Transferability of communicative competence to academic literacy competence in Peruvian university students

The dissertation examines how synchronous text-based computer-mediated communication (SCMC) tasks may affect English as a Second Language (ESL) learners’ development of second language (L2) and academic literacy. The study is motivated by two issues concerning the use of SCMC tasks in L2 writing classes. First, although some of the alleged benefits of SCMC, including its visual saliency and the possibility of slower processing speed, have been supported by theories of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), more evidence is still needed since empirical studies have not yet produced enough consistent findings. Second, most studies on SCMC have focused on its influence on learners' development of basic communicative competence while it has been suggested that SCMC may hold great potential for the development of advanced academic literacy (Luo, 2005; Mohan & Luo, 2005) that is considered as an essential goal for L2 writing classes. Therefore, the dissertation addresses these issues using mixed methods research completed in two phases. A quasi-experiment was conducted in the first phase among forty-four international students enrolled in two sections of an ESL academic writing course to examine the differential effects of SCMC and face-to-face tasks. The differential effects were assessed by comparing the students' improvement on measures of L2 grammatical and lexical complexity, accuracy, and fluency (Wolfe-Quintero, Inagaki, & Kim, 1998) from a pre-test to a post-test. The results of the quasi-experiment were also used to help select representative focal students for the multiple case studies in the second phase where the SCMC discourse of the focal students was examined for the details of L2 learning and the development of academic literacy. In analyzing the SCMC

BackgroundUniversities enroll students from diverse backgrounds every year, with 300 million students expected in higher education by 2025. However, with widening participation, increasing numbers of students enrolling in higher health education and future health professions will be underprepared to meet demands of academic literacies, i.e. ability to read, interpret and critically evaluate academic texts and communicating the understanding verbally or in writing. The aim of this scoping review was to describe and explore methods and strategies to promote development of academic literacies.ResultsThirty-one relevant studies were included and analyzed according to scoping review guidelines. The results showed four strategies: (1) integrating learning activities to develop academic literacies in the regular curriculum, (2) changing the course design with new methods for teaching and learning, (3) establish collaborations amongst academics and librarian faculty, and (4) adding courses or foundation year focusing on development of academic literacies. The results are discussed in light of the United Nations Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development, Goal 4, Quality Education, and widening participation.ConclusionsAspects of widening participation and inclusion in higher education have been debated, and increasing numbers of students from diverse backgrounds are expected to enter health studies in higher education. We encourage integration of teaching and learning activities targeting parallel learning of course materials and development of academic literacies, beyond study skills. Embracing epistemic complexity and diversity as well as choosing strategic work with academic literacies may provide a starting point toward realizing sustainable development goals and widening participation.

Academic literacy, as a representation of required skills in the academic community, has gained increasing prominence and attention over the past decade. It has been the focal point of many studies in different contexts drawing on different perspectives. However, the way academic literacy development is researched and practiced in multilingual and multicultural settings is limitedly clarified and dealt with in second/foreign language contexts. Moreover, the role of different developmental trends of this research strand on EFL teachers in multilingual milieus has been overlooked, to date. To shed more light on the construct of academic literacy development in multilingual and EFL contexts, the present review article takes a global vision and explicates the past, present, and future trends in researching and practicing this significant construct. In so doing, it defines the concepts and presents the dimensions of academic literacy and academic literacy development. Then the role of academic literacy in multilingualism has been elaborated on using empirical evidence. Finally, the study provides and explains some implications for EFL teachers, teacher educators, curriculum designers, and scholars, who can update their information about academic literacy development in multilingual contexts with particular nuances.

This study explored the role of learning climate on self-efficacy beliefs and self-perceived communication competences of EFL learners in higher education. The learning climate perceptions, self-efficacy beliefs, and self-perceived communication competence levels of EFL students were found to be moderate. There was not a significant difference among students' learning climate, self-efficacy, and self-perceived communication points in terms of their sex. There was a difference between 1st Grade and 2nd Grade students for learning climate, and there was not a significant difference among students' self-efficacy and self-perceived communication points in terms of their grade. A significant relationship among students' learning climate and self-efficacy and self-perceived communication competence in a positive way was found. While learning climate was found to be a lower predictor of self-efficacy and self-perceived communication competence, self-efficacy, and self-perceived communication competence were found to be stronger predictors of each other.

