Text Types

Based on generic structure and language feature dominantly used, texts are divided into several types.
They are narrative, recount, descriptive, report, explanation, analytical exposition, hortatory exposition, procedure, discussion, review, anecdote, spoof, and news item.

These variations are known as GENRES or KINDS of TEXT

NARRATIVE
Purpose: To amuse/entertain the readers and to tell a story
Generic Structure:
1. Orientation
2. Complication
3. Resolution
4. Reorientation
Dominant Language Features:
1. Using Past Tense
2. Using action verb
3. Chronologically arranged

RECOUNT
Purpose: to retell something that happened in the past and to tell a series of past event
Generic Structure:
1. Orientation
2. Event(s)
3. Reorientation
Dominant Language Features:
1. Using Past Tense
2. Using action verb
3. Using adjectives
Narrative and recount in some ways are similar. Both are telling something in the past so narrative and recount usually apply PAST TENSE; whether Simple Past Tense, Simple Past Continuous Tense, or Past Perfect Tense. The ways narrative and recount told are in chronological order using time or place. Commonly narrative text is found in story book; myth, fable, folklore, etc while recount text is found in biography.
The thing that makes narrative and recount different is the structure in which they are constructed. Narrative uses conflicts among the participants whether natural conflict, social conflict or psychological conflict. In some ways narrative text combines all these conflicts. In the contrary, we do not find these conflicts inside recount text. Recount applies series of event as the basic structure

DESCRIPTIVE
Purpose: to describe a particular person, place or thing in detail.
Dominant Generic Structure:
1. Identification
2. Description
Language Features:
1. Using Simple Present Tense
2. Using action verb
3. Using adverb
4. Using special technical terms


REPORT
Purpose: to presents information about something, as it is.
Generic Structure
1. General classification
2. Description
Dominant Language Feature
1. Introducing group or general aspect
2. Using conditional logical connection
3. Using Simple Present Tense

EXPLANATION
Purpose: To explain the processes involved in the formation or working of natural or socio-cultural phenomena.
Generic Structure:
1. General statement
2. Explanation
3. Closing
Dominant Language Features:
1. Using Simple Present Tense
2. Using action verbs
3. Using passive voice
4. Using noun phrase
5. Using adverbial phrase
6. Using technical terms
7. Using general and abstract noun
8. Using conjunction of time and cause-effect.

ANALYTICAL EXPOSITION
Purpose: To reveal the readers that something is the important case
Generic Structure:
1. Thesis
2. Arguments
3. Reiteration/Conclusion
Dominant Language Features:
1. Using modals
2. Using action verbs
3. Using thinking verbs
4. Using adverbs
5. Using adjective
6. Using technical terms
7. Using general and abstract noun
8. Using connectives/transition

HORTATORY EXPOSITION
Purpose: to persuade the readers that something should or should not be the case or be done
Generic Structure:
1. Thesis
2. Arguments
3. Recommendation
Dominant Language features:
1. Using Simple Present Tense
2. Using modals
3. Using action verbs
4. Using thinking verbs
5. Using adverbs
6. Using adjective
7. Using technical terms
8. Using general and abstract noun
9. Using connectives/transition
Then what is the basic difference between analytical and hortatory exposition. In simple word. Analytical is the answer of "How is/will" while hortatory is the answer of "How should". Analytical exposition will be best to describe "How will student do for his examination? The point is the important thing to do. But for the question" How should student do for his exam?" will be good to be answered with hortatory. It is to convince that the thing should be done

PROCEDURE
Purpose: to help readers how to do or make something completely
Generic Structure:
1. Goal/Aim
2. Materials/Equipments
3. Steps/Methods
Dominant Language Features:
1. Using Simple Present Tense
2. Using Imperatives sentence
3. Using adverb
4. Using technical terms

DISCUSSION
Purpose: to present information and opinions about issues in more one side of an issue (‘For/Pros’ and ‘Against/Cons’)
Generic Structure:
1. Issue
2. Arguments for and against
3. Conclusion
Dominant Language Features:
1. Using Simple Present Tense
2. Use of relating verb/to be
3. Using thinking verb
4. Using general and abstract noun
5. Using conjunction/transition
6. Using modality
7. Using adverb of manner

REVIEW
Purpose: to critique or evaluate an art work or event for a public audience
dominant Generic Structure:
1. Orientation
2. Evaluation
3. Interpretative Recount
4. Evaluation
5. Evaluative Summation
Dominant Language features:
1. Focus on specific participants
2. Using adjectives
3. Using long and complex clauses
4. Using metaphor

ANECDOTE
Purpose: to share with others an account of an unusual or amusing incident
Generic Structure:
1. Abstract
2. Orientation
3. Crisis
4. Reaction
5. Coda.
Dominant Language Features:
1. Using exclamations, rhetorical question or intensifiers
2. Using material process
3. Using temporal conjunctions

SPOOF
Purpose: to tell an event with a humorous twist and entertain the readers
Generic Structure:
1. Orientation
2. Event(s)
3. Twist
Dominant Language Features:
1. Using Past Tense
2. Using action verb
3. Using adverb
4. Chronologically arranged

NEWS ITEM
Purpose: to inform readers about events of the day which are considered newsworthy or important
Dominant Generic Structure:
1. Newsworthy event(s)
2. Background event(s)
3. Sources
Dominant Language Features:
1. Short, telegraphic information about story captured in headline
2. Using action verbs
3. Using saying verbs
4. Using adverbs : time, place and manner.

