scholarly journals Pedagogical applications of academic literacies theory: a reflection and case study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Wrigglesworth
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Writing Pedagogy ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Academic Literacies ◽  
Methods Of Evaluation ◽  
Learning Journey ◽  
Uk Higher Education

The development of the academic literacies approach has provided learning developers with a range of powerful tools to help all students to progress through higher education. Twenty years ago, Lea and Street’s (1998) report on student writing initiated a debate which encouraged the transformation of writing pedagogy in UK higher education. The goal of the transformation was, and remains, to develop an education system which is expanding, inclusive and accessible.This paper focuses on the use of the meaning-making resources that students bring to their learning journey and the ones they encounter throughout their study. It outlines the documentation that enacts the rules that govern university practice at task, module, course and institutional level. The paper draws on academic literacies tools to help to clear away misunderstandings about students’ use of language. It then outlines Lea and Street’s (1998) classification of institutional approaches to the pedagogical challenges of improving student writing.The case study describes an optional credit-bearing Introduction to Academic Language module on a UK degree course. By conducting a series of analytical tasks, the undergraduates who elected to take the module developed their use of aspects of academic writing including genre, argument and intertextuality. Students were assessed by analysing their own assessment scripts from other disciplinary modules. The academic writing module was evaluated in ways that could evidence recommendations for change at multiple levels. The methods of evaluation follow practices regarded as standard in many university quality processes but were used to transform provision along inclusive, academic literacies lines.

scholarly journals Academic literacies twenty years on: a community-sourced literature review

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Hilsdon ◽  
Cathy Malone ◽  
Alicja Syska
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Academic Literacies ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Learning Development ◽  
Professional Fields

In 1998, the paper ‘Student writing in higher education: an academic literacies approach’ by Mary Lea and Brian Street reinvigorated debate concerning ‘what it means to be academically literate’ (1998, p.158). It proposed a new way of examining how students learn at university and introduced the term ‘academic literacies’. Subsequently, a body of literature has emerged reflecting the significant theoretical and practical impact Lea and Street’s paper has had on a range of academic and professional fields. This literature review covers articles selected by colleagues in our professional communities of the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE), the association for lecturers in English for Academic Purposes (BALEAP), and the European Association of Teachers of Academic Writing (EATAW). As a community-sourced literature review, this text brings together reviews of wide range of texts and a diverse range of voices reflecting a multiplicity of perspectives and understandings of academic literacies. We have organised the material according to the themes: Modality, Identity, Focus on text, Implications for research, and Implications for practice. We conclude with observations relevant to these themes, which we hope will stimulate further debate, research and professional collaborations between our members and subscribers.

Teacher Self-Assessment of Feedback Practices in an EFL Academic Writing Class - A Reflective Case Study

2017 ◽  
pp. 162-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eddy White
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Teacher Feedback ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Teacher Commentary ◽  
Feedback Interventions ◽  
Giving Feedback

Unlike studies of teacher feedback on student writing, research into teacher self-assessment of their own feedback practices is quite rare in the assessment literature. In this reflective case study, the researcher/teacher systematically analyzed feedback practices to clearly determine the form and kind of formative feedback being provided on student essays, and also to compare these feedback practices to recommended practice from the feedback literature. The research took place in an academic English writing course for third-year students at a Japanese university. A close examination of the teacher feedback on the first draft of 21 student essays was undertaken, and more than 800 feedback interventions were identified and coded. Results of this investigation show a number of patterns of practice in giving feedback, including; extensive use of questions in teacher commentary, very limited use of praise comments, and varying amounts of feedback provided on individual essays. Results also show that the feedback practices discovered through this investigation align well with recommended best practice. The case study positions the teacher as ‘learner' in this feedback process, and calls for similar published research describing in detail what teachers do when providing feedback to students on their work.

scholarly journals Humboldt Meets Bologna: Developments and Debates in Institutional Writing Support in Germany

1969 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Felicitas Macgilchrist ◽  
Katrin Girgensohn
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Coming Of Age ◽  
Bologna Process ◽  
Writing Pedagogy ◽  
Transferable Skills ◽  
Social Sciences And Humanities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Competencies ◽  
The Bologna Process

This article outlines the coming of age of writing pedagogy in German institutions of higher education and explores the role of the ‘Hausarbeit’ in contemporary universities. Traditionally, the 6,000-12,000 word Hausarbeit was the mainstay of academic writing in all university courses in the social sciences and humanities in Germany. This assignment was tied into dominant discourse (‘Humboldt discourse’) in which the main point of higher education was to cultivate future independent scholars. Since 1999, the increasing predominance of ‘Bologna discourse’ has led to the radical restructuring of higher education across Europe. This discourse emphasizes internationalization, transferable skills and key competencies, i.e. the point of higher education is not primarily to cultivate independent scholars but flexible, creative and enterprising future professionals. With indications that the Hausarbeit could disappear in the Bologna process, we argue not only that it can be saved but also that it has a significant role to play in developing the new competencies. This will only happen, however, if students receive institutional writing support, and if writing curricula in Germany rise to the new challenges.Key words: writing centres, discourse, Bologna reforms, writing pedagogy, Hausarbeit

