Writing in English as an additional language at Key Stage 4 and ...

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Writing in English as an additional language at Key Stage 4 and post-16Difficulties specific to the Focus group• choosing the correct preposition in fixed phrases• choosing the appropriate delexical verb• finding the accepted vocabulary item: compensation strategies included blended phrases,circumlocutions and creative alternatives, using delexical verb instead of one with morelexical content.• consistency in use of modals to express conditionality or hypothetical statements• getting the right endings on verbs and nouns• qualified comparatives• noun-pronoun agreements• plurals• using the right article.Difficulties shared by Focus and EMT groups• a small number of pupils had major spelling problems• putting full stops, commas, and apostrophes where they are needed• using delexical verbs rather than verbs with more lexical content.Difficulties shared to some degree by Focus and High EAL groups• choosing the correct prepositions in fixed phrases• agreement between Subject and Verb• using the right article.These features are now reported in more detail. Where features were counted across allscripts, the frequency data are given in Appendix 4,Table 17.6.5.2 Focus group use of wordsA range of features of written words and phrases that seemed to give problems differentially tothe Focus group are discussed in this section. The first five features relate mainly to vocabularyand the other five to grammar, although there is, of course, overlap.Prepositions in formulaic phrases and collocationsFormulaic phrases are those with restricted choice of words in particular slots. For example, inthe phrase a couple of weeks ago there is no choice about of; it is the only preposition that can beused. Errors involved the use of the wrong preposition, the omission of a required preposition,or an additional preposition. For example:can help on pollution (with)regret of what they did (no preposition needed)time to research about it (into, or none needed)• Prepositional errors were by far the most common error in Focus group writing, accountingfor more than half of all errors that were noted in phrases.• Prepositional errors are particularly persistent, in that they also feature in the writing of theHigh EAL group, where they account for about two-thirds of their (smaller number of)errors.33
Writing in English as an additional language at Key Stage 4 and post-16Delexical verbsA delexical verb is one that is so frequently used and in so many different contexts that the linkbetween the verb and its meaning becomes quite weak. The following verbs in the students’writing fell into this group:put, do, have, make, goErrors in the use of delexical verbs fell into two types(1) One delexical verb is used instead of another:make a stop to this(put)they will do more fun (have)(2) A delexical verb used instead of one with more lexical content:schools don’t give (show) enough interestbike friendly measures should be taken (introduced)• Problems with delexical verbs were the next most common accuracy features in Focusgroup writing, accounting for about 16% of errors noted in phrases. There were somesimilar errors in EMT writing but usually of the second type.EAL errors in the use of prepositions and delexical verbs are interesting because they suggestsomething about additional language development. We can first note that the majority of EMTerrors at within-text level seemed to arise from a lack of familiarity with phrases characteristicof written language. Instead, the use of spoken English features in their writing:has (as) it could improvein which (which) we would like to dothis has sured (ensured) a rapid decreaseIt may be speculated that Focus pupils too might be relying on their spoken English as theywrite. Potentially, Focus group pupils as bilinguals have their first language as well as English as aresource to draw on for writing. In cases where students have developed their literacy skills intheir first language, we might expect to find evidence of translation. However, the selfassessmentof first language literacy skills (Tables 11 and 12) suggests that only a few of theFocus group have transferable literacy skills in their first language. Both Focus and EMT groupsthus seem likely to have their spoken languages as the major source of language resources to bedrawn on in writing.Taking the argument a step further, if Focus group writing reflects their use of their spokenEnglish, then we might hypothesise that the inaccuracies found in written English reflect featuresof their spoken English. Further research would be needed to investigate this hypothesis but itdoes not seem improbable. The nature of the errors seems to support this possibility, since thefeatures which cause problems for EAL students, word endings, prepositions and delexical verbs,are all single sounds and often unstressed in talk, and so would not be noticed very much inspoken English. In talk these features also do not greatly affect the communication of meaning,which is carried mostly by words with lexical content (mainly nouns and lexical verbs) andcontext.34
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