The objective of this thesis is to investigate some parameters which act on the production of essay summarization. First, I will summarize the contents presented in this paper in accordance with the order of chapters. Chapter Ⅰ, the introduction of ...
The objective of this thesis is to investigate some parameters which act on the production of essay summarization. First, I will summarize the contents presented in this paper in accordance with the order of chapters. Chapter Ⅰ, the introduction of this paper, includes the goals of the study, the procedures of the study, the literature review, and definitions of key words. In chapter Ⅱ, the theoretical background is expounded upon. Chapter Ⅲ discusses the evaluating items used as means to grade summaries produced by students in this study. Chapter Ⅳ, consisting of seven surveys, is dedicated to the procedures to find out parameters which influence products in the course of summarizing. And analyses of the parameters discussed before is unfolded. Chapter Ⅴ is provided for characteristics of desired summaries and of not ones. In terms of national language education, implications which the issues have discussed so far are presented in chapter Ⅵ. Finally, a summary of this paper is presented. The significance and limitations of this study are also stipulated here, too.
Summarizing unifies reading and writing. Summation of a text is used for recollection and retrieval. Summation also leads to intentional and purposeful reading. Summation is needed to write an academic essay as well as to arrange a series of data.
Through looking over the history of studying summation and its teaching, it is revealed that the realm of study is limited to expository text and summarizing rules and strategies are too specific to be applied to the national language educational context. Findings of cognitive psychology provide a base of national language education, but those findings in nature are not national language education. Because the parameters related to production of summation are not found, there are limits to developing effective instructions. To determine these variations, seven surveys were done. Summations, produced by high school freshmen, were graded according to the evaluation items as presented in Chapter Ⅲ. These results were then statistically processed.
Argumentation on the nature of summarization and production of gist is the topic of Chapter Ⅱ. Because summarization encompasses reading and writing, its procedure is divided into two parts, although the process might occur simultaneously. The outlines of this process is as follows:
(1) surface structure→text base→situation model
└──────summmarization───────┘+writing(production rule)→summation
The ultimate goal of summarization is to form a situation model (Kintsch 1992) that is centered on macro-propositions. To form macro-proposition, it is necessary to make use of strategies. Its core part is construction-integration. It is not a summary that text representation which comes from a text after summation strategies and summation rules are applied. Production rules, consisting of elaboration, combination, reconstruction, and linking, are needed to produce a summary.
Evaluation items contrive to grade summaries in Chapter Ⅲ. In the procedures to draw up evaluation items, it is necessary to examine the characteristic of expository text and essay and then to consider features of summaries produced by students. For practical grading situations, these evaluation items should be applied to grade summaries carefully. According to characteristics of a text presented to students, some of the evaluation items might be selected and rejected. Or some of the items may have additional points.
Evaluation items for summary of an expository text and of an essay are presented in Table 3.1 and Table 3.4, respectively. There are common characteristics, as seen in (2), and differences, as seen in (3) to all.
(2) common evaluation items for the summarization of expository text and essay
1) explicitly presents macro-propositions
2) comprehends well the linkage between sentence to sentence
3) sentences are joined together in producing a summary
4) coherence and cohesion is found in the produced summary
5) obligatory information is deleted
6) not required information is found
7) over-generalization is seen
8) incorrect information is found
(3) difference between the summarization of expository text and essay
1) only summary of expository text
a) focus effect is appeared
b) hierarchy of information is found
c) generalization on the related contents is present
d) reconstruction on the related contents is present
e) activation on subject-matter is shown
f) overlap among presented information is found
g) misconception of writer's intention is shown
2) only summary of essay
a) appropriate deletion and selection of situation proposition is shown
b) macro-proposition and foundations, being stratum, is well comprehended
c) hierarchy of related components in a text is well grasped
d) the intention of writer is well appreciated
e) the meaning of metaphoric expressions and ambiguous sentences is precisely understood
f) the perception of readership is wrong
Seven surveys are presented in Chapter Ⅳ. The synopses of the seven surveys are provided in section one. Groups of subjects who participated in the surveys are found to be homogeneous, according to results of term-end examination of national language subject. The method for evaluation is presented. To test of the reliability in the procedure of grading the summaries of the students, two evaluators grade them according to <table 4.3>, then correlation efficiency is calculated by SPSS 12.0. The result of it, it is assured that reliability of the grading is saved.
