English Writing Investigation Dossier/Blog

Assignment Title: The International Marketing Analysis of BMW

Author’s name:

Arien Hendriksma

Joël Nicola

Jullian Gretsch

Author’s student number:

s1879618

s1904078

s1939084

Author’s sub-group number:

2

Writing Academic English Self Editting Worksheet 2

Format

My paragraph is correctly formatted (title centered, first line indented, margins on both sides, double spaced). No

Mechanics

I checked punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. Yes

Content and Organization

My paragraph begins with a topic sentence that has both a topic and a controlling idea Yes

My paragraph containts specific and factual supporting sentences that explain or prove my topic sentence No

How many supporting sentences does the paragraph have? 0

Unity: All sentences are on topic. Yes

My paragraph ends with an appropriate concluding sentence Yes

Coherence: My paragraph flows smoothly from beginning to end. Yes

I repeat key nouns when necessary Yes

I use pronouns consistently Yes

I use some transition signals, how many?11 Yes

My sentences are in some type of logical order.Yes

I checked my paragraph for verb tense errors. 0 found and corrected.

I checked my paragraph for article errors. 0 found and corrected.

I checked my paragraph for typing errors. 0 found and corrected.

Vocabulary Profile.

Families Types Tokens Percent K1 Words (1-1000): 100 111 389 78.74% Function: ... ... (181) (36.64%) Content: ... ... (208) (42.11%) > Anglo-Sax =Not Greco-Lat/Fr Cog: ... ... (59) (11.94%) K2 Words (1001-2000): 10 11 20 4.05% > Anglo-Sax: ... ... (8) (1.62%) 1k+2k ... ... (82.79%) AWL Words (academic): 19 21 27 5.47% > Anglo-Sax: ... ... (4) (0.81%) Off-List Words: ? 36 58 11.74% 129+? 179 494 100%

Words in text (tokens): 494 Different words (types): 179 Type-token ratio: 0.36 Tokens per type: 2.76 Lex density (content words/total) 0.63 Pertaining to onlist only Tokens: 436 Types: 143 Families: 129 Tokens per family: 3.38 Types per family: 1.11 Anglo-Sax Index: (A-Sax tokens + functors / onlist tokens) 57.80% Greco-Lat/Fr-Cognate Index: (Inverse of above) 42.20%

The same profile after some alterations:

WEB VP OUTPUT FOR FILE: BMW

Words recategorized by user as 1k items (proper nouns etc): NONE (total 0 tokens)

Families Types Tokens Percent K1 Words (1-1000): 114 135 281 74.54% Function: ... ... (157) (41.64%) Content: ... ... (124) (32.89%) > Anglo-Sax =Not Greco-Lat/Fr Cog: ... ... (50) (13.26%) K2 Words (1001-2000): 7 7 7 1.86% > Anglo-Sax: ... ... (2) (0.53%) 1k+2k ... ... (76.40%) AWL Words (academic): 20 23 31 8.22% > Anglo-Sax: ... ... (2) (0.53%) Off-List Words: ? 40 58 15.38% 141+? 205 377 100%

Words in text (tokens): 477 Different words (types): 205 Type-token ratio: 0.54 Tokens per type: 1.84 Lex density (content words/total) 0.58 Pertaining to onlist only Tokens: 319 Types: 165 Families: 141 Tokens per family: 2.26 Types per family: 1.17 Anglo-Sax Index: (A-Sax tokens + functors / onlist tokens) 66.14% Greco-Lat/Fr-Cognate Index: (Inverse of above) 33.86%

Just The Word collocation finder.

Unfortunately this finder seemed to be half working at the time this blog was written.

The main page where the entering of words took place loaded but upon trying out 'show combinations', the following error kept popping up:

Sorry, the server is down temporarily. ERROR CODE 423. Contact phil@sharp.co.uk if it persists.

Concordancer Tool

The concordancer tool on www.lextutor.ca/concordancers/concord_e.html is a nice tool to check the accepted contextual use. However, the maximum of 50 characters in the search box makes it hard to really get an objective view of the contextual use of the written text, especially when it is by your own hand. This maximum of 50 characters stimulates one to mostly focus on vocabulary that is unknown to the writer. 

This however means that some vocabulary that the writer thinks to well know may not get checked, eventhough the use of this vocubulary may be wrong. In my own case I checked some verbs and found some awkward combinations, which were soon corrected. The only downside to this is that the first alternative coming up is an easier form of vocabulary, something the exercises above tried to prevent.

