average percentage of the subordinates in the 5 extracts by Hemingway is

20%, whereas 24% is the average percentage of the subordinates in the 4
extracts by Gibran (ta b le 4 .1 5 ). Although Gibran’s sentences include more
subordinate clauses, this is just one of the features in the style of a writer that
makes it a complex task.
• The marked themes in the selections of the two authors differ in quantity and
quality. Hemingway marks his themes with conjunctions, dates, places and
reverse order of subordinate clauses, yet Gibran marks his themes mostly with
conjunctions at the beginning of the sentences.
• The study of the patterns of lexis in Hemingway’s sample texts given to students
have more links and bonds, but this author has a lower ratio of bonds to links
than Gibran’s sample texts. The types of repetitions used mostly by both authors
are simple repetition and synonyms (t a b le 4 .1 5 ) . This reconfirms the findings of
lexical, cohesive and frequency devices in the sample texts.
• Finally, both authors believe in concision and the right word in the right place.
Both tend to limit their use of adjectives, and the range of their structures. Kane
and Peters (1986); Carter (in Carter 1988) make similar points about
 149

Hemingway's limited use of adjectives and sentence structure. In spite of the

above similarities and differences, the researcher believes that Gibran's extracts
seem slightly more difficult to comprehend because of the theme selected from
The Prophet that is tackled philosophically and written in parables.

4.4 Procedures
The procedures for this study involve: first, Pretests, second, a series of treatments
and third, Midtests and Posttests. The treatment was organised, as explained earlier,
according to the counterbalancing design, i.e. both groups received treatment but in
a different order. The three stages of this procedure is described below.

• Administering the Vocabulary Pretests

The two classes, Group A and Group B, that the researcher taught, were given two
of the Pretests in the first class hour: the General Vocabulary Test to test the
vocabulary of university entrants (Appendix 3) and the Gibran and Hemingway
Vocabulary Test to test the vocabulary that was to be taught (Appendix 4).
Students were given the directions for the tests orally to ensure that they understood
what was asked from them. Explaining rather than reading the directions help to
establish rapport with a new teacher. Learners were told the purpose of the test:
vocabulary was going to be part of teaching and that it was necessary to measure the
learners' knowledge before any teaching was implemented. Twenty five minutes
approximately were allowed. The same procedure was followed with Gibran and
Hemingway Vocabulary Pretest and the same time was allotted. It was made clear
that the tests were just diagnostic tests (i.e. not graded).

• Administering the Sentence-Combining Pretests

The same time was allotted to administer both Sentence-combining Pretests. The
General Sentence-combining Pretest was first given, and students were again
reassured that the tests were not graded (Appendices 1 & 2). Ten minutes were
 1 50

taken from the break session between courses to administer the Background
Information Questionnaire, and they were, finally, promised no more Pretests.
Giving the same tests three times (i.e. Pretests, Midtests and Posttests) might
affect students' responses from their memory of previous tests, besides the fact that
experiencing so many tests may be boring and cumbersome, it was, nevertheless,
decided to administer them. The memory effect, if present, is not likely to be great
since students were not given feedback after the first or second administration of the
test although they asked for feedback. Thus any memory of details of the test is not
so much for correct answers as for previously given answers (which may or may not
be correct) or for the general format and perhaps some individual items of the test.
The latter can be considered a minimal influence since most students are unlikely to
have looked up the answers (eg. locating meaning in a dictionary). After all, they
were not told that they would be retested and, conventionally, students do not
expect the same test to be given to them again.

• Administering the Essay Pretest

The Essay Pretest was not viewed by students as a test, although it was graded,
since they knew that writing is a major requirement of this course. The topic of the
essay was: State some o f the causes and effects o f electricity shortages, in Lebanon,
in the last few months. This topic was selected because of the normal condition in
which learners were living. The genre or method of development used, i.e.
cause/effect, is one of the expository type of essays required of students at LAU as
well as in universities in the USA (Gray and Ruth 1982; Hottel-Burkhart cited in
Scarcella, 1984; Raimesl985, Kroll 1994; Grabe and Kaplan 1996).

As the students had come to class fresh from a three month summer vacation, it
was thought that they needed readjustment to academic writing. Hence, in following
Gray and Putts (1982) steps, 10 minutes were allotted to the discussion of the causes/
effects of electricity shortages, and to the genre, despite the fact that similar writing
procedures had been taught in a prerequisite course (Freshman English II). On a
 151

previous occasion learners were reminded of the importance of the Thesis Statement
in the introduction i.e. the sentence that states the topic and lists the subtopics or
controlling ideas that will be discussed in the body of the essay.

Subjects were also briefed and reminded about the importance of the topic
sentence at the beginning of each paragraph of the body. By topic sentence is meant
a sentence, usually the first sentence in the paragraph, which briefly indicates what
the paragraph is about (Oshima and Hogue 1991). One could relate the concept of
topic sentence to thematic progression, hierarchic organization, rhetorical purpose of
the text and to topic opening (Hatim and Mason 1990; Hoey 1991). Topic support
is an important factor of coherent essays (Witte and Faigley 1981; Conner and
Farmer 1985; Grabe and Kaplan 1996). For example, Gold, a precious metal, is
prized fo r two important characteristics (Oshima & Hogue 1991, p. 16). Lack of
competence in writing in English resulted more from a lack of composing
competence (Raimes 1985). Raimes (1985) presents the following set of schemes to
support a thesis: facts, illustrations, chronological and spatial sequences and
comparison or contrast. Oshima and Hogue (1991) use almost the same set of
schemes.
Vocabulary items pertaining to the causes and effects of electricity and likely to
be used were discussed and written on the blackboard (Those vocabulary items are
not related to any of the two Vocabulary Posttests see Appendix 7). Also, learners
were reminded of the meaning and use of transitions such as furthermore, however,
which would affect cohesion in their writing. Students were also asked not to write
more than two pages of a standard composition booklet that was given to them to
allow them enough time to process their ideas from one language to another (Lay
1982) although learners might not be aware of this factor. Greater length may simply
mean that learners are padding the essay unnecessarily (Comen 1994).
 152

4.4.1 Administering the Texts

• Vocabulary
After administering the 5 Pretests and the Background Information Questionnaire,
the treatment was started in the following sequence:
The number of words tested varied in the three vocabulary tests given. This
depended on the complexity of the readings, which was tested according to Halliday
& Hasan (1989), Nation's (1990) and Hoey’s (1991) procedures.

The method of vocabulary testing depended on collocation (Appendices 5 & 6).

Collocation is tested by word matching, and the writing of these matched words in
sentences. The phrases used in collocation are taken from the text read and
practised in class previously through cloze exercises. The latter step (writing
sentences) is used to test the learners' proper usage of words, for writing words in
sentences help learners’ retention. Collocation exercises have the advantage of
directing the attention of the learners to a larger structure of the discourse (Nattinger
in Carter and McCarthy 1988; Sinclair 1991; Stubbs 1996).
Twenty minutes were allotted for testing the subjects on the selected vocabulary
from each of the following texts: Hills Like White Elephants, Indian Camp, On
Reason and Passion and On Work. Again, time allocated varied in the three tests
depending on the number of words tested. None took more than 40 minutes, and
while the focus of the study was essay writing, writing sentences correctly, and using
vocabulary accurately are some of the basic features of essay writing. Moreover,
using words in sentences is the last step in vocabulary teaching for it involves the use
of words in their ultimate context i.e. writing appropriate production is the purpose
of vocabulary teaching (Robinson 1980; Scheifer 1985; McCarthy 1991, Nation in
Jacobs 1997). Subjects were encouraged to use their sentences in the context of the
story. The objective of this procedure was to facilitate essay writing which was an
outcome of the text. However, other meaningful contexts were accepted.
 153

Vocabulary tests were scored one point for each correct sentence. The number
of sentences amounted to the number of words. However, the score was converted
to percentage in the vocabulary and sentence-combining tests.
Correction was given importance in every step carried out in the experiment.
When subjects were given back their vocabulary tests, they were asked, on a
voluntary basis, to read their correct sentences, for this does not cause
embarrassment and learners, sometimes, understand each other's explanation better.
Those who did not use lexical items in proper sentences could ask the reason for
their incorrect usage. This facilitates, as much as possible, the students
understanding of their mistakes and hopefully reduce mistakes in the future.
Furthermore, correction is mainly helpful in dealing with problems of grammar
(Chaudron 1988; Silva in Kroll 1994). Since neither vocabulary nor sentence-
combining has been given to the control group, there is not much to be said in this
respect. Nevertheless, the correction of the essays of the control group followed the
same procedure than the experimental group. That is, correction preceded any new
essay and after giving back the essays. A sample of learner’s good essay was typed
and distributed to students to compare with a low marked one. Learners were also
asked to correct a sample of fragment and run on sentences which were taken from
the students’ essays.

Both groups, Experimental and Control, were shown the results of their essays
so as to control any halo effect. Learners were also made aware of the objectives of
the treatment. The control group was told that the teaching procedure will be
different after the writing of the third essay. This was said, after the results of the
first essay, when the dissatisfaction of the students in the control group was evident.
Bright students spontaneous transfer of knowledge could take place when learners
are made aware of the objectives (Brown et al. 1981; Van Lier 1996). Arguably,
this also risks the Hawthorne effect, knowing the purpose of the treatment students
may make a special effort to make their work conform accordingly. This would,
then, risk an extra effect, outside the normal teaching situation. Yet this effect is the
 154

same for both groups, at different times, in the Counterbalancing Experiment, and
might therefore be taken as being evened out.

• Sentence-combining Testing
Students were asked to join each cluster of sentences according to the directions
next to it (Appendices 5 & 8). In the three sentence-combining tests administered, a
different number of sentences was given, depending on the length and complexity of
the reading text from which the sentences were drawn. The time assigned to the
tests depended on the number of sentences that subjects had to combine. Again the
total time did not exceed 40 minutes, and the following scoring procedures were
adopted.
One point was given to each sentence combined correctly i.e. combined
according to the directions given. Subjects were asked to delete unnecessary words
that result from the process of combining sentences. Any major deletion, omitted
and affecting the sentence grammatically, lowered by 0.5 the grade of the subject.
For example,
Join w ith a The girl looked at the bead curtain.
(con junction) She put her hand out.
She took hold o f two o f the strings o f beads.

Correct: The girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand out and took
hold o f two o f the strings o f beads.

Partly correct : The girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand out, and
she took hold o f two o f the strings o f beads.
(T h is sen ten ce lacks p arallel structure. T h e pronoun, she. sh ou ld be om itted .)

• Testing Essay Writing

Besides the prewriting activity or subskills which consisted of vocabulary and
sentence-combining, the approach used in teaching writing was based on the strategy
of read, analyse and write (Richards 1990).
On the day assigned for the essay, the following topic was written on the
blackboard: In a well developed essay, illustrate whether the couple in Hills Like
White Elephants is going to separate or not. Give supporting ideas from the
reading and use the vocabulary that you have learned. Awareness and instructions
concerning essay writing such as compare/contrast, illustrate are key terms that
indicate the form, content and strategies of the assignment (Jordan 1984; Carter in
Lauren and Nordman 1984; Horowitz 1986; Van Lier 1996). Subjects were
reminded of Gibran and Hemingway's style i.e. short and progressive sentences
(fig u r e 3 .3 ). Although the sentence-combining activities produced compound,
complex and compound-complex sentences, this activity did not contrast with
Hemingway's and Gibran’s style. Both authors’ styles are simple, yet they both used
some compound sentences and a few complex ones. Christensen (1968) disagrees
with the popular notion that long sentences make a skilful writer. Long sentences
are more difficult to read and write, she argues. However, this does not mean that
the validity of using complex sentences is undermined. Complex sentences are
mostly needed to express some complex thoughts.
Forty to 50 minutes were allotted to students to write the essay. This limit
was imposed by the length of normal class hours at LAU. The experiment consisted
of three essays to write besides the Pretest and Posttest Essays. Each essay was
developed in a different mode. The genre of development of the first essay was
argumentation. The second essay was developed through cause/effect, and the third
through comparison/contrast. The last type of essay writing was viewed above
average on the complexity dimension in a survey carried out by TOEFL (Bridgeman
and Carlson 1983). Cause/effect and comparison/contrast are two of the three basic
methods used in writing essays at LAU (the third being
illustration and/or argumentation).
The following sequence of modes: argumentation, causes and comparison/
contrast, fit the nature of Gibran and Hemingway respectively. Argumentation fits
Hills Like White Elephants in which learners have to argue (and support their view)
as to whether the girl is going to abort and separate from the American. Indian
Camp lend itself to causes, and learners have to state the reasons (and support their
view) that led Uncle Georges to stay in the camp. On Reason and Passion and On
 156

Work, by Gibran, were used for comparison and contrast. As the researcher was
choosing the vocabulary to be learned, these topics were one of the reasons (the
others being stated previously) that led the choice.

The content of the essay was the result of the reading, analysis and discussion
in class of Hills Like White Elephants. Writing requires a good deal of thinking
before the simplest arrangement occurs (Murray 1968). Moreover, this topic was
the first one in the treatment because the discussion created high motivation in a
pilot study. So, it was assumed that such motivation would elicit better writing.
Some topics produced better writing than others (Freedman 1983; Reid in Kroll
1994; Van Lier 1996). Writers do not specify which produces better writing. In that
particular case, it was rather the topic not the genre. Motivation is one of the
multidimensional construct, taking into account that students have the same equal
writing ability.

Students were forbidden to write more than two pages, for the researcher noticed
and it had been generally observed how learners view writing: more writing is better
writing (Fan in Biggs and Watkins 1993). This rule forces them to focus on the
quality rather than the quantity, and it makes the learners respect time limits (Marton
et al. 1984; Cornen 1994). Compositions for intermediate performers ranged in
length from 270-280 words (Kroll in Kroll 1994). In addition, learners were asked to
use the vocabulary learned previously. Words learned previously and used in the
context of an essay reinforces learning and assures their proper use (Laufer and
Nation 1995; Engber 1995; Coady in Coady and Huckin 1997), specially as learners'
vocabulary begins to increase, their sentences contain misused content words
(Brown 1974). Of course, the meaning of the words used is assumed to match the
context of the essay.

Correction of the essay was given time and importance, and it was done on two
bases: content and form. First, a handout with diagrams representing the causes of
 157

run-on sentences and fragments was distributed to the subjects with a sample of the
learners' mistakes. Learners were then asked to label their mistakes and correct them
in pairs. Sentences that were not fragments nor run-ons were labelled
sentence-structure (SS). Hence, the major mistakes that subjects were asked to
avoid were made clear although all the above types of mistakes had been highlighted
in the prerequisite English II (This was the part related to form (i.e. grammar).
Furthermore, a statement with no supporting idea was typed and learners were
asked about possible ways of sustaining it. Supporting ideas help in building
cohesion in a text (Witte and Faigley 1981; McCarthy 1991; Oshima and Hogue
1991; Stubbs 1996). Next, a wrong Thesis Statement was typed and learners were
asked to find the reason for the flaw. The teacher typed the essay of a good student
and handed it to subjects for analysis. In addition, clutter words such as many
illustrating ideas were typed and learners were asked to replace the phrase by an
appropriate one i.e. many illustrations. This part was related to content. Writing
that was revised on the bases of form and content contained 50% fewer errors in the
rewrite (Morgan in Biggs and Watkins 1993; Silva in Kroll 1994). In fact, the
Attitudinal Questionnaire (Chapter 6) reconfirmed the importance of rewriting.

4.4.2 Teaching Procedures

• Vocabulary
Vocabulary is a major component of writing for it is hard to conceive how anyone
can express complicated thoughts without a command of the relevant lexical items
(Kirkman 1967; Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy 1988; Carter and Long 1991;
Hatch and Brown 1996). Students were asked to underline the words to be learned
in the reading text as a first step in vocabulary teaching. Using visual, oral and
tactile approaches help learning since individuals acquire knowledge differently,
taking into account that L2 learners often have limited memory for the target
language and they need varying strategies to process the information (McLaughlin et
al. 1983; Meara in Brown et al. 1996, Carter 1998; McDonough 1999; Jiang 2000).
Learners were given a list of the words to be learned, and their meaning. Listed
 158

words with synonyms had better results on learning from context (Nattinger in
Carter and McCarthy 1988; Sinclair 1991). However, as words have a variety of
meanings and the use of each is learned as one sees it in contexts, both ways i.e.
underlining the words in context and making a list of them were used in the
vocabulary teaching. Words were written with a suitable definition taken from the
dictionary by the researcher. Rarely was Arabic translation used in the classroom.
Sometimes miming was used.
Part of another class session was spent reviewing the vocabulary orally and
writing the words on the blackboard. The researcher would briefly narrate the story
and stop at words to be memorised. Furthermore, subjects were advised to
remember target lexical items according to their sequences in the story. This
mnemonic way of recalling was assumed to help word production. Then a cloze
exercise was given to learners as a means of producing the learned words, before
they were tested. The students were told that the test would require matching words
and the writing of these words in sentences (Appendices 5 & 6).
Fifteen minutes approximately, were assigned to students to discuss in groups as
to whether in their prediction the main character in the story was going to abort and
whether the couple would separate or not. It was highly likely that students would
use the target items in this discussion. Discussion was used as part of vocabulary
learning for speaking precedes writing.

A cloze exercise taken and adapted from the literature of Hemingway and Gibran
followed the discussion (Appendices 5 & 6). This classwork was done in pairs, and
it included most of the vocabulary words given. Use of a cloze test is held to be one
of the effective exercises in vocabulary learning (Nattinger in Carter and McCarthy
1988; Sinclair 1991; Talif 1995). In this study, a cloze test has been used as a
learning procedure rather than production, for the researcher observed that a cloze
test setting induces recalling, whereas in an authentic situation producing a word
does not necessarily have an explicit context that helps its recalling (see Classroom
Analyses, Chapter 5). Carter (1998) reconfirmed the researcher’s observation.
 159

• Sentence-combining
Besides vocabulary teaching, Sentence-combining was the second subskill taught to
learners as a step towards achieving essay writing. English departments perceive
sentence structure and appropriateness of vocabulary usage as being among the more
serious nonnatives' problems (Bridgeman and Carlson 1983; Engber 1995; Grabe
and Kaplan 1996; Nation in Jacobs 1997).
The same directions given in the Pretests of the sentence-combining were used in the
3 sentence-combining tests. Moreover, all sentences were selected from the readings
studied previously, but the cluster was not necessarily the same. This has the
advantage of having students encountering the vocabulary beforehand (though here
the focus is on sentence-combining). If they have read similar sentences or clauses
to those used in the sentence-combining, they are not required to reproduce them
but, if anything, to recombine (known) elements.
Often and particularly with sentences that were adapted from texts by
Hemingway, students were asked to compare their sentences with Hemingway's
sentences. They were also asked to find out which was better and why, using
criteria listed by Kane and Peters (1986); Oshima and Hogue (1991). The best way
to understand a text is to change or transform its sentences (Strong 1994; Pope
1995). In fact, transforming sentences, as seen in the Classroom Analysis, has made
learners aware of the rhetorical aspects of sentences, the awareness of change in
meaning if sentences are connected when in the text they are not; and the implicit or
explicit meaning that some cohesive devices add to the sentences (Hatim and Mason
1990). This judgement of what is better depends crucially on the context, co-text
and on limited-audience relations.

• Essay Writing
After the 2 subskills were practised and tested as prerequisite to essay performance,
the essay was given to the participants. Further, subjects were required to correct
the mistakes of their essays in the composition booklet and show the teacher the
correction. To help learners correct their mistakes, the teacher told them to think
 1 60

out loud what they wanted to say. Murray(1968); Emig (1971); Moreberg (1978);
Faigley (1979) advise their students to follow this procedure. If the correction was
done properly, students had additional grades, which were not part of the treatment.
This type of correction was undertaken with students who had a grade below 70%.
Those who had above 70% were asked to correct their mistakes at home, show the
correction during the teacher/learner tutorial, and they were then given the
correction period off. Those who had a failing grade (i.e. below 60%) were asked to
correct some fragments and run-ons and show the teacher the correction, before
rewriting the essay in class.

4.4.3 Midtests and Posttests

Three midtests, General Vocabulary, General Sentence-combining and the Third
Essay were adninistered to both experimental and control group to test whether
there is any significant difference after the treatment was given to the experimental
group. Further, five Posttests, which are the same as the Pretests, were given to
both experimental and control group to see whether there is any significant
difference between those groups in the counterbalancing design.
 161

CHAPTER FIVE: INITIAL ANALYSIS

This chapter discusses 2 varieties of measures to monitor the Counterbalancing

Experiment: A Background Information Questionnaire and the criteria for the analysis
of the classroom transcript of 5 treatment sessions.
1. The Background Information Questionnaire attemps to control variables in an
authentic classroom situation (5.2-5.3).
2. The Classroom Transcript Analysis is one of the qualitative aspect of the
triangular technique which includes a focus on 5 different classroom activites:
5.4.2 vocabulary analysis
5.4.3 vocabulary revision
5.4.4 vocabulary correction
5.4.5 sentence-combining
5.4.6 reading comprehension

5.1 The Subjects

The Background Information Questionnaire was given to subjects at the beginning of
the academic year, the information obtained was as follows.

• Subjects in Group A and B

The size of the experimental Group A and B in the Counterbalancing Experiment (figure
4.1) is 25 subjects in each group. There are 11 males and 14 females in Group A, and
7 males and 18 females in Group B. That is, students are in their normal classes for the
duration of the project, and these happened to be the gender balances in the particular
classes used in the project.

In Group A, the average age of the males is 19.5 and that of the females is 19.3,
whereas in Group B the average age of the males is 20.3 and that of the females is 19.3
years. The majority of the male subjects in Group A are Lebanese with the exception of
1 Jordanian. 12 females are Lebanese, 1 is Syrian and 1 Italian.
 16 2

In Group B, the majority of the learners are Lebanese with the exception of 1
Syrian and 1German male; 1 female is Syrian, 2 Jordanian and 1 Italian. Group B has 1
more learner of a different nationality than learners in Group A, but in general the
spread of ages and nationalities is broadly similar in both groups. They are also quite
representative in this respect of LAU classes at this level.

table 5.1 Educational Background

Grp. A Grp. B

P a ren t's E d u cation F a th e r s M oth ers P a r e n t's E d u cation F a th ers M oth ers
U riv. L ev el 12 7 Univ. L e v el 14 10

High sc h o o l 12 13 H igh s c h o o l 10 13
S e c o n d a r y . L ev. 1 2 S e c o n d a r y . Lev. 1
E iem t. le v e l 1 E lem t. le v e l

The educational background of the subjects in Group A and B is shown in table 5.1.
As a general rule parents who have reached university level wish their children to have
the same intellectual status, which is looked upon as prestigious in Lebanon. This may
explain the relatively higher proportion of university educated parents. It seems that the
educational background of both Group A and B is again broadly similar.

At the Entrance Exam, some subjects in Group A sat for the EEE (English Entrance
Exam) and some sat for the TOEFL. The average male EEE score, is 527, while the
females' average is 546. The average TOEFL score of the male subjects is 522 as
opoosed to the female average score that is 563.6. In Group B, the average male EEE
score is 512.6 versus 551.8 of the females, whereas the males scored an average of 537
on the TOEFL versus the female score of 568.2. Females in both Group A and B seem
to be at an advantage in relation to the basic English language requirements.
 163

As to the subjects' university level, 3 males and 4 females are freshman; 7 males
and 7 females are sophomore; and 1 male and 3 females are junior students in Group
A. They are, however, all in the same class for the period of the experiment, and they
were all enrolled in this particular class as normal students. This is a common situation
at the university when students take such obligatory courses at different times in their
university courses. However, the majority of the learners in both Group A and B are in
their Sophomore year. In Group B, 3 males and 3 females are Freshman; 2 males and
14 females are Sophomore; and 2 males and 1 female are Junior.

The students' majors in Group A are as follows: 10 male and 6 female students
majored in sciences, whereas 1 male and 8 females majored in Arts. The majority of the
learners in Group A are in sciences contrary to Group B which has half the students in
Arts. In Group B, 6 males majored in sciences and 1 was majorless, whereas 2 females
majored in sciences, 4 in social sciences and 12 in Arts. None were English majors.

table 5.2 Grades of English Courses of Group A and B

English 5511 (5 cr) 5511 (3 cr) 5512

Courses Taken Grp.A grade Grp. B grade Grp. A Grp. A grade
_________________________________ grade_
M 7 C 5 C 1 D 1 F
I D I D
1 B
F 10 C 12 C 1 C
I B 2 D
1 D

N B : 1 (F ) S s in Grp. A w a s exem p ted , c o m in g from M c G ill u n iv ersity

1 (M ) a n d 4 (F ) S s in Grp. B w ere ex em p ted from ta k in g 5511

Table 5.2 shows a further potentially important characteristic of the groups, that is, the
grades members received from a prerequisite English course 5511. This will indicate
previous assessments in English but it may also indicate the range of general academic
ability, though in a tentative way. In Group A the following English courses and
 16 4

grades had been taken. One female subject was exempted from taking English 5511
since she had studied at McGill University (Canada). The majority of the students, in
both Group A and B, males and females, took the 5 credit prerequisite English 5511.
This reveals that their writing skill is rather homogeneous, at least to the extent that
they have all reached the 5512 level.

Table 5.2 also shows what English courses the subjects in Group A and B had taken.
Having 5 students exempted (in Group B ) from English 5511 seems to reveal that 20%
of these learners have a better English level. However, few students in either group
have high grades, the highest are two B grades (both in Group A).

table 5.3 Foreign Language Spoken at Home in Group A and B

English French Other
Foreign Lang.
Spoken at Home

Grp. A

M 1 1 Italian
F 4 3 Armenians

Grp. B

M 1 German
F 3 3 1 Italian

A further variable of potential importance is whether studens speak languages other

than Arabic at home. Table 5.3 shows which other languages are spoken by the two
groups. Several subjects speak a foreign language at home in Group A. One male
speaks French, while 4 females speak French, 1 Italian and 3 Armenian. All the rest use
Arabic at home as is expected in Lebanon. This reflects the general cosmopolitan
multilingual nature of the Lebanese society.
In Group B (table 5.3), 1 male speaks German, 3 females speak English, 3 French and
1 speaks Italian. Again, the rest use Arabic at home. It seems from the observation of
both Groups if learners know French, they speak it at home. If they know English, this
 165

does not always apply. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Lebanon was under the
French mandate up to 1943. The fact that 3 students in Group B apparently speak
English at home does not seem to have led to high grades in English courses. In such
cases, it seems that speaking English at home by no means guarantees academic writing
abilities (this is true of many native speakers).

table 5.4 Reading English Outside the Classroom in Group A and B

Reading English Never Sometimes Often Very Often Kinds of

outside the Reading
classron

Group A
Sories and
Magazines
M 2 6 3

F 7 7

Group B
Stories and
M 5 2 Magazines

F 12 2 4

Subjects were also asked whether they read English and the type of reading they do
outside the classroom since this could potentially be a further influence. Students were
asked to rate their frequency of reading English outside the classroom on a 4 point
scale, the results of which are shown in Table 5.4. Table 5.4 reveals that most learners in
Group B read English outside the classroom at the sometimes scale. Some of this
group had spent their school years abroad. Students apparently do not read much
outside the classroom. In general, Lebanese are not good readers. Social interaction
precedence takes over reading. However, in Group A 7 females said that they
sometimes read stories and magazines, and 7 said that they very often read stories and
magazines. In both Groups, females seem to read more, but the mean of learners in
 166

both Group A and B is virtually the same, that is, Group A, X= 16.2 and Group B,
X=15.5. (The mean was calculated by giving a value of 1 to 4 to the four scales starting
with never =1).

In sum, the incidental sampling of the experimental Group A and B, undertaking

the treatment of the Counterbalancing Experiment, turned out to be fairly
homogeneous. Although females scored higher than males in the EEE and TOEFL, this
should not be considered as a serious disadvantage for testing writing is not part of
these exams. Learners are placed in English 5511 (English II) if they get a passing
grade. However, if learners score 600 or above in EEE or the equivalent in TOEFL,
thev are tested in composition and placed in English 5512 (English III). It seems,
therefore, that the writing skill level of the two Groups is as nearly parallel as possible,
in the authentic teaching context.

5.2 The Essays

5.2.1 Scoring The Essays
The following holistic criteria, adapted from W riting Academic English by Oshima
and Hogue (1991), were used in assessing the essays of the treatment and in the
Pretest/Posttest. Holistic scoring reinforces the two activities, reading and writing, and
does not enumerate linguistic, rhetorical or informational features of a piece of writing
(Cooper and Odell 1977; White 1985). These holistic criteria were adopted by most of
the English teachers giving this course and giving the prerequisite English II. Teachers
giving English III meet twice per semester to grade anchor essays and discuss their
scoring system. This is to moderate the grading system of English courses.

According to the criteria followed, a failing grade, of below 60%, is for work
which lacks organisation and proper sentence structure. By organisation is meant the
lack of Thesis Statement in the introduction, the lack of Topic Sentence in the
paragraphs of the body and the lack of restatement in the conclusion. Furthermore,
organisation means the proper and logical sequence of events. These features are
 167

considered part of coherence (Witte and Faigley 1981; McCarthy 1991; Johns in Hamp-
Lyons 1991; Morgan in Biggs and Watkins 1993; Stubbs 1996).

By poor sentence structure is meant fragments, run-on sentences or erroneous

grammar in English as a result of using translated sentences from LI. According to
Oshima and Hogue (1991), a fragment is defined as an incomplete sentence or parts of
sentences. A fragment lacks one of the following four items: 1. It includes a
subordinate clause and lacks the independent clause. 2. It lacks a verb. 3. A participial
taken for a sentence. 4. The independent clause lacks a verb. By run-on sentence is
meant a sentence in which two or more independent clauses are incorrectly joined by a
comma without a conjunction or a transition (Oshima and Hogue 1991; Bridgeman and
Carlson 1983).
To maintain construct interreliability, two colleagues (the researcher and an
instructor) with the same academic background and almost the same number of years of
teaching experience, corrected the essays. The name of the learners and the grade of
the first marker were covered up during the second correction. Both correctors have
masters degrees from the American University of Beirut (AUB).

5 .2.2 Criteria for Essay Analysis

Different criteria are presented by different authorities. Wilkinson et al. (1980) suggest
the development of logical coherence and syntax as assessment criteria. By logical
coherence is meant the use of superordinates and a wide range of adversatives
(transitionals). By syntax is meant sentences with few modifiers and compound
sentences. There are other means of judging learners' writing. For instance, teachers
judge a paper a failure if it contains numerous run-on sentences or spelling errors.
However, the most common type of judgement is a grammatical one (Fulkerson 1979).
This does not mean that other assessments of judging students' writings are not
available. Other criteria include metaphorical form (i.e. features internal to the work of
students’ writing).
 16 8

However, the criteria used in the essay writing of the treatment in this study were
based on those listed by Bridgeman and Carlson (1983) and Oshima and Hogue (1991).
They focused mainly upon correct use of vocabulary and proper sentence structure (i.e.
no run-ons or fragments). In addition, vocabulary and sentence-combining are the two
features stressed in the study-reading texts of the treatment (see chapters II & III). The
following are the criteria used for the essay analysis. They are similar to those used for
the texts by Gibran and Hemingway, but some modifications were undertaken to adapt
it to the composition of the students. The criteria comprise the following:
1. number of clutter words (i.e. circumlocution).
2. number of correct use of vocabulary.
3 number of correct use of conjunctions.
4. number of correct use of transitionals.
5. number of fragments and run-on sentences.
6. T-unit analysis (number of main and subordinate clauses).
7 theme and rheme (marked theme beginning and within sentences).
8. Patterns of Lexis (discussed in chap. VI)

The number of acquired vocabulary items were measured, but lexical items had to be
adjusted to some degree to suit the topic of the compositions. That is, although a
specific number of vocabulary items have been taught, learners up to a certain extent,
tackle writing differently. This might lead to a different number of vocabulary items in
the essay. Furthermore, the vocabulary needed for comprehension, and the teacher’s
assumption of the learners’ vocabulary made it difficult to measure accurately the
number of vocabulary words that learners have learned. But proper use of lexis versus
clutter words was taken into account. In addition, by sentence structure is meant
correct progressive sentences (figure 3.3).

Although T-units have been calculated, this was a secondary feature. Several
authorities, in fact, agree that T-unit is not a reliable measure for measuring learners'
syntax. T-unit predicts less than 2% of the variance in holistic scores (Hunt 1965).
Also writers of different ages adjust their syntax to suit the rhetorical context (Faigley
1980). Furthermore, the length of T-units reflect verbosity rather than lexical richness
(Laufer and Nation 1995), and it is hard to distinguish between main clause and
subordinate ones among low proficiency learners.
 169

In sum, learners' essay writing, which will be discussed in this chapter, is analysed
according to the criteria comprising lexical and cohesive devices, some aspect of syntax,
T-units, theme and rheme and patterns of lexis. These various measures relate
holistically to essay performance.
Among the criteria are items used in the essay analysis of the learners relating to the
reading texts by Gibran and Hemingway. These items comprise the number of correct
vocabulary which avoids circumlocution; the number of correct use of conjuntions and
transitions which interrelate form and content; T-units which reveal whether students
reduced the number of subordinate clauses as it was suggested to them that good
writing does not necessarily need to be complex; theme and rheme which was analysed
to see whether learners reduced the use of conjunctions at the beginning of sentences;
and finally the patterns of lexis which was studied to see to what extent lexis
contributed to the cohesion in essay performance.
It is hoped that the results of these items analysed in the learners’ essays, taught
explicitly through sentence-combining and vocabulary, and implicitly through the
reading of texts by Gibran and Hemingway will show improvement in the students’
essays in the 3 treatments.

• Essays in Group A and B’

ESSAYS IN THE COUNTERBALANCING EXPERIMENT

Pretest Treatment Posttest

uxoup Pretest Essays treat u 25 essays Posttest Essays
A 25 treat 2: 25 essays 25 A'
treat 3:

Group Pretest Essays treat -1: 25 essays Posttest Essays B'

B 25 treat 2: 25 essays 25
treat 3; 25 "essays
50 150 50
Total 250

Figure 5.1
 170

Group A and Group B’ (called so when B became experimental) wrote 250 essays as
part of the experiment (figure 5.1). The breakdown of the types of essays written by the
two groups is shown in Figure 5.1. Apart from the Pretest and Posttest essays, each
group wrote 3 treatment essays, as shown. As an example of typical sampling in studies
of essay writing, Witte and Faigley (1981) selected 10 essays out of 90 which were
rated holistically by two readers, that is, 11% of the essays were analysed. In the
present study the researcher analysed all the essays (i.e. 250) to see whether there is a
significant difference between the Experimental and Control groups.

5.2 3 Results
The results will be presented by considering Group A and then Group B \
Group A had its first essay on the text, Hills Like White Elephants. Table 5.5 sums up
the results of the different items of the criteria used in the 3 treatments of Group A.

table 5.5 Summary of Lexical and cohesive devices. Syntax. T-units and other features in the 3
treatments of Group A.

H.L. W.E. Indian Camp On R. & Passion; On

(25 scorers)
Work
(25 scorers) (25 scorers)
Lexical &cohesive devices Lexical &cohesive devices Lexical &cohesive devices
cliit. wds. voc.used cor. coni. cor.trans. clut. wds. voc.used cor. coni. cor.trans clut. wds. voc.used cor. coni. cor.trans
10 9 out 13 175 57 10 13 out 41 175 67 11 15 out 51 240 67
69° o 32% 29%
Percentage Percentage P ercentage

3'o 61% 20% 3% 61% 23% 3% 66% 19%

(N O ) (C l) (C l) (Nt2) (C2) (C2) (Nt3) (C3) (C3)

Syntax Syntax Syntax

frag, run-on sent.struct. fra&. run-on sent..struct. fraa run-on sent.struct.

5 20 25 6 15 30 6 12 20

P ercentage o f N tl P ercentage o f Nt2 Percentage o f IXt3

1.5% 6% 7% 2% 4% 8% 2% 3% 5%

T-units T-units T-units

(error free) (error free) (error free)
main cl. subor. noncl. stru. main cl. subor. noncl. stru. main cl. subor. noncl. stru.
287 180 50 286 150 50 362 170 75
 171

Percentage o f N tl Percentage o f Nt2 Percentage o f Nt3

78% 41% 14%

85°o 53 °o 15% 91% 43% 19%

Total number of sentences 337 Total number of sentences 367 Total number of sentences 400
(correct ones 287) (correct ones 286) (correct ones 362)

Other features (Cl) Other features (C2) Other features (C3)

other marked theme conj.begin, sent. other marked theme conj.begin, sent. other marked theme conj .begin, sent.
N= 49 N= 26 N = 40 N= 26 N =54 N= 33
17% 9% 14% 9% 15% 9%

Key:
Ntl. Nt2. Nt3: Total number of sentences respectively in H.L. W.E. (Bills Like White Elephants), Indian
Camp and On Reason and Passion and On Work.
Cl. C2. C3: Correct sentences respectively in H.L. W.E, Indian Camp and On Reason and Passion
and On Work.
N: number of correct raw scores

The devices in the 3 treatments of Group A and B’ were calculated in terms of

percentage, for cells in these devices are not all independent. The percentage of clutter
words was calculated out of the total number of sentences because circumlocutions
could be in both correct and incorrect sentences. However, the percentage of the use
of correct conjunctions and transitions was calculated out of the correct sentences
because in incorrect sentences it is rather hard to distinguish between correct and
incorrect use of transitions and conjunctions. The percentage of the target vocabulary
was calculated out of the number of words taught in each treatment. Further, the
percentage of syntax was calculated out of the total number of sentences because if it
were calculated out of the incorrect sentences, the difference in the result in percentages
may increase along treatment 2 and 3 as the number of incorrect sentences decreases,
giving the visual impression of an increase in the number of syntactic mistakes. (For
example, the difference in the result in percentage of the number of sentence-structure
calculated out of the incorrect number of sentences will be (in treatment 1, 2 and 3 of
Group A ) respectively 50%, 37% and 53%, whereas the percentage of sentence-
structure calculated out of the total number of sentences (Ntl) is respectively 7%, 8%
and 2%). Further, incorrect sentences come out of a total number of sentences, and
therefore they should be calculated out of the total.
 172

Table 5.5 of Group A shows that in lexical and cohesive devices, percentage of the
number of clutter words was equal in the 3 treatments. However, the percentage of
learned vocabulary in the 3 treatments was different. The largest number of vocabulary
used was in treatment 1 (69%) and the smallest in treatment 3 (29%) (in table 6.24).
Perhaps the largest number of vocabulary items used is due to the smallest number of
words taught, and learners could easily retain those words. One observes also that
treatment 3 had the largest number of vocabulary items taught but the smallest
percentage of used target words. This may reconfirm the fact that there is a norm for
the number of words to be taught, among other factors to be taken into consideration.
Furthermore, one observes that the correct use of conjunctions is the same in treatment
1 and 2 but increased in treatment 3. Use of correct transition words varied slightly
between the 3 treatments.
Group A also revealed almost an equal percentage of fragment errors in the 3
treatments. Yet, the number of run on sentences decreased gradually. This is
considered an improvement, taking into account that in Arabic, sometimes, commas and
fullstops are interchangeable and learners are influenced by LI. (In editing the creative
writing of children that was to be published, the researcher worked with an Arabic
editor who disagreed with her English academic punctuation.) The number of sentence
structure has decreased in treatment 3, regardless of the 1% increase in treatment 2.
The examination of the use of T-units revealed an increase of main clauses in
treatment 3 and a decrease of the use of subordinates in relation to treatment 1. The
latter is considered an improvement as learners were encouraged to write simple
sentences (No further interpretation of T-units was undertaken, for this feature is of
secondary focus in this study.) Further, the number of correct sentences used by
learners increased in treatment 3 and this increase is significant as shown in the
Multivariate Analysis of Essay 3 (p = .018 in table 6.16).
The use of other marked theme was inconsistent, but sentences beginning with
the use of conjunctions was the same. The appearance of the continuous use of
conjunctions initially (although learners were told not to use them so) might be due to
the fact that both authors have used conjunctions in that position (tables 4.3 & 4.10). Yet
 173

results changed when one compares the features analysed in the Pretest/Posttest of
Group A.
In sum, it is interesting to observe that the two subskills, sentence-combining and
vocabulary, used to improve essay writing improved syntax and the number of correct
main clauses if one compares treatment 1 and 3. Yet, other features in the lexical and
cohesive devices remained static.
Group B’
Group B’ is the second experimental group which took the treatment. But this
group received the treatment after studying the syllabus. The same procedure has been
used for the analysis of the essays.
Table 5.6 Summary of Lexical and cohesive devices, Syntax, T-units and other features in the 3
treatments of Group B ’

H.L. W.E. Indian Camp On R. & Passion; On

(25 scorers)
Work
(25 scorers) (25 scorers)
lexical &cohesive devices Lexical &cohesive devices Lexical &cohesive devices
clut. wds. voc.used cor. conj. cor.trans. clut. wds. voc.used cor. coni. cor.trans clut. wds. voc.used cor. conj. cor.trans
8 8 out 13 150 60 20 13 out 41 178 56 12 12 out 51 185 70
62% 32% 24%
Percentage Percentage Percentage

2% 46% 19% 5% 42% 13% 3% 46% 17%

(N tl) (C l) (C l) (N t2) (C2) (C2) (N t3) (C3) (C3)

Syntax Syntax Syntax

frag, run-on sent.struct. frag. run-on sent.struct. frag, run-on sent.struct.

10 13 33 8 20 13 16 5 16

Percentage o f N tl Percentage o f Nt2 Percentage o f Nt3

3% 3% 9% 2% 5% 3% 4% 1% 4%

T-units T-units T-units

(error free) (error free) (error free)
main cl. subor. noncl. stru. main cl. subor. noncl. stru. main cl. subor. noncl. stru.
402 160 90
323 225 60 384 240 75
Percentage o f Nt3
Percentage o f N tl Percentage o f Nt2
92% 36% 21%
8<% 59% 16% 89% 56% 18%

Total number of sentences 379 Total number of sentences 439

Total number of sentences 425
(correct ones 323) (correct ones 402)
(correct ones 384)
 174

Other features (Cl) Other features (C2) Other features (C3)

other marked theme conj.begin, sent. other marked theme conj.begin, sent. other marked theme conj.begin, sent.
N= 100 N= 19 N= 100 N = 12 N= 148 N = 24
31% 6% 26% 3% 37% 6%

Kev:
Ntl, Nt2, Nt3: Total number of sentences respectively in H.L. W.E., Indian Camp and On Reason and
Passion and On Work.
Cl, C2, C3: Correct sentences respectively in H.L. W.E., Indian Camp and On Reason and
Passion and On Work.
N: Number of correct raw scores

Table 5.6 sums up the different items of the criteria used in the 3 treatments of Group
B\ Lexical and cohesive devices reveal that the percentage of clutter words
increased in treatment 2 but decreased by 2% in treatment 3. Again the use of
vocabulary learned decreased in treatment 2 and 3. The same happened in Group A.
This may reconfirm that there is an implicit norm for the number of words to be
successfully taught. In fact, some believe the most daring attempt for vocabulary
teaching has not exceeded 100 words per year (Nagy and Herman in Hatch and
Brown 1996). The use of correct conjunctions remained rather stable in the 3
treatments, but correct transitions decreased then increased again in treatment 3. It
is recalled that the sample texts hardly comprised transitions.
The syntax in Group B’ shows that although the number of fragments decreased
in treatment 2, it increased by 2% in treatment 3. The number of run-ons increased
in treatment 2, but decreased by 4% in the last treatment. The frequency of errors in
sentence structure also decreased in treatment 2, but increased by 1% in treatment 3.
Nevertheless, the frequency of errors in treatment 3 decreased as compared to
treatment 1. The assumption of the researcher, which stems from her teaching
experience, is that more advanced learners have more self confidence, and they allow
themselves to try out new expressions or to break rules sometimes, which causes
syntax mistakes.
The examination of the use of T-units revealed a gradual increase in the
percentage of main clauses in the 3 treatments and a gradual decrease of
subordinates. Again this is considered an improvement and the same improvement
applies to Group A. Results are again consistent with the Multivariate Analysis
 175

which revealed a significant difference in the essay of treatment 3 of both groups

(table 6.16). Other features along the 3 treatments of Group B’, reveal that other
marked themes and conjunction beginning sentences are inconsistent.
In sum, the analysis of the criteria items of Group B’ show that the results of the
analysis of syntax and the number of correct main clauses are practically the same as
in Group A. These items improved if one compares treatment 1 and 3. This may
reconfirm that giving attention to sentence-combining and vocabulary, as
highlighted in the study, improved essay performance.

Table 5.7 Analysis of lexical and cohesive devices, syntax, T-units and other features in
Pretest/Posttest of Group A/A’.

GROUP A/A’
Pretest Essay Posttest Essay
A A’
1 Lexical & cohesive devices Lexical & cohesive devices
' (25scorers) (25 scorers)

1 clut. wds. voc.used cor. conj. cor.trans. clut. wds. voc.used cor. conj. cor.trans

| 10 5 out 10 65 35 15 6 out 12 70 80
■ 50% 50%
Percentage Percentage

1 3% 30% 16% 4% 22% 25%

1 (NtA) (CA) (CA) (N tA ’) (C A ’) (CA")

| Syntax Syntax

1 frag, run-oti sent.struct. frag, run-on sent.struct.

, 18 40 62 15 14 45

1 Percentage o f NLA Percentage o f NLA’

1 5% 12% 19% 4% 4% 11%

1 T-units T-units
1 (error free) (error free)

main cl. subor. noncl. stru. main cl. subor. noncl. stru.
215 85 35 325 120 90

1 Percentage o f NtA Percentage o f NLA’

64% 25% 10%
81% 30% 23%
j Total number of sentences 335 Total number of sentences 399
1 (correct ones 215) (correct ones 325)
i
 176

Other features (CA) Other features (CA’)

other marked theme conj.begin. sent. other marked theme conj.begin. sent.
N= 52 N = 22 N= 65 N = 16
24% 10%
20% 5%

Key:
NtA, NtA’: Total number of sentences in Pretest/Posttest AJ A’
CA, CA’ : Correct number of sentences in Pretest/Posttest A/ A’
N: Number of correct raw scores

• Analysis of Pretest/Posttest Essay of Group A/A’

Table 5.7 compares the features analysed in the Pretest/Posttest Essay of Group AJA’.
The topics of the Pretest and Posttest Essay are as follows respectively:
State some o f the causes and effects o f electricity shortage, in Lebanon,
in the last few months.
State the causes and effects o f living in a country with no proper telephone
communication.

• If one compares the essay analyses of the Pretest/Posttest of Group A/A’, one
observes that in the use of lexical and cohesive devices, the use of clutter words
increased by 1%, and the assumed vocabulary to be used remained stable. Yet there
were 2 more vocabulary items to be used in the Posttest, that is, 12 vs 10 words. It
is recalled that no vocabulary was taught to learners in the Pretest/Posttest.
Learners had to draw on their own knowledge and strategies learned in the study.
The general words pertaining to the topics of electricity shortage and improper
telephone communication, were assumed to be known and used by learners
(Appendix 7). Further, the use of correct conjunctions decreased by 8%, but
transitions increased by 9% although very few transitions were part of the sample
texts.
• The Pretest/Posttest of Group AJA’ revealed an improvement in syntax. There
were fewer number of fragments, run-ons and less sentence-structures in the
Posttest.
 177

• The use of T-units revealed that main clauses increased by 17% in the Posttest.
Although the use of subordinate clauses increased by 5%, main clauses are much
more numerous. Learners seemed to realise that correct sentence writing is
progressive (figure 3.3). However, when interpreting such results and that this is a
feature which is inherent in the counterbalancing design, it is recalled that the
Posttest of Group A was administered 8 weeks after learners had finished their
treatment.
• In other features one notices a decrease by 4%, and a decrease by 5% in the use of
conjunctions at the beginning of sentences. Finally, learners applied what had been
taught to them, regarding not starting with the use of conjunctions.
Summing up the main features in the Pretest/Posttest essay of Group AJA’, one
may say that the same percentage of vocabulary use may reveal the necessity of
teaching vocabulary, one of the subskills used in the essay. The decrease of errors
in syntax may also reveal that sentence-combining, the second subskill used in the
study, helped in the improvement of essay performance.

• Analysis of Pretest/Posttest Essay of Group B/B’

The features analysed in the Pretest Essays will be compared with those analysed in the
Posttest Essay of the same group. The topic of the Pretest/Posttest Essay is the same
as the one given to Group A.
 178

Table 5.8 Analysis of lexical and cohesive devices, syntax, T-units and other features in Pretest/
Posttest of Group B /B’
Group B/B’
Pretest Essay B_______ Posttest Essay B’_____

Lexical &cohesive devices Lexical &cohesive devices

(25scorers) (25 scorers)

clut. wds. voc.used cor. coni. cor.trans. clut. wds. voc.used cor. coni. cor.trans

11 5 out 10 117 95 19 6 out 12 136 98

50% 50%
Percentage Percentage

3% 45% 37% 5% 45% 32%

(NtB) (CB) (CB) (M B ’) (C B ’) (C B ’)

Syntax Syntax

frag, run-on sent.struct. frag, run-on sent.struct.