Gunslinge - Avenged Sevenfold

Yeah, you've been alone
I've been gone for far too long
But with all that we've been through
After all this time I'm coming home to you

Never let it show
The pain I've grown to know
'Cause with all these things we do
It don't matter when I'm coming home to you

I reach towards the sky I've said my goodbyes
My heart's always with you now
I won't question why so many have died
My prayers have made it through yeah
'Cause with all these things we do
It don't matter when I'm coming home to you

Letters keep me warm
Helped me through the storm
But with all that we've been through
After all this time I'm coming home to you

I reach towards the sky I've said my goodbyes
My heart's always with you now
I won't question why so many have died
My prayers have made it through yeah
'Cause with all these things we do
It don't matter when I'm coming home to you

I've always been true
I've waited so long just to come home to you
I'm making it through
It's been far too long, we've proven our
love over time's so strong, in all that we do
The stars in the night, may lend me their light
to bring me closer to heaven with you

(Bring me closer)

But with all that we've been through
After all this time I'm coming home to you

I reach towards the sky I've said my goodbyes
My heart's always with you now
I won't question why so many have died
My prayers have made it through yeah
'Cause with all these things we do
It don't matter when I'm coming home to you

And with all that we've been through
After all this time I'm coming home to you

M.I.A. - Avenged Sevenfold

Staring at the carnage, praying that the sun would never rise.
Living another day in disguise.
These feelings can't be right, lend me your courage to stand up and fight, on tonight.

Ooooo...
Stand up and fight

The fighting rages on and on, to challenge me you must be strong.
I walk your land but don't belong, two million soldiers can't be wrong

It's no fun but I've been here before
I'm far from home and I'm fighting your war.
(Not the way I pictured this, I wanted better things)
Some are scared others killing for fun, I shot a mother right in front of her son.
(Take this from my consciousness, and please erase my dreams)

Fight for honor, fight for your life
Pray to God that our side is right.
Even though we won, I still may lose
Until I make it home to you
I see our mothers filled with tears,
grew up so fast where did those years go?
Memories won't let you cry,
unless I don't return tonight

So many soldiers on the other side, I take their lives so they can't take mine.
(Scared to make it out alive now murder's all I know.)
Nobody tells me all the reasons we're here. I have my weapons so there's nothing to fear.
(Another day, another life, but nothing real to show for)

Fight for honor, fight for your life
Pray to god that our side is right
Even though we won, I still may lose
Until I make it home to you
I see our mothers filled with tears,
grew up so fast where did those years go?
Memories won't let you cry,
unless I don't return tonight

Staring at the carnage, praying that the sun would never rise.
Living another day in disguise.
These feelings can't be right, lend me your courage to stand up and fight.

Watching the death toll rise wondering how I'm alive.
Stranger's blood on my hands, I've shot all I can
There are no silent nights, watching your brothers all die
To destroy all their plans with no thought of me
No thought of me, no thought of me

Ohhhhh...

Walk the city lonely
Memories that haunt are passing by
A murderer walks your streets tonight
Forgive me for my crimes;don't forget that I was so young
Fought so scared in the name of God and Country

Feel - Robbie Williams

Come on hold my hand, I wanna contact the living
Not sure I understand, this role I've been given
I sit and talk to God, and He just laughs at my plans
My head speaks a language, I don't understand

I just wanna feel, real love fill the home that I live in
Cause I got too much life, running thru my veins, going to waste
I don't wanna die, but I ain't keen on living either
Before I fall in love, I'm preparing to leave her

Scare myself to dead, that's why I keep on running
Before I've arrived, I can see myself coming
I just wanna feel real love fill the home that I live in
Cos I got too much life, running thru my veins going to waste
And I need to feel, real love in the life ever after, I can not get enough

I just wanna feel, real love fill the home that I live in
I got too much love, running thru my veins, to go to waste
I just wanna feel, real love in the life ever after
There's a hole in my soul, you can see it in my face, it's a real big place

Come on hold my hand, I wanna contact the living
Not sure I understand, this role I've been given
Not sure I understand, not sure I understand
Not sure I understand, not sure I understand

Second Heartbeat - Avenged Sevenfold

We keep writing, talking and planning, but everything's changing,
We all know what to do but no one does it,
Now this time has passed and full of regret,
Two in my heart have left me a while, I stand alone,
When they get back, it won't be the same,
Never be the same,
My life, you've always been there,
Now you're gone and my heads spinning,
Left the childhood, left the memories, left the good times in the past,
Moving on your time has run out,
Wishing the clock would stand still, the world can wait,
Wasting away once again, once lived as friends,

