THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ THU HƯƠNG DOCTORAL THESIS LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF ONLINE ENGLISH WRITINGS IN VIETNAMESE HIGHER EDUCATION CONTEXT Major: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS Code: 9.NGUYỄN VĂN LONG Da Nang, 2023 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgments in the thesis. This thesis has not been submitted to award any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. Da Nang, January 2023 Phạm Thị Thu Hương ii ABSTRACT The rapid development of high technology and the Internet has contributed to English language education for the past few decades.
Technology provides learners unprecedented opportunities to practice English and involve themselves in authentic language use environments. Since the 1980s, many communication and linguistic scholars have done interesting research on computer-mediated communication, which often concerned four aspects: linguistic perspectives, social and ethical perspectives, cross-cultural perspectives, and CMC and group interaction. In Viet Nam, before the year 2020, conducting blended-learning English courses on online English teaching platforms or software was optional and less common in colleges or universities in Viet Nam than it is today. Hence, there needs to be more research on linguistic features or the relationship between linguistic items and computer- mediated discourse/ online English written texts made by EFL students in Viet Nam and abroad.
The study aims to investigate the linguistic features remarkable in online English writings made by EFL students at some universities in Viet Nam in the last five years. Besides, it tempts to determine the relationship between these linguistic features' use and the students' English online writing quality. Therefore, it can provide English writing instructors with suggestions for teaching and assessing Vietnamese EFL students' online English writings. To conduct the study, the researcher applied descriptive and comparative methods and some instrument tools like the software Antconc, the software Virtual Writing Tutor, and a questionnaire.
Firstly, it found that the fifteen analyzed linguistic features were frequently used in the EFL students' online English writings. Generally, they appeared more frequently in the final writing version than in the drafts. Secondly, most were exploited with correct functions and no grammatical errors, except for the modal verb of ability/possibility and adverbial conjunctions referring to 'concession'. Thirdly, in comparing three groups of writings at different English levels, the research revealed a considerable difference in using the linguistic feature regarding their quantity and iii frequency caused by the different writing genres, the writing topics, and the authors' English levels.
Finally, the research findings showed that lexical diversity, number of academic words, language accuracy, number of complex sentences, and some cohesive devices (like subordinating and adverbial conjunctions) had considerable and positive influences on the quality of students' online English writings. CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION .3 Scope of the research .3 Definition of terms .3 Significance of the study .5 Organization of the thesis. CHAPTER TWO – THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW. Computer-mediated communication and computer-mediated discourse analysis.
Online English writing. Linguistic features in English second language writings. The relationship between linguistic features and English writing quality .24 Review of previous related studies. Previous studies of computer-mediated communication and computer-mediated discourse analysis.
Previous studies of linguistic features in English writings. Previous studies of the link between linguistic features and English writing quality. CHAPTER THREE – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Teaching and learning English writing skills at the University of Da Nang.
Subject of the Study.42 Data Collection and Analysis. Setting the corpora. Selecting linguistic features for analysis. Data analytical framework.50 Data collection and analysis instruments.
Software Virtual Writing Tutor .53 Reliability and Validity. CHAPTER FOUR – RERULTS AND DISCUSSION OF LEXICAL FEATURES.61 Be as main Verb .69 vi Private verbs. CHAPTER FIVE – RESULTS AND DISCUSSION OF GRAMMARTICAL FEATURES. Modal verbs of ability and possibility.
Modal verbs of obligation and necessity .100 The passive voice .105 Adverb clauses of cause. CHAPTER SIX – THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LINGUISTIC FEATURES AND THE STUDENTS’ WRITING QUALITY .133 The scores of the students’ online English writings .133 Lexical items and the quality of the students’ online English writings. Lexical diversity and the students’ online English writing quality. The ratio of word types/word tokens and the writings' quality.
Lexical density and the students’ online English writing quality. Lexical sophistication and the students’ online English writing quality .138 Syntactic complexity and the students’ online English writing quality. The length of texts and the students’ online English writing quality. Complex sentences and the students’ online English writing quality.
Cohesive devices and the students’ online English writing quality .145 The English teachers’ perspectives on the linguistic features’ influence on the students' online English writings. CHAPTER SEVEN – CONCLUSION .149 Summary of the findings. Lexical features used in the students’ online English writings. Grammatical features used in the students’ online English writings.
The relationship between linguistic features and the students’ online English writing quality .164 Suggestions for learning and teaching English writing online in Viet Nam. Suggestions for English language teachers and learners. Suggestions for Foreign language universities, colleges, or institutions in Viet Nam .168 Limitation of the study and recommendations for further research. Limitation of the study.
Recommendations for further research. 215 ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have given me help with the completion of this Ph. First and foremost, I would like to express sincere thanks to my supervisors, Assoc. Nguyen Van Long for all his support and encouragement during my long Ph.
Without his advice and constant feedback, this Ph. thesis would not have been completed. Secondly, I owe my sincere gratitude to Assoc. Trần Hữu Phúc, and other academic panelists who advised and helped me during many discussions and seminars conducted during this Ph.
Their constructive comments have kept my Ph. thesis focused on the central goals of the study. Thirdly, I would like to thank the lecturers and staff in the Faculty of English and Department of Academic Affairs at the University of Foreign Language Studies - University of Da Nang for their expertise and family- like support during my Ph. Fourthly, I wholeheartedly thank my who were always very helpful and provided me with their assistance throughout my Ph.