Linguistic Markers of Stance and Genre in Upper-Level Student Writing

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Aull
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Writing Development ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Linguistic Markers ◽  
Writing Research ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Level Student

Stance is a growing focus of academic writing research and an important aspect of writing development in higher education. Research on student writing to date has explored stance across different levels, language backgrounds, and disciplines, but has rarely focused on stance features across genres. This article explores stance marker use between two important genre families in higher education—persuasive argumentative writing and analytic explanatory writing—based on corpus linguistic analysis of late undergraduate and early graduate-level writing in the Michigan Corpus of Upper-Level Student Papers (MICUSP). The specific stance markers in the study, both epistemic and textual cues, have been shown to distinguish student writing across levels; this study, then, extends the analysis to consider the comparative use of these markers across genres. The findings show two stance expectations persistent across genres as well as significant distinctions between argumentative and explanatory writing vis-à-vis stance markers that intensify and contrast. The findings thus point to important considerations for instruction, assignment design, and future research.

Lean Six Sigma Journey in a UK Higher Education Institute: A Case Study

2020 ◽  
pp. 171-194
Author(s):  
Jiju Antony ◽  
Stephanie Ashby ◽  
Abhijeet Ghadge ◽  
Elizabeth A. Cudney
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Six Sigma ◽  
Lean Six Sigma ◽  
Uk Higher Education

Doing it yourself: Coventry University Library’s streaming project

2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 21-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Gibbs
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Short Discussion ◽  
New Era ◽  
Future Developments ◽  
Levels Of Use ◽  
Streaming Service ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Uk Higher Education ◽  
The Impact

This case study provides an overview of the logistical aspects of introducing a DIY streaming service, from original idea to implementation, at Coventry University. The study includes reflection on practical problems such as the structuring of file names and complying with the terms and conditions of the ERA licence. It concludes with a short discussion of the impact of the new ERA+ licence on levels of use, together with possible future developments in streaming in the UK Higher Education sector.

scholarly journals Where is the Support? Learning Support for Multimodal Digital Writing Assignments by Writing Centres in Canadian Higher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Bell ◽  
Brian Hotson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Digital Writing ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Multimodal Composing ◽  
Canadian Higher Education ◽  
Video And Audio

Writing centres play a vital role in supporting all forms of student academic writing in higher education (HE) institutions, including digital writing projects (DWPs)—multiliterate and multimodal, often video-and-audio-based projects, produced using digital technologies. The importance of writing support for multimodal composing is evident in emerging research on both the multi-skilled practices of writer-designers and the conceptual shifts involved in their adoption. Currently, no research exists regarding the Canadian context of writing centre support for DWPs. To address this, we conducted two surveys: one of 22 Canadian writing centres asking about DWPs prevalence, technology and skills readiness, and DWP awareness; and one of faculty at a large Canadian university, asking about DWPs prevalence and frequency and types of DWP assignments. We find a significant disconnect between the number of DWPs being assigned by faculty and the number being supported in writing centres. We also find a significant lack of writing centre preparedness for supporting DWPs. This paper calls, with some urgency, for writing centres to invest in the reality of student writing in Canadian HE, to begin developing instructional materials, equipment, and skilled staff to support DWPs.

scholarly journals Digital Writing, Word Processors and Operations in Texts: How Student Writers Use Digital Resources in Academic Writing Processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-58
Author(s):  
Sofia Hort
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Digital Writing ◽  
Student Writers ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Writing Processes ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
Academic Genre ◽  
Word Processors

This study explores the use of digital technologies in the writing of an academic assignment. Fine-grained studies on student writing processes are scarce in previous research. In relation to the increasing demands on students’ writing, as well as the debate on students’ poor writing (Malmström, 2017), these issues are important to address. In this study, screen captures of five students’ essay processes are analyzed. The results show that students handle text at different levels: they make use of one or more word processors, arrange texts spatially on screens and use resources to operate directly in texts. Above all these actions seem to meet the need to move and navigate within one’s own text, an aspect that could be especially important in relation to the academic genre and for handling texts as artifacts in activity (Castelló & Iñesta, 2012; Prior, 2006). The results of the study point to the importance of making digital writing practices visible, especially those that could create possibilities to intertwine digital texts, thereby enhancing potentials for academic writing and meaning-making.

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