In higher education, generic competencies are those common to most students that can be used in the activities of a sector or organization. The objective was to identify generic competencies in Peruvian university students. The study was a descriptive, non-experimental cross-sectional design. The sample consisted of 567 university students of both sexes from public and private universities in Peru. The instrument applied was the questionnaire of generic competencies of university students (CCGEU). The results showed that Peruvian university students have a sufficient level of generic competencies; they use generic competencies almost always or always in the development of their activities. Likewise, in the dimensions, systemic competencies have the highest value, followed by interpersonal and instrumental competencies. It is concluded that most Peruvian university students use generic competencies at a sufficient level; however, some students never or almost never use them, so it would be important for the Peruvian university institutions where the participants study to implement strategies to strengthen generic competencies.

Individuals make decisions based on their self-perceived communication competence (SPCC). A person with a high and positive level of SPCC believes in their ability to engage in communication activities, adapt, and manage situations; that is, individuals perceive their communication competence as being dependent on self-awareness rather than on actual communicative ability. Meanwhile, communication apprehension is understood as the fear or anxiety an individual experiences in real or anticipated communication encounters with another person or persons. The present study aims to investigate the following: The level of self-perceived communication competence among gifted students. The level of communication apprehension among gifted students. The relationship between self-perceived communication competence and communication apprehension. The extent to which self-perceived communication competence in its different contexts (talking to strangers, talking to friends, talking to acquaintances, and public speaking) contributes to the overall variance in communication apprehension. To achieve the study’s objectives, the researcher developed a scale for measuring self-perceived communication competence and adopted the Communication Apprehension Scale developed by Al-Naqshbandi (2005). The study sample consisted of 300 male and female students from Gifted Secondary Schools, selected through stratified random sampling from the directorates of education in Baghdad (Al-Rusafa I, Al-Rusafa II, and Al-Karkh II). The researcher established the psychometric properties of the scales, including validity and reliability. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient for the Self-Perceived Communication Competence Scale was 0.89; in the four contexts, the reliability coefficients were 0.76 for talking to strangers, 0.79 for talking to friends, 0.73 for talking to acquaintances, and 0.76 for public speaking. The Cronbach’s alpha for the Communication Apprehension Scale was 0.86. After analyzing the data using SPSS, the researcher arrived at the following findings: The study sample exhibited self-perceived communication competence. Gifted students experienced communication apprehension. A relationship was found between self-perceived communication competence and communication apprehension among gifted students. Self-perceived communication competence in the context of talking to acquaintances contributed negatively to the total variance in communication apprehension, while competence in public speaking contributed positively to the total variance in communication apprehension. No significant contribution was found in the contexts of talking to strangers or talking to friends. The researcher concluded with a set of recommendations and suggestions.

The concept of epistemological access, formulated by Morrow (1994; 2007), has been highly influential in higher education. It has been widely used in the sense of moving beyond physical or formal access to meaningful access to the “goods” of the university. An academic literacy approach acknowledges the complexity of literacy practices at university level. According to this approach, students need to master disciplinary literacies in order to learn and engage with knowledge (Lea and Street 1998; 2006). Epistemological access, social justice and academic literacies have been widely researched in the South African higher education field. This conceptual article explores the relationship between epistemological access and the development of students’ academic literacies to enhance social justice within the South African higher education context. We draw on related literature and our current experiences as academics to critique current institutional practices aimed at addressing the development of academic literacies and promoting student success. We argue for greater attention to be paid at institutional and faculty level to enhancing epistemological access and social justice. This article ends by putting forward a number of propositions towards strengthening student epistemological access and academic literacies development in higher education from a social justice perspective.

