Linguistic, Cognitive, Social, and Educational Perspectives on English Academic Literacy Development in the Asia-Pacific

Abstract

English academic literacy development has become an increasingly important subject of inquiry in globalized and internationalized universities in Asian-Pacific areas. Research into English academic literacy is multifaceted, cutting across the cognitive, social, textual, and discourse practices intertwined with the various activities involved in lexical knowledge processing, interdisciplinary learning, and knowledge building. This diverse and broad scope entails a further critical inquiry into the different facets of academic literacy development processes from linguistic, social, cognitive, and educational perspectives. This chapter discusses major theoretical traditions and analyses four lines of inquiry in the current literature to highlight the major progress in the field and to identify the gaps in promoting the intertwined linguistic, social, and cognitive processes of English literacy development in classroom settings. Key pedagogical and methodological questions emerging from this analysis can prompt insightful discussions on bridging the hiatus between theory and practice, specifically academic literacy in classroom teaching through information technology. This systematic literature review further identifies the prominent role of learning theories (e.g., socio-cognitive theories, knowledge building, etc.) in designing, implementing, and developing English academic literacy in Asian-Pacific areas. We discuss theoretical, methodological, and educational implications and consider future directions for integrating research and educational practices to help develop the multiple dimensions of English academic literacy in classroom contexts.