Academic Literacies Perspective Research Articles

Reviewing the Literature on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): An Academic Literacies Perspective

There are few sources that critically evaluate the ways of reviewing the literature on scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). We use an academic literacies perspective as a lens with which to explore the ways that literature reviews may be undertaken. While reviewing the literature is often presented as a scientific, objective process, the reality is much messier, nuanced, and iterative. It is a complex, context-dependent procedure. We provide a practical, critical guide to undertaking SoTL literature reviews. We distinguish between embedded reviews that present a review contextualising the research that follows, as in most SoTL articles; and freestanding reviews that synthesise research on specific topics. We discuss the nature of embedded reviews, and evaluate systematic and narrative review approaches to undertaking freestanding reviews. We contend that the claims of the superiority of systematic reviews are unjustified. It is important that contextually-sensitive judgements and interpretation of texts associated with narrative reviews are seen as central to the reviewing process, and as a strength rather than a weakness. This article complements a separate one, where we apply an academic literacies lens to reviewing the literature on searching the SoTL literature. Together, they present a narrative review of searching and reviewing the SoTL literature undertaken systematically. We call for studies investigating the lived experiences of SoTL scholars. We illustrate this argument with an auto-ethnographic account of the often-serendipitous nature of our hunt for sources in preparing this review and the way our thinking and writing evolved during the writing of the two articles.

Searching the Literature on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): An Academic Literacies Perspective

There are few references that critically evaluate the different ways of searching the literature on scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), or how these are related to researchers’ goals. We use an academic literacies perspective as a lens with which to explore the different ways that literature searches may be undertaken. While searching the literature is often presented as a scientific objective process, the reality is much messier, nuanced, and iterative. It is a complex, context-dependent process. We provide a practical, critical guide to undertaking SoTL literature searches and argue that these need to be seen as socially constructed processes. There is no one right way of searching the SoTL literature. The academic literacies perspective leads us to emphasise the variety of different purposes for carrying out a literature search. We distinguish between using comprehensive tools and selective sources. We end by arguing that there is a need for SoTL researchers to be less insular and take purposeful steps to search for, cite, and amplify diverse voices. This article complements a separate one where we review and synthesise the SoTL literature.

A model to support the equitable development of academic literacy in institutions of higher education

ABSTRACT The globalisation of higher education and the resultant increase in the cultural and linguistic diversity of the student body has cast the spotlight on English language proficiency as never before. How universities best assess applicants’ linguistic suitability for their future degree studies, set appropriate proficiency thresholds, and put in place suitably structured, relevant and equitable language support post-entry is both an educational question and a moral one. This article looks specifically at English language support post-entry – widely referred to as in-sessional support – and considers a range of issues concerning the focus of that support and the nature of its delivery. It goes on to describe a decentralised model of English language provision that reflects an academic literacies perspective according to which English language development is inseparable from the acquisition of discipline knowledge. The model, implemented in Australia, rests on the idea that decentralised English language support in the form of faculty-based ‘satellite’ English language teams promotes relevance and thus engagement and learning. Furthermore, its scalability and cost-effectiveness help ensure that it is sustainable.

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

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’.

O DESENVOLVIMENTO DE UM MODELO DIALÓGICO DE PLANEJAMENTO DE PROJETOS DE PESQUISA PARA ESTUDANTES DOS ANOS FINAIS DO ENSINO FUNDAMENTAL

RESUMO As feiras de ciências impulsionam pesquisas científicas na escola. Como o conhecimento científico é privilegiado neste tipo de evento, os projetos mais prestigiados são os que resultam de uma investigação sistemática. Com o desafio de viabilizar o processo de planejamento de projetos investigativos em uma escola pública de Canoas (RS), este trabalho tem o objetivo de propor um modelo dialógico de planejamento de projetos de pesquisa para estudantes dos anos finais do ensino fundamental. A partir da perspectiva dos letramentos acadêmicos (LEA; STREET, 1998), o modelo apresentado neste artigo busca esclarecer aos estudantes aquilo que conta como conhecimento em determinada área e como isso aparece na escrita do projeto. Seguindo princípios da avaliação formativa (BLACK; WILIAM, 1998), foi elaborado um quadro com descritores avaliativos dos elementos de um projeto de pesquisa. Essa estratégia concebe os estudantes como protagonistas do processo de aprendizagem e também de avaliação, pois permite que eles saibam como serão avaliados de antemão e o que devem fazer para atingir os objetivos estabelecidos. Além disso, os estudantes também podem atuar como leitores interessados dos projetos uns dos outros, avaliando-os conforme os descritores e escrevendo pareceres como forma de feedback.