As time passes by, regrets for the rest of my life,
The ones who I confide were gone in the black of the night,

Never will I forget you, and all the memories past,
So rarely I get to see your face,
Growing I looked to you in guidance.
We knew that time would kill us, but you're still so close to me,

To me you were my life,
To me you were my soul companion,
Now you are so far away,
Nothing can take away the time and the memories we had,
Come back - to the days when we were young
Come back - to the days when nothing mattered
to the days when nothing mattered

And I feel time passes by, regrets for the rest of my life,
The ones who I confide were gone in the black of the night

As time passes by, regrets for the rest of my life,
The ones who I confide were gone in the black of the night.

Scream - Avenged Sevenfold

(loud scream)

Caught up in this madness too blind to see
Woke animal feelings in me
Took over my sense and I lost control
I'll taste your blood tonight

You know I make you wanna scream
You know I make you wanna run from me baby
but now it's too late you've wasted all your time

Relax while you're closing your eyes to me
So warm as I'm setting you free
With your arms by your side there's no struggling
Pleasure's all mine this time

You know I make you wanna scream
You know I make you wanna run from me baby
but now it's too late you've wasted all your time

Cherishing, those feelings pleasuring
Cover me, unwanted clemency
Scream till there's silence
Scream while there's life left, vanishing
Scream from the pleasure unmask your desire
perishing

We've all had a time where we've lost control
We've all had our time to grow
I'm hoping I'm wrong but I know I'm right
I'll hunt again one night

You know I make you wanna scream
You know I make you wanna run from me baby
but now it's too late you've wasted all your time

Cherishing, those feelings pleasuring
Cover me, unwanted clemency
Scream till there's silence
Scream while there's life left, vanishing
Scream from the pleasure unmask your desire
perishing

Some live repressing their instinctive feelings
Protest the way we're built don't point the blame on me

Scream, Scream, Scream the way you would
if I ravaged your body
Scream, Scream, Scream the way you would if I ravaged
your mind

Cherishing, those feelings pleasuring
Cover me, unwanted clemency
Scream till there's silence
Scream while there's life left, vanishing
Scream from the pleasure unmask your desire
perishing

this madness,this madness,this madness,weve lost control,lost control,this madness,this madness,ill hunt again one night, this madness, ill hunt again one night

Beast And The Harlot - Avenged Sevenfold

This shining city built of gold, a far cry from innocence,
There's more than meets the eye round here, look to the waters of the deep.
A city of evil.
There sat a seven-headed beast, ten horns raised from his head.
Symbolic woman sits on his throne, but hatred strips her and leaves her naked.
The Beast and the Harlot.

She's a dwelling place for demons.
She's a cage for every unclean spirit, every filthy bird
and makes us drink the poisoned wine to fornicating with our kings.
Fallen now is Babylon the Great.

The city dressed in jewels and gold, fine linen, myrrh with pearls.
Her plagues have come all at once as her mourners watch her burn.
Destroyed in an hour.
Merchants and captains of the world, sailors, navigators too.
Will weep and mourn this loss with her sins piled to the sky,
The Beast and the Harlot.

She's a dwelling place for demons.
She's a cage for every unclean spirit, every filthy bird
and makes us drink the poisoned wine to fornicating with our kings.
Fallen now is Babylon the Great.

The day has come for all us sinners.
If you're not a servant, you'll be struck to the ground.
Flee the burning, greedy city.
Lookin' back on her to see there's nothing around.

I don't believe in fairytales and no one wants to go to hell.
You've made the wrong decision and it's easy to see.
Now if you wanna serve above or be a king below with us,
You're welcome to the city where your future is set forever.

She's a dwelling place for demons.
She's a cage for every unclean spirit, every filthy bird
and makes us drink the poisoned wine to fornicating with our kings.
Fallen now is Babylon the Great.

She's a dwelling place for demons.
She's a cage for every unclean spirit, eery filthy bird
and makes us drink the poisoned wine to fornicating with our kings.
Fallen now is Babylon the Great.

Walk - Avenged Sevenfold

Can't you see I'm easily bothered by persistence
One step from lashing out at you...
You want in to get under my skin
And call yourself a friend
I've got more friends like you
What do I do?

[Pre:]
Is there no standard anymore?
What it takes, who I am, where I've been belong
You can't be something you're not
Be yourself, by yourself
Stay away from me
A lesson learned in life
Known from the dawn of time

[Chorus:]
Respect, walk
What did you say?
Respect, walk
Are you talking to me?

Are you talking to me?

Run your mouth when I'm not around
It's easy to achieve
You cry to weak friends that sympathize
Can you hear the violins playing your song?
Those same friends tell me your every word

[Pre]

[Chorus x2]

Are you talking to me?
No way, punk!

