Quantitative results

The quantitative data from this study will now be presented and commented upon. The data were derived from the grades that the learners received for the seven assignments that the EAP course was structured around (a description and rationale of this grading system has already featured in the preceding chapter). The graded assignments of the learners who dropped out will not feature in this analysis.

170 Table 5.3.1 Gonwa Course Results

Table 5.3.2 Delta Course Results

Assessed quantitatively, both the Gonwa and Delta learners performed very poorly. In the Delta group, 10 out of the 11 learners scored a cumulative grade of less than 50 %. Out of the Delta learners who scored 50% or less, 6 learners earned cumulative grades that dipped significantly below the 50% mark. Amongst the Gonwa learners, 7 out of the 13 learners scored a cumulative grade of less than 50%. In a manner that again resembled the Delta group, of those Gonwa learners who did earn less than 50% (cumulatively), 4 learners received grades that fell significantly below the 50% mark.

Pupil Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7

Total Score Percentage A 7 6 10 9 5 5 7 49 58% B 0 5 0 9 5 10 0 29 35% C 0 7 5 0 0 10 9 31 37% D 0 9 0 10 10 9 10 48 57% E 9 11 11 11 9 10 9 70 83% F 10 10 7 10 10 0 0 47 56% G 11 11 11 0 9 12 9 63 75% H 0 6 8 0 7 0 0 21 25% I 0 4 0 0 0 10 8 22 26% J 0 0 10 9 0 0 0 19 23% K 0 10 0 0 0 10 8 28 33% L 0 0 9 10 9 11 0 39 46% M 10 0 0 11 10 10 8 49 58%

Pupil Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7

Total Score Percentage A1 6 8 6 0 10 0 10 40 48% B1 11 11 0 10 0 0 0 32 38% C1 9 0 7 0 11 0 8 35 42% D1 8 8 10 11 11 10 11 69 82% E1 0 7 10 6 9 0 0 32 38% F1 8 5 7 0 11 10 0 41 49% G1 10 0 11 0 10 0 0 31 37% H1 11 9 6 0 0 0 0 26 31% I1 11 10 9 0 0 0 0 30 36% J1 8 11 6 0 0 7 0 32 38% K1 7 7 6 4 0 0 0 24 29%        

171 Interestingly, it should be noted that the two groups also paralleled each other in relation to the students who performed well. Specifically, in both the Delta and Gonwa groups, only two learners gained a cumulative grade above 80%.

This bleak assessment of the learners’ performance can, however, be mitigated, if a different perspective is adopted. In this respect, it must be mentioned that the majority of the learners did not necessarily perform badly because they produced incompetent assignments. Rather, they only managed to score sub-par grades because – due to absenteeism – they failed to hand in many assignments (for a discussion of the rate of absenteeism see Sections 5.3.2 – 5.3.11). Thus, if the Gonwa and Delta data are examined closely, it becomes apparent that many of the learners – whether they performed strongly or weakly – missed the opportunity to score a hypothetical 24 additional points (due to their inability to hand in all the assignments). In fact, in the Delta group 4 learners failed to hand in 4 assignments (a potential 48 points), while another 2 learners failed to hand in 3 (a potential 36 points) assignments. In the Gonwa group, 2 learners failed to hand in 4 assignments, whereas as many as 5 learners did not hand in 3 assignments. In addition to this, in both groups, many of the students who scored a cumulatively low grade nonetheless managed to score surprisingly high grades for a number of individual assignments. This is interesting for two reasons. Firstly, it reaffirms the earlier claim that absenteeism was not triggered by the students’ inability to do the coursework. Secondly, it suggests that the students who scored a low cumulative grade had high degrees of intellectual resourcefulness, since they could perform well in spite of the fact that they missed many lessons.

To provide a concrete sense of how the learners’ cumulative grades do not capture the degree to which the course helped many of the learners improve their academic writing skills, I shall now analyse two essays that were produced by Delta and Gonwa learners who attended the EAP course erratically (and therefore received low cumulative grades). The first sample essay comes from a Delta learner who had missed two weeks of attendance (and a total of four assignments [two rough drafts and two final drafts]

172 prior to handing in the below assignment. The second sample essay comes from a Gonwa learner who had missed four weeks of attendance (and a total of eight assignments) prior to handing in the featured assignment. It is advisable for the reader to review Task 5 and Task 6 in Appendices 3B &3C before reading the samples below.

This essay received a high grade (10/12) because it executed many of the assignment instructions correctly. In the introductory paragraph 1) information regarding the genre, author and title of the text is neatly condensed into a grammatically correct sentence, and 2) the two main themes of the poem are correctly identified without particular details about the poem being prematurely mentioned. In the second paragraph the learner 1) paraphrases a particular section of the poem that reflects the first theme identified in his introduction, 2) provides an appropriate quotation to establish the accuracy of his paraphrasing, 3) provides an additional (appropriate) quotation to provide further proof that the theme he has identified is rooted in the text and 4) constructs a sentence in which he explicitly refers all this information back to the first theme mentioned in his introduction. Importantly, in relation to this last step, when the learner does refer back to the first theme mentioned in his introduction, he uses different

Delta sample 1 (Task 5):

In ted Hughes poem “Hawk Roosting” there are two themes that are explored in the poem. [GTAR]. Hughes’ first theme is that in the Natural world there is a struggle for existence [FMT]. Hughes’ second theme is about how animals wants to dominate other animals in the wild [SMT].

