Evaluating the progression of a group of EFL international baccalaureate students after a genre-based application : a systemic functional analysis.

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2019
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This research aimed to assess the progression of a group of high-school EFL International Baccalaureate, henceforth IB, Spanish speaking students, towards the attainment of higher levels of proficiency regarding the control of generic patterns and lexicogrammatical choices in writing expository texts. This study analyzed the expository genre realized in two text types: an argumentative essay and a discussion. Each version was taught through a previously planned cycle which was designed following the stages proposed by a genre pedagogy, particularly the teaching-learning cycle (TLC) based on Rothery's work in 1994. After the application of each cycle, the products of the participants were analyzed through a Systemic Functional perspective which considered students' written discourse, realized in ideational, interpersonal and textual resources. The three metafunctions were studied and analyzed in terms of complexity and accuracy. After the analysis, the results were reported following a qualitative methodology which is sustained by a semiotic paradigm. This study considered not only the participant's products as its main source of data collection but also included a focus group carried out to understand beyond quantitative data and include participants actively and collaboratively within the study. This instrument gathered evidence of students' perception about their learning process, the method applied during the cycles, and how this could contribute to a gradual gain of confidence and control when writing in English in academic contexts. The results of the analysis evidenced gradual improvement in the attainment of patterns present in expository texts; the metafunctions realized in field, tenor, and written mode, were displayed in more precise and complex lexico-grammatical choices; complex ideational and interpersonal resources were perceived to act simultaneously and systematically not distinctly or independently in texts. The main findings in regards to students' perception, revealed that most participants acknowledged the exposure of visible textual resources as of explicit teaching that helped them improve and understand writing and its social purpose through a visible model. Most participants recognized the contribution to their improvement and an eventual gain of confidence when attempting to write academic genres for the International Baccalaureate demands.
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Tesis (Magíster en Lingüística Aplicada al Inglés como Lengua Extranjera)--Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2019
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