[Chorus x2]

Are you talking to me?
Walk on home, boy

Afterlife - Avenged Sevenfold

Like walking into a dream, so unlike what you've seen
so unsure but it seems, 'cause we've been waiting for you
Fallen into this place, just giving you a small taste
of your afterlife here so stay, you'll be back here soon anyway

I see a distant light, but girl this can't be right
Such a surreal place to see so how did this come to be
Arrived too early

And when I think of all the places I just don't belong
I've come to grips with life and realize this is going too far

I don't belong here, we gotta move on dear escape from this afterlife
'Cause this time I'm right to move on and on, far away from here

A place of hope and no pain, perfect skies with no rain
Can leave this place but refrain, 'cause we've been waiting for you
Fallen into this place, just giving you a small taste
of your afterlife here so stay, you'll be back here soon anyway

This peace on earth's not right (with my back against the wall)
No pain or sign of time (I'm much too young to fall)
So out of place don't wanna stay, I feel wrong and that's my sign
I've made up my mind

Gave me your hand but realize I just wanna say goodbye
Please understand I have to leave and carry on my own life

I don't belong here, I gotta move on dear escape from this afterlife
'Cause this time I'm right to move on and on, far away from here
Got nothing against you and surely I'll miss you
This place full of peace and light, and I'd hope you might
take me back inside when the time is right

Loved ones back home all crying 'cause they're already missing me
I pray by the grace of God that there's somebody listening
Give me a chance to be that person I wanna be
(I am unbroken; I'm choking on this ecstasy)
Oh Lord I'll try so hard but you gotta let go of me
(Unbreak me, unchain me, I need another chance to live)

(Fast Guitar Solo)
(Screaming)
(Laughing)

I don't belong here, I gotta move on dear escape from this afterlife
'Cause this time I'm right to move on and on, far away from here
Got nothing against you and surely I'll miss you
This place full of peace and light, and I'd hope you might
take me back inside when the time is right

Seize the Day

Seize the day or die regretting the time you lost
It's empty and cold without you here, too many people to ache over

I see my vision burn, I feel my memories fade with time
But I'm too young to worry
These's streets we traveled on will undergo our same lost past

I found you here, now please just stay for a while
I can move on with you around
I hand you my mortal life, but will it be forever?
I'll do anything for a smile, holding you 'til our time is done
We both know the day will come, but I don't want to leave you

I see my vision burn, I feel my memories fade with time
But I'm too young to worry
(a melody, a memory, or just one PICTURE)

Seize the day or die regretting the time you lost
It's empty and cold without you here, too many people to ache over

Newborn life replacing all of us, changing this fable we live in
No longer needed here so where do we go?
Will you take a journey tonight, follow me past the walls of death?
But girl, what if there is no eternal life?

I see my vision burn, I feel my memories fade with time
But I'm too young to worry
(a melody, a memory, or just one PICTURE)

Seize the day or die regretting the time You lost
It's empty and cold without you here, too many people to ache over
Trials in life, questions of us existing here
Don't wanna die alone without you here
Please tell me what we have is real

(guitar solo)

So what if I never hold you, yeah, or kiss your lips again? Whooooah
So I never want to leave you and the memories OF us to see
I beg don't leave me

Seize the day or die regretting the time You lost
It's empty and cold without you here, too many people to ache over
Trials in life, questions of us existing here
Don't wanna die alone without you here
Please tell me what we have is real

(Silence, you lost me-- no chance for one more day)
(Silence, you lost me-- no chance for one more day)
(I stand here alone
Falling away from you, no chance to get back home) x2

(Silence, you lost me-- no chance for one more day)
(Silence, you lost me-- no chance for one more day)

Educational Settings and Second Language Learning

A. Introduction

This research was done by Rod Ellis. Professor Ellis, a renowned linguist, received his Doctorate from the University of London and his Master of Education from the University of Bristol. A former professor at Temple University both in Japan and the US, Prof. Ellis has taught in numerous positions in England, Japan, the US, Zambia and New Zealand. Dr. Ellis, who is known as the "Father of Second Language Acquisition", has served as the Director of the Institute of Language Teaching and Learning at the University of Auckland. This research was published in online journal website at http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/December_07_home.php volume 9 issue. 4.



B. Content

It is stated in introductory paragraph that a general distinction can be drawn between ‘natural’ and ‘educational’ settings. The former arise in the course of the learners’ contact with other speakers of the L2 in a variety of situations—in the workplace, at home, through the media, at international conferences, in business meetings, etc. In considering the relationship between setting and language learning, it is important to clarify what is meant by ‘setting’, according to which social life is viewed as ‘a structured set of social categories which, to some extent, control our social characteristics and opportunities’ which is called type 1. Also, sociolinguistics assumes that ‘social life and our entire experience of society is best seen as structured through local actions and practices’ which is called type 2.


Types of educational settings

Skuttnab-Kangas distinguished a number of different types of educational settings, ‘non-forms’; types that do not use two languages of the learner as the media of teaching and learning, ‘weak forms’; types that have monolingualism, strong dominance of one language or limited bilingualism as their aim, and ‘strong forms’; types that aim to promote high levels of bi- or multilingualism and multiliteracy for all participants.