Gapfill Exercise

Next up is a self made gapfill exercise based on the article 'Language switch challenges on campus' by Jessica Shepherd.

Dutch and Scandinavian universities are leading a north European trend to switch delivery of lessons to the language of international academia , but some need help , Jessica Shepherd reports Thursday September 17th 2009 Listen and learn. . Groningen University students complain that lectures in English have lost humour Photograph : Reyer Boxem/Eyevine At Maastricht University in the Netherlands , student societies have started to hold their weekly meetings in English. Their lecturers are doing the same. Another Dutch university , in Groningen some 330km north , has decided to print its newspaper in English at least three times a year. English , it seems , is everywhere on campus in the Netherlands , with Sweden also joining the trend. This is nowhere more apparent than in lecture theatres and classrooms. At least 4 , 200 degrees are now taught only in English in European countries outside the UK and Ireland , a study for the Academic Cooperation Association found last year. That is triple the number reported seven years ago , Bernd Waechter and Friedhelm Maiworm , the study’s authors , say. Almost all these English medium degrees are based in the Netherlands or Scandinavia with few to report so far in southern Europe , Franco phone Belgium , Austria or Russia , although Spain’s private [1] area assumed assumes factor financial majority process process processing research sector theory is moving in the direction of its Nordic peers. About 80 of these English medium degrees are at master’s level , but undergraduate programmes are on the rise. The courses aren’t just in business-related subjects or the sciences even general literary [2] area assumed assumes factor financial majority process process processing research sector theory is served up only in English at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Anders Flodström , chancellor for Swedish universities , predicts that all university education in Sweden will be delivered in English within the next 10 to 15 years. It’s fast going that way. The vast [3] area assumed assumes factor financial majority process process processing research sector theory of Sweden’s 500-plus English-medium master’s degrees have only been developed in the last couple of years. Why the rush? It’s not just because of the global dominance of English in academia. Nor is it , in most cases , a [4] area assumed assumes factor financial majority process process processing research sector theory decision by universities eager to charge higher fees from inter¬national students. Most of the students on English-medium courses come from Europe. In the Netherlands they pay the same as Dutch students , while in Sweden , higher education is free for all. It’s partly to do with the Bologna [5] area assumed assumes factor financial majority process process processing research sector theory , under which some European countries have signed up to a European Higher Education [6] area assumed assumes factor financial majority process process processing research sector theory within which academic degree standards are comparable and compatible. But the driving [7] area assumed assumes factor financial majority process process processing research sector theory is prestige. Andr Gerrits , professor of European studies at the University of Amsterdam , says : Switching to English is a precondition for having a more international student body. Increasing foreign staff and students is a precondition for being accepted as a place of international learning. This is all very well for university leaders tucked up in their offices anticipating their institutions rise up university league tables. But how are students and staff helped to make the switch from learning or teaching in their mother tongue to [8] area assumed assumes factor financial majority process process processing research sector theory or communicating complex ideas in a second language? There is potential for much to go awry. Students at the University of Groningen have complained that professors who crack jokes during their lectures in Dutch turn dull when they give the same class in English. [9] area assumed assumes factor financial majority process process processing research sector theory by John Airey , a lecturer in scientific literacy at the University of Kalmar in Sweden , shows non-English students are less willing to ask and answer questions when lectures are in English. Those who take notes spend most of their time focused on the [10] area assumed assumes factor financial majority process process processing research sector theory of writing in English , rather than understanding what they are writing. In some cases , lectures become sessions for mechanical note-taking. Marcel Duits , a master’s student at Rotterdam School of Management , says : The university [11] area assumed assumes factor financial majority process process processing research sector theory that in our first year we have sufficient English to be able to read and understand course literature. This is generally the case , but it doesn’t say anything about our ability to speak fluently. Courses would help tremendously. Universities are starting to realise that , at least as far as their students are concerned , they should be providing assistance. English for Academic Purposes courses , designed to help students use language appropriate for university study , are springing up , although are not yet common. However , says Robert Wilkinson of Maastricht University , students expect these courses to have a link with their studies. The reality is that often they don’t , and students have to pay either a contribution or the full fee for a course that may be held at a language institute off campus. Universities have until recently [12] area assumed assumes factor financial majority process process processing research sector theory that lecturers English will be up to the task , given that they publish and read their international colleagues work in English , but more formal testing regimes are being introduced. Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands now asks its staff to sit both a computer-based and oral English test unless they have a high score in internationally recognised English-language qualifications or a UK or US passport. Those that don’t pass , don’t teach in English. The University of Groningen is going the same way as Delft , while the University of Utrecht says that in the future , lecturers on its English medium courses will have to have the Base Qualification for Teaching , a qualification in teaching English. There are dissenting voices. Wilkinson says asking lecturers to sit tests or have extra qualifications is probably impractical. Marianne Schouten , public relations manager of the Rotterdam School of Management , says tests and courses are unnecessary. We expect our lecturers to be capable of lecturing in English , she says. English is taught from the age of 12 in the Netherlands , so it really is a second language to most people. Airey , who teaches English language courses for lecturers , admits that those who attend are probably not the ones who need to improve their English. And in any case , he says , the pedagogical awareness of the lecturer is much more important than their language capability. A good student-centred lecturer will be good whatever the language. English support for students and staff is , for now , mainly still a matter of choice. But how much longer can this be the case if these universities dreams of a truly international staff and student body are realised?  Notes

