Running head: DATA ANALYSIS 1

Data Analysis Report

Yuanyuan Sun, Hanan Alqarni & Sarah van Nostrand

Colorado State University

DATA ANALYSIS 2

Introduction

The data analysis report was a group assignment submitted as part of the requirements for

E 527: Theories of Second Language Acquisition. The report focuses on analyzing the dataset in

relation to language variation. My two colleagues and I had to formulate our own research

question, then answer it by examining and comparing the learners uses of past and present

tenses in our data source. The data source can be found in the Appendix.

The participants in this study are two intermediate adult ESL learners. One participant is a

native Arabic speaker, who will also be referred to as Participant 1, while the other is a native

Italian speaker, or Participant 2. Both took part in a study to determine whether contextual

factors, such as task type, influence past tense use. Both participants took part in the same two

tasks, completing an oral report of the movie Little Man, Big City and a written report of the

same movie. The subsequent analysis of these tasks seeks to answer the following question: Is

the learners use of past tense dependent on contextual factors such as modality? To investigate

this, the data source was analyzed by identifying and comparing past tense errors against each

task type and then against each participant in order to determine if any patterns of variation

emerge.

Analysis and Results

The first step of the analysis was conducted by identifying all of the verbs produced by

each learner in the oral and written report tasks. From this data, all instances where the past tense

should have been used were identified and compared against the number of times the past tense

was produced correctly. Percentages of instances where each learner used the past tense correctly

in their written versus oral tasks were computed to make comparisons between both the tasks and

the learners by dividing the number of each learners correct past tense verb use by the number
DATA ANALYSIS 3

of verbs that, if used correctly, would be in the past tense. See Table 1 for a summary of these

findings.

Table 1

Correct past tense verb use

Nationality of Data Total number of Total number Number of % of past
participants source verbs produced of verbs in correct past tense
(present + past) past tense tense verb use accuracy

Arabic Oral 77 40 20 50

Written 34 23 12 52

Italian Oral 30 12 6 50

Written 20 11 1 9

The results of this analysis show that the native Arabic speaker produced the past tense

correctly 50 percent of the time in the oral report and 52 percent of the time in the written report.

These percentages are extremely close, initially indicating that this learner is not altogether

different in accurate use of past tense verbs across task types. The native Italian speaker used the

past tense correctly in the oral report 50 percent of the time as well, however, interestingly, only

used the past tense correctly in the written report 9 percent of the time. Looking at only the

Italian learner, there is some evidence to suggest the dependence of past tense use on contextual

factors since the percentage of correct past tense use is so vastly different between the oral and

written report.

The next step in the analysis was to identify how the past tense was used incorrectly by

each learner in each task to determine what prompted these errors and if any patterns emerged

that could indicate dependence on modality. Interestingly, all of the errors in past tense use were
DATA ANALYSIS 4

made when the participants switched to the present tense. In fact, this switching from past to

present tense was the only type of past tense error made, as shown below in Table 2.

Table 2

Incorrect past tense verb use

Nationality of Data Number of past Number of past tense errors when
English Learners Source tense errors switching to the present tense

Arabic Oral 20 20

Written 11 11

Italian Oral 6 6

Written 10 10

Discussion

What is particularly intriguing about this data is the pattern that emerges between the

shift of past to present tenses and the corresponding shift in topic for both participants. When the

past tense shifts to the present, the topic shifts from summarizing specific, descriptive, one-time

events that occurred in the movie to statements that express the participants ideas or opinions.

These ideas and opinions are about the movie generally or certain details of the movie. This

pattern is present in both the native Arabic and native Italian speaker. The examples below are

excerpts, listed in the order they appeared in the tasks, from each participants oral and written

reports that help illustrate the patterns in topic and tense shifting.

Participant 1 (Oral)

(1) Past

I saw today a movie about a man in a big city,

(2) Present

I want to tell you about a movie, my friend.

DATA ANALYSIS 5

(3) Past

He woke up in a bad temper and he wanted a fresh air, he went when he opened the

window to get this fresh air, he found a smoke, smoke air, dirty air.

(4) Present

Man in the city has to wake up very early to go to the work and he has to as the movie

shows, he has to use any means of transportation, car, bus, bicycle and all the streets are

crowded, and he has no choice or alternatively to use and he is busy day and night.

(5) Past

The movie showed that. And the man began to feel sick and thus he wanted to consult

the doctors to describe a medicine or anything for health, but the doctors also disagreed

about his illness or they couldn't diagnose his illness correctly.

(6) Present

Must use it in a calm way or in a quiet way and that, I think, that is a good solution or a

good answer for this city dilemma.

Examples 3 and 4 demonstrate this shift between tenses and topics. In example 3, the

participant is using the past tense, stating specific, one-time events that occurred in the movie.