The language classroom setting

‘The language classroom’ is defined here as a setting where the target language is taught as a subject only and is not commonly used as a medium of communication outside the classroom. In this sense it includes both ‘foreign’ language classrooms (for example, Japanese classes in the United States or English classes in China) and ‘second’ language classrooms where the learners have no or minimal contact with the target language outside the language classroom. Foreign-language classroom contexts can be distinguished from second language classroom contexts in that native-like cultural and pragmatic competence is not a high priority in the former.

The role relationships between teacher and student influence learning in a classroom. In the case of traditional approaches to language teaching, where the target language is perceived primarily as an ‘object’ to be mastered by learning about its formal properties, the teacher typically acts as a ‘knower/informer’ and the learner as an ‘information seeker’. Parents may play an active role by monitoring their children’s curricular activities. They may also play a more indirect role by modelling attitudes conducive to successful language learning. Skuttnab-Kangas noted that foreign language classroom settings are characterized by very varying degrees of success.

Submersion
Submersion is a programme where linguistic minority children with a low-status mother tongue are forced to accept instruction through the medium of a foreign majority language with high status, in classes where some children are native speakers of the language of the instruction, where the teacher does not understand the mother tongue of the minority children, and where the majority language constitutes a threat to their mother tongue—a subtractive language learning situation.

Segregation
Segregation occurs where the L2 learner is educated separately from the majority or a politically powerful minority, who speak the target language as their mother tongue. Skuttnab-Kangas claimed that segregation settings produce poor results. But, in certain situations, the provision of separate educational facilities may have beneficial effects. Segregation also has some advantages where L2 learning is concerned. In particular, because the learners are likely to be at the same level of development, it is possible to tailor input to their level.

Mother tongue maintenance

Skuttnab-Kangas pointed out that mother tongue maintenance can take the weaker form, pupils are given classes in their mother tongue, directed at developing formal language skills, including full literacy and in the stronger form, pupils are educated through the medium of their mother tongue. Mother tongue maintenance programmes are based on enrichment theory, according to which high levels of bilingualism are seen as a cognitive and social advantage. There is also evidence that mother tongue maintenance settings, particularly those of the strong kind, result in considerable educational success.

Immersion
Immersion programmes began with the St. Lambert Experiment, a French immersion programme for English-speaking children living in Quebec, Canada. In the context of the Canadian French immersion programmes, it referred to programmes where members of a majority group (native speakers of English) were educated through the medium of French, the language of a minority group.



C. Conclusion

In this article, the researcher has considered the relationship between different educational settings and L2 learning. The aim has been to identify the potential learning outcomes associated with different types of settings, defined in very broad terms. It is important to note that there will be considerable variance in learning outcomes within settings as well as between settings.

It is possible to identify a set of general principles that underlie likely language learning success in educational settings. The following is a list of such principles.

1. L1 maintenance—ensuring that learners achieve a high level of both oracy and literacy in their L1 will promote learning of the L2.

2. Perceptions of L1—learning is enhanced when the setting confers status on both their L1 and the L2.

3. Social need—learners learn best when they have a clear social need for the L2. This social need is highly varied, however.

4. Target norms—success in L2 learning cannot always be measured in terms of a set of norms based on a standard form of the language.

5. Initial learning—initial L2 learning is more successful if learners have the opportunity to learn within an L1 speaking group


D. Comment

After reading this journal, I considered that this journal is not well organized. The structure of the content is not good enough because some of the necessary parts; for example, the methodology, are not exist. But, in some parts, the explanations of the contents are quite clear and understandable. For other students who interested in this journal, I suggest to read this journal more than two time in order to get full understanding.

The Study of English Learners’ Synthesizing Process While Reading

A. Introduction

This research was done by Lu Fang Lin, Ph. D, an assistant professor in the Foreign Language teaching and Research Center, National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan, who is involved in research into English teaching in the EFL context and English reading comprehension instruction. This research was published in online journal website at http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/March_08_home.php in March 2008.

This research investigated how English learners can retell two kinds of text with culturally familiar and unfamiliar topics, in this case they are Chinese and non-Chinese topics. Firstly, Lin, the researcher examined whether there was difference of English learners’ way of synthesizing between those types of passages/texts and it was showed that there was no significant difference. Then secondly, synthesizing information was classified by function and strategy to explain how the participants utilized the synthesizing process to comprehend an English passage on Chinese versus non-Chinese topics. Thirdly, Lin, the researcher, explained the process of how the participant utilized prior knowledge to produce synthesizing information. And in the last section of her paper, the researcher gave some recommendations for classroom practice in an effort to help language teachers apply the result of the study to the actual instructional context.




B. Body
In the introduction of this research, it is said that most of researcher in the field of reading comprehension have agreed that the readers’ prior knowledge can affect the degree of text comprehension. Furthermore, a great number of empirical studies have demonstrated significant impact of prior knowledge on reading comprehension. Because of its important role, prior knowledge is viewed as the key resource in the meaning construction of reading process. The followings are summary of each subtitle in this study.

