Abstract
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.
Highlights
Mary Lea and Brian Street published their paper ‘Student writing in higher education: an academic literacies approach’ in 1998
This special edition of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education (JLDHE) takes stock of developments some twenty years on. We have collated this community-sourced review of some of the literature associated with the field that has become known as ‘academic literacies’ using contributions from 17 colleagues from three professional bodies: the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE), BALEAP the global forum for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) professionals, and the European Association of Teachers of Academic Writing (EATAW)
As Peter Levrai notes in his review of the article, what stands out in this paper is the critique of the communities of practice when it comes to higher education, in terms of the limited interactions between tutor and student, which problematise the idea of ‘mutual engagement’ where the novice can learn working alongside the expert
Summary
Mary Lea and Brian Street published their paper ‘Student writing in higher education: an academic literacies approach’ in 1998. As Peter Levrai notes in his review of the article, what stands out in this paper is the critique of the communities of practice when it comes to higher education, in terms of the limited interactions between tutor and student, which problematise the idea of ‘mutual engagement’ where the novice can learn working alongside the expert Levrai concludes that this is an area where EAP can play an important role, helping the student through the academic writing process and offering that mutual engagement through formative feedback. The focus of educators must be on the student experience of learning to write at university while acknowledging the multifaceted, painful, and often messy ways in which this experience influences, and is influenced by, student identity
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