Lo social como negación del poder y afirmación de la violencia

In this dissertation project, the overarching quality of the CALL task, language learning potential, was evaluated from several different aspects, including acquisition of patterns, accuracy of

pattern use, attention to patterns, and perception of learning gains.

3.7.1.1. Acquisition of patterns (RQ1)

Research Question 1: What evidence suggests that the learners have acquired the patterns of target academic verbs when using PAT GRAM?

This question was answered by comparing participants’ pretest scores with their posttest

scores through a paired-sample t-test to discern whether there was improvement on knowledge of grammar patterns within groups. The contrast of score improvement between groups (the

treatment group & the contrast group) demonstrated whether the treatment group’s score

improvement was attributed to the use of PAT GRAM.

3.7.1.2. Accuracy of pattern use (RQ2)

Research Question 2: What evidence suggests that the accuracy of students’ use of patterns of academic verbs has improved through interaction with PAT GRAM?

The data used to answer this research question included participants’ sentence production before using PAT GRAM and after using PAT GRAM. Participants’ successfulness in sentence

revision with PAT GRAM was analyzed in two different ways. The first way of analyzing revision was to compare participants’ scores in the first attempt (without using PAT GRAM) and

the second attempt (after using PAT GRAM) using a paired-sample t-test. Second, the percentage of each type of revision (see Section 3.4.2.2. for revision types) was calculated.

3.7.1.3. Attention to patterns (RQ3)

Research Question 3: What evidence indicates that PAT GRAM draws students’ attention to the

patterns of target academic words?

Quantitative data, 9 Likert-scale questions, and qualitative data collected through retrospective verbal protocols were used to elicit evidence on whether students paid attention to the patterns of target academic words during the treatment. Descriptive statistics of the Likert- scale questions were provided to demonstrate students’ perceptions of whether PAT GRAM

drew their attention to patterns of the academic verbs. To analyze the qualitative data on

attention to patterns, I first calculated the percentage and number of idea units for each code, and then for each code I provided an in-depth discussion by citing participants’ utterances as

examples. See Section 3.4.2.4.1 for the codes and example utterances.

3.7.1.4. Perceptions of learning (RQ4)

Research Question 4: How do students perceive their learning through using PAT GRAM?

To examine participants’ perceptions of learning through PAT GRAM, data included 31

treatment group participants’ answers to 6 Likert-scale questions and 12 introspective group participants’ responses to semi-structured interviews. The Likert-scale questions were analyzed

by presenting descriptive statistics. I analyzed the introspective data by calculating percentage and number of idea units for each code. I also discussed each code by citing participants’ utterances as examples (see Section 3.4.2.4.2. for explanations for each code and example utterances).

3.7.2. Learner fit (RQ5)

Research Question 5: What evidence suggests that the explicit instruction offered by PAT GRAM is appropriate for the target group EAP students?

The extent to which this treatment fit the target group participants was investigated through an analysis of quantitative data, four Likert-scale questions, and qualitative data,

retrospective verbal protocols, and semi-structured interviews coded as learner fit. Data collected from the Likert-scale questions were presented using descriptive statistics, while the qualitative data were analyzed by calculating the percentage and number of idea units for each code Then, each code was discussed by citing participants’ utterances as examples. See Section 3.4.2.4.3. for

explanations for the codes and example utterances.

3.7.3. Meaning focus (RQ6)

Research Question 6: What evidence indicates that PAT GRAM is able to draw students’ attention to meanings of the grammar patterns of target academic verbs?

Both quantitative, collected through Likert-scale questions and qualitative data, collected through retrospective verbal protocols and semi-structured interviews, were used to investigate whether students’ attention was successfully directed toward meaning making. The Likert-scale

questions were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The qualitative data were analyzed by calculating percentage and number of idea units for each code. Then, each code was discussed by

presenting participants’ comments as examples. See Section 3.4.2.4.4 for the explanations for the

codes and example utterances.

3.7.4. Impact (RQ7)

Research Question 7: What evidence indicates that learning patterns of academic verbs using PAT GRAM provides students with a positive impact?

Impact of this treatment was investigated through examination of quantitative data, 10 Likert-scale questions, and qualitative data, semi-structured interviews. The Likert-scale

questions were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while the qualitative data were first analyzed by calculating percentage and number of idea units for each code, and then each code was

discussed by citing participants’ comments as examples. See Section 3.4.2.4.5 for the codes and example utterances.

3.8. Chapter Summary

This chapter provided a detailed description of the methodology of this multiple-case study with qualitative and quantitative data embedded. Following illustration of the research design, it presented demographic information on the participants and the teaching context where this study occurred and argued that the participants’ language learning needs corresponded with

the goal of this study. Then, the detailed description of both pedagogical materials (PAT GRAM, verbs selected for instruction, information highlighted for the treatment, and exercises for the control group) and data collection materials (pretest, posttest, sentence construction sheet, the Likert-scale questionnaire, instruction sheet for retrospective verbal protocols, and interview questions) was followed by the sampling procedure, which explained the rationale for including certain participants for different data collection methods. The specific procedure of data

collection was then delineated. Finally, data analysis was explained by referring to each individual research questions. The next chapter presents and interprets the data collected.

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS

This chapter presents the results concerning the quality of the explicit instruction offered by PAT GRAM following the four evaluative criteria: language learning potential, learner fit, meaning focus, and impact. The data included 61 (31 treatment group participants and 30 contrast group participants) participants’ pretest and posttest scores, 31 treatment group participants’ sentence production on their first attempt and second attempt in the sentence

revision task and their responses to Likert-scale questions, and 12 introspective group participants’ responses to retrospective verbal protocols and semi-structured interviews.