Preparing Data For Analysis And Achieving Coherence In Digital Text

You are to prepare your recorded data for analysis. You are to write out your text, as recorded, with all of the usual features of naturally produced spoken language (i.e., incomplete words, incomplete sentences, hesitation markers and pauses). You must provide an accompanying table listing the conversational transcription (CA) conventions that you have used in a coding table (e.g., … ‘long pause’), and provide the source of these conventions (e.g. Heritage et al 1984 or Sidnell 2015). Any references must be formatted according to APA6. If you have prepared a written script for your recording, please do not rely on your original script as an accurate representation of what you said (e.g. you may have paused part way through an utterance or not finished a word). 

Define coherence, and provide a detailed analysis of how your text coheres. In your answer explore your text linguistically and consider how both mode and medium affect how your text coheres. In other words, in your answer, you must explain how the image/s (your “selfie”) and the digital nature of your text affects your text’s overall coherence.

In all instances, you should also make reference to available literature to support your claims. After you have explained how you have made your text cohere,  reflect on how this type of digital text can be useful for teaching English and explain how you might use a digitally mediated and multi-modal text in English language teaching, and for what purposes. Refer to relevant literature in the field.

Make three copies of your text. In the first copy, highlight all instances of inflectional morphemes. In your second copy, highlight all instances of derivational morphemes. In your third copy, highlight all compounds in yellow font, and all other word formation processes in green font. Write a paragraph or two after each copy of the transcript explaining the basis of your decisions. These claims should be supported by reference to the literature in the field.

• Indicate how you would teach one morphological feature in your text to a learner of English. Your teaching activity should help a learner to use your selected feature. Your activity should be creative, interesting and meaningful to the learner. You should refer to relevant literature in the field to support your claims.

Find two examples that illustrate “your way of speaking” in your transcript. You may refer to your use of sounds or hesitation markers, or words that you tend to use a lot, or bundles of words, or aspects of your sentence or text structure and explain how these ways of speaking are important to you.

Explain how and why you might teach your students about their individual ways of speaking.

Conversational transcription and coding table

I have done my bachelor degree in Islamic studies ↓which is aah different from my master degree in education ?  andddd I enrolled in this subject because ...........  looking to expanding my knowledge...ah... in different fields, ?because my field is like general education ?Soooo before I came in Australia to start my study, I want to say that ,,,,,,, it was one of my dreams to travel to see the world, to see the other side↑of the world ?0.54 and ,,,,,,, I have achieved that. ,,,,,,, when I arrived in Melbourne .

,aaaahhhhh I remember that... I didn’t know how to speak English aaahhh I was like just like basic words like yes, nooooo and Thank you .It was big challenge for me actually to be able to express my self and to make other people understand me ? I learnt English at Latrobe institutes ↑for one year  ↑and it was verrrry hard for me to (  )1.50 that was required for the master of education ....... but ↑ little by little l learnt moreeee and more.

I chose to use just a section of my transcript, the one part that has all the features to avoid unnecessary repetition.  Social interactions are the core dependants on successful creation  and  maintaining  relations  it also  gives identity and explains behaviour (Goodwin & Heritage, 1990) , The analysis of conversation using its original and natural nature was first  brought forth  by Sack (Heritage & Clayman, 2011).  I have also used Heritage and Clayman’s approach in using the symbols for example; (:), (ummh) and so forth.

↓              Falling intonation

?               Final contour

:                Short pause

↑                rising intonation

[ ]               short laugh

(  )

(...........)     Non fluency features

Err              fillers

,,,,,,,            hesitation

The term coherence is adapted from latin ‘co-haerere’ ("Coherence | Academic Writing in English, Lund University", n.d.), it is the ability of a text to give meaning by how the paragraphs and sentences are structured. There are different ways that one can acquire coherence; using Parallelism, phrase repetition, synonyms, pronouns and transitional expressions. These elements help to avoid worldliness (Slawson, Whitton & Wiemelt, 2010).  A lot of repetition and worldliness can serve as a hindrance towards achieving the intended communication (coherence).

