scholarly journals Academic Writing: Critics of the Traditional EAP Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Sheypak
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Rhetorical Tradition ◽  
Critical Studies ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Critical Revision ◽  
Russian Universities

Through the analysis of the positions taken in the discussion on Academic Writing, the article shows that the experience of Academic Writing adopted from Anglo-Saxon educational practices in many Russian universities is based on the traditional EAP (English for Academic Purposes) methods which have been systematically criticized for text-centricity and cultural universalism. The critical revision of the traditional EAP methods requires implementing a discourse analytical approach and cultural relativism in Academic Writing course. A review of critical studies on Academic Writing concludes that the criticism of the traditional EAP methods is developed on the basis of concepts worked in the Russian rhetoric tradition by researchers of the Bakhtin circle. The article points out that in the Russian educational context the EAP experience is to be implemented through a discourse analytical approach that has been adopted in the EAP practices in response to criticism. The concepts developed in the Russian rhetorical tradition are required to apply a discourse analytical approach in the Academic Writing course in Russian universities.

scholarly journals ENHANCING PROFESSIONAL COMPENENCE OF PHARMACEUTICAL STUDENTS IN THE ACADEMIC ENGLISH COURSE

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (18) ◽  
pp. 84-89
Author(s):  
Oksana Kovalenko ◽  
Olga Afanasenko
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Academic Language ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Academic English ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Measurement Tools ◽  
Selection For

The paper presents the ideas on integration of English language academic writing into the training of Mater of Pharmacy students. The academic literature demonstrates a powerful didactic potential for the development of both language and professional competence of students majoring in pharmacy. This fact is evidenced by the empirical study that demonstrates the finding reflected in students’ graduation academic project performance. As a measurement tools we employed assessment rubrics of the graduate project, content analysis and questionnaire on teachers’ feedback. The participants of the study were students from the Pharmacy faculty and teachers of English for Academic Purposes in cooperation with teachers of pharmacy. Together they outlined the criteria for the texts selection. According to the results, students mastered not only academic writing skills, but also the skills of information processing and evaluation, critical thinking, presentation of information and academic integrity. The paper also presents methodological recommendations on academic texts selection for pharmaceutical students and forms of teachingacademic writing to students of non-linguistic specialties. The results of the study allow to draw the conclusion academic writing course will enhance professional competence and reduce students’ misinterpreting of academic language.

scholarly journals The Development of Stance-taking Strategies in L2 Students’ Academic Essays: the Case of a Content-based Russian-American Teleconference Course

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 45-53
Author(s):  
Irina Shchemeleva
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Epistemic Modal ◽  
American Students ◽  
Internationalization Of Education ◽  
Novice Writers ◽  
English Academic Writing ◽  
Russian Universities

Due to internationalization of education, students in the majority of leading Russian universities are increasingly likely to use English as a medium of instruction. At the same time, they are not offered preparatory courses in English academic writing. As a result, students are able to develop their academic writing skills mainly while undertaking content-based courses. Recent research indicates that one of the major concerns for novice writers is to be able to express their stance. The key aim of the study is to show that implementing some methods of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) into a content-based course might improve students’ ability to take a stance in their writing. The paper presents the analysis of 45 essays written in English by L2 novice writers during a teleconference course taught to a group of Russian and American students. The study employs a comparative linguistic analysis of some stance markers (pronoun ‘I’, reporting verbs, epistemic modal and evidential expressions) used in students’ essays written at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the course. The results suggest that the students’ ability to take a stance might be developed through the integration into the course of some elements of EAP teaching.

‘Maybe complicated is a better word’: Second-language English graduate student responses to syntactic complexity in a genre-based academic writing course

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (Spring) ◽  
pp. 95-114
Author(s):  
J. Elliott Casal ◽  
Xiaofei Lu
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Research Writing ◽  
Targeted Instruction ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Learner Perception ◽  
Potential Benefits