However, in example 4, the participant shifts to using the present tense when making general

statements regarding routine or everyday events. Additionally, in example 6, in which the present

tense is being used, the participant is making their own personal comments and stating opinion

rather than fact. The second participant shows very similar patterns in tense shifting as the first

participant in their oral report as seen in the examples listed below.

Participant 2 (Oral)
DATA ANALYSIS 6

(7) Past

So it there was a movie, um probably filmed some years ago in Budapest . . . from . . . it

was a Hungarian? a Hungarian film. It was a cartoon, and it dealt with modern life in the

big city. The man who uh well the....

(8) Present

It is a description of the life of a man in a big city. From morning when he wakes up and

go to work with many other people all living in the same

Participant 1 (written)

(9) Past

I saw a movie about a man in a city (big city)

(10) Present

I want to tell you what I saw and what is my opinion.

(11) Past

The man in the big city tried to find answer to this dilemma. Instead of living in

crowded, unhealthy places, he wanted places that must be used for living.

(12) Present

My opinion is that man's solution for the problem is good and acceptable especially for

health.

Participant 2 (Written)

(13) Past

The film dealt mainly with problems concerning our modern life in a big city

(14) Present
DATA ANALYSIS 7

The main character of the story is an ordinary man living and working in the city. The

film describes his everyday life and shows him in the different moments of a typical

working day.

It is evident from the examples listed above that topic and tense shifting from the first

participants oral report occurs frequently. Although this shifting occurs in the first participants

written report, it appears less frequently. The same pattern was found in the second participants

oral and written report. This type of shifting from past to present tense potentially demonstrates

the presence of systematic variation.

From this data no concrete conclusions can be made in support of whether past tense use

is dependent on modality. Although the native Italian speaker showed evidence of contextual

differences in past tense use, since the native Arabic speaker did not demonstrate similar

differences, it cannot be assumed contextual factors are consistently present. The differences in

the native Italians oral and written tasks could, for example, simply be attributed to the L1.

However, since there is very limited background information provided in this study regarding the

participants L1 or individual differences that may be present, these factors cannot be used as

evidence for or against the dependence on contextual factors in the use of past tense. Although

the native Italian speaker demonstrated a substantial difference in errors between the written and

oral tasks, the native Arabic speaker produced a very similar percentage of errors in their written

and oral tasks. In order to conclude whether past tense errors were dependent on contextual

factors such as task type, similarities in past tense errors needed to have been seen consistently

between both participants.

The participants oral reports showed a much greater number of these shifts than the

written ones. The written reports for both the native Arabic and native Italian speaker
DATA ANALYSIS 8

demonstrate less of a retelling of the story and more of a focus on summarizing, therefore

switching tenses and topics less frequently. This consistency found in tense switching between

past and present tense is an example of the presence of systematic variation, which, as Gass

(2013) discusses, is evidenced when two or more sounds / grammatical forms vary

contextually. Therefore, from these findings, the presence of systematic variation is evidence

that past tense use could be dependent upon contextual factors such as modality. However, it is

important to note that despite this, with such little information available about the participants,

and the extremely limited pool of participants, it can not be confirmed that there is a definitive

dependence on modality in terms of past tense use.

Implications

Despite the limited data available in this study, the findings still provide useful insight for

pedagogy. In English language teaching, the results may help language teachers better

understand the types of errors their language students are producing and the reasoning behind

them, leading to new or different approaches to teaching and remediation. If teachers are aware

that frequent tense switching is more common in intermediate to advanced level students in oral

presentations or reports than in the written equivalent, language teachers can design lessons

around addressing this systematic variation. Free variation, or more random variation, on the

other hand, as Gass (2013) explains, is more common in novice level language students because

they are not yet aware of certain grammatical forms. However, with intermediate to advanced

level language learners, teachers can, for example, allocate more time to speaking tasks,

targeting specifically tense shift. Summary exercises, such as the 4-3-2 activity, may also help

students become more aware of their tense and topic shifting. In the 4-3-2 activity, students

verbally summarize a text that they have just read. To begin with, students should retell the story
DATA ANALYSIS 9

in four minutes. Then, they have to verbally summarize the story in three minutes. And finally,

they must retell the story in two minutes. Within the longer time of four minutes, students are

able to include details from the text as many as possible. When the given time becomes shorter

and finally is very limited, students have to deliver the main points of the text while excluding

details and information that are not essential.