The Institutional Context of ‘Linguistic Injustice’: Norwegian Social Scientists and Situated Multilingualism

The debate about ‘linguistic injustice’ centers on whether or not English as an additional language (EAL) writers face challenges in writing academically that are qualitatively different from those of novice academic writers irrespective of language background. This study aims to add nuance to this debate by looking at range of writers (from novice to expert) within an interdisciplinary social science research institute in Norway in order to investigate the mediating role of the institutional context. Using an ethnographic approach with an academic literacies perspective, it examines the challenges these writers face and discusses them in light of tensions between identity and institutional environment. It argues that the high degree of immersion in English causes ‘situated multilingualism’, where their ability to write about their topic in English surpasses their ability to write about it in Norwegian. Nonetheless, even the expert writers, particularly those in disciplines that value a unique authorial voice, demonstrated insecurity and lack of ownership to their writing in English. Moreover, the pressure to also sometimes write in Norwegian represented an additional site of negotiation not faced by their non-Norwegian counterparts. This suggests that the challenges EAL writers face are not determined by their language background alone, but also by their institutional environment—including the pressure to publish ‘internationally’, the amount of writing expected, and their immersion in English.

‘I was not to forget that my reader comes from another world’: An Academic Literacies perspective on shuttling between the workplace and the academy

In response to pressure to participate in the ‘knowledge economy’, universities are offering a wide range of different masters programmes oriented to the professions. Universities are opening their doors without fully understanding what these programmes entail with little attention to the literacy challenges that students face together with supervisors and academic literacy teachers. This article contributes to our understanding of the mixed forms of academic discourse produced by postgraduates in professional masters programmes by focusing on students registered for the MTech in Policing at a large ODL (Open Distance Learning) university at the point where they are writing research proposals. I trace how students use recontextualization strategies, such as mimicry and transformation, to signal how postgraduate students engage with research literacies, as they shuttle between the workplace and academic contexts. Implications for supervisors and literacy instructors about the nature of social practices in an ODL context acknowledge and embrace hybridity as an emerging feature of the research literacy practices, rather than as a problem to be erased, based on a proposed hybrid PWU model.

From Practitioner to Researcher: Designing the Dissertation Process for Part Time Coursework Masters Students

Coursework Masters degrees that are offered as block release programmes provide opportunities for access to postgraduate education for adult students while in full time employ. These students attend structured contact modules after which they return to home and work and a distance format of study. However, these courses are generally characterised by low completion rates and lengthy time to completion, particularly of the research dissertation. While various explanations for this problem have been offered, for example, students’ non-academic commitments and supervisor–student-relations, our particular concern in this paper is students’ reading and writing practices in the transition from professional work practice and Masters coursework to the research dissertation. This paper proposes a systemic design to improve student reading and writing in this transition, and the proposal is illustrated using a block release coursework Masters programme in Management at a South African university. The design draws on interpretive systems ideas to think about the different levels of institutional and disciplinary context that impact on the research dissertation. We also use an academic literacies perspective—the concepts of literacy practice, language identity and power in particular—to think about reading and writing. This design incorporates components that include system elements, relationships, purpose and feedback that facilitate interaction between the conventions of the research practice, what the student brings to the practice, and the agency of the student.

Conventions in postgraduate academic writing: European students' negotiations of prior writing experience at an English speaking university

Postgraduate writing in the social sciences increasingly challenges the conventions of a model derived from the natural sciences. In addition, postgraduate second-language students usually bring with them prior experiences in academic writing which influences their writing development. Taking an Academic Literacies perspective, this ethnographically-informed case study combines and extends these lines of research in the specific context of student mobility in the European Higher Education Area. It investigates how Continental European master's students negotiate their prior experiences of academic writing when completing their theses at a UK university. The detailed analysis of three cases reveals that the students' initial understandings of academic English conventions as autonomous rules became increasingly depended on their disciplinary knowledge and the epistemological approaches of their theses. The results further highlight that the way students draw on prior experiences of academic English relates to their aims. In the light of their experiences, students might both challenge and actively preserve formal conventions of academic English. The findings suggest the need for EAP instructors and subject supervisors to adopt a balanced approach to scaffolding postgraduate academic writing and the importance of supportive institutional structures.