Lastly, I would like to thank all members in my family for their love, care, and unfailing support me while completing this Ph. x ABBREVIATIONS CALL Computer-assisted language learning CMC Computer-mediated communication CMD Computer-mediated discourse CMDA Computer-mediated discourse analysis DUT Da Nang University of Technology EFL English foreign language ELL English language learners ESL English Second Language ESP English for Specific Purposes GE General English L1 First language L2 Second language LAN Local Area Network LMS Language management system NNSs Non-Native Speakers NSs Native Speakers TEFL Teaching English as a Foreign Language UD University of Danang UED University of Education UFLS University of Foreign Language Studies xi LIST OF THE TABLES Table 2. CMDA data sampling techniques 16 Table 2. Five discourse analysis paradigms commonly invoked in CMDA research 18 Table 3.
The population and samples 44 Table 3. Total Words and Mean Number of Words per Sample in Corpus 1 and Corpus 2 45 Table 3. Total Words and Mean Number of Words per Sample in the Sub-corpora of Corpus 1 47 Table 3. Total Words and Mean Number of Words per Sample in the Sub-corpora of Corpus 2 47 Table 3.
Examples of Writing Topics in Sub-Corpora 48 Table 3.6 Linguistic features to be analyzed for the study 49 Table 4. Frequencies and ranks of Interpretive nouns in Corpus 1 and Corpus 2 57 Table 4. Frequencies and ranks of vague nouns in Corpus1 and Corpus 2 61 Table 4. Frequencies and ranks of be as main verb in Corpus 1 and Corpus 2 67 Table 4.
Frequencies and ranks of public verbs in Corpus 1 & Corpus 2 69 Table 4. Frequencies and ranks of Private verbs in Corpus 1 & Corpus 2 75 Table 4. Frequency and ranks of Predicate adjectives in Corpus 1 and Corpus 2 82 Table 4. Frequencies and ranks of Intensifying adverbs in Corpus 1 and Corpus 2 86 Table 5.
Frequency and rank of Modal Verbs of Ability and Possibility in Corpus 1 and Corpus 2 96 Table 5. Frequency and rank of modal verbs of obligation and necessity in Corpus 1 and Corpus 2 101 xii Table 5. Frequency and rank of passive structures/patterns in Corpus 1 and Corpus 2 105 Table 5. List of verbs in passive voice with different tenses in both writing versions 106 Table 5.
Frequency and rank of Adverb clause of cause in Corpus 1 and Corpus 2 111 Table 5. Number of adverb clauses of causes in three Sub-corpora 113 Table 5. Frequency and rank of coordinating conjunctions in Corpus 1 and Corpus 2 115 Table 5. Frequency and rank of correlative conjunctions in Corpus 1 and Corpus 2 118 Table 5.
Frequency and rank of subordinating conjunctions in Corpus 1 and Corpus 2 121 Table 5. Frequency and rank of adverbial conjunctions in Corpus 1 and Corpus 2 126 Table 6. The word types and the writings’ scores 135 Table 6. The ratio of word types/word tokens and the writings’ scores 136 Table 6.
The lexical density of the students’online English writings 137 Table 6. The number of academic words in the students’ online English writings 139 xiii LIST OF THE FIGURES Figure 3. Analytic Framework 50 Figure 4. The use of interpretive nouns in three sub-corpora 60 Figure 4.
The use of vague nouns in three sub-corpora 64 Figure 4. The rank of be as the main verb found by tool Word List of software AntConc 66 Figure 4. The use of be as main verb in three sub-corpora 68 Figure 4. The use of public verbs in three sub-corpora 74 Figure 4.
The use of private verbs in three sub-corpora 79 Figure 4. The use of predicative adjectives in three sub-corpora 85 Figure 4. The use of intensifying adverbs in three sub-corpora 90 Figure 4. Number of word types/clusters and Frequency of seven lexical features in corpus 1 and corpus 2 93 Figure 5.
The use of modal verbs of ability and possibility in three sub- corpora 99 Figure 5. Samples having no modal verbs of ability and possibility 100 Figure 5. The use of modal verbs of obligation and necessity in three sub-corpora 104 Figure 5. The use of passive structures or patterns in three sub-corpora 109 Figure 5.
The use of adverb clauses of cause in three sub-corpora 113 Figure 5. The use of coordinating conjunctions in three sub-corpora 117 Figure 5. The use of correlative conjunctions in three sub-corpora 120 Figure 5. The use of subordinating conjunctions in three sub-corpora 125 Figure 5.
The use of adverbial conjunctions in three sub-corpora 130 Figure 5. Number of word types/clusters and Frequency of eight grammatical features in corpus 1 and corpus 2 132 Figure 6. Scores of the fifty-one students’ online English writings 134 Figure 6. The density of each student's online English writing 138 xiv Figure 6.
Number of academic words in each student's online English writings 140 Figure 6. Number of sentences in fifty-one student's online English writings 142 Figure 6. The average length of sentence in fifty-one student’s online English writings 143 Figure 6. Number of complex sentences in fifty-one students’ online English writings 144 Figure 6.
The cohesive device densities of fifty-one students’ online English writings 146 Figure 6. English teachers’ perspective of linguistic items’ influences on English writing’s quality 147 xv 1.