Sad stories: a preliminary study of NAPLAN practice texts analysing students’ second language linguistic resources and the effects

Abstract

This paper analyses practice texts produced by Indigenous students who are first language (L1) speakers of the local variety of Torres Strait Creole, and second language (L2) learners of Standard Australian English (SAE). Writing such texts served as preparation for the writing component of the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). These students had been exposed to classroom instruction on the schematic discourse organisation of the preannounced test genre, a narrative, and had been given repeated practice of writing this genre under NAPLAN-like conditions. Analysis of their texts reveals that they attempt to implement this classroom instruction, but their levels of L2 proficiency impact greatly on the texts they generate. Their writing displays a wide range of non-target language features, which suggest that teaching approaches would need to include explicit instruction of SAE. This preliminary study raises issues for further investigation around the narrowed or even hidden curriculum for L2 learners of SAE in a high stakes testing environment.