From section two to section eight, surveys which are centered on parameters to find out. Each section consists of an introduction to the main issue, procedures of the surveys, the results, and a conclusion. Through the seven surveys, the following hypotheses were proved to be acceptable:
(4) acceptable hypotheses
1) A degree to sympathy will correlate to quality of summary.
2) A degree to memory of specific contents in the post-test will correlate to quality of summary.
3) Summaries of expository text and essays will correlate to each other.
4) The ability to comprehend structure will correlate with summarization ability.
5) The structure grasped will correlate with the development of summarization ability.
6) Experimental group that imposed on quantity limitation and control group show difference in sum produced propositions.
7) Experimental group that imposed on limitation a quantity and control group will show difference in time to produce summary.
8) The quality of the summaries of students who are good at dividing paragraphs will be different from those students who are not.
9) Summaries of texts that have explicit macro-propositions will be different from those that do not.
10) Students who are good at writing essays will also be good at summarizing essays.
Leaner's parameters which embedded in the above acceptable hypotheses are the degree to sympathy with writer's assertion, the ability to comprehend bases of assertion, the ability to grasp structure of a text, the degree to the reflection of grasped structure, the ability of dividing of paragraphs, and the essay writing ability. Text's parameters are paragraphs dividing, genres of text and presentation of macro- proposition. One of the text-parameters, that is paragraphs dividing, is confirmed only. Task's parameters are limitation to quantity, time to summarize. Limitation to quantity is not a parameter of summary quality, but a parameter of proposition quantity. Time is a parameter of summary quality in the case of none limitation to quantity.
The topic of Chapter Ⅴ is on how the characteristics of desired summary (Group A) are different from the ones needed to revise (Group B). Desired summary is high score in all the evaluation items, especially it is the degree to clarity of macro-proposition that two groups of summaries show much difference. Common to all the groups, is how the subject-matter knowledge activation score is very low. And understanding and expression at the macro-level is very low in Group B. On the contrary, cohesion at the sentence level of the expression is similar.
In Chapter Ⅵ, three implications are expounded upon. It is emphasized that summarizing has significance to reading education. First, as a profound information process, summarizing procedures are utilized as a sub-activity of reading. Second, summarizing might be used as a means to test for comprehension. Third, the ability to comprehend the structure in a text is proved to enhance reading ability. Fourth, integration and control of contents are needed in the reading process. Fifth, it is shown that a learner's empathetic attitude can have an affect on reading.
In writing education, it is clear that summarizing is very closely related to writing. This suggests that writing and reading are different activities. So it requires that writing activities should be more tried. Second, perception of paragraphs needs to be taught actively in writing education. Third, demonstrative structure needs to be taught. It is stipulated that summarization is an independent communication media, especially in how it needs coherence and cohesion.
In the evaluation shape, it is certain that evaluation must be done directly. It is reasonable to make evaluation items that fit the summaries of the students. Evaluation items, as discussed in Chapter Ⅲ, are utilized appropriately to characterize the text and to teach the goals of summarization.
Finally I will argue on the significances and limitations of this study. Teaching of summarizing is the synthesis of national language curriculum among which consists of specific reading and writing skills. In this respect, summarizing is of national language education significance. In spite of such significance, it is seldom discussed. This is why this thesis is particularly meaningful.
The discussion of summarizing so far has focused on expository texts. Considering this, this study highlights the necessity of dealing with essays. The actual teaching of summarizing essays has been the object of this study. As in the reading and writing, several parameters affect summarizing. Through this study, some of parameters are settled. As a result of this, it would be possible to work out a scheme to teach summarizing. In addition, characteristics of summaries in two groups, which are desired summaries and revision required summaries, are found. These characteristics actually contribute to summary education.
This study has many advantages, but it has also limitations. One of them is a failure to set up a hierarchy among parameters. Another is that teaching methods are not made for adapting to a summarizing educational setting. These might come true in further studies. For the sake of morality, this study might be beneficial to both students and researcher.