13 39 28 15 30 40

Percentage o f NtB Percentage o f NtB’

4% 11% 8% 4% 8% 10%

T-units T-units
(error free) (error free)

main cl. subor. noncl. stru. main cl. subor. noncl. stru.
260 125 60 305 80 63

Percentage o f NtB Percentage of NtB’

76% 37% 18% 78% 21% 16%

Total number of sentences 340 Total number of sentences 390

(correct ones 260) (correct ones 305)

Other features (CB) Other features (CB’)

other marked than e conj.begin. sent. other marked theme conj.begin. sent.
N = 52 N= 13 N = 55 N= 6
20% 5% 18% 2%

Key: NtB, M B’: Total number of sentences in Pretest/Posttest B/ B’

CB, CB’ : Correct number of sentences in Prelest/Posttest B/ B’
N: Number of correct raw scores
The results of comparing lexical and cohesive devices and other features in the
Pretest/Posttest Essay of Group B/B’ are shown in table 5.8.
• There is a 2% increase in the number of clutter words, and the same percentage of
the assumed vocabulary to be used. The use of correct conjunctions remained the
same, but the use of correct transitions decreased by 5%.
• The syntax of Group B/B’ revealed an equal percentage of the number of
fragments, and a 3% decrease in the number of run-on sentences. Again this is an
improvement, for the same reason stated in the Pretest/Posttest of Group A/A’.
There is a 2% increase in the number of sentence-structure of the Posttest Essay.
(It is recalled that no sentence-combining or vocabulary was taught to learners, but
learners had to draw on the strategies taught through the treatment.)
• There is a 2% improvement in the use of main clauses. Group B’ performed
significantly better in 3 out of the 5 Pretests, and perhaps this explains the slight
improvement.
• There are fewer use of subordinates in the Posttest of learners in Group B \ As
stated previously, this 16% decrease in the use of complex sentences is considered
an improvement since the writing of authors presented to learners had few complex
sentences, and students were told that good writing does not necessarily need to be
complex.
• In other features, learners had 2% use of less other marked themes in the Posttest
and 3% fewer use of conjunctions at the beginning of sentences. Again as in the
Posttest of Group A, learners finally decreased the use of initial conjunctions.
Summing up the main features in the Pretest/Posttest essay of Group B/B’, one
may say that the same result of vocabulary use of Group B’ reconfirms the necessity
of teaching vocabulary. And the decrease of syntax error in the Posttest essay of
Group B5may also reconfirm the effect of the study of sentence-combining on essay
performance.
 180

5.3 Conclusion and Comparison of the Essay Analysis in the Treatment and
Pretest/Posttest of Group A and B’

ta b le 5 .9 R esu lts o f features a n a ly se d in E ssa y s in th e T reatm ent an d P retest/P osttest o f G roup A

& ET
Group A Group B’
Treatments Treatments
Percentage of lexical & cohe. dev. Percentage of lexical & cohe. dev.

essav clut.wds. voc. used cor.conj. cor. trans. essav clut.wds. voc. used cor.conj. cor. trans.
1 3% 69% 61% 20% 1 2% 62% 46% 19%
2 3% 32% 61% 23% 2 5% 32% 42% 13%
3 3% 29% 66% 19% 3 3% 24% 46% 17%

essay Percentage of Syntax (NtA) essay Percentage of Syntax (NtB’)

frag, run-on sent.struct. frag, run-on sent.struct.
1 1.5% 6% 7% 1 3% 3% 9%
2 2% 4% 8% 2 2% 5% 3%
3 2% 3% 5% 3 4% 1% 4%

Lexical & cohe. dev. Lexical & cohe. dev.

clut.wds. voc.used cor.conj. cor.trans. clut.wds. voc. used cor.conj. cor. trans.

Pretest 3% 50% 30% 16% Pretest 3% 50% 45% 37%

(NtA) 5 out of 10 (CA) (CA) (NtB’) 5 out of 10 (CB’) (CB")

Posttest 4% 50% 22% 25% Posttest 5% 50% 45% 32%

(NtA) 6 out of 12 (CA) (CA) (NtB’) 6 out of 12 (CB’) (CB')

Percentage of Syntax (NtA) Percentage of Syntax (NtB’)

frag, run-on sent.struct. frag, run-on sent, struct.

Pretest 5% 12% 19% Pretest 4% 11% 8%

Posttest 4% 4% 11% Posttest 4% 8% 10%

T -units & Average of Pretest Posttest T-units & Average of Pretest Posttest
Other features the 3 treatm. Other features the 3 treatm.
Percentage of NtA Percentage of NtB’
main cl. 85% 64 % 81% main cl. 89 % 76 % 78 %
subord. cl 46 % 25 % 30 % subord. cl. 50% 37% 21%
correct sent. 85 % 64 % 81 % correct, sent. 89 % 76 % 78 %

Percentage of CA Percentage of CB’

other marked them. 15 % 24 % 20 % other marked theme 31% 20% 18%
conj. begin, sent. 9% 10 % 5% conj. begin, sent. 5% 5% 2%
 181

5.3.1 Summary of Results and some Limitations

Table 5.9 charts the various features analysed in the Essays of the treatment and
Pretest/Posttest of both Group A and B’
• Comparing the percentages of lexical and cohesive devices of both Group A and B’,
one observes that the total average number of clutter words is the same (N=9, 3%
vs N=10, 3%). However, the total average of vocabulary items used in the 3
treatments, the total average use of correct conjunctions and transitions are all
greater respectively in Group A (N=130, 43% vs N=18, 39%; N=188, 63% vs
N=134, 45%; N=62, 21% vs N=49, 16%).
• However, the choice of the target words had its limitations. Content and form of
the target vocabulary were not considered. This might have caused the difference in
the percentage of learning these words through the 3 treatments.
• Circumlocutions have been considered as errors when they could have been used as
a strategy for vocabulary learning.
• The syntax of Group A and B’ differs. Group B’ had a lower total average of run
ons and sentence structures respectively (N=9, 3% vs N=13, 4%; N=16, 5% vs
N=20, 7%). Yet, there was a greater total average of fragments in Group B’ (3%
vs 2%).
• In the Pretest of Group A and B’, one observes that Group B’ had more correct use
of conjunctions and transitions, but the same percentages of clutter words and
correct use of vocabulary as Group A. In the Posttest, Group A and B’ had the
same percentage of vocabulary used, but Group B’ has 1% more clutter words,
more correct use of conjunctions and transitions. ( It is recalled that because of the
nature of the Counterbalance Experiment, the Posttest was given to Group A 8
weeks after the experiment was over.)
• The total number of syntax was less numerous in the Pretest of Group B \
However, Group A improved the 3 aspects of syntax in the Posttest. Group B’, in
the Posttest, had the same percentage of the number of fragments, decreased its
number of run-ons but the number of sentence structure increased by 2%.
 182

• The analysis of T-units revealed that the total average of correct sentences and
subordinates in the treatment is respectively more numerous in Group B’, though
learners were asked to use simple sentences if possible (89% vs 85%; 50% vs 46%).
• Perhaps there is less need to ask more advanced learners to use simple sentence.
The fact that complex sentences are a sign of maturity cannot be denied.
• The use of other marked themes were more numerous in the treatment of Group
B’(31% vs 15%).
• Both Group A and B’ used conjunctions wrongly initially in the Pretest, but they
both reduced its use in the Posttest.

5.3.2 Interpretation and Discussion

• Perhaps the results of the lexical and cohesive devices prove again that the timing of
the treatment teaching for Group A was more appropriate since 3 out of 4 lexical
devices were better in the treatment of this Group. This assumption has been
observed by the researcher and reconfirmed by the results of the Attitudinal
Questionnaire.
• However, the syntax of Group B’ was better. This may reconfirm the fact that
Group B’, as revealed in 3 out of 5 Pretests, is more advanced, and that
improvement in syntax is more difficult to achieve within the rather short span of
time given to the experiment. But one also observes that the total average of
mistakes in the Posttest syntax of Group A was by 1% less than Group B \ Perhaps
interactional timing (Rowe 1986) had worked out its way by then, since the Posttest
was given 8 weeks after the treatment.
• The more numerous correct sentences and subordinates in Group B’ may lead to the
assumption that this group also has a more mature writing style though to examine
this was not part of the study.
• In spite of the differences in the results of the elements analysed in the Essays of
both Group A and B’, Essay 3, in both Experimental Groups, maintained a
significant difference (p = .018 and p = .021 in table 6.16). This assumes that the
two subskills (vocabulary and sentence-combining) taught and analysed through
lexical/cohesive devices and syntax are being used effectively.
 183

• In spite of the fact that Group A was less advanced, the total number of its correct
use of sentences was greater in the Posttest. Perhaps the treatment with the 2
subskills and the passage of time led to this result.
• Furthermore, Group A maintained an equivalent level of writing performance until
the Posttest, which was given 8 weeks after the experiment was over. This result
suggests that the approach using vocabulary and sentence-combining has a relatively
long term effect.
• However, the results of the Experiment have their limitations because of the limited
exposure to relevant contexts, limited time span, limited vocabulary targets and
sentence-combining techniques within the limited texts of Gibran and Hemingway,
and the drawback of the experimental design. But the researcher assumes that
paying attention in the classroom treatment to both subskills can improve Essay
performance, and therefore these subskills should not be neglected.

5.4 The Classroom Transcript Analysis

5.4.1 Approaches to the Analysis
As the experiment is a threefold design, the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the
classroom transcript is an important part of the study.
The Transcript Analysis maintains the richness of the details in their authentic
situation. This is important because a quantitative study using a Pretest/Posttest design
gives little impression of the classroom processes between tests. It also allows the
study of learners authentic verbal expression, partly compensating for the limitations of
a questionnaire.
Still the transcript analysis has its limitations. These include the interpretation of
the interaction. Yet, the transcript will throw up a problematic aspect between then and
now. what the researcher did not realise or did then and what she became aware of and
has realised now. Further, it shows some paradox in the interrelation of sentence-
combining and vocabulary as lexis constructs sentences, sentences paragraphs and
paragraphs essay. The above mentioned aspects and limitations will be revealed in
comments on the following sessions. The data comprise five taped sessions which
include the following activities:
 184

• Analysis of a Vocabulary Session

i. initial analysis
ii. the researcher’s later interpretation
• Vocabulary Revision
i. vocabulary learning and reading comprehension
• Vocabulary Correction
• Sentence-combining
• Reading Comprehension
i. resuming reading comprehension

(Since classroom taping is rare in Lebanon, the teacher felt a need to reassure the
learners, so she told them that taping was undertaken to control her teaching approach.)

Different approaches can be used in observational classroom studies. The

choice of approach depends on whether researchers are interested in measuring,
controlling, watching or asking and doing (Van Lier 1988). The present classroom
sessions are based mostly on asking and doing. This naturalistic enquiry often deals
with matters of opinion and interpretation which rely on the intuitive nature of human
experience offering perceptions of the world that seem insightful to the readers. In
addition, asking and doing counterbalance the context of experimental research
intervention which some writers believe to be negative (Allwright and Bailey 1991).

Classroom interaction has been recognised as one of the more important

variables influencing language learning. Its importance has been noticed since the
1960s. However, some writers such as Krashen (1981) believe that language
acauisition is an unconscious process and therefore, untestable in part, because in
practice we cannot operationalise non-conscious learning. He holds that the role of the
teacher is to provide an appropriate language environment through comprehensible
input. Yet the present study is directed at trying to understand and deal with the
practical problems facing teachers and learners (Allwright & Bailey 1991). In an action
 185

research context, it should also go beyond the understanding of practical problems. It

should solve them (Carr and Kemmis 1986). This raises the issue of vocabulary
teaching which some writers believe is still neglected (Zimmerman 1994; 1998).
Classroom analysis has contributed to a growth in awareness of the internal
formal structure and functional purpose of verbal classroom interaction (Chaudron
1988). Different strategies have been studied (Sinclair and Brazil 1982; Jordan 1984;
McCarthy 1991; Coulthard 1992) However, the researcher emphasises the model
followed by Barnes (1969) which sets out to analyse aspects that are found to be
interesting and relevant. Different approaches to discourse analysis have advantages
and disadvantages, quantitative and qualitative transcript analyses of transcripts have
theirs too. The qualitative view highlights interesting and important features of
educational communication such as learning and acquisition, analysis and source of
errors in learning, and the quantitative analysis quantifies these features (Edwards and
Mercer 1987; Mercer 1995). Hence, both approaches will be used here to take
advantage of their benefits.
In the analysis of this transcript, the following procedure has been adopted:
Teacher’s initiations and learners’ responses to them have been counted as 1 initiation
everytime the mark T (teacher) and everytime the mark S (student) appears, regardless
of the number of sentences. However, questions were counted separately. This
procedure has been followed consistently.
Classroom analysis has also been used for it is a starting point for action
research. It is the teacher-researcher approach to reflect on her teaching. The
transcript analysis including the two subskills, vocabulary and sentence-combining will
be looked upon as a reflection of the researcher then and now i.e. what the researcher
(as teacher) said, did, or remember thinking then related to, and interpreted by, what
the teacher (as researcher) analyses, interprets and concludes now about the events
then.. Hence, showing through a critical evaluation of her teaching, that the teacher is
in fact a researcher who looks for local solutions to local problems as well as more
global solutions (Allwright and Bailey 1991).
 18 6

5.4.2 The Vocabulary Session

i. The transcript of the vocabulary session starts with the teacher asking learners to
underline vocabulary words in the study-reading text. The teacher does this in order to
use different oral/aural, visual and tactile approaches to vocabulary learning (Chapter
2). These techniques have also been recommended as facilitators and harmonizing with
various verbal and non-verbal learning styles which students may differ in. The list of
words was given to the learners with the explanation of these words (Chapter 4), so
there was no need for learners to make notes. (It is recalled that no list of words was
given to learners in the Pretest/Posttest.) Students can relate the words to the original
context by looking at the text. The criteria on which vocabulary items were selected
depended on the teacher’s knowledge of the general standard of English of the learners,
on the Cobuild frequency count of these words (Appendix 12) and the likelihood of
their use in writing compositions. Furthermore, some believe that the most daring
attempt for vocabulary teaching has not exceeded 100 words per year (Nagy and
Anderson 1984; Nagy and Herman in Hatch and Brown 1996). Others report that EFL
students in China have to learn hundreds or more words a year on which they are tested
(Cortazzi and Jin 1996). Hence, the use of a word list in the teaching of vocabulary of
this study, besides the fact that a word list makes learning vocabulary more systematic
and tangible (Coady and Huckin 1997). A word list generally relies on the observation
that a relatively small number of English words accounts for a very high proportion of
English texts (Willis 1990; Sinclair 1991). However, some of the words and phrases in
Hills Like White Elephants have a low frequency such as look off (13) and absinthe
(33) (Cobuild data base 1994); others, like the idiom white elephants, are difficult to
comprehend with all their connotations by L2 learners. By asking learners to look at
the words in context, the teacher is trying to use implicit concordancing, within a
limited context, which hopefully generates authentic instances of usage in contexts
(Wichmann 1995). No other verbal interaction took place at this stage except the
immediate interaction with the assigned vocabulary words.
The following is an explanation of the terminology used here. By instructive is
meant getting learners to do things (order, control instruct). This aspect of classroom
behaviour covers all the content and structural sides of talking about the teaching. By
 187

informative is meant telling things to pupils (informative, describe, explain) such as

subject matter of lessons. By questioning is meant getting pupils to say things
(questioning, probing, stimulating various kinds of talks). It includes general behaviour
patterns and the inclusion of informative and instructive (Sinclair and Brazil 1982;
Cazden in Wittrock 1986).

The percentage of the types of initiation in exchanges of the teacher’s talk in the
vocabulary teaching sessions, reveals that in the first session most of the talk is done by
the teacher. The talk is 63% instructive, 33% informative and 4% interrogative
(Appendix 11). By underlining the words, learners focus on the context which
determines the specific meaning of words. As learners are underlining words, the
teacher gives them an oral explanation which again helps to fix the meaning of the
words within the context. ...Now, keep going until you reach the paragraph that starts
with ‘the woman brought two glasses Can you see that? On this line you have ‘felt
pads Please underline 'felt pads \ Pad is a felt material on which you put a drink.
Then the teacher proceeds to explain to the learners the purpose of teaching the
target vocabulary (in effect, to learn it in preparation for a test). Explaining to learners
the behavioural objectives, among other factors, should facilitate learning (Zamel 1982;
Wenten 1986; Van Lier 1996).
This approach, in this vocabulary session, unusually perhaps, makes the
hynothesis of the research explicit to the subjects and makes it part of the behavioural
objectives. The purpose of the hypothesis is to show the interconnection o f reading to
writing, and the use of two subskills: vocabulary and sentence-combining. The
purpose of the study is to show the effectiveness of two subskills, one of which is
vocabulary in essay performance within the context of study-reading texts. This was
actually said to the students (in both Group A and B’), but whithout stating that this
was an experiment. The reason for not saying that it was, in fact, a counterbalancing
experiment was because the researcher believes that this would make the students over­
conscious of the situation, falsify the natural setting and may disturb them. In this way
the teaching was, to a limited extent, related to Participant Action Learning, in which
 18 8

the research aims are made clear to learners too, so that they can participate in the
action (Averback 1998).
Again the words are explained, and at an end of the class the teacher informs
students how these words would fit in the context of sentence-combining. In other
words, the researcher explicitly comments on how both subskills vocabulary and
sentence-combining are integrated within the context of reading and writing: the
framework and purpose of the study.

ii. Looking in retrospect to the vocabulary session, the researcher finds positive as well
as negative aspects. The approach of presenting a word list seems a beneficial one,
recognised by some writers (Willis 1990; Sinclair 1991; Carter 1998).
However, looking at the quantitative analysis, one observes that 63% of the
interaction was instructive, which leaves little possibility of a response to learners.
Questions are powerful prompts for learning. However, there is evidence that they are
over-used or mis-used, generally to check learning or diagnose learning problems rather
than to prompt learning (Richards 1978; Dillon 1988). However, this is not the case in
this session since learners did not understand much in their first encounter with the text
so much of the teacher talk is explanation. Perhaps this justifies the high percentage of
instructive questions which are assumed to have provided learning by the oral/aural,
visual and tactile approaches.
Giving instructions contribute more positively to L2 acquisition than naturalistic
exposure (Chaudron 1988). Furthermore, the teacher felt the need to use the didactic
method to guide the construction of knowledge at this stage. The problem is how to
provide learners with the right balance of different kinds of opportunities and guidance
(Mercer 1995).
Yet the researcher realised {then) that a word list may be more effective if words are
presented in their actual reading context. In other words, a mini-concordance, which
serves as learning in chunks. It is through role playing, which puts words into
productive vocabulary, and listening to learners’ comments that the teacher came to the
above conclusion. This analysis is backed up by Nation 1990; Nattinger (1992) and
Dixon-Krauss (1996).
 189

5.4.3 Vocabulary Revision

The vocabulary revision, in the transcript, starts with a mnemonic way to recall the
vocabulary encountered. This way consists of the teacher initiating a recall based on
the sequences of the events in the story, and the response of the students is to fill in the
oral blanks such as the following:
T: There is a train coming and stopping a t ...
S: At the junction.

Memory plays an important role in vocabulary storing. Memorizing here is not

a rote process but rather an active one of transforming and restructuring. It actually
resembles the pattern of cognitive development from preoperational thought to
concrete, and from concrete to formal operation (Neimark et al. 1971). It is a
metacognitive strategy recommended for learning lexical units (Arnaud and Savignon in
Coady and Huckin 1997). One might compare the fill-in-the-oral-blank method that the
teacher uses to the scaffolding theory which represents both teacher/learner as active
participants in the construction of knowledge (Bruner in Sinclair et al. 1978). In fact,
the transcript of vocabulary revision reveals 7 incomplete declaratives which are used by
the teacher as this device for indirect questions: students are expected to fill the
incomplete oral slot represented by dots (...) (Appendix 11). Incomplete declaratives
allow learners to verbalize the vocabulary to be learned by completing teacher
utterances. However, scaffolding does not seem to take place, though the interaction is
highly structured by the teacher. Little evidence of a handover is revealed by the
answers of learners. Yet, this session is a vocabulary revision session and learners are
filling in the oral gap as revealed in the following extract:

T: They also sa id that they have nothing to do except... (107)

S: Drinking.
S: Drinking and talking about drinks.
T: I f you notice, they ha\>e already tried 3 or 4 drinks. But they all taste ...
S: Liquorice.
 190

How far this is actually active production of the target vocabulary by the
learners is debatable. Here, the students (some of them) are indeed producing target
items but only in response to fairly tight contexts from the study-text, and students are
not producing the words in larger chunks. It might, therefore, be said that this is a
verbal cloze procedure, where students fill in oral blanks, often in severely restricted
contexts where there are few alternatives. However, a neo-Vygotskian interpretation
(Hicks 1996; Dixon-Kraus 1996) might be that here the teacher is scaffolding student
responses in an assisted performance (Tharp and Gallimore 1990) which is conceived
as leading towards more independent production, but this latter stage has not actually
been resolved yet. In other terms, production is a continuum from speech (or writing)
in a relatively fixed context (as here) to that in increasingly freer, more meaningful
contexts. The problem with this second view is that in this transcript, at least, students
do not, in fact, move on to this freer stage; the scaffolding seems to be held in place. A
simple tactic to remove the scaffold might have been for the teacher to ask students to
use the target words in their own contexts. At the time, the teacher thought there was
too little time for this. Without the removal of the scaffolding the extent of learner
independence, or internalization of the vocabulary, remains unknown.

Besides the mnemonic approach to retention, the teacher uses an oral/aural, and
visual approach. Some words are written on the blackboard (junction, operation,
liquorice). Different approaches are used to take into account individual means of
learning, accounting for some of the areas which are still problems today in vocabulary
teaching. One of the problems is the extent to which individual differences affect
vocabulary acquisition (Aitchison in Andelman and Rogers 1996).
Sometimes the vocabulary response is direct, sometimes the teacher has to pause to get
an antonym:

T : I f you notice , they have already tried 3 or 4 drinks. But they all taste ...
S: Liquorice. (1119
T: Yes, and some o f them taste ...
S: Like absinthe.
 191

To make sure that learners know the meaning of absinthe, the teacher initiates learners
to recall another vocabulary session in which the word had been discussed:

T: You remember what we said about absinthe?

S: Bitter (the word is written on the blackboard)

Providing a context to the words that learners utter, is the process of learning in
chunks (Chapman 1983). Again an oral/aural and visual approach is used although
bitter is not one of the listed words. However, it is written and emphasized for
direction in the production of a word is meaning = > sound, whereas direction in
comprehension is sound = > meaning. In fact, in that case both production and
comprehension are needed and used since the teacher, through her initiations, provides
learners with the authentic study-reading of literary text.

Some details of pedagogical values are spontaneously acted upon without preconceived
thinking, depending on the present situation. It is teacher mediation which is more than
modelling or demonstrating how to do something (Dixon-Krauss 1996). This is the
case with the words written on the blackboard. Up to this point, the initiation/response
exchange is rather smooth and regular in Vocabulary Revision. A follow up approval is
given by the teacher for the first time: Good. As some vocabulary words to be learned
are phrases, the teacher follows up by repeating a word which is taken over by the
learner:
T : Good. The girl was sitting, and she moved with her hand a string of...
S: Beads. (123)
T : String o f beads, (the word is written on the blackboard)

The teacher repeats the phrase. Vocabulary learning takes place in chunks (Chapman
1983). In this case, perhaps ironically, the teacher is repeating the chunk. However,
the student who says beads has clearly produced it to complete string o f .... The
student’s response might thus be considered a partial chunking or, collaboration with
the teacher, a joint chunking. However, the student does not actually produce the
complete string herself either then or later. Another approval follows:
T: Yes, bravo. Alright.
 192

The teacher seems satisfied about the learners’ progress. Along with vocabulary
revision, comprehension questions are used. This is considered quite essential, for it
provides learners with comprehension and access to vocabulary which they will write
later (Wenden 1986; Stern 1987). The reader who does not understand the important
words that convey the meaning in a passage is not likely to comprehend the passage
(Dixon-Krauss 1996; Coady and Huckin 1997). Therefore, some key vocabulary items
are singled out for specific attention in the classroom since they are believed to be
essential in reading comprehension of these texts and essay performance.

In sum, with vocabulary recalled mnemonically, with role-play and

comprehension questions, learners seemed to understand the text better and learn the
vocabulary assigned. These vocabulary strategies, hence, are embedded within a virtual
text-reading context, bridging the gap between vocabulary and literature.

Again if one looks in retrospect at the vocabulary revision, the teacher-

researcher {now) finds the vocabulary revision session {then) didactic. Perhaps a less
stmctured or more socially-interactive vocabulary revision might have led learners to
depend more on themselves and stimulate their self-awareness (Van Lier 1996). Yet
the teacher, at the time, took into account the fact that vocabulary teaching at LAU is
still neglected, and hence used a more didactic approach. A further crucial aspect is
that the teacher knew then that this is what students expected. There are tensions here
between current, communicatively oriented, more interactive approaches to teaching
vocabulary, the learners’ expectations, and culture between the teacher-researcher’s
approach (then) and her more informed subsequent awareness of what might have been
done. To an extent, the need to take account of local Lebanese context and culture,
teachers’ and students’ beliefs mediates these tensions.
 193

5.4.4 Vocabulary Correction

The following transcript analysis is on the aspect of vocabulary correction. The teacher
points out to learners her high expectations on their performance (high expectations and
discipline gave better results in American Catholic Schools, CNN report Oct., 1996).
The teacher explains to the students the purpose of vocabulary teaching as she had done
previously in the sentence-combining correction session: the purpose of this study is to
show the interconnection of reading and writing at all academic levels, and more
specifically the effectiveness of two subskills: vocabulary and sentence-combining.

Again, and as in almost every session of the classroom transcript, the teacher
clarifies the purpose of the session at work. As a teacher she articulates the aim of the
lesson, and as a researcher she keeps track of the hypothesis of the study and gives to
learners reasons to reconfirm the validity of the procedure followed which makes
learners aware of the process and help to take them more seriously (Zamel 1982; Van
Lier 1996).
Learners are asked to collocate words and then put them in sentences, and they
are also reminded of the use of proper tenses. With this procedure, the linking of
vocabulary and sentence-combining is insured. The teacher starts reading the students’
ill-formed expressions such as look brightly, pauses and expects those learners who
have written their sentence correctly to fill in the blank:

T: ...You d o n ’t look brightly. You... (256)

S: Smile brightly
(...)
S: Something that you hcn’e waited fo r brightly...
T : No, Sana. You can ’t wait brightly. You smile brightly.

At this point, the teacher has used two pedagogical procedures: an oral cloze
procedure to fill in the blanks with the correct words, since this session is a vocabulary
session, and a procedure encouraging students to produce words in (limited) chunks,
thus, ensuring comprehension and production. The latter procedure has been used in
two different ways: implicitly expecting learners to give the correct chunk such as “You
don’t look brightly you ...”; and explicitly when learners have no answer, and therefore
 194

the teacher provides them with the correct chunk. That is, “wo, Sana. You can’t wait
brightly. You smile brightly”. It remains a problematic element that learners are still
not encouraged to produce their own complete, meaningful utterances in their own
contexts. The elements of lexical choice for learners is, as seen in retrospect, rather
restricted. This might be considered a factor which limits their learning of meaning,
since meaning implies choice (Lyons 1977; Read 2000). Yet at a less advanced stage
and in the Lebanese context, this choice is difficult to apply. The teacher (then) was
less aware of this point than the teacher (researcher) is now.

As a means of motivation, the teacher uses male/female competition by giving

learners the number of highest grades between girls and boys: 3 girls had 10/10, and 1
boy got 10/10. The teacher continues asking students to read their sentences. These
results reconfirm the EEE results which revealed a higher score of females in both
Group A and B.
The teacher/student exchange seems smooth, at this point, and goes as follows:
T/S; T/S; T/S; T/S; T/S. However, interaction is the reverse of what in fact it should
be, yet it focused on an important aspect of vocabulary teaching: production:
T: (...) Alright, cut it out. Yes, Read.
S: The American angrily asked the girl to cut it out.
T: Liquorice. Yes!
S: The girl said that the drinks taste like liquorice.
T: Absinthe, yes Sylvie.
S: Suddenly, the things you have waited fo r so long taste like absinthe.
T: Felt pad. Yes Mustapha.
S: The waitress has put fe lt pads under the glasses.
T: AIright. Brightly. Yes, Sana.
S: Something that you have waited fo r brightly ...
T: No, Sana. You can 7 wait brightly. You smile brightly.

This vocabulary correction session reveals the use of only 3 follow ups. It is assumed
that there is less need for follow ups at this point in the vocabulary correction. The
seven initiations are mostly reminders to learners of the criteria on which the test is
 195

based, expectation of learners’ performance, and the purpose of the vocabulary test.
The teacher initiations are informative; from one angle, this is useful, since to be
successful, knowledge in the classroom needs explanation, must be offered, accepted,
understood and consolidated (Mercer 1995).
At the time, in the context, the teacher understood this kind of dialogue as a
useful way to elicit students’ sentences. Reading the transcript later, the researcher
realised that the predominance of initiations without follow ups, together with the
brevity of many student replies (at most a sentence), implies that at this point the
interaction is heavily teacher dominated. The overall discourse also seems somewhat
fragmented. The teacher’s initiations seem only connected to each other by the fact that
the prompt words are on the revision list since they have no textual connections with
preceding replies or follow-ups. The overall dialogue does not link target items to
each other nor to any extended sequence. The result is that words are indeed presented
(by students) but meanings are hardly negotiated in interaction or jointly constructed
explanations of knowledge, in Mercer’s (1995) sense of knowledge construction.

If these reflections are put together, it can be seen that this section of the
transcript exemplifies several discourse and pedagogic features which are in tension
with each other. The main speaker (the teacher) is attempting to be informative,
expansive (by extending student talk to expand the context of the target vocabulary),
yet diagnostic (to check how far students can use the words appropriately). This
researcher (the teacher) also wishes the discourse to be instructive (with student
participation) and acceptable (so that the target words are used in acceptable contexts)
yet controlled ( in the sense of managing the classroom turn-taking in a disciplined
fashion). The other speakers’ contributions are likewise affected by discourse features
which are in tension: they have their own intentions (which can only be guessed but
may include information to learn or at least to pass the tests) and expectations (many of
which stem from the context of previous lessons and a general lack of emphasis on
vocabulary in their English learning histories). The classroom discourse here can then,
with this elaborated hindsight be seen to exemplify some discourse criteria in tension, in
much the same way as DeBeaugrande and Dressler’s (1981) model of discourse. Since
 196

the solution to some of these tensions becomes problematic to other tensions, it is

inevitable that in some ways this classroom talk is not ideal.

5.4.5 Sentence-combining
Another class hour was spent on the correction of sentence-combining. The teacher
starts again by setting explicit objectives. Learners are to combine 2 or 3 sentences,
having in mind the fact that hearing may generally result in short sentences. Learners
could then compare different lengths of sentences, and the way they sound, i.e. the
rhythm of the sentence. Using the ear and developing learners’ awareness of how
sentences feel can raise their consciousness of indicators of sentence correctness in this
way (Kroll 1994; Stubbs 1996), provided students verbalise their sentences with some
awareness of different alternatives and have some awareness of the consequences of
making different language choices.

The teacher/learner exchanges focus on the complexity and cumbersomeness of

lengthy sentences. This topic was emphasised because learners quite often write long
sentences either because their control of punctuation (mainly fiillstops) is poor, or
because of LI influence and/or because their thoughts are not clear. This follows from
the widely-held assumption, certainly among teachers, that clarity of language is parallel
to clarity of thought (Petrosky and Brosick 1979). By making students write long
sentences, the teacher was attempting to concretise the feeling of unpleasantness,
concerning examples of sentences which might be regarded too long. That is, the
teacher was trying to encourage students to internalise judgements of appropriate and
acceptable sentence type and length. This could, of course, be a double-edged sword
which again emphasises discourse and pedagogic features in tension: the teacher here
wants to discourage overlong complex sentences, since these too often contain errors,
but she is aware that sentence length (T-units) is a measure of writing maturity and is
often held to be one implicit measure of academic quality. She wants students to focus
on sentence-combining, yet to internalize judgements of clarity in relation to
appropriateness. The teacher is tiying to shift the learner/writer position to
learner/reader position. The incapacity to make such shifts is said to be one of the
 197

defective aspects of poor writing of learners (Kroll 1978). Further, the teacher uses
comparison as another means to make learners aware of their own mistakes.
Comparing styles of the same text is implicitly a way of teaching and making learners
more aware of rhetoric (Kroll 1994), studied through the analysis of theme/rheme. The
researcher does not mean that long sentences, as a rule, are defaults. Rather she wants
learners to be aware of the fact that good writing does not necessarily need complex or
long sentences. This is the reason why the study-texts by Hemingway and Gibran were
chosen. This is a point she emphasised often during the sessions when learners
combined sentences. The teacher also points out the fact that transitions are sentence-
initial devices, while conjunctions are linking devices to join compound or complex
sentences. Ultimately perhaps, the students may learn that more advanced writing
effectively combines longer, more complex sentences with shorter, simpler ones in
styles which include the element of variation. However, these lessons focus on only
two features of this complexity: simplicity and combinations of the simple now.

The class session continues with a student who reads his correct sentence. The
teacher makes a literary comment rather than a linguistic one. She said, Hemingway
uses short sentences, except when the action is long. Then he lengthens his sentences.
This is an attempt by the teacher to draw attention to formal stylistic features of the
literary texts, following those who hold that the gap between linguistics and literary
criticism is to be bridged (Sinclair in Brumfit and Carter 1986; Talif 1995).
In the teacher’s didactic method, there are 14 declarative initiations out of a
total of 55 declaratives, interrogatives and follow ups. That is, (N=55) 25% of the
initiations are declaratives (Appendix 11). The teacher believes that in this particular
setting the didactic method is most appropriate. What is to be emphasised in a
teaching/learning situation is how to provide learners with the right balance of different
kinds of opportunities and guidance rather than the choice of a specific method of
teaching (Mercer 1995).
A further sentence is read, and the teacher focuses on the fact that a conjunction is
needed to combine two independent sentences. This is in contrast to one of
Hemingway’s sentences, and a learner points out this contradiction. Perhaps this is an
 198

inappropriate approach where the teacher presents a model yet requests a different
sentence-combining approach. However, due to the particular purpose set i.e. teaching
sentence-combining, this was done. Pedagogically, this selection of one aim (simplicity
and combinations of the simple) is justified, but it conflicts with other equally justified
aims (eg. complexity). One can also add that in an authentic situation models do not
always coincide with the objectives of language teaching. This procedure widens the
learner’s knowledge, by exposing them into the different possibilities of combining
sentences. The teacher adds, And I want to torture you and show you when sentences
are long, they are difficult to understand. The teacher does not mean it literally. What
she means is to put the learner/writer in the position of the teacher/reader. In fact,
when the student’s sentence is compared to the author’s, the students recognise that the
sentence is unpleasant because of its length, required through sentence-combining. This
might sound as if it is contradicting the purpose of sentence-combining. But seeing the
other side of the coin can also be a valid pedagogical device. Besides, the way
sentence-combining was used reveals sentence progression, for learners can increase or
decrease the density and complexity of the sentences (see figure 3.3).

Another sentence is read by the student and compared with the original one by
Hemingway:
S: When they came around a bend, a dog came out barking and ahead were
the lights of the shanties where or (in which) the Indian barkpeelers live. (194)

H: They came around a bend and a dog came out barking. Ahead were the
lights o f the shanties where the Indian barkpeelers live. (196)

The dramatic implication of a sentence may be lost when the sentence is a long one
(Kane 1986; Burton and Humphries 1992). Ford and Thompson (in Trangott et al.
1986) speculate that when conditionals follow independent clauses, one reason could be
because they are loaded with heavy and important meaning. However, the opposite
view is held by Oshima and Hogue (1991). As the teacher requested the sentences to
be combined, the emphasis that the original writer had wished to stress changed.
 199

However, the ability to write with more advanced rhetoric requires more advanced
language development, which is beyond the scope of this particular course.
Punctuation is reviewed in the second sentence of the sentence-combining
correction session. Both the author’s and the student’s sentences are read and
compared.
S: Inside on a wooden bunk lay a young Indian woman that had been trying to
have her baby for two days, while the men moved off up the road, sat in the
dark and smoked out of range of the noise she made.

H: Inside on a wooden bunk lay a young Indian woman. She had been trying
to have her baby fo r two days. The man had moved off up the road to sit
in the dark and smoked out o f range o f the noise she made. (202)

It is interesting to observe that learners’ ears are apparently guiding them now
to distinguish between better written sentences, and they expressed their opinion by
saying, It is better. That is, they are articulating an internalised judgement that
Hemingway’s sentence sounds better (although without specifying the reasons for this
in detail). Some writers recommend that students read out loud their essays (Kroll
1994; Stubbs 1996) as a device to promote such internalised judgements and to take
learner/reader position referred to earlier. Again the intention of the researcher, in
making the learners write long sentences, is not to contradict practice and theory, but to
give the students a reader’s view.
In the following sentence, the teacher chooses to emphasize tenses, a problem
that learners often face:

S: When the doctor mounted on the edge of the lower bunk and looked in. the
Indian was laying with his face to the wall, his throat cut from ear to ear
and the blood was flowing down into a pool. (205)

H: He mounted on the edge o f the lower bunk with the lamp on one hand and
looked in. The Indian lay with his face to the wall. His throat had been
cut from ear to ear. The blood had flow ed into a pool.
 200

Many learners use the past continuous rather than simple past, and the teacher explains
tense sequence as well as its logic. That is, the use of past perfect means that the action
took place before another prior action, both being in the past. To make sure her point
is understood, she reads a sentence and asks learners to fill in the blank of the sentence
read:

T: ...So, his throat cut and b lo o d ....

S: ...(hesitant) flow ed down.

As learners compared their sentence with the author’s, some said that short sentences
are easier to comprehend and less complex to write, while this is clearly by no means
always the case, the students’ statements here showed some understanding of the
pedagogic point in hand. It is worth mentioning, at this point, that learners seem to
have acquired an aspect of rhetoric though this is an indirect outcome of the study.

The second part of the Sentence-combining Test is mainly linking sentences

with conjunctions rather than subordinators. The researcher believes that having two
parts in the test encourages students to be aware of different approaches of sentence
writing.

The following is a sample of the second part in the Sentence-combining Test.

S: The young Indian stopped, blew out his lantern and they all walked on
along the road.

H: The young Indian stopped and blew out his lantern and they all walked on
along the road. (220)

A student mentions that she wrote her sentence the way the original writer did, that is,
with 2 conjunctions, while the researcher following Oshima and Hogue (1991)
approach requested the use of conjunction at the end of items in a series.
Here, a contradiction between theory and practice has occurred again. The
teacher accepted the learners’ argument (which is logical), but explained the rules and
requirements of LAU.
 201

The 3rd sentence in part II of the Sentence-combining Test is as follows:

S: He was smoking a pipe, and the room smelled very bad. (224)

H: He was smoking a pipe. The room sm elled very bad.

It is interesting, at this point, to take account of the student’s comment on the meaning
that results from linking or not linking sentences. A student said, I think he didn't
connect the sentences because there is no relation between the two sentences.
One observes from the student’s comment that he shows understanding of the link
between syntax and semantics. In other words, he realised the importance of cohesion
and, in this particular case, its relation to coherence. Coherence changes with the use
of cohesive devices, and as Carrell (1982) commented, cohesion is not coherence. This
issue besides being part of cohesion and coherence pertains to rhetoric, and should be
part of the longer term of language teaching. Bridging the gap between linguistics and
literary criticism, as mentioned earlier, is held to be beneficial to academic teaching, and
one of the purposes of the inclusion of literature in language teaching.
The difference between the author’s sentence and the student’s is semantic.
That is, the room smelled bad, some of the students said, because o f blood, others said
because it is a shanty. The majority of the students realized that it smelled bad
because of poverty. The two other sentences were written as the author wrote them.
However, the last one is as follows:
S: He was satisfied with his hand when he went in and went to work.

H: When he was satisfied with his hands, he went in and went to work. (251)

In sum, the sentence-combining correction session reveals that different

learning/writing strategies have been encountered theoretically and practically.
Grammar and punctuation have been viewed in context. Different approaches to
sentence writing have been tackled along with a glimpse of issues in rhetoric and
literary criticism. Some problems have also been faced in this session, although they
have hardly been resolved. For example, the difficulty, sometimes, of harmonising
 202

between practice and theory; the practice of giving some ill-formed responses due to
different schemata in the teacher’s and learners’ minds; the elicitation of information
assumed to have been acquired in previous courses; and the fluctuation of coherence
when cohesive devices are added, changed or deleted.

Looking in retrospect at the sentence-combining correction, the researcher

observes (then) that her method as teacher was didactic. With hindsight a less didactic
approach could have been used. However, as it has been stated previously, writing is a
multidimensional construct. Viewing these constructs, in those specific circumstances,
the didactic method seemed more appropriate. Perhaps other methods could have been
explored, that is, ask learners to combine sentences to form a paragraph as Strong
(1994) did at an advanced level. Due to time limit, the above procedure was shelved
though this bridges the gap between sentence-combining and essay performance.
Furthermore, a method using sentence-combining and vocabulary should have been
thought of, and hence used to consolidate and interrelate both skills that are essential
variables in the experiment.
As argued previously, the sentence-combining correction session can also be
seen as an inevitably unbalanced attempt to resolve classroom discourse and pedagogic
tensions. These are, however, probably irreconcilable in a single session.

5.4.6 Reading Comprehension

In the following class hour, there is more interaction between students and teacher than
in the vocabulary session. One notices that at the beginning two initiations are made by
the teacher and two responses by the students, that reveal a lack of comprehension
regarding the text (Appendix 11).

T: You were supposed to read this at home. And I am sure that some o f you read it
and some didn 7. Those who have read it. Can you give me an idea o f the story ?
T : How many read it? (1)
S: I tried, I didn 7 get the subject o f the story.
S: It has no point.
T : A /right. OK. L e t’s put it this way...
 203

Analysing this segment using the well known model of initiation, response and follow
up (IRF) (Sinclair and Coulthard 1978) yields:

T:Il _ T:l2 _ S:Rl _ S:R2 _ T:F

By initiation is meant teacher’s probing; response means learner’s answer, and

follow up means comments after the answer (Sinclair and Brazil 1982). Two initiations
are needed to get a verbal response of the students addressed. The responses are rather
cognitive ones; enhancing the teacher to attend to something. Their pedagogical
function is to fulfil the expectation of soliciting moves (Sinclair and Coulthard 1978).
The follow up of the teacher could be interpreted pedagogically as a move to clarify the
situation at hand, that is, to synthesise and expand on the problem.

In fact, the teacher’s response to the problem is a change of pedagogical

approach and the use of role-play as a teaching process. She hopes then that the
learners’ lack of comprehension of Hills Like White Elephants would be eased.
Hemingway’s style is concise and relatively sparse in description or the use of adjectives
(Levin in weeks 1962; Carter 1988) which might render comprehension slightly
difficult, if one is not familiar with the style. The objective of role-play (reading the
story in roles) is to create an authentic situation which could help comprehension,
besides the fact that it is a social learning process in its own right (Wagner 1976; Carter
and Long 1991; Clarke 1991). The teacher requests a volunteer, in order not to
embarrass learners by choosing a reluctant participant. As role-play takes place,
student/teacher interaction in the classroom is more fluent and the pattern becomes
more regular.
The dialogue is as follows:

T : Alright. OK. L e t’s put it this way. It has no point, and it is a famous
author who has written it. (...)
T : OK Fady. You play the role o f the man.
T: AW, the girl. Cvntia what about you?
 204

T: Narrator?
T : Let me explain something. We know from the story that there are many
labels on the luggage. What does this signify?
S: They travel a lot.
T: Yes, they travel a lot. (10)
T: What about the setting? Do you know' what setting means ?
S: Time and place.
T: Yes I
S: It is at the train station.
T: What about time?
S: Noontime.
T: How is it in Spain at noon?
S: Very hot.
T: Yes! very hot.
T: Why do you think the author chose a station? Try to imagine what a
railway station means.
S: It is a place where something is going to happen.
S: Either you say goodbye or you stay.
T: Why do you think it is noontime? What happens at noon? Take the sun.

The structure is as follows:

I NVR (non verbal response)
I _ (NVR)
I _ (NVR)
I _ (NVR)
I R F (8)
I _R __ F R
I _R
I _R __ F
I _R __ R
I _(pause)
The exchange structure starts with the teacher’s initiation and a nonverbal approval
response from the student (the student raises his hand as a sign of willingness). A
further initiation from the teacher elicits an imposed response, which takes the form of a
question: Now, the girl Cyntia, What about you? It is note worthy that here all Is and
Fs are from the teacher; all Rs are from the students. Then the interaction seems
 205

smoother as the response is followed by a follow up which takes the form of a

repetition of the response: Yes they travel a lot. The follow up is a move which has 2
functions: elicitation where the teacher wants the students to say more about what they
have read, and follow-up where the researcher acknowledges the learners’ remarks on
the difficulty they are facing. At this point the emphasis of the teacher is mainly to
encourage that learners say more (to elaborate) (Sinclair and Coulthard 1978).
Furthermore, most of the teacher’s initiations are questions which are used to
elicit learners’responses aiming at inductive learning or what could be called explication
de texte. In fact, Sinclair (1991) uses this approach in teaching literary text to
university students. Inductive learning which could also be called discovery-learning is
likely to lead to good retention (Mondria and De-Boer 1991).

table 5.10: Teacher/learners’ interaction on comprehension questions (part 1).

Teacher Student Teacher
initiation form answer form diversion Follow up
4D 12D
11 7int
14 2Neg 10
3pauses

table 5.11 Teacher/learners’ interaction on resuming comprehension (part 2)

Teacher Student Teacher
initiation form answer form diversion follow up

12 6D 35 32D 17
6int 2int
1 excl
1 pause
Key: D : declarative excl: exclamation Ng: negative int: interrogative

The quantitative analysis of the Comprehension Questions on the text, Hills

Like White Elephants, could be divided into two parts: Part 1 (table 5.10) quantifies the
need for follow ups, and the learners’ answers reveal a lack of understanding. Perhaps
this is due to lack of comprehension of the text. In part 2, (table 5.11) learners seem to
 206

come to terms with the text. The quantification in part 1 (table 5.10) includes 11
initiations on behalf of the teacher versus 12 initiations in part 2 (table 5.11). The first
part also comprises 14 answers and 3 pauses on behalf of the students versus 35
answers and 1 pause on behalf of the students; 10 follow ups from the teacher (table
5.10) versus 17 follow ups in table 5.11. However, follow ups (in parte 2) imply approval.
From the number of students’ responses and the type of follow ups, which basically
shape up, edit and evaluate learners’ answers, it can be concluded that learners
understand Hemingway’s story better. This puts more emphasis on the importance of
comprehending and learning the assigned vocabulary items within the context of study-
reading of literary texts.

One notices 3 pauses (table 5.10) as a response from the students. The first
pause is related to the question concerning the setting:
T: Why do you think it is noon time? What happens at noon? Take the sun.
S: ...(pause)

The second pause is related to the name of the main male character, and the third
pause is related to whether the author has forgotten to name the male character.
T : What is the name o f the man?
S: E h!...
T: Do you think that Hemingway forgot to give him a name? (27)
S: ...(pause)

The teacher’s questions seem to require extratextual knowledge, and the

situation is unusual. Characters do have names in stories. In this particular case the
main character is referred to, just as the American. In fact, the teacher follow up is a
possible answer: It symbolises, maybe, the Americans\ Perhaps biographical
knowledge of the author could have helped learners in answering questions that need
extratextuaX knowledge. Furthermore, research on teaching observes the importance
of interactional timing that involves classroom discourse directly. This is Rowe’s
observation (1974; 1986) concerning wait-time. The time a teacher gives a student to
answer a question. Rowe’s research showed that pauses between I and R,
 207

and between R and F were functional: by increasing these wait-times, students were
enabled to think and participate. Their answers were better, of a wider range, and
more student were involved when wait-times were longer. However to asses the
precise functions of the pauses here is difficult, even though the teacher is the
researcher.

In the view of the researcher, the wait-time needed in this context is rather
related to comprehension: the pause allows time for understanding. This is initiated by
teacher’s probing, stimulating various kinds of talks, or what Neo-Vygotskian term the
zone o f proximal development (ZPD), which stresses the socio-cultural foundation of
learning. The teaching-learning relationship, in this view, thrives in shaping knowledge
and meaning through talk in interactive tasks (Dixon-Kraus 1996).
Initiation takes place, concerning the female character in the story. No more
pauses on behalf of the learners. Students attempt to answer: The girl. (Then), in fact,
the teacher was not fully aware of the research on wait-times.Therefore, she was not
employing changes in the length of wait-time as Rowe suggests.However, these were
pauses which the teacher respected (i.e. did not interrupt).
Perhaps, learning insight is taking place or what Vygotsky termed internalization is
being activated (Dixon-Kraussl996). One notices also, a certain rheme/theme pattern
in the student/teacher interaction:

S: Very hot. That is, T R

T: Yes! very hot Tm R

S: the girl That is. T

T: She is the girl. Not a woman. Why? T __ R. T _R. Tm
S: She is a teenager. T __ R

The pattern is formed by repetition. These repetitions, taken over by the teacher, have
an intonation of approval yet suggest the expectation of another answer. Repeating the
reply with a low raising intonation suggests also that there is another answer and that
the teacher awaits it (Sinclair and Coulthard 1978).
 208

At this point, there is an attempt on behalf of the teacher to draw the attention of
learners to vocabulary. The teacher uses an inductive approach through initiations in
question forms. Not many of the target vocabulary words have been uttered by the
students yet. The teacher by saying it is a place where something is going to happen is
using circumlocution, hoping that learners will come up with the word junction, one of
the assigned vocabulary items.
The different examples of I-R-F patterns are shown in the figure 5.3.

Figure 5.2L Examples of I-R-F patterns.

Initiation Response Follow up
question answer shape up
elicitation pause evaluate
informative choice acknowledge
instructive elaborate
approve

• Resuming reading comprehension

As Comprehension Questions are considered sufficient at this point, Role-play is
resumed. The teacher, by asking specific questions, directs the discussion towards the
mood of the story. The exchanges at this point start in the following manner:

T: Yes. we are always talking about drinks. (43)

S: It ’.va routine.
T. Imagine yourself being with your girlfriend. I f you keep talking about drinks, what
cbes it mean?
S: Lack o f interest.
S: Boring.
T. The second point. What is the 2nd point about ?
S: The operation.
T: Ah! What kind o f operation?
S: It is unclear.
S: .... (unclear answer)
S: Military operation.
 209

Again, all Is are from the teacher; all Rs are from the students. The exchange follows
this pattern:
I R (43)
I R R
I R
I R ... R

It is observed that a crucial expression to suck the air out was not understood by the
students although the mood context is present. This could be due to the students’ social
and cultural background. Abortion and the means of abortion are not common topics
to talk about, in general, in Lebanon. Sociocultural relationships are an important
factor to be taken into account if meaning in texts is not to be misinterpreted (Carter
and Long 1991), and if teaching/learning is to take place (Mercer 1995). However, the
teacher sets learners back into the desired track through metacommunication
(metacommunication makes teachers communicate about classroom communication)
(Stubbs 1983). Generally, this means teachers use talk to control the pupils’ talk, but it
can be used to make learners aware of language and how to use talk in different ways
(Cortazzi in Kitson and Merry 1997). This is done by repeating the answer of the main
character. Nothing is going to happen. In spite of this misunderstanding, learners’
responses on reading comprehension are more numerous and varied. 51% of the
initiations are interrogatives. This was a conscious decision on the part of the teacher
at the time for interrogatives motivate active learning. They constitute a primary means
of engaging learners’ attention, promoting verbal responses and evaluating learners’
progress (Chaudron 1988; McCarthy 1991; Coulthard 1992).
For instance, the teachers’ interrogative focus learners’ attention on the logical
sequence of events. The teacher’s answer implies that it cannot be a military operation
if nothing is going to happen. This comment promotes and triggers further responses
until one student answers interrogatively, Is it abortion? which in fact is a progress in
comprehension. Reading comprehension and vocabulary learning are interrelated
(Laufer and Nation 1995; Meara in Brown et al 1996).
 210

After tuning learners in, a further attempt is made by a student to understand the
text. Again the discussion that follows reveals a different cultural understanding, that
is, a girl can not be pregnant.
In this segment, learners’ attention was mainly focused on comprehending the text, and
no target vocabulary words were uttered by the students. Learners were mostly
struggling with the text helped by the inductive pedagogical method (i.e. questions) that
solicits cognitive responses (Sinclair and Coulthard 1978).
Then the teacher directs the exchanges towards the main issue represented by
the title, Hills Like White Elephants. Cut it out is the first target vocabulary phrase that
is expressed by the students. Follow ups seem more frequent at this stage. But they are
utterances of approval or encouragement to expand on the idea that they have started.
Encouragement takes the form of repetition such as in the following passage. For
example:
S: No
T : No. so who is somehow upset because she is talking about hills like white
elephants? (70)
S: The American
T: The American. What did we say ‘white elephants mean ?
S: Children
T: Children. What does it mean?
Repetition is used by the teacher to accumulate significance (Hoey 1991). Here
this signifies encouragement that learners are on the right track. Some responses from
the students follow without any teacher’s initiation. In fact, five responses take place
between students, and the word junction, one of the target vocabulary words, is used
productively and spontaneously by a student, whereas a previous attempt was not
successful:
S: instability (80)
S: junction
S: commitment
S: He wants the child and she doesn’t.
S: No. No. She wants the child and he doesn ’t. He is the one that keeps telling
her, it is a simple operation. Nothing is going to happen. I am going to stay next to you.
 211

It is noticeable that the opportunity for learners to contribute to the discussion is

narrow until this point. There is apparently no student-to-student interaction. Here,
however, the students clearly interact with each other. While the first few contributions
might all be separate responses directed to the teacher, rather than directed to the
immediately preceding student utterance, the fifth contribution clearly denies the one
before it, showing evidence that here, at least, there is student to student interaction.
The teacher, at this point, has witheld any follow ups, to allow the student-student mini­
discussion. In miniature, learners influence the course of the guided construction of
knowledge (Mercer 1995). Perhaps one can suggest that learners here are working
within the zone o f proximal development (ZPD), through which the more expert party
in the interchange helps to complete and extend the actions and insights of the less
expert one (Hicks 1996).

