Dissertation committee:
Διονύσιος Γούτσος, Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Ευαγγελία Φρυδάκη, Καθηγήτρια, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δευτεροβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης, ΕΚΠΑ
Σταματία Κουτσουλέλου-Μίχου, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Ευγενία Μαγουλά, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, ΕΚΠΑ
Αθανάσιος Μιχάλης (Επιβλέπων), Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δευτεροβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης,
ΕΚΠΑ
Ευανθία-Έλλη Μηλίγκου, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δευτεροβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης, ΕΚΠΑ
Αθανάσιος Βέρδης, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δευτεροβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
This PhD thesis aims at developing a defined Text Grammar model and employing it in Greek Language Teaching at secondary level.
The study examines a central aspect of text grammar, namely Thematic Organization and Progression in the framework of four theories: Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar (Halliday & Matthiessen 2004, 2014), Functional Sentence Perspective (Firbas 1992), Functional Grammar (Dik 1997) and Sentence Information Structure (Lambrecht 1994), seeking to develop a complete Thematic Organization Model in Greek which takes into account the information value of the sentence constituents. According to the proposed model, Theme is considered an overarching concept, consisting of orienting theme and central-ideational theme. As for Comment (Rheme), it appears that in some texts there may be themeless sentences which contain only comment (rheme).
In the light of the aforementioned theoretical framework, text linguistic research was carried out, using a sample of one hundred (100) authentic texts from three discourse modes: narrative, descriptive and argumentative, meant to be taught in accordance with the requirements of the Greek National Curriculum (2011) for (lower) Secondary Education. The main findings of the text linguistic research have demonstrated that:
a) Prototypical semantic and grammatical features of Theme, which are typical in
each text mode as well as in the contained genres, were identified in the text
sample.
b) The five patterns of thematic progression examined, namely linear progression,
theme iteration, (progression) with derived themes, rheme to rheme progression
and (progression) with a “global” perspective (Daneš 1974 & 1995, Lautamatti
1987, Cloran 1995, Sarafidou 2003) do not occur randomly but are sensitive to
mode and genre.
The rich Text Grammar repository that was derived from the above research process was customized for classroom use in Greek Secondary Education, with a view to validating its effectiveness for improving students’ writing in terms of cohesion and coherence. In this respect, the research was conducted in two 2nd grade classes at Zanneio Experimental (Lower) Secondary School (on the whole: 50 students) applying the methodological paradigm of Design-Based Research (DBR) (Cobb et al. 2003, Collins et al. 2004, Reimann 2011). The research methods involved devising and testing a specific text-centered language teaching model over a period of 6 months. The methodology tools used for evaluating its functionality were: a) documents (four pre and four post tests students’ writing samples), b) field notes derived mainly from three nonparticipant observers and the teacher-researcher and c) four focus group student interviews along with two observer interviews.
In sum, the most significant results of the educational research are as below:
A) The writing samples marked by three evaluators and their subsequent qualitative analysis clearly illustrated that the students’ writing was enhanced after the comparative assessment of their pre and post tests. The students’ improved performance was made evident by both the gradual elimination of irrelevant, incohesive and incoherent pieces of information and topics in their paragraph development and also the alignment of their writing with the conventions and suitable thematic progression patterns of each discourse mode.
B) From the field notes and the interviews, it follows that their final performance was not accidental but tightly connected with the explicit and systematic teaching (Knapp & Watkins 2005, Spanos & Michalis 2012, Myhill & Jones et al. 2016) of text grammar. More specifically, the field notes reveal that the pupils gradually started to construct text thematic organization and progression, after being introduced to guided classroom discussions focusing on the impact of the language features under question on meaning shaping. This is corroborated by the interview content, which shows that students were enabled to justify their own personal writing choices and decisions and be aware of their own progress.
In conclusion, it can be maintained that there is an intense causality/causal interrelationship (Dede 2004, Reimann 2011) between the above taught text grammar aspect and its outcome on the student writing, which is a fundamental question when conducting DBR.
Keywords:
text grammar, thematic organization and progression, discourse analysis, educational research, teaching, student writing, cohesion, coherence