The development of academic literacy is fundamental to student success in higher education. Universities offer various types of student support, ranging from generic courses to discipline-specific academic literacy instruction. The approach that has been advocated as the most inclusive and systematic is the embedding of academic literacy instruction into subject curricula. Embedding is best facilitated when English for academic purposes (EAP) specialists, with their linguistic and pedagogical expertise, work in collaboration with subject lecturers. Whilst there are several published examples of embedded academic literacy instruction led by EAP practitioners, there is still little evidence of collaborations in which subject lecturers assume some responsibility for students’ academic literacy development. Although there has been a growing trend towards collaborative and embedded activities, they remain largely invisible(Tibbetts and Chapman 2023. A guide to in-sessional English for academic purposes: Paradigms and practices. London: Routledge). This study aimed to offer detailed insights into current initiatives in UK universities and to identify factors that facilitate or constrain collaborations and institution-wide provision of embedded academic literacy support. For this purpose, we conducted open interviews with EAP leaders at fifteen universities. The findings indicate that the type of institution as well as the representation of EAP staff in departmental committees are important factors for the implementation and sustainability of collaborative and embedded academic literacy provision. Based on the findings, we propose some steps that EAP leaders can take to reduce the structural and perceptual barriers preventing the expansion of this provision across institutions.

In the era of artificial intelligence, emerging digital technologies have revolutionized the nature of workplaces, making digital competency (DC) an increasingly essential competency in the modern job market. However, there are discrepancies between the existing and required levels of DC among employees, highlighting the need for proper and early educational interventions to foster this competency in higher education. In response to this need, this study aims to explore the degree of commitment (DC) among university students in work contexts. This study first developed an instrument to assess the level of DC and conventionally stressed job competencies—cognitive, interpersonal, and self-leadership—and applied it to 4,297 first-year university students. The study first compared the students' DC levels with other job competencies and found that their DC levels were lower than those of other competencies. Additionally, the study investigated the relationship between DC and other job competencies, identifying the prerequisite role of DC in affecting other competencies. Finally, the study also explored factors that promote DC and found that students' interest in emerging information and communication technologies is the most prominent indicator of their DC level. We also examined the effect of experience and attitude toward learning programming on the DC level and found that they were also significant factors. In particular, learning both block-based and text-based programming languages was the most effective means to improve DC. Accordingly, the practical implications for future studies and stakeholders regarding students' DC in higher education were discussed.

Lecturers’ teaching practices often leave indelible impressions on students’ learning development. Students tend to respond to expectations that lecturers set, which might limit or extend the boundaries of learning. Given that not all students might access higher education with the requisite level of academic readiness to respond to the academic demands of first year studies, lecturers’ academic literacy requirements and practices contribute to setting the tone for reading and writing in higher education. This article draws on lecturers’ expectations of writing practices for the first-year subjects they teach to explore how academic literacy development for higher education might be supported or limited. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with lecturers to gain insight into writing skills and practices required for their respective subjects. Written summative assessments were analysed to determine whether lecturers’ perspectives of writing aligned with assessment expectations. This study provides support for the contention that lecturers’ play a significant role in nurturing or limiting students’ academic writing development. The findings suggest that academic writing practices that lecturers espouse have ramifications for how students access and articulate knowledge not only at first year level, but for vertical progression through the years of study.Keywords: Academic literacy; academic writing; lecturer expectations; summative assessments

Autonomous learning is a fundamental competence in higher education, empowering students to take control of their academic development. Assessing this skill reliably requires robust measurement tools. This study aimed to evaluate the factorial structure and internal consistency of the Autonomous Learning Strategies Scale (CETA) among university students in Peru. We included 418 college students from professional education programs in Peru who participated in the study. The CETA, designed to assess multiple dimensions of autonomous learning, was subjected to rigorous psychometric evaluation. First-order, second-order, and bifactor models were tested through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Reliability was examined using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s Omega coefficients. The second-order factor model with six underlying dimensions demonstrated the best fit indices and model stability. Inter-factor correlations were moderate and conceptually coherent with the scale’s theoretical structure. The findings support the second-order model as the most reliable and valid representation of the CETA. This model is recommended for future research and practical applications in educational settings aimed at evaluating and fostering autonomous learning in university students.

