Summary Writing: A Multi-Grade Study of French-Immersion and Francophone Secondary Students
Title:
Summary Writing: A Multi-Grade Study of French-Immersion and Francophone Secondary Students
Author:
Rivard, Leonard P.
Appeared in:
Language culture and curriculum
Paging:
Volume 14 (2001) nr. 2 pages 171-186
Year:
2001-12-01
Contents:
Summaries produced by FL1 and FL2 secondary students were compared according to ten variables evaluating the written texts. A total of 400 students, 50 at each grade level from Senior 1 to Senior 4 in both programmes, participated in the study. Statistical analyses included ANOVA, t -tests, and correlation analysis of variables exploring both the language (organisation, style, language usage, objectivity, and holistic score) and the content (main ideas, secondary ideas, integration of ideas, and fidelity to the text) of the summaries. The findings suggest that FL2 students include more main ideas in their summaries than FL1 students, but they also differentiate poorly between these and secondary ideas in the text. At the beginning of the secondary programme, FL2 students also tend to include more inaccuracies in their summaries and are weaker than FL1 students with respect to language usage and style. By the end of secondary, the students in these programmes differ only in the stylistic elements of the written summaries. The summaries written by FL1 students were also better organised as they progressed through the secondary programme, whereas those of FL2 students did not show the same improvements over time.
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