Syntactic complexity measures: variation by genre,grade-level,students’ writing abilities,and writing quality

Syntactic complexity has been recognized as an important construct in writing research, and for the past five decades, many syntactic complexity measures (SCMs) have been examined in numerous studies. This systematic review is the first study of its kind to synthesize 36 studies spanning from 1970 to 2019 by identifying and cataloging all SCMs examined during this period. An analysis was performed on how the use of SCMs varied by genre, grade level, students’ writing ability, and writing quality. Five online databases (Academic Search Premier, ERIC, PsycINFO, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, and PsycARTICLES) were searched. A total of 48 SCMs were grouped into six categories: T-units and sentences, clauses, phrases, words, combined measures, and other measures. Most studies examined three common SCMs: mean T-unit length, mean number of words per clause, and mean number of clauses per T-unit. The argumentative genre had the highest values for T-unit length and mean number of clauses per T-unit, which could indicate greater sentence complexity. Higher-grade-level students generally construct sentences that are syntactically complex, but comparison between studies was difficult because different studies investigated different SCMs. Although students with higher writing abilities generally construct sentences that are syntactically more complex compared to students with lower writing abilities, the findings are not conclusive, as only a few studies examined this relationship. A similarly inconclusive relationship was found between syntactic complexity and writing quality because only a few studies examined this relationship. More research is needed to examine the relationship between SCMs, writing quality, and genre.

     

Syntactic complexity revisited: sensitivity of China’s AES-generated scores to syntactic measures,effects of discourse-mode and topic

Reading and Writing - This study aims to explore to what extent syntactic complexity predicts holistic scores generated by China’s two prominent automated writing evaluation...     

Cognitive and linguistic features of adolescent argumentative writing: Do connectives signal more complex reasoning?

Reading and Writing - The Common Core State Standards (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2010) feature argumentative writing across the curriculum in grades 4 through 12, yet little is known...     

Which components of working memory are important in the writing process?

This study investigated the relationship between components of working memory (WM) and the macrostructure (e.g., planning, writing, and revision) and microstructure (e.g., grammar, punctuation) of writing. A battery of WM and writing measures were administered to 160 high-school students. Overall, hierarchical regression analyses showed that the central executive component of WM significantly predicted planning, writing, and revision as well the majority of microstructure measures. The results further validate the importance of WM in the writing process, but indicate that writing process is more intricately tied to the controlled attention component of WM when compared to storage of information.

Enhancing the quality of learning: what are the benefits of a mixed age,collaborative approach to creative narrative writing?

This study, based in a small rural school, explores the opportunities provided by collaborative learning with a mixed aged class of 7–11 year olds (Year 3–Year 6). This paper specifically focuses on those children aged 7–8 years (Year 3) and how they worked on improving the quality of their writing through optional and directed collaborative group work. Data were collected predominantly through a series of observations and interviews. The findings suggest that optional collaboration does not always lead to shared ideas or improvements in the quality of writing. However, directed collaboration and structured conferencing can enable powerful learning to take place within a group context. The study concludes that with skilled adult support children are not only ‘learners’ but can also become ‘peer teachers’ within a supportive context.     

Exploring tertiary English as a Foreign Language writing tutors’ perceptions of the appropriateness of peer assessment for writing

Despite the increasing volume of research in peer assessment for writing, few studies have been conducted to explore teachers’ perceptions of its appropriateness for writing instruction. It is essential to understand teachers’ perceptions of peer assessment as teachers play an important role in whether and how peer assessment is implemented in their instruction. The current study investigated tertiary English writing tutors’ perceptions of the appropriateness of peer assessment for English as a Foreign Language writing in China, where peer assessment has been increasingly discussed and researched but only occasionally used in teaching. The current study scrutinised the reasons behind its limited use via in-depth exploratory interviews with 25 writing tutors with different teaching backgrounds. The interview data showed tutors’ limited knowledge of peer assessment and unanimous hesitation in using it. The former was explained by insufficient instruction and training in peer assessment. The latter relates to the incompatibility of peer assessment with the examinations-oriented education system, learners’ low English language proficiency and learning motivation, and the conflict of peer assessment with the entrenched teacher-driven learning culture. Suggestions are made about training and engaging teachers to effectively use peer assessment in instruction.     