In the second stanza [LW/P] Hughes writes about [AR] how the only thing that the hawk is thinking in its mind is how to kill and then feed itself [DFMT]. Hughes thus tell us that “Or in sleep practice perfect kills and eat”. [FQT] In addition “I kill where I please because it is all mine. [SQT]. With all of these descriptions Hughes is showing us there’s no peace in the wild and its either you kill or be killed. [RFMT]

Lastly [LW/P] Hughes tells us about [AR] that no animal wants to be seen as weak, they’re all trying to overpower other indiviuals [DSMT]. Hughes thus tells us that “My manners are tearing off heads.” [FQT]. In addition “No arguments assert my right”. With all of these descriptions Hughes is trying to show us that each and every animal in the wild is trying to over-control other animals. [RSMT]

173 words to describe this theme. Through doing this he avoids clumsy repetition and demonstrates that he has a firm and flexible understanding of the poem’s first theme. In the third paragraph the learner successfully analyses the poem’s second theme by again following all of these steps. However, it should be mentioned that in both the second and third paragraphs, the learner does make a mistake: when providing his second quotation, he does not follow an assignment instruction to insert the author's name and the specific part of the text that the quote comes from before the quotation (e.g. he does not say ‘In addition, in the seventh line of the poem Hughes states […]’). Although this is a small and relatively insignificant omission, the missing information does ensure that the quote is properly contextualized and grammatically correct.

In addition to following most of the assignment instructions, the learner managed to write in a grammatically coherent manner and incorporated feedback from his rough draft into his final draft. For these reasons as well he scored a high grade.

Gonwa sample 2 (Task 6):

Cavafy ‘the city’ [GTAR]. Cavafy explores two themes that are important. Firstly cavafy states that in his first theme How the people blame the environment they are in for the fact that their lives are messed up. [FMT]. ‘However’ [HOTS] secondly cafavy states his second theme that environment can not be blamed for our Issues we are responsible for our lives to become successful or not. [SMT]

In the first stanza [LW/P] Cavafy talk about a person who blames a place that spoil everything when it have not even started [DFMT]. Cavafy thus states [AR] “Here everything I do is condemned in advance and my heart like a dead man’s lies buried” [FQT]. In addition, in the first stanza [AR]. Cavafy states that “Wherever I turn, wherever I look, I gaze on the ruins of my life here, where I’ve spent and botched and wasted so many years.” [SQT] With all these descriptions Cavafy is showing us [AR]. Most people blame their environments that they live in for their lives that have not worked out. [RFMT] However in the second stanza [LW/P]. Cavafy writes that if you have spoiled your life here in this environment, then will also destroy it in all other environment. [DSMT] Cavafy thus states [AR] “for just as you’ve ruined your life here in this backwater, You’ve destroyed it everywhere on earth”. [FQT] In addition, in the second stanza [AR]. Cavafy describes that “You will always arrive in this city”. [SQT] With all these descriptions Cavafy is showing us [AR] even if we leave the environment we live in, we also find another environment like the one we left [SMT].

174 This essay was written in response to the penultimate assignment (assignment 6), and as a consequence the learner had to follow certain (new) instructions that were more complex than the instructions that the learner responsible for the previous essay had to adhere to. Before analysing the manner in which the learner handled these new instructions, it should be noted that in the first, second and third paragraphs of this essay the learner successfully followed virtually all the instructions that the learner responsible for the first essay followed. Thus – apart from 1) a failure to condense the [GTAR] information into a full sentence and 2) the inclusion of the author’s name and a linking-phrase into the [SQT] sentence – the two essays (in terms of their structure) mirror each other very closely.

For the concluding paragraph of the essay, the learner was instructed to establish the precise relationship between the poem’s two themes (using argumentation). When doing this, the learner was told to use words like ‘disprove’, ‘although’, ‘appears’ ‘contradicts’ or phrases like ‘casts doubt’, ‘despite appearances’ and ‘does not really contradict’. These words and phrases were selected due to the fact that – in the text – there is a tension between the theme expressed in the first stanza (e.g. our lives are determined by the environment we inhabit) and the theme expressed in the second stanza (e.g. our lives are determined by our own choices and beliefs, not our surroundings). For this reason, earlier in the essay – at strategically appropriate points – the learner was instructed to use the word ‘however’ to acknowledge this tension.

Gonwa sample 2 (Task 6) [cont.]:

In conclusion, Cavafy’s second theme is clearly meant to contradict his first theme. It is very wrong to blame our environment for our lives that are not working out, because we do things without thinking about the consequences, eg when you smoke drugs, drink alcohol or get involve in gangsterism. when consequences came that’s were we start to blame the environment and creticize it for our own mistakes [CBHOTS].

175 A close examination of this essay reveals that the learner successfully followed all these instructions. In the introduction and third paragraph of the essay the word ‘however’ has been inserted in argumentatively appropriate places, and in the concluding paragraph the word ‘contradict’ has been used to generate a clear and compelling account of the precise way in which the two themes relate to one another. It should also be noted that the learner justifies his/her interpretation of the poem by appealing to an argument which she has formulated, but which is nonetheless not inappropriately subjective (i.e. it as an argument which rests on philosophical and psychological claims about human nature rather than anecdotal subjectively derived experience).

Since the essay followed nearly all of the assignment instructions it received a high grade (10/12). The learner would have no doubt received a perfect score if she had read through her final draft more carefully and corrected the many grammatical errors that detracted from the essay’s overall merits.