I have achieved coherence by mean fully dividing into paragraphs; the first paragraph is an introduction of who and what I do, the second talks about my first experience in Melbourne while the third gives a brief description of my present time. This helps a reader see the transition from one phase to another as intended.

Defining coherence and linguistic analysis of digital text

The point of departure (theme) and the point of convergence (ryme) sometime build a sentence. This structure helps in achieving sense and association (logical semantics) and in breaking down what certain phrases mean and how the relate to the subject (lexical semantics).

Bearing in mind that my selfie analysis is to some extent a written text, I have used symbols as a means of communication and in so doing achieving coherence. For example, in the second paragraph (…) shows hesitation just before I told my tales of my first interaction with English. In the third paragraph (;) shows a ‘pause’. Unfortunately, some symbols show the inability to flow like in the case of the last paragraph, in the second last sentence.

The style of communication in this text is more assertive than aggressive. I have clearly brought forth my feelings, expectations and my attitude towards my accomplishments so far and at the same time avoiding overbearingness (Karell, 2018)

The cohesive devices I mentioned earlier are visible through out the text. For example, through out the text ‘I’ has substituted my names. Several transitional words can be located also.  Note that I began my speech by a greeting and ended with ‘thank you’. These cues prompt the listener (Levinson, 2012)   that am about to begin and in the latter, that my speech is over. When teaching grammar the emphasis of these elements are important  because of  their effective nature to achieve a smooth flow (Arts, 2018) besides that repetition helps the cracking the leaner’s brain and helps him/her aggregate a thing or two.

Hmmmmmm I have done my bachelor degree in Islamic studies which is err different from my master degree in education andddd I enrolled in this subject because mmmhhhhh looking to expanding my knowledge...ah... in different fields because my field is like general education... Soooo before I came in Australia to start my study, I want to say that mmmmhh it was one of my dreams to travel to see the world, to see the other side of the world and mmmmhhh I have achieved that. Ummmhhh when I arrived in Melbourne,aaaahhhhh I remember that... I didn’t know how to speak English aaahhh

Broad Phonetic Transcription

hmmmmmm aj hæv d?n maj bæt/?l?r d?gri ?n ?zla/m?k st?diz w?t? ?z ?r d?f?r?nt fr?m maj mæst?r d?gri ?n ?d??ke??n andddd aj ?nrold ?n ð?s s?bd??kt b?k?z mmmhhhhh l?k?? tu ?kspænd?? maj nal?d? a ?n d?f?r?nt fildz b?k?z maj fild ?z lajk d??n?r?l ?d??ke??n soooo b?f?r aj kem ?n ?strelj? tu start maj st?di aj want tu se ðæt mmmmhh ?t w?z w?n ?v maj drimz tu træv?l tu si ð? w?rld tu si ð? ?ð?r sajd ?v ð? w?rld ænd mmmmhhh aj hæv ?t?ivd ðæt ummmhhh w?n aj ?rajvd ?n m?lb?rn aaaahhhhh aj r?m?mb?r ðæt aj didn’t no haw tu spik ??gl?? aaahhh

Teaching English using digitally mediated and multi-modal text

Syllables Stress

hmmmmmm a?j hæ?v d??n ma?j bæ?t??l?r d?gri? ?n ??zla?m?k st??diz w??t? ??z ??r d??f?r?nt fr??m ma?j mæ?st?r d?gri? ?n ??d??ke???n andddd a?j ?nro?ld ?n ð??s s?bd???kt b?k??z mmmhhhhh l??k?? tu? ?kspæ?nd?? ma?j na?l?d? a? ?n d??f?r?nt fi?ldz b?k??z ma?j fi?ld ??z la?jk d???n?r?l ??d??ke???n soooo b?f??r a?j ke?m ?n ?stre?lj? tu? sta?rt ma?j st??di a?j wa?nt tu? se? ðæ?t mmmmhh ??t w?z w??n ??v ma?j dri?mz tu? træ?v?l tu? si? ð? w??rld tu? si? ð? ??ð?r sa?jd ??v ð? w??rld æ?nd mmmmhhh a?j hæ?v ?t?i?vd ðæ?t ummmhhh w??n a?j ?ra?jvd ?n m??lb?rn aaaahhhhh a?j r?m??mb?r ðæ?t a?j didn’t no? ha?w tu? spi?k ???gl??? aaahhh