The national survey of student engagement as a predictor of undergraduate GPA: a cross‐sectional and longitudinal examination

Data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) collected across seven years were used to predict final, cumulative grade point averages (GPA). Cross‐product regression was used to explore the predictive abilities of the NSSE benchmark scores for freshmen (n = 2578) and seniors (n = 2293) collected in cross‐sectional cohorts. Hierarchical regression was also used with 127 longitudinal responses in students’ first and senior years of college. In the cross‐sectional analyses, Level of Academic Challenge emerged as a significant predictor of GPA for freshmen, whereas the Active and Collaborative Learning benchmark was a significant predictor for seniors; both effects were modest. The cross‐sectional data explained 22.6% of the variance with 18.2% of this variance accounted for by pre‐college control factors (American College Test score and high school GPA). For the analysis of longitudinal data, 31.3% of the variance was explained and 27.8% was attributed to the pre‐college indicators. No benchmark scores were significant predictors of GPA in the longitudinal data. Results suggest that cross‐sectional analyses can adequately detect modest effects on final GPA. In contrast, longitudinal models explain more variance, though they lack the power to reveal modest effects. This study suggests approaches for the responsible use of cross‐sectional and longitudinal data in educational research.     

Subjectivity as a site of struggle: refusing neoliberalism?

This paper extends the author’s previous enquiries and discussions of governmentality and neoliberal policy technologies in a number of ways. The paper explores the specificity and generality of performativity as a particular contemporary mode of power relations. It addresses our own imbrication in the politics of performative truths, through our ordinary everyday life and work. The paper is about the here and now, us, you and me, and who we are in neoliberal education. It draws upon and considers a set of ongoing email exchanges with a small group of teachers who are struggling with performativity. It enters the ‘theoretical silence’ of governmentality studies around the issues of resistance and contestation. Above all, the paper attempts to articulate the risks of refusal through Foucault’s notion of fearless speech or truth-telling (parrhesia).     

Has the quality of teaching and learning processes improved as a result of the implementation of quality assurance coordinated by the state?

Faced with the rapid pace of knowledge expansion, higher education institutions are challenged to raise the efficacy of student education, overcoming the traditionally rigid teaching-centred approach, and shifting the focus instead towards learning, while preparing competent professionals who are able to self-manage knowledge. This paper outlines the impact that quality assurance processes have had on teaching and learning processes from the perspectives of their main stakeholders: students, teachers and academic authorities. The study was carried out in three private higher education institutions of Argentina identified as having introduced certain changes focusing on quality in the education process. Arguably, a higher degree of empowerment of institutional authorities has been noted regarding teaching management and greater attention is being paid to teaching modes; however, the paper concludes that it is still early to ascertain the direct impact that these transformations will have on learning outcomes.     

Which linguistic features predict quality of argumentative writing for college basic writers,and how do those features change with instruction?

Reading and Writing - The study developed a model of linguistic constructs to predict writing quality for college basic writers and analyzed how those constructs changed following instruction....     

The complexity of morality: Being a ‘good child’ in Vietnam?

In this article I examine what it means to be a good child in Vietnam. Throughout the country ancestral worship is widely practiced. This traditionally places emphasis on the need for a boy child to continue the practice of worship into the next generation. Because of this, while the high value placed on the boy child has been tempered by the influence of communist rule and modernity, the eldest boy still often holds preferential status. Under such circumstances the good child is one who accepts his or her position within the hierarchical structure of the family and is also willing to subjugate his or her individual needs to the greater collective good. This might manifest itself in a child’s ‘choice’ to work on the streets so that their earnings can be sent home to support other siblings through their schooling. Or it might show itself in the practice of children accepting and apparently supporting that fact that they have been sent to an orphanage or ‘hidden’ so that a parent can try for more male children. It would be naive though to conclude from this that boys and girls are automatically raised within separate moral frameworks. Instead this article proposes that at the local level what it means to be a good child is even more complex because the notion of the good, moral and filial child is shaped as much by family circumstances and expectation as it is by the mores and values of the wider society.     

Giving feedback on peers’ concept maps as a learning experience: does quality of reviewed concept maps matter?

Learning Environments Research - Giving feedback to peers can be a powerful learning tool because of the feedback provider’s active cognitive involvement with the products to be reviewed. The...     

Restructuring of schools as a consequence of computer use?

The central question discussed is whether the use of computers leads to the restructuring of schools or classrooms. Several authors argue that intensive use of computers must lead to new classroom patterns or new forms of schooling. Data from the international comparative study of computers in education, conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), reveal that in almost all schools in industrialized countries activities with computers are taking place. However, a relatively small number of teachers are involved, and these activities are not indicating real changes in the structure of schools and classrooms.     

School playgroups: Which features of provision matter?

This paper identifies the shared features of provision in exemplar school playgroups defined using the social capital concepts of bonding and bridging relationships. Relationships promote capabilities amongst people, with play a known capability for advancing children's developmental and educational outcomes. By attending to the bonding and bridging relationships in each school playgroup, exemplar groups were identified and studied to reveal their shared features of provision. Six main features of provision were identified, including materials, facilitator, space, location, scheduling and health and safety. Awareness of these features may benefit school leaders and/or governance seeking to implement a school playgroup within their own community. Findings from this project suggest high-performing school playgroups can operate in areas of lower and higher socioeconomic status and/or parental education, and in regional and rural areas.