Cognitive reading process

In cognitive science, reading can be viewed as a literacy process connected with cognition which refers to any internal or mental aspects of reading. This process included attending, analyzing, associating, predicting, inferring, synthesizing, generalizing, and monitoring and these processes might operate on various sizes of text units which are depended on the reader purpose. However, these all cognitive processes require knowledge. Then, prior knowledge will be added as a factor influencing the operation of these cognitive processes.

Macrostructure Formation during comprehension

Kintsch claimed that macrostructure formation occurred as an integral of comprehension. During the comprehension process, a reader can select a macroproposition and delete several micropositions. Thus, in forming a generalization, several microproposition can be replaced by an appropriate macroproposition which is called reduction process.

Effectiveness of Prior Knowledge in L2 (second language) Reading Comprehension

In previous studies, the effect of cultural specific prior knowledge and global knowledge still compete with each other. For example, research on the effect of content schemata held the perspective that L2 readers’ culturally specific schemata might cause reading difficulty. Therefore, comprehension of a culturally unfamiliar text was more difficult than comprehension of a culturally familiar text. On the other hand, readers’ comprehension of text could be attributed to cross-cultural prior knowledge, which was not culturally bound but a global knowledge of the world. Some parts of this type of knowledge in some studies could be termed as subject knowledge or content knowledge which might as well, to some degree, facilitate L2 students’ reading comprehension.

Restraints and Conflicts in Previous Research

1. The cognitive process variable, the synthesizing process, has not been examined closely.
2. the inconsistent results
3. Conflicting opinions that that non-natives had more trouble synthesizing the information

Methodology Elaboration

In this study, the researcher elaborated on the methodology used in previous research by Cohen (1988) and in previous research on the issue of macrostruture. In the previous experiments for measuring macrostructure comprehension (Kintsch & van Dijk, 1978; Guindon & Kintsch, 1984; Lorch, Lorch, & Mathews, 1985), they focused on the recognition task to study the speed and accuracy with which reading times for topic and detail sentences were calculated, and words from topic and detail sentences were recognized. In this study the researcher used the retelling technique to examine how L2 readers form macrostructures. As used to analyze readers’ retellings, synthesized information at intra- and inter sentential levels might “[come] from more than one part of the passage” (Alberta Education, 1986, p. 44) and included synthesis of single words, clauses, phrases, or sentences. For a higher level of synthesizing information, the reader might reconstruct the author’s words and ideas and produce synthesizing information across paragraphs. Also, to show the reader’s dynamic development of reading process, the present study increased the number of the topics to prolong the period of data collection.
To generate a concept of English learners’ general English reading, the present study added more topics that did not demand discipline-specific information.



Research Purpose and Research Questions

The purpose of the research:

1. To examine the effects of prior knowledge on L2 readers’ synthesizing process of the text with cultural specific topics (Chinese topics and non Chinese topics).

2. To explore how English learners apply their prior knowledge to comprehend English passages with Chinese and non-Chinese topics.



Three research questions were formulated to guide this study:

1. Is there a difference between English learners’ synthesizing information while retelling passages with Chinese versus non-Chinese topics?

2. How do English learners utilize the synthesizing process to comprehend an English passage on Chinese versus non-Chinese topics?

3. How do English learners use prior knowledge to produce synthesizing information?



Methodology

Participants

The participants in this study were from a senior high school in Taipei, Taiwan. In this study, the researcher considered the students’ cultural background and made an adapted Informal Reading Inventory (IRI). After each student was given an English reading test through the IRI, 14 Grade 11 senior high school students were selected to join the study. According to the results of the IRI, their English reading proficiency level was at the grade seven instructional level. The rationale for using this level of students as participants was that according to teachers’ comments on this group of participants’ general English ability, their English academic achievements were at the top ten from the highest scores in their class and they would be better able to express their own opinions.



The Procedure of the Study

The study began with a retelling practice session to ensure that all participants have the necessary abilities to retell the passage in Mandarin, if their retelling performances were satisfied, each of them joined individual retelling meeting. After that, the researcher had an immediate interview with each participant to confirm some vague description in his/her retellings.

Retelling Assessment Technique

The retelling technique encourages participants to retell the story in their own words. With such perspective, participants may be encouraged to restate the essential part of the original text, relate what they knew about the content of the text and to reconstruct the information they have just read without looking at the passage again.

Materials

In this study, twelve passages were used as reading materials for the retellings.