As one can see, the following pattern of exchange becomes rather regular: T/S;
T/S; T/S; T/S; T. The exchanges include 2 pauses by the students which again might be
interpreted as hesitation, and one pause by the teacher, used as an oral cloze procedure
to nrovoke a student to complete the teacher’s utterance. Long-term retention of
vocabulary is facilitated by asking students to fill in the gap in writing (Osimo 1991) ,
but the approach has been used in an oral context here.

T: And we will be... (90)

S: ... as we were before.
T : which means, happy or unhappy?
S: Happy.
T: Alright. So what is the idea o f the baby causing?
S: Problems and unhappiness.
T: Why is the setting the station?
S: Either she would say goodbye or ...
T: Yes. It is a transition. It is either yes or no. (class session ends)

Looking in retrospect to the analysis of the vocabulary session, the teacher-

researcher sees critically good and less good aspects of her teaching. She used different
approaches (aural/oral, visual and tactile) though these are limited, considering (among
 212

others) the possibility of concordance and databases. However, a choice needs to be

made within the setting of a postwar condition of Lebanon, where the research was
undertaken. That is, recently developed strategies were not available then besides the
fact that it was already a miracle to keep universities and schools open in conditions of
political instability and social and economic reconstruction. Furthermore, as vocabulary
had been neglected in the learners’ experiences of English learning, its vestigial results
were still carried out regardless of the availability of textbooks with some emphasis on
vocabulary, let alone the fact that vocabulary selection used might not fit the learners
and methodology might not exist.

It is observed also that at the first encounter the teacher used 63% of her talk
instructively. Although giving instructions and being didactic contribute more
positively to L2 acquisition (Chaudron 1988; Mercer 1995), perhaps again a less
didactic approach could have been used. However, the researcher believes that
culture, which tends to spoon-feed learners and does not give freedom nor the
responsibility implied by freedom, would have less guarantee of positive results. On the
other hand, if the teacher’s method had been that of a typical session in an English
teaching session at the University of Leicester, for example, complaints on behalf of the
learners would have resulted, due to the different multidimensional constructs of
language teaching within a different culture, as the researcher presumes.
The meaning of affixes is a further aspect of teaching vocabulary that the
teacher-researcher did not consider. Although the chosen words do not seem to fall
into affixes, this procedure should have been thought of, for it coincides with the need
of the learner’s metacognitive and vocabulary awareness (Van Lier 1996; Altman in
Coady and Huckin 1997), and ease the complexity of vocabulary teaching. A further
aspect that the teacher became aware of is the use of a word list within a textual context
chunk. This approach induces repetition with a context and assumes facility in
retention. However, production of these words has to be tested to reconfirm the above
statement, which in fact has been done.
• Vocabulary Learning and Reading Comprehension
The following part of the text is crucial to the understanding of the story. In the
transcript the teacher resumes reading then stops to ask questions. The point at which
the teacher stops in the reading depends on the content of the passage. The initiation
focuses on exchanges which tackle the main issue in the story: whether the girl will go
through abortion or not. The exchanges teacher/student are again smooth, and learners
seem to get the gist of the issue. A sample of the exchange is the following: T/S; T/S,
T/S; T/S; T/S; T.

T : ff hat did the girl do? (131)

S: She sm iled at the American.
T: Yes. How did she smile?
S: Brightly
T: Yes, brightly. What does brightly mean?
S: Happily.
T: ffhy?
S: Because the train is coming.
T : What does this mean?
S: She is going to do the operation.
T : Most probably. The decision has been taken. She has decided. S h e ’s happy
the train has come...

Actually, the response of the teacher, Most probably. The decision has been
taken. She has decided. She's happy the train has come... is an ill-formed response
(Tavlor and Cameron 1987). It is what the researcher calls the dialogue o f the deaf.
The researcher’s interpretation of the smile is that the girl has decided not to abort but
to leave the American, whereas the student meant that the girl has decided to abort as
the American implicitly whishes her to do. These two opposite interpretations might be
interpreted with reference to the established notion of schemata (Carrell 1983) on the
background knowledge of readers’ comprehension. No problematization arose since
none of the participants i.e. teacher/student realised the ill-formed answer at that time.
In retrospect, this is a loss of opportunity pedagogically. Besides, the teacher’s
interpretation is not canonical (Carter and Long 1991). Furthermore, the teacher’s
 214

role is to provide situations in which students are permitted to draw and examine
inferences by constant reference to the text. Students should experience the excitement
and pleasure of discovery rather than being told what to discover (Talif 1995). In fact,
the ending of Hills Like White Elephants is ambiguous. This facilitates the potential for
different interpretations, and is a source of motivation. Perhaps the ill-formed answer
then is no more an ill-formed one.
The session of teacher/learner interaction on vocabulary and reading comprehension
shows that 8 initiations, on behalf of the teacher, are declaratives, that is, 42%. The
rest (57%) of the initiations are interrogatives and incomplete declaratives that
constitute a means of attracting learners’ attention, focusing the learners’participation
and promoting their verbal responses (Appendix 11).

The exchange ends with the teacher, summing up the plot and asking the
students to give a possible different interpretation of the general sequence of events. In
the pilot study done by the researcher at AUB, students enjoyed Hills Like White
Elephants because the teacher accepted different interpretations, and here, at least, the
element of tolerance of different interpretations seems to have enhanced students’
motivation.
However, before any group discussion took place, the teacher reviewed the
vocabulary. This time the teacher hardly used initiations. Words seemed to flow easily.
It seems that learners are more confident in their comprehension of the text, and
perhaps this is the reason why target words were uttered easily and not many initiations
were needed. The following is a sample of the exchanges at this point in the transcript .
T: (...) Let us review the words that we have encountered What did they ha\’e on
their bags? (141)
S: Labels
T: OK
S: Tracks
T: OK, tracks. He carried the bags to the other track.
S: Brightly.
T: Yes, she smiled brightly (...).
 215

Learners say the words, and the teacher makes sentences with them. This reverses a
more obvious approach in which teachers give the words for learners to put into
sentences. However, this enhances the production of learned words since students still
hear them used in appropriate contexts.
This is, in fact, problematic as a closer reading of the transcript shows. The
exchange is governed by the contextualising frame of let's review the words that we
have encountered. From their pauses, the students apparently interpret this as let's list
the words, their single word utterances simply list, labels, tracks, brightly. While the
first of these answers the teacher’s question ( What did they have on their bags?), this
question operates within replies to the framework of the review the words replies
framework. Evidence of this is seen in the students’ later replies which are non-
sequitors to the bag question, and can only be construed as let’s review responses (they
are target words). The teacher fills out the track response, and links it to the previous
labels response {He carried the bags to the other track), since the students do not
follow this expansion. Given this, and their original listing, one might conclude that for
the students let's review means let's list, such teacher/student differences in concepts of
vocabulary review might be of a potential seriousness. Furthermore, this might be a
modelling response to encourage the use of words in context. Perhaps the teacher is
attempting to aid production, but in this lesson extensive or active student production
does not occur (unless the occurrence is mental and hence hidden from the teacher),
and the production summed up in: the learned word, the researcher believes. When the
teacher/learner effort is made in face-to-face interaction, then interaction is suggested to
be productive (Krashen 1985).
In the transcript there, then follows a paragraph of instructions that the teacher
gives to students on the objectives of teaching vocabulary. Also, the teacher reminds
learners about the different genres that could be used in essay writing as well as the
organization of an essay.
The following diagram, showing a common composition structure, was drawn
on the blackboard:
 216

Background
Introduction
Th St Th St (theme + CIs)

TS 1 Tsl (theme + CI1)

SI
SI
SI
Body
TS 2 Ts2 (theme + CI2)

SI
SI
SI

Rest
Conclusion +

Opinion

TS1 + TS2 = Th St
TS1 + TS2 = Rest. Therefore: Rest = Th St

Key:
Th St: thesis statement Cl : controlling idea
TS : topic sentence backg: background
Rest.: restatement SI : supporting idea

The mathematical formula (shown previously), as used by the teacher in her

teaching experience, is assumed to appeal to systematic reasoning and logical analysis.
As most students are studying sciences, and sciences are highly regarded in Lebanon,
the teacher wished to associate this schema outline of one kind of writing with science.
Learners are also tested on their understanding of the method of developing essays, in
other words, of American composition genre. Hence, the teacher exchange is as
follows:
 217

T: You con also develop through comparison and contrast. And then
again, in the topic, I will compare and contrast. And the 3rd possibility
could b e ...? (147)
S: Causes and effects.

Learners were also tested on their understanding of essay organization (Oshima and
Hogue 1991). Such organization had been taught to learners in a previous course.
However, learners needed to be reminded that the university requires clearly structured
essays in academic writing. Sometimes learners are admitted into English III without
having taken English II. In this transcript, when the teacher asks the difference between
a thesis statement and topic sentences (Th St and Ts), there are two pauses of hesitation
as students consider the difference between thesis statement and topic sentence. The
exchange is as follows: T; T/S; T/S; T/S/S; T/T/S; T. What the teacher requested here
for the students to verbalise is previous knowledge whichthey were assumed to have
acquired earlier. No further emphasis will be put on this issue since theteacher is
testing the students’ knowledge on what she assumes they know rather than on what
she has taught. Looking in retrospect at this matter, one may say that if this had been
tackled otherwise, the validity of testing the material taught would have been in
jeopardy. Teachers generally test what has been taught not what is assumed to be
known.

T: Now. here, causes would be the Cl. (162)

T : How is the Th St different from the TS?
S: .... (pause)
T : TS would be equal to ...
S: ...(pause)
T: Is it the same theme?
S: No.
S: Equal.
T: Equal sure. Otherwise, you will have a different essay.
T: Theme p lu s ...
S: One cause.
T : yes. Theme plus cause one....
 218

5.4.7 Conclusion
In sum, looking in retrospect to the teaching of the teacher-researcher, some by­
products were observed such as a glimpse of literary criticism, revision of punctuation
in context, genre and organisation in the writing task.
It was also observed in the transcript that the teaching started with a high
percentage of instructive interaction (63 %) but decreased to 33% informative
interaction.
Again in the transcript segments associated with vocabulary revision and
sentence-combining correction, the researcher finds her revisions didactic. Perhaps a
less structured approach would arouse learners’ metacognitive awareness to ease the
complexity of vocabulary learning. Further, other methods of sentence-combining
could have been experimented with, but due to time limits, this was shelved. Finally,
teachers should be quite aware to test what they teach rather than what they assume the
learner should know.

A further problem arose. The one type of vocabulary mistakes the researcher
did not account for is referential errors (such as wait brightly) in the use of learned
vocabulary. Such mistakes would perhaps be solved through exposure to the target
language. How much exposure might be needed is another issue. Some other
problems were also encountered such as the difficulty sometimes of harmonising
between practice and theory; some ill-formed responses due to different schemata in the
teacher/learners’ mind, and different coherence concepts.
 219

CHAPTER SIX: FURTHER DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

This chapter presents the results of the Counterbalancing Experiment, the

Attitudinal Questionnaire and Patterns of lexis in essay performance. The
experiment comprised 5 Pretests, 3 Midtests and 5 Posttests for both
Experimental and Control Groups. The results are computed using a Multivariate
Analysis of Covariance (Mancova) among other tests (figure 4.1). The Attitudinal
Questionnaire comprises 4 parts which probe the learners' responses on the
following:
• Their views concerning the teaching of vocabulary and sentence-combining
• Their views concerning the different aspects of the texts in the treatment
versus the different aspects of the texts in the syllabus
• The rate of the learners' essay improvement
• Their views about the teacher's knowledge, and the teaching methods. (As
the Quantitative Research was a Counterbalancing Experiment, the
Questionnaire was given after the Midtests and after the Posttests.)
Furthermore, (Partial r) Correlation is used to find out whether there is any correlation
between students’ performances on the 3 variables: Essay, Vocabulary and Sentence-
combining. The patterns of lexis include the study of links, bonds, ratios of bonds to
links and types of repetitions in the essays of the treatment and Pretest/Posttest of both
Groups.

The chapter is organised as follows: Sections 6.1 - 6.1.3 report the Multivariate
Analysis of Covariance (Mancova) in the Pretest, Midtest and Posttest; Sections 6.2 -
6.2.2 analyse the results of the Attitudinal Questionnaire after the Midtest and the
Posttest; Sections 6.3 - 6.3.4 analyse the results of Essays and their correlation with
vocabulary and sentence-combining; finally Section 6.4 includes the study of patterns of
lexis.
 220

6.1 The Multivariate Analysis of Covariance

6.1.1 The Pretest
Counterbalancing Experiment

Group A Group A’
(Experimental) (Control)

Group B Group B’
(Control) (Experimental)

figure 6.0

Figure 6.0 is a reminder of the Experimental design used. The choice of the tests used is
determined by the fact that the sample is less than 30 (N=25) in the experiment, and that
more than 2 unrelated variables are involved. Hence, the use of paired and unpaired T-
tests and Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (Mancova) to explore differences among
variables (Tuckman 1994; Bryman and Cramer 1996). Mancova is appropriate to
account for differences in the responses due to unique characteristics of the respondents
(Hair, Anderson and Tatham 1995). In the case of this study, Group B had learners who
lived abroad (see chapter 5). This might have led to some specific characteristics which
Mancova takes account of. Further, a paired T-test is used to measure whether there is
any significant difference between matched subjects, and an unpaired T-test is to measure
the significant difference between independent subjects. T-test is also a robust test used
to measure the significant difference of parametric and nonparametric data (Heyes et al.
1994).
 221

table 6.1: Multivariate Analyses of the Pretests of Group, AandB

Variables Grp. A Grp. B F Sig. of F.

Pretest General Sentence-

Obs. Means Obs. Means
combining (PRGENSC) 4.62 .037
34.24 43.52

Pretest General Vocabulary Obs. Means Obs. Means 9.72 .003

(PRGENVC) 47.52 57.36

Obs. Means Obs. Means 2.79 .101

Pretest Gibran and Hemingway
39.16 45.80
Sentence-combining (PRG&HSC)

Pretest Gibran and Hemingway Obs. Means Obs. Means 9.72 .001
33.80 46.76
Vocabulary (PRG&HVC)

Obs. Means Obs. Means .07 .794

Pretest Essay (PRESSAY) 61.72 61.28

p < .05

Table 6.1 reveals the results of the Pretests of Group A and B. The results of Mancova
show that Group B did better, in general, in the Pretests. The difference between Group
A & B is significant in three out of the five tested items. That is, General Sentence-
combining (GENSC p = .037); General Vocabulary (GENVC p = .003); and Gibran and
Hemingway Vocabulary (G&HVC p = .001). All three results are in favour of Group B.
This seems to show that Group B (control) is more advanced in some skills of the
English language.
However, there is no significant difference between Group A and B in the Pretests
for G&H sentence-combining and Essay Writing. The latter is a focus of this study and
since there are no significant difference for these 2 features, this can be taken to mean
that the 2 Groups are similar, concerning these central variables Yet, the 2 Groups differ
significantly regarding General Vocabulary and G&H Vocabulary.

6.1.2 Midtest
The results in table 6.2. of Mancova in the Midtest (MT) show a significant difference in
favour of Group A (GENVC p = .035) and the third essay (THRDESSAY p = .018).
 222

This may be the result of the treatment.

Table 6.2: Multivariate Analysis of Covariance of Midtests of Group A and B

Variables Grp. A Grp. B F Sig. of F.

Adj. Means
M T General Vocabulary Adj. Means
54.70
(MTGENVC) 62.38
Obs. Means
Obs. Means
59.68 4.74 .035
57.40

MT General Sentence-combining Adj. Means

Adj. Means
(MTGENSC) 58.96
62.04
Obs. Means .80 .375
Obs. Means
58.44
62.56
Third Essay (THRDESSAY) Adj. Means
Adj. Means
64.92
70.60
Obs. Means 6.00 .018
Obs. Means
65.72
69.80

p < .05

However, there is no significant difference in the results of the Midtest of the General
Sentence-combining (table 6.2) in spite of the previously mentioned significant result in
favour of Group B (table 6.1). In other words, Group A experimental reached the same
level as Group B in General Sentence-combining as a result of the treatment.

6.1.3 Posttest
Table 6.3 displays the results of the Posttest of Group A’and B \ The results of Mancova
in the Posttest show that there are significant differences in GENVC and GENSC
respectively (p = .006; p = .043) in favour of Group B \ This significant difference was
also evident in the Pretests (GENVC p = .003 and GENSC p = .037) seen in table 6.1
again in favour of Group B’.
 223

table 6.3 Mancova results of the Posttest of Group A’ and B’

Variables Grp. A’ Grp. B’ F Sig. of F.

Adj. Means Adj. Means

Pobltest Essay (PSESSAY) 70.35 70.21 .945
Obs. Means Obs. Means .00
71.20 69.36

Adj. Means Adj. Means .043

Positest General Sentence- 64.99 67.29 4.32
combining (PSGENSC) Obs. Means Obs. Means
67.08 65.20

Adi. Means Adj. Means

Posttest General Vocabulary 59.16 65.44 .006
Obs. Means Obs. Means 8.18
(PSGENVC)
59.32 65.28

Adj. Means Adj. Means

Posttest Gibran & Hemingway 78.43 76.21 .404
Obs. Means Obs. Means .71
Sentence-combining (PSG&HSC) 78.84 75.80

Adj. Means Adj. Means

72.25 76.43 .111
Posttest Gibran & Hemingway Obs. Means 2.64
Obs. Means
Vocabulary (PSG&HVC) 72.16 76.52

This seems to show that Group B’ was again significantly more advanced in
General Vocabulary as it was in the Pretest in spite of the fact that Group A did
significantly better in the Midtest General Vocabulary (GENVC p = .035 in table 6.2).
Perhaps General Vocabulary learning needs more than 8 weeks of treatment to maintain
a long term effect. The same hypothesis seems to be applicable to General Sentence-
combining (GENSC), since there is again a significant difference in the Posttest in favour
of Group B’ (GENSC p = .043), whereas there was none in the Midtest (table 6.2).
However, there is no significant difference between Group A’ and B’ in Gibran and
Hemingway Vocabulary (table 6.3) although this difference existed in the Pretest in
favour of Group B (tabic 6.1). The result of the Posttest reconfirms that Group B is
more advanced, and that if Group A improved in the Midterm, it is probably due to the
treatment.
It is worth recalling that 8 weeks had passed before Group A’ was administered the
Posttest, whereas Group B’ was administered the Posttest directly after the treatment.
This was inevitable and in the nature of the Counterbalance Design. In spite of this lapse
of time, there is no significant difference between both Group A’ and B’ in G&H
 224

vocabulary and G&H sentence-combining, the two subskills targetted on in the treatment
to improve Essay writing. The two subskills, vocabulary and sentence-combining seem
to have a relatively long term effect.

6.2 The Attitudinal Questionnaire Results

The Attitudinal Questionnaire has been used as a qualitative technique to counterbalance
the limitations of the quantitative design. It includes a quantitative scale measure and
qualitative open-ended questions which give learners the possibility to express their
attitudes towards the treatment and the content of the syllabus.

Figure 6.1 Texts used in the Syllabus and the Treatment

Syllabus Treatment

1. Women in the Eskimo World 1. Hills Like White Elephants

2. Why We Fall in Love 2. Indian Camp
3. Diogenes and Alexander 3. On Reason and Passion and
On Work

6 .2 .1 At Midpoint
Figure 6.1 presents the texts used in the treatment and those used in the syllabus. After

the learners were given the Midtest, they were asked to fill out a Questionnaire (see
Appendices 1 & 2). Among the questions in Section II, students were asked in open-
ended questions to make suggestions for the improvement of the course up to this
midterm point (see table 6.4).
 225

Table 6.4 Suggestions made by Group A and B at midterm point

Variables in Group A______ no. of Ss______ Variables in Group B______ no. of Ss

Include oral skills in the course 2 Inclusion of oral skill in the course 4
Importance of rewriting 1 Importance of rewriting 1
Include articles from magazines 1 Request vocabulary learning 3
Approve choice of texts & teaching Suggest to work on sentence-
of vocabulary 1 combining 1
Comprehension as well as oral skills Suggest different topics to read 2
have improved 1 Suggest more stimulating essays 2
Total 6 Suggest to have an essay as practice
for essay writing 1
Suggest not to stick to the syllabus 1
Suggest more reading to improve
writing 2
Request more essay writing _3_
Total 20

Table 6.4 displays these suggestions, according to the division between Group A and B at
midterm point. Both Group A and B wanted the inclusion of oral skills, recognised the
imoortance of rewriting and requested or approved vocabulary learning. Rewriting
which relies on teachers feedback is wanted and necessary (Muncie 2000). Further, 6
subjects in Group A gave general approving comments, whereas 20 subjects in Group B
made specific requests or gave suggestions. In other words, more subjects in Group B
(control) had requests and suggestions. The requests include vocabulary teaching,
sentence-combining teaching, more reading and more essay writing (the first two are, of
course, the focus of the experiment).
• The Rating of Part III of Group A and B
Four questions of Part III of the Attitudinal Questionnaire request the learners to rate on
a scale, of a low 1 to a high 10, the following:
1. 1 rate the im provem ent o f my essays at this point in the course as...

3. The teacher's knowledge o f the subject is ...

4. The teacher likes the m aterial she teaches.

5. The teacher's teaching method is ...

 226

Questions 3, 4, and 5 are included to monitor the possibility of any biased

attitude or general change of approach of the researcher as teacher across the groups (as
seen by the students) since the researcher had to teach both experimental and control
groups. Students’ responses to these items were compared across the groups using a T-
test. The results of this comparison are shown in table 6.5.

table 6.5: T-test related to Part III questions 1, 3, 4 & 5 of the Attitudinal Questionnaire at Midpoint

Groun Ouest. Variables No. of Cases Mean SD df 2-Tail Sic

A Q4Essay 24 7.00 1.82

1 39.9 .012
B Q1 Essay 25 5.84 1.21

A QlKnowl 25 9.56 .58

3 48 .027
B Q2Knowl 25 9.00 1.08

A Q2Inter 25 9.76 .52

4 48 .433
B Q3 Inter 25 9.60 .87

A Q3 Method 25 8.92 1.71

5 48 .776
B Q4Method 25 8.80 1.22

p <.05
N.B. The same questions were given to both groups, but the numbers presented in table 6.5 are different
because the number of questions varies in these 2 groups.

Table 6.5 shows that there is a significant difference concerning question 1 (p =.012),
rating the improvement o f the learner's essay; question 3 (p = .027), rating the teacher's
knowledge o f the subject in favour of Group A. Again the students' perception
corresponds to the results of the Midtest of Essay 3 (p = .018 shown in table 6.2). The
significant difference related to question 3 in favour of Group A may be due to the fact
of studying and practising vocabulary and sentence-combining. This may have given the
impression to students that the teacher is more knowledgeable in the method used in the
treatment. Alternatively, the students may have detected a possible particular interest of
the teacher in these topics. However, if this is experimental bias, it should show up on
question 4 results also i.e. whether the teacher liked the material she taught. As shown
 227

in table 6.5, it does not do so since there is no significant difference here. Furthermore,
question 5 states how good was the teacher’s teaching method. There is no significant
difference on question 5 either. These results support the interpretation that the element
of subjectivity is, as far as can be gauged, minimal.

Question 2, in Part III of the Attitudinal Questionnaire, gives the learners the possibility
of making suggestions for the improvement of the course up to this point (i.e.midpoint).
Table 6.6 lists the suggestions of learners, comparing those of Group A and B. Only 6
out of 25 learners, in Group A, but 19 out of 25 in Group B commented.

Table 6.6 Suggestions made by Group A and B, question 2 in Part III of the Attitudinal
Questionnaire at Midpoint

Variables in Group A no. of Ss Variables in Group B no. of Ss

Ask for the inclusion of oral skills Ask for the inclusion of oral skills
in the course 2 in the course 4
Mention the importance of rewriting 1 Mention the importance of rewriting 1
Ask for the inclusion of articles Request vocabulary learning 3
from magazines 1 Suggest to work with sentence-comb. 1
Approve the choice of texts and the Suggest different topics to read 1
teaching of vocabulary 1 Suggest more stimulating essays 2
Comprehension as well as the oral Suggest to have an essay as a practice
skill have improved for essay writing 1
Total 6 Suggest not to stick to the syllabus 1
Request more essay writing 3
Suggest more reading to improve 2_

Total 19

Again the small number of suggestions (6 out of 25 students) in Group A might

mean that students believe there is no need for suggestions i.e. they are relatively
content with the course. One notices that 4 is the highest number of subjects to
make the same suggestions in Group B, but the second to the highest is 3 and
those learners request vocabulary learning and more essay writing. Grabe and
 228

Kaplan (1996) mention that taking into account learners' suggestions is an

important factor in the improvement of essay writing. So teachers should take
into account this fact.

• Attitude of Group A and B’ Towards the Treatment

Part I of the Attitudinal Questionnaire is related to learners in the experimental
Group A & B’ (Appendices 1 & 4). It involves 11 questions concerning the
learners' attitude towards the treatment. 6 out of 11 questions probe the learners’
attitude towards vocabulary teaching; the remaining 5 ask about sentence-
combining. The vocabulary questions are as follows:

1. Underlining the vocabulary in the reading text helps focu sin g my attention on the

w ord underlined.

2. G iving me a list o f the w ords with an explanation helps me learning these items.

3. O ral vocabulary revision in the classroom helps me retaining words.

4. Fill in the blank exercises help me produ cin g w ords that I have learned.

5. W ord matching helps me using vocabulary in the essay.

6. W riting sentences with m atched words make me concentrate on the structure o f sentences.

The purpose of the T-test is to find out whether there is any significant difference in the
attitude of both experimental Group B’ and A towards vocabulary teaching in the study.

table 6.7: T-test related to questions 1, 2, 3, 4. 5 & 6 of Part I in the Attitudinal Questionnaire of Group
A and IT
Group____ Variables No. of Cases Mean SD_____ df________2-Tail Sig

B’ Quest 1 25 3.40 .58

46.71 .871
A Quest 1 24 3.38 .50

B’ Quest2 25 3.64 .70

40.76 .51:
A Quest2 24 3.75 .44
 229

B’ Quest3 25 3.36 .81

40.38 .769
A Quest3 24 3.42 .50

B‘ Quest4 25 3.20 .71

46.08 .170
A Quest4 24 3.46 .59

B’ Quest5 25 3.04 .68

46.81 .258
A Quest5 24 3.25 .61

B’ Quest6 25 2.92 .76

46.87 .560
A Quest6 24 3.04 .69

p < .05

In table 6.7, there is no significant difference between both experimental Group B’ and A
in any of the six questions probing learners on their perception concerning the teaching
of vocabulary. In other words, the response of the 2 Experimental Groups is relatively
constant irrespective of the content of the syllabus or primacy/recency of the treatment.
Apparently, the students have consistent perceptions about the vocabulary teaching and
learning strategies tested no matter what they are taught, even when such teaching
intends to include an emphasis on vocabulary.

Furthermore, the five following questions (questions 7-11) elicit both Experimental
Group B’ and A perceptions, concerning the teaching of sentence-combining. The
questions are as follows:
7. Sentence-combining (S-C) helps me writing sentences with fewer sentence structure

mistakes.

8. S-C helps me w riting com plex sentences.

9 S-C im proves my essay writing.

10. S-C makes me aw are o f different possibilities o f writing sentences.

11. S-C does not help me w riting com plex sentences.

Again a T-test was used to compare the groups’ responses to these items. The results
are shown in table 6.8.
 230

table 6.8: T-test related to questions 7, 8 9, 10 & 11 in Part I of the Attitudinal Questionnaire related to
Sentence-combining,

Group Variables No. of Cases Mean SD df_______ 2-Tail Sig

B' Quest7 25 3.16 .70

42.25 .024
A Quest7 24 3.58 .50

B’ Quest8 25 3.08 .70

43.17 .095
A Quest8 24 3.38 .50

B' Quest9 25 3.24 .60

46.99 .577
A Quest9 24 3.33 .57

B’ Quest 10 25 2.96 .68

47.00 .821
A Quest 10 24 2.92 .65

B' Quest 11 25 2.08 .86

36.57 .548
A Quest 11 24 2.29 1.49

p < .05

It is interesting to notice that this time there is a significant difference between Group B’
and A. This difference concerns question 7 asking whether sentence-combining helps
writing sentences with fewer sentence structure mistakes. The significant difference is in
favour of Group A (p = .024). Perhaps this is due to the fact that Group B’ did
significantly better in the Pretest of the General Sentence-combining (p = .037 in table
6.1), and therefore, they did not need much the sentence-combining subskill, whereas
Group A, less advanced, gave higher response to question 7. This result confirms the
test of North American survey which was carried in Freshman English at Miami
University. 69% of the students, at Miami University, approved of sentence-combining
as an approach to writing, and 72% confirmed that it helps them increase their writing
skills (Daiker et al. 1978).
 231

On the other hand, there is no significant difference between Group B’ and Group
A (both experimental) in the last four questions, 8, 9, 10, and 11, concerning sentence-
combining. The result of questions 8 and 11, which state respectively, S-C helps me
writing complex sentences; S-C does not help me writing complex sentences, though
similar in content, have been used to check on the authenticity of the learners’ answer.
The results seem to indicate that learners answered the questions quite conscientiously.
However, it may be surprising that the students do not feel that sentence-combining
helps with writing complex sentences, since this is arguably a main purpose of sentence-
combining practice exercises and, as the reference to the survey mentioned above shows,
there is some evidence to support this purpose.

6.2.2. Results of the Attitudinal Questionnaire at End Point

• Attitude of Group A’ and B’ Towards Other Factors
After both Group A’ and B’ were given the Posttests, they were also given an Attitudinal
Questionnaire in which they were asked to rate again the improvement of their essay, on
a scale ranging from a low of 1 to a high of 10 (table 6.3). (Learners have always known
their Essay grades since they had to rewrite and resubmit. However, it is the first grade
of the essays that was counted for the present study). The question is as follows:

1. I rate the im provem ent o f m y essays a t this p o in t in the course as ...

Table 6.9 presents part III of the Attitudinal Questionnaire and includes three questions,
rating the teacher knowledge, liking and method of teaching to control any bias of the
researcher since the teacher and the researcher are the same person. The questions are
as follows:
3. The teach er’s knowledge o f the subject is

4. The teacher likes the m aterial she teaches.

5. The teach er’s teaching m eth od is...

 232

table 6.9: T-test related to Part III questions 1, 3, 4 & 5 of the Attitudinal Questionnaire

Group Quest. Variables No. of Cases Mean SD_______df________2-Tail Sig

B' Q1 Essay 25 7.04 2.05

1 32.44 .008
A’ Q1 Essay 24 8.29 .86

B’ Q3Know 25 8.88 1.24

3 37.49 .199
A’ Q3Know 24 9.25 .68

B’ Q4Inter 25 9.24 .88

4 44.28 .127
A’ Q4Inter 24 9.58 .65

B’ Q5Meth 25 8.72 1.14

5 39.83 .039
A’ Q5Meth 24 9.29 .69

p < .05

Table 6.9 reveals a significant difference (p = .008) in favour of Group A’ for

question 1. In spite of the fact that Group A’ had finished the treatment 8 weeks before
the Posttest was given, the perception of their essay improvement was better than that of
Group B \ This may be a further indication that timing of Group B’ was inappropriate.
Two learners of Group A came back to the researcher, after the course was over, and
told her that they were still using the treatment method in their other English courses as
well as other subjects, and that the results were good. This reinforces the interpretation
of the T-test result for question 1, which is that Group A perceived some benefits for the
treatment and that this perception was maintained through the rest of the semester.
Perhaps one may say that the treatment, which seemed to boost the moral of the
subjects, is also a motivating agent.
• The results of the T-test (table 6.9) show that there is no significant difference
concerning the teacher's knowledge of the material taught to Group B’ and A’.
These results indicate that there was little or no bias concerning the students’
perception of the teacher’s approach. On the other hand, table 6.9 reveals that there
is a significant difference in favour of Group A’, on question 5, concerning the
 233

method of teaching (p = .039).

In the opinion of the researcher, the latter result is due to the fact that Group A’ was
still under the impression of the method used in the treatment 8 weeks previously,
whereas Group B’ was still under the impression of the method used in the syllabus
before the treatment was given. Alternatively, Group A could have continued to use the
method of the treatment which produced this impression. This could, also, be a recency
effect for Group B but not for A. Furthermore, the end of the semester was near, and
learners were often absent and busy catching up with courses in their major and
preparing for exams. The first impression seems to be the last forgotten.
A further question is related to suggestions for the improvement of the course.
14 out of 25 learners in Group B’, but 7 out of 24 in Group A’ made the suggestions
categorized in table 6.10. The larger number of respondents in Group B’ Experimental,
contrary to when Group A7was experimental, again reconfirms the possibility that
the first impression is the last forgotten.
Table 6.10 Suggestions made by Group B’ and A’
Variables in Group B’ no. of Ss Variable in Group A’ no. of Ss

The treatment helps essay writing 1 Request more texts to study 1

The inclusion of oral skill 1 Approve the topics chosen for
Request more essay writing 2 writing composition 1
Vocabulary and sentence-combining
help improving essay writing 2 Requests more discussion
Essay correction is important 2 Regarding the texts studied 1
Request the continuous study Considers rewriting as an
of vocabulary 6 excellent mean for improving

Total 14 essay writing 1

Requests more texts from the
Treatment and less from syllabus 1
Complains about the number of
vocabulary tests 1
Request more exercises on vocab.
and sentence-comb. I_

Total 7
 234

• If one compares the suggestions of Group A’ and B’ after they had both been
through the syllabus and the treatment, one notices that both groups request further
study of vocabulary and sentence-combining. Six subjects in Group B’ mention the
teaching of vocabulary and 2 subjects suggest the teaching of sentence-combining
and vocabulary, whereas 1 learner in Group A’ requests vocabulary and sentence-
combining. Perhaps the 43% (N=6) of the learners in Group B’, who ask for the
continuation of vocabulary teaching, are able to differentiate between studying
vocabulary or not, while Group A’ (i.e. A), which started with the treatment, is more
aware of vocabulary and continued autonomous vocabulary learning. Another
common suggestion is the importance of rewriting as a mean of improving discourse.
Many writers, as a matter of fact, recommend rewriting (Zamel 1985; Richards 1990;
Kroll 1994; Muncie 2000). However, as the discussion of the results of comparing
students’ perception of sentence-combining (see table 6.8) showed, it is not clear cut
that all students see the benefit of sentence-combining i.e. perhaps they do not see
that sentence-combining exercises as rewriting activities designed to improve essay
writing or that sentence-combining is more beneficial to less advanced learners.

• Enjoyment of Texts Studied in the Treatment and the Syllabus by Group A’

Section III of the Attitudinal Questionnaire investigates the subjects of Group A’ on their
enioyment of the texts studied in the treatment as well as the syllabus and the reason for
their enjoyment. The purpose of the T-test is to show whether there is any significant
difference between the enjoyment of the texts studied in the treatment and those studied
in the syllabus. The results are displayed in table 6.11.

table 6.11 T-test results of Group A’ concerning the enjoyment of texts 1, 2 & 3 studied in the
treatment and the syllabus.

Grouo Variables No. of pairs Mean SD df 2-Tail Sie

A’ Hills 3.28 .614

25 24 .327
A’ Eskimo 3.24 .723

A’ Indian 3.08 .640

25 24 .001
A’ Love 3.44 .651
 235

A' Indian 3.08 .640

25
A‘ Love 3.44 .651
A' Wpassi 2.61 .608
18
A' Alex 3.17 .707

p < .05

Table 6.11 reveals no significant difference between the enjoyment of the first text given in
the treatment, Hills Like White Elephants, and the text of the syllabus, Women in the
Eskimo World in Group A’. However, there is a highly significant difference (p = .001)
in favour of text 2 in the syllabus, Why We Fall in Love.
In the view of the researcher, the title of text 2 is sufficient to understand the reason for
this significant difference: the theme of falling in love is of major interest to university
students who at undergraduate level at LAU are really all young adults who have arrived
at university straight from school. This interest might be the cause of their preference.
There is also a highly significant difference (p < .001) in favour of text 3, Diogenes and
Alexander in the syllabus. The researcher remembers the complaints of some students in
Group A concerning the difficulty of comprehending the parallel text in the treatment,
On Reason and Passion and On Work. Learners thought that the text was philosophical
and considered this a cause for complaint. However, this is no reason to discard valuable
texts. The less the literature is seen as relevant to the students, the more the teacher has
to find ways to link it to the learners (Carter and Long 1991), provided that there are
sound reasons for choosing the text in the first place.

• Enjoyment of The Texts in the Treatment and the Syllabus by Group B’

table 6.12 T-test results of Group B’ concerning the enjoyment of texts 1, 2 & 3 studied in the
Treatment and the Syllabus.

Group Variables No. of pairs Mean SD_______df_______ 2-Tail Sig

B’ Hills 2.71 .624

24 23 .328
B" Eskimo 2.75 .676

B' Indian 2.88 .741

24 23 .714
B" Love 2.83 1.090
 236

B’ Wpassi 3.17 .702

24 23 .022
B' Alex 2.96 .624
________________________________________________________________ p < .05

Again the purpose of the T-test in table 6.12 is to find out whether there is a significant
difference between the enjoyment of the texts studied in the treatment and those studied
in the syllabus. The results indicate that Group B’ had different levels of enjoyment of
the texts studied in the syllabus and the treatment. It also shows no significant difference
in the enjoyment of text 1 and text 2 which are:
text 1, Hills Like White Elephants (treatment) versus Women in the Eskimo World
text 2, Indian Camp (treatment) versus Why We Fall in Love.

However, Group B’, in contrast to Group A’, enjoyed text 3, On Reason and Passion
and On Work significantly more (p = .022). It is recalled that Group B was more
advanced and this may be the reason for not finding the text difficult or philosophical.

• Reasons for the Enjoyment of the Texts in the Treatment by Group B’ and A’
Section III of the Attitudinal Questionnaire also includes the reasons for the learners'
enjoyment concerning the texts studied in the treatment. These are categorized as shown
in table 6.13.

Table 6.13 Reasons for enjoying the texts in the treatment by Group B’ and A’
Reasons for enjoyment Text No. of Ss Reasons for enjoyment Text No. of Ss
Group B ’ 1 Group A’ 1

Hills Like White Elephants Hills Like White Elephants

Find the topic interesting 11 Think the topic and the discussion
Enjoy the text for its possible interesting 15
variety of interpretation 2 Approves of the text because it
Enjoy the simplicity of the style 2 requires deep 1
Enjoy the social problem that Likes the different possibilities of
the text presents 5 interpreting the text 1
 237

20 Like the text because of new vocab. 2

Finds the topic boring 1
Finds the topic difficult 1
Likes the moral of the story J __
22

Text 2 No. of Ss Text 2 No. of Ss

Indian Camp Indian Camp
Enjoys the knowledge on medical Thinks that the story is sad 1
ethics 1 Think that the story is uninteresting 3
Enjoys the text because it Think that the story is interesting 10
improves his/her essay writing 1 Enjoy the moral of the story 3
Enjoys the author 1 Enjoys the text because of the
Enjoy the social problem presented new vocabulary 1
in the text 3
Do not find the topic interesting 4
Find the topic interesting _8

Total 18 Total 18
Text 3 No. of Ss Text 3 No. of Ss
On Reason and Passion On Reason and Passion
Fi”d the topic interesting and Are interested in philosophy 11
important 13 Thinks that the text teaches how to think 1
Consider Khalil Gibran as Likes the text because it teaches vocab. 1
their favourite author 3 Dislike the reading because it is
Dislike the philosophical topic 3 philosophical 2
19 Find the text difficult to understand
19
On Work On Work
Find the topic interesting and
important 10 Think it is an interesting topic 5
Consider the author as their Think it makes them value work 4
favourite 3 Likes the text because it teaches vocab. 1
Dislike the philosophical top 4 Thinks the text is difficult to understand 1
17 Dislikes the topic J_
12
 238

Table 6.13 shows that 22 learners in Group A’ and 20 learners in Group B’ gave reasons
for the enjoyment of the text 1, Hills Like White Elephants. Some reasons are common
to both. Both groups find Hills Like White Elephants interesting (55%, N=11 in Group
B’ versus 68% (N=15) in Group A’) and both enjoy different possibilities of
interpretation.

On the other hand, 2 subjects in Group B’ are aware of and mention the
simplicity of Hemingway's style, and 2 subjects in Group A’ are aware of the new
vocabulary acquired. Awareness is a means of learning (Van Lier 1996; Andelman in
Coady and Huckin 1997; McDonough 1999). Five out of 20 subjects in Group B’
mention the social problem in the short story as one source of enjoyment, whereas none
mention this factor in Group A’. Perhaps 25% (N=5) in Group B’ is a low percentage,
but one needs to consider the Lebanese culture which considers extra marital sex a
taboo. The fact that some students in this group spent most of their school years abroad
might explain their greater awareness of the social problem in text 1.

On Indian Camp, text 2 in the treatment, 18 learners in each Group A’ and B’

gave reasons for their enjoyment. There are some common reasons between both
Groups. 78% (N=14) in Group A’ versus 78% (N=14) in Group B’ enjoy Indian Camp.
Again 1 subject in Group A’ is aware of the new vocabulary learned, and 1 subject in
Group B’ is aware of the strategies used for the improvement of essay writing.

19 subjects in Group A’ commented On Reason and Passion and 12 On Work, and

19 subjects in Group B’ commented on On Reason and Passion and 17 on On Work.
That is, 58% (N=l 1) of Group A’ versus 68% (N=13) of Group B’ enjoyed text 3. 58%
is quite a high percentage if one considers the fact that Group A grumbled about the
difficulty of understanding a philosophical text. Perhaps this percentage also reveals that
in spite of their difficulties, learners enjoy such a topic if they are helped in
comprehending it. In addition, 68% corresponds to the significant difference (p = .022)
in favour of Group B’, concerning the enjoyment of text 3, of the treatment (table 6.12).
 239

On the other hand, 32% (N=6) and 17% (N=2) of Group A’ found On Reason
and Passion and On Work, respectively, difficult, while 68% (N=13) and 59% (N=10)
of Group B’ found respectively On Reason and Passion and On Work interesting. Again
1 subject in Group A7 mentions his/her awareness of vocabulary learning in both texts.
• Reasons for the Enjoyment of the Texts in the Syllabus by Group B’ and A’

table 6.14 Reasons for enjoying the texts in the Syllabus by Group B’ and A’
Reasons for enjoyment Text No. of Ss Reasons for enjoyment Text No. of Ss
Group B’ 1 Group A’ 1

Women in the Eskimo World Women in the Eskimo World

It introduces different traditions 13 It introduces different traditions 17
Finds the text easy 1 It teaches vocabulary 1
Find the text boring 5_ Dislikes the topic 1_

19 19

Text 2 No. of Ss Text 2 No. of Ss

Why We Fall in Love Why We Fall in Love

Think it an interesting topic 12 Enjoy the scientific analysis of

Enjoy the sc. analysis of the topic 3 the topic 11
Do not understand the text 2 Think it is an interesting topic 6
Dislike the analysis of the topic _5_ It teaches vocabulary 1
22 Dislike it because they disagree
with the author 2_

20
Text 3 No. of Ss Text 3 No. of Ss
Diogenes & Alexander Diogenes & Alexander

Enjoy the text because it deals Find the topic interesting 4

with well known characters 3 Like the text because of the
Enjoys the text because it is comparison bet. the charact. 2
a historical event 1 Likes the text for its identification
Enjoys the excerpt because with the character 1
he/she understands it 1 Dislike it because of no new vocab. !_
Enjoys the text because it deals Total 8
with justice 1
Finds the text uninteresting _8_
Total 14
 240

Table 6.14 shows the reasons that Group A’ and B’ gave for enjoying the texts in the
syllabus and the texts. As displayed in table 6.14 an equal number of subjects (19) in
Group A’ and B’ commented on text 1 in the syllabus, Women in The Eskimo World. In
fact, 89% (N=17) of Group A’ and 68% (N=13) of Group B’ like the novelty in the
customs presented in the text. However, 26% (N=5) of Group B’ and 5% (N=l) of
Group A find the topic boring. Perhaps the comment boring reconfirms the fact that the
more advanced learners (i.e.Group B’) prefer more challenging texts.
20 subjects in Group A’, and 22 subjects in Group B’ commented on text 2 in the
syllabus, Why We Fall in Love. 68% (N=15) of Group B’ and 85% (N=17) of Group A’
enjoyed the scientific analysis of the topic and found it interesting.
On Diogenes and Alexander, text 3 in the syllabus, 8 subjects in Group A’, and
14 in Group B’ commented. More learners in Group A’, that is 88% (N=7) enjoyed the
text in the syllabus versus 43% (N=6) of Group B \

• One observes as a result of the learners' suggestions that what is liked by Group A’ is
less liked by Group B \ Again, it might be assumed that learners' liking and disliking
depends in part on their linguistic capability and maturity, knowing that Group B’ is
more advanced (table 6.1).

• Choice and Rating of Texts by Group B’ and A’

Section V of the Attitudinal Questionnaire entails the choice and rating of 4 texts of what
learners have studied in the treatment and the syllabus in English III. (Most of the
learners in both Groups did not rate their choice but chose the texts.)
Table 6.15 : Choice of Texts by Group ET and A’
T ext Group Group
B’ A’
Hills Like White Elephants 12 17
(Tt)
Why We Fall in Love (St) 12 12
On Reason and Passion (Tt) 12 17
On Work (Tt) 10 7
Indian Camp (Tt) 8 14
Women in the Eskimo World 6 17
(St)
Diogenes and Alexander 2 13
(St)
Key: T t : treatment text: St: syllabus text
 241

Table 6.15, which displays the choice of texts by Group B’ and A’, reveals that the
highest number of subjects in Group B’ chose two texts from the treatment, Hills Like
White Elephants and On Reason and Passion, and one text from the syllabus, Why We
Fall in Love. The 4th choice is On Work, part of text 3 in the treatment. The choice of
On Reason and Passion and On Work by Group B’ corresponds to the significant
difference (p = .022 in table 6.12) in favour of the texts studied in the treatment. This
fact reconfirms that learners in Group B, who are more mature, like different kinds of
texts. On the other hand, the choice of, Hills Like White Elephants and Why We Fall in
Love do not correspond to the results which reveal no significant difference (table 6.12) in
the enjoyment of texts studied in the treatment and the syllabus by Group B’.

One also notices that Group A’ which complained about the difficulty of text 3 in
the treatment, On Reason attd Passion and On Work, rated On Work at the bottom of
their rank ordering, according to choice of the treatment texts. In fact, T-test results of
Group A’ concerning the enjoyment of text 3 in the syllabus is highly significant (p =.000
in table 6.11). The highest number of subjects, chose text 1 in the syllabus, Women in the
Eskimo World, and two texts in the treatment, On Reason and Passion, along with Hills
Like White Elephants as their first 3 choices. However, T-test results of Group A’
concerning the enjoyment of text 2 (table 6.11) reveal a highly significant difference (p
= 001) in favour of the text studied in the syllabus, Why We Fall in Love. The rating of
Group A’ contradicts the result of the T-test concerning text 2. Perhaps learners were
distracted. Learners have other things in mind, sometimes, than being students
(Allwright and Bailey 1991).
In sum, it is interesting to note that the Attitudinal Questionnaire, which probed
subjects’ attitude towards the treatment highlighted that both Group A and B’ need
vocabulary as a subskill to the teaching of essay performance and that learners, in
general, requested rewriting. However, sentence-combining is more appreciated by less
advanced learners. Group A, after the Posttest, rated 2 out of 3 texts from the treatment
as their main choice. Perhaps, time has played its role. It is also interesting again to
observe that first impression is the last forgotten.
 242

6.3 The Essay Analysis

6.3.1 Posttest Essay (A’ and B’)
Mancova is computed to find out whether there is any significant difference between the
Posttest Essays of both experimental Group A’ and B \ The result is shown in table 6.15’.
The result reveals no significant difference between Group A’ and B’, that is, between
the experimental and control group, although there had been a significant difference in
the Midtest Essay in favour of Group A (experimental) (p = .018 in table 6.2). It is
important to observe that the treatment in essay writing, which is the main objective of
the experiment, seems to have a relatively long term effect. (Group A had finished the
treatment 8 weeks before the Posttest was given.)

table 6.15’: Posttest essay results of Group A’ and B’

Variable Group A’ Group B’ F Sig. of F

Posttest Essay Adj. Means Adj. Means
(psessay) 70.35 70.21 .00 .945
Obs. Means Obs. Means
71.20 69.36

However, one might question the fact that if the treatment is effective, why is its
effectiveness not revealed in Group B’ Posttest Essay? The researcher's interpretation is
that timing was inappropriate. Learners were by that point in the semester demoralised
because of the poor grades they had been receiving in spite of the fact that the teacher
was telling them that the teaching method would change in the second part of the
experimental design. The fact that some students received low grades can be related to
self-esteem. Maslow (1970) and Child (1993) allocate a prominent position to self­
esteem and self-actualisation in the hierarchy of human needs. Both believe that
confidence in oneself and the need for respect from others are crucial in providing a base
for intellectual pursuits. Thus, it is possible that receiving low grades led to low self­
esteem which might have affected later classroom performance and the later posttest
questionnaire. Further, the end of the semester was close and learners in Group B’ were
often absent preparing for exams, missing some of the vocabulary and sentence-
 243

combining exercises. The focus of the learners' attention was on the courses of their
major studies rather than on English. All these factors contributed to the actual results.

