A comparison of lexical patterns in classroom discourse

Farnaz, R. M. (2010). A comparison of lexical bundles (sic) patterns in Singapore primary five English language and Science classroom discourse and textbooks (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from http://libris.nie.edu.sg/

Background

Research shows that there is a lack of research on the use of lexical bundles in pre-tertiary classroom discourse and textbooks.

Aims

This study compared the (1) structural and (2) functional patterns of lexical bundles used in classroom discourse and subject textbooks in Primary 5 English language and Science lessons.

Sample

The spoken corpus was taken from the Singapore Corpus of Research in Education (SCoRE) and contained 175,328 words. It was divided into an English language sub-corpus and a Science sub-corpus. The written corpus comprised 18 English language textbooks and 13 Science textbooks.

Method

Lexical bundles explored were recurring sequences of four or more words. They had a minimum frequency of 10 and appeared over at least five classroom discourse texts and three textbooks. The lexical bundles were analysed for structure and function.

Findings

Quantitative findings showed that the number of lexical bundles in the classroom discourse exceeded the textbooks. The frequency of lexical bundles in the Science classroom discourse was markedly higher than that in the English classroom, suggesting that the former is likely to use more prefabricated discourse patterns.

Qualitative findings showed that most of the lexical bundles used in the classrooms were overtly interpersonal, reflecting the teachers’ intentions, desires or wishes. The use of directive lexical bundles in the form of declaratives (I want you to) or interrogatives (can you look at) was also common. Coupled with the findings that there were no lexical bundles that were frequently used by the students, this suggested that primary level classrooms in Singapore were mostly teacher-centred.

The findings also suggested that the language of primary textbooks was similar to classroom discourse. Both included the regulative and instructional language that was normally used by teachers in classrooms. Although modality stance lexical bundles (e.g. I don’t know if) were very common, the use of modalities differed considerably between the classroom discourse and the textbooks. In the classroom discourse, they were mostly indirect and in the form of interrogatives, whereas in the textbooks, they were more direct and forceful and in the form of imperatives.

Implications

The author concluded that the findings could help teachers reflect on their classroom discourse and better understand the textbooks use of language in order to engage students in learning.

Original article retrieved from NIE Digital Repository.