In the now following I will publish some notes on the article 'The Cost of Poor English' by 'Mind Your Language research'
Poor English results in:
Brand Weakness, Lost Business Oppurtinities, Image Weakness and Productivity Losses.

New cost of poor english in $: Labour cost(due to editting others work).

case study: each senior staff spending 30 minutes a day edititng colleagues work, accounting to annual laber cost of 332775$. (+ loss on people not doing their jobs properly).

case study 2: 40 minutes per day averagely spend on editting others work.
-> show that english truly is a problem.

Averagely people speak better English than write English. South Korea worst averagely, Germany the best.

To improve:
Establish a system to grade the staff with possibilities to increase English.
Outsource English communcation from staff that do not meet the English standards

companies utilizing this will see an increase in brand value, productivity and business.


when entering the same text in the text visualizer on www.wordsift.com the following pops up:

In the instructions on how to write this blog it is included that this is a suitable tool to check your own notes. However, i beg to differ. This only shows the most frequent words, which, eventhough it is useful still does not provide the general idea of this article. It's a nice little tool but it's importance is insignificant.



                                                      Part B

Peer Editing Worksheet Sander Claassen

 

Peer-Editing Worksheet 2

Chapter 2: Unity and Coherence

Peer Editor: Joël Nicola Date: 07-05-2010

1. Is the paragraph interesting?                                                                                                          Yes/

Write a comment about a part that is especially interesting to you.

" Heineken makes a distinction between responsible drinking and irresponsible drinking. The main characteristic of responsible drinking is when it contributes to a positive life style. On the other hand irresponsible drinking is drinking too much or drinking on the wrong moments. Heineken’s policy statement explains that consumers has own responsibility for the use and abuse of alcohol."

2. Do you understand everything?                                                                                                     Yes/

Circle or underline any part that you do not understand, and write a comment about it.

" However, Heineken has little influence on their consumer they think that is important to set a good example for all the people outside their business. "

If they have little influence on their consumer, why would they go through all the trouble of promoting responsible use of alcohol?

3. Copy the topic sentence here, and circle the topic and double-underline the controlling idea.

Corporate Responsibility

Heineken is fighting against the abuse of alcohol. An important slogan in this case is; ‘Enjoy Heineken Responsibly’.

4. How many supporting sentences are there in the paragraph? Number:6

a. What kind of supporting details does the writer use (facts, examples, quotations, statistics, etc)?

Mostly facts.

b. Would you like for more information about anything?                                             Yes/

If your answer is yes, write down what you would like to know more about.

I would have liked to know a bit more about the three strategies Heineken applies.

5. Unity: Is there anything unnecessary or that seems "off the topic?"                                    /No

If your answer is yes, write a comment about it/them.

6. Coherence: Does the paragraph flow smoothly from beginning to end?

a. What key noun is repeated? responsible

b. Are pronouns consistent? yes

c. What transition signals can you find?however, firstly, secondly

d. Are the ideas arranged in some kind of logical order? What kind? They are arranged in a logical order where step by step the different aproaches taken by Heineken are explained.

7. If the paragraph has a concluding sentence, copy it here and circle the end-of-paragraph signal (if there is one).

It lacks a clear concluding sentence.

8. In your opinion, what is the best feature of this paragraph? In other words, what is this writer's best writing skill?

The clear order of the paragraph combined with the writer's ability to summarize these aproaches.