6.3 .2 Inter-rater Reliability

As essay correction tends to be subjective, inter-reliability was obtained by using a
second scorer, and the average of both scores is used, in spite of the fact that there is a
high correlation in the essay correction of both raters (r = .975 in Appendix 15’).

6.3.3 Other Essays (A and B; A’ and B’)

i. Essays of Group A and B
Mancova is computed again to study whether there is any significant difference in the
results of the treatment essays of Group A and B. There is a significant difference in
Essay 3 (THRDESSAY p = .018;p = .021 in favour of Group A and B’ respectively in
table 6.16).
figure 6.2 Charts representing results of essays in the treatment (A and B; A’ and B’)

70760

■ A ( E x p e r im e n ta l )
O B (C o n tro l)

Essay 1 Essay 2 Essay 3

74.50

Q A' (Control)

Essay 1 Essay 2 Essay 3

Key: Numbers in the y axis represent grades.

 244

Figure 6.2 represents in a chart form the results of the essays in the treatment of
both Group A and B and A’and B \ In the second chart, Essay 2 of the control Group is
visualised as better than its equivalent in the experimental. However, the difference is
not significant.

table 6.16 Results of Essays in the Treatment (A and B; A’and B’)

Variables Grp. A Grp. B F Sig. o fF

Adj. Means Adj. Means .416

Essay 1 65.57 63.87
.76
Obs. Means Obs. Means
65.52 63.92
.287
1.16
Adj. Means Adj. Means
Essay 2 68.48 66.44
Obs. Means Obs. Means
67.16 67.76 .018
6.00
Adj. Means Adj. Means
Essay 3 70.60 64.92
Obs. Means Obs. Means
69.80 65.72

Variables Grp. A’ Grp. B’ F Sig. of F

Adj. Means Adj. Means .464

Essay 1 68.57 69.63
.54
Obs. Means Obs. Means
69.62 69.20

Adj. Means Adj. Means .286

Essay 2 1.16
73.27 71.57
Obs. Means Obs. Means
73.96 70.88

Adj. Means Adj. Means .021

Essay 3 71.62 74.50 5.70
Obs. Means Obs. Means
72.68 73.44

Table 6.16 displays the results of the essays of both experimental and control groups.
The result shown in table 6.16 is significant in Essay 3 only. This could be due to the fact
that learners needed time to be aware of the procedure used in the treatment or perhaps
the procedure needs a lapse of time to be effective. However, the Attitudinal
Questionnaire of Group A towards improvement in the essay is significant (p =.012) after
the treatment and continued to be so until the Posttest (p = .008 in tables 6.8 and 6.9)
although the results of the Posttest Essay reveal no significant difference between Group
A’ and B’ (table 6.15’). Again, the researcher wishes to emphasize that how subjects
 245

perceive themselves as learners is an important factor, for the urge to learn L2 cannot be
taken for granted.

ii Essays of Group A’ and B’

The result of Essay 3 in favour of Group B ’ (p = .021 in table 6.16) is important. It
reconfirms the fact that the treatment is effective as it is the case with Group A (table
6.2), but time is needed. However, the mere fact that Group A’ (control) performed on
Essay 1 and 2 as well as Group B’(experimental), since there is no significant difference
in Essay 1 and 2, suggests again that the treatment has a relatively long term effect.

Yet some limitations of the study are encountered. The treatment should have
been carried on a longer period of time. It was also noticed that two poor learners in
Group A’ got back to their old habits after the treatment was over, i.e. writing run-on-
sentences and fragments. When the teacher talked to these students, they both admitted
that it is easier to revert to old habits. Johns (in Hamp-Lyons 1991) confirms that some
learners revert to old habits under time pressure. In these two cases, habit seemed to
have become a second nature.
Another limitation is that there was no possibility of checking whether this
phenomenon is also true of Group B’ because of the nature of the Counterbalancing
Experiment. Had the Counterbalancing Method not been used, a further cumbersome
aftermath result, the Midtests, could have been avoided, and the possibility of checking
whether other learners revert to old habits could have been checked.
Also the perception of learners in Group B’ on the improvement of their Essays
in the Attitudinal Questionnaire is not significant. It is significant to Group A’ (p = .008
in table 6.9). It seems that learners in Group B’, had a hard time forgetting the results of
their essays before the treatment and continued to view themselves as doing poorly. The
first impression seems the last forgotten. In fact, a learner’s self-image may be more
influential in learning than factors such as intelligence quotient (IQ) or the difficulty of
the subject (Lembo 1972; Child 1993).
 246

6.3 .4 Correlation Between Vocabulary, Sentence-combining and Essays

• Group A
Before any Essay was given to Group A, students were taught and tested on Vocabulary
(VOC) and Sentence-combining (S-C). Also care was taken to have both Vocabulary
and Sentence-combining Tests corrected and given back to students so that learners
could become aware of and learn from their mistakes before the Essay writing. Three
Vocabulary Tests, three Sentence-combining and three Essays are respectively part of
the treatment.
Partial r correlation has been used to calculate the correlation between these
variables because of the inclusion of more than two variables, that is, Vocabulary,
Sentence-combining and Essay Performance. This test allows the researcher to examine
the relationship between two variables while holding one or more variables constant
(Bryman and Cramer 1996). However, as the researcher is interested in the correlation
of Sentence-combining and Essay, Vocabulary and Essay, the other possibility (i.e.
correlation of vocabulary and sentence-combining was deleted from the tables of
Correlation. The results of the Partial r correlation are dispayed in table 6.17.

table 6.17: Correlation of the three variables of Group A, in texts 1, 2 and 3.

Correlation, 1-tailed Sig: No of Cases = 25

Treatment 1 Treatment 2_________ Treatment 3

Essl 1.000 Ess2 1.000 Ess3 1.000

Vocl r= .326 Voc2 r=.630 Voc3 r=.334

p= .056 p=.000 p=.051

Scl r= .237 Sc2 r= -.123 Sc3 r= .404

p= .127 p= .279 p= .022
_____

Table 6.17 reveals no significant correlation between Essay Performance and Vocabulary
in treatment 1. Also there is no significant correlation between Sentence-combining and
Essay Performance in treatment 1. A plausible interpretation of these results is that
learners took some time to be aware of the link among Vocabulary, Sentence-combining
and Essay Performance although the researcher ,kept on restating the purpose of the
treatment. Furthermore, the Attitude of learners concerning sentence-combining and
 247

Essay performance in the Attitudinal Questionnaire is almost the same as the result of the
correlation with the exception of question 7 which probes whether sentence-combining
helps writing sentences with fewer sentence structure mistakes (p = .024) in favour of
Group A (tables 6.8 & 6.17).
The results of the Correlation of the three variables: Essay Performance,
Vocabulary and Sentence-combining, on text 2, Indian Camp, reveal a high correlation
between Vocabulary and Essay Performance (r = .630), but none between Sentence-
combining and Essay Performance (table 6.17).

Again the lack of significant correlation in Treatment 2 between sentence-

combining and essay is perhaps due to the fact that learners need more time to be aware
of this link. It reinforces comments made earlier in relation to table 6.10, that students do
not all see any benefit of using sentence-combining to write different types of sentences.
However, the high significant difference and correlation between vocabulary and Essay 2
reveal a progress and an awareness among learners. This again shows that the study of
vocabulary, one of the two subskills, seems beneficial to essay performance, the purpose
of the research.

Furthermore, there is no significant correlation between vocabulary and essay

performance in treatment 3, but an improvement in the level of correlation between
sentence-combining and essay performance (Sc3 r = .404 in table 6.17). Perhaps the lack
of significant correlation in Vocabulary and Essay performance is due to the fact that
learners found some difficulty in Text 3 although there is a significant difference in the
Essay performance of this text (p = .018 in table 6.16). Alternatively, the vocabulary
chosen did not necessarily coincide with the essay topic, in terms of the students’
awareness of relevance and possible vocabulary use or in terms of individual differences.

• In sum, although the Correlation between Vocabulary and Essay Performance is

inconsistent in the three treatments of Group A, it is significant in treatment 2
 248

(r =.630 in table 6.17). Perhaps by improving the rate of vocabulary production, there
will be better consistency in vocabulary results (Ellis 1986). Individual variation in
L2 vocabulary skills and the factors that might lead to such variation need to be
considered (Johns in Hamp-Lyons 1991; Schouten-Van Parren in Amaud and Bejoint
1992; Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996; Hazenberg and Hulstijn 1996). The
above statement may explain the inconsistency of the correlation results.

Group B’
table 6.18: Correlation of the three variables of Group B' in texts 1. 2 and 3.

Correlation, 1-tailed Sig: No. of Cases = 25

Treatment 1 Treatment 2 Treatment 3

Essl 1.000 Ess2 1.000 Ess3 1.000

Vocl r= .492 Voc2 r= .105 Voc3 r= .321

p= .006 p=.309 p= .059

Scl r=.238 Sc2 r= -.020 Sc3 r= .047

p= .126 p= .462 p= .412

p<05

Table 6.18 introduces the correlation of the three variables of Group B’ in texts 1, 2 and
3. The results of the Correlation of the three variables. Essay Performance, Vocabulary
and Sentence-combining of text 1, Hills Like White Elephants in Group B’ reveal a
significant correlation between Vocabulary and Essay Performance in treatment 1 (r =
.492) (table 6.18). However, there is no significant correlation between Sentence-
combining and Essay Performance. Again the researcher believes that the same
interpretation of the results of Group A could apply to Group B’. That is, perhaps
learners need more time to be aware of the link between Sentence-combining and Essay
Performance.
The results of the correlation of the three variables: essay performance,
vocabulary and sentence-combining in text 2, Indian Camp of Group B’ reveal also no
correlation between vocabulary and Essay Performance nor between Sentence-combining
and Essay Performance (table 6.18).
 249

The same results apply to text 3 of the treatment, On Reason and Passion, in
Group B’, concerning the correlation of the variables, Essay Performance, Vocabulary
and Sentence-combining. Yet, there is a significant difference in the performance of
Essay 3 in Group B’ (p = .021 in table 6.16). That is, on the Essay inferred from text 3,
On Reason and Passion and On Work.

• In sum, the results of the three Treatments of Group B’ are negatively consistent.
There is a correlation in Treatment 1 in vocabulary, no correlation in Treatment 2
and 3 (table 6.18). Vocabulary is a difficult aspect of language competence to measure
(Meara 1996; Coady and Huckin 1997; Zimmerman 1998), and vocabulary chosen by
students’ writers varies significantly with topic type (Reid in Kroll 1990), regardless
of the fact that learners know more words than what they produce. In addition, the
correlation between Sentence-combining and Essay performance is not significant in
all 3 Treatments. However, as there was a significant difference in Essay 3 of both
experimental Group A and B’, one may assume that vocabulary and sentence-
combining subskills contributed to the significant difference in this essay, regardless
of the inconsistency of the results. Perhaps to obtain a correlation between sentence-
combining and Essay performance more time is needed.
• What one can add to the above mentioned factors is the instability of learners'
responses which is a problem from the point of view of the reliability of test results
(Read 1993; Andelman and Rogers 1996). In addition, some writers claim that
writing skills in one situation do not necessarily transfer to another situation (Purves
1988; Hamp-Lyons 1991).

6.4 Patterns of Lexis in The Treatment of Group A and B’

6.4.1 Patterns of Lexis in Group A
After analysing the 250 essays according to different criteria (see Chapt.5), the patterns
of lexis were analysed using the model developed by Hoey (1991). This model focuses
on the role of vocabulary in cohesion in texts through detailed examination of specific
 250

categories of lexical repetition. The use of this model of lexis was chosen since
vocabulary teaching was one of the subskills used in the study (the other being sentence-
combining). Hoey’s (1991) model of patterns of lexis is an innovation in research on
vocabulary with implications for the teaching of lexis. By looking for the links, bonds,
ratios of bonds to links and specific types of repetition used in the students’ writing, the
research can follow the progress of learners in their use of lexis and cohesion in essay
performance.
A paired T-test was used to see whether there is any significant difference in the
links and bonds of the 3 treatments and whether there is any significant difference in the
ratio of bonds to links. Any differences in the patterns of bonding will be indicative of
differences in the overall quality of the writing since the use of Hoey’s (1991) model is
based on the premise that the greater the number of bonds the more mature or advanced
the writing is, at least at the level of lexical cohesion. Any differences in the ratio of
bonds to links may be further indications of progress towards more mature bonding.
Since Hoey (1991) sets the admittedly arbitrary criterial level that 3 links will equal one
bond, it is of interest to see how far the learners in the present study will have linking
that is not actually bonding, i.e. of 1 or 2 links between particular sentences. Moreover,
a paired T-test was also used to see whether there is any significant difference in the
lexical types of repetition used in the essays of the 3 treatments. As most of the types
used in the excerpts included synonyms and simple repetition, it is assumed that learners
will use these, among others, in their essays.
Table 6.19 T-test results of Group A, concerning links, bonds and ratios of patterns of lexis in the 3
texts of the treatment.

Group_________Variables______ No. of Pairs Mean SD df 2-tail Sig

TL1 31.00 8.11

A 25 24 .001
TL2 42.84 9.69

TB1 8.88 5.52

A 25 24 .001
TB2 16.52 7.63

TL2 42.84 9.69

A 25 24 .054
TL3 36.04 9.73
 251

TB2 16.52 7.63

25 24 .002
TB3 8.64 6.63

R1 .27 .13
25 24 .005
R2 .38 .15

R2 .38 .15
25 24 .004
R3 .23 .16
p < .0 5
Key: TL: total links 1:H.L.W.E.
TB: total bonds 2: Indian Camp
R : ratio3: Reason and Passion and Work
NB: Bonds of 3 links or more have been calculated as 1 bond for the sake of consistency.

The purpose of the T-test in table 6.19 is to find out whether there is any significant
difference in links, bonds and ratios of bonds to links in the 3 essays of the treatment of
Group A. Table 6.19 reveals clear significant differences across the variables displayed.
There is a significant difference (p = .001) in the links comparing treatment 1 and 2.
Indian Camp, has a significantly higher mean score. In fact, the correlation of the three
variables (essay, vocabulary and sentence-combining) of Group A in treatment 2 revealed
a high correlation between lexis and essay writing (r =.630, table 6.17). Furthermore,
treatment 2 also revealed a high significant difference in the bonds (p =.001) and ratio of
treatment 1 and 2 (p =.005) and 2 and 3 (p =.004) both in favour of Indian Camp. It is
interesting to observe that all 3 results are in favour of treatment 2. Since lexical
cohesion forms multiple relationships and reflects part of cohesion in a text (Hoey 1991)
and since the essays also seem to be communicative and coherent, this result can be
taken as a measure of what learners have achieved in treatment 2.
Although the 250 essays of Group A and B’ were analysed, three essays in both
groups were chosen arbitrarily for further detailed analysis to give examples of actual
links and bonds in the students’ texts. (Although the ratio can be calculated both ways
ratio/bond or bond/ratio, in this study the latter has been adopted because of the number
0 bond in some essays.) These extracts, are therefore qualitative illustrations, and
representative of the 25 target essays, taken from the beginning, midle and end of the 3
treatments and Pretest/Posttest essays. The essays of the same participants were
 252

followed up in all through the study. Essay 1 in treatment 1 revealed mostly adjacent
links and 3 adjacent bonds of 3 links each (Appendix 8). For example, sentences 3, 4
and 5.
Hills Like White Elephants is one o f his writings that displayed a problem
between a couple (3). This problem was that the girl wanted to keep the baby
and the American wanted to make an abortion (4). In my opinion, the couple
would separate fo r several reasons, and thus the girl wouldn't do the operation (5).

The total number of links is 38 and the number of bonds is 3. Cohesion exists, in the
essay of learner 1, and the links, which are adjacent, produce strong relations (Hoey
1991).
Essay 7 in treatment 1 has most of its links adjacent such as in sentences 7, 8 & 9.
Many events in the story prove that the couple will not separate (7). Jig enjoys her boyfriend
because they sit together and have many drinks (8). She does not say anything when her
boyfriend says it is ju st to let the air in (9).

The total number of links is 26 and the number of bonds is 2. Both bonds are
nonadjacent. Again, the writer of essay 7 has mostly adjacent links, and as stated with
the previous learner, cohesion is central and strong.
Essay 20 in treatment 1 has mostly adjacent links, 2 adjacent bonds and 1 nonadjacent,
each of 3 links.
When she smiles back at him, that smile reflects someone who has a clear consciousness
o f not sacrificing a b a b v ’s life fo r a person who loves her conditionally (12). Had she
decided to go fo r the abortion, she will be crying and feeling ‘not fine ’ because
she will be doing something against her beliefs (13).

The total number of links is 36 and the number of bonds is 1. This does not differ much
from the two other essays of treatment 1 (Table 6.20). It seems that the general tendency
of the 3 learners in treatment 1 is toward adjacent links and bonds, which means
cohesion is rather central and linear. This coincides with what the teaching aimed at, that
is, the writing of rather simple sentences, which is equivalent to adjacent links rather than
links with a larger range in more complex sentences.
As the essays of the same participants are studied in treatment 2, one finds that
Essay 1 of the first participant has again most of its links adjacent, such as in sentences
2, 3 and 4, and it has 2 nonadjacent bonds of different links.
The operation was very hard (2). We '11 discuss the causes o f the exaltation
o f the doctor at the end o f the operation and the reasons fo r the staying o f Uncle
Georges (3/ The doctor felt exalted after the operation for many reasons (4).
 253

The total number of links has slightly decreased in treatment 2 of participant 1 (37 vs
38), as well as the number of bonds (2 vs 3). The decrease, in both cases, is minimal and
not much can be said. These comparisons are displayed in table 6.20.
Essay 7 of the second learner increased the number of links (45 vs 26) and the
number of bonds (3 vs 2 nonadjacent bonds in table 6.20 and Appendix 8). This means
that cohesion shows a measured increase with this learner in treatment 2, and
improvement is clear. Furthermore, besides the adjacent links, there are more links that
are nonadjacent. For instance, sentence 12 has nonadjacent links with sentence 5.
Furthermore, due to this oustanding operation, he thought that he will
be famous and therefore, he would be recognised in the medical journal (5).
First performing the cesaerian with a jack-knife without anaesthetic,
second the need to be recognised in the medical journal (12).

Although these sentences are nonadjacent, they are virtually coherent, for it is clear that
the performance of a cesaerian with a jack-knife is what is meant by outstanding
operation. The second part of sentence 12 i.e. the second need corresponds to he would
be recognised in the medical journal in sentence 5.

Essay 20 of the third writer of treatment 2 still has most of his/her links adjacent
and 2 nonadjacent bonds. Although learner of essay 20 still has adjacent links, which
might be the outcome of simple sentences, his bonds are nonadjacent, that is, they reflect
long-distance connections in the text (Hoey 1991). For instance,
N ick’s father, the doctor, felt exalted after he finished the operation (4).
I don 7 blame neither the doctor nor Uncle George fo r their behaviour (12).

These sentences are not adjacent, the connection is a long distant one bridged by the
lexis, doctor and exalted. The total number of links in Essay 20 is almost the same as in
treatment 1 (37 vs 36), and the number of bonds is the same (2 vs 2).
In treatment 3, Essay 1 of the first writer has more links (45 vs 37), more bonds
(4 vs 2 nonadjacent) than in treatment 2, and most of the links are adjacent.
I f we compare the 2 concepts, we will fin d that both o f them are concepts o f life
(2) As fo r work, fo r example, Ijje means nothing without work (3).

Although links are still adjacent in treatment 3, bonds are nonadjacent. One assumes
that adjacent links produce strong relations and the nonadjacent bonds more interest (see
 254

table 6.20).

Essay 7 of the second writer decreased slightly the total number of links (42 vs
45) but kept the same number of bonds, 2 of which are nonadjacent. Again most of the
links are adjacent except for a few such as sentence 9 which has 6 nonadjacent links with
sentences 2 to 7.
In contrast, Gibran finds reason a complement to Passion and
without their equilibrium in m an ’s life, one is lost or in vain (9)

In fact, sentence 9 could be considered a central sentence, having many nonadjacent

links. Essay 20 of the third learner of treatment 3 increased his total number of links (51
vs 37), and the number of bonds (3 vs 2). The links are more scattered, of more interest,
and therefore produce a wider cohesion of multiple relationships.
Hoey (1991) stated that adjacent sentences produce strong relations and
satisfactory prose, provided there is an effective difference in those sentences. As most
of the sentences in Group A are adjacent, one assumes that sentences comprise strong
relations. However, the aim of the teaching was to teach learners to write mainly simple
sentences, and they were presented with texts by Gibran and Hemingway that used this
procedure.
Concerning the types of repetition used, the 3 learners used mostly simple
repetition which is rather “text-forming repetition”, since repetition refers to the same
‘object’ (Hoey 1991). For instance, sentences 3 and 4 in treatment 2 of subject 3 in
Essay 20 (Appendix 8). Further, as the topic of the essays is determined, the reference is
predetermined.

tabic 6.20 Links and bonds of the 3 participants of Group A studied in detail

Treatm ent 1 Treatm ent 2 Treatm ent 3

links bonds ratio links bonds ratio links bonds ratio

Essay 1 38 3(adjac) .08 37 2(nonadj) .05 45 4 (nonadj) .09

Essay 7 26 2(nonadj) .08 45 3(nonadj) .07 42 l(2nonadj) .07

Essay 20 36 3(nonadj) .08 37 2(nonadj) .05 51 3(nonadj) .06

 255

The ratio of bonds to links in treatment 1 and 2; 2 and 3 of Group A is significantly

different in favour of treatment 2 (p = .005; p = .004 in table 6.19). Perhaps this is due to
the fact that the topic of essay 2 lends itself to the use of a larger number of words, and
the teaching started its effect. The significant difference of links, bonds and ratios in
favour of treatment 2 means that learners seem to have used their knowledge of taught
lexis effectively.
Further, one may claim that since bonds are significantly higher in treatment 2,
sentences in treatment 1 and 3 may be marginal, meaning that what they have to say does
not build lexically upon what has gone before nor does it provide the lexis for subsequent
statements (Hoey 1991). Maybe the lack of significance in bonds in treatment 1 is due to
the fact that learners did not grasp yet the purpose of the teaching, whereas they did in
treatment 2. However, there is no significant difference in the bonds of treatment 3.
Treatment 3, involving a rather philosophical topic, might have been difficult for less
advanced learners to grasp the nonlinear semantic relationship. In fact, treatment 3 has
used the least number of vocabulary taught (29% in table 5.5).

Among the types of repetition mostly used in the three treatments is simple
lexical repetition and synonyms. Table 6.21 introduces different types of repetition in text
1 and 2 of the treatment of Group A, and table 6.22 displays the results of text 2 and 3 of
Group A.
Table 6.21 T-test results of Group A. concerning types of repetition in texts 1 and 2 of the treatment.

Group_________Variables______ No. of Pairs Mean SP df 2-tail Sig

Hsynl 14.80 7.01

A 25 24 .911
Isyn2 14.60 5.26

Hcrl 2.16 2.15

A 25 24 .323
Icr2 1.56 1.98

Hsrl 11.92 6.19

A 25 24 .001
Isr2 20.72 6.11
 256

Hsppl 4.28 2.28

25 24 .095
Ispp2 5.36 2.56

Hcpl 3.44 1.83

25 24 .112
Icp2 4.28 1.97

Hantol .20 .58

25 24 .802
Ianto2 .24 .60
p < .05
Key:
Hsyn: H.L.W.E. synonym Hanto: H.L.W.E. antonym
Isy n: Indian Camp, sy nonym Ianto: Indian Camp, antonym
Her: H.L.W.E. complex repetition Hsr: H.L.W.E. simple repetition
Icr: Indian Camp, complex repetition Isr: Indian Camp simple repetition
Hspp: H.L.W.E. simple partial paraphrase Hep: H.L.W.E. complex paraphrase
Ispp: Indian Camp, simple partial paraphrase Icp: Indian Camp, complex paraphrase

Table 6.22 T-test of Group A. concerning types of repetitions in texts 2 and 3 of the treatment.

Group_________Variables______ No. of Pairs Mean SD_____ df 2-tail Sig

Isyn2 14.60 5.26

25 24 .001
Rsvn3 7.96 3.05

Icr2 1.56 1.98

25 24 .574
Rcr3 1.69

Isr2 20.72 6.11

A 25 24 .205
Rsr3 17.96 8.41

Ispp2 5.36 2.56

25 24 .683
Rspp3 6.04 7.69

Icp2 4.28 1.97

25 24 .817
Rcp3 4.12 2.65
 257

Ianto2 .24 .60

A 25 24 .857
Ranto3 .28 .84
D< .05
Key:
Hsyn: H.L.W.E. synonym Hanto: H.L.W.E. antonym
Isyn: Indian Camp, sy nonym Ianto: Indian Camp, antonym
Her: H.L.W.E. complex repetition Hsr: H.L.W.E. simple repetition
Icr: Indian Camp, complex repetition Isr: Indian Camp simple repetition
Hspp: H.L.W.E. simple partial paraphrase Hep: H.L.W.E. complex paraphrase
Icp: Indian Camp, complex paraphrase Ispp: Indian Camp, simple partial paraphrase

Tables 6.21 and 6.22 show two highly significant results. T-test revealed a high significant
difference (p <..001) in the use of simple lexical repetition in treatment 2, Indian Camp,
(comparing treatment 1 and 2) and high significant difference in the use of synonyms in
favour of treatment 2 (p < .001) (comparing treatment 2 to 3). These results are
assumed to be the effect of the sample texts by Hemingway and Gibran studied in the
experiment. Simple repetition was mostly used by Hemingway and Gibran (tables 4.3 and
4.10). Hence, beside the significant difference in Essay 3 of the Experimental Group A
(table 6.16) which revealed that the treatment was effective, the study of pattern in lexis
and the type of repetition mostly used in treatment 2 and 3 (simple lexical repetition and
synonym respectively) are also evidence for the effectiveness of the treatment.

Yet excessive repetition does not necessarily make satisfactory prose (Hoey
1991). What matters is the kinds of repetition, how they form clusters of ties (bonds)
across stretches of text, and therefore how such bonds structure the cohesion of a text.
Perhaps this more sophisticated repetition is the case with advanced learners or
professional writers, but it is recalled that these participants are less advanced in their
English. They are at a stage in which it is essential to write sentences with no fragment,
run-on or sentence structure (see chapter 3). One may also argue that the density of
repetition linkages between sentences is a measure of their closeness of connection
(Hoey 1991). It is actually one of the purposes of vocabulary teaching in the present
study to promote the use of the patterns of lexis referred to above. Hemingway himself
was accused of excessive repetition in his writings, but others retorted that his writing
involves elegant repetition ( Fenton in Benson 1975).
 258

Learners at LAU have been taught to use a topic sentence as they write
paragraphs. The learning of topic sentence has taken place in a previous course (s e e

Transcript A n a ly sis chapt. 5 ) , and it is followed in North American universities. A topic

sentence is defined as a topic-opening (Hoey 1991), and is the first sentence in a
paragraph. It also has links to the following subsequent sentences. As the study of topic
opening is not an explicit purpose of this study, only the topic opening of paragragh 1
was analysed. It is assumed that if learners write a topic sentence in paragraph one, they
will also write one in paragraph 2 of the essay. Further, a topic opening is a means of
securing cohesion in discourse. If one looks at the opening sentence of learner 1 in
treatment 1, one finds the following: In my opinion, the couple would separate fo r several

reasons, and thus the girl wouldn’t do the operation (5). The words several reasons have
sequent links whereby the learner gives the reasons for the decision taken by the girl
(Appendix 8). The word first in sentence 6 gives the first reason. Sentence 9 gives
another reason for the girl’s decision. Hence, sentence 5, which is linked adjacently to
sentences 6, 7 & 8 support the claim of being an opening sentence.
Again subject 2 and 3 of essays 7 and 20, in treatment 1, follow the same procedure
in their opening sentence and their opening sentence has subsequent links. Many events in

the story prove that the couple will not separate (sentence7, learner 7). The paragraph of this
sentence is to state the events that prove that the couple will not separate, and the learner
actually did give the needed supporting ideas (Appendix 8). That is, sentence 7 is linked
to sentence 8 which gives one reason for the couple not to separate. Sentences 10 and
11 give further reasons.

The same applies to sentence 4 by subject 3 of essay 20 in treatment 1. From the

verv beginning, we know that the woman is finding every reason why abortion will not work. In fact,
the reason why abortion will not work is given subsequently through continuous adjacent
links in sentences 5, 6 and 7 (Appendix 8). The same learners proceeded the same way
in treatment 2. Subject 1, sentence 4: The doctor fe lt exalted after the operation fo r many

reasons. The reasons followed subsequently in the adjacent links. Subject 2 of essay 7,
sentence 4: The doctor sought exaltation because he performed a cesaerian on an Indian squaw

without any anaesthetic and he used primitive instrument such as a jack-knife (Appendix 8).
 259

Subject 2 of essay 7 included in the topic opening one of the causes, which is performing
a cesaerian and the use of primitive instruments. This is faulty according to Oshima and
Hogue (1991), for the causes should be part of the paragraph and not the topic-opening.
However, it is Hoey’s (1991) definition that is taken into consideration in the study of
patterns of lexis. Subject 3 of essay 20 missed the topic opening in sentence 4. This
sentence has its links rather in the previous sentence (Appendix 8). N ick’s father, the

doctor, felt exalted after he finished the operation. The links operation, felt, doctor, exalted are
all linked to sentence 3, and the opening sentence did not add any new information and
had no subsequent links (Hoey 1991).
In treatment 3, subject 1 in Essay 1 started also with a topic-opening. I f we compare the

two concepts, we will fin d that both o f them are concepts o f life (2). In fact, learner 1 proceeded
then by comparing the two concepts: Reason and Passion and Work in the subsequent
sentences 3 - 8 . Subjects 2 and 3 of essay 7 and 20 in treatment 3, also have a topic
opening whose links are subsequent. The similarities between Passion and Reason and Work are

intrinsic (sentence 2, learner 2). There are many ideas in common between the 2 texts (sentence
5, learner 3).

In sum, in Group A, there is a significant difference in the links and bonds of

treatment 2, comparing treatment 1 and 2 (p = 001; p = 001) and treatment 2 and 3 (p
= 002). The ratio of bonds to links is also significant, comparing treatment 1 and 2, and
2 and 3, both in favour of treatment 2, Indian Camp (p =.005, p =.004 in table 6.19).
This supports the interpretation that vocabulary teaching, one of the two subskills, has
served its purpose. Lexis has been used successfully in links and more strongly in
significant bonds, in the target vocabulary as well as other lexis. Perhaps this reconfirms
the effect of the teaching of target words. There is also an opening sentence that is
linked to subsequent sentences among learners’ essays chosen arbitrarily. An opening
sentence produces cohesion and a form of organisation, two basic elements needed in
essay performance.
In the type of repetition, simple repetition and synonyms were highly significant
(p < 001; p < 001) in favour of treatment 2, comparing treatment 1 and 2; 2 and 3 (tables
6.21 & 6.22). Again one may assume that learners have learned from the excerpts
 260

presented as samples and have used the mentioned types of repetition among which is
simple repetition, the highest in order of importance. It is recalled that the texts by
Hemingway and Gibran used mainly simple repetition and synonyms (tables 4.3 & 4.10).
Two of the participants revealed an increase in the number of links in treatment 3
as compared to treatment 2 (table 6.20). Further, 2 participants increased the number of
bonds. Although the purpose of the study was to teach learners to write simple
sentences, learners ended up with few nonadjacent links, which is considered of more
interest and reveal further maturity in essay writing.

6.4.2 Patterns of Lexis in The Treatment of Group B’ and Its Comparison With Group A
The same procedure has been used with Group B’ Experimental to find out whether
there is any significant difference among the 3 essays in the treatment concerning links,
bonds and ratio of bonds to links as well as the types of repetition used. The results of
the T-test are displayed in table 6.23.

Table 6.23 T -test results o f G roup B \ c o n c e r n in g lin k s, b on d s an d ratios o f patterns o f le x is in texts

1, 2 and 3 o f th e treatm ent.

Group_________Variables______ No. of Pairs Mean SD_____ df 2-tail Sig

TL1 2 6 .9 2 7 .9 4
B' 25 24 .0 2 6
TL2 3 0 .8 2 6.81

TB1 5 .2 8 4 .4 8
B' 25 24 .0 2 8
TB2 8 .1 6 5 .8 7

TL2 3 0 .8 0 6 .8 1
B’ 25 24 .0 1 5
T L3 2 6 .8 8 6 .8 0

TB2 8 .1 6 5 .8 7
B? 25 24 .001
TB3 2 .9 6 2 .5 4

B' R1 .20 .18

25 .2 7 2
R2 .25 .17
 261

R2 .25 .17
25 .000
R3 .10 .09
p<05
Key:
TL: total lin k s 1: H.L.W.E.
TB: total b onds 2: Indian Camp
R : ratio 3: On Reason and Passion; On Work

Table 6.23 shows again that the difference in links and bonds is significant in treatment 2,
Indian Camp, comparing treatment 1 and 2 (p = 026 for links and p = 028 for bonds).
However, there is no significant difference in the ratio of bonds to links in treatment 1
and 2 (p = 272), but there is a high significant difference in the ratio of bonds to links in
treatment 2 and 3 (p <X)01) in favour of treatment 2, Indian Camp. The same result was
found concerning the ratio of bonds to links in treatment 2 and 3 of Group A (table 6.19).
Perhaps this reconfirms what has been said of Group A. That is, the topic based on
Indian Camp lends itself to the use of more repetition of lexis, not any kind of lexis, but
lexis that produces cohesive writing and organization. By organization is meant
combination of elements perceived by learners to form a pattern (Hoey 1991). In fact,
more target vocabulary was used in treatment 2 than in treatment 3 in both Group A and
B’ (i.e. 32% in Group A and B’ table 6.24). Yet, when the experiment was undertaken,
the difference was significant in Essay 3 of both Group A and B’ (p = .018; p = .021,
table 6.16). Hence, it is recalled that writing is a multidimensional construct and requires
lexis among other factors (Carter and Nash 1995; Grabe and Kaplan 1996; Fulcher 1997;
McDonough 1999).
If one looks at the correlation of the three variables (essay, vocabulary and
sentence combining) of Group B’, one observes an inconsistency in the results as
compared to the significant difference of the links and bonds. There was a correlation of
vocabulary and essay performance in treatment 1 (r = .4 9 2 table 6.18) but none in the 2
other treatments, whereas there was a significant difference in the links, bonds and ratio
of bonds to links respectively in treatment 2, Indian Camp (p = .0 2 6 ; p = .0 2 8 ; p < .0 0 1 table
6.23), comparing treatment 1 and 2; 2 and 3 respectively. It is recalled that the researcher
believes the timing of the experiment of Group B’ was inappropriate (see chapter 5).
Further, it is probable that Hoey’s model (1991), which includes a wider scope of lexis,
 262

allows a larger scope of results since repetition has several categories.

Again a study of 3 arbitrarily essays in Group B’ was carried out in a detailed analysis,
and the essays of the same participants were followed up in treatment 2, 3 and the
Pretest/Posttest. Essay 1 in treatment 1 had several adjacent links and few nonadjacent
ones. That is, most of the links are central. For instance, sentences 7, 8 and 9.
Instead o f that she_ kept smiling at him and that means that she would stay with
him (7). The last point can be seen in the last sentence o f the text, when the
American asked about her feeling, she replied saying that she was fine and there
was nothing wrong with her (8). In conclusion, the girl is going to abort the
baby and stay with her man because she loves the American (9).

The total number of links is 29 and there are 4 bonds, two of which are nonadjacent (in
table 6.25). Essay 7 of subject 2 (in treatment 1) also has most of its links adjacent such
as sentences 5, 6 and 7:
The second argument is reflected in her reaction when she was drinking the
Anis del Toro (5). She said that her drink that was placed on a fe lt p a d tasted
like liquorice and this is the way with everything and more than that it tastes
like absinth (6). Here we see how she is very upset and do not want to accept
the idea o f abortion (7).

The total number of links is 22 and the 2 bonds, of different links, are nonadjacent.
Essay 20 of the third learner in treatment 1 has more adjacent links than learner of Essay
7. For instance, sentences 5 and 6.
The lady was totally satisfied by her decision to keep the baby (5).
This fact can be proved by the following supporting ideas (6).

The total number of links is 31 (more than the 2 other participants) and the number of
bonds is 2 (nonadjacent), summing up to less bonds than learner 1 of essay 1 (in table
6.25). Although bonds are less numerous in the case of participant 20, links are on the
increase. Probably the pattern of lexis, reflected in the links, is more widely spread than
among the other participants.
Following up the same participants in treatment 2, Indian Camp, one finds that
participant of Essay 1 had adjacent links but quite a few nonadjacent ones such as
sentence 6 which is adjacent to sentence 5 but has some of its lexis linked to sentences 4,
3 and 2 in a nonadjacent way (Appendix 8).
 263

From my point o f view, Nicks father was over the moon after the operation that
he had made, due to some reasons (4). Furthermore, he was thinking o f being
famous and that can be seen in the third paragraph when he told Uncle George
that doing a cesaerian with a jack-knife and stitch it up with nine foot gut leader
will make him enter the medical history (6).

The total number of links increased by 2 in treatment 2 (31 vs 29), but the bonds
decreased (1 vs 4 bonds, in table 6.25). The fact that participant 1 in treatment 2 has
some adjacent and nonadjacent links reveals a scope of lexis pertaining to central and
marginal sentences. Both make the reader’s task easier in providing information without
which the theme might be open to misunderstanding.
Essay 7 of the second learner has again adjacent links and some nonadjacent ones
(Aopendix 8). For instance, sentence 13 is linked to 11,9 and 3.
Finally, the cause fo r Uncle George to stay, is to wait fo r the nurse to come to the
Indian camp (11). In conclusion, these are the main causes fo r the doctor to be
exalted and fo r Uncle George to stay in the shanty (13).

The total number of links has increased in treatment 2 of participant 2 of essay 7 (31 vs
22), but the number of bonds of different links decreased (in table 6.25). Again the links
of this participant are more scattered than in the previous essay, and lexis more
numerous.
Essay 20 of the third learner has adjacent links and few nonadjacent ones
(Appendix 8). For instance, sentence 10 is linked to 9, but it is also linked to 7 and 8.
He even sewed the incision with a tapered gut leader, and he was sure to
publish this story in a medical journal which will make him famous (7).
Moreover, such an important mission made him happy fo r hy will have the
chance to write it in a medical journal, which definitely leads to fam e (8).
On the other hand, Uncle George decided to stay in the camp fo r one
reason (9). He thought that after such a hard operation the woman will
need intensive care (10).

The total number of links increased (33 vs 31) as well as the bonds which are
nonadjacent (5 vs 2).
In treatment 3 of Group B’, learner of Essay 1 had adjacent and nonadjacent
links. The total number of links has slightly increased (32 vs 31), but the number of
bonds was equal (1 bond in both cases). For instance, sentence 10 is linked to sentence
9, but it is also linked to sentences 6 and 5.
He used some vocabulary in both stories such as soul, love, God,
pain and so on (6). In addition, we can sey that on the last
 264

paragraph when he said that i f you in your pain call your

birth your affliction written upon your brow (10).

Learner in Essay 7 had adjacent links and more nonadjacent ones (in treatment
3). Sentence 8 is linked to 7 and linked in a nonadjacent way to sentences 6 and 3.
Therefore. in his book the Prophet, anyone who has read the
texts, Reason and Passion versus Work, can tell that they
have many similarities and dissimilarities (3).
For instance, in the text Reason and Passion, he was
answering the priestess (6) Another similarity is
that both texts are taken from his famous book the Prophet (8).

The total number of links is the same in treatment 3 (31 vs 31) but there are no bonds (0
vs 1, Appendix 8).
Essay 20 of the third learner had again adjacent links (in treatment3) and more
non adjacent ones. For instance, sentence 16 is linked to sentences 12, 9and 4.
There are 3 similarites between the texts, Reason and Passion and Work (4 ).
F irst, th ese tw o te x ts h a v e d ifferen t to p ics (9 ). In conclusion, both text
Reason and Passion and Work have some similarities as well as some
dissimilarities (1 6 ).

The total number of links is also the same (33 vs 33), but the bonds decreased (1 vs 5).
The 3 participants of Group B’ have fewer bonds in treatment 3, but almost the same
number of links, compared to treatment 2. Also, the percentage of vocabulary taught
which was used in treatment 3 is the lowest among the 3 Essays in both Group A and B’
(29%, Group A ; 24% Group B’) as shown in ta b le 6 .2 4 . The absence of significant
difference in links, bonds, ratios of bonds to links and the lowest percentage of target
words used may reflect some difficulty in the text. In fact, Group A expressed their
liking of text 3 in the syllabus rather than text 3 in the treatment ( t a b le 6 .1 1 ) , but this did
not apply to Group B \

T a b le 6 .2 4 P er cen ta g e o f T arget V ocabulary U se d in the E ssa y s o f b oth G roups

Group A Group B’

H.L. W.E. 69% H.L.W.E. 62%

IndianCamp 32% Indian Camp 32%

On Reason and Passion On Reason an d Passion

On Work 29% On Work 24%
 265

Comparing the types of links that the 3 subjects in Group A and B’ used in the 3
treatments, one may state that Group B’ used more nonadjacent links than Group A.
Nonadjacent links are of more interest and reflect mature writing (Hoey 1991) because
they signify the ability to construct cohesive links over longer distances and hence to
sustain meaning over such distances in the structuring of text. However, the aim of the
researcher was to let learners write according to the style of Hemingway and Gibran, that
is, to use simple sentences which correspond to adjacent links (Appendix 8). It seems
that the 3 learners in Group B’ did not follow the pattern taught to them the same way
Group A did. Perhaps because Group B’ is more advanced, learners felt more confident
in breaking the pattern assigned. In fact, Group B’ used more subordinate sentences as
revealed in the analysis of T-units of the learners’ essays (table 5.9).
The ratio of bonds to links in treatment 1 and 2 of Group B’ is not significant, but
it is highly significant between treatment 2 and 3 in favour of treatment 2, Indian Camp
(p < 001, table 6.23). And yet, the results of the experiment revealed a significant
difference in Essay 3 of Group B’ and A as well (p = 021; p =.018 in table 6.16). Perhaps
one may conclude that since results of links, bonds and the ratio of bonds to links are
significant in favour of treatment 2, Indian Camp, whether comparing treatment 1 and 2
or 2 and 3, this text with its lexis lends itself to the teaching of vocabulary. One may also
suggest that the genre (i.e. causes) stimulates further the use of vocabulary. Further, the
use of repetition in patterns of lexis creating cohesion seems to have been achieved by
learners in treatment 2, knowing that cohesion is the product of lexical relations (Hoey
1991). Almost the same results apply to Group A (table 6.19).

Table 6 .2 5 L in k s. b o n d s an d ratio o f th e 3 p articipants o f G roup ET stu d ied in detail

Treatment 1 Treatment 2 Treatment 3

links bonds ration links bonds ratio links bonds ratio

E ssay 1 29 4 (2 n o n a d j.) .14 31 1 .03 32 1 .03

E ssay 7 22 2 (n o n a d j.) .09 31 1 .03 31 0 0

E ssay 20 31 2 (n o n a d j.) .0 6 33 5(nadj) .15 33 1 .03

 266

T a b le 6 .2 6 shows the results of Group B’ concerning types of repetition in texts 1 and 2

of the treatment. A T-test revealed a high significant difference in the use of simple
lexical repetition in treatment 2, Indian Camp (p <001, ta b le 6 .2 6 ). This result is the
same as in Group A. However, the result of Group B’ was also significant in simple
partial paraphrase (p = 045) and complex paraphrase (p = 003, ta b le 6 .2 6 ) in favour of
treatment 1, H.L.W.E., comparing treatment 1 and 2. These two results were not
significant in Group A. Perhaps the significant difference in the numerous types of
repetition found in Group B’ is another proof of learners being more advanced since they
have used more varied types of repetition.

T a b le 6 .2 6 T -test results o f G roup B \ c o n c e r n in g typ es o f rep etition in tex ts 1 an d 2 o f th e treatm ent.

G ro u p ___________ V a r ia b le s ________ N o . o f P a ir s _____M e a n S D ______ d f 2 -ta il S ig

H sy n l 8 .3 6 4 .4 4
B' 25 24 .1 6 0
Isyn2 7 .0 8 3 .6 5

H crl 1.08 1.12

B' 25 24 .6 0 6
Icr2 .88 1.13

H srl 1 3 .8 8 5.1 3
B' 25 24 .001
Isr2 2 0 .7 6 6 .4 4

H sp p l 2 .2 8 1.72
B' 25 24 .0 4 5
Ispp2 1.36 1.58

H cp l .80 1.22
B' 25 24 .003
Icp2 .00 .00

H a n to l .36 .57
B’ 25 24 .1 3 4
Ianto2 .16 .37

p<05

Key:
Hsyn: H .L .W .E . synon ym Hanto: H .L .W .E . antonym
Isyn: Indian C am p, syn on ym Ianto: Indian C am p, antonym
 267

Her: H .L .W .E . c o m p le x r ep etitio n Hsr: H .L .W .E . sim p le rep etitio n

Icr: In d ian C am p , c o m p le x rep etitio n Isr: In d ian C a m p sim p le rep etition
H spp: H .L .W .E . sim p le p artial p arap h rase 1: treatm en t 1, H L W E
Ispp: Indian C am p , sim p le p artial paraphrase 2: treatm en t 2. In d ia n C am p
Hen: H .L .E . c o m p le x p arap h rase 3: treatm en t 3 , R e a so n a n d P a ssio n
Icp: Indian C am p, c o m p le x p araphrase

T a b le 6 .2 7 T -test resu lts o f G rou p B ’, c o n c e rn in g ty p es o f rep e titio n in te x ts 2 a n d 3 o f th e treatm en t

G r o u p __________ V a r ia b le s ________N o . o f P a ir s M ean S D _______d f 2 -ta il S ig

Isyn 2 7 .0 8 3 .6 5
B’ 25 24 .0 0 5
R syn 3 4 .9 6 3 .3 1

Icr2 .8 8 1.1 3
F' 25 24 .2 9 4
R cr3 .5 6 .7 7

Isr2 2 0 .7 6 6 .4 4
B’ 25 24 .2 8 5
R sr3 1 9 .0 8 6 .3 3

Isp p2 1 .3 6 1.58
B’ 25 24 .7 7 2
R spp3 1 .4 8 1.12

Icp2 .0 0 .00
B’ 25 24 .1 6 1
R cp3 .0 8 .28

Ianto2 .1 6 .3 7
F' 25 24 .0 1 3
R anto3 .72 .8 9

_______________________________________________________________________________ p < 0 5 ________________

T a b le 6 .2 7 displays the results of Group B’, concerning types of repetition in texts 2 and 3
of the treatments. Comparing treatment 2 and 3 of Group B’, the T-test revealed a
significant difference in the use of synonyms in favour of treatment 2, Indian Camp, and
a significant difference in the use of antonyms respectively in favour of treatment 3, On
Reason and Passion and On Work (p = 005; p = 013).
 268

One may assume that the genre used in treatment 3, that is type of essay i.e.
comparison and contrast, lends itself to the use of antonyms. However, if this is so, then
Group A should have also had a significant difference in antonyms, which is not the case
(see tables 6.21 & 6.22). One may then conclude that antonyms are more easily perceived
and used by more advanced learners.
On the other hand, both Group A and B’ used significantly simple repetition in
favour of treatment 2, Indian Camp, comparing treatment 1 and 2 (p ^.001, Group A
table 6.21; p <, 001, Group B’ table 6.26), but Group B’ used synonyms significantly too (p
= 005, table 6.27) in favour of treatment 2, Indian Camp. This again may show that both
Groups modelled the pattern presented to them in the texts by Gibran and Hemingway.
Although Hoey (1991) weighs simple lexical repetition highly, he stated that
excessive repetition does not necessarily make satisfactory prose if there is no effective
difference in it. Perhaps the prose used by Group B’ in treatment 2, since synonyms
were also significant, is more satisfactory than the prose used by Group A. Yet this
point is arguable since Hemingway used mostly simple repetition.
If one looks at the opening sentence of the 3 participants in Group B’, one
observes that participant of Essay 1 (treatment 1) has the following as an opening
sentence with some elements missing (Oshima and Hogue 1991). These elements (i.e.
three points) are found in sentence 4. From my point o f view, I believe that the girl is going to do

the operation even i f she does not like to, in order to save her relationship with the American whom she

is in love with (3/ Furthermore, I have three points from the text that can support my idea (4). The
topic sentence should have been as follows: There are 3 points that support the idea that the

girl is going to do the operation even i f she does not like to. Also according to Hoey (1991) the
apparent opening here is not in fact an opening sentence because it is not linked to the
next sentence (i.e. sentence 4). However, the best evidence to know how sentences are
linked is found in the readers for themselves (Hoey 1991).
On the other hand, the same participant in treatment 2 included the basic points
of what is called a controlling idea in the opening sentence (see Chapter 4). This, of
course, is considered as an improvement. From mv point o f view, Nick's father was over the

moon after the operation that he had made due to some reasons (4). The controlling idea is some
reasons. Again participant 1 in treatment 3 included the basic points or controlling idea
 269

in the opening sentence. Comparing between the Reason and Passion and On Work we can see two

major similarities among them (4; (Appendix 8). One can assume then that participant 1
became aware of what is part of an opening sentence. Further, the opening sentence in
treatment 2 and 3 have links with subsequent sentences.
In treatment 2, Nick's father (sentence 4) is linked to later sentences through the
reasons that the participant gives. The same applies to participant 1 in treatment 3. The
word similarity (sentence 4) relates the words first one in the following sentence which
in fact means the first similarity. First means also that there is a second similarity that,
actually, comes in the subsequent sentence.
Essay 7 of the second learner, in treatment 1 of Group B’, had no opening
sentence according to the criteria used (Oshima and Hogue, 1991). He/she started his
paragraph by Stating directly the first argument, The first argument is when she said while she

was waiting with the American in the station fo r the train that the hills look like white elephant.

