Language Analysis Case Study

By Dorothy Chambers

Caitlin Lockwood

Billy Peng Yu

George Mason University

May 8, 2008

EDCI 516-001

Instructions:

• Look over the cartoon and write your own version of the story.

• Be prepared to share. You will be selected at random later in the presentation.

Billy’s Information

Birth Year: 1983 Hometown:

Cangzhou, Hebei Province, China

Family Schooling/Career: Exams/Tests Self-Assessment

Billy’s Information Continued

Parents did not receive much education

Only speak Chinese

Billy’s Information Continued

English was the only foreign language offered in middle and high school in China

English was a required course in middle and high school

English major in university Full-time English language tutor Part-time English teacher for undergraduate

students Presently a full-time GMU graduate student.

List of Billy’s Oral and Written Tests:

High school examination College Entrance Examinations College English Test Band 6 (CET 6) Test for English Majors Band 4 & 8 Cambridge Business English Cert. Vantage and

Higher English Language Testing System (IELTS) Praxis I Test

As you can see – Billy is an English language standardized testing

pro!

Billy’s Self-Assessment- 1 out of 10

Writing proficiency- 7 Oral proficiency- 6 Overall relationship with English- 8

The Writing Samples

We collected the following writing samples:– 2 formal final drafts of expository writing

(submitted as part of his graduate studies)– 1 formal rough draft of expository writing

(submitted as part of his graduate studies)– 1 informal journal entry

Analysis of the Writing Samples

COMPOSITION Strengths:

– Uses different types of sentences– Develops topic and organizes writing to include a beginning,

middle and end Weaknesses:

– Some long run-on sentences– Awkward sentence structure (sometimes)– Lack of/misuse of cohesive ties (Ex. Hence all along for

therefore, although for while)

Analysis of the Writing Samples

VOCABULARY Strengths:

– Uses varied and appropriate vocabulary

Weaknesses:– Repetition of words (ex. this, keen)– Word choice errors (ex. emergent for urgent)

Analysis of the Writing Samples

GRAMMAR Strengths:

– Has few errors in usage that detract from the flow of the composition

Weaknesses:– Verb tenses (ex. –ed for –ing, don’t for didn’t)– Omission of articles (a and the)– Omission of morpheme that marks plural (-s, -es)

Analysis of the Writing Samples

MECHANICS Strengths:

– Has very few errors in capitalization, punctuation and spelling

Weaknesses:– Excessive comma use

The Oral Samples

We collected the following oral samples: – An informal conversation– A reading of section from an education textbook.

Billy summarized it and discussed it– Interpretation of a wordless cartoon

TIME TO SHARE!!!

Person number #15, please share your story!

Person number #2, please share your story!

THANK YOU FOR SHARING!!

Now it’s Billy’s turn…

Billy’s Interpretation of the Cartoon

Billy: Umm, little boy is named Tom. Uhh when Tom play uh with the toys and the, uh and his little dog, uh suddenly he heard a sound from his stomach. And he uh went to the kitchen to find uh either anybody there to help him. He look out the window and found, and found out uhh her mother was busy gardening to water the plants. And he can’t, uhh he couldn’t find his father in the umm sitting room. He look out, looked out the window and found that her, uh his, uh father was busy doing some…carpenting? Carpenting work? Ok. And his stomach sounded again and he uh felt very angry, so he decided to make his own meal. He went to the kitchen and find, uh find the bread. Uh cut several piece of bread and uh he also find uh honey, he uh put some honey in the uhh bread slice and some other, I don’t know this, maybe the tomato? And a lot of stuff, onto the umm bread, and, and made himself very, how do you say, very?.. dirty?, mess? When his parents came into the uh the kitchen, they found that uhh that little Tom is just a mess and they had to put him into the bath.

Analysis of the Oral Samples

COMPREHENSION Strengths:

– Comprehends almost everything in most social and academic contexts

Weaknesses:– None that we observed

Analysis of the Oral Samples

FLUENCY Strengths:

– Social contexts: fluent with occasional hesitation– Academic contexts: somewhat fluent, hesitation

Weaknesses:– Occasional hesitation, choppy speech– Searching for words

Analysis of the Oral Samples

VOCABULARY Strengths:

– Sufficient for social and academic contexts– Speaks in coherent, full sentences

Weaknesses:– Lack of varied, descriptive words– Does not always select the most appropriate

terms

Analysis of the Oral Samples

GRAMMAR Strengths:

– Few errors in syntax, grammar– Pronunciation is very clear, does not create communicative

difficulty

Weaknesses:– Pronoun confusion (Ex. her for his)– Omission of articles (Ex. a, the)– Past and present verb conjugation

He/She in Chinese

Proficiency Scores

Writing = 5 Oral = 4.4

Composition: 5 Comprehension: 5

Vocabulary: 4.5 Fluency: 3

Grammar: 5 Vocabulary: 4.5

Mechanics: 6 Grammar: 5

Recommendations

Speaking on telephone with native speakers Listening to the radio

– Can pick up American slang and jargon

Reading and listening to the news– Increases vocabulary– Opportunity to engage in conversation about current events

Extracurricular activities– GMU clubs– Ping Pong Club- www.meetup.com

Reading various novels:– Mysteries– Fictions– Best Sellers

Study academic texts/articles in the Education field– gain awareness for how language is used for

formal writing – recognize the difference between informal writing

and formal writing

Internship or job on GMU campus– Excellent social and learning experience for a

foreign student

Volunteer at an elementary or middle school– Extra motivation to become a role model for

younger individuals in the school system– Practice vocabulary in Physics and Mathematics

Make a list of cohesive ties– keep this list with him when completing academic

projects and assignments

Attend writing seminars offered at Mason Work at George Mason’s weekly newspaper

publication named Broadside– News, Style, Opinion, Sports, X-Change, editing

Be mindful of weaknesses and errors– With constant conscious effort, grammar will

naturally correct itself

Purchase a Thesaurus– Use it when doing assignments and projects for

his graduate classes– Papers have more depth– Vocabulary will expand tremendously