Papers by Sujata Kathpalia
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Much of the research activity in the field of on-line education seems to have focused on particip... more Much of the research activity in the field of on-line education seems to have focused on participatory and learner-controlled activities. However, in a number of situations teacher-initiated activities such as lectures might acquire a new dimension in the context ...
Designing an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course is a challenge faced by most tertiary tea... more Designing an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course is a challenge faced by most tertiary teachers and what has made it even more complex is the number of choices available in this professional field. ESP has evolved into a professional field with multiple perspectives (Johns, 2002) and multi-
Although studies on the rhetorical structure of research article introductions and citation analy... more Although studies on the rhetorical structure of research article introductions and citation analysis are independently available in the literature, there are none that focus on the functions of citations in the context of generic moves in these introductions. To address this gap, the present study analyzes the generic structure as well as citation functions in introductions of biological science articles in English-medium international journals. Specifically, the aim is to examine the relationship between generic moves and citation functions in individual moves. The findings on the relationship between moves and citations indicate that there is a preference for certain types of citations in specific parts of article introductions. This study will not only enable biological science graduate students to better understand research article introductions but also facilitate the writing of these in their own field.
ESP Today, 2020
In institutions of higher education, there seems to be a growing interest in blended learning cou... more In institutions of higher education, there seems to be a growing interest in blended learning courses, particularly at present to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although a multitude of studies are available on converting content courses to blended courses, very few studies focus on incorporating online learning into English for Specific Academic Purposes courses. This study describes a blended communication skills course on scientific communication for undergraduates that was transformed into a technology-enhanced learning (TEL) course as part of the university's initiative to incorporate online learning into its courses. More specifically, the objective of this paper is to explain how pedagogical practices were implemented in the blended course for optimal student learning and engagement using multimodal content and activities. It is hoped that this paper will provide some useful guidelines to practitioners on transforming traditional courses to blended courses that optimize student learning, especially in times when face-to-face teaching is disrupted.
RELC Journal, 2019
Graduate programmes in most universities are typically oriented towards training students to mast... more Graduate programmes in most universities are typically oriented towards training students to master their disciplinary studies and communication skills courses are often offered as add-on courses that rarely take into consideration students’ needs. The needs of graduate students can vary depending on their educational backgrounds and English language proficiency and as such, it is important to conduct a needs analysis to ensure that these courses cater to the needs of both proficient and less-proficient speakers of English. Using focus-group interviews, this study was conducted to examine the communication needs of local and international graduate students at a university in Singapore. More specifically, the objectives were to investigate the communication tasks prioritized by science graduate students, their communication needs and difficulties, as well as the help they would need through communication skills courses at the university. The findings suggest that the needs of the stu...
World Englishes, 2019
The aim of this study was to examine glocalization in Hinglish TV commercials, specifically those... more The aim of this study was to examine glocalization in Hinglish TV commercials, specifically those that break and redefine gender stereotypes. It examines how Hindi and English in these commercials modulate sociocultural identities, representing Hindi as old and English as new. Two questions which are addressed in this article are whether Hinglish reflects the hybrid culture of the new urban Indian, and whether there is an emergence of new modern values associated with liberalism in place of the older traditional values of family, marriage and propriety.
World Englishes, 2019
Globalization, along with emerging new media forms, is responsible for the spread of bilingualism... more Globalization, along with emerging new media forms, is responsible for the spread of bilingualism and multilingualism in advertising. As English represents the common core of advertising, advertisers view
English World-Wide, 2018
Studies in word-formation in English are common compared to the study of new words that are forme... more Studies in word-formation in English are common compared to the study of new words that are formed by combining the resources of two linguistic systems. Although new word formations within a language are considered to be highly creative, combining words from two different languages provides another level of creativity to bilinguals in different situations. The objective of this paper is to examine the main types of word creation processes employed in mass media texts, particularly in Hindi-English code-mixed words. The focus is on three main processes of word creation: affixation, blending and compounding (including reduplication) and they are discussed from the perspective of productivity/creativity, distribution and underlying motivations. These processes seem to be illustrative of the nativization of inner circle English in India, particularly in mass media where such lexical adaptations lend texts a distinct flavor through innovation in word-formation.
i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, 2011
Much of the work in academic writing has focused on the cognitive rather than the affective and s... more Much of the work in academic writing has focused on the cognitive rather than the affective and social aspects involved in project-based writing. Emphasis in past research has been on skills and processes of writing rather than on affective factors such as motivation, attitudes, feelings or social factors involving intrapersonal and interpersonal communication. However, according to Vygotsky's sociocultural theory (SCT), social factors play an important role in collaborative learning and are considered to be a constitutive element of cognition (1978, 1986). Using this theory of learning as a starting point, the aim of this paper is to determine the affective and social factors involved in projectbased writing in an academic writing course at Nanyang Technological University. Specifically, the four motivational aspects that will be considered are curiosity, challenge, confidence and control as reflected in student responses to an online questionnaire and their reflections on the course. It is hoped that the findings of this research will further our understanding of the role of affective and social factors in project-based writing courses in settings where students are collaborating face-to-face to complete the course tasks and assignments.
Educational Linguistics, 2016
Previous studies have demonstrated that floor management is determined by various factors – topic... more Previous studies have demonstrated that floor management is determined by various factors – topic, communicative action and participants’ interpretations of the immediate interactional context (Edelsky, Lang Soc 10:383–421, 1981), institutional roles (Mehan 1979), sociocultural norms (Jones and Thornborrow, Lang Soc 33:399–423, 2004) and participatory structures (Jenks 2007). Jenks claimed that when discussants share the same task-based referential knowledge in two-way participatory structures, floor management is flexible and can go in any direction. However, correlates underlying floor variations despite shared referential information were not investigated. This study fills this research gap by analysing online knowledge construction in multi-party quasisynchronous chat (QSC) using Weinberger and Fischer’s (Comput Educ 46:71–95, 2006) multi-dimensional framework. Based on a QSC corpus consisting of online student discussions, the key finding is that argumentation influences floor management in a more predictive manner than shared referential information ipso facto. This association between argumentation and floor management provides a deeper insight into the dynamics of online discussions within a structured chat interaction among students.
Educational Studies, 2016
Abstract The guiding principle behind university writing centres is to focus on the process of wr... more Abstract The guiding principle behind university writing centres is to focus on the process of writing rather than the finished product, prioritising higher order concerns related to organisation and argumentation of texts rather than lower order concerns of grammar and punctuation. Using survey-based data, this paper examines students’ concerns regarding written texts in English and analyses whether there is a correlation between students’ and peer-tutors’ perceptions of help received/provided in the writing centre at Nanyang Technological University. The aggregate findings show that there is a significant correlation between their perceptions but a further sub-analysis that pairs individual student and peer-tutor responses reveals that there are discrepancies between their perceptions of the type of help received and provided. These findings not only reveal the type of feedback students prefer, whether global or local, but also whether there is a good fit between student needs and tutoring approach based on students’ nationality and English proficiency.
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Papers by Sujata Kathpalia