However, according to Hoey (1991) sentence 3 is linked to the following one by the
words first argument which also assumed subsequent arguments. However, in treatment
2, participant 2 of essay 7 had an opening sentence according to both authors Hoey
( 1991) and Oshima and Hogue (1991). First o f all, the doctor was very happy due to the success

o f the operation (4). This sentence is linked to sentences 5, 6 and 7 through adjacent links
doctor, cesaerian and he (Appendix 8). Again learner 2 of essay 7, in treatment 3, had
an opening sentence. First o f all, the two texts share striking similarities (4). The paragraph of
this opening sentence is assumed to state the similarities, which it does in the adjacent
sentences 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 (Appendix 8).
Essay 20 of the third learner, in treatment 1, again had the controlling idea in the
sentence following the opening sentence. The lady was totally satisfied by her decision to keep

the babv (5). This fact can be proved bv the following supporting ideas (6). Sentence 5 has a bond
of 3 links related to the preceding sentence (Appendix 8), and one lexis, decision, linked
to the sequent words this fact (6). However, according to Hoey (1991), this is an
opening sentence since it is related to sentence 6. Yet, one could consider sentence 6 as
an opening sentence according to Oshima and Hogue (1991) since this one states that the
following sentences will prove that the lady will keep the baby. This fact can be proved by

the following supporting ideas (6>). In fact, sentence 7 starts with first which gives the first
 270

supporting idea followed by other facts. With the second sentence being rather the
opening sentence, one can mention Stern (1976) who casts doubt on the validity of the
assumption that all paragraphs begin with a topic sentence.
On the other hand, essay 20 of the third learner (in treatment 2) has sentence 5 as
an opening sentence which clearly contains the controlling ideas needed according to
both authors (Hoey 1991; Oshima and Hogue 1991). There are several causes that made the

doctor exalted (5). The causes were given subsequently in the 3 following adjacent
sentences, 6, 7 and 8 (Appendix 8). Words such as first o f all, second are used to
enumerate the causes. Moreover is also used though Hoey (1991) considers transitions
as directional and not as links, certainly they are not part of the system of lexical
repetition. In treatment 3, participant 3 of essay 20 stated clearly the opening sentence:
There are three similarities between the texts, Reason and Passion and Work (4). The similarities
follow in the adjacent sentences 5 and 6 and 7. Again subject 3 of essay 20 used the
same directional words that he used in treatment 2 to state the similarities. That is, first
o f all, second and third (Appendix 8).

In sum, Group B’ had a significant difference in the links of treatment 2 (p

= 026), comparing treatment 1 and 2, and again in treatment 2 (p = 015), comparing
treatment 2 and 3. Further, a significant difference also existed in the bonds in favour of
treatment 2, comparing treatment 1 and 2 (p = 028) and a high significant difference in
favour of treatment 2, comparing treatment 2 and 3 (p < 001) (see table 6.23), Since
almost the same results appear in both Group A and B’ experimental, concerning
significant difference in links, bonds and ratios of bonds to links, one may conclude that
treatment 2, Indian Camp, with the topic and genre used was the most appropriate for
the teaching of lexis in essay performance. Further, learners seem to have achieved
cohesion significantly in treatment 2 through the product of lexical relations which
produce a form of organization reflected also through opening sentences.
The types of repetition are significant, concerning simple repetition (p <.001) in
favour of treatment 2 and complex paraphrasing (p = 003) in favour of treatment 1,
comparing treatment 1 and 2 (tables 6.26 & 6.27). Simple partial paraphrase is also
significant (p = 045), but in favour of treatment 1, comparing treatment 1 and 2. Simple
 271

repetition is highly rated as a cohesive device provided there is an effective difference

between repetitions (Hoey 1991). The aim of the researcher was to guide learners to
follow the pattern used in the sample texts, that is, the use of simple repetition and
synonyms. Hence, the significant results of these types of repetition seem satisfactory.
Further, one observes that the 3 participants of Group B’ studied in detail, had
fewer bonds in treatment 3, On Reason and Passion and On Work (in table 6.25). In fact,
there is a significant difference in the bonds of treatment 2 (p = .028), comparing
treatment 1 and 2, and a high significant difference in the bonds of treatment 2 again (p
< 001), comparing treatment 2 and 3, (see table 6.23). This implies that learners in both
Group A and B’ were able to see the semantic relationship between sentences in a
nonlinear way and produce it in their essay. However, this was not the case in treatment
1 and 3 which means that sentences were rather marginal. Although marginal sentences
do not build lexically upon what has gone before or in subsequent statements, they
(especially in the case of a philosophical topic) provide some information for
understanding the main theme (Hoey 1991). For instance, participant 2 of essay 7 who
had no bonds in treatment 3, wrote the following sentence which through the use of
comparison clarifies the main theme. The last similarity is the presence o f many metaphors

related to nature, fo r example, he compares the reason and passion to the rudder and sails o f the

seafaring soul (9). In fact, sentences have more meaning than the sum of their parts. This
view underpins all work on discourse (Hoey 1991).
Concerning the sentence opening, 1 of the 3 learners of Group B’started his
paragraph in treatment 1 with no opening sentence (Hoey 1991) but wrote an opening
sentence in treatments 2 and 3. If Group B’ is compared to Group A, one observes that
subject 3 of essay 20 (treatment 2 of Group A) did not write an opening sentence as
subject 1 (treatment 1 of Group B’) did not either. This is shown in table 6.28.

Although writing an opening sentence was not the purpose of this study, learners
were reminded of its importance (see Chapt.V) and included it in their essays. In the
opinion of the researcher, opening sentences harness learners towards the linking of
sentences and shape organisation in essay performance. Hoey (1991) seems to agree
since he considers topic opening as a means of securing cohesion.
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Table 6 .2 8 O p e n in g se n te n c e o f th e 3 p a rticip a n ts in G roup A an d B ’

Group A Group B’
T reatm ent 1 2 3 T reatm en t 1 2 3

E ssay 1 yes yes yes E ssa y 1 110 yes y es

E ssay 7 y es yes yes E ssa y 7 yes yes yes

E ssay 2 0 y es no v es E ssa v 2 0 ves ves v es

Key: A n o p e n in g sen te n c e is th e 1st sen te n c e in a p aragrap h that has

lin k s to fo llo w in g a n d su b seq u en t sen ten ces.

6.5 Patterns of Lexis in the Pretest/Posttest of Group A and B’

6.5 .1 Patterns of Lexis in Pretest/Posttest of Group A
The pattern of lexis was used in the Pretest/Posttest of Group A as well, to see whether
there is an improvement in the use of links, bonds and ratios of bonds to links.

Table 6 .2 9 T -test results o f P retest/P osttest o f G roup A . c o n c e r n in g lin k s, b o n d s a n d ratios

Groui)_________Variables______ No. of Pairs Mean SD_____ df 2-tail Sig

Prlink 2 4 .2 0 6 .5 7
A 25 24 .001
P slin k 3 5 .6 4 10.50

Prbnd 4 .2 0 3 .2 4
A 25 24 .0 0 4
P sbn d 8 .3 6 6 .5 6

Pratio .1 7 .13
A 25 24 .2 0 0
P sratio .22 .15
D <05
Key:
Prlink: pretest lin k pratio: pretest ratio
P slink: p osttest lin k psratio: p osttest ratio
Prbnd: pretest b on d P sbnd: p osttest b ond

Table 6 .2 9 shows the T-test results of the Pretest/Posttest of Group A. The T-test
results show a high significant difference in links and bonds respectively in favour of the
 273

Posttest (p < 001; p = 004), but no significant difference in the ratio (p = 200). The
significant difference in bonds revealed that learners’ sentences relate to each other in a
nonlinear way, which is a characteristic of mature writing. Hence, one may assume that
learners’ discourse matured although the purpose of the treatment was to help learners to
write grammatical and coherent sentences.
Looking at the Pretest/Posttest essays of subjects of essays 1, 7 and 20 in Group
A, one finds the following: The links in the essay of subject 1 have more than doubled in
the Posttest (45 vs 18), and the number of bonds had more than tripled (7 vs 2, in table
6.31). Further, there are more nonadjacent links in the Posttest. If nonadjacent sentences
of subject 1 Posttest are put next to each other, the following will be given:
They (private phone companies) will compete the government and affect
the economy o f the country (13). In conclusion, the causes and effects
o f living in a country with no proper telephone communication are very
serious (15).

The above sentences which are normally coherent through links are virtually coherent
when placed next to each other. Sentence 15 reflects the results of the statement in
sentence 13 (Appendix 8).
However, if one puts next to each other the 2 nonadjacent sentences of the
Pretest of subject 1 and compares them to the nonadjacent sentence of the Posttest, the
following will result:
This shortage o f electricity has a lot o f causes (4). Since
electricity is very important this shortage has a lot o f
effects on the people (7).

Although these two sentences have links, they are not virtually coherent as the Posttest
sentences are. Some sentences are needed to bridge the gap of cohesion.
Essay 7 of the second learner (in Group A) has also more than doubled the
number of links (38 vs 14) and increased the number of bonds (3 vs 2) in the Posttest.
There are also more nonadjacent links in the Posttest. For example, sentence 10 is linked
to sentence 8.
People are being deprived from telephone communication
and this is leading them to exhaution (8). Unworking
telephones, hurt people i f sometimes at night they need
help, and the result is that they cannot communicate
with anybody (10) (Appendix 8).
 274

Hence, one may claim that sentence 9 can easily be omitted since cohesion exists
without it. Essay 20 of the third learner also doubled the number of links in the Posttest
(58 vs 25) and increased the number of bonds (5 vs 2 in ta b le 6 .3 1 ). However, essay 20
of subject 3 has most of its links adjacent in the Posttest such as
In other words, there are many reasons which caused bad
telephone communication that caused many problems as
well (7 ). First, there are no proper telephone communication
in Lebanon due the several reasons (8).

Subject three of essay 20 had more adjacent links than the 2 other learners although he
also had nonadjacent ones. Perhaps this subject did not feel confident and therefore,
reverted back to the simple procedure taught.

The type of repetition that learners used in the Pretest/Posttest of Group A was
not different from the treatment as shown in ta b le 6 .3 0 .

T a b le 6 .3 0 T -test results o f P retest/P o sttest o f G roup A . c o n c e r n in g typ es o f rep etition

G roup V a r ia b le s N o. o f P a ir s M ean SD df 2 -ta il S ig .

Prsvn 3.04 1.77

A 25 24 .001
P stsyn 6.36 3.44

Prcr 1.40 1.29

A 25 24 .621
Pstcr 1.56 1.12

Prspp 1.64 1.35

A 25 24 .041
P stpp 2.44 1.53

Prsr 18.08 5.82

A 25 24 .005
Pstsr 24.52 10.52

Prep .13 .34

A 25 24 .491
P stcp 21 .41
 275

Pranto .0 8 .4 0
A 25 24 .001
Pstanto .5 6 .71
p<05
Key:
prsyn: pretest synonym prsr : pretest simple repetition
pstsyn: posttest synonym pstsr : posttest simple repetition
prcr : pretest complex repetition prep : pretest complex paraphrase
pstcr : posttest complex repetition pstcp : posttest complex paraphrase
prspp : pretest simple partial paraphrase pranto: pretest antonym
pstpp : posttest simple partial paraphrase pstanto: posttest antonym

There is a high significant difference in the use of synonyms and simple repetition
respectively in favour of the Posttest (p < 001; p = 005 in table 6.30). These types of
repetition were also significant in the treatment. However, there was a significant
difference in the use of antonyms in favour of the Posttest (p = 001, table 6.30), whereas
there was no significant difference in the use of antonyms in the treatment of Group A
(tables 6.21 & 6.22). The significant difference in the use of antonyms in the Posttest may
be considered as an improvement since an additional significant type of repetition
enriches essay performance. Antonyms are used in comparison and contrast genre which
is a more difficult genre (Kroll 1994).

Looking at the opening sentence in the Pretest/Posttest of the 3 subjects in Group

A, one observes that the essay of subject 1 had an opening sentence in the Pretest and
Posttest. In the Pretest the sentence is, This shortage o f electricity has a lot o f causes (4). In
fact, this sentence is linked to the following one by the word shortage which was
repeated in the subsequent sentence through the pronoun it (sentence 5). Again, the
same subject had an opening sentence in the Posttest which is There are many causes behind

the improper telephone communication (4). The subsequent sentence started with the
synonym, ...causes... which also assumes other causes to follow.
Essay 7 of the second learner had the following sentence as an opening sentence
in the Pretest, Because o f the war the government did not collect taxes and it was difficult to buy fuel

(4). This is not an opening sentence neither according to Hoey’s (1991) criteria nor to
Oshima and Hogue (1991). In fact, sentence 4 has no link to subsequent sentences. It
just has a link to sentence 1, Lebanon went through many problems after the war among which was
 276

the problem o f the infrastructure (1). Further, in the Posttest subject 2 of essay 7 had no
opening sentence according to Oshima and Hogue (1991) because this subject included
in the opening sentence one of the reasons, which was supposed to be part of the
paragraph. He/she also added other reasons in the same paragraph such as In addition to

this during the war, a lot o f cables were destroyed by bombs, and were not repaired at all (5 ).

According to Hoey (1991) the first sentence of a paragraph is an opening sentence if it

has sequent and subsequent links. Sentence 4 has 2 subsequent links, this and war
(Appendix 8). Hence, it can be considered an opening sentence.
Essay 20 o f the third learner had sentence 3 as an opening sentence. One o f the

causes is the war which cut the electricity wires by shelling the city (3 ). This sentence is linked to
sentences 4 and 5. However, according to Oshima and Hogue (1991), the opening
sentence includes a cause, provided no other new causes are included in the same
paragraph. In sentence 5 of the same paragraph, learner 3 of essay 20 included the
following new cause: The other cause o f Electricity shortage is maintenance which the government

can ’t p ay (5). In the Posttest, subject of essay 20 had an opening sentence according to
both Oshima and Hogue and Hoey. First there are no proper telephone communication in

Lebanon due to several reasons (8). Sentence 8 is linked to sentences 9, 10 and 11 (Appendix
8) which give the reasons for the lack of proper telephone communication. T a b le 6 .3 1

reveals links, bonds, ratios and opening sentences in the Pretest/Postest of Group A.

T a b le 6 .3 1 L in k s, b o n d s, ratio a n d o p e n in g se n te n c e in th e P retest/P o sttest o f G rou p A

P r e te s t P o s tt c s t
L in k s B onds R atio L in k s B onds R a tio

E ssa y 1 18 2 .11 45 7 .1 6
E ssa y 7 14 2 .14 38 3 .0 8
E ssa y 2 0 2 5 2 .0 8 58 5 .0 9

O p e n in g S e n te n c e O p e n in g S en te n c e

E ssa y 1 Y es Y es
E ssa y 7 Y es Y es
E ssa y 2 0 Y es Y es

In sum, Group A reveals that cohesion improved significantly in the Posttest as

shown in the results of links and bonds (p =.000; p = 004; see ta b le 6 .2 9 ) . However,
there was no significant difference in the ratio of bonds to links in the Pretest/Posttest.
 277

Yet, there is evidence that learners’ essays mature since there is a significant difference in
bonds which indicates that learners’ writing is more cohesive. There is also a significant
difference in the use of synonyms (p < 001), simple repetition (p = 005) and antonyms (p
= 001) in the Posttest of Group A (table 6.30). Simple repetition has the highest order of
importance, synonym comes third and antonym comes fifth (Hoey 1991). Again these
results reveal an improvement in learners’ performance and reconfirms the interpretation
that the texts used as samples were effective in improving vocabulary. Cohesion and
organisation are also reflected through the use of opening sentence in the Pretest and
Posttest of the 3 subjects.

6.5 .2 Patterns of Lexis in the Pretest/Posttest of Group B’

Again the pattern of lexis was used in the Pretest/Posttest of Group B’ to see whether
there is a significant difference in the links, bonds and ratio of bonds to links.

Table 6.32 T-test results of Pretest/Posttest of Group B \ concerning links, bonds and ratio
Group_________Variables______ No. of Pairs Mean SD_____ df 2-tail Sig

Prlink 23.84 7.35

B' 25 24 .001
Pslink 32.44 6.86

Prbnd 3.96 3.68

B' 25 24 .060
Psbnd 6.08 6.10

Pratio 16 .14
B’ 25 24 .807
Psratio 17 .15
_______ p<05
Key:
Prlink: pretest link pratio: pretest ratio
Pslink. posttest link psratio: posttest ratio
Prbnd: pretest bond psbnd: posttest bond

Table 6.32 shows the results of the Pretest/Posttest of Group B’, concerning links, bonds
and ratio of bonds to links. The T-test revealed a high significant difference in the links
in favour of the Posttest (p < .001), but no significant difference in the bonds or ratio.
Again the significant difference in the links in the Posttest shows that learners’ essay is
 278

more cohesive, a feature necessary for good essay performance. This is assumed to be
the results of the treatment.
If one looks at the Pretest/Posttest of learners of essays 1, 7 and 20, one finds the
following: The links in the essay of learner 1 have doubled in the Posttest (28 vs 14), but
the number of bonds is the same (1 vs 1 in table 6.34). However, most of the links are
nonadjacent in the Posttest such as sentence 5 and 7.
First, most o f the educated people decided to emigrate from
Lebanon in order to sun’ive (5). Secondly, during the war,
the Lebanese pound had fallen rapidly and that made an
inflation (7).
Although these sentences are nonadjacent, they are cohesive as they state the reasons
pertaining to the main idea, providing some necessary aid information. (It is recalled that
both Pretest and Posttest Essays had no study of any skills, that is, no vocabulary or
sentence-combining teaching.)
Essay 7 of the second learner had also more links in the Posttest Essay (33 vs
29), but again the same number of bonds (1 vs 1). Most of the links were nonadjacent in
the Pretest. For example,
During the war, the ships were not able to reach the
Lebanese area to deliver the fu el to the company
o f electricity (5). Many skillful engineer have
escaped and the one who remains in Lebanon
were not able to go to their work (7).

One observes that these links lack cohesion. These sentences are marginal in that the use
of lexis for what they have to say do not provide enough lexical cohesion. It is assumed
that sentence 5 is the first cause since sentence 6 starts with the second cause. However,
it cannot be assumed that skilful engineer and employee are synonyms unless subject 2 of
essay 7 did not pay attention to the difference in meaning, being under pressure.
The participant of Essay 20 had, as had the 2 previousones,more links in the
Posttest (38 vs 32), more bonds in the Posttest (3 vs 2) and more bonds than the 2
predecessors. Again the student of Essay 20 has more nonadjacent links in the Pretest.
For instance,
Many employees were not p a id their salaries (9).
A s a result, a lack o f maintenance fo r all machines
in those industries will follow (11).
 279

These two sentences are not linked through lexical cohesion. If 2 nonadjacent sentences
of the Posttest of the same learner are compared, the results are:
Furthermore, many professional workers might break down
the cables so that people will have to tip these employees
to fix the damage (8). This (no telephone and no business)
lead to a low standard o f living (11).

This, in sentence 11, refers to lack of telephone which refers semanticallyto cable.That
is, telephones need cables. Hence, as it is the case in the Posttest of subject 2 of essay7,
sentence 11 provides additional information to sentence 8 by the use of the word cable
which the reader can interpret as a superordinate that takes over. Therefore, nonadjacent
sentences, in the Posttest, are more strongly linked than the Pretest sentences of the
subject of essay 20.

The types of repetition that learners used in the Pretest/Posttest did not differ
much from those repetition used in the treatment.

Table 6.33 T-test results of Pretest/Posttest of Group B \ concerning types of repetition

Group Variables No. of Pairs Mean SD df 2-tail Sig.
Prsyn 1.96 1.72
B’ 25 24 .006
Pstsyn 3.56 2.04

Prcr .88 1.01

B' 25 24 .126
Pstcr 1.32 1.11

Prspp .80 1.00

B' 25 24 .057
Pstpp 1 48 1.33

Prsr 20.16 6.99

B’ 25 24 .001
Pstsr 25.76 6.47

Prep .00 .00

B' 25 24 .327
Pstcp .04 .20
 280

P ranto .0 4 .20
25 24 .031
P stan to .2 8 .5 4
p<05
Key:
prsyn: pretest syn on ym prsr : pretest sim p le repetition
pstsyn: p osttest syn on ym pstsr : p o sttest sim p le repetition
prcr : pretest co m p le x rep etition p rep : pretest c o m p le x paraphrase
pstcr : p osttest co m p le x rep etition p stcp : p o sttest co m p le x paraphrase
prspp : pretest sim p le p artial p araphrase pranto: pretest an ton ym
pstpp : posttest sim p le p artial p araphrase pstanto: p o sttest an ton ym

As is shown in table 6.33, there was a high significant difference in the use of
simple repetition and synonyms respectively in favour of the Posttest (p <.001; p =.006).
Furthermore, there was a significant difference in the use of antonyms in favour of the
Posttest (p =.031) as was the case in the antonyms between treatment 2 and 3 of Group
B’ (p = 013 in table 6.27).
If one considers the texts of Hemingway and Gibran, one finds that simple
repetition is used mostly, then comes synonyms (tables 4.3 & 4.10). Hence, the criteria
used in the study (Chapt. 4) and Hoey’s (1991) fit the results of the types of repetition in
the treatment and Pretest/Posttest. Although repetition does not always in itself make
satisfactory prose, it is reminded that learners were not at a stage of considering whether
their prose was satisfactory or not. They were at a stage of writing grammatically
correct and coherent sentences. The traditional advice to avoid repetition needs to be
couched with special care if it is not to interfere with the development of mature writing
skills (Hoey 1991).
Looking at the opening sentence in the Pretest/Posttest of the 3 participants in
Group B’, one finds that subject of Essay 1 had no opening sentence in the Pretest. In
fact, the whole paragraph was one sentence. As everyone knows, electricity comes from two

major resources which are, the fu el and the water, and because o f the overuse and manufacturing o f car
factories and machines, the percentage o f the fuel around the world is in danger as o f running out o f it

and that is the first cause o f electrical shortage (3). On the other hand, the same participant had
an Opening sentence in the Posttest. First o f all, there were two major causes fo r the telephone

shortage (4).

Subject of Essay 7 had an opening sentence in the Pretest and Posttest

respectively. The causes fo r the shortage are mainly two (3). The causes fo r the breakdown o f
 281

teleohone are mainly rw-o (3). The same pattern of sentence is used in the Pretest/Posttest.
Although the pattern seems a stereotype, the researcher believes that this is needed at the
less advanced stage. Later, learners will be more confident and develop a more mature
and personal style (figure 3.1). This statement is based on her 15 years of teaching
experience.
Subject of Essay 20 did not have an appropriate opening sentence in the Pretest
because the learner wrote, Electricity shortage in Lebanon is due to a major cause, which is the

war (3), whereas in the same paragraph he/she introduced another cause, Second, most o f the

time, Lebanon has suffered from the lack o ffu el (7). In fact, the opening sentence should have
included 2 major causes rather than a major cause. However, as the opening sentence is
linked to the next sentence and subsequent ones, Hoey (1991) would consider it as an
appropriate one. Further, subject of essay 20 had, in the Posttest, an opening sentence
according to the criteria of Hoey (1991) and Oshima and Hogue (1991) since the
controlling ideas, several causes, are part of the opening sentence, and since this
sentence has links with the next and subsequent sentences. Living in a country without proper

telephone communication has several causes (3).

Table 6.34 Links. bonds, ratio and opening sentence in the Pretest/Posttest of the
3 subjects in Group B’
Pretest Posttest
Links Bonds Ratio Links Bonds Ratio

Essay 1 1 4 1 .07 28 1 .04

Essay 7 29 1 .03 33 1 .03
Essay 20 32 2 .06 38 3 .08
Opening Sentence Opening Sentence
Essay 1 No Yes
Essay 7 Yes Yes
Essay 20 Yes Yes

In sum, considering links, bonds and ratio of bonds to links of learners in Group
B’ Pretest/Posttest, one observes that learners improved significantly in the links of the
Posttest Essay (p =.000 in table 6.33), but not in the bonds. Furthermore, there was no
significant difference in the ratio of bonds to links, whereas there was a significant
difference in the ratio of treatment 2 of Group B’ (p =.000 in table 6.23). Perhaps this is
due to the fact that learners had to draw on their personal knowledge to use the
 282

vocabulary pertaining to the Pretest/Posttest topic. Hence, the importance of vocabulary

teaching and a metacognitive approach. One also notices that all three participants had
an opening sentence in the Posttest Essay, whereas 1 of them did not have one in the
Pretest (table 6.34).
The 3 participants whose essays have been analysed in detail had more links in the
Posttest, equal number of bonds in the Pretest/Posttest except for participant of Essay 20
who had 1 more bond in the Posttest. Although nonadjacent links are of more interest
(Hoey 1991), it is interesting to notice that learners of Essay 7 and 20 went back to the
writing of adjacent ones in the Posttest (Appendix 8). Perhaps learners go back to a
simple procedure when they face some difficulties. The researcher considers this fact an
achievement, for her purpose was to teach learners that writing does not necessarily need
to be complex (see Chapter 3). Subject 1 had no opening sentence in the Pretest, but
had it in the Posttest Essay as all the others.

6.6 Comparing and Interpreting the Results of the Pretest/Posttest of Group A and
B’
Table 6.35 shows the significant results of the patterns of lexis in the Pretest/Posttest of
Group A and ET and the results of the 3 participants studied in detail.
Comparing the results of the Pretest/Posttest of Group A and B’, one observes:
• Both Group A and B’ had a high significant difference in the links in favour of the
Posttest (p <,001; p <.001 in table 6.35). One may conclude that metacognitive
learning of vocabulary is acquired due to the treatment.
• Group A had a significant difference in the Posttest bonds (p = 004 table 6.35),
whereas Group B’ did not. This reconfirms the assumption that timing of Group B’
was inapropriate though this group was more advanced.
• Both Group A and B’ had no significant difference in the ratio of bonds to links (in
tables 6.29 & 6.32). Perhaps this provides the claim that knowledge of vocabulary is
essential to essay writing, knowing that no target vocabulary teaching has taken
place in the Pretest/Posttest.
• There was a significant difference in favour of the Posttest of both Group A and B’
respectively in the synonyms (p <,001; P = 006), in simple repetition (p = 005;
 283

P £ 001) and in antonyms (p =.001; p = 031 in table 6.35). Learners seem to have
modelled the study-reading of literary text presented to them and improved further
since there was a significant difference in the use of antonyms.
• There was a significant difference in the simple partial paraphrase (spp) in favour of
the Posttest of Group A only (p = 041 in table 6.35).
• The essays of the 3 subjects analysed in detail in Group A and B’ increased the
number of links in the Posttest. All 3 participants in Group A increased the number
of bonds in the Posttest, but participants in Group B’ had equal number of bonds
except for the participant of essay 20.
• All 3 participants in Group A and B’ had an opening sentence in the Posttest, but one
in Group B’ had no opening sentence in the Pretest. The use of an opening sentence
is a further approach towards organization and cohesion since it guarantees the links
of next and subsequent sentences (table 6.35).

Table 6.35 Significant results of the Patterns of Lexis, types of repetition in the Posttest
of Group A and B'. and the results of the 3 participants studied in detail.

Posttest A
No. o f Pairs Mean SD df 2-tailSig

Pslink 25 35.64 10.50 24 .001

Psbnd 25 8.36 6.56 24 .004

Types of Repetitions
2-tail Sig. 2-tail Sig.
Pstsvn .000 Pstsr .005
Pstpp .041 Pstanto .001

Pretest Posttest
Links Bonds Ratio Links Bonds Ratio
Essay 1 18 2 .11 45 7 .16
Essay 7 14 2 .14 38 3 .08
Essay 20 25 2 .08 58 5 .09
Opening Sentence Opening Sentence
Essay 1 Yes Yes
Essay 7 Yes Yes
Essay 20 Yes Yes
 284

Posttest B ’
No. o f Pairs Mean SD df 2-tailSig

Pslink 25 32.44 6.86 24 .001

Psbnd 25 6.08 6.10 24 .060

Types of Repetitions
2-tail Sig 2-tail Sig.
Pstsyn .006 Pstanto .031
Pstsr .001

Pretest Posttest
Links Bonds Ratio Links Bonds Ratio
Essay 1 14 1 .07 28 1 .04
Essay 7 29 1 .03 33 1 .03
Essay 20 32 2 .06 38 3 .08
Opening Sentence Opening Sentence
Essay 1 No Yes
Essay 7 Yes Yes
Essay 20 Yes Yes
Key:
Pslink: Posttest link Psbnd: Posttest bond
Pstsyn: Posttesl synonym Pslsr. Postlest simple repetition
Pstanto: Postlest antonym Pstpp: Posttest partial paraphrase

6.7 Conclusion
Tables 6.36 and 6.37 summarise the quantitative, qualitative and the patterns of lexis in
terms of significant results and a list of the conclusive points of the study:

table 6.36 Significant results of the Counterbalancing Experiment. Patterns of Lexis and
types of repetition
Variables GENSC GENVC G&HVC G&HSC Essay 3
Pretest
Grp. B .037 .003 .001

Midtest
Grp. A .035 .018
Posttest
Grp. B' .043 .006
Correlation
Grp. A voc2
r = .630
Grp. B' vocl
r = .492
 285

Patterns of Lexis Types of Repetitions

Grp. A 2-tail Sig. Grp.A 2-tail Sig.
TL2 .001 lsyn2 .001
TB2 .001 Isr2 .001
R2 .005

Pslink .001 Pstsyn .001

Psbnd .004 Pstpp .041
Pstsr .005
Pstanto .001

G rp.B ’ 2-tail Sig. G rp.B ’ 2-tail Sig.

TL2 .015
TB2 .001
R2 .001
Isyn2 .005
Isr2 .000
Hsppl .045
Hcpl .003
Ranto3 .013

Pslink .001 Pstsyn .006

Pstsr .001
Pstanto .031
Key: p<05
Pslink: Posttest link Pstsyn: Posttest sy nonym
Psbnd: Posttest bond Pstpp. Posttest partial paraphrase
TL2: Total link treat. 2 Pstsr: Posttest simple repetition
TB2: Total bond treat. 2 Pstanto Posttest antonym
Ranto3: Ratio antonyms treat.3 Isyn2: Ind.Camp sy nonym treat.2
H cpl: HLWE complex paraphrase treat. 1 Isr2: Ind.Camp simple repetition treat.2
H sppl: HLWE partial paraphrase treat. 1

table 6.37 Significant results of the Attitudinal Questionnaire

Variables Group A Group A’ Group B’
• Quest. 7 (whether s-c helps writing
sent, with fewer sent. str. mistakes) .024

• Rating the improvement of the

learners' own essays .012
• Rating the teacher's knowledge
of the subject .027

• Rating the improv ement of the

learners' own essays .008

• Probing the teacher's method .039

• Enjoyment of text 2 (sy llabus) .001

• Enjoy ment of text 3 (sy llabus) .001
• Enjoy ment of text 3 (treatment) .022
 286

• The pretest results reveal that Group B did significantly better in 3 out of the 5
Pretests (GENSC, p = .037; GENVC, p = .003; GHVC, p = .001 in table 6.36).
• The midtest results reveal that Group A performed significantly better in GENVC (p
= .035) and in Essay 3 (p = .018 in table 6.36), regardless of the fact that it was less
advanced. These results may be the outcome of the treatment, which used the two
subskills, vocabulary and sentence-combining.
The posttest results reveal that Group B’ did significantly better again in GENVC (p =
.006) and GENSC (p = .043) as it did in the Pretests (table 6.36). However, there is no
significant difference between Group A’ and B’ in GHVC (table 6.3) although this
difference existed in the Pretest. Perhaps General Vocabulary and General Sentence-
combining learning need more than 8 weeks of treatment to maintain a long term effect
(8 weeks had passed before Group A’ was administered the Posttests as a result of the
nature of the Counterbalancing Experiment). In spite of this lapse of time, there is no
significant difference between both Group A’ and B’ in the Posttest of GHVC and
GHSC (table 6.3). That is, sentence-combining and vocabulary, the 2 subskills worked to
improve Essay performance. Again this might demonstrate the effectiveness of the
treatment, and its relative long term effect.

The Attitudinal Questionnaire, one of the treatment techniques in triangulation, probed

learners’ perception on different questions.
• Group A reveals a significant difference (p = .012 in table 6.37) in perceiving
themselves as improving in Essay writing. One may assume again that since their
perception corresponds to the significant difference in Essay 3 (p = .018 in table 6.36),
this may be due to the treatment. Eight weeks after the treatment was over, Group A’
rated itself significantly different (p = .008 in table 6. 37).
• The attitude of both Group A and B’ towards the treatment reveals that the results of
the 6 questions concerning vocabulary are consistent irrespective of the content of the
syllabus or primacy/recency of the treatment (table 6.7). The treatment could have easily
not been a counterbalanced experiment, and further investigation on its long term effect
could have been carried.
 287

• The 5 questions concerning sentence-combining in the Attitudinal Questionnaire are

not significant at the exception of question 7, probing whether sentence-combining helps
writing sentences with fewer sentence-structure mistakes (p = .024). The significant
difference is in favour of Group A which may suggest that sentence-combining is more
helpful to less advanced learners, and that more advanced ones perceive different needs
(tables 6.8 & 6.37)

• Enjoyment of the texts studied as part of the syllabus and the treatment also reveals
that advanced learners enjoy different topics compared to less advanced learners. Group
A’ reveals a significant difference concerning 2 texts given in the syllabus (Why We Fall
in Love and Diogenes and Alexander; p = .001 and p < .001 respectively in table 6.37).
On the other hand, Group IT, which is more advanced, preferred Gibran’s extracts, On
Reason and Passion and On Work (p = .022 in table 6.37). However, when rating the
choice of texts, Group A’ rated On Reason and Passion (rather than Why We Fall in
Love in table 6.15) equally to Hills Like White Elephants. This difference might be the
result of time which gave learners the possibility of thinking of the philosophy of Gibran.

• There is a high correlation between Essay 2 and vocabulary in Group A (r = .630),

but none between sentence-combining and Essay 2 (in table 6.17). The results of the
3 variables in Group A seem inconsistent. The instability of learners’ responses is a
problem from the viewpoint of reliability (Read 1993; Anderman and Rogers 1996).
• The Correlation of the 3 variables in Group B’ is different. There is only a
significant correlation between vocabulary and Essay 1 in Group B’ (r = .492 in
table 6.36). Yet there is a significant difference in Essay 3 of thetreatment in
both Experimental Group A and B’. Again this assumes that the treatment
with the 2 subskills is effective and its effectiveness is relatively long.

Summing up the comments given by learners in the Attitudinal Questionnaire that

both Group A’ and B ’, after having gone through the treatment and the syllabus,
agree on two main points.
• The importance of rewriting.
• The importance of vocabulary teaching.
 288

Group A kept its high spirit beyond the treatment period, whereas Group B7, which started
with the syllabus and then the treatment and which is more advanced in some of the sub skills
(as shown in the Pretests and Posttests) retained a poor self-image.

The results of the patterns of lexis show that

• In Group A, links, bonds and ratio of bonds to links are significantly different respectively
in favour of treatment 2 (T12 p = 001; Tb2 p = 001: R2 p = 005 in table 6.36). Learners seem to
have achieved lexical cohesion in this treatment.
• Simple lexical repetition and the use of synonyms are highly significant respectively in
treatment 2 of Group A (p < 001; p <.001 in table 6.36). Subjects seem to have modelled their
writing on the texts by Hemingway and Gibran set as a sample.
• Learners in Group A whose essays have been studied in detail reveal that all 3 learners
have increased the number of links in treatment 3 compared to treatment 1. Bonds also
increased in treatment 3 compared to treatment 1, except for subject 7 (in table 6.20).
• Learners had an opening sentence except subject 20 in treatment 2. However, this subject
wrote an opening sentence in treatment 3 (in table 6.28).
• In Group B7, links, bonds and ratio of bonds to links are significant respectively in favour
of treatment 2 (T12 p =.026: Tb2 p = .026; R2 p = .006 in table 6.23).
• Simple repetition (p = 000) is highly significant in treatment 2 of Group B7, but
complex paraphrase and simple partial paraphrase are respectively significant in
treatment 1 of Group B7 (p = 003; p = 045 in table 6.26). There are more
significant types of repetion in Group B7 than Group A. Perhaps this
reconfirms the fact that Group B7 is more advanced.
• The 3 learners in Group B7, whose essays have been studied in detail, increased their links
consistently in the 3 treatments, but decreased the number of bonds in treatment 3 (table
6.25). However, lexical cohesion seems to be in progress among the 3 learners.
• The Posttest of Group A has a significant difference in links and bonds respectively
(p < 001; p = 004 in table 6.36). Improvement has taken place and there is evidence that
learners7 discourse has matured since bonds reveal that sentences relate to each other in a
nonlinear way.
 289

• The 3 learners whose essays have been studied in detail have more than doubled their links
and increased the bonds in the Posttest (in table 6.31).
• All three subjects in Group A had an opening sentence in the Posttest.
• The types of links are more numerous in the Posttest (Group A) than in the treatment. The
significant ones are synonyms (p < 001), simple repetitions (p =.005) and antonyms (p
= 001) (in table 6.36). The additional significant type of repetition in the Posttest is a
further reconfirmation of the improvement as well as the enrichment of essay performance.
• The Posttest Essay of Group B’ reveals a high significant difference in links (p < 001) but
not in the bonds or ratio (in table 6.36).
• The 3 participants, whose essays have been analysed in detail, have increased their links in
the posttest but not the number of bonds with the exception of subject 3 of essay 20 (in
table 6.34)

• All three participants of Group B’ had an opening sentence in the Posttest essay.
However, participant 1 had none in the Pretest but made it up in the Posttest (in table 6.35).

Finally, one may draw the following inferences:

• If the timing of Group B’ had been more appropriate and learners' self-image
better viewed, those learners would have achieved better, taking into account that they
were more advanced learners in the first place.
• The Attitudinal Questionnaire reveals that less advanced learners prefer texts that
are more direct and less philosophical (in table 6.37).
• Learners achieved significantly in the texts that they found slightly difficult.
Hence enjoyment needs not always to be inhibited by linguistic difficulty since a text
can itself be an incentive to overcome linguistic barriers. Yet, one should not forget the
role that the teacher has to play in such circumstances (Brumfit 1985; Carter and Long
1991; Carter and Nash 1995), and that time may play the role of a scaffolding agent.
• Perhaps some texts and discourse genre lend themselves to more lexical cohesion
as is the case in treatment 2. In fact, Mosenthal (1985) and Hoey (1991) agree to this
view.
• It is assumed that the number of taught vocabulary, which was the largest in
treatment 2, contributed significantly in links and bond results in both Groups.
 290

• As 2 of the subjects in Group A and B ’, whose essays have been studied in detail
reverted back to adjacent links in the Posttest, one may assume that subjects learned to
go back to simple structure when facing difficulties. It is recalled that learners had to
draw on their personal lexical knowledge in the writing of the Pretest/Posttest Essay.
Hence, the results of the patterns of lexis in the text assume that learners in the
experimental Group A and B’ improved their production of vocabulary and cohesion as a
result of the experiment. Those results reconfirm the results of the Multivariate Analysis
(table 6.16) and the results of the Attitudinal Questionnaire. Further, the significant
difference in the bonds proves the nonlinear links, which is a characteristic of mature
learners. One can also assume that learners modelled their writing on the texts by Gibran
and Hemingway since the types of patterns revealed a significant difference in the simple
repetition and synonyms as was the case in the modelled texts. The use of synonyms
could be considered as an index of growth (Stotsky 1983) as antonyms could, since both
Groups had significant results in those types.
 291

CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION

Chapter seven draws conclusions from this study. It is subdivided into three
main parts: 1. a summary of the main results; 2. a discussion of limitations of the study;
3. recommendations for further research.

This study has investigated the teaching of writing through the use of vocabulary
and sentence-combining. Those 2 subskills have been taught implicitly through study-
reading of literary texts and explicitly through a variety of strategies used to teach
vocabulary and sentence-combining.

The study is worthwhile since it has used vocabulary, still neglected in Lebanon,
and a difficult skill to teach and measure. It is also worthwhile for its use of sentence-
combining that has been commonly shelved in Lebanon though quite commonly found in
textbooks. The significant results underline the importance of the study within a context
of subjects lacking the motivation of learning an L2 and the widely held claim that
teaching writing is relatively difficult.
7.1 Summary of Main Results

7.1.1 Initial Analysis

COUNTERBALANCING EXPERIMENT

i G<n: wfe

jo.B H.Afoc.) .

G IB R A N & HEM INGW AY SYLLA BU S I Gen.S-C j j Quest. [A '

! Q u e st I •______ _
Back. J jc .tH .V o c .;
GRCJP Inform.-j ’•
B Q u e st.rj,4 '',:0i«i.-8HC ',\ SY L LA B U S 1 G cn.V bc. 1G IBR A N & HEM INGW AY j O tw .& G | j O u ^ l D B'

v ! j R p |i7
: Gen.S-C

Fipure 4.1

Figure 4.1 shows again the design used in the Counterbalancing Experiment whose aim is
to investigate the following hypothesis:
Learners who are taught Vocabulary and Sentence-combining within the context o f
study-reading texts in literature will perform better in their Essay than those who are
taught writing without Vocabulary and Sentence-combining within the context o f study-
reading texts. It is acknowledged, however, that in both cases the topic of the Essays is
an outcome of the study-reading texts in literature.
The Counterbalancing Experiment was chosen to control the primacy and or
recency effects of the syllabus on learners. Yet this design had its drawback and
difficulties. The Posttests were assigned to Group A 8 weeks after the treatment was
over, due to the nature of the experiment. Further, when Group B became experimental
i.e. B’, the semester was at its end, and learners were busy catching up with their major
courses that they consider more important, hence, missing some sessions. Also the
 293

nature of the experiment required tests to be carried out as Pretests, Midtests and
Posttests which made learners feel miserable and nervous. It also made the teacher feel
unconfortable because, in her opinion, tests should not be cumbersome and they might
affect the output results, let alone the fact that there is a syllabus to follow. In addition,
the administration had its reservations in accepting to alter the syllabus. However, in
spite of the difficulties faced, a number of significant results have been obtained and
disolayed in table 7.0.
table 7.0 Pretest Results
Variables X of G rp. A X of Grp.B Sig of F

PRGENSC 34.24 43.52 .037

PRGENVC 47.52 57.36 .003

PRGHVC 33.80 46.76 .001

Key:
PRGENSC: pretest general sentence-combining
PRGENVC. pretest general vocabulary
PRGHVC . pretest Gibran and Hemingway vocabulary

In the Pretests, Group B (control) performed significantly better in 3 out of 5 Pretests.

That is, General Sentence-combining (GENSC p = .037); General Vocabulary (GENVC
p = .003); and Gibran and Hemingway Vocabulary (G&HVC p = .001) (table 7.0).
7.1.2 Multivariate Analysis
Table 7.1 Midtest results
M idtcst Results of Group A and B

Variables X of Grp. A X of Grp.B Sig of F

MTGENSC 62.04 58.96 .375

MTGENVC 62.38 54.70 .035

THRESSAY 70.60 64.92 .018

Key MTGENSC : midtest general sentence-combining

MTGENVC : midtesl general vocabulary’
THRESSAY . third essay (in the experiment)
 294

Table 7.1 shows the significant difference of 2 out of 3 Midterm tests of Group A. It is
interesting to observe that although Group B (control) was more advanced, Group A did
significantly better in GENVC (p = .035) and Essay 3 (p =.018) as a result of the
treatment. The results also imply that since Group A caught up in GENSC, Group A
progressed on this measure more than Group B, from the baseline. Hence, the results
imply that teaching with the two subskills, vocabulary and sentence-combining within the
context of study-reading texts, gives better results (tables 6.1 & 7.0).

table 7.2 Posttest Results of Group A’ and B’

Vanables X of G rp A’ X of G rp B ’ Sig F

PSGENSC 64.99 67.29 .043

PSGENVC 59.16 65.44 .006

PSGHVC 72.25 76.43 .111

PSGHSC 78.43 76.21 .404

PSESSAY 70.35 70.21 .945

p < .05
Key: PSGENSC: posttest general sentence-combining PSGENVC. posttest general vocabular
PSESSAY: posttest essay PSGHVC: posttest Gibran Hemingway vocabulary
PSGHSC : posttest Gibran Hemingway sentence-combining
i

Table 7.2 dispays the significant and interesting results of the Posttest.
• Although the Midtest results revealed that Group A caught up with Group B
(control), in the Posttest Group B’ regained its apparent supremacy in General
Vocabulary and General Sentence-combining respectively (p =.006; p =.043 in table
i 7.2). Perhaps acquiring general vocabulary and general sentence-combining need
more than the time allocated to the treatment.
• The nonsignificant difference in the PSGHVC could still be considered as an
improvement in favour of Group A’ since they have apparently closed the significant
gap since the Pretest.
 295

• Further, the nonsignificant difference in the result of the Posttest Essay between
Group A’ and B7 is a possible proof of long term effectiveness of the treatment, since
Group A performed as well as Group B7 eight weeks after input.

7.1.3 Essay Analyses

table 7.3 Results of the analysis of the 3 Essays in the treatment of Group A & B’

Group Variable Sig F Group Variable Sig F

A B’

Essay 1 .416 Essay 1 .464

Essay 2 .287 Essay 2 .286
Essay 3 .018 Essay 3 .021

p<05

Table 7.3 reveals the results of analysing the essays in the treatment of both groups.
* There is a significant difference in Essay 3 of the treatment in both Group A and B7
respectively (p = .018; p = .021 in tables 7.3 and 6.16) but none in the first two essays.
These results may reflect that learners need some time to become aware of the
procedure used regardless whether they are advanced or not. Perhaps one could
consider this lapse of time as the point of readiness or using Vygostky’s term the
zone o f proximal developtment (ZPD).

The results of the analysis of the uses of lexical and cohesive devices and syntax of the
Essays in the treatment of Group A and B7 are charted in table 7.4. These features
display the lexical and syntactic devices which are part of the two subskills, vocabulary
and sentence-combining.
 296

Table 7 .4 R esu lts o f featu res a n a ly se d in E ssa y s in th e T rea tm en t a n d P retest/P osttest o f G roup A & B ’
Group A Group B’
Treatments T reatm en ts
Percentage of lexical & cohe. dev. Percentage of lexical & cohe. dev.

ESSPV clut.wds. voc. used cor.conj. cor. trans. Essay clut.wds. voc. used cor.conj. cor. trans.
1 3% 69% 61% 20% 1 2% 62% 46% 19%
2 3% 32% 61% 23% 2 5% 32% 42% 13%
3 3% 29% 66% 19% 3 3% 24% 46% 17%

Percentage of Syntax (NtA) Percentage of Syntax (NtB’)

ESoav frag, run-on sent.struct. Essay frag, run-on sent.struct.
1 1.5% 6% 7% 1 3% 3% 9%
2 2% 4% 8% 2 2% 5% 3%
3 2% 3% 5% 3 4% 1% 4%
Lexical & cohe. dev. Lexical & cohe. dev.
clut.wds. voc. used cor.conj. cor. trans. clut.wds. voc. used cor.conj. cor. trans.

Pretest 3% 50% 30% 16% Pretest 3% 50% 45% 37%

(NtA) 5 out of 10 (CA) (CA) (NtB’) 5 out of 10 (CB’) (CB’)

Posttest 4% 50% 22% 25% Posttest 5% 50% 45% 32%

(NtA) 6 out of 12 (CA) (CA) (NtB’) 6 out of 12 (CB’) (CB’)

Percentage of Syntax (NtA) Percentage of Syntax (NtB’)

frag, run-on sent.struct. frag, run-on sent.struct.

Pretest 5% 12% 19% Pretest 4% 11% 8%

Posttest 4% 4% 11% Posttest 4% 8% 10%

T-units & Average of Pretest Posttest T-units & Average of Pretest Posttest
Other features the 3 treatm. Other features the 3 treatm.
Percentage of NtA Percentage of NtB’
main cl. 85 % 64 % 81 % main cl. 89 % 76 % 78 %
subord. cl. 46 % 25 % 30 % subord. cl. 50% 37% 21%
correct sent. 85 % 64 % 81 % correct, sent. 89 % 76 % 78 %

Percentage of CA Percentage of CB’

other marked them. 15 % 24 % 20 % other marked theme 31 % 20 % 18 %
conj begin, sent. 9% 10 % 5% conj. begin, sent. 5% 5% 2%

Key: N tA : T otal num ber o f se n te n c e s in G roup A N tB ’: T otal n u m b er o f se n ten ce s in G roup B ’

C A . C orrect n um ber o f se n te n c e s in G rou p A C B ’ : C orrect n u m b er o f se n te n c e s in G rou p B ’

• The total average of clutter words of both Group A and B’ is the same (N=9, 3% vs
N=10, 3%). Yet, this percentage is low. Perhaps clutter words were not much of a
problem, because learners were taught vocabulary. In fact, the percentage of clutter
words increased in the Posttest of both Group A and B’ respectively (4% and 5%)
probably because learners had to draw on their own knowledge to use lexis.
 297

• It is interesting to observe that Group A has a higher total average of vocabulary use
(in the 3 treatments), a higher total average of correct conjunctions and transitions
respectively (N=130, 43%vs N=118, 39%; N=188, 63% vs N=134, 45%; N=62,
21% vs N=49, 16%). Again this might reconfirm that timing of Group A was more
appropriate, regardless of the fact that it was less advanced. Perhaps the self-
confidence of Group A reflected in the Attitudinal Questionnaire also affected these
results.
• The use of appropriate syntax seems to be slightly harder to acquire than that of lexis
when learners are less advanced. Group B’ had a less total average of the number of
run-ons and sentence structures respectively (N=9, 3% vs N= 13, 4%; N=16, 5% vs
N=20, 7%). Nevertheless, the difference between these 2 groups is 1%.
• It is important to notice the decrease in the number of syntax of Group A in the
Posttest as compared to the Pretest, concerning all three elements (i.e. fragment, run-
on and sentence-combining), knowing that this group was less advanced. Further,
Group B’ decreased its number of run-on sentences but kept the same percentage of
the number of fragments and increased the number of sentence structure. Perhaps
this is the result of more advanced learner who allow themselves some freedom in
writing and end up with syntax mistakes. This observation stems from the researcher
experience who noticed that self-confident learners tend to abide less by academic
writing.
• T-units revealed that the total average of correct sentences and subordinates in the
treatment is more numerous in Group B’, though learners were asked to use simple
sentences if possible. One cannot deny that teaching learners to use simple sentences
is a paradox, for complex sentences are acknowledged by most writers as part of
mature writing. This is shown through the results of the analysis of writers’ T-units
in Group B’, detected as more advanced.
• Other marked themes were more numerous in the treatment of Group B \ Again this
is assumed to be a sign of more mature writing.
 298

Both Group A and B’ used conjunctions wrongly initially, but they both reduced its
use in the Posttest. Hence, one may infer that the treatment, which discouraged the
use of conjunctions at the beginning of sentences, had a positive result.

Summing up the above concluding points, one may state that the treatment has
significant results on both Group A and B’, regardless of the possible influencing
variables of primacy/recency or groups of advanced/less advanced learners, and
regardless of the fact that the Posttest was administered to Group A 8 weeks after the
treatment. The results of the study are also important for it reveals that writing, which
is viewed by L2 learners in Lebanon, as a difficult task, could be overcome by the use of
the 2 subskills (vocabulary and sentence-combining) within the context of reading text
and within the setting of the teachers’ metacognitive knowledge of the objectives set.

1.1.4 Analysis of Pattern of Lexis

Table 7.5 Significant results of the Patterns of Lexis in the treatment and Posttest of Group A and B’

Patterns of Lexis Types of Repetition

Grp. A 2-tail Sig. Grp.A 2-tail Sig.