Six passages have topics on Chinese culture:

1. Chinese Farming (CF1),
2. Chinese New Year (CNY3),
3. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen (SYS5),
4. The Great Wall (GW7),
5. The History of Tea (HT9), and
6. Cooking and Eating (CE11).
7. The other six passages have topics on non-Chinese culture including Canadian and European historical events, peoples, and customs. They are;
8. River of Salmon (RS2),
9. Railway across Canada (RC4),
10. First Peoples in Canada (FPC6),
11. Easter (EAS8),
12. Fishing in Canada (FC10), and
13. Ways of Sending a Message (WSM12)

Scoring and Labeling the Participants’ Retelling Protocols

After the participant finished retelling, the researcher transcribed the recorded retelling in Mandarin and further translated it into English. Then the researcher adopted the DRP procedure for judging the students’ retellings and divided the participants’ retellings into smaller meaningful independent units called thought units. A thought unit is a group of words representing a syntactically grammatical and meaningful unit of information represented in a text or retold by the participants. For example, one simple sentence is regarded as one unit for it conveys a piece of meaningful information independently.

After the participant’s retelling was divided into thought units, the parsed retelling information was further screened and labeled into synthesizing information (S). The thought units of this category were then summed up. To ensure the credibility of the analysis, the researcher asked another PH. D. student who was a native English speaker as a second rater.

Results and Discussion

Synthesizing Information

The statistic analysis in Means and Standard Deviations for Synthesizing Information Chinese and Non-Chinese provided the answer to the first research question that there is no significant difference in the participants’ synthesizing information when retelling the passages with (on) Chinese and those with non-Chinese topics. The possible reason can be that the participants may have had the competence of an awareness of the macrosturures and then combine some information in the text to make a synthesized statement over the passage on culturally familiar and unfamiliar topic.

A process of integration
In this study, most participants generalized ideas from several sentences and produced a larger gist or general meaning. That is, one synthesizing statement extracted the words directly from two or three sentences and interweaved another new statement.

A process of reconstruction

In this study, the participant reconstructed the meaning of the text by using their own words rather than the author’s words. Such kind of synthesizing information usually conveys the essential meaning presented in sentences.

A process of deletion

In this study, the participant retold a generalized statement by reducing some minor details, especially those with unfamiliar vocabulary. In the interview, the participants expressed that they did not use much of their life experience to understand this unfamiliar word because they did not have that in Taiwan. They stated that they had no idea about the words, so they skipped retelling the segment with unknown vocabulary in it, and thus made a generalized statement for the paragraph with their general knowledge of date sequence.

A pragmatic strategy of opening a talk and filling up the gap
In the beginning section of most retelling meetings, there was a period of silence. Most participants usually prefaced their retelling with a short over-generalization for the whole passage. Most participants directly used the topic to produced such synthesizes. These broad over-generalizations were still categorized as synthesizing information in this study although they were a much different synthesis that did not exactly summarize main ideas from the original text. Such over-generalizations could be a strategy they used to opening their talk.


Utilization of cross-cultural prior knowledge

In this study, the participant expressed that they did not have much of prior knowledge about non-Chinese topics, so they mostly could not retell many detailed contents of the passage but they could retell synthesizing information.

General findings can be summed up to show that the production of synthesizing information may primarily depend on the participant’s prior knowledge. If the participant lacks culturally specific knowledge about the text, they may rely on their cross-cultural prior knowledge and thus synthesize information in generalized way. In this study, the passages with non-Chinese topics may include several messages related to culturally specific prior knowledge and cross-cultural prior knowledge. When retelling the passages with non-Chinese topics, synthesizing information may occur as often as in passages with Chinese topics. Therefore, there is no difference found in synthesizing information between the two types of passages. This study also finds that if the participant has neither culturally specific knowledge nor cross-cultural prior knowledge, most of the message in the text cannot be synthesized.


Author’s Recommendations

1. In this study, most participants could provide a synthesized topic statement in the beginning of their retellings. This result recommends that the instructor notify the students the text with a topic or a paragraph with a topic sentence.
2. This finding can also suggest that the instructor may lead the students to read a passage without a topic first and ask them to assign a topic for the passage they have just read.
3. The study finds that the synthesizing information integrates main ideas from several sentences. The teaching activity can be that after learners finish reading a passage, the instructor asks them to figure out the essential parts in the passage and use the following patterns to lead them to describe the generalized concepts of the segments of a text
4. The result of this study shows that the participants still can do well in synthesizing the information from the English passages on non-Chinese topics. The result recommends that except the familiar topics, the teacher can lead the student to read a passage on unfamiliar topic to produce synthesizing retellings as long as the readability of the passage fits English learners’ English reading ability.
5. In this study, the researcher recommended another way of summary writing. Teachers may also focus on the summary retelling activity for collapsing a whole paragraph into smaller meaningful chunks, pointing out essential features in each chunk, and then asking learners to integrate the essential features in larger synthesizing statements.