Intonation

hmmmmmm aj hæv d?n maj bæt/?l?r d?gri ?n ?zla/m?k st?diz ↓  w?t? ?z ?r d?f?r?nt fr?m maj mæst?r d?gri ?n ?d??ke??n andddd aj ?nrold ?n ð?s s?bd??kt b?k?z mmmhhhhh l?k?? tu ?kspænd?? maj nal?d? a ?n d?f?r?nt fildz b?k?z maj fild ?z lajk d??n?r?l ?d??ke??n soooo b?f?r aj kem ?n ?strelj? tu start maj st?di aj want tu se ðæt mmmmhh ?t w?z w?n ?v maj drimz tu træv?l tu si ð? w?rld tu si ð? ?ð?r ↑ sajd ?v ð? w?rld ænd mmmmhhh aj hæv ?t?ivd ðæt ummmhhh w?n aj ?rajvd ?n m?lb?rn aaaahhhhh aj r?m?mb?r ðæt aj didn’t no haw tu spik ??gl?? aaahhh

Intonation and stress which are classified as suprasegmental features are crucial in a written text (Raphael, Borden & Harris, n.d.)  Rising, falling and edge tones determine a lot how the text will be received by the subjects. However it’s important to note that intonation contributes to how much sense a texts makes but doesn’t alter the lexicon meaning (Whitehead et al., 2008) On the other hand stress too doesn’t alter the meaning of lexical unit however.

it tends to exaggerate one of the lexical items (Whitehead et al., 2008) Taking an example by using my last statement ignoring the non- fluent speech... “... I didn’t know how to speak English”, it is received as a statement, should I have added a question mark or an exclamation mark, and the message would have been the same except that one would be received as a question and the latter as an exclamation.

These suprasegmental components can be used to help grammar in an interesting way. Divide the students into groups of three assign them to come up with three sentences of different nature for example; questions, commands, exclamations and so forth  and have them exchange and analyse those sentences. On another exercise, these same sentences can be uttered out loudly with different intonations and stresses and let them list their meaning observations in a table. The first exercise is open to those that are hearing impaired.

Identifying inflectional morphemes, derivational morphemes, and word formation processes

Hmmmmmm I have done my bachelor degree in Islamic studies which is err different from my master degree in education andddd I enrolled in this subject because mmmhhhhh looking to expanding my knowledge...ah... in different fields because my field is like general education... Soooo before I came in Australia to start my study, I want to say that mmmmhh it was one of my dreams to travel to see the world, to see the other side of the world and mmmmhhh I have achieved that.

Ummmhhh when I arrived in Melbourne,aaaahhhhh I remember that... I didn’t know how to speak English aaahhh I was like just like basic words like yes, nooooo and Thank you .It was big challenge for me actually to be able to express my self and to make other people understand me. I learnt English at Latrobe institute for one year and it was verrrry hard for me to (      ) that was required for the master of education ....... but little by little l learnt moreeee and more.Ummmhhhhh I really love my time here in Melbourne; there are so many things to see and a lot of things to learn about this new culture and the different life styles. People have been friendly and err helpful and......

Patient with my English skills. The thing I would want to add aaaahhh today, I am proud of myself and proud of my achievements err especially when I compare myself now to three years ago. I have really faced many hurdles to reach to this stage and...... I look forward to do... to do and many things and err many more achievements..... This is me and thankyou for listening and I look forward to seeing you on Monday. Thanks.

Hmmmmmm I have done my bachelor degree in Islamic studies which is err different from my master degree in education andddd I enrolled in this subject because mmmhhhhh looking to expanding my knowledge...ah... in different fields because my field is like general education... Soooo before I came in Australia to start my study, I want to say that mmmmhh it was one of my dreams to travel to see the world, to see the other side of the world and mmmmhhh I have achieved that. Ummmhhh when I arrived in Melbourne,aaaahhhhh I remember that... I didn’t know how to speak English aaahhh I was like just like basic words like yes, nooooo and Thank you .