TL2 .001 Isyn2 .001
TB2 .001 Isr2 .001
R2 .005

Pslink .001 Pstsyn .001

Psbnd .004 Pstpp .041
Pstsr .005
Pstanto .001

Grp.B’ 2-tail Sig. G rp.B ’ 2-tail Sig.

TL2 .015
TB2 .001
R2 .001
Isyn2 .005
Isr2 .001
Hsppl .045
Hcpl .003
Ranto3 .013

Pslink .001 Pstsyn .006

Pstsr .001
Pstanto ,031
 299

Key: p<05
Pslink: Posttest link Pstsyn: Posttest synonym
Psbnd: Posttest bond Pstpp: Posttest partial paraphrase
TL2: Total link treat.2 Pstsr. Posttest simple repetition
TB2: Total bond treat.2 Pstanto: Posttest antonym
Ranto3: Ratio antonyms treat. 3 Isvn2: Ind.Camp synonym treat.2
Hcpl: HLWE complex paraphrase treat. 1 Isr2: Ind.Camp simple repetition treat.2
Hsppl: HLWE partial paraphrase treat. 1

• It is interesting to observe that there is a significant difference in the links, bonds and
ratios of bonds to links respectively in both Group A and B’ in treatment 2 (A,
• p = 001; p = 001, p =.005; B’p = 015; p <3001; p <,001 in table 7.5). This perhaps
implies that treatment 2, which used cause as a genre, is mostly appropriate.
Further, the percentage of vocabulary used in treatment 2 is higher than treatment 3
(in table 6.24).

• It is also interesting to see that the same type of repetition (i.e synonym and simple
repetition respectively) is significant in treatment 2 of both Group A and B’ (A, p
_<.001; p <.001; B, p =.005; p <.001). These results may reconfirm the fact that
learners modelled the sample texts used in the treatment. Yet, Group B’ also has
other types of repetition in treatment 1, that is, simple partial paraphrase p =.045;
complex paraphrase p = 003 and in treatment 3, antonym p =.013 in table 7.5). Again
this may reconfirm that Group B’, being more advanced, used a wider range of types
of repetition.
• It is also interesting to observe that both Group A and B’ had a high significant
difference in the links of the Posttest (pjSOOl; p =<,001). However, only Group A
had a significant difference in the bonds (p = 004 in table 7.5). This is somehow
unexpected since it is Group B’, the more mature one, which is assumed to show
links that are nonlinear and long range distant. Again timing might be the reason for
such a result.
• In fact, the types of repetition used in the Posttest of Group A are more numerous
and indicate improvement and maturity in discourse (synonym p < .001; simple partial
paraphrase p =.041; simple repetition p =.005; antonym p =.001). The Posttest of Group
 300

B’ had 3 significant types of repetition (synonyms, p = 006; simple repetition

p <,001, antonyms, p= .031 in table 7.5).

Summing up the results of the patterns of lexis, one can draw the conclusion that
the patterns of lexis reconfirm that the treatment had a positive effect in terms of lexical
cohesion which is an outcome of vocabulary, one of the taught subskills. Lexis, in the
subjects’ essays is shown to be prominent because of the role and significant difference
of the different types of repetitions across sentences. Further, the different types of
repetitions may also indicate that learners acquired more than what was presented to
them in the text. What goes in mind of the learner and what we know of it is just the tip
of the human iceberg.

7.2 Limitations of the Study

No research study is perfect, and most educational researchers are bound to find
limitations with the methods they use. Some of the drawbacks of this study are the
following:
• The large number of tests and their triple use was cumbersome especially for learners
who believed they were being overtested. Unlike theoretical designs of research, the
human face of it is sometimes difficult and challenging to subjects as well as to the
researcher .
• The timing for the second experimental Group B’ was inconvenient. Learners were
approaching the end of the semester and were absent during some class sessions, let
alone the more general impression that some of these L2 learners are far from being
interested in learning L2. They consider their major as their chief and ultimate goal.
• Starting with the syllabus built a low self-image with learners of Group B’, which
made them feel they were poor achievers although results proved the contrary. Had
the design not been a counter balancing one, learners might have not built a low self-
image and perhaps better results would have been the outcome.
• The nature of the Counterbalancing Experiment led the Posttest to be administered
to Group A 8 weeks after the treatment. However, this design allowed the
 301

researcher to test the effectiveness of the treatment on a relatively longer period of

time
• The time of the experiment was short. Had both Group A and B been Experimental
simultaneously, effects of the experiment would have been analysed further,
comparison of learners’ regression would have been investigated in and reliability
better determined.
• It was difficult sometimes to harmonise theory and practice. The texts chosen often
started sentences with conjunctions, whereas learners were asked not to start
sentences in this way, but this is apt to happen in authentic situations.
• Although one of the purposes of sentence-combining was to teach learners to write
simple sentence, sometimes this issue was problematic. Philosophical topics such as
the texts in treatment 3 lend themselves to rather complex sentence writing. The
paradox of teaching sentence-combining by using study-texts which have simple
sentences is resolved through the notion of appropriacy (chapt.4).
• The number of subjects (50) though a valid sample, was not necessarily
representative of the larger population of the university, context, time span, reading
of Hemingway and Gibran texts, vocabulary target and sentence-combining
techniques were relatively limited.
• The correlation of the three variables: vocabulary, sentence-combining and Essay
performance might have had better results if more time had been allotted to the
experiment. However, much more goes into the learners’ mind than the observable
superficial characteristics.
• It is also difficult to measure exactly what words have been acquired through
vocabulary learning, keeping in mind the dichotomy between comprehension and
production, the variety of genres and topics, the instability of the learners’ responses
and the fact that learners know more than what they produce. These might
problematise the reliability of test results. Further, the number of vocabulary items
was limited so that conclusions can only be drawn with caution.
 302

• The different texts used to measure vocabulary had their limitations. For example,
distractive items in a multiple choice test could be easily mistaken for the correct
ones, considering the fact that learners are L2 subjects.
• If vocabulary to be taught, are similar in form or content, this renders learning more
difficult. If they are difficult to utter, this again renders learning more difficult (Read
2000). These issues, at the time of the experiment, were not known to the
researcher.
• Clutter words, which have been considered as errors in the study, may be strategies
suitable for teaching (Read 2000).
• In the Classroom Transcript Analysis, the third aspect of the triangular technique,
some problems were encountered such as the ill-formed responses due to the
different teacher/learner’s schemata, different coherence patterns revealed through
the use of different cohesive devices and classroom discourse and pedagogic tensions
are perhaps inevitable.
• The patterns of lexis used on the 250 essays of learners might be too insubstantial to
test many claims. Alternatively, Hoey’s model (1991) is exploratory here since it has
mostly been used on texts in books rather than on students’ essay performance.
Nevertheless, the best evidence of cohesion in a text is found in the readers for
themselves, and to a certain extent, cohesion among lexis differs from person to
person (Hoey 1991).

7.3 Issues Arising From This Study

7.3.1 Action Research
If the researcher considers the main issues in Action Research discussed in Chapter I, she
finds that the 2 essential points emphasised by Stenhouse (1981) have been followed.
That is, the actual study followed a scientific procedure, and the researcher has, as much
as possible, followed a critical-reflective ownership of the process and the results.
Furthermore, the topic of the study has been experienced as a problem by the
researcher. The idea of the teacher-researcher is of crucial importance for the future
 303

development of the profession and the curriculum in general (Giroux and McLaren in
Pookewitz 1987).
As a result of this, the researcher study was partly action research since the topic was
rooted in daily teaching routines, and the research is basically committed to emancipate
individuals from the status quo. Yet, some problems were faced: the texts chosen for
the experiment interfered with the syllabus, and there was difficulty in getting approval
from the administration.
In her applied field of research, the researcher followed some of the framework
stated by Gebhard et al. (in Richards and Nunan 1990). That is, the approach included
analysing transcripts of lessons, an uncommon practice in Lebanon, samples of students’
written work and, among other frameworks, analysing textbook materials to inspect
sentence-combining methods that have been used.
However, as a result of her personal reflection on research, she realised that not
all teachers would like to carry out a rigorous and systematic inquiry of scientific
procedures nor are all teachers skilled in analysis and introspection beside the fact that
some see the process as an extra load to their normal work (Hollingsworth 1997).
Perhaps Teacher Centers, as described by Gebhard (in Richards and Nunan 1990) can
serve as a substitute to research. Teacher-researchers have also to consider the
limitations of the research impact since action research may be conducted in the context
of one’s own students, schools or universities (James and Ebbutt in Nixon 1981). In
fact, Action Research is one of the several routes to professional developtment.
Research in Lebanon and specifically action research is rarely practised or
encouraged. Professional development rather takes the form of meetings to discuss the
syllabi and anchor essay of students. What remains a major problem is the tactful way
of oresenting changes to the administration and the difficult task of convincing teachers
of meeting the needs of learners in the universities of Lebanon.
However, as a result of the collaboration between LAU and the University of
Leicester and the celebration of LAU 75th anniversary, a day conference was presented
and teachers from schools and universities were invited to give a 20 minute workshop
based on Action Research (LAU 2000). In fact, Action Research has reconfirmed my
 304

belief in the importance of introspection or self-reflection on one’s work whether

academic or not and on one’s actions at the end of the day.

7.3.2 Vocabulary Teaching

There are areas which are still considered problematic in the vocabulary research here,
one of which is the extent to which individual differences affect vocabulary acquisition
and the relationship between strategy use and proficiency (Nattinger in Carter and
McCarthy 1988; Aitchison in Anderman and Rogers 1996; McDonough 1999), and there
is much more to learn about vocabulary knowledge than the associative links between L2
and its equivalent word in L I. Words as such, for content and form reasons, could be
more difficult to acquire than other words (Read 2000). Also few studies make
comparisons between learners from different backgrounds acquiring the same L2
(Channel 1988; McCarthy 1992; Bensoussan in Amaud and Bejoint 1992; Aitchison in
Andelman and Rogers 1996; McDonough 1999). Some authors believe that the teaching
of vocabulary is still neglected and learners need different learning strategies
(Zimmerman 1998; McDonough 1999). Further, poor achievers show little awareness
of learning new words and no interest in learning words in context (Ahmed in Meara
1989; Read 2000).

The correlation of vocabulary and Essay performance has shown some inconsistency in
the Counterbalancing Experiment. It is also commonly recognized that there is an
asymmetry between comprehension and production. Comprehending an item does not
necessarily guarantee its production in the writing skill and learners know more than they
produce. And yet, assessments of progress in a language often include an estimate of the
number of words a learner produces (Purves and Purves 1986; Linnarud 1986; Nattinger
in Carter and McCarthy 1988; Engber 1993; Laufer and Nation 1995; Hazenberg and
Hulstijn 1996) as is the case in both universities, AUB and LAU.
Unless teachers and administrators look with an open mind at these problems;
unless teachers moniter learners towards self-evaluation strategies which contribute
heavily to the ability of being an autonomous learner, the range of academic language
use in an L2 at university level and others, is too tedious and complex a dragon to slay
 305

(Shaughnessy 1979; Purves and Purves 1986; Nation 1990; Hatch and Brown 1996; Van
Lier 1996; Coady and Huckin 1997; McDonough 1999).

7.3.3 Sentence-combining
Several different approaches to writing have been discussed. Each approach has
advantages and drawbacks. Some would fit better in certain circumstances than in
others, some would fit learners but not others. Hence, it is wiser to say there are no
such thing as the writing approach, but rather there are writing approaches, for writing
strategies are not universally successful (McDonough 1999).

In the light of the findings of the study and in the light of the instructional
contexts suited to the institution where the researcher works (LAU) and the needs of the
students working in English as an L2 or L3 language, the teaching of writing through
reading and the use of the two subskills, one of which is sentence-combining, is thought
to be an appropriate means of writing instruction. As a result of sentence-combining, the
topic is explored with more ease; the introduction, development and conclusion of a text
are more carefully considered. Preparation for the writing experience, among which the
researcher believes are vocabulary and sentence-combining, may be particularly
important for adult learners who may have developed a fear of writing in a foreign
language (Kizza 1993; Thonhauser 1999). Further, there are good reasons why
traditional pedagogic grammar has held sway, even with the advent of the
communicative revolution. Contextual awareness of grammar helps the development of
discourse (Hughes and McCarthy 1998).

It is not assumed that sentence-combining activities and vocabulary will act as a

panacea to the problems of writing nor is the reading/writing approach. There is more
to writing than language skills. However, it is hoped that this approach would lighten
the burden of learners by providing them with interesting content that they can draw
from, and that sentence-combining and vocabulary techniques focus their attention on
two components of form, that would lead writing towards clarity in expression.
 306

7.3.4 Using Literature

Sentence-combining and vocabulary form an integrated part of study-reading texts in
literature. There is a general consensus that literature is an object worth studying (Talif
1995; Maley 1997), and for optimal learning to take place, students should be interested
in the choice of the material, for interest leads to motivation (Hazenberg and Hulstijn
1996; Muncie 2000). These two subskills have been studied by the researcher within the
context of English university level and among learners whose desire to learn and
specifically to write in an L2 cannot be taken for granted (Pfaff 1987; Birdsong 1989;
Ringbom 1987; Thonhauser 1999).
Yet a paradox arose from the writing of sentences. Although by simple sentence
the researcher meant developing the use of different syntactic format such as simple,
compound and/ or complex sentences, some topics need the use of complex sentences.
In the view of the researcher learners at this stage do not need to write about complex
topics or perhaps these complex topics could be simplified in their writing. And yet the
views of teachers, in general, consider simple writing as poor writing. Here again a
dichotomy between practice and theory arises. This is apt to happen as it did with
Hemingway whose style was considered, by some critics, as simple and monotonous.
And yet simple writing needs not be childish writing. In fact, both Gibran and
Hemingway demonstrate how simple language goes with profound writing.

7.3.5 Implications
There is no doubt that vocabulary teaching is a must for academic achievement, and the
importance of this subskill needs to be restored in practice as it has been in research and
theory, taking into account the possible asymetry between comprehension and
production and word complexities. Sentence-combining seems to be unrecognized or
considered traditional by many researchers and teachers though commonly found in
textbooks. However, in this study it appears as an essential subskill if used with specific
objectives within the context of paragraph and essay performance. Then this approach
becomes generative. Both vocabulary and sentence-combining are essential parts, of
 307

essay performance that need to be taught to contribute to the ability of becoming an

au+onomous learner.
Looking in retrospect to the classroom analyses, the researcher’s method was
basically didactic, traditional rather than teaching communicative. However, in a culture
where learners are spoon-fed and are hardly being aware of responsility, the didactic
method is best suited.

7.4 Recommendations for Further Investigation

Further investigations may be carried out, concerning the following:
• The types of referential errors in vocabulary as well as the remedy for such errors
were not accounted for.
• In classifying the mistakes of learners as fragments and run-ons, further types of
mistakes, were labelled sentence structure. These could be studied and analysed
(using contrasting analysis of LI) to produce exercises like those used for fragment
and run-on in Oshima and Hogue (1991).
• Lexis must take a central place in our language syllabuses in terms of practice.
• The writing course should be coordinated with other courses so that writing is seen
as an essential university requirement. Hence, learners will value writing, and this
motivation will then stimulate learners whose need of learning the language is
dubious.
• It has been noted that textbooks, in general, use sentence-combining as an
independent entity rather than an integral part of reading/writing. It is preferable to
have sentence-combining exercises as an integral part of reading/writing
development.
• To some extent, the same can be said about vocabulary. As long as there is a
possible dichotomy between comprehension and production, textbooks should
provide exercises for both.
 308

• Since research emphasizes the effect of LI on L2 and that some psychometric and
assessment of L2 vocabulary are different, perhaps L2 vocabulary learning should
also have a frequency count based on different criteria.
• Most studies in language learning have been cross-sectional with the exception of a
few (Altman in Coady and Huckin 1997), and little is known about the longitudinal
acquisition of second language writing skills (Fulcher 1997; McDonough 1999).
What is observable in the classroom is just the tip of the human iceberg. Perhaps
further longitudinal studies should be carried within formal as well as informal
learning situation, for learning takes place both in the classroom and in the natural
environment. Then, a condition of confluence o f opportunity may result (Altman in
Coady and Huckin 1997).
• The very nature of experiments leads to the fragmentation of a study. Hence,
elements such as motivation, self-image and learners’ objectives are neglected. This
study shows the importance of self-image and motivation for positive results and
long term improvement. Hence, the need in practical terms for a rapprochement of
different fields such as linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics etc...
• There is more to writing than the sum of separate parts. This view underpins all
work on discourse (Hoey 1991; McDonough 1999).
• Finally, the researcher hopes that her study, which has focused on two subskills that
are in need but neglected field in Lebanon, has contributed to the raising awareness
of the responsible to the fact that sentence-combining and lexis are part of the
backbone construct of writing. To be learned effectively, both vocabulary and
sentence-combining are to be taught within a framework of study reading texts,
awareness, need and autonomy.
 309

7.5 Concluding Comments

As long as the multidimensional constructs of writing are not pinned down, and as long
as language learning is a vastly complex task tightly interwoven with sociolinguistics,
psycholinguistic development among others, emphasis should be drawn on making
learners aware of the learning strategies and what learning procedures fit them best as
individuals, for awareness is a means of promoting learning. Furthermore, there is a
continuous need of motivating L2 learning, for the urge of learning is not there to the
same extent as it is in LI, and there is a need for a continuous reflection on classroom
experience ploughed back into practice by the teacher-researcher and wisdom o f
practice.
Furthermore, it seems that studies on L2 mental lexicon are not followed
through, questions raised remain unanswered, arguments sketched remain undeveloped
and proposals advanced unsubstantiated, continuity of treatment and perseverance of
reflection on the part of researchers are of absolute necessities if any hope of making
significant advances is to be reached (Singleton 1999).

Finally, referring back to complaints from subject specialists which have and still
are hammering the ears of English instructors at the English Department of AUB and
LAU, one may retort that since language teaching is currently viewed as a
multidimensional construct, it is unjustified to support the claim that teachers are the sole
cause of any problems. A conference on Multilingualism and Mulliculturalism in
Lebanon (LAU 1999) drew the attention on the fact that some signs and labels written in
English in multilingual contexts contain errors. This may be seen as steps in the erosion
of standards, especially because they are public, visible and relatively permanent
(Cortazzi 1999). Perhaps, the researcher believes, that this public erosion is also a
reflection of a certain laisser-aller of actual times. This erosion of standards seem to
take place in England as well. Children’s English and Math are below average as
compared to other industrial countries. Parents are displeased and moving their children
to Grammar Schools (BBC 2000).
 310

And if changes are to take place, since we live in a relative universe which seeks
adjustment, the pendulum of changes is to keep swinging between the Old and the
New.

The Old, for it has passed the test of time.

The new, for we still have much to learn.
 SPECIAL NOTE

THIS ITEM IS BOUND IN SUCH A

MANNER AND WHILE EVERY

EFFORT HAS BEEN MADE TO

REPRODUCE THE CENTRES, FORCE

WOULD RESULT IN DAMAGE

 311

A p p e n d ix 1

Pretest/Midtest/Posttest

General Sentence-combining

Combine the following cluster of sentences by means of meaningful

conjunctions (eg. and), relative pronouns (eg. who) and subordinators
(eg. as, while).
Follow the indication next to each cluster. Delete words if
necessary and punctuate appropriately.

Here is an example: Our Constitution guarantees

relative pron. certain rights.
+
conjunction The rights are inalienable.
It does not guarantee 'the
right to die.'

Answer: Our Constitution guarantees

certain rights which are
inalienable, but it does not
guarantee 'the right to die'

I. 1.Doctors take the Hippocratic oath. relative pron.

The oath obliges them to sustain life. + conjunct.
The oath obliges them not to practice
mercy killing.

^ Hospitals sometimes demean patients. relative pron.

The patients are hopelessly ill. +
The patients want to die with dignity conjunct.

3. This fact causes concern. relative pron.

The concern is among many American. +
The Americans want to exercise choice. conjunction
The choice is in how they live.
The choice is in how they die.
)
4. 'Living wills' are increasingly popular. subord.
Technology produces unwanted outcomes.

5. Many Americans see suicide as an option. relative

The percentage is two-thirds, to be exact. + pron.
The option is defensible. +
^ The option is for patients. relative
They have no hope for improvement. pron.
 314

A p p e n d ix 2

Pretest/Posttest

Gibran and Hemingway Sentence-combining

Combine the following cluster of sentences by means of meaningful

conjunctions (eg. and), relative pronouns (eg. who) and subordinators
(eg. as, while).
Follow the indication next to each cluster. Delete words if
necessary and punctuate appropriately.

Here is an example: Our Constitution guarantees certain

rights.
relative pron.
+ The rights are inalienable.
conjunction It does not guarantee 'the right
to die.'

Answer: Our Constitution guarantees certain

rights which are inalienable, but it
does not guarantee 'the right to die'.

1. You feel this way.

I don't want you to do it. (subordinator)

2. I wouldn't have you do it subordin.

You didn't want to. +
I know it is perfectly simple, (conjunct.

3. You will behappy. (conjunct

Things will be like they were +
I do it. (subordin,

4. They walked up from the beach through a meadow.

The meadow was soaking wet with dew. (relat.pron,

5. The logging road was much lighter. (subordin.

The timber was cut away on both sides.

6. His father washed his hands carefully.

Nick talked. (subord.)
 315

7. The water was heating. (subord.

The doctor spoke to Nick.

I don't hear her screams. (subord.

Her screams are not important.

9. Babies are supposed to be born head first.

(subord.
Sometimes they are not. + conj
They make a lot of trouble for everyone.

10. They followed the young Indian. (relat.

The Indian carried a lantern. pron,

11. Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield.

(relat.
Your reason wages war against your passion pron,
Your judgment wages war against your passion +
and appetite.
conj.)

12. Reason alone is confining.

(conj.
Passion, unattended, is a flame. +
Its burns to its own destruction. relat. pron.)

13. Let reason direct your passion. (subor.)

Passion may live through its own
resurrection.

14. The storm comes. (subor.+

The mighty wind shakes the forest. conj.+
Lightning and thunder proclaim the conj.)
majesty of the sky.
Let your heart say in awe, 'God moves
in passion'.

15. You have been told that work is a curse. (conj.)

Labour is a misfortune.

16. You work. (subor.+

You may keep pace with the soul of the earth.
subor.)
To be idle is to become stranger to the season.
 316

17. ... You work.

(subor.
You fulfill a part of earth's furthest dream.

18. I could be the peacemaker in your soul.

(relat.
I might rurn the discord into melody. + pron.
+ conj.)
I might turn rivalry into melody.

19. To work in marble. Link anyway

Find the shape of the stone. you wish)
It is nobler than ploughing the soil

20. You cannot work with love. ILink anyway

You can work with distaste. you wish)
It is better to sit at the gate of
of the temple and take alms of those
who work with joy.
 317

Appendix 3

Pretest/Midtest/Posttest

General Vocabulary

This is a vocabulary test. You must choose the right work to go

with each meaning. Write the number of that word next to its meaning.

1. brass -- cloth worn in front to protect your

2. apron -- stage of development
3. lure -- state of untidiness or dirtiness
4. phase
5. plank
6. mess

1. circus speech given by a priest in a church

2. lens seat without a back or arms
3. nomination
4 sermon musical instrument
5. stool
6. harpsichord

1. apparatus set of instrument or machinery

2. compliment money received by the government
3. revenue expression of admiration
4. scrap
5. tile
6 ward

1. bruise agreement using property as security for

a debt
2. export
3. ledge narrow shelf
4. mortgage dark place on your body caused by hitting
5. shovel
6. switch

1. blend hold tightly in your arms

2. devise plan or invent
3. embroider mix
4. hug
5. imply
6. paste

i
 319

1. blaspheme ----- give care and food to

2. endorse ----- speak badly about God
3. nurture ----- slop or slide
4. overhaul
5 skid
6. straggle

1. auxiliary ----- full of self-importance

2. cancel ----- helping, adding support
3. dubious ----- hot tempered
4. morose
5. pompous
6. temporal

1. cater ----- small and weak

2. cumbersome ----- easily changing
3. interminable ----- endless
4. puny
5. volatile
6. wicker

1 . dregs ----- worst and most useless parts of anything

2. flurry ----- natural liquid present in the mouth
3. incentive ----- confused mixture
4. jumble
5. saliva
6. truce

1 . resident ----- being away from other people

2. casualty ----- someone killed or injured
3. froth ----- noisy and happy celebration
4. haunch
5. revelry
6. seclusion

Use the following words in sentences to show your knowledge of the

meaning. You may use a definition instead of a sentence if it is
easier or a synonym.

Here is an example: book

I read a book every month (sentence).
or A book is sheets of paper put together
as a thing to be read (definition).

a chair = a seat (synonym)

abstract graph tone

interlock fulfill item
n”clear strata
process compile
quote utter
reign withdraw
bore legislate
digest reluctant
evolve survey
 320

A p p e n d ix 4

Pretest/Posttest

Gibran and Hemingway Vocabulary

This is a vocabulary test. You must choose the right word to

go with each meaning. Writer the number of that word next to its
meaning.

1. flow down drip

2. look off stare at
3. aggregate stop
4. allude
5. cut out
6. concentrate

exhaust
track path
absinthe a sweet black substance
wine bitter alcohol
detriment
6. liguorice

shanty bed
faction process of giving birth
bunk poor dwelling
placenta
fluid
in labour

move wash thoroughly

roll over push
shove off turn
illuminate
scrub
import

peroxide piece of wood

anesthetic Indian woman
squaw antiseptic
paraffin
fossil
log

1. illuminate thread with pieces of material

2. string sink
3. tip overturn
4. injure
5. sag
6. inundate
 321

1. bass an oar movement

2. instance the back end of a boat
3. intimacy fish
4. stroke
5. locomotion
6. stern

1. reminiscently prevent from movement

2. still recalling
3. maternal short and rough blows
4. perpetual
5. mature
6. choppy

1. plead stitch
2. prevail path
3. sew turn
4. trail
5. postulate
6. bend

1. priestess lack of agreement

2. refutation one who reconciles others
3. discord female clergy
4. resident
5. reverberation
6. peacemaker

1. prohibit move upward

2. wage make (war)
3. toss float
4. drift
5. procure
6. provoke

1. confining sailor's job

2. skeleton restricting
3. spectrum a blade used to steer a ship
4. rudder
5. seafaring
6. territory

1. resurrection brought back to life

2. symptom soft grey powder
3. ashes bird
4. velocity
5. phoenix
6.stationary

1. mindful powerful
2. weary thoughtful
3. tangible tired
4. thermal
5. vital
6. mighty
 322

1. submission words said secretly

2. whisper calamity
3. index yield
4. cure
5.instance
6. leisure

1. furthest stupid
2. cogent nothing
3. debatable distant
4. dumb
5. colloquial
6. naught

1. brow plant
2. nay forehead
3. impulse a negative response
4. matrix
5. reed
6. ax

1. texture
2. judgment static
3. random peacefulness
4. serenity decision
5. sibling
6. idle

Use the following words in sentences to show your knowledge of

the meaning. You may use a definition or a synonym if it is easier.

label
bead
felt
razor
jack-knife
chill
oar-lock
mist
meadow
lantern
battlefield
melody
breath
appetite
unattended
pace
procession
misfortune
sweat
urge
 323

Appendix 5

Indian Camp
Hemingway

Vocabulary

lake shore vs seashore

rowboat drawn up: moved to the shore
shoved the boat off: push it into the lake
stem of a boat: end
oar-locks: device to hold the oar in place
mist: dark weather
choppy stokes: sharp blows of an oar
the boat was beached: moved on the beach
a meadow, soaked wet with dew: a field wet with early morning moisture
lantern: a case for holding light
trail: path
logging road: a road with wood on its sides
blow out his lantern: put off
came around a bend: a turn
shanties (shanty town): living place of poor people
a wooden bunk: a wooden bed
an axe: a tool to cut dow n trees
being in labour: a state a woman goes thr. before giving birth
anaesthetic: substance producing the inability of feeling pain
rolled over against the wall: turn towards
to scrub his hands: wash thoroughly
held the woman still: not letting the woman to move
sqauw bitch: a curse addressed to the Indian woman
stitches to put in: to stich a wound
smiled reminiscently: smiled as recalling an incident
to put peroxide on the hand: to put antiseptic
to feel exalted: to feel happy
jack-knife: pocketknife
to sew with tapered gut leaders: to sew with a thin piece of intestine
sagged the bunk: sink the wooden bed
razor: cutting instrument
tipped the Indian’s head: tilt, overturn
trail his hand: hand down
a bass jumped in the water: a fish
chill of the morning: coldness
hurt badly

Cloze Test (classwork)

The Indian woman bit Uncle George on the arm and Uncle George said,______
_______________ . Uncles George looked at his arm. The young Indian smiled
I ’II put som e _____________ on that, the doctor said.
 324

Doing a Caesarian with a ___________ and sewing it w ith__________ leaders, Nick’s

father felt . However, his feelings changed as he mounted on the edge of the lower
bunk to look at the father who h a d _________ his foot___________ with a n ______________.
The Indian lay with his face to the wall. His throat had been cut from ear to ear and his blood
________ the bunk. Not much could be done at this point. Nick and his father left the
__________ and the Indian__________the boat. Nick sat in th e ______________and
his hand in the water. He felt warm in the sharp_________ of the morning.

Sentence-combining (classroom work)

1. The two boats started off in the dark. (conj.) +

Nick heard the oar-locks of the other boat (relat. pron.)
It was quite a way ahead of them.

2. The Indian rowed them. (relat. pron.)

The Indian worked very hard.

3. Uncle George was smoking a cigar in the dark. (sub.)

The young Indian pulled the boat way up on the beach.

4. They walked up from the beach through a meadow. (relat. pron.)

The meadow was soaking wet with dew.

5. Then they went into the woods.

They followed a trail. (conj.) +
The trail led to the logging road. (relat. pron.) +
The logging road ran back into the hills. (relat. pron.)

Vocabulary Test

Match an item from column 1 with an item from column 2 and write 10 sentences.

eg. logging road Indian

The Indian walked on the logging road leading to the camp.

1 2
lake shore he heard
meadow the father lay
oar-locks injured
stern the Indian woman
shoved the boat off Nick’s father
blow out soaked wet
a wooden bunk the doctor
an axe blood
shanties Indian
 325

was in labour the Indians

anaesthetic gut leaders
to scrub his hands to beach
jack-knife Nick and his father
to stitch a lantern
sagged the bunk they walked
tipped the head the operation

Sentence-combining Test

I. Combine the following cluster of sentences in any way that suits you provided the
combination
is logical and meaningful.

1. Nick and his father got in the stem of the boat.

The Indians shoved it off.
One of the Indians got in to row.

2 They came around a bend

A dog came out barking
Ahead were the lights of the shanties
The Indian barkpeelers lived in.

3. Inside on a wooden bunk lay a young Indian woman.

She had been trying to have her baby for two days.
The men had moved off up the road.
They sat in the dark and smoked out of range of the noise she made.

4. The doctor mounted on the edge of the lower bunk and looked in.
The Indian lay with his face to the wall.
His throat had been cut from ear to ear.
The blood had flowed into a pool.

II. Combine the following cluster of sentences according to the instruction next to it.

1. The young Indian stopped. (conj.) 4. Babies aresupposed to be born head first.
He blew out his lantern. Sometimes they are not.
They all walked on along the road.

2. He was smoking a pipe, (conj.) 5. He was satisfied with his hands, (sub.)
The room smelled very bad. He went in and went to work.

3. The woman in the kitchen motioned to the doctor, (relat. pron.)

The water was hot.
 326

Appendix 6

On Reason and Passion

G. K. Gibran

Vocabulary Clues

prefixes
compound words
Transition
wds in context + (take into account the topic)

priestess a clergywoman
battlefield a field in which a battle takes place
to wage (war) to engage in
rivalry enmity
discord notice the prefix (dis), opposite of accord
melody musical phrase
peacemaker a person that works for peace
nay no. denial
mdder a piece of wood or metal that serves to control direction
sails the sails of a ship
seafaring mariner’s calling
standstill static
confining to restrict
unattended notice the prefix (un). Not looked after
resurrection to rise again from the dead
phoenix a bird
ashes cinder
consider to think about with care
judgment a formal decision given by a court
appetite the desire to eat
mindful aware, bearing in mind
poplars kind of tree
serenity tranquility
storm disturbance
mighty powerful
awe fear
a breath (n) to breath
toss to throw
drift driven unintentionally

Cloze Exercise (classwork)

T he____________ spoke again and asked to speak about Reason and Passion. Your soul is
often a ___________ upon which your reason and your___________________ war against your
passion and appetite.
I could be th e _________ in your soul and turn th e and rivalry' of your elements
into oneness and
 328

3. You have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields. (sub.)
You would accept the seasons of your heart.

4. Pain is the bitter potion. (relat. pron.)

The physician within you heals your sick self. +
Trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility. (trans.)

5. Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield. (relat. pron.)

Your reason and your judgement wage war against your passion and your appetite.

6. If your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift. (conj.)
You will be held at a standstill in mid-season.

Sentence-combining Test

I. Combine the following sentences into one sentence. Use the direction next to each cluster
of sentences.

1. You yourselves are also the peacemakers.

I shall help you. (sub.)

2. Your rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul are broken. (sub.)
You will be tossed and drifted. +
You will be held at a standstill. (conj.)

3. I would have you consider your judgement and your appetite as two loved guests in your home
You would not honour one more than the other. (conj.)+
He who is more mindful of one guest loses the other. (conj.)

4. You are a breath in God’s sphere. (sub.)

A leaf in God’s forest. +
You too should rest in reason and move in passion. (conj.)

5. The hand of the physician is heavy and tender. (comb,asy.wish)

It is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen.

6. You could keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life. (comb, as v. wish)
Your pain would not seem less marvelours than your joy.
 Appendix 7

Words likely to be used in the Pretest/Posttest Essays

Pretest
Essay Topic: In a well developed essay, state some of the causes and effects of electricity
shortage in the past few months.

repair maintenance
monetary problem specialists
power plant spare parts
fuel infrastructure
pollution of generators membership

Posttest
Essay Topic: In a well developed essay, state some of the causes and effects of living in a
country with no proper telephone communication.

maintenance go to the central

infrastructure to call
communication cellular
destruction private company
cable fix/repair
telephone box telephone line
 Group A
HLWE (essay 1)
Hent./he (s) 2
writing''' writer 3
(cr) f l o p eud iA ?
prob/prob (sr) 4
girl/couple (spp)
couplecpl (sr) girl/girl (sr) 5
oper./abort (spp)
baby/baby (sr) grl/grl (sr) 6
him/couple (spp) she/grl (s) 7
that/baby (s)
baby/baby (sr) sha'she (sr) 8
him/him (sr)
girl/she (s) 9
baby/baby (sr)
he/am er (s) 10
her/girl (s)
love/love (sr)
she/her (s) 11
love/love (sr)
amer/amer (sr)
amer/arner (sr) baby/bab (sr) sh e lte r (s) des./arg (spp) 12
lov/lov (sr) arner/amer (sr)
he/am er (s)
s h a sh e (sr) 13
des/des (sr)
cpI/cpl (sr) she/'she (sr) bab/bab (sr) lov/lov (sr) s h a sh e (sr)
grl/grl (sr)

3 30
Ernest Hemingway, a famous writer, was known for his interesting writings (1). He was clever in presenting his ideas in a very
convenient style (2). Hills Like White Elephant is one of his writings that displayed a problem between a couple (3). This problem was that
the girl wanted to keep the baby and the American wanted her to make an abortion (4).
In my opinion, the couple would separate for several reasons, and thus the girl wouldn’t do the operation (5). First, the girl didn’t
stop dreaming of having the baby (6). She was always arguing with him about that (7). For example she looked once at the mountains and
told him that they looked like white elephants, and that meant that she was trying to make him understant how much she desired the baby (8).
Moreover, the girl loved the baby more than the American, while he loved her and wanted her more than the baby (9). For
example, he told her that I love you and want you alone and not with anyone else (10). Well, if she loved the American more, she wouldn’t
have bothered him by arguing (11). Furthermore, when the American put the luggages into the other track of the station, he came back to
find her smiling because she had make her mind up and decided happily that she should do just the thing that please her, and chosen the one
who loved more and desire very much, that is the baby (12). Or else, she would have been very sad to lose the one who have been desire (13).
In conclusion, the couple will certainly separate because the girl decided to keep her baby that she loved very much (14).
 Group A
H L W E (essay 7)
HLE/ stones 2
(s)
3
grl/char (spp 4
preg-'prob.
(spp)
amer/'char. baby/baby s
(spp) (sr)
cpl/amer. 6
separ/prob (spp)
(CP)
separ./separ. 7
(sr)
cpl/cpl (sr)
they/cpl. they/cpl (s) boyf./cpl. 8
(spp) (SPP)
• she{jig (s) 9
boyf/boyf
(sr)
she/she (sr) 10
atner/boyf
(s)
stor/stor abrt./it (s) 11
(sr) she/she (sr)
they/am er
(spp)
evnt/evnt 12
(sr)
cpl/cpl (sr)
sepr/sepr
(sr)
cpl/peop
(cp)
they/cpl
... (cp)

Hemingway is a very important writer who wrote many novels and stories (1). Hills Like White Elephants
is one of his well known stories (2). The characters are lovers but they face a problem (3). The girl is pregnant but she
wants to keep the baby (4). The American did not want the baby (5). The couple will remain together and will not separate (6).
Many events in the story prove that the couple will not separate (7). Jig enjoys her boyfriend because they sit
together and have many drinks (8). She does not say anything when her boyfriend says it is just to let the air in (9).
She also told the American, “I will do it because I don’t care about me(10). If she makes an abortion, this means
that they will stay together”(l 1).
As a conclusion, many events in the story show that the couple will not separate (12).
If people love each other, they should sacrifice(13).
 C_irovip> A .
HLWE (Essay 20)
in an/cpl
(spp)
erl/cpl (spp)
solut/it(s) 3
wom/cpl worn/she (s) abit-'abrt (sr) 4
(spp)
tliem/cpl she/worn (s) 5
(cp) this/abrt (s)
boyf/man her/she (s) 6
(s)
lie/man (s)
her/her (sr) 7
decis./decis.
(sr)
abrt'abrt (sr) hediis (s) 8
her/her (sr)
decis./desea. shedier (s) 0
(sr) m ess'abrt
(cp)
hadiis (s)
sha'she (sr) 10
he/he (sr)
decis/decis b e lie (sr) 11
(sr) she(she (sr)
upset/decis
(cp)
she/she (sr) 12
him/he (s)
her/her (sr)
she/she (sr) 13
consc/belief.
(spp)
her/her (sr)
cpl/cpl (sr) cpl/she
(spp)
re la td e d d
(cp)

The story Hills Like White Elephants shows how a couple can have different opinions in important issues and how these opinions change the whole couple relationship
(1). While the man wants his girlfriend to have an abortion, she is convinced that this is not a solution and is willing to take the risk of being seperated (2).
The following facts prove it (3).
From the very beginning, we know that the woman is finding every reason why abortion will not work (4). She has doubts that this will bring them happiness
again and she asks that question many times (5). Although her boyfriend tells her that he will respect her decision, he clearly tells her that he loves her now (6). As if
her decision will impact his love to her (7). He indirectly tells her that the one condition for him loving her is to do this abortion (8). She picks the message and gets
annoyed when he insists that he will respect whatever decision she will make (9). Hence, she gets very upset and demands that he stops talking (10). When he leaves
her for few minutes to put the bags, she gets few minutes for herself to make a definite decision (11). When she smiles back at him, that smile reflects someone who has
a clear consciousness of not sacrificing a baby’s life for a person who loves her conditionally (12). Had she decided to go for the abortion, she will be crying and feeling
'not fine” because she will be doing something against her beliefs (13).
In summary, even couple gets to a point where real matters take over and this is where the relationships is redefined and possibly different courses are taken (14).
 Group A
Indian Camp (essay 1)
oper/brtli 2
(cp)
oper/oper 3
(sr)
exalt/exalt (cr) 4
reas/reas (sr)
doc/doc (sr)
he'doc (s) 5
oper/oper
(sr)
h e tre (sr) 6
oper/oper
(cr)
oper/oper 7
(cr)
him/he (s)
doc'doc (sr) achiev/suc 8
(spp)
shant'shaiit caus/reas (cr) 9
(sr)
he'G eor fs) 10
reas/caus fs) stay/help 11
(spp)
fact/fact (sr) 12
cans/reas (s)
hediis (s)
nurs/help
(spp)
oper/oper he/he (sr) 13
(sr) her/india. (s)
doc'doc (sr) G/G (sr) indi/indi (sr) 14
he/he (sr)
exal/exal (cr) G/G (sr) stay/stay 15
(cr)
india/india doc/doc (sr) fam /suc (s) 16
(cr) help/stay
(spp)
G/G (sr)
cruel/hrd (s) doc/doc (sr)
brtli/Geo (s)

The doctor and Uncle Georges went to the shantytown to help a woman to give birth (1). The operation was very hard (2). We'll discuss the causes o f the exaltation o f the doctor at the a id o f the operation and the
reasons for the staying o f Uncle Georges (3).
The doctor felt axalted after the operation for many reasons (4). First o f all, he has done an operation without any anaesthetic to relieve the mother (5). He used primitif material to operate with: a jack-knife
and tapered gut leaders (6). Furthermore, the operation was very successful and this will lead him to fame because the details o f the operation will be printed in a journal (7). Therefore, it's clear that the doctor is enjoying
his achievement (8).
Many causes led Uncle Georges to stay in the shantytown (9). Due to the suicide o f the huband, he decided not to leave in order to help the mother (10). Another reason for his staying is the fact that the nurse
won't come until tomorrow morning (11). Finally, the most important cause is the fact that he loves the Indians and would like to help them (12). During the operation, he was always sitting by her side, holding her hand
(13). Therefore, w e notice that Uncle Georges cares about the Indians and this is why he decided to stay (14).
In conclusion, many causes can be given for the doctor’s exaltation and the staying o f Uncle George (15). But a main contrast appears here; the doctor’s main worry is to be famous, whereas Uncle Georges is
only trying to help and support the Indian woman (16). In my opinion, the doctor is very cruel and has no human feelings in contrast to his brother who is a very loving person (17).
i
Group A
Indian Camp (essay 7)
doc/brth 2
(spp)
ind/ind (sr) doc/doc (sr) 3
camp/camp exal/brth
(sr) (cp)
doc/doc (sr) 4
exaL'exal
(sr)

he/he (sr) s
opr/ces (cp)
his/doc (s)
exaL'exal thi/recog (s) 6
(cr) him/doc (s)
reas'cau(s) led/led (sr) 7
cain/cam (s)
ind/ind (sr) he/Geo (s) 8
G/G (sr) 9
shant/ind (s) stay/stay thes/suic 10
(sr) (spp)
rea/rea (sr) Geo/Geo
(sr)
Hem-He (sr) doc/doc (sr) glor/fam (s) rea'rea (sr) 11
text/text (sr)
ces/ces (sr) rec/rec (sr) 12
jak(jak (sr) m ed/m e (sr)
ana'ana (sr) jr/jr (sr)
he/Geo (s) lik/lik (sr) sha/sha (sr)
sta'sta (sr) ind/ind (sr) Geo/Gel (sr)

In the text Indian Camp, Hemingway portrays an incident in an Indian camp where a squaw is about to give birth (1). The main characters are a doctor, his son Nick
and Uncle George(2). In the following essay I shall state the causes of the doctor’s exaltation and the reasons that encouraged Uncle George to remain in the Indian
Camp (3).
The doctor sought exaltation because he performed a Cesarian on an Indian sqaw without any anasthetic and he used primitive instruments such as a jack-knife
(4). Furthermore, due tot his outstanding operation, he thought that he will be famous and therefore, he would be recognised in the medical journal (5). This also led
him to be exalted (6).
On the other hand, two main reasons led Uncle Georges to stay in the camp (7). He liked the Indians and this was clear when he gave the Indians who rowed
their boats cigars (8). Moreover, because the father committed suicide, Uncle Georges thought he could play the nurse until the following day (9). These are the
reasons that encourage Uncle George to stay in the shanty (10).
In sum, Hemingway’s text states the reasons fro the doctor’s glorification (11). First performing the cesarian with a jack-knife without anaesthetic, second the
need to be recognised in the medical journal (12). As to Uncle Georges, he stayed in the shanty town because he liked the Indians (13).
 Indian Camp (essay 20)
dit'dif'(cr) 2
act/attit (cp)
convco (sr) doo'doc (sr) 3
doc'doc (sr) 4
flt'flt (sr)
exl/exl (sr)
acc/opr (cp) him/doc (s) s
he'hiiti (s) 6
cesa/oper
(spp) ...
stor stor ( sr) he/he (sr) 7
fam/stry sew/cesa
(spp) (spp)
canvcain (s) he/he (sr) 8
Geo'Geo
(sr)
cesa/opr he/Geo (s) 9
(spp)
flt/flt (sr)
he/he (sr) 10
ind''wom (s)
rea'rea (sr) G eo'he (s) 11
caus/reas (s) the/he (spp)
doc/doc (sr) 12
Geo/Ge (sr)
cau/beh(cp)
job/cesa doc/doc (sr) 13
(SPP)
the/dc (spp)
it/job (s)

The doctor and Uncle George had different attitudes in the story, Indian Camp (1). These differences were represented through distinct actions(2). The doctor felt
exalted after the operation for some reasons, while Uncle George stayed at the camp for different reasons (3).
Nick’s father, the doctor, felt exalted after he finished the operation (4). It was for him a great accomplishment (5). He did the cesarian with the appropriate
medical instruments, but this time he did it with a jack-knife (6). He even sewed the incision with a tapered gut leader, and he was sure to publish this story in a
medical journal which will make him famous (7).
Uncle George, on the other hand, stayed in the camp because he was veiy kind man (8). He felt sorry for the Indian woman’s husband and for the woman who
needed care after the cesarian (9). He likes the Indian and that is why he gave them cigars (10).
In conclusion, both the doctor and Uncle George had their reasons for their different causes (11). I don’t blame neither the doctor nor Uncle George for their
behaviour (12). Doctors usually accomodate with their job (13). They keep their feelings out of it (14).
 G ro u p A
On R. & P. (essay 1)
coivcon (sr) 2
bth/R&P (s)
the'tw o (s)
wrkdvrk (s) 3
life/life (sr)
liwlif (cr) wrk/wrk (cr) 4
suc/ple (cp) 5
6
rud/pass (s)
sail-'rea (s)
rud/rud (sr) 7
sail/sail (sr)
liveliv (cr) bth/rud (cp ), 8
the/sal (spp)
con- con (sr) 9
tlig/RP (s)
lovdov (sr) 10
wrk/conc
(cp)
sol/sol (sr) pas/con (cp) 11
lov/lov (sr)
lov/lov (sr) 12
bth/rea (cp)
the/pas (cp)
dis-dis (sr) wrk'wrk (sr) RP/RP (sr) 13
con- con (sr)
cir/cir (sr) 14
urg/urg (sr) 15
wrk/wrl (sr) kn/knvv (sr) 16
lovdov (sr) it/wk (s) wrkAvrk (sr)
lin/lin(cr)
thg/RP (s)
coiv con (sr)
G-G (sr)
w t - 'w i (sr)
dis-'dis (sr)
sini-'sim (sr)
con- dis (s)

There are some similarites and dissimilarities in the two concepts, Passion and Reason and Work that Gibran wrote about (1).
If we compare the two concepts, we w ill find that both o f them are concepts o f life (2). A s for Work, for example, life means nothing without work (3). By working you can test
the pleasennent o f living (4). You feel that you are wanted and successful (5). While for Passion and Reason in example, your soul is the ship, you are the leader, you passion is the
ruddar, and your reason is the sailor (6). The ship can move if one o f these two the ruddar or the sailor did not help it to (7). For this you can not live without both o f them (8).
Moreover, the common thing between these two concepts is love(9). In work, Mr Gibran said that you should love your work to live happily (10). While in Passion and Reason, he said
that passion is love, but passion and reason should be equal in your soul (11). For this your love should be equal for both o f them (12).
The dissimilarity between these two concepts is that the Work is circular but Passion and Reason is linear (13). The circular way o f the Work begins with being urged (14). To
be urged you must have knowledge (15). If you have knowledge, you w ill have work (16). And if you work, you must love it to live (17). But Passion and Reason is done in a line (18).
You the peacemaker are in the midle o f these two things (19).
hi conclusion, in the two concepts that Gibran wrote about, w e can find some similarities and dissimilarities (20). I think that there are much more similarities to compare than
to contrast (21).
 Group A
On Reason and Passion (essay 7)
sinvsim (sr)
RP/RP (sr)
W k/W k (sr)
intr/con (cp)
RP/RP (si) 3
W /W (sr)
sim/sim (cr)
one'R (s) 4
sea/'sail (crp)
sini'Sim (cr) abs/unat s
(cp)
pros/con (s) RP/RP (sr) auth/Gib (s) impl/empha 6
wrk/wrk (sr) (cp)
fue/comp (s 7
R/P (sr)
Gib/Gib (sr) fuel1fuel (sr) 8
wrk/wrk (sr)
cont'cont life/life (sr) lost/lost (sr) vain/vain comp/comp equb'P (cp) Gib/Gib(sr) 9
(sr) (sr) (cr)
m n/m n (sr) 10
surv/life
(cp)
lev/equl (s) wrk/wrk (sr) 11
RP/RP (sr) 12
Wk/Wk (sr)
con/con (sr)
cotr/con (cr)
sim/com (s)
tha'R P (spp
bem/man (s) bthAvk (spp

In the following essay, we shall try comparing Passion and Reason with work to clarify the similarities and contrast between the two concepts (1).
The similarities between Passion and Reason and Work are intrinsic (2). That's to say. Passion and Reason are similar to the sail and rudder of a man's life
(3). Should you leave one unattended, you’ll be lost at sea (4). Similarly, Gibran emphasizes that work is in vain if knowledge is absent (5).
In both prospects Passion and Reason and work, the author implies that they are complementary (6).In other words, Passion is the fuel for Reaon and visa
versa (7). Similarly, Gibran finds that love is the fuel for work, which binds you to yourself and to God (8).
In contrast, Gibran finds reason a complement to Passion and without their equilibrium in a man's life, one is lost or in vain (9). However, if a man does not
work, he is not productive and he cannot survive (10). In other words, if Passion and Reason are not leveled, a man is lost, but does not die as the case in work (11).
To conclude. Passion and Reason and Work are concepts that have similarities and contrast (12). They are both essential to the survival of the huma being
 On Reason and Passion (essay 20)
bk/writ(s) 2
liis/Gib (s) 3
wrk/bk (s)
txt/wrk (spp 4
tex/wk (spp) com/sim (s) 5
RP/RP (sr) con/idea (s) 6
W k'W k (sr)
lif/Tif (sr) 7
thy/con (s)
srm/sim (sr) con/con (sr) lov.lif (spp) 8
lov/lov (sr) 9
con/con (sr) m n/m n (sr) 10
ne/ne (sr)
lov/lov (sr)
sun/sim (sr) txtVtxt (sr) life/life (sr) est/est (cr) lov/lov (sr) wk/wk (sr) 11
cotr/cotr (sr) th/RP (spp) 12
RP/th (spp) 13
ned/ned (sr) wb'wk (sr) lin/cyc(anto 14
life/life (sr) W k/R (anto)
cyc/cyc (sr) 15
wk/wk (sr) lin/cyc (ant) 16
sun/sitn (sr) RP/RP (sr)
dis/dis (sr) wk/wk (sr)
con/lin(spp)
lov/lov (sr) ess/ess (sr) lin/lin (sr) life/life (sr)
ned/ned (sr)
cyc/cyc (sr)
Gib'Gib (sr) wkAvk (sr)
coil con (sr)

