Noun phrase usage as an index of writing quality and text type in adolescent writing

Abstract

This thesis reports the findings of a study of noun phrase usage in the writing of mature adolescent students in two genres - invented narratives and analytical expositions. It was undertaken in an attempt to identify some of the features that constitute effective writing style as perceived by teacher assessors. Through a quantitative analysis of noun phrase function and structure in 120 scripts written by mature adolescents for the 1995 Queensland Core Skills Writing Task, the following hypotheses are confirmed.1. That there is a marked difference in noun phrase function and structure in very successful narratives and analytical expositions written by mature adolescents (in final semester Year 12) compared with moderately successful ones. In short, noun phrase usage is a predictor of writing quality as perceived by teacher assessors.2. That there is a marked difference in noun phrase function and structure in very successful narratives and in very successful expositions. In other words, noun phrase usage is an index of generic style.To investigate these hypotheses, the study compares two sets of scripts in both genres - those that have been perceived as very successful by teacher assessors (rated 1 on a lto 6 scale) and those considered moderately successful (rated 2-/3+ on the same scale). It establishes that there are statistically significant differences between the two sets of scripts in both genres with respect to several aspects of noun phrase usage including clausal functions, patterns of modification, use of nominalisation, and information status. However, the differences are more pronounced in the narratives than in the expositions. Also comparison of the noun phrases in the very successful narratives and the very successful expositions reveals many significant differences in the same aspects of NP usage, thus confirming the second hypothesis.These findings are based on a comprehensive quantitative analysis of a several features of NPs, including not only the amount of modification but the type of modification, as well as the clausal functions realized by the NPs. This is accompanied by some qualitative analysis which attempts to ascertain the discourse functions of many of the features under investigation.The study has implications for both first and second language teaching. Explicit treatment of noun phrase structure in particular its unlimited modification possiblities has the potential to contribute to the writing development of students and to their growth towards stylistic maturity.