Language Analysis

Language analysis
Writing academically involves language proficiency, strategy and language skill development. Therefore, composing is also required. This issue entails the ability to report and/or transform information and knowledge into new coherent pieces. Unquestionably, composing is one of the most challenging skills to be developed at academic level. To facilitate and improve academic writing skills formal instruction, understanding and acquisition of the fundamentals are required.
This assignment aims at examining Myles’ (2002) article to analyze and provide examples some of the different language conventions and fundamentals at advance literacy level.
Concerning quotations, two dissimilar types were found. One described as short quotation including the name of the author, year of publication and the page number for the reference, a signal phrase that includes the author’s last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses should be added. Quotations marks, which quote the exact words of the author, are also present in these types of quotations. For example, according to Ellis (1985), it is through analyzing learning errors that we elevate “the status of errors dorm undesirability of a guide to the inner working of the language learning process” (p.53).
Another type of quotation is referred as a long one where quotation marks are omitted and a different type of layout is used. It starts with an introductory phrase, followed by a longer quotation done in a new line. For example: as Yau (1991) points out:
[A]lthough we should not cripple our students’ interest in writing through undue stress or grammatical correctness, the influence of second language factors on writing performance is something we have to reckon with and not pretend that concentrating on the process would automatically resolve the difficulty caused by these factors.
Omission is another aspect to take into account when analyzing a text. There are several sorts of omissions: an omission of less than a sentence could be found in the text, indicated by the use of dots.
By comparing skilled and less-skilled writers, the emphasis is placed on “students´ strategic knowledge and the ability of students to transform information . . . to meet rhetorically constrained purposes” (Grabe & Kaplan, 1996, p.116).
Insertion of can be used when changing a part of a word in a quotation, for example from an upper case to a lower case letter. The letter that has been changed can be identified through the use of square brackets, as for example:
“[L]earners lack the necessary information in the second language or the capacity to activate the appropriate second-language routine. But such an account says little about why certain linguistic forms transfer and others do not.”
Introductory phrases, in text citations and use of reporting verbs are all strongly related. Accordingly examples can be analyzed together. Introductory phrases could have different layouts, being the source and the main idea paramount issues. In addition, the main idea is sometimes introduced by a reporting verb. Examples of reporting verbs found are: analyze, propose, and argue.
Accordingly, writing at academic level requires not only understanding of language conventions but also formal instruction, practice and experience to develop cognitive strategies and skills needed.



Reference

Myles, J. (2002). Second Language Writing and Research: The Writing Process and Error Analysis in Students Texts. TESL-EJ Magazine, 6, (2). Retrieved September 2008, from www-writing.berkeley.edu/TESl-Ej/ej22/a1.html