This practice-oriented exploratory study reports student perceptions and potential benefits of introducing syntactic complexity-focused activities in an advanced English for Academic Purposes writing course. Syntactic complexity, seen by many as a multidimensional construct and generally defined as the range and sophistication of structures used, is here operationalized through four approaches. The pedagogical site was a six-week mixed-discipline writing course with an emphasis on second-language English research writing. Attention to syntactic complexity was integrated into a previously established corpus- and genre-analysis based pedagogy, and data is comprised of a learner-perception survey and interview and instructor observational journals. Emphasis was placed on reflection on complexity in academic writing, rather than the production of complex structures. The findings suggest benefits for targeted instruction of syntactic complexity in all four categories, with particular benefits to student writer confidence and intentionality resulting from increased awareness of the affordances and appropriateness of complexity overall.

scholarly journals Teaching Hong Kong English before Teaching Academic English: The Gateway to Effective Learning of College Writing

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernie Chun Nam MAK
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Professional Communication ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Relevant Topic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Hong Kong English

Owing to the negative view of Hong Kong English (HKE) in popular discourse, few English lecturers in Hong Kong universities directly acknowledge or discuss the variety in a non-linguistic course. This paper illustrates an action research study of how HKE may play a role in an academic writing course of a sub-degree program in Hong Kong. Focusing on 8 representatives from an academic writing course with 100 students, it employed the qualitative experiment method to examine whether students who had possessed basic linguistic knowledge of HKE from an additional tutorial would perceive HKE and academic writing differently from those who had not. Student representatives from each group were invited to a focus group to explore ideas about the two subjects discussed in class. Their conversations suggested that prior knowledge of the syntactic features of HKE might raise students’ awareness of the grammatical differences between the variety and the standard. The analysis also suggested that introducing the linguistic view of HKE to students might render them optimistic about their variety, helping them identify the situations where the variety would be tolerant of and settings where Standard English would be expected. The study suggested that such an intervention might facilitate students’ learning of Standard English for academic purposes and practices of English in actual professional communication. Upon the improvement or advancement, they will position themselves more powerfully in the dichotomy between the standard and non-standard. More formal research on a similar or relevant topic is required to validate the impact of understanding HKE on learning academic writing.

scholarly journals Genre Analysis of Research Article Abstracts in English for Academic Purposes Journals: Exploring the Possible Variations across the Venues of Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Mavadat Saidi ◽  
Said Talebi
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Scientific Communities ◽  
Generic Structure ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Chi Square Test ◽  
Academic Genre

Research article (RA) abstracts play a pivotal role in settling the fate of the academic papers. Despite the abundance of research on investigating the generic structure of this academic genre, the variations in its move patterns between the two venues within a single area of research seem to have remained untouched. The current study attempted to explore the constituent moves and move patterns of RA abstracts published in a local (Iranian Journal of English for Academic Purposes) and an international (The Journal of English for Academic Purposes) journal in the field of applied linguistics. Drawing on Hyland’s (2000) five-move model, the RA abstracts were analyzed. The results indicated that the abstracts published in the two journals included the conventional moves. Furthermore, the most frequent moves were the purpose, method, and product in the two corpora. Moreover, although the results of the chi-square test pointed to no significant difference in terms of the frequency of the moves in the abstracts, the analysis divulged variations in the move patterns across the two sets of articles. The findings carry pedagogical implications for the academic writing course designers, materials developers, and instructors to enhance the novice researchers’ familiarity with the writing conventions to facilitate their accommodation by the scientific communities.

Instruction of Nominalization by Applying Enabling of POA

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 342-358
Author(s):  
Hao Chen
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Academic English ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
Learning Journals ◽  
English Majors ◽  
Chinese English Learners ◽  
Oriented Approach

AbstractIt is noticeable that the academic papers written by Chinese English learners are lacking in academic features largely due to their poor ability to use nominalization. Therefore, the instruction of nominalization in an academic English writing course is badly needed. The author conducted one-semester-long instruction of nominalization to 90 non-English majors under the guidance of the production-oriented approach (POA). This research demonstrated how to apply POA, specifically, the enabling procedure to the teaching of nominalization. By triangulating the data of students’ interviews, learning journals and written output, and the data of 4 teachers’ class observations and interviews, this study found that the accurate application of the three criteria of effective enabling contributed to the improvement of the quantity and quality of nominalization in academic writing.

scholarly journals Face-to-face to online: PhD academic writing @Maastricht University

2020 ◽  
pp. 13-19
Author(s):  
Neill Wylie
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Innovative Teaching ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
The Face ◽  
Language Needs

