Raising Effective Academic Literacy OnlineWorking towards a multimodal learning platform

MUST-5: Hong Kong Polytechnic

University – Shenzhen Base

Eric Cheung (eric.cheung@polyu.edu.hk) , 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

The Sumption…

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!

Please help the website work better!Thank you very much!