C. Conclusion

In this study, this group of teenagers has proved that they have the ability to retell synthesizing information over familiar and unfamiliar topic passages with the assistance of their prior knowledge.Moreover, the results of the study provide further evidence in the field of prior knowledge studies to ensure the essential impact of the cross-cultural knowledge (Brantmeier, 2005; Hammadou, 2000). More than that, the findings of the study suggest that the reader’s cross-cultural knowledge can facilitate English learners to operate a synthesizing process. In contrast, the result of the study was not in agreement with Cohen et al’s (1988) conclusion that non-natives had more trouble synthesizing the information at the intra- and inter sentential levels as well as across paragraphs than natives. The different result from this study and the classification of synthesizing information can add new knowledge to the field of English learners’ cognitive reading process. In the near future, the researcher will include other groups of English learners with different levels of English reading abilities to further examine the non-natives’ synthesizing process via culturally specific and cross-cultural topic passages.



D. Comment

After reading and trying to understand this journal, I can say that this is a good journal. It stands for some reasons. First, this journal is written systematically and has complete composition / content, also the author biography and references are provided. It means that this journal can be used for academic usage. Second, the method in retelling assessment in this study is slightly different from that of recall. The third reason, then, it provides data of the study and it seems quite valid because in collecting data the researcher asked another PhD student who was a native English speaker as a second rater to ensure the credibility of the analysis. Then, the last reason, but not the least, I said that this is a good journal because this journal provide a study which can give a new finding/result that fix the misunderstanding/restraint in the previous research.

Finally, I suggest to other student to read this journal because this journal provides new knowledge which might be useful for us. After all, this journal uses communicative language and easy to be understood as well.

Using World Literatures to Promote Intercultural Competence in Asian EFL Learners

Derrick Nault
Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan
Reviewed by: Khumaidah

In a June 2006 critiquing standard approaches for teaching literature to English learners in Japanese university settings, Derrick Nault reports on his findings “Using World Literatures to Promote Intercultural Competence in Asian EFL Learners” which focuses on the specific technique to improve students’ English competence by using an intercultural approach-a new concept as an alternate pedagogical framework. He describes the concept by doing three specific techniques include in Culture Clashes, English Snapshots and Contrastive Analysis. This finding is fascinating and understandable to be applied.

Derrick Nault, in his study “Using World Literatures to Promote Intercultural Competence in Asian EFL Learners” describes three specific approaches as his technique in improving students’ abilities. The Culture Clashes as the first step of the technique is done by demonstrating a clash of cultural values or conceptions based on a scene from a story. For the following step- The English Snapshots, writer use passages from literary works to raise learners’ awareness of non-standard varieties of English. Referring to the last step-The Contrastive Analysis, learners involve comparing the cultural assumptions in a text and contrasting features of particular cultural. The writer believed that this last step is one of the best ways to draw attention to the importance of culture in the communication process.

Regarding to the four most common methods for teaching English-language literature in Japan-stylistics, literary criticism, the English language teaching (ELT) approach, and the yakudoku method (“translation method”), the intercultural approach seems to modification of the English language teaching (ELT) approach. Derrick Nault claims that no single method can be used in all contexts, “As teachers and students vary in learning styles, it is up to the instructor to decide what is most effective and practical for a given educational context. Hence, the weak points of standard approaches should be kept in mind and strive to involve students in their own learning, pique their interest in reading, raise their cultural awareness, and improve their language skills”. From his argument it is as if he was not satisfy with the effectiveness of the common method used in Japan but in my opinion Derrick Nault actually just want to find suitable method for his students although he must examine hardly with insufficient sources and references because this technique is still the new one. 

Derrick Nault tells that while language teaching traditionally has treated language and culture separately, more recently ELT specialists have begun emphasizing that linguistic competence alone is insufficient for a learner to be truly proficient in a language. What is also needed, they argue, is an understanding of the culture in which the target language is used. But Seelye in (1997) said that “the study of language cannot be divorced from the study of culture, and vice versa. The wherewithal to function in another culture requires both prowess in the language and knowledge of the culture” (p. 23). Then Derrick Nault inform that an intercultural approach to ELT is advantageous in that it integrates both language and culture into lessons, more adequately preparing learners for real world communicative contexts. Responding to his argument, I assume that this approach is designed to be interesting and challenge method in which teacher and learners should be more active than usual because as my experience, learning with the real world context or condition will be more joyful and easy to understand the lesson. We can see how and when we use the language. 

In the last discussion, Derrick Nault tells,” I have yet to gather concrete data on the effectiveness of the teaching techniques I have just outlined. Nonetheless, I would judge my intercultural competence-oriented literature lessons to be successful”. Besides, he has even had students express a desire to visit African and other Asian nations as a result of lessons based on world literatures. What all of this means for actual language acquisition is difficult to say, but an intercultural approach to ELT and literature does appear to intrigue and motivate learners and this can only help improve their English proficiency. It is also one of proof of intercultural effectiveness in literature class. Due to incomplete Derrick Nault’s concrete data, I wonder more about the effectiveness of intercultural approach. In short, I am interested in this new approach.

In conclusion, the intercultural approach which Derrick Nault recognized to improve students’ English competence seems to be good invention. The procedure of the technique is understandable enough. The reason that the research give in supporting his argument also logic but there is some suggestion for further research, it is better for the next research to provide detailed data and more supporting idea in order to make the reader more attract and fully understand with the procedure of the technique.