Reference

Gass, S. M. (2013). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York, NY:

Routledge.
DATA ANALYSIS 10

Appendix

Language Variation: Data Analysis Assignment

Native Language: Arabic (Parts I and II), Italian (Parts III and IV)
Target Language: English
DataSource: Oral report of a movie "Little Man, Big City" (Parts I and
DI), written report of the same movie (Parts II and IV)
Learner Information:
Age: Adult
Learning Environment: ESL classroom
Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Part One
I saw today a movie about a man in a big city. I want to tell you about a movie, my friend. The
movie began with a man about 40 years old or 45 in his apartment in the city and he was
disturbed by alarm clock, TV, and noisy outside the house or outside the apartment and he woke
up in a bad temper and he wanted a fresh air, he went when he opened the window to get this
fresh air, he found a smoke, smoke air, dirty air. The movie also showed that the man not only
disturbed in his special apartment or special house, but in everything, in work, in street, in
transportation, even in the gardens and seashores. Man in the city has to wake up very early to go
to the work and he has to as the movie shows, he has to use any means of transportation, car, bus,
bicycle and all the streets are crowded, and he has no no choice or alternatively to use and he is
busy day and night. At day, he has to work hard among the machines, the typewriters and among
papers, pencils and offices in the city. And when he wanted to take a rest in his house or outside
his house in the garden or the seashore.... He can't because the seats are crowded with people.
When he wanted to take a meal in restaurant, the restaurant is crowded, everything is crowded in
the city and very, very it's not good place or good atmosphere to to live in. The movie showed
that. And the man began to feel sick and thus he wanted to consult the doctors to describe a
medicine or anything for for health, but the doctors also disagreed about his illness or they
couldn't diagnose his illness correctly. This they show at first. Want to make us know about the
life in the city. The man began to think about to find a solution or answer for this dilemma. OK
dilemma? Dilemma. He thought that why not to go to the open lands and to build houses and
gardens and and to live in this new fresh land with fresh air and fresh atmosphere and why don't
we stop smoking in the factories by using filters, filters and stop smoking from the cars and all
industrial bad survivals or like smoking like dirty airs and so on. The man also wanted to make
kids or childrens in the houses not to play or to use sports inside houses, but to go outside the
houses in the garden and to play with balls, basket anything. They like to play. And also he
wanted to live in a quiet and calm apartment. People inside houses must not use TV in a bad way
DATA ANALYSIS 11

or a noisy way. Must use it in a calm way or in a quiet way and that, I think, that is a good
solution or a good answer for this city dilemma.

Part Two
I saw a movie about a man in a city (big city). I want to tell you what I saw and what is my
opinion. The movie began with a man about 40 years old, in his apartment in a big city. He was
disturbed by many things like Alarm O' Clock, T.V., Radio and noisy outside. He want a fresh
air, but he could not because the city is not a good place for fresh air. There are many factories
which fill the air with smoke. The movie showed the daily life of a man in the city. He is very
busy day and night. He had to go to his work early by any means of transportation, car, bus,
bicycle. The streets are crowded, everything in the city is crowded with people, the houses,
streets, factories, institutions and even the seashores. Man in a big city lives a hard and unhealthy
life, noisy, dirt air, crowded houses and smoke are good factors for sickness. The man in the big
city tried to find answer to this dilemma. Instead of living in crowded, unhealthy places, he
wanted places that must be used for living. People must live in good atmosphere climate and
land. Gardens, which are good places for sports, must surround houses. My opinion is that
man's solution for the problem is good and acceptable especially for health.

Part Three
So it there was a movie, um probably filmed some years ago in Budapest . . . from . . . it was a
Hungarian? a Hungarian film. It was a cartoon, and it dealt with modern life in the big city. The
man who uh well the.... It is a description of the life of a man in a big city. From morning when
he wakes up and go to work with many other people all living in the same . . . under the same
circumstances and uh with the same paternistic form in the big city. And from a very common
description of life of modern life, of our pressure, of our stress, of our anxieties and of all the um
possible uh limits and uh rules we have to follow living in a big city. And it deals with uh it dealt
with pollution problems in a town, in a city where industry and uh residential areas are very close
together. And . . . the moral of the story is uh that if people could do something all together the
population would have the courage and the will to do eh something for . . . to deal with these
problems that may reasonably be able to find a solution or to encourage authorities to face the
problem and . . . to find solutions to the . . . to it, because it's not so difficult in fact.

Part Four
The film dealt mainly with problems concerning our modern life in a big city. The main
character of the story is an ordinary man living and working in the city. The film describes his
everyday life and shows him in the different moments of a typical working day. In doing this the
author of the story tell us about general very common problems of a modern city, where
"civilization," industrialization and the consequent need for more apartment buildings, have
brought to serious damages to the environment. A city, therefore, where people do not live, but
vegetate; where it is hard to find peace and loneliness; where pollution constantly endangers our
DATA ANALYSIS 12

health. Towards the end, however, the author suggests the possibility of finding solutions and
bringing improvements to the present condition through the active participation of citizens in
dealing with the matter.

Note: Data source is taken from

Gass, S., Sorace, A., & Selinker, L. (1999). Second language learning data analysis. Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.