Gibran is very well known for his writings about concepts of life (1). In the past, it was considered a sin to read his books (2). But nowadays, his work has spread all
over the world (3). In the texts Passion and Reason and Work, one can find similarites and contrast (4).
There are many ideas in common between the two texts (5). First of all, both Passion and Reason and Work are concepts of life (6). They are the essence of
life (7). Furthermore, the concept of love is also a similarity (8). In Passion and Reason, love is included in passion; man needs love in order to survive and to obtain
the peace of the soul (9). It is also present in the concept of Work because man needs love to work, it is something that pushes him to do better and better (10).
Therefore, the similarities that are found in both texts are love and the fact that Reason, Passion and Work are essential to life (11).
On the other hand, a very important contrast appears between them (12). In Passion and Reason, the relation between Passion and Reason is linear (13).
Whereas in Work we have a cycle life needs urge, urge needs knowledge, knowledge needs work, work needs love and love needs life (14). So we notice here that we
have the cycle of the universe (15). Therefore. Work is cyclic, while Reason and Passion is linear (16).
In conclusion, the similarities and dissimilarites of the two concepts, Reason and Passion and Work are very clear (17). Both of them are essential to life and
need love, but work is described as a cycle wheras Passion and Reason is a linear relation (18). In my opinion, Gibran has accomplished a marvelous work in his
description of the two concepts (19).
 Group A
Pretest (essay 1)
lebfleb (sr) *>
rebl/rebl (sr) 3
infr/infr (sr)
sht/sht (sr) ■1
elc-'elc (sr)
cas/cas (sr)
it'sht (s) 5
c o u n k b (si elc/elc (sr) sht/it (s) g ai/gen (sr) 6
sht/'sht (sr) d e d d e c (sr) 7
eft/'eff (sr)
peo/peo (sr)
tlmg'thng tim/tmi (sr) dec/elec (sr)
(sr)

Looking at the last 15 years of war in Lebanon, we find that it caused a lot of damage in different fields (1). Nowadays Lebanon is going threw a stage of rebuilding the
infrastructure that the Lebanese are facing in different things (2). Electricity shortage is a main cause of this rebuilding infrastructure period which has a lot of effects
on people (3).
This shortage of electricity has a lot of causes (4). It started when the responsible people started working on the generators which need to be stopped to change
parts in them or to put new modem ones (5). Since the electrical station can’t provide electricity to the whole country because the useful power is very high the country'
needs larger generators, still the country is facing financial problems therefore it has to collect taxes to improve the electricity system in the shortest time it can (6).
Since electricity is very' important this shortage has a lot of effects on the people (7). It is a waste of time since in our time most things work on electricity and
everything stops when it is gone at the same time it is hard to climb up several times a dav (8). OJ
UO
10
 Group A
Pretest (essay 7)
pro/pro ( sr 2
3
war/war (sr) 4
5
gov/gov (sr) elec/elec (sr) 6
money/tax
(spp)
effi'eff (sr) 7
8
gen/gen (sr) 9
elec/elec (sr) 10
couivleb 11
(spp)
pro/pro (sr) 12
leb 'leb (sr)
war/war (sr)
gov/gov (sr) leb/leb (spp) |

Lebanon went through many problems after the war among which was the problem of the infrastructure (1). Electricity is one of them and many caused this problem
(2). Which also has many effects (3).
Because of war the government did not collect taxes and it was difficult to buy fuel (4). Therefore, electricity was often cut (5). Electricity plants needed
maintenance the government did not have enough money for that (6).
Many effects were found (7). Generators were used and pollution was everywhere (8). Furthermore, generators created noise (9). Climbing the stairs was
common because of no electricity (10). Big companies went to other countries because they presented better services (11).
Many problems Lebanon faced because of war (12). Lebanese citizens should understand and help the government (13).
 j E 'i
Group A.
Pretest (essay 20)
elec/elec (sr) 2
cau/cau (cr)
cau/cau (sr) 3
cut/cut (sr)
elec'elec (sr)
city/city (sr) 4
cau/cau (sr) 5
elec'elec (sr)
short/cut (s)
m ony/pay 6
(cp)
gov/gov (sr) m oney/m on 7
repr/main (s (sr)
efTefi'(sr) elec'elec (sr) hou/hom (s) shrt/shrt (sr) peo/'peo (sr) 8
9
e le c t e e (sr) 10
cau/cau (sr) effleff (sr) elec/elec (sr) 11
shrt/'shrt (sr)
elec/elec (sr)
shrt/shrt (sr)

In the last years and especially last few months electricity became a problem in Lebanon and caused damages in different fields (1). Electricity cut has many causes
and many effects (2).
One of the causes is the war which cut the electricity wires by shelling the city (3). At night the city became dark and it was different to see when I walk home
(4). The other cause of Electric shortage is maintenance which the government can't pay (5). Power plants need spare part which needs money (6). And money
is not found with the people and the government so the machines are not repaired (7).
Some of the effect of Electricity shortge is pollution from private generators that the people put on their balcony and climbing the stairs to get to the house
(8). Also we couldn’t put food in the refrigerator and food spoiled very quickly (9). Without electricity we can’t do much (10).
These are the effects and causes of electricity shortage (11). Electricity shortage, make us lose a lot of time because we have to wait for the electricity to
come to do a lot (12).
 G ro u p A
Posttest (essay 1)
c o n /c o n (sr) 2
in st/w e y fs)
it/tel (s)
let/tel (sr) 3
com 'co (sr)
cau/cau (sr) 4
tel/tel (sr)
com/'co (sr)
cau/cau (sr) 5
tel/tel (sr)
cab/cab (sr) 6
tel/tel (sr) 7
unfu/imp (s) cau/cau (sr) tel/tel (sr) 8
imp/imp (sr) 9
tel/tel (sr)
com/co (sr)
tel/tel (sr) 10
com/co (sr)
tel/tel (sr) 11
com/co (sr)
pro/imp 12
(anto)
tel/tel (sr)
com/co (sr)
ph/tel (s) aff/ dist eco/busi they/comp 13
oom/co (spp (cp) (spp) ”(*)
gov/gov (sr)
pro/pro (sr) peo/peo (sr) tel/tcl (sr) 14
com/co (sr)
liwTiv (cr) cau/cau (sr) ser/ser (sr) cou/cou (sr) pro/pro (sr) 15
eff/eff(sr) tel/td (sr)
com/co (sr)
tel/tel (sr)
lov/liv (cr)
wrl/cou
. , i sPP) „

The telephone is considered to be one of the most important ways of communications nowadays (1). It is considered to be an essential instrument in our lives (2).
However, living in a country with no proper telephone communication has some serious causes and several effects (3).
There are many causes behind the improper telephone communication (4). One of the causes is that most of the telephone cables are hanged in the streets in a
disordered manner instead of being protected under the ground (5). When a rainy storm comes some of the cables are cut down (6). If a new building is under
construction, the telephone boxes besides it are destroyed (7). A very important cause of the problem of telephones is that the telephone company of the government has
no maintenance on the telephones and the telephones stay most of the time unfunctioning (8).
The effects which results from the improper telephone communication are very serious (9). With no telephones communication, people will be disturbed (10).
Most businesses depend on telephone communication and without telephones they cannot function well (11). The absence of the proper telephone communication will
allow private phone companies such as cellular phones companies to take advantage of the situation (12). They will compete the government and affect the economy of
the country (13). With no proper telephone communication, people spend most of their day going from one place to another waisting their time in traffic jams instead of
taking care of their business simply by using the telephone (14).
In conclusion, the causes and effects of living in a country with no proper telephone communication are very serious (15). The telephone has become very
importan* in orr hves. and living wtibovt it is like being isolated f-om the res* of the wor’d Of).
 J-’osttest (essay 7)
tel to'l (sr) 2
com 'com co u/p eo (cp 3
(sr) tel/tel (sr)
yea/yea (sr) pro/pro (sr) 4
cau/cau (sr)
coin.'co (sr)
tel/tel (sr)
wr/wr (sr) s
rep a/main
(spp)
6
effi'efY (sr) tel/tel (sr) 7
liv/liv (sr) com/co (sr)
cou/cou (sr)
pro/pro(sr)
peo/peo (sr) tel/tel (sr) 8
com/co (sr)
cal'tel (spp) 9
utiw/nonw tel/tel (sr) 10
(s) peo/peo (sr)
h rts u f(s ) coin/co (sr)
peo/peo (sr) 11
tePtel (sr)
cau/cau (sr) eft/eff (sr) tel/tel (sr) 12
war/war (sr) pay/m ony peo/peo (sr) 13
(spp)
m ip'inip (sr) tel/tel (sr) peo/peo (sr)
thg'com
_(spp)

Telephone is one of the most important communiction in the world (1). In the past few years. Lebanese people suffered a lot because of the nonworking telephones (2).
I'll state in the following two parapraphs, the causes and effects of living in a country with no proper telephone communications (3).
The causes of no proper communication came because during the past fifteen years of war, the government did not pay attention to the maintenance of
telephoned). In addition, to this during the war, a lot of cables were destroyed by bombs, and were not repaired at all (5). The infracturucture is not well done,
especially because of the shortage of money (6).
There are several effects living in a country with no proper telephone communication (7). People are being deprived from telephone communication and this is
leading them to exaustion (8). In other words, they leave their houses during their rest period because they have calls to complete (9). Unworking telephones, hurt
people if sometimes at night they need help, and the result is that they cannot communicate with anybody (10). Private telephone effects on poor people because they
cannot afford to buy (11).
The causes and effect of telephones are a lot(12). People are still paying the price of war (13). In my opinion, I think telephones are one of the most important
thing in the life of all people (14).
 Posttest (essay 20)
it/tel (s) 2
it/tel (s) 3
hip/aid (s) tel/tel (sr) 4
pr/pe (spp
com/co cr 5
tel/tel (sr)
cau/rea (s 6
leb/leb (sr
tel/tel (sr) cau/'ca (sr 7
com/co sr pro/pr(sr

pro/pro sr leb/leb reas/reas 8

tel/tel (sr) (sr) (sr)
com/c-ofsr
peo.pe (sr mip. mi cr tel/tel (sr) rea/rea (sr o
tlVstea (s) 10
peo/pe (sr
lin/lin (sr)
com/com rea/rea (sr rep/fix (s) 11
(sr) tel/tel (sr)
leb/leb fix/fix (sr) cab/cab sr 12
(sr)
It'll (sr) bti<l/b<l (sr 13
cau/cu (sr
prb/prb sr
prb/prb sr 14
peo/pe (sr tl'tl (sr) trfj/trfj 15
cotn/co cr (sr)
cau/ca (sr
hel/hel (sr 16
fir/fir (sr) 17
tel/tel (si) 18
peo/pe sr gov/go ST 19
inn/m n sr
bd/bd (sr) cau/cau sr 20
tel/tel (sr)
com/co sr
prb/pr (sr com/co si
cau/ca (sr
liv/liv (sr) gov/go(sr tel/tel (sr)

The telephone has powerfully influenced our lives from the day it was invented (1). It aided not only business and managers but also people of all ages in their work (2).
Actually, you can find the telephone in shops, offices, markets and houses which is an evidence of its importance (3). Usually, the telephone helps a person to
communicate with another person without seeing him / her, and this saves much time (4). However, in Lebanon, there are no proper telephone communication due to
several reasons (5). This caused many problems which made living in Lebanon harder than other countries (6). In other words, there are many reasons which caused
bad telephone communication that caused many problems as well (7).
First, there are no proper telephone communication in Lebanon due to several reasons (8). The most important reason is that most of the people steal the lines
of others and connect them to their telephones (9). This made it difficult for the people to fix their lines (10). Another reason, which caused bad telephone
communication is that the constructions of some buildings made many cables fall down and without any repair (11). Moreover, the beginning of the civil war, in
lebanon. made it difficult for the government to fix the damaged cables (12).
 Second, bad telephone com m u nication caused m any problem s (13). One problem is the traffic jam (14). Because there are no telephones, people w ill use their
cars in order to communicate with each other, and this causes traffic jam (15). Furthermore, in case of emergency such a s fire, there w i l l be n o t i m e a t a l l f o r a h e l p
(16). Consequently, the fire will be more dangerous than before (17). In additon, if there is no telephone, the government will collect no money and no taxes (18).
Therefore, the government will face a deficit for not taking money from the people (19).
In conclusion, there are many reasons that caused bad telephone communication (20). Also, this communication caused many problems (21). In my opinion,
the government should find a solution because the telephone is very important in our lives (22). It us used not only for local use but also for world wide use (23).

3
1*- S
’
 Group B
HLWE (essay 1)
arl/HL (s)
arg'pro (spp
amer/cple
(spp)
oper/abo (s) 3
amer/am (sr
she'grl (s)
4
grl/'gri (sr) pnt/pnt (sr) 5
ame/am (sr)
oper/op (sr)
she/'she (sr)
arg^arg (cr) pnt'pnt (sr) 6
am e/am (sr) she/she (sr)
sha'she (sr) 7
him/ame (s)
txt/art (s) feel/lov (cp) amer/ame 8
(sr)
she/she (sr)
abrt'abrt (sr) grl/her (s) 9
b a b b a b (sr) lov/feel (cp)
amr/anir (sr)
b a b b a b (sr) her/gri (s)
fath/ame (s)

In the hills like white elephants which has been written by Hemingway, the writer is presenting one of the problems that any couple might face during their
relationship (1). The article describes the argument between an American man and his girl who is pregnant about whether she will abort the baby or not (2).
From my point of view, I believe that the girl is going to do the operation even if she does not like to, in order to keep her relationship with the American whom she is
in love with (3). Furthermore, I have three points from the text that can support my idea (4). The first point can easily be seen in the first paragraph when the girl told
the American that she would do the operation because she did not care about herself (5). The second point is almost obviously in the last paragraph when she did not
argue while the American was taking the labeled bags to the other track (6). Instead of that she kept smiling at him and that means that she would stay with him (7).
The last point can be seen in the last sentence of the text, when the American asked him about her feeling, she replied saying that she was fine and nothing was wrong
with her (8).
In conclusion, the girl is going to abort the baby and stay with her man because she loves the American (9). It is reasonably difficult for her to keep the baby and to
lose his father (10).
 Group B
HLWE (essay 7)
grl'grl (sr)
abrt'abr (cr)
arg/arg (sr)
txt/HL (s)
arue/ani (sr) arg/arg (sr) 3
HL/HL (cr) she'grl (s)
she'she (sr) 4
arg/arg (sr) she/she (sr) 5
she'she (sr) 6
drk/anis
(spp) ....
abrt'abrt (sr) she'she (sr) 7
amr'amr (sr) arg/arg (sr) she/she (sr) 8
acpt/act (sr)
wnt/wnt (sr)
abrt'abrt (cr) arg/arg(sr) jg/she (s) |

The author in the text HLWE was trying to show us through the argument between the American and the girl, one of the problems that we could face in our society
which is abortion (1). The girl. Jig, is not going to abort and there are many arguments in the text that reflect this (2).
The first argument is when she said while she was waiting with the american in the station for the train that the hills look like white elephant (3). From here we can
notice how she really want to keep the baby (4). The second argument is reflected in her reaction when she was drinking the anis del toro (5). She said that her drink
that was placed on a felt pad tasted like liquorice and this is the way with everything and more than that it tastes like absinthe (6). Here we see how’ she is very’ upset
and do not want to accept the idea of abortion (7).
The third argument is when she refused to accept that everything will be fine if she accept what the American want such as it is a simple operation, and you do not
have to be afraid (8).

£
'h
In conclusion, these are the three main arguments that show that Jig is not going to abort (9).

-£
 Group B
HLWE (essay 20)
live'relat
(spp)

trag/suc 3
(anto)
leav/live(cp) 4
lady/grl (s) 5
dec/dec (cr)
bab/abrt
(SPP)
fct'dec (s) 6
they/grl 7
(spp)
deliv/abrt bab/bab (sr) th/wait 8
(anto) (spp)
she'grl (s)
lady/she (s) 9
amr/ainr (sr) ' th/arriv (s) 10
her/lady (s)
abrt'abrt (sr) she/her (s) 11
answ/ask (s) m an/ame (s) she'she (sr) 12
leav/lea (cr) prob/wrg (s) 13
ame/mn (s)
she/she (sr)
abrt/abrt (sr) sepa/leav (s) boyf7mn (s) jig/she (s) 14

aina'arn (sr) jig/jig (sr)

abrt/abrt (sr)

People need someone to share their lives with (1). Some relationships tend to be successful (2). Some others end with tragedy (3). In Hemingway’s story, the girl.
Jig, has decided to leave the American and not to abort (4).
The lady was totally satisfied by her decision to keep the baby (5). This fact can be proved by the following supporting ideas (6). First, when they were arguing about
if they can have everything in life, the girl answered that they will wait and see (7). This explains that she is planning to deliver the baby, then she would know what
will happen (8). Second, the sentence that announces the arrival of the train in five minutes was directed only to the lady (9). This means that the American is not
leaving with her (10). As a result, she does not have to abort (11). Finally, when the man asked about her feeling, she answered that she is fine, and there is nothing
wrong with her (12). This is to show the readers that the problem is not hers anymore, but the american’s because she has already decided to leave him (13).
In conclusion. Jig and her boyfriend were urged to separate from each other, for the girl does not want to abort (14). In my opinion, the American does not love Jig,
for he wants her to abort (15).
 Group B
Indian Camp (essay 1)
top/IC (s) 2
IC'IC (sr) doo'doc (sr) 3
UG/brth (s)
fath/doc (s) 4
niade'm (sr)
rea/cau (sr)
moth/woin he'fath (s) 5
(s)
Geo/broth fam/exal cesar'oper he/he (sr) 6
(s) (spp) (spp)
shant'shanl reas/reas Geo/Geo 7
(sr) (sr) (sr)
squa/m oth .8
. (s)
Ind/Ind (sr) m ed'm ed Geo/Geo wom/squa 9
(sr) (sr) (s)
shant/'shant hap/exal (s) doc.fath (s) cau/rea (s) Geo/Geo 10
(sr) stay/sty (sr) (sr)
m dind (sr) wrk/cesar they/Geo
wom/wol sr) (spp) (spp)

In the Indian Camp by Hemingway, the writer is trying to show the kindness of the American men toward the Indian (1). The topic is presenting the doctor and his
brother (George) who came to the shanty to help an Indian woman to deliver (2). However, there were some causes that led the doctor to be exalted and also made uncle
George stay in the Indian camp (3).
From my point of view, Nick’s father was over the moon after the operation that he had made, due to some reasons (4). For one thing, he could save the life of the
baby and his mother who had been in labour for two days (5). Furthermore, he was thinking of being famous and that can be seen in the third paragraph when he told
uncle George that doing a cesarean with a jack-knife and stich it up with nine foot gut leader will make him enter the medical history (6).
in addition, I believe that Uncle George had to stay at the shanty for two reasons (7). First, because nurses won’t come till the next mid-noon to take care of the squaw
(8). Secondly, Uncle George will be much useful to help the woman than any other Indian due to his knowledge in medical things (9).
In conclusion, that was the causes that made the doctor happy and Uncle George stay in the shanty (10). In my opinion, they did a great work and the most important
thing is that they were so cautious to come and help an Indian woman (11).
 Group B ’
Indian Camp (essay 7)
peo/canip
(spp)
ind/ind (sr)
ind/ind (sr) doo'fath (s) 3
Geo/Geo
(sr)
doc/doc (sr) 4
hap/exal (s)
wom/peo doc/doc (sr) 5
(spp) cesar/oper
(SPP)
ha'doc (s) 6
he/he (sr) 7
he/he (sr) 8
fam/suc (s) oper/ces (s) doc/he (s) 9
oper/eve (s) 10
Geo/Geo inA'irid (sr) cau/cau (sr) 11
(srO camp/camp
(sr)
doc/broth he/Geo (s) 12
(s) ind/ind (sr)
exaL'exal cau/cau (sr) 13
(sr) Goe/'Geo
(sr)
sty/sty (sr)
shan/cam (s
stor/stor (sr)
ind/ind (cr)

The author in this story Indian Camp was trying to show us the issue of life and death (1). On the other hand, the characters Nick, his father and Uncle George seem to
be very liked by Indian people (2). Thus the causes that made the doctor exalted and made Uncle George stay in the Indian Camp are many (3). First of all, the doctor
was very' happy due to the success of the operation (4). Even though the woman was in labour, and she could not deliver normally, the doctor made a cesaerean
operation without using anasthetics (5). He scrubbed his hand with a cake soap (6). Then, he used medical instrument which had been boiled in a kettle (7). To
illustrate, he used a jack-knife and he stiched the incisions with a gut leader (8). Another cause is that this unusual operation will make the doctor famous (9). It is an
event to be put in the medical journal (10). Finally, the cause for Uncle George to stay, is to wait for the nurse to come to the Indian Camp (11). He was proud of his
brother and this made him give cigars for the two Indians which is a symbol of his happiness (12).
In conclusion, these are the main causes for the doctor to be axalted and for Uncle George to stay in the shanty (13). In my opinion, it was a nice story because it
reflects a friendship between the Indian and white people (14).
 Group 3
Indian Camp (essay 20)
tlvpeo (s) 2
otlvpeo (s) 3
4
cau/cau (sr) 5
docv'doc (sr)
exal/exa (sr)
doc'doc (sr) 6
doc/doc (sr) 7
hap/exalt (s) m is/oper (s) 8
Geo/Ge (sr) 9
, sty/sty (sr)
cam/ca (sr)
rea/cau (s)
wom/wo (sr oper/'ope (sr he/'Geo fs) 10
carn/ca (sr) hedre (sr) 11
her/wom (s)
doc'doc (sr) oper/oper 12
exit/exit (sr) (sr)
rea/cau (s)
Geo/Geo (sr squa/wo (s) 13
dec/dec (sr)
sty/sty (sr)
cam/ca (sr)
doc/doc (sr) geo/geo (sr)
deci/dec (sr)
ind/ind (sr)

In each society, one can find different types of people (1). Some of them believe that help must be offered to every body when it is possible (2). Some others think that
they do not have to bother themselves to satisty other's needs (3). However, in Hemingway’s story, there are several cause that made the doctor exalted and Uncle
George stay in the Indian Camp (4).
There are several causes that made the doctor exalted (5). First of all, the doctor is proud, for he could save two lives: the woman and her baby (6). Second, although
the jack-knife, and stitched with gut leader, the doctor had succeeded in doing the operation with no anaesthetic (7). Moreover, such an important mission made him
happy for he will have the chance to write it in a medical journal, which defmitly leads to fame (8).
On the other hand, Uncle George decided to stay in the camp for one reason (9). He thought that after such a hard operation, the woman will need intensive care (10).
Since there is nobody in the camp qualified to secure nursing he took the initiative to be near her (11).
In conclusion, the doctor was exalted for many reasons mostly is the success in doing the operation (12). However, Georges decided to stay in the camp to take care of
the squaw (13). Im my opinion, both the doctor and George have good manners because they decided to save and help the indians (14).
 Group ET
Reason and Passion (essay 1)
Gib/Gib (sr) 2
bk/'proph (s) 3
sim/sim (sr) 4
text/text (sr) 5
stor/text (s) voc/sim he'wrt (s) 6
(spp)
he/he (sr) 7
pain/pai (sr)
text/text (sr) he/he (sr) 8
text/text (sr) 9
writ/writ (sr) pain/pa (sr) see/real (s) 10
dis/dis (sr) text/text (sr) 11
sto/sto (sr) caus/cau (sr 12
wrk/bk (spp 13
RP/RP (sr) txt/stor (s) ide/ide (sr) 14
Gib'Gib (sr) cau/cau (sr) 15
text/text (sr) 16
sol/sol (sr)
sail/sail (sr)
he/Gib (sr)
bk/wk (spp)
cau/cau (sr)

Gibran Khalil Gibran was one of the best Lebanese writers who had a good reputation around the world (1). In the Prophet, Gibran gave us some suggestions to be
taken for our life experience (2). He presented his book by several texts which have some similarities and dissimilarities between them (3).
Comparing between the reason and passion with On Work we can see two major similarities among them (4). The first one is that both texts have been written by the
same writer and at the same way (5). He used some vocabulary in both stories such as: soul, love, God, pain and so on (6 ). The second similarity is quite obvious w;hen
he talked about pain and its effect on us (7). He mentioned that on the first text by saying that your is the breaking of the shell that enclosed your understanding ( 8).
Furthermore, we can realize the same on the other text (9). In addition, we can see that on the last paragraph when he said that if you in your pain call your birth your
affliction written upon your brow ( 10).
However, the dissimilarity between the two texts would be due to two causes (11). The first cause is the difference of the topic between the two stories (12). In On
Work, the main idea is to show how work is useful and important to our life (13). Whereas the main idea of the second text is to present the reason and the passion and
also the power of God (14). The second cause is when Gibran present work as the soul and the sail of work (15). However, we see different point of the view on the
second text (16). When he said that reason and passion is the rudder and the sail of the soul (17).
In conclusion, Gibran gave us a very interesting book which can be read by all people because of the worth of suggestions and causes (18).
 Group B ’
On Reason and Passsion (essay 7)
itAvn (s) 2
bk/wrt (spp) 3
text'text (sr) 4
sim/sim (sr)
Gib/Gib (sr) both/text (s) 5
RP/RP (sr) text/text (sr) he/Gib (s) 6
wrk/'wrk (sr) he/Gib (s) 7
ans/ans (sr)
bk/bk (sr) sim/sim (sr) text'text (sr) 8
Proph/Pr (sr
RP/RP (sr) sim/sim (sr) 9
wrk/'wrk (sr) he/he (sr) comp/comp 10
(cr)
dism/dism text/text (sr) sim/sim (sr) 11
(sr)
RP/RP (sr) 12
them/RP 13
(spp)
P/PR (spp) the/the (sr) 14
15
cyc/lin (ant)

Gibran Khalil Gibran is a famous author due to his beatiful writing (1). It is close to perfection (2). Therefore, in his book the Prophet, anyone who has read the texts,
Reason and Passion versus Work, can tell that they have many similarities and dissimilarities (3).
First of all, the two texts share striking similarities (4). Gibran is the same author for both (5). For instance, in the text Reason and Passion, he was answering the
priestess (6 ). Likewise, he was answering the ploughman in Work (7). Another similarity is that both texts are taken from his famous book The Prophet (8 ). The last
similarity is the presence of many metaphors related to nature, for example he compares the reason and passion to the rudder andsails of the seafaring soul (9).
Similarly, he asks the reason to compare work with love as one as he weaves the cloth with threads of the heart (10).
Although there are many similarites, the two texts contrast in the following dissimilarity (11). Reason and Passion are linear (12). You need them both, unless you
don’t, you will toss and drift (13). Also you have to treat them equally as you treat your guests, and passion must be as higheras reason (14).On the other hand, work
leads to urge which leads to knowledge, then love and again work (15). It is a kind of a cycle (16).
 G ro u p B '
O n R e a so n a n d P a s s io n (e s s a y 2 0 )
lie/G ib (s)
RP/str (spp) 3
RP/RP (sr) 4
Wrk/Wr (sr)
text'text (sr)
sim/sim (sr)
wnt/wnt (cr) text'text (sr) s
wnter'G ib (s
bk/story (s) text'text (sr) 6
RP/RP (sr) 7
Wrk/Wr (sr)
diss/diss (sr) text'text (sr) RP/RP (sr) 8
W rk/W r (sr)
text/text (sr) 9
Gib/Rib (sr) RP/RP (sr) 10
11
Wrk/Wr (sr cy o lin (anto 12
him/Gib (s)
Wrk/wr (sr) 13
W rk/W r (sr) 14
W rk/W r (sr) 15
lov/lov (sr)
sun/sun (sr) diss/diss (sr) text/text (sr) W rk/W r (sr) 16
RP/RP (sr)
RP/RP (spp
W rk/W r (sr

Gibran is a famous Lebanese writer (1). He used to write wonderful stories in both languages, Arabic and English (2). There are some similarities and some
dissimilarities between the two texts. Reason and Passion and Work (3).
There are three similarities between the texts. Reason and Passion and Work (4). First of all, both texts are written by the well known writer, Gibran(5). Second,
these two texts are chosen from his famous book, the Prophet (6 ). Third, Reason and Passion and Work discuss basic concepts of life (7).
On the other hand, the text. Reason and Passion and Work have the following dissimilarities (8 ). First, these two texts have different topics (9). Moreover,according
to Gibran, Reason and Passion must be linear (10). This means that people must know' how to balance between their feeling (11). However, work is a cycle according
to him (12). Need leads to know ledge, and the last vain save if there is work (13). Finally work is empty with no love (14). As a result, work, accompanied by love,
will definitly make people bind to themselves and to God (15).
In conclusion, both texts Reason and Passion and Work have some similarities as well as some dissimilarities (16). In my opinion, reason is more important than
passion, and work is essential for every body (17).
 Group B '
Pretest (essay 1)
eledelec (sr) 2
dec/elec (cr) 3
resour/cause
(spp)
shrt/slirt (sr)
cau/cau (sr)
caus/cau (sr d e c /d e c (sr) 4
effi'eiT (sr) shrt/shrt (sr) elec'dec (sr) 5
effec/effec 6
(sr)
ener/elec (s)
dec/elec (sr) ener/ene (sr) |

Electricity is one of the most useful and important energy that the human use, and without electricity lots of things can stop (1). Doing its duties, and here in
Lebanon and especially during the war we had such a horrible electricity shortage and most of the time we had to spend days without it, so what is the causes and effects
from the electrical shortage (2 ).
As everyone knows, electricity comes from two major resources which are the fuel and the water, and because of the over use and manufacturing of car factories and
machine, the percentage of the fuel around the world is in danger also of running out of it and that is the first cause of the electrical shortage (3 ).
Another cause of it, is the population of humanity is increasing dramatically and all of us is in need of this energy, so what is happening here is that the demand of
using the electricity is much bigger than the supply or what we can offer or produce from it (4).
Therefore, because of the electricity shortage there must be some effects as well (5). Nowadays mostly everything in the world is operated by computers and you can
imagine how dangerous it will be when we are going to run out from this energy...everythings will be effected such as hospitals, hotels, factories and so on, and there

£
will be lots of losses and damges (6 ).
So, in conclusion, electricity is a very important power and we have to save it, so what I suggest to do is that we have to find another type of energy to be replaced and

_3S
not to use it in a consumption way (7).
 Group B '
P retest (essay 7)
war/wr (sr) 2
elec'elec (sr)
lelvleb (sr)
caus'cau (sr 3
slut/shrt (sr)
elec'dec (sr) cau/cau (sr) 4
war/war (sr) fuel/fud (sr) 5
leM eban elec/dec (sr)
(cr)
cau/cau (sr) 6
leban/leb empl/wrk cp 7
(cr)
shrt/shrt (sr) elec/elec (sr) 8
eflVefTe (sr)
coun/leban eff/eff (sr) 9
(s)
emplo/empl 10
(sr)
peo/Lebane eff/eff (sr) 11
(SPP)
the/peo (s) 12
cau/cau (sr) dec/elec (sr) coun/coun liv/life (cr)
shrt/shrt (sr) (sr) efPeff (sr)

For the past few years, the electricity in Lebanon has been truely damaged due to the war, and this latter has cost Lebanon a lot of money to rebuild a new network ( 1).
In addition to the war, there have been many causes and effects of electricity shortage in Lebanon (2).
The causes for the shortage are mainly two (3). The first cause is due to the lack of fuel oil w'hich is a basic substance to produce electricity (4). During the war,the
ships were not able to reach the Lebanese area to deliver the fuel to the company of electricity (5).
The second cause is caused by the lack of employee (6 ). Many skillful engineer have escaped and the one who remains in Lebanon were not able to go to their work
( 7 ).
The effects of electricity shortage were mainly two (8 ). The first effect is reflected in the financial situation of the country (9). Many factories have closed and most
of them were not able to pay salaries for the employees ( 10).
The second effect is shown in the daily life of the people (11). For example they were not able to keep the food in the refrigerators (12).
In conclusion, the causes and effects of electricity shortage were catastrophic on the country and I hope that the electricity return again because it is so hard to live
without it (13).
 Group B '
P retest (essay 20)
elec-elec (sr)
elec/elec (sr) 3
shrt/shrt (sr)
leb/leb (sr)
cau/cau (sr)
dec'elec (sr) war/war (sr) 4
.shrt/shrt (sr) reas/caus (s)
leb/leb (sr) coua'cou (sr 5
elec'elec (sr) pre/pre (sr) 6
leb/leb (sr) lck/lck (sr) 7
shrt/shrt (sr) lck/lck (sr) 8
9
ind/wrk the/emplo (s 10
(SPP)
inds/inds (sr 11
eft/efT (sr) leb/leb (sr) elec/elee (sr) shrt/shrt (sr) 12
mach/mach 13
(sr)
leb/leb (spp elec/elec (sr) 14
15
eff/eff (sr) peo/leban (s 16
neg/neg (sr) 17

effect1effect dec/elec (sr) rteg/ne 18

(sr) shrt/shrt (sr) (sr)
leb/leb (sr)
leb/leb (srf

Since the beginning of the 19th century, electricity has become one of the essential everyday aspects (1). However, there are many causes and effects of electricity
shortage in Lebanon (2).
Electricity shortage in Lebanon is due to a major cause, which is the war (3). A war in a country leads to electricity shortage for the following reasons (4). First of
all, Lebanon under occupation means that the enemy’s aim is to put pressure on this country (5). Pressure includes attacking not only the infrastructure, but also
electricity' industries (6 ). Second, most of the time, Lebanon has suffer from the lack of fuel (7). This lack was due to the shortage of money needed for buying it (8 ).
Third, many employees were not paid (9). Therefore, they foud that they are not obliged to bother themselves and go to work (10). As a result, a lack of maintenance
for all machines in these industries will follow ( 11).
On the other hand, there are several effects of electricity shortage in Lebanon (12). During this period, all electrical machines were out of service such as refrigerator,
washing machines, air conditions, and elevators (13). Thus, Lebanese has suffered a lot for they had to wait for the electricity in order to do their stores (14). As a
student who has a disability7,1 had to go up and down stairs everyday to go to school (15). Moreover, many people had to have their own generators (16). As a result,
negative efforts regarding air pollution and noise will result (17).
Generally, electricity7 shortage in Lebanon was mainly because of the war, and it had several negative effects (18). In my opinion, this was a hard experience for
Lebanese (19).
 Cj roup L3 '
Posttest (essay 1)
tle'tel (sr) *
com/tech
(SPP)
tel/tel (sr) 3
caus/'cau (sr 4
tel/tel (sr)
peo'w e (s) leb/leb (sr) 5
convco (cr) peo/engt 6
. (spp)
war/war (sr) 7
leb/leb (spp)
tel/tel (sr) inflat/infl (sr 8
efT.efT(sr) cau/cau (sr) econ/infl leb/peo (s) 0
(spp)
leb/leb (app) 10
tel/tel (sr) busin/econ 11
(spp)
tel/tel (sr) 12
busi/bus (sr)
tim/tini (sr)
tel'tel (sr) cau/cau (sr) 13
com-co (sr) efT/eff (cr)

tel/tel (sr) coun/coun

(sr)

Telephone is one of the most important and useful technology which the human has created (1). Although we are living in a big planet, telephone could make it
much easier and faster to communicate between us (2). During the civil war in Lebanon, telephone had been effected due to some causes which created some effects (3).
First of all, there were two major causes for the telephone shortage (4). First, most of the educated people decided to immigrate from Lebanon in order to survive (5).
In addition, that made a lack of specialized engineers in the communication field (6 ). Secondly, during the war, the Lebanese pound inflation had fallen rapidly and
that made an inflation (7). Due to this inflation, people could not afford to purchase telephone lines or their equipments (8 ).
All these causes effected the Lebanese society and its economics (9). For one thing, tourism percentage who came to Lebanon during the war was very low (10).
Furthermore, without telephones most of the business will be closed down because as every one knows business now means time (11). In addition without the telephone
all business will be waisting their time and gaining lots of losses ( 12).
In conclusion, these were the causes and the effects of living in a country without proper telephone communication (13). In my opinion, telephone is one of the
aspect that make one country modern or not (14).
 Group B '

P osttest (essay 7)
tel- tel (sr) 2
com/co (sr)
cau/cau (sr) 3
tel/tel (sr)
cau/cau (sr) 4
tel/tel (sr) stea/stea (cr) 5
lin/lin (sr)
he/neigb (s) 6
box/box (sr)
tel/tel (sr)
cau/cau (sr) 7
tel/tel (sr) 8
per/per (sr) 9
prob/pro
(sr)
efi)elT(sr) cau/cau (sr) 10
effteff (sr) 11
econ/eco (sr
busi/pers 12
(SPP)
tho'busin (s) 13
invs/wrk (s)
soci/soci (cr eff7eff (sr) 14
com/com 15
(cr)
tel/tel (sr) cau/cau (sr) coun/coun efb'eff (sr) 16
com/com(sr (sr)

pro/pro (sr) life/liv (cr)

tel/tel (sr)

From the invention of the telephone by Graham Bell till now, the technology of telephone communication has reached a high performance (1). “Eventhough the
telephone is a standard of equipment in most homes, there are many causes and effects of living in a country like Lebanon without proper telephone communication (2).
The causes for the breakdown of telephone are mainly two (3). The first cause is due to the stealing of lines (4). I remember my neighbor who used to steal a line
from the telephone box (5). He opens the box and starts to cut from here and there like an expert telephone (5).
The second cause is due to the lack of maintenance (7). During the war. the qualified persons in solving telephone problems have left the country (8 ). Therefore, the
persons who remains, were not at the level to solve these problems (9 ).
Despite these causes, the effects were economic and social (10). The first effect is reflected in the economic field (11). Many businessmen has left to c>prus to do
their work (12). There, they have all the needs for their investments (13).
The second effect is shown in the society itself (14). Many families abroad were not able to communicate with their relatives (15).
In conclusion, these are the causes and effect of lack among many of living in a country where there is no proper telephone communication (16). I hope that this
problem will not show again because without telephone, life would be boring and sad (17).
 Group B ’
Posttest (essay 20)
com/co (sr) 2
cau/cau (sr) 3
liv/Tiv (sr)
cou/cou (sr)
tel/tel (sr)
com/co (sr
cou'cou (sr) 4
rea/cau (s)
empl'wrk cp 5
m ain'neg 6
(spp)
tel'te) (sr) 7
wrk/e,pl (s) peo/peo (sr) 8.
emp/enip
(cr)
efT'efl'(sr) 9

cou'cou (sr)
pro/pro (sr)
tel'tel (sr)
corn'co (sr
tel/tel (sr) 10
living/liv (sr) th/busi (s) 11
12
peo/peo (sr) liv/liv (cr) 13
peo/peo (sr) 14
cou'cou (sr) efDeff (sr) leadlea (sr) 15
cau/'cau (sr) liv/liv (sr) 16
cou/cou (sr)
pro/pro (sr)
tel/tel (sr)
com/co (sr)

o °)S
efE7efT(srO
life/liv (cr)
corn/co (sr)

Communication is very esential for everybody all around the world (1). However, there are several causes and effects of living in a country without proper telephone
communication (2 ).
Living in a country without proper telephone communication had several causes (3). First of all, a war in a country is a major reason, for the economy’s aim is to
destroy the infrastructure (4). Second, when employees are not paid, they prefer to neglect their work (5). As a result, a lack of maintenace will follow' (6 ). However,
some people might steal others telephone lines (7). Furthermore, many professional workers might break down the cables, so that people will have to tip these
employers in order to fix the damage (8 ).
On the other hand, there are many effects of living in a country without proper telephone communication (9). First, no telephone means that business is definitly out
( 10). This leads to a low standard of living (11). Second if someone is sick in the middle of the night, no one can call a doctor (12). As a result, people have to risk
their lives (13). Third, each time people want to know about their relatives abroad, they have to go to a central operator and call (14). Finally, all the negative effects
lead to decrease the tourism in a country' (15).
In conclusion, living in a country without proper telephone communication has too many causes and effects (16). In my opinion, life is extremely difficult without
communication (17).
374 MEN W ITHOUT WOMEN

H IL L S L IK E W H I T E E L E P H A N T S
-I
T h e hills across die valley o f die Ebro>' were long and white. O n this
side there was no shad^and no trees and the station was betw een tw o
lines o f rails in the sun. Close against the side o f the station jthcre was
the warm shadow o f the building and a R etain, made o f'strings o f
bainboo beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out
flics. ;The American and the girl w ith him sat at a table in the shade,
outside the building. Itjvas very hot and the express from Barcelona
w ould com e in forty minutcs.Ht stopped at this junction for tw o
minutes and w ent on to Madrid. L ^
' What^should w e drink?’ the girl asked. She had taken o ff her hat
and put.it on the table.J? _ ____________________ •
‘It’s pretty h o t,r the man said.
’Let’s drink beer.’
‘Dos cervezas,’ the man said into the curtain.
‘B ig ones?’ a w om an asked from the doorway.
‘Yes. T w o big ones.’
T he w om an brought tw o glasses o f beer and tw o felt pads. She put
the felt pads and the beer glasses on the table and looked at the man and
the girl. T h e girl was looking o ff at die line o f hills. T hey were w hite
in die sun and the country was brown and dry.
‘T h ey look like w hite elephants,’- she said.
‘I’ve never seen one,’ the man drank his beer.
‘N o , you w ouldn’t have.’
‘I m ight have,’ the man said. ‘Just because you say I w ouldn't have
doesn’t prove anything.’
T he girl looked at the bead curtain. ‘T h ey’ve painted som ething on
it,’ she said. ‘W hat docs it say?’
'A iiis del Toro. It’s a drink.’
‘C ould w e try it?’
T he man called ‘ Listen’ through the curtain. The w om an came out
from the bar.
‘Four reales.’
‘W e want tw o Anis del Toro.'
' W ith water?'
‘ D o you want it w ith water?’
‘I don’t k n o w ,’ the girl said. 'Is it good with w ater?’
'It’s all right.’
 3fc2. _

HILLS LIKE-W HITE ELEPHANTS 375

'Y ou w ant them w ith w ater?’ asked the wom an.

'Y es, w ith water.’
‘It tastes like liquorice,* the girl said and put the glass dow n.
‘That’s the w ay w ith everything.’
‘Y es,’ said the girl. ‘Everytliing tastes ofliquoricc. Especially all the
things y ou ’ve waited so long for, like absinthe.*
‘O h, cut it out.’
‘Y ou started it,’ the girl said. 'I was being amused. I was having a
fme tim e.’
'W ell, let’s try and have a fme tim e.’
'A ll right. I was trying. I said the mountains looked like w hite
elephants. W asn't that bright?’
'That was bright.'
'I wanted to try this new drink. That’s all w e do, isn’t it - look at
things and try new drinks?’
'I guess so .’
T he girl looked across at the hills.
‘T h ey’re lovely hills,’ she said. ‘They don’t really look like white
elephants. I just meant the colouring o f their skin through the trees.’
‘ Should w e have another drink?’
‘Ail right.’
T he warm wind blew the bead curtain against the table.
‘The beer’s nice and cool,’ the man said.
'It’s lovely,’ the girl said. .
'It’s really an aw fully simple operation, Jig,’ the man said. 'It's not
really an operation at all.'
The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on.
‘I k n ow you w ou ld n ’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just
to let the air in.'
T h e girl did not say anything.
‘I’ll go w ith you and I’ll stay w ith you all the time. They just let
the flir in and then it’s all perfectly natural.’
‘Then what w ill w e do afterwards?’
‘W e ’ll be fine afterwards. Just like w e were before.’
'W h at makes you think so?'
'That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that's
made us unhappy.’
The girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand out and took hold
o f tw o o f the strings o f beads.
 3 k3

376 MEN W ITHOUT WOMEN

‘ And you think then w e'll be all right and be happy.’

‘I k n ow w e w ill. Y o u d on ’t have to be afraid. I’ve k n ow n lots o f
people that have done it.’
‘ So have I,’ said the girl. 'A nd afterwards they were all so happy.'
‘W e ll,’ the m an said, ‘i f yo u don’t w an t to you don’t have to. I
w ou ld n't have y o u do it ^ you didn’t want to. But I k n ow it’s
perfectly sim ple.’
’ And you really want_to?’__ ____ _______ ____________
‘I think it’s the best thing to do. But I d on ’t w ant you to do it i f you
don’t really w ant to.
' And i f I do it y o u ’ll be happy and tilings w ill be like they were and
y ou ’ll lov e m e?’ ^
‘I love ^ou n ow . Y ou k n ow I love y o u .’
'I k n ow . B ut i f I do it, then it w ill be nice again i f I say things are
like w h ite elephants, and y ou ’ll like it? ’ ^ ^
'I’ll love it. I love* it n o w but I just can't think about it. Y ou kn ow
h ow I get w h en I w orry.’ 10 11
'I f I do it you w o n 't ever w orry?’ /2
'I w o n ’t w o rry ^ b o u t that because it's perfectly sim ple.’
‘Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about m e.’ 1^
‘W h at do you m ean?’
‘I d on ’t care about m e.’
‘W e ll, I ^are about y o u .’ ,g
‘O h, yes. B ut I d on ’t care about me. And I’ll do it and then every­
thing w ill be fine.'
‘I don’t w ant you to do it if you feel that way.'
T he girl stood up and walked to the end o f the station. Across, on the
other side, w ere fields o f grain and trees along the banks o f the Ebro.
Far away, beyond the river, were mountains. T he shadow o f a cloud
m oved across the field o f grain and she saw the river through the
trees.
‘And w e could have all this,' she said. ‘And w e could have every-
tliing and every day w c make it m ore im possible.’
‘W hat did you say?’
I ‘I said w e could have everything.’
j ‘W e can have everything.’
‘N o , w c can’t.'
‘W e can have th e w h o le w orld.’
‘N o , w e'ca n ’t.’

I
 ‘W e can go everyw here.’ '
‘N o. w e can’t. It isn’t ours any m ore.’
‘It Y o u r s 1
‘N o , it isn't. A nd once they take it away, you never get it back.’
'B u t they haven’t taken it aw ay.’
' W e ’ll w ait and see.'
'C o m e o n back in the shade,’ he said. ‘Y ou mustn't feel that w ay.’
'I don’t feel any w a y ,’ the girl said. 'I just k n ow things.’
‘I d o n ’t w ant y ou to do anydiing that you don’t want to do
'N o r th ft isn't good for m e,’ she said. ‘ I know . Could w c have
another beer?’
'A ll right. B u t y o u ’ve g ot to realize
‘I realize,’ the girl said. ‘Can’t w e maybe stop talking?’
T h ey sat d o w n at the table and die girl looked across at die hills
on die dry side o f the valley and the man looked at her and at the
table.
‘Y o u ’ve g o t to realize,’ he said, 'that I don’t want you to do it if
you d o n ’t w ant to. I’m perfectly w illin g to go through w ith it if
it means anything to y o u .’
‘ D oesn’t it m ean anything to you ? W e could get along.’
‘O f course it does. B ut I d on ’t w ant anybody but you. I don’t want
anyone else. A nd I k n ow it’s perfectly sim ple.’
‘Yes, y ou k n o w it’s pcrfccdy sim ple.’
‘ It's all right for you to say that, but I do kn ow it.’
‘W ou ld y ou do som ething for m e n o w ? ’
‘I’d do anything for y o u .’
‘W ou ld y ou please please please please please please please stop
talking?’
H e did not say anydiing but looked at the bags against the wall o f
die station. T here w ere labels on them from all the hotels w here diey
had spent nights.
‘B ut I d on ’t w ant you to,’ he said, 'I don’t care anything about it.’
‘ I'll scream,’ the girl said.
T he-w om an cam e out through the curtains w ith tw o glasses o f beer
and put d iem d ow n on the dam p felt pads. 'T h e train com es in five
m inutes,’ she said.
‘W hat did she say?’ asked the girl.
‘That the train is com in g in five m inutes.’
T he girl sm iled brightly at die w om an, to diank her.

‘I’d bet|cr take the bags over to the other side o f the station,’ the
man said. She smiled at hitn.^-
'A ll right?T hen com e back and w e ’ll finish the bcer.’^
H e picked up the tw ^ Jieavy bags and carried them around die
station to_thc other tracks. H e looked up die tracks but could not see
the train. C om ing back, he walked through the bar-room, where
people w aiting for the train ^vcre drinking. H e drank an Anis at the
bar and Jnoked at the people. T hey were all waiting reasonably for
the train. H e w ent out through the bead curtain. She was sitting at
the table an3 smiled at him . ^
'D o you feel better?^he a sk e d /** (l( f
‘ I feel fine,’ she said. There’s nothing w rong w ith me. I feel fine.’
 3£>5-

IN O U R TIME

n’j ; ' . > i* ’ — *.m

Everybody was drunk. The whole battery was drtmk going along the road
in the dark. W e were going to the Champagne. The lieutenant kept riding
his horse out into the Jields, and saying to him, ‘Ttn drunk, I tell you,
m on vicux. O h, I am so soused.' We went along the road all night in
(he dark and (he adjutant kept riding up alongside my kitchen and saying,
‘ You must put it out. It is dangerous. It will be observed.’ We were fifty
kilometres from the front, but the adjutant worried about the fire in my
kitchen. It was funny going along that road. That was when I was a kitchen
corporal.

