Past Event

Bring your pens, some paper your lunch and come listen, write and read!

Speakers:

A Discourse Analysis of Edward Snowden
Sandro Marcon, MA Student

Using interviews, articles and youtube comments, my thesis strives to understand the discursive construction of Edward Snowden. In essence, I ask how a theoretical understanding of discourse provides a framework for understanding the discourse of Snowden. I argue that if language has meaning, what kinds of meanings are being attributed to Snowden through discourse. Why have these meanings arisen, and what kinds of actions are being performed with language?

An Investigation of the Role of Focused Instruction of Formulaic Sequences in Upgrading English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Students’ Performance in Academic Contexts
Lina AlHassan, PhD Student

This research study is intended to investigate how focused instruction of formulaic sequences, defined as prefabricated chunks (e.g. on the other hand) that are stored in and retrieved from the memory as wholes (Wray, 2002), can enhance their acquisition and internalization into EAP students’ linguistic repertoires and, hence, upgrade EAP students’ performance in academic contexts. More specifically, it is an attempt to investigate how the mastery of a number of formulaic sequences can positively influence EAP students’ comprehension and production in academic contexts. With this in mind, this research study will first explore the effects of focused instruction of formulaic sequences in enhancing their successful acquisition. Second, it will identify any improvements in the participants’ receptive skills, particularly reading comprehension. Third, it will highlight any improvement in the participants’ productive skills, i.e., academic writing. Fourth, it will compare the participants’ lexical and grammatical accuracy before and after the focused instruction. Last but not least, it will triangulate quantitative results qualitatively.

Wray, A. (2002). Formulaic language and the lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.