Abstract
Formulaic sequences are widely used in academic writing and are known to be an important aspect of EAP writing development. However, little research has investigated the frequency, function and degree of fixedness of their use by ESL writers across proficiency levels. This study examines the use of lexical bundles in written responses across three proficiency levels in the TOEFL iBT (. N=480). Bundles that were identical to those found in the prompts were analyzed separately. Biber, Conrad, and Cortes' (2004) taxonomy was used to identify bundle functions. Following Biber (2009), the degree of fixedness for each of the four slots in the bundle was investigated in relation to the other three. The results indicate that lower level learners used more bundles overall but also more bundles identical to those in the prompts. In contrast, the functional analysis reveals a similar use of stance and discourse organizing bundles across proficiency levels and very few referential bundles used by any of the groups. In addition, there were few differences in fixed versus variable slot bundles across proficiency levels. These findings have important implications for instruction and assessment of EAP writing.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 214-225 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of English for Academic Purposes |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2013 |
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Keywords
- Academic writing development
- Corpus linguistics
- EAP
- Learner writing
- Lexical bundles
- TOEFL iBT
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education
- Linguistics and Language
- Language and Linguistics
Cite this
Formulaic sequences and EAP writing development : Lexical bundles in the TOEFL iBT writing section. / Staples, Shelley; Egbert, Jesse; Biber, Douglas E; McClair, Alyson.
In: Journal of English for Academic Purposes, Vol. 12, No. 3, 09.2013, p. 214-225.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Formulaic sequences and EAP writing development
T2 - Lexical bundles in the TOEFL iBT writing section
AU - Staples, Shelley
AU - Egbert, Jesse
AU - Biber, Douglas E
AU - McClair, Alyson
PY - 2013/9
Y1 - 2013/9
N2 - Formulaic sequences are widely used in academic writing and are known to be an important aspect of EAP writing development. However, little research has investigated the frequency, function and degree of fixedness of their use by ESL writers across proficiency levels. This study examines the use of lexical bundles in written responses across three proficiency levels in the TOEFL iBT (. N=480). Bundles that were identical to those found in the prompts were analyzed separately. Biber, Conrad, and Cortes' (2004) taxonomy was used to identify bundle functions. Following Biber (2009), the degree of fixedness for each of the four slots in the bundle was investigated in relation to the other three. The results indicate that lower level learners used more bundles overall but also more bundles identical to those in the prompts. In contrast, the functional analysis reveals a similar use of stance and discourse organizing bundles across proficiency levels and very few referential bundles used by any of the groups. In addition, there were few differences in fixed versus variable slot bundles across proficiency levels. These findings have important implications for instruction and assessment of EAP writing.
AB - Formulaic sequences are widely used in academic writing and are known to be an important aspect of EAP writing development. However, little research has investigated the frequency, function and degree of fixedness of their use by ESL writers across proficiency levels. This study examines the use of lexical bundles in written responses across three proficiency levels in the TOEFL iBT (. N=480). Bundles that were identical to those found in the prompts were analyzed separately. Biber, Conrad, and Cortes' (2004) taxonomy was used to identify bundle functions. Following Biber (2009), the degree of fixedness for each of the four slots in the bundle was investigated in relation to the other three. The results indicate that lower level learners used more bundles overall but also more bundles identical to those in the prompts. In contrast, the functional analysis reveals a similar use of stance and discourse organizing bundles across proficiency levels and very few referential bundles used by any of the groups. In addition, there were few differences in fixed versus variable slot bundles across proficiency levels. These findings have important implications for instruction and assessment of EAP writing.
KW - Academic writing development
KW - Corpus linguistics
KW - EAP
KW - Learner writing
KW - Lexical bundles
KW - TOEFL iBT
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84883322119&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84883322119&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jeap.2013.05.002
DO - 10.1016/j.jeap.2013.05.002
M3 - Article
VL - 12
SP - 214
EP - 225
JO - Journal of English for Academic Purposes
JF - Journal of English for Academic Purposes
SN - 1475-1585
IS - 3
ER -