IN D IA N C A M P

A t the lake shore there was another rowboat drawn ujy.^The two
Indians stood waiting. ( 3.^
N ick and his father got in the stem o f the boat and the Indians
shoved it off and one o f them got in to rov^?ljnclc George sat in the
stem o f the camp row boa^A rhc young Indian shoved the camp boat
off and got in to row Uncle George.
T he tw o boats started o ff in the darl^'N ick heard the oar-locks o f
the odicr boat quite a w ay ahead o f them in the misffirh c Indians
row ed w ith quick choppy strokcs?Nick lay back w ith his father’s arm
around hirri-Vlt was cold on the w arcr'T h c Indian who was rowing
them was w orking very hard* but the other boat moved further ahead
in the mist all the time, (u') ,
‘W here arc wc going, Dad?* Nick asked.
‘O ver to the Indian cam p. There is an Indian lady very sick.*
‘O h ,’ said Nick.
Across the bay they found the other boat beached. Uncle George
was sm oking a cigar in the dark. The young Indian pulled the boat
w ay up die beach. Uncle George gave both the Indians agars.
T hey w alked up from the beach dirough a meadow that was soak-
ing w et w ith dew , following the young Indian w ho carried a lantern^
Then they w ent into die woods and followed a trail that led to the
logging road that ran back into the hills. It was much lighter on the
logging road as the tim ber was cut away on both sides. The young
 3 tb

280 IN OU R TI ME

Indian stopped and blew out his lantern and they all walked on along
the road.
They came around a_bcnd and a dog came out barking. Ahead
were the lights o f the shanties where the Indian bark-pcclcrs lived.
M ore dogs rushed out at therm The two Indians sent them back to
the shanties. In the shanty nearest the road there was a light in the
window. An old woman stood in the doorway holding a lamp.
Inside 011 a woodcii_bunk lay a young Indian woman. She had been
trying to have her baby for tw o days. All the old women in the camp
had been helping her. The men had moved off up the road to sit in
the dark and smoke out o f range o f the noise she made. She screamed
just as Nick and the two Indians followed his father and Uncle George
into the shanty. She lay in the lower bunk, very big under a quilt.
Her head was turned to one side. In the upper bunk was her husband.
He had cut his foot very badly w ith an jpxe three days before. He was ,
smoking a pipe. The room smelled very bad.
N ick’s father ordered some water to be put on the stove, and while
it was heating lie spoke to Nick.
'T his lady is going to have a baby, Nick,’ lie said.
T know ,’ said Nick.
‘You don’t know,' said his father. ‘Listen to me. W hat she is going
through is called being in labour. The baby wants to be born and she
wants it to be bom. All her muscles arc trying to get the baby born.
That is what is happening when she screams.’
‘I see,’ Nick said.
Jnst then the wom an cried out.
' Oh, Daddy, can’t you give her something to make her stop scream­
ing?’ asked Nick.
‘No. I haven’t any anaesthetic,’ his father said. ‘But her screams arc
not important. I don’t hear them because they are not im portant.’
The husband in the upper bunk rolled over against the wall.
The w om an in the kitchen motioned to the doctor that the water
was hot. N ick’s father went into the kitchen aud poured about half
o f the water out o f the big kettle into a basiikdnto the water left
in the kettle lie put several things he unwrapped from a handker­
chief. (pj'j
‘Those must boil,’ lie said, and began to scrub his hands in the basin
o f hot water witli a cake o f soap he had brought from the c a m p ^ 'j
Nick watched his father’s hands scrubbing each other with the soap.^iA
 INDIAN CAMP 28l

W hile his father washed liis hands very carefully and thoroughly, lie
talked. (^ )
‘You see, N ick, babies arc supposed to be bom head first but some­
times they’re n o ^ ^ /h e n they’re not they make a lot of trouble for
evcrybody^M aybe I’ll have to operate on this lady^W Vll know in a
little whilc.’dj)
W hen lie was satisfied w ith his hands lie went in and went to workflo)
‘Pull back that quilt, will you, George?’ lie said. ‘I’d rather not
touch it.’
Later when he started to operate Uncle George and three Indian men
held the woman still. She bit Uncle George on the arm and Uncle
George said, ‘Dam n squaw bitch!* and the young Indian who had
rowed Uncle George over laughed at him. Nick held the basin for his
father. It all took a long time.
His father picked the baby up and slapped it to make it breathe and
handed it to the old woman.
‘ See, it’s a boy, N ick,’ lie said. ‘ H ow do you like being an interne?’
Nick said, ‘ All right.’ He was looking away so as not to see what his
father was doing.
‘There. That gets it,’ said his father and put something into the
basin.
Nick didn’t look at it.
‘N o w .’ his father said, ‘there’s some stitches to put in. You can
watch tliis or not, Nick, just as you like. I’m going to sew up die
incision I m ade.’
Nick did not watch. His curiosity had been gone for a long time.
His father fmished and stood up. Uncle George and the three
Indian, men stood up. Nick put the basin out in the kitchen.
Uncle George looked at his arm. The young Indian smiled. re_-
miniscently.
‘I’ll put some peroxide on that, George,’ the doctor said.
He bent over tlie Indian w om an. She was quiet now and her eyes
were closed. She looked very pale. She did not know what had
become o f the baby or anything.
‘I’ll be back in the m orning,’ the doctor said, standing up. ‘The
nurse should be here from St Ignace by noon and she’ll bring every­
thing we need.’
He was feeling exalted and talkative as football players are in the
dressing-room after a game.
 3C9

282 IN O U R TI ME

‘That’s one for the medical journal, George,’ he said. ‘Doing a

Caesarean with a jack-knife and sewing it up w idi nine-foot, tapered
gut leaders.’
Uncle George was standing against the wall, looking at his arm.
‘Oh, you’re a great man, all right,’ he said.
‘O ught to have a look at the proud father. They’re usually the
worst sufferers in these little aflairs,’ the doctor said. 'I must say he
took it all pretty quietly.’
He pulled back the blanket from the Indian’s head. His hand came
away wet. He mounted on the edge o f the lower bunk with the lamp
in one hand and looked in. The Indian lay w ith his face towards the
wall. His throat had been cut from car to ear. The blood had flowed
down into a pool where his body sagged the bunk. His head rested on
his left arm. The open razor lay, edge up, in the blankets.
‘Take Nick out o f the shanty, George,’ die doctor said.
There was 110 need o f that. Nick, standing in the door of" the
kitchen, had a good view o f the upper bunk when his father, the lamp
in one hand, tipped the Indian’s head back.
It was just beginning to be daylight when they walked along the
logging road back towards the lake.
‘I’m terribly sorry I brought you along, Nickic,’ said his father, all
liis post-operative exhilaration gone. ‘It was an awful mess to put you
through.’
‘Do ladies always have such a hard time having babies?’ Nick
asked.
‘No, that was very, very exceptional.’ I}')
‘W hy did lie kill himself, D addy?’(.Jf)
‘I don’t know, NiclD^jClc couldn’t stand things, I guess.’ ( j p
‘Do many men kill themselves, D addy?’ (jx'j
‘ N ot very many, N ick.’ (_ )
‘Do many w om en?’ (v-)
‘Hardly ever.’ CD
‘D on’t they ever ?’ C ')
‘ Oh, yes. They do sometimes.’ (o )'
‘D addy?’ (.' )
‘Yes.’ CD
‘W here did Uncle George go?’ ( t O
‘H e’ll turn up all right.’ (y j)
‘Is dying hard, D addy?’

‘No, I think it’s pretty easy!’Nick. It all depends.’0 0

They were seated in the boatl'TTick.in the stem, his father r o w i n g ^
The sun was coming up over the hiljfi!'^ bass jum ped, making a circle
in the watcl? '^ ic k trailed his hand in the wateHdt felt warm in the
sharp chill o f the m o rn in g ^ D
In the early m orning on the lake sitting in the stern of the boat with
his father rowing, he felt quite sure that lie would never dic^Z f)
★
 -40

Re.Q2>on onci rr?ias'{on

A nd tlie p r i e s t ess s p o k e a g a i n a n d said:
S p e a k to us o f R e a s o n and P a s s i o n . 4
A n d he a n s w e re d , saying:
Y o u r s o u l is o f t e n t i m e s a ba t t l e f i e l d , u p o n
w h ic h y o u r reason and y o u r j u d g m e n t w a g e
wa r a g a i n s t y o u r p a s s i o n a n d y o u r a p p e t i t e . Y,
W ould t hat I could be t he peacemaker
in y o u r s o u l , t ha t I m i g h t t u r n t he d i s c o r d
a n d t he r i v a l r y o f y o u r e l e m e n t s i n t o o n e ­
ness and m e l o d y . 3
But h o w shal l I, u n l e s s y o u y o u r s e l v e s be
a l s o t he p e a c e m a k e r s , n a y , t he l o v e r s o f all
your elements?

Your reason and your passion are t he

r u d d e r a n d t he sai l s o f y o u r s e a f a r i n g s o u l .
If either your sai l s or your rudder be
b r o k e n , y o u c a n b u t t o s s a n d dr i f t , o r e l s e
b e h e l d at a s t a n d s t i l l in m i d - s e a s .
F o r r e a s o n , r u l i n g a l o n e , is a f o r c e c o n ­
f i ni ng ; a n d p a s s i o n , u n a t t e n d e d , is a f l am e
t hat b u r n s t o its o w n d e s t r u c t i o n .
T h e r e f o r e let y o u r s o u l e x a l t y o u r r e a s o n
t o t h e h e i g h t o f p a s s i o n , t ha t it m a y s i ng ;

And let it direct your passion with

reason,- t hat y o u r p a s s i o n m a y l i v e t h r o u g h
its own daily resurrection, and like the
p h c e n i x rise a b o v e its o w n a s h e s .

I would have you consider your Ju d g­

m e n t a n d y o u r a p p e t i t e e v e n as y o u w o u l d
t w o l o v e d g u e s t s in y o u r h o u s e .
Surely you w o u ld not h o n o u r one guest
a b o v e t he o t h e r ; f o r h e w h o is m o r e m i n d ­
f ul o f o n e l o s e s t he l o v e a n d t he f ai t h o f b o t h .

A m o n g t h e hi l l s , w h e n y o u sit in t he c o o l
s h a d e o f t he w h i t e p o p lars, s h a r i n g t he p e a c e
a n d s e r c n i t v o f d i s t a n t fi el ds a n d m e a d o w s
— t h e n let v o u r he ar t s a y in s i l e n c e , “ G o d
r es t s in r e a s o n . "
And when the storm comes, and t he
m i g h t v w i n d s h a k e s t he f o r e s t , a n d t h u n d e r
and lightning proclaim t he majesty o f t he
s k v , — t h e n let y o u r heart s a v in a w e . “ G o d
m o v e s in p a s s i o n . " •
And since you are a breath in G o d ’s
s p h e r e , a n d a l e a f in G o d ' s f o r e s t , y o u t o o
s h o u l d rest in r ea s o n a nd m o v e in p a s s i o n . -
’ ‘ i
 31-0

(C)r\ \ A j o r k

rP
I ni'N n p l o u g h m a n s a i d, S p e a k t o us o f
W ork.:
A n d he a n s w e r e d , s a y i n g :
You work t hat y o u may keep pace with
the e a r t h a n d t h e s o u l o f t he e a r t h . ~
I'or to be i dl e is t o become a stranger
unto t he s e a s o n s , and t o s t e p o u t o f l i f e ’s
procession, t hat marches in majesty and
p r o u d s u b m i s s i o n t o w a r d s t he i n f i n i t e . 2 -

W h e n y o u w o r k y o u arc a fl ut e t h r o u g h
whose heart the whispering of t he hours
t ur ns t o m u s i c . V
W h i c h o f y o u w o u l d be a reed, d u m b and
s i l ent , w h e n all e l s e s i n g s t o g e t h e r in u n i s o n ?

Always you have been t o l d t ha t w o r k is

a curse and l ab ou r a m i s fo r tu ne .
But I say to you that when you work
you fulfil a part o f e a r t h ’s f u r t h e s t d r e a m ,
• a s s i g n e d t o y o u w h e n t hat d r e a m w a s b o r n ,
A nd in k e e p i n g y o u r s e l f w i t h l a b o u r y o u
arc in t r u t h l o v i n g life,

26
A n d to l o v e life t h r o u g h l a b o u r is t o b e
i nt i ma t e w i t h l i f e ’s i n m o st s e c r e t .

But i f y o u in y o u r pain call birth an

affliction a n d t h e s u p p o r t o f t he f l es h a c u r s e
wr i t t e n upon your brow, then I answer
that najugln. but t he sweat of your brow
shall w a s h a w a y t h a t w h i c h is w r i t t e n .

Y o u h a v e b e e n t o l d a l s o t hat life is d a r k ­
ness, an d in y o u r w e a r i n e s s y o u e c h o w h a t
was said b y t he w e a r y .
And 1 say that life is indeed darkness
save w h e n t he r e is u r g e ,
A n d all u r g e is b l i n d s a v e w h e n t h e r e is
knowjedge,
And all k n o w l e d g e is vain save when
there is w o r k ,
A n d all w o r k is e m p t y save w h en there
is l o v e ;
And w h en y o u w o r k w ith love y o u bind
y o u r s e l f to yourself, and to one another,
and to G o d .
 3?d
2-7
And what is it to work with love? •
It is to weave the cloth with threads
drawn from your heart, even as if your
beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection, even
as if your beloved were to dwell in that
house. -7
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap
the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved
were to eat the fruit. «'
It is to charge all things you fashion with
a breath of your own spirit,
And to know that all the blessed dead
are standing about you and watching. 5

O ften have I heard you say, as if speaking

in sleep, “ He w ho w orks in marble, and
finds the shape of his own soul in the stone,
is nobler than he who ploughs the soil.
And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it
on a cloth in the likeness of man, is more
than he who makes the sandals for our feet.”
But I say, not in sleep but in the over­
wakefulness o f noontide, that the wind

28
speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks
than to the least o f all the blades of grass;
And he alone is great who turns the voice
of the wind into a song made sweeter by
his own loving.

W o rk is love made visible.

And if you cannot w ork with love but only
with distaste, it is better that you should
leave your w ork and sit at the gate o f the
temple and take alms o f those who work
with joy. "-*•
For if you bake bread with indifference,
you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half
man’s hunger.-^
And if you grudge the crushing of the
grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the
wine. -
And if you sing though as angels, and
love not the singing, you muffle man’s ears
to the voices o f the day and the voices of
the night, f
 372

Appendix 11

Classroom Transcript
A. Vocabulary Teaching
The following is the first encounter with the text. Hills Like White Elephants. It is a vocabulary
teaching lesson taped and transcribed.
Hills Like White Elephants by Hemingway was the text used for the focus of the discussion
and as the source of target words. These 11 words are selected from the above mentioned text with
the aim of using these words in the topic of the essay to follow. Furthermore, these vocabulary words
are measured in terms of Cobuild Frequency' Count (1994).

T: Let us start by underlining the vocabulary words that I have given you. Take the
first paragraph, the 4th line, you have string o f bamboo beads. Please underline.
Now go to the line before the last in the same paragraph. You have the word,
junction. Please underline. Junction means a meeting point. Now, keep going
down until you reach the paragraph that starts with the woman brought two glasses.
Can you see that? On this line you have fe lt pads. Please underline felt pads. Pad
is a felt material on which you put a drink. After that, count 2 lines. One, two and
you have looking off. Please underline looking off Looking off means looking
beyond, faraway. Now, go to page 375. On the 3rd line, you have the word
liquorice. Liquorice means in Arabic. It is a plant with a sweet taste. You
also have absinthe on the 3rd line. It is a bitter type of alcohol. Now, go to page
378, the last paragraph, the second line. You have, the other tracks. Underline
tracks. There is still the word label. But I can't find it. Never mind. Let me go
back to the vocabulary words that I have given you and explain them. (As the words were being
explained, most of them were written on the blackboard.)
A white elephant is a gift of possession that may be rare or expensive but unwanted. Actually, it is
the theme of this story.
Beads. A string o f beads. It is a thread with beads.
Junction is a meeting point.
Liquorice, I said it.
Cut it out means stop it. When you are angry, you say cut it out.
Felt pad. I explained.
Brightly means happy.
Track means path. Do you know what path means? It is a small passage.
Absinthe is a bitter strong alcohol
and label is what you have on luggage or bottles that tells about the content of the bottle or the name
of the owner of the luggage. You can have labels on bottles or on any other thing.

Now, let me tell you what we are going to do with these stories. We are going to study the
vocabulary, and we are going to do some practice of vocabulary in class. Then, I am going to give
you a quiz on the vocabulary' we have studied. We are going to study the structure of the sentences in
the story. We will analyze this in class through classwork, and then I will give you a quiz on
sentence-combining. Once you know how the sentences
are, and once you know- the vocabulary, afterwards I'll give you an essay on the topic, Hills Like
White Elephants. This will make writing easier for you, I hope. This is
what we are going to find out. Whether teaching S-C and vocabulary make essay writing easier.
 374

T: It might be or maybe...
S: She is young. Mentally.
T: Keep this in mind, and let us read. (35)

(Resuming reading comprehension)

Role-play reading is resumed and stopped by the teacher when she realizes that parts of the text are
heavily loaded and need focusing upon.

T: What feeling do you get out of the reading? And what are they talking about?
S: They’re talking basically about two things.
T: Yes!
S: Hills.
S: Drinks! (40)
T: Yes! what did one of the couple say?
S: We are always talking about drinks.
T: Yes, we are always talking about drinks.
S: It's a routine.
T: Imagine yourself being with your girlfriend. If you keep talking about drinks, what
does it mean?
S: Lack of interest.
S: Boring.
T: The second point. What is the 2nd point about?
S: The operation.
T: Ah! what kind of operation? (50)
S: It is unclear.
T: Yes. But there are hints to what the operation is about. Hemingway doesn't say
things directly.
S:.. (unclear answer)
T: What did you say, Sylvie?
S: Military operation.
T: Military operation! Remember, it is she who is going to go through the operation, and
he keeps on telling her, it is simple. Nothing is going to happen.
S: Is it abortion?
T: All!
S: But Miss, she is a girl!
T: Oh! a girl doesn't mean she is not a woman. A girl means...
S: Mentally. (60)
T: Yes, she is mentally a girl. And this proves the point that she is mentally a girl, not
physically. This is the meaning of getting the air in. It sucks the embryo, Sylvie. So
this is what he is talking about. Can you relate this conversation to the words hills
like white elephants?
S: They remembered something in their relation.
T: Is it they?
S: She.
T: Ah! she. Where is it that he told her, cut it out?
You know. When you tell someone to cut it out. What does it mean?
S: Stop it.
S: That's enough.
T: Please, underline cut it out p.375 after absinthe. Are you happy when you say such a
thing?
S: No.
 375

T: No. So who is somehow upset because she is talking about hills like white elephants?
S: The American. (71)
T: The American. What did we say white elephants mean?
S: Something good you want...
T: Ah! something you want very badly, but once you get it, it has no more value. What
did you say, May?
S: Children.
T: Children. What does it mean?
S: She is going to...
S: She is pregnant.
T: Alright. That is why she is going through the operation. This we know.
S: Instability. (80)
S: Junction.
S: Commitment.
S: He wants the child, and she doesn't.
S: No. No. She wants the child, and he doesn't. He is the one that keeps telling her, it is
a simple operation. Nothing is going to happen. I am going to stay next to you.
T: What does she say afterwards?
S : Who started it?
S: What will happen afterwards?
T: And what does he say?
S: Nothing will happen and eveiything will be as it used to be.
T: And we will be... (90)
S:...as we were before.
T: which means, happy or unhappy?
S: Happy.
T: Alright. So what is the idea of the baby causing?
S: Problems and unhappiness.
T: Why is the setting the station?
S: Either she would say goodbye or ...
T: Yes. It is a transition. It is either yes or no. (98)
(The following class hour)
C. Vocabulary7Revision
T: I want you to refresh my memory with some of the words we have learned. Don't look
at the list. Think of the story, and wftere we havereached until now7.
Let's take the setting. We have a couple waiting at the railway station. OK.
T: There is a train coming and stopping at...
S: At the junction, (word written on the blackboard)
T. What is happening between the couple?
S: A conversation, a discussion, an argument.
T:...concerning what?
S: An operation.
S: A simple operation.
T: They also said that they have nothing to do except...
S: Drinking.
S: Drinking and talking about drinks.
T: If you notice, they have already tried 3 or 4 drinks. But they all taste... (110)
S: Liquorice.
T: Yes, and some of them taste...
S: Like absinthe.
 376

T: You remember what we said about absinthe?

S: Bitter, (the word is written on the blackboard)
T: What's the name of the man?
S: Jack.
S: The American.
T : What's the name of the woman?
S: The girl. (120)
S: Jig.
T: Good. The girl was sitting, and she moved with her hand a
string of...
S: Beads.
T: String of beads, (the word was written on the blackboard)
T. Also the waitress comes and puts the drinks on ...
S: Felt pads.
T: Yes, bravo. Alright. We are going to continue reading now. Do you understand the
story a bit more now?
S: Yes.
T: I want a narrator, the girl and the American and the waitress.
T: Yes, Mazen. You're the American. Choose your girl. Look around. (130)

Vocabulary Learning and Reading Comprehension

(Reading takes place, and the teacher goes back to comprehension and vocabulary whenever she
feels that the text needs explanation and whenever vocabulary to be learned is encountered)
T : What did the girl do?
S: She smiled at the American.
T: Yes. How did she smile?
S: Brightly.
T: Yes, brightly. What does brightly mean?
S: Happily.
T: Why?
S: Because the train is coming.
T: What does this mean?
S: She is going to do the operation. (140)
T: Most probably. The decision has been taken. She has decided. She's happy the train
has come. The train is a symbol of going somewhere. And she made up her mind.
I can give you another interpretation. I am going to give you 5 minutes to form groups
and discuss whether the girl is going to leave her boyfriend or not. Find arguments
sustaining your point of view. I want a group to discuss the idea that she is not going to leave him,
but she will get rid of the baby. And another group who believes that she is going to keep the
baby and leave him. But before let us review the words that we have encountered.
What did they have on their bags?
S: Labels.
T. OK.
S: Tracks.
T: OK, tracks. He carried the bags to the other track.
S: Brightly.
T: Yes, she smiled brightly. Later on, we are going to write essays. These are the
different parts of an essay. You have the introduction, and in it you have the background and the
thesis statement (A diagram was drawn on the blackboard). In the body, you have paragraphs and
each paragraph has a TS and supporting ideas (SI). Now. Essays can be developed in different ways.
They can be developed through illustration; and when I give you the topic, I will tell you illustrate.
 377

You can also develop through comparison and contrast. And then again, in the topic, I will say
compare and contrast. And the 3rd possibility could be...
S: Causes and effects.
T: Yes, causes/effects. These are not the only ones. There are many others. But this is basically
what we are going to work at. Now. Let me explain what is part of the Th.St. Iam going to use a
mathematical formula, (this was drawn on the blackboard.)
Th ST = (Theme + CIs)
TS1 = (Theme + Cl 1)
TS2 = (Theme+ CI2)
Therefore: TS1 + TS2 = Th ST
Rest. = TS1 + TS2 = Th St
T: Th.St. includes ... (150)
S: topic.
T: Yes, which means the theme ( ), plus what we are going to call...
S: controlling ideas (CIs).
T: If I say, illustrate whether Jig is going to leave the American. Where is the theme?
S: Leaving.
T: Alright. Leaving or not leaving the American.
T: Cl?
S: Reason.
T: Not reason because I didn't say reason. I said illustrate which means in other words, examples.
This could be the CI. Suppose I ask you, State the causes that made Jig lea\>e the American.
S: Causes. (160)
T: Now. Here, causes would be the CI.
T: How is the Th.St. different from the TS?
(pause)
T: TS would be equal to ...
(pause)
T: Is it the same theme?
S: No.
S: Equal.
T: Equal sure. Otherwise, you will have a different essay. (170)
T: Theme plus...
S: One cause.
T: Yes. Theme plus cause one. I just want to make sure that you understand the
difference between Th.St. and TS. Now let's get to the conclusion. In the conclusion
you have...
S: Restatement and opinion.
T: Yes. And the restatement is equal to...
S: Th.St. (176)
(Class was over)
D. Sentence-combining correction
(next class hour)
T: I am going to give you back your S-C, and we're going to correct it. And I want you to see
whether combining these 3 sentences is pleasant as a combination...
S: No. It was too long.
T: Alright. Yes. I have done it on purpose. I want to show you when you write long
sentences, how unpleasant it becomes.
S: Very unpleasant. (180)
T: Yes. It is very unpleasant. And the only way to show you, is to let you wTite them.
We are going to compare them with the sentences in the text. Alright. And then, I am
 378

going to point out at one thing. The transitional words are not used to combine
sentences with. Transitional words are used to start sentences with. I mean by
transitional words, furthermore, moreover, in addition etc... These are words that you
can start a sentence with, while the others you can combine with. Could I have
someone to read the first sentence?
S: Nick and his father got in the stem of the boat and the Indian who shoved it off got in
to row.
T: Yes. OK. That's correct.
S: But this changes the meaning because in the sentence, there is one o f the Indians...
T: Yes, most probably the meaning would change. You're right, Maria. Just for the sake
of S-C, I'll accept it. Hemingway uses short sentences, except when the action
is long. Then he lengthens his sentences. Alright. Let me tell you how I graded.
Every sentence is 1 point except for no. 3. No. 3 has 2 pts. If you have some mistakes,
then you get 1/2 pts. Go on Rana.
S: They came around a bend where a dog came out barking and ahead were the lights of
the shanties in which the Indian barkpeelers lived.
T: This is one possibility. Anyone else?
S: They came around a bend, and a dog came out barking ahead were the lights of the
shanties where the Indian barkpeelers lived.
T: You can't have barking and ahead without a word linking them.
S: We can have a fullstop. (190)
T: Yes, but I said, combine in one sentence. How can you have a full stop?
S: The writer has it.
T: I know. But I am teaching you to combine sentences and make one sentence. And I
want to torture you and show you when sentences are long, they are difficult to
understand. So you will not do this. Could I have some one else? Someone had a
clever idea. OK, Wassim.
S: When they came around a bend, a dog came out barking and ahead were the lights of
the shanties where or (in which) the Indian barkpeelers live.
T: Now. Could I have the author's way?
S: They came around a bend and a dog came out barking. Ahead were the lights o f the
shanties where the Indian barkpeelers live.
T : Why do you think the author had a fullstop after barking?
S: Two different ideas.
T: Of course two different ideas. But I combined them for the sake of S-C. That is why
I keep on telling you that every idea is in a separate sentence. And when you start a
new sentence, It means that it is a new idea. No.3. Can I have someone for no.3?
OK, Ghina.
S: Inside on a wooden bunk lay a young Indian woman that had been tiying to have her
baby for two days, while the men moved off up the road, sat in the dark and
smoked out of range of the noise she made.
T: Good. Let me repeat, (the sentence was repeated by the teacher.)
While, is a contrast. Therefore, we need a comma. You could have put whereas.
While the men moved off up the road, sat in the dark and smoked out o f range...
Here, you have items in a series. That's why you need a comma. Let's see how
Hemingway has written it. OK Maria. Could you read it?
S: Inside on a wooden bunk lay a young Indian woman. She had been trying to have
her baby fo r two days. The man had moved off up the road sit in the dark and
smoked out o f range o f the noise she made. (200)
S: It is better.
T : Of course, it is better. Definitely. The way I have asked you to do it is complicated.
 379

That's why I keep on telling you, shorten your sentences. The shorter they are, the less
mistakes you'll make. But you don't understand this until I make you do it. Can I have
someone to read no.4? Let's see the tenses now. Some of you have done it nicely
and some have forgotten to change the tense. But I didn't consider this as a mistake.
Had been is the past perfect. You use the past perfect when you have two actions
taking place at the same time, but one is before the other. Therefore, you need to
change the tenses. Can I have someone to read the sentence? I mean someone who
changed the tenses. OK, Cherine.
S: Hhen the doctor mounted on the edge o f the lower bunk and looked in, the Indian was
laying with his face to the wall, his throat cut from ear to ear and the blood was
flowing down into a pool.
T:'His throat cut from ear to ear and the blood was flowing down...' If you say his throat
cut, why did you say the blood was flowing? You need to have parallel structure. So,
his throat cut and blood...
S:...flowed down...
T: OK. Let's go to the beginning. Why did you say the doctor mounted on the edge of
the low^er bunk and looked in...? The Indian was laying. Why was laying? Why did
you use the past continuous? You need the simple past. With when, it is the simple
past. If you had while, you could have the continuous.
S: But while is a contrast.
T : While could be contrast or time. Two actions taking place at the same time. While he
is eating, I am explaining. Let's read it from the text. (210)
S: He mounted on the edge of the lower bunk with the lamp on one hand and looked in
(full stop). The Indian lay with his face to the wall(fullstop). His throat had been cut
from ear to ear (fullstop). The blood had flowed down into a pool (fullstop).
T: All of them are short sentences. Alright. Now . Is it more difficult when I don't give
you any directions to follow ?
S: No. It is easier.
S: It is easier.
T: It is easier not to give you any directions. Then you can do it the way you want.
Alright. Let me have someone to read the second part. This was easy. Wasn't it?
S: Yes, because they were shorter.
T: I guess so. Also, I think that conjunctions are easier than subordinators. Can I hav e
someone for sentence no. 1?
S: The young Indian stopped, blew out his lantern and they all walked on along the road.
T: Let's read the text. Yes, Fadi.
S: The young Indian stopped and blew out his lantern and they all walked on along the
road. (220)
T: So he used two and.
S: I did it this way, and you count it as a mistake.
T. Alright. I'll correct it for you. But when you write your essays, leave the conjunction
until the end when you have items in a series. This university follows slightly different
rules of grammar. Mr Hemingway can break the rules, but not us. This time I won't
count it as a mistake. I ate an apple, an orange and a banana.
No.2. Yes, Zaher.
S: He was smoking a pipe, and the room smelled very bad.
T : What about the author?
S: He was smoking a pipe (fullstop). The room smelled very bad.
T: OK. Two different sentences.
S: I think he didn't connect the sentences because there was no relation between the two
sentences.
 380

T: Bravo. And I think he meant by this that smoking the pipe is not a result of the room
smelling bad. What was the cause of the room smelling bad?
S: The blood. (230)
S: The mood.
T : Shanty. What is the meaning of shanty?
S: Poor.
T : OK. What do you expect when it is a poor surrounding?
S: Dirt.
T: No.3?
S: The woman in the kitchen motioned to the doctor that the water was hot.
T : How did the author have it?
S: The same.
T: OK. 4? (240)
S: Babies are supposed to be bom head first, but sometimes they are not.
T: OK. This is obvious. How did he do it?
S. The same.
T: Alright. The last one!
S: He was satisfied with his hands when he went in and went to work.
T: I think I have a typing mistake here. I have two went. Let's see the text.
S: When he was satisfied with his hands, he went in and went to work.
T: It is correct. Well, I guess Hemingway wants to emphasise routine. If I omit the 2nd
went, would it be wrong? Read it Zaher.
S: He was satisfied with his hands when he went in and worked.
T: The meaning changes here. It means that he went in because he was satisfied with his
hands. So you can't do it this way. Yes, Maya. (250)
S: When he was satisfied with his hands, he went in to work.
T: Well, Maya. Writers think of the rhythm of their sentences when they write. I'll read it
the way you wrote it, and the way the writer did. Listen and tell me which sounds
better. (Both sentences were read.) (252)
(The following class session)
E. Vocabulary Correction
T: I am going to give you back your vocabulary test which was not bad. I think really that
you should have every time 10/10. The exercise we are doing should make the
vocabulary enter your mind for good. I do expect all of you to have 10/10 and nothing
less. Now, let me discuss the test. Don't give any definition. I didn't count it as a
mistake this time, but another time I would. I didn't say in the direction to define the
word. What I want you to do is to show me that you know the meaning of the word
and that you know how to use it in a sentence because this is going to help you
afterwards when you come to write an essay. In the essay, you are going to use the
vocabulary and you are going to use the sentences. If you know them before, what
do you think is going to happen to the essay?
S: It will be much easier.
S: Much easier.
T : I want you to have a look, and we'll see whether we can correct them orally. This time,
I have considered the sentence structure as 1/2 a mistake. Next time I'll consider the
whole sentence wrong. If you start with one tense, continue with the same tense. You
can't say the American carried the bags to the other side o f the track where he has a
drink. It is wrong. If you listen to the sentence, you will realise that there is something
wrong. Let us correct them. You don't look brightly you...
S: smile brightly
T : It's a shame! Later on, I am going to give you the average of this vocabulary. The
 381

average of the boys and the girls. You're going to see the difference.
S: The girls are better?
T: Yes. 3 girls have 10/10, but only 1 boy has 10/10.Alright, cut it out. Yes, Read. (260)
S: The American angrily asked the girl to cut it out.
S: Liquorice. Yes!
S: The girl said that the drinks taste like liquorice.
T: Absinthe, yes Sylvie.
S: Suddenly, the things you have waited for so long taste like absinthe.
T: Felt pad. Yes Mustapha.
S: The waitress has put felt pads under the glasses.
T: Alright. Brightly. Yes, Sana.
S: Something that you have waited for brightly...
T: No, Sana. You can't wait brightly. You smile brightly. (270)
(Class hour was over)
 GoWuied Tre.c,uenc.a CounV C,3 3 *V
a b s in th e 33 conjunction 1329 haunch 8
a b s tr a c t 1851 c o n s id e r 14641 horror 3725
accom pany 1316 c o n t a m i n a te 122 hug 757
accuracy 1980 c o o r d in a te 580 h y p o th e s is 879
acq u iesce 90 co rrela te 101 idle 1097
add 16296 crease 455 im perial 2932
a fflu en c e 252 cum bersom e imply 115 3
ag g ressio n 3299 c u r s e 901 incentive 2025
alcohol 591 2 cut 42586 in d ig e n o u s 1095
an a esth etic 551 off 134591 infinite 10 2 0
anonym ous 2003 cylinder 882 interlock 49
a n terio r •166 d a b b le 113 in te rm in ab le 311
ap p aratu s 1154 d ark 16622 item 3458
ap p aratu s 1154 deficiency 1743 item 3458
a p p e tit e 1702 d eso late 424 ju d g m e n t 3675
apron 459 devise 748 jum ble 458
a s h e s 1242 d ig e s t 7 3 2 junction 14 63
auxiliary 378 disc e rn 301 label 6 0 0 5
aw e 937 disc o rd 262 lack 15396
axe 1271 d is c o u r s e 823 lake 7614
axis 778 d r e g s 94 t lantern 37 9
battlefield 11 55 drift 1685 le d g e 4 7 7
beads 913 d u b io u s 1316 legislate 229
bend 2162 d u m b 1155 le n s 2942
benefit 12667 echo 1474 liquorice 112
bitch 12 4 7 e le m e n ta ry 1183 lo c a te 10 4 3
blasp h em e 10 e m b ro id e r 45 logging 800
b le n d 2 3 4 8 endless 2968 lure 1234
blow 7010 endorse 1069 m a g n itu d e 866
boat 13 2 3 2 episode 2262 m a te r n a l 676
bore 2148 e q u ip m e n t 13525 m eadow 98 4
bore 2148 eth ics 2 0 1 3 m e lo d y 16 10
b rass 2176 evolve 625 m e ss 3905
b r e a th 5332 evolve 625 mighty 1751
brightly 1057 e x p e l 4 95 m igrate 258
b r u is e 195 ex port 5243 mindful 337
b u n k 501 felt 33841 minimum 6681
b u sin ess 64333 final 35612 m inor 5 9 6 6
cancel 1424 flurry 7 3 5 m isfortune 650
c a n d id 478 found 6 8 9 8 9 mist 1255
casu alty 1757 fragrant 629 mix 7058
ca te r 732 froth 225 m orose 166
choppy 191 frustrate 247 m o r tg a g e 7811
circ u s 1826 frustrate 247 nativ e 4901
clock 8 1 0 8 fulfill 581 navy 7658
c o l la p s e 7206 fulfill 581 nay 240
com m ent 11116 furthest 310 n e g a tiv e 64 6 0
co m p lim e n t 836 g e o m e tr y 401 no isy 16 19
co nfiguration glo o m y 1588 nom in a tio n 2302
confining 172 g r a p h 509 novelty 922
 ■&*3

n u c le a r 21155 roll 7216

tis s u e 3 1 9 8
n u rtu re 461 ru d d e r 4 47
to 4340863
n u trie n t 4 29 sad 6744
to n e 5984
o blige 451 sa ils 874
to n e 5984
oscillation 73 sa liv a 3 8 4
to n e 5984
out 353997 s c a la r 11
to s s 1241
o u tc o m e '5 3 3 6 s c ra p 1586
tra c k 13618
over 234288 se a fa rin g 82
trail 3349
o v e rh a u l 877 se c lu sio n 249
tra n s p o rt 9822
oxygen 3166 s e re n ity 338
tre n d 4 7 0 2
pace 7140 se rm o n 488
tru c e 1231
pad 128 3 s h a n ty 256
ultim ate 4481
p a rtis a n 873 sh ap e 9764
u n a tte n d e d 188
p a s te 10 2 4 sh o e 2052
u n iso n 556
p e a c e m a k e r 116 s h o r e 3311
u rb a n 6571
p e ro x id e 239 sh o v e l 307
u rg e 2672
p erv a d e 66 sibling 331
u tte r 11 6 5
phase 4536 skid 223
u tte r 11 6 5
p h o e n ix 168 8 slid e 3020
volatile 1464
p la n k 4 3 8 slip 3922
volt 158
pom pous - 450 sm all 6 6 3 1 0
v o lu m e 16673
p o p la r 250 so w 706
wail 312
p o s tu la te 80 specificatio n 575
w ard 4 9 5 8
p re s tig e 1384 sp eech 147 9 8
w eak 6464
p r ie s te s s 200 sq u a w 77
w ealth 5438
p ro ce ss 28806 sq u in t 101
w e a rin e s s 247
p ro cess 28806 stan d still 710
w e a ry 13 2 7
p r o c e s s io n 1177 sta tic 1207
w h isp e rin g 565
p roclaim 448 ste rn 2 3 8 9
w h o le s o m e 426
p ro fo u n d 2340 still 136870
w icker 399
p ro p e n sity 364 stitch 5 9 7
w ithdraw 4762
p ro p e r 7719 sto o l 7 2 0
fu rth e st 310
puny 177 sto rm 6301
intim ate 2294
q u o te 3 9 3 6 s tra g g le 41
in m o st 26
ra n d o m 2629 s tr a ta 2 3 8
affliction 194
rap e 4534 s tra ta 2 3 8
bro w 8 7 6
ra w 4759 strin g 4 3 2 9
naught 178
ra z o r 1 0 6 3 stro k e 3910
re b e llio u s 629 stru g g le 8524
re e d 2607 su b m issio n .824 a b a s s 133
reig n 1272 su p p le m e n t 1804 a chill 2 1 5
reig n 1272 su p rem e 9662 b a d - te m p e r e d 181
re lu c ta n t 4304 su rv e y 11258 in la b o u r 420
re m in isc e n tly su rv e y 112 5 8 looking off 13
re s id e n t 2799 sw eat 2298 o ar-lo ck 0
resp e ct 10 5 0 7 sw itch 45 2 5 s h o v e off 14
, revelry 85 ta s k 10650 to w a g e + infls 980
re v e n u e 6967 te m p o ra l 282 to s c ru b + infls 170
rev o lv e 22 7 th e o ry 13776 to ex alt + infls t 346
rivalry 1131 tile 456 to tip + infls 9 5 9 8
to trail + infls 5 9 8 2
to bind + infls 102
to b e a c h + infls 106
x-ray 1234
flow d o w n 29
to s a g +infls 7 9 4
 — W \------------------------

f\p p e ry A \% A3

T H E S Y L L A B U S Oifr T H E A U fe - E £ £

J a n u a r y 1 .5 9 A

S e c t i o n s ISImmlocs^r cJT I t e m s T im e A l X o t t .
M dLnxxiz. e s

1. L i s t e n i n g Comprehension 30 20
2. Grammar 30 20
3. Writing 30 20
A. Vocabulary 30 20
5. Reading 30 40
150 items 2 hours

L I S T E N I N G C O M P R E H E N S IO N S Y L L A B U S

Part I : Restatement; C l o s e s t In meaninR (8 i t e m s )

Part XI ' Appr opr iat e Answer; Contextualization (7 i t e m s )
1. Regular Usage
2, I d i o m a t i c Usage
Part I I I C o n v e r s a t io n s and M i n i - t a l k s ; Speaker, s e t t i n g , c o n t e x t , t o p i c ,
and message (15 i t e m s )
1. Short Conversations
2. Long Conver sa tions and Mini - t a l k s

VR S Y L L A B U S

Part I Grammatical S t r u c t u r e s ( 20 items ) chosen from the f o l l o v i

1. A rticles 11. S u b j u n c t i v e mood
2. -ed /-in g 12. Reported s pe ech
3. Order of a d j e c t i v e s 13. Inten sifiers
4. Comparison of a d j e c t i v e s 14. Questions
5. Qu a nt ity e x p r e s s i o n s 15. Noun as a d j e c t i v e
6. Re v e r s in g order 16. Compounds
7. Modals (2 i te m s ) 17. Tense s (3 i t e m s )
8. Passive 18. Pronouns
9. Conditionals 19. Causatives
10. Tag q u e s t i o n s 20. Special expressions
 IS W

Part II Usage (10 item s)

1. T ransitional expressions
2. Phrasal verbs
3. Idio ms
A. Prepositions

W R I T I N G S Y L L A B U S

Part I S entence Sense (20 item s)

1. Rewriting: Construction s h i f t
2. Sentence c o rrectio n : Best version
3. Error r e c o g n i t i o n
Pa r t I I R e v is io n in Context : Passage E d it in g (10 ite m s)
S k i l l s Tested
1. O rganization
2. Sentence-com bining
3. Usage ( d i c t i o n )
A. D ev el op me nt
5. M e ch a n ic s ( p u n c t u a t i o n , C ap italization , Quotations
6. Sentence stru ctu re
a. Pronoun form g- Run-on
b. Pronoun s h i f t h. M odifiers
c . Parallelism i. Agr eement
d. Tense j- Word o r d e r
e . Redundancy k. Id iom atic usage
f . Complement

V O C A B U L A R Y

Part 1 Meaning i n C o n t e x t (15 ite m s )

1. Sentence com pletion: One and two b l a n k s
2. Synonyms : U n d e r l i n e d
Pa r t I I D efin ition s (6 item s )
Part I I I Shared Meaning E l e m e n t s (9 i t e m s )
1. Odd man in
2. C ollocation
R E A PX ISTC

Pa rt 1 : S e n t e n c e Comprehension (12 item s)

1. Restatem ents s C l o s e s t i n meaning

2. Context : Sentence com pletion
Pa rt I I : P a s s a g e Comprehension ( 18 i t e m s )
1. One s h o r t p a s s a g e
2. Two l o n g p a s s a g e s

S k i l l s Tested

1. V o c a b u l a r y in c o n t e x t
2. Reference
3. Interpretation
A, Hain i d e a
5. Synthesis
6. E valuation '
 3 tt

Appendix 14

ludlinal Questionnaire (Group A')

I. Rate (v') the following texts as to whether they have helped you or not
in the following matters:
a. in understanding the meaning of unknown words.
b. in using the vocabulary in my essays.
c. in improving my essay writing.

Women in The Strongly Strongly

Eskim o W orld disagree Disagree Agree agree
In understanding the
m eaning of unknown
words
In using the vocabulary
in mv e ssa y s
In improving my essay
writing

Strongly Strongly
W hy W e Fail in Love
disagree Disagree Agree agree
In understanding the
m eaning of unknown
words
In using the vocabulary
in mv e ssa y s
In improving my essay
writing

Diogenes and Strongly Strongly

Alexander disagree Disagree Agree agree
In understanding the
meaning of unknown
words
In using the vocabulary
in my e ssay s
In improving my essay
writing
 3£&

II. Complete the following rating scale by circling the appropriate number.

1. I rate the improvement of my essays at this point in the course as

Very XeiY,
Poor Good
i 1 i 2 i 3 , 4 | 5 | 6__,__ 7__ ,__ 8__ ,__ 9__LJ 0 __,

2. Give one. or Iwq suggestions for the improvement of tliis course.

3. The teacher's knowledge of the subject is

Very Very
Poor Good
- ■1 i 2 i 3 i 5 | 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 | 1 0 |

4. The teacher likes the material she teaches.

Very Very
Poor Good
5 I 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10

5. The teacher's teaching method is

Very Very
Poor Good
1 » 2___I___ 2__ I___A i 5 10

NB Group B had only part I and II of this questionnaire

III. Tick { / ) the response that best fits your judgment and state in 1 or 2 sentences
the reasons why you enjoyed or did not enjoy the following:

1 Strongly Strongly
Enjoying
disagree Disagree Agree agree
Hills U k e White
Elephants
because:
 3*3

Strongly Strongly
Enjoying
disagree Disagree Agree agree
Women in The
Eskim o W orld
because:

Enjoying Strongly Strongly

disagree Disagree Agree agree
W hy We Fall in Love

because:

Strongly Strongly
Enjoying
disagree Disagree Agree agree
Indian Camp

because:

Enjoying Strongly Strongly

disagree Disagree Agree agree
Diogenes and
Alexander
because:

Enjoying Strongly Strongly

disagree Disagree Agree agree
On Reason and
Passion
because:
 330

Strongly Strongly
Enjoying
disaqree Disaqree Aqree aqree
On W ork

because:
 331

A & tu d in a l A p p e n d ix 15

Q u e s tio n n a ir e (G roup B')

1. Tick { / ) the response that best fits your judgement.

1. Underlining the vocabulary in the reading text helps focusing my attention on the
word underlined.
Strongly d isa g re e D isagree A gree Strongly agree ___

2. Giving m e a list of the words with an explanation helps me learning these items.
Strongly d isa g re e D isagree A gree Strongly a g re e ____

3. Oral vocabulary revision in the classroom helps me retaining words.

Strongly d isa g re e D isagree A gree Strongly a g re e ____

4. Fill in the blank exercises help me producing words that I have learned.
Strongly d isa g re e D isagree A gree Strongly a g re e ____

5. Word matching helps me using vocabulary in the essay.

Strongly d isa g re e D isagree A gree Strongly a g re e ____

6. Writing sentences with matched words make me concentrate on the structure of

sentences.
Strongly d isa g re e D isagree A gree Strongly a g re e ____

7. Sentence-com bining (S-C) helps me writing sentences with fewer

sentence structure mistakes.
Strongly d isa g re e D isagree A gree Strongly a g re e ____

8. S-C helps me writing complex sentences.

Strongly d isa g re e D isagree A gree Strongly a g re e ____

9. S-C improves my essay writing.

Strongly d isa g re e D isagree A gree Strongly a g re e ____

10. S-C m akes me aware of different possibilities of writing sentences.

Strongly d isa g re e D isagree A gree Strongly a g re e ____

11. S-C does not help me writing complex sentences.

Strongly d isa g re e D isagree A gree Strongly a g re e ____
II. R ate { / ) th e fo llo w in g texts a s to w heth er th ey h a v e h elp ed you or not in the fo llo w in g
m atters:
a. in u n d erstan d in g th e m ea n in g o f u n k n ow n w ords.
b. in u sin g th e vocabulary in m y essays.
c. in im p ro v in g m y essa y w riting.

1.
Hills Like White Strongly Strongly
Elephants disaqree Disaqree Aqree aqree
In understanding the
m eaning of unknown
words
In using the vocabulary
in mv essa y s
In improving my e ssa y
writina

2.
Strongly Strongly
Indian Camp
disagree Disaqree Aqree agree
In understanding the
m eaning of unknown
words
In using the vocabulary
in mv essa y s
In improving my e ssa y
writing

3.
On Reason and Strongly Strongly
Passion disaqree Disaqree Aqree aqree
In understanding the
m eaning of unknown
words
In using the vocabulary
in mv e ssa y s
In improving my e ssa y
writing

4.
Strongly Strongly
On Work
disagree Disaqree Aqree aqree
In understanding the
m eaning of unknown
words
In using the vocabulary
in mv essa y s
In improving my essay
writing
 393

III. C om plete the fo llo w in g rating sca le by cir c lin g th e appropriate number.

I. I rate the im provem ent o f m y essa y s at this point in the cou rse as

V ery V ery
Poor G ood
» 1 i 2 i 3 , 4 , 5 | 6__,__ 7__ ,__ 8__ ,__ 9__i 10 i

2. G ive o n e or Im i su g g estio n s for the im provem ent o f this cou rse up to this point.

3. T h e teacher's k n ow led ge o f the subject is

V ery V ery
Poor G ood

i__ :___i__ ___ i__ ^__ i__ ___ i__ ___ i__ " i __ l_____ i J_____l

4. The teacher likes the material she teaches.

Very Very
Poor Good
, 1 , 2 , 3 | A | 5 | 6 1 7 , 8 11 9 . io ,

5. The teacher's teaching method is

Very Very
Poor Good
, 1 , 2 , 3 , A , 5 | 6 1 7 I 8 1 9 i 10 r

N B Group A had o n ly part I, II and III o f this q uestionnaire

IV. T ick ( ^ ) the response that best fits your ju d gem en t and state in 1 or 2 sen ten ces the reasons
w hy you enjoyed or did not e njoy the fo llo w in g .

1. Strongly Strongly
Enjoying
disagree Disagree Agree agree
Hills Like White
Elephants
because:

2. Strongly Strongly
Enjoying
disagree Disagree Agree agree
Women in The
Eskimo World

because:
 Strongly Strongly
Enjoying
disagree D isagree Agree agree
Why We Fall in Love
because:

Strongly Strongly
Enjoying
disagree D isagree Agree agree
Indian Camp
because:

Enjoying Strongly Strongly

disagree D isagree Agree agree
Diogenes and
Alexander
because:

Strongly Strongly
Enjoying
disagree D isagree Agree agree
On Reason and
Passion
because:

Enjoying Strongly Strongly

d isagree D isagree Agree ag ree
On Work
because:

V. If the university suggests that you choose only four texts of what you have studied in
English 5512, rate your four choices from the list below.

Hills Like White Elephants

Women in the Eskimo World
Why We Fall in Love
Indian Camp
Diogenes and A lexander
On Reason and Passion
On Work
 Appendix 15’

Correlation of Teachers’ Essay Correction

Variable Number of Corr. Variable Number of Corr.

pairs pairs

AHPRESSY BHPRESSY
25 .975 25 .970
ALPRESSY BLPRESSY

Variable Number of Corr. Variable Number of Corr.

pairs pairs
A’HPRESSY B’HPSESSY
25 .974 25 .980
A’LPRESSY B’LPSESSY

Key:
AHPRESSY: A: Grp. A; H: marker 1:PRESSY: pretest essay
ALPRESSY: A: Grp. A; L: marker 2; “
BHPRESSY: B: Grp.B; H: marker 1; “
A’HPSESSY A’: Grp. A’ H: “ PSESSY: posttest essay
B’LPSESSY B’: Grp. B’ L: marker 2;
 39t

Appendix 16

Background Information Questionnaire

(Inspired by J.MReid aiming at controlling variables amongstudents)

Name: ................................

ID Number: .............................

Age: ...........................................

Nationality: .................................

Sex: M ale.......................... Female............

Father’s Education: .........................................

Mother’s Education: .......................................

EEE or TOFEL Score : ...................................

Placement Test (score): ............................................

Major: ..........................................................

University Level: Freshman Sophomore.............. Junior................

Senior................

High school you came from: .........................

Second Language: English French................... O ther..............

Do you speak a foreign language at home? Y es N o ..............

If yes, which one: .......................

Number of credits you are taking this semester:.........................

English courses you have already taken: Engl. 5511 (5.c r.)............... Engl. 5511 (3 cr.)
O ther.............

Grade received:........................

Have you repeated any English course? Y es............. N o ..............

Which one?................

Do you read English outside the classroom? Never Sometimes............ O ften.........

Very O ften...............

If yes, what kind of reading ? .......................................

 397

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