AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF KNOWLEDGE AND ACHIEVEMENT IN THE ENGLISH DEGREE STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALGIERS WITH FOCUS ON LITERACY SKILLS

Abstract

This thesis attempts to explore the two notions of knowledge and achievement/success in the English Degree Course. It sets out a double aim; one is to explore the nature of knowledge behind degree readers’ successful completion of the course;the second is to examine the extent to which these students’previously acquired literacy in other languages has a qualitative effect on their achievement in a language degree. The research centers on good achievers’ study experience. What they do to complete their studies within the prescribed period, what contribution they make to their English language ability development, how they face study work across subjects are questions addressed in this thesis. Informed by scholarly work on the following themes: academic achievement (Entwistle and Wilson,1977, Norman,1982, Covington, 1922, McMillan, 2000, Curzon, 2001), language ability development/proficiency (Bachman, 1990, Canale & Swain, 1980, Bley-Vroman, 1988, 1989) literacy in both L1 and in an additional language (Reed et al,1985, Winograd, 1977, Eysenck & Keane,1990, McKay, 1992) multilingualism (Ringbom, 1987, Gass & Selinker, 1994, Sanz, 2000, Cenoz, 2001 & 2003), the research seeks firstly to reach a working definition of what FL proficiency stands for. Secondly, it attempts to arrive at a greater understanding of the type of knowledge that is relevant to academic achievement. It also examines the nature of L1 and L+ literacy. Given a consensus on the distinction between declarative knowledge, procedural and strategic knowledge and on their respective but complementary role in language skill and knowledge development, this study highlights the role that both cognition and metacognition play in literacy development and their combined contribution to academic achievement. It analyzes a group of good achievers’ “story” of their study experience. Selected according to a purposive/non-random sampling procedure, the participants were former students in previous tuitions year. Data which were collected by means of a questionnaire, a semi-structured interview and written documents submitted by students for the research purpose, are mostly verbal in nature. They were analyzed and interpreted by means of a step-by-step procedure of meaning

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finding, coding and grouping (Strauss and Corbin, 1990, Tesch,1990, Patton, 2002). The themes that this procedure generated were further processed via inductive and deductive processes that led to conceptualization. Data interpretation suggests that early literacy in L1 and or both L1and L2, a sense of achievement at the start of tuition in an additional language, high interest in the language, acceptance of study content, a will to work hard and at a fairly frequent rate lead to course completion by degree readers. The results obtained consistently inform the research questions about participants’ attitude to work, thoughts , study behaviours and work methods. Though limited to be generalizable, the categories that were arrived at mirror academic fitness and schema knowledge (Covington 1992, Marshall 1992) as two prerequisites to academic achievement. Furthermore, when language ability is only developing, participants perceive it as one among other challenges which they face with positive attitude, consistent study action and personal work methods. While these results partly match Entwistle and Wilson’s conclusion on success-predicting factors, other inferred data about literacy use by these students suggest these students’ ease with these two components of their English proficiency. Two participants who, throughout the interview reiterate their interest in English written skills, also mention a link between early literacy in a second language and a fondness for English written skills. This, as well as these participants’ observed study behaviours in the classroom, do not sound in contradiction with multilingualists’ assumption about a favourable role played by previously acquired literacy in the attainment of an additional language literacy. Though in embryo, a link seems to exist between ease with L1/L2 reading and writing and control of the same skills in an additional language. However, the nature of knowledge that leads to a successful completion of studies for the degree course by these students may or may not be due to attainment of high overall language ability in the additional language even if use of declarative, procedural and strategic knowledge can be traced in the participants’ story.