Exploring 'Your Way of Speaking' and understanding its importance

It was big challenge for me actually to be able to express my self and to make other people understand me. I learnt English at Latrobe institutes for one year and it was verrrry hard for me to (      ) that was required for the master of education ....... but little by little l learnt moreeee and more. Ummmhhhhh I really love my time here in Melbourne; there are so many things to see and a lot of things to learn about this new culture and the different life styles. People have been friendly and err helpful and...... Patient with my English skills. The thing I would want to add aaaahhh today,

I am proud of myself and proud of my achievements err especially when I compare myself now to three years ago. I have really faced many hurdles to reach to this stage and...... I look forward to do... to do and many things and err many more achievements..... This is me and thankyou for listening and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Thanks.

Hmmmmmm I have done my bachelor degree in Islamic studies which is err different from my master degree in education andddd I enrolled in this subject because mmmhhhhh  looking to expanding my knowledge...ah... in different fields  because my field is like general education... Soooo before I came in Australia to start my study, I want to say that mmmmhh it was one of my dreams to travel to see the world, to see the other side of the world and mmmmhhh I have achieved that. Ummmhhh when I arrived in Melbourne,aaaahhhhh I remember that... I didn’t know how to speak English aaahhh I was like just like basic words like yes, nooooo and Thank you .

It was big challenge for me actually to be able to express my self and to make other people understand me. I learnt English at Latrobe institutes for one year and it was verrrry hard for me to (      ) that was required for the master of education ....... but little by little l learnt moreeee and more. Ummmhhhhh I really love my time here in Melbourne; there are so many things to see and a lot of things to learn about this new culture and the different life styles.

People have been friendly and err helpful and...... Patient with my English skills. The thing I would want to add aaaahhh today, I am proud of myself and proud of my achievements err especially when I compare myself now to three years ago. I have really faced many hurdles to reach to this stage and...... I look forward to do... to do and many things and err many more achievements..... This is me and thankyou for listening and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

Teaching students about their individual ways of speaking

Thanks.

The hesitation markers and non-fluent words are common. It is unlikely to perform a speech without hesitation markers or comas (Erten, 2011) I had quite a lot of hesitation markers as Erten further explained that while learning an L2 Orally the possibility of the hesitation markers and non-fluent speech occurring is  very high as it requires more planning than those that treat the language as their native one.

  Carry out an activity in your class where you have written random classes of words and shuffle them, have each student pick at least one paper and let them construct a sentence using the word. Have them classify in which class it belong to.

I have done my bachelor degree in Islamic studies which is different from my master degree in education, I enrolled for this subject because I was looking forward  to expanding my knowledge in different fields especially  because my field is in general education.  So before I came in Australia to start my study I have to admit that it was one of my dreams to travel and see the other side of the world and I have achieved that.

When I arrived in Melbourne, I remember that... I didn’t know how to speak English I just knew basic words like yes and no and Thank you .It was big challenge for me actually to  express my self and to make other people understand me I unadjusted. I learnt English at Latrobe institutes for one year and it was very hard for me to do the level that was required for master of education but little by little l learnt more and more.

Thank you for your listening. And I am looking forward to seeing you on Monday.

Thank you. 

Verb and Auxiliary phrases

For this exercise I chose to work with the first paragraph and it has the two phrases and hence can draw good illustrations. Circling was quite a challenge with the software I was working with and I chose to use bolded red where I was to initially circle.

Hello everyone my name is Sharifah Mohammed from Saudi Arabia and this is my last semester. I have done my bachelor degree in Islamic studies which is different from my master degree in education, I enrolled for this subject because I was looking forward  to expanding my knowledge in different fields especially  because my field is in general education.. So before I came in Australia to start my study I have to admit that it was one of my dreams to travel and see the other side of the world and I have achieved that.

Thank you for your listening. And I am looking forward to seeing you on Monday.

Thank you. 

