Raising effective academic literacy online: working towards a multimodal interactive platform
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Transcript of Raising effective academic literacy online: working towards a multimodal interactive platform
Raising Effective Academic Literacy OnlineWorking towards a multimodal learning platform
MUST-5: Hong Kong Polytechnic
University – Shenzhen Base
Eric Cheung ([email protected]) , Research
Associate,
Department of English, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Overview
E-learning platforms and multimodality
Problems in current e-learning platforms
Review of PolyU ENGL Academic Writing Support websites
Future research dimensions and ambitions
E-learning & Multimodality
The use of internet
technologies to deliver
a broad array of
solutions enhancing
knowledge &
performance
(Rosenberg, 2001)
It can be computer
based, online, web-
based or distance
learning (Rigas &
Sallam, 2008).
Other modals (graphics,
sounds, speech, or even
tactility) can be added to
these e-learning resources.
The dominance of text as preferred means of
communications is being challenged. (Kress, 1997)
Students in technology-saturated and image-rich culture
could be called for the knowledge to make use of visual
communication to make and interpret meanings.
We are, it seems, entering a new age of the image, a new
age of hieroglyphics; and our [education] system is not
prepared for this in any way at all. (p. xvii)
Other notions on Multimodality
Colour as semiotic resources
Hue, saturation, differentiation,
modulation and purity
Can be used to denote the
metafunctions
Hypertexts as textual sequences
Linking the smaller text units
together
“offer the user multiple choice
points and multiple pathways
through and among websites”
(Lemke, 2003, www-
personal.umich.edu/~jaylemke/pap
ers/IPrA%20Toronto%20Genres%2
0Paper.htm)
Support for PolyU students
Department of English
Effective English for Postgraduate Research
Students (EEPRS)
Academic Support Programme (ASP)
MA Learning Hub
English Language Centre
Credit-bearing academic English courses
Problems with e-Learning
ResourcesTexts in digital formats become more densely
multimodal, and more complex through the use
of hyperlinks (Merchant, 2007).
Text-dense information is still the dominant type
of communicating info and materials to students,
making academia being considered as “a bastion
of text” (Willems, 2007, p.1073-4)
Human-computer interaction is not very natural –
time wasted on user training to become familiar
with the interface, e.g. navigation path.
Students’ weaknesses
and fears in writingVocabulary in academic style
Cohesion and texture
Appropriate ways to express ideas (objective, de-personalised)
Student support not given on the course of writing until one-to-one consultation
Stop students from buying essaysAnd really help them write
good papers – encourage
publications ultimately
Writing Effective Academic
Papers
Quantifying interpersonal meanings to justify the
rhetorical functions of each section of the paper
Investigating how evaluative lexical harmonies
maintains cohesion in students’ texts
Applying the findings to the development of
materials supporting “academic literacy”
Defining “critical thinking” in tertiary education
Discourse Semantics –
Interpersonal Meanings
• Appraisal Analysis (e.g. Martin & White 2005,
Hood 2010)
Engagement
Attitude
Graduation
JUDGEMENT & APPRECIATION as
Institutionalised AFFECT
Affect
Appreciation
Judgement
feeling institutionalised as propositions
aesthetics or value (criteria & assessment)
moral or ethics (criteria & assessment)
feeling institutionalised as proposals
Martin & White (2005, p. 45)
Attitudinal Density across
the Effective Papers
1.59 0.65 0.61 2.24 0.91
8.745.48 7.66 7.32 11.27
43.97
29.6319.61
23.98
36.64
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Att
itu
din
al
Den
sit
y (
per
1,0
00 w
ord
s)
Affect Judgement Appreciation
Introductio Literature
Review
Methodolog
y
Findings &
Discussion
Conclusio
n
Use of the Study Outcome
Developing resources to help students cope with
difficulties in writing assignments
Continuous development of the department
academic writing support website
Examples of evaluative language that expresses
critical thinking in research-based paper and
literature review
Strategies to maintain cohesion
Packaging of information with grammatical
metaphor
Features in the Websites
CSS (cascading style sheets) for consistency in
terms of appearance and formatting
Accordion menus to hide texts to avoid text
overloading
Highlighted texts according to their functions
Mouse over texts for pop-up dialogue boxes for
more explanations
Limitations of the Websites
Resources are still text-based and text-dense
Little visualisation to facilitate conveyance of
meaning
E.g. Attitudinal prosody across the text (hue,
spread or smearing of attitudinal “colour”)
Static, lack interaction with users
Difficult to locate information
Nature of the texts (academic discourse) limited
the modality of the resources (?)
One common type of teacher talk is teacher questions, which
has been considered a key component in language learning
(e.g. McCormick & Donato, 2000; Ellis, 2008; Wong &
Fillmore, 1984; Cazden, 1988). Balaban and Nancy (1995)
also point out the salience of questioning while scaffolding
by saying that
"scaffolding [is] the way the adult guides the child's learning
via focused questions and positive interactions". Asking
questions, therefore, is considered as an effective strategy
in scaffolding (David & Myra & Karen, 2011).
The “hue” of evaluation words spread across the paragraph
Ambitions
Develop a dynamic, interactive academic
support platform
Chunking of resources to a more
manageable size in the forms of
games, quizzes
Video and audio site tour
Human-computation/MOOC
User progress and achievement
trackable
And… you name it!