The assessment of knowledge and skills acquired by the student at each academic stage is crucial for every educational process. This paper proposes and tests an approach based on a structured assessment test for mathematical competencies in higher education and methods for statistical evaluation of the test. A case study is presented for the assessment of knowledge and skills for solving linear algebra and analytic geometry problems by first-year university students. The test includes three main parts—a multiple-choice test with four selectable answers, a solution of two problems with and without the use of specialized mathematical software, and a survey with four questions for each problem. The processing of data is performed mainly by the classification and regression tree (CART) method. Comparative analysis, cross-tables, and reliability statistics were also used. Regression tree models are built to assess the achievements of students and classification tree models for competency assessment on a three-categorical scale. The influence of 31 variables and groups of them on the assessment of achievements and grading of competencies is determined. Regression models show over 94% fit with data and classification ones—up to 92% correct classifications. The models can be used to predict students’ grades and assess their mathematical competency.

This chapter presents a national initiative for creating a framework that develops academic digital literacy across higher education institutions in Denmark. The STAK project (Students' Academic Digital Competencies in Higher Education) is a 2-year cross-institutional project between five higher education institutions in Denmark. The project targets both capacity building within the institutions in relation to integrating 'expanded information literacy', as well as competency development of educational developers and teachers across the different institutions by way of collaboration and co-creation. In the chapter, the STAK project is introduced along with its research foundation, method for cross-institutional educational development and developed activities, digital competency pillars and categories for transforming higher education.

Preface Chapter 1. Introduction Daniella Molle Part I. Academic literacies: A rationale and exploration of the construct Chapter 2. Academic language and academic literacies: Mapping a relationship Daniella Molle Chapter 3. In more than one tongue: Academic literacies at work as living texts Marylin Low Chapter 4. Adolescent development and everyday language practices: Implications for the academic literacy of multilingual learners Alison Bailey, Marjorie Faulstich Orellana Chapter 5. A sociocultural approach to academic literacy in mathematics for adolescent English learners: Integrating mathematical proficiency, practices, and discourse Judit Moschkovich Chapter 6. Translingual literacies in a social media age: Lessons learned from youth's transnational communication online Jose Ramon Lizarraga, Glynda Hull, John Scott Part II. Academic literacy development: Contexts and practices Chapter 7. Bilingualism-as-participation: Examining adolescents' bi(multi)lingual literacies across out-of-school and online contexts Mariana Pacheco Chapter 8. Academic literacy development: A ten-year case study of an aspiring writer Cathy Compton-Lilly Chapter 9. Inquire to acquire: A discourse analysis of bilingual students' development of science literacy Laura Wright Chapter 10. Schooling begins before adolescence: The case of Manuel and limited opportunities to learn Kathy Escamilla Part III. Implications of an academic literacies approach to learning Chapter 11. The use of assessment in support of the development of adolescents' academic literacies Margaret Heritage Chapter 12. Building teacher knowledge of academic literacy and language acquisition: A framework for teachers' cross-disciplinary professional learning Mary Avalos, Margarita Zisselsberger, Jennifer Langer-Osuna, Walter Secada Chapter 13. Establishing a foundation for academic literacy: The role of standards Edynn Sato Chapter 14. Literacy development in academic contexts for adolescent English language learners: Policy considerations and future research Timothy Boals, Kenji Hakuta, Alissa Blair List of Contributors

This study was conducted in the South African context, where education is in a state of transition. One of the central issues in higher education is the development of academic literacy. However, as a result of an inadequate focus on educational linguistics and a lack of explicit instruction in academic literacy, many students do not achieve their full potential. This study focuses on aspects of academic literacy in the examination responses of a group of students studying in the discipline of speech-language pathology. The purpose of the study was to determine whether or not there is a relationship between the students’ academic literacy skills and their ability to answer examination questions. By means of an exploratory retrospective longitudinal record review, the examination scripts of 20 students were rated for evidence of various academic literacy skills. The ratings were highly correlated to the actual examination marks in both years of study, suggesting that there is a need to incorporate explicit instruction in academic literacy to develop students’ metacognitive processes while reading and writing for academic purposes.