Adjectival and Adverbial phrases

For this illustration, I used the first paragraph where u  I  have ’bolded’ the adjectival phrases, however I regret to say that through out my speech there is only one adverbial place where I describe how people received me “People have been friendly, helpful and patient with my English skills”

I really love my time here in Melbourne; there are so many things to see and a lot of things to learn about this new culture and the different life styles. People have been friendly, helpful and patient with my English skills. The thing I would say today is that I am proud of myself and proud of my achievements especially when I compare myself now to three years ago. I have really faced many hurdles to reach to this stage and I am looking forward to do... to do and many things and many more achievements ahead and this is me and thank you for your listening. And I am looking forward to seeing you on Monday.

I located the four different phrases using paragraph one as it was most suitable. Red dhows the noun phrases, bolded represent the prepositional phrases, purple for verbal phrases and green to show auxiliary phrases.

I have done my bachelor degree in Islamic studies which is different from my master degree in education, I enrolled for this subject because I was looking forward  to expanding my knowledge in different fields especially  because my field is in general education.  So before I came in Australia to start my study I have to admit that it was one of my dreams to travel and see the other side of the world and I have achieved that.

Verb phrases tell more about a verb. Auxiliary phrases add to the verb, noun phrases expound on the noun and finally prepositional phrases answer questions like where? And when?

Phrases are an interesting segment for students to interact with grammar. I would go the oral way in this by; having the class orally construct sentences with various phrases and randomly pick another to analyse it.

Basing my analysis on my transcription I will have to admit that my native language served as block towards achieving perfect proficiency.  Taking in a second language is different from learning the native one for example to learn a second language factors like determination and interest play an important l role (Skaya, Yoo & Marian, 2011). This explains why I had a pretty rough time learning English (my L2), the hesitation markers and the non-fluent speech. Study has proven that, L2 (2nd) language learners tend to consume more time in their speeches than L1 language (in this case my Islam language) (Erten, 2011)

The most interesting thing is that the fillers and hesitation markers despite them addressed to be disquisition foibles; I plan to use this to make my students. According to Eslami, its is a teacher’s role to teach students how to construct meaningful subjects and these “disquisition foibles” are a part of the pragmatic analysis (Eslami-Rasekh, 2005)

An activity to teach this will be relevant. Have an organized individual short speech presentation. As the student gives his/her speech let the others record it and later review the written piece and conduct a pragmatic analysis, replacing the words or sounds that are necessary.

References

Goodwin, C., & Heritage, J. (1990). Conversation Analysis (19th ed., pp. 283-307). Annual Reviews Inc.

Heritage, J., & Clayman, S. (2011). Talk in Action: Interactions, Identities, and Institutions. John Wiley & Sons.

Slawson, J., Whitton, N., & Wiemelt, J. (2010). Coherence [Ebook] (pp. 42-45). Southeastern Writing Center. 

Coherence | Academic Writing in English, Lund University. (n.d.). 

Karell, D. (2018). 4 Types of Communication Styles | Alvernia University Online. 

Levinson, S. (2012). Action Formation and Ascription. The Handbook Of Conversation Analysis, 101-130. doi: 10.1002/9781118325001.ch6

Arts, C. (2018). Transitional words.

Raphael, L., Borden, G., & Harris, K. Speech science primer (p. 121). MD Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins

Whitehead, R., Metz, D., Girardi, E., Irwin, J., Krigsman, A., & Swanson, C. et al. (2008). Suprasegmental Characteristics of Speech Produced during Simultaneous Communication by Inexperienced Signers. Journal Of Deaf Studies And Deaf Education, 14(3), 362-370. doi: 10.1093/deafed/enn043

Lowenstamm, J. (2018). ON LITTLE N, √, AND TYPES OF NOUNS1

Geikhman, Y. (2018). The Essentials of English Adjectives: 7 Key Adjective Types to Know. 

Oxford University Press. (2018). Conjuctions. 

Doetjes, J. (2007). Comparing adverbs of quantity. 

Skaya, M., Yoo, J., & Marian, V. (2011). The Effect of Second-Language Experience on Native-Language Processing. US National Library Of Medicine, 8(23125864), 54-77. 

Erten, S. (2011). Teaching Fillers and Students’ Filler Usage. Eskisehir Osmangazi University,, 2(2336-2022). 

Eslami-Rasekh, Z. (2005). Raising the pragmatic awareness of language learners. ELT Journal, 59(3), 199-208. doi: 10.1093/elt/cci039