Maastricht University (UM) has a distinct global perspective and a strong focus on innovation. UM offers an array of PhD courses to distance and campus based students who have access to elective, credit bearing modules and the language needs of these students are catered for by the Language Centre. Many PhD candidates choose to take an academic writing course in their first or second year of their degree. In recent years, demand for a more student focused, flexible academic writing course has grown. In line with UM’s policy of supporting innovative teaching practices, the Language Centre’s face-to-face PhD academic writing course, PhD Writing 1, has been transformed into a fully online course containing eight interactive webinar sessions named Online PhD Writing, which runs in addition to the face-to-face rendition. On the back of the success of this course, coupled with increased demand for a follow up course, this author was tasked with creating an advanced online PhD academic writing course to cater for global students with diverse time zones and schedules. This paper evaluates the challenges posed and the advances made in constructing both online courses and explores the technologies used in implementing them.

scholarly journals What we talk about when we talk about writing: exploring how English for Academic Purposes teachers and learning developers conceptualise academic writing

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon McCulloch ◽  
Tania Horak
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Academic Literacies ◽  
Professional Identities ◽  
High Ranking ◽  
Academic Writer ◽  
Sense Of Identity

Two main groups of staff currently provide writing support to students in British universities. These staff typically enter their roles from a range of professional backgrounds and, consequently, may hold different professional identities and understandings of what academic writing is. Although there is a body of research on teacher identity and on lecturers’ conceptualisations of writing, few studies have compared the views and identities of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teachers and learning developers. The current study set out to investigate whether these two groups perceive academic writing in similar or different ways, and why. We undertook a small-scale study, interviewing eight participants at two universities, half from a post-1992 institution and the others from a research-intensive, high-ranking university. While participants varied in their definitions of writing, common themes emerged, lying on a spectrum from an autonomous, text-based, to an academic literacies perspective on writing. To establish the influences on these perspectives, we investigated the participants’ sense of identity as an academic writer, how they learned writing themselves and any influences on them from theory. Neither the EAP teachers nor the learning developers identified strongly as academic writers, despite all holding postgraduate qualifications and some having published their writing. Most reported little to no training in how to write academically themselves, and few mentioned any theoretical stance in their approach to helping students. Although some clustering around particular conceptualisations of writing was observed, we did not find strong evidence that the participants belong to two different ‘tribes’.

scholarly journals Critical Thinking and Debiasing: Experimentation in an Academic Writing Course

2020 ◽  
Vol 2019 (1) ◽  
pp. 443
Author(s):  
Guy Smith ◽  
John Peloghitis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Judgment And Decision Making ◽  
Classroom Teaching ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
Writing Course ◽  
And Training

In the last two decades, interest in cognitive biases has rapidly grown across various fields of study. The research so far has shown that cognitive biases have significant and sometimes adverse effects on decision making. Thus, it is increasingly being argued that classroom teaching of critical thinking needs to include instruction and training that help students understand cognitive biases and reduce their negative effects on judgment and decision making. Teaching students to be aware of biases and to develop and maintain strategies to reduce their influence is known as debiasing. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of cognitive biases and a framework for debiasing proposed by Wilson and Brekke (1994). Two approaches, modifying the person and modifying the environment, are discussed to help teachers introduce activities and strategies to mitigate biases. 認知バイアスへの関心は、この20年で様々な領域で急激に高まってきた。認知バイアスが、意思決定に対し有意な影響、時には逆効果を及ぼすことが、これまでの研究で明らかになった。そのため、教室で批判的思考を教える場合も、学生の認知バイアスへの理解に役立ち、認知バイアスが判断力や意思決定に対して及ぼす、時には有害な影響を弱める思考法を教える練習ないし訓練を組み込む必要があるのではないだろうか。学生がバイアスを認識し、その影響を払拭ないし弱める思考法を身につけてそれを維持するよう教えることは、デバイアスという名称で知られている。本稿では、認知バイアスとWilson and Brekke (1994) が提案するデバイアスのプロセスを概観する。教師がバイアスを和らげるための活動と戦略を紹介できるように、人間を修正し、環境を修正するという二つの取り組みについても検討する。

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