Making sense of power relations in a Malaysian English-as-a-second-language academic writing classroom

The role of power in an English-as-a-second-language classroom has yet to be fully explored by an action research practitioner, especially in a Malaysian higher education setting. This study aims to contribute to this gap by working within an academic literacies perspective to teaching academic writing, which propagates the understanding of power-relational, socio-cultural and epistemological conditions for effective teaching and learning. As the teacher in this classroom, I focus on how power-relational conditions play out. To activate the power conditions, I used a teaching principle in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)-negotiated interaction to reduce power-based mismatches between participants in a teaching or learning relationship in my classroom, drawing upon Kumaravadivelu’s work on post-method pedagogy for TESOL; that is, not being bound by any specific method of teaching. In analysing the different types of power that were operational in my classroom, wider implications of power that operate beyond the classroom level and how they impacted teaching and learning decisions were found to be highly illuminating. The action research methodology used for this study enabled me to reflect critically on my detailed diary recordings and student letter and interview collections, which in turn impacted on my teaching decisions as each teaching cycle was completed. My reflections also help shape my evolving identity as a teacher-researcher throughout this ongoing Malaysian action research journey.

Beyond deficit: graduate student research-writing pedagogies

Graduate writing is receiving increasing attention, particularly in contexts of diverse student bodies and widening access to universities. In many of these contexts, writing is seen as ‘a problem’ in need of fixing. Often, the problem and the solution are perceived as being solely located in notions of deficit in individuals and not in the broader embedded and sometimes invisible discourse practices. An academic literacies approach shifts the focus from the individual to broader social practices. This research project emerged out of an attempt to develop a graduate research-writing pedagogy from an academic literacies perspective. We present a detailed case study of one Masters' student to illustrate the results of a pedagogy that moved beyond notions of deficit and support. We argue that to be successful research writers, students need to (1) become discourse analysts; (2) develop authorial voice and identity; and (3) acquire critical competence.

Is non-subject based research training a ‘waste of time’, good only for the development of professional skills? An academic literacies perspective

In recent years, contentiously for some, universities have developed generalist skills lists and associated curricula in response to government demand for more ‘employment-ready’ graduates. Such training usually includes writing and communication. In Australia and the UK, guidelines designed to support the development of skills programmes describe research training as ‘generic skills’ and/or ‘discipline-based’. This framing effectively precludes a discussion of academic literacies perspectives on curriculum development and pedagogy for research training. In a review of some key insights from academic literacies and consideration of their implications for research training, the article discusses why academic literacies are not skills-based, strictly generic or informed by the students' discipline. The article suggests a reframing of the terms of research skills discussion to accommodate academic literacies perspectives. This would involve recognition of curriculum and pedagogy that aims to introduce the complex and diverse written genres, research purposes, rhetorical conventions, language functions and cultural norms that students are working with, an approach supportive of both effective student writing and subject learning.

Incorporating the notion of recontextualisation in academic literacies research: the case of a South African vocational web design and development course

This article describes a small scale ethnographically oriented research study seeking to contribute to understanding student academic literacy practices in a South African vocational, web design and development course. In this course digital multimodal assessments are the main means whereby students demonstrate their learning. The findings of the study provide insights into the contextualised ways in which student academic literacy practices are shaped by academic and professional contexts where digital and multimodal practices are privileged. The academic literacies perspective used in this study, while useful for exploring the nature of student academic literacy practices, has not paid enough attention to theorising how literacy practices are shaped by broader contextual influences. To address this limitation the paper speculates about how the Bernsteinian concept of knowledge recontextualisation might be used alongside an academic literacies frame. The inclusion of an empirical focus on recontextualisation can provide an opportunity to explore how knowledge construction and transformation processes in the academic and professional domains result in the privileging of particular academic literacy practices.

Rewriting writing in higher education: the contested spaces of proofreading

This article reports on a research project on proofreading, prompted by its proliferation in contemporary higher education. The article is framed by an academic literacies perspective and develops the concept of ‘writtenness’, which draws attention to both the underlying culturally and socially constructed values relating to the production and reception of written work, and the tendency to under‐acknowledge the academic achievement of writing well in the relevant discipline, especially in the case of students who do not already possess the requisite ‘cultural capital’. This includes international students whose first language is not English, as well as ‘non‐traditional’ students. The use of the term ‘proofreading’ is seen as masking the complexity of academic writing, on the one hand, and maintaining its status as relatively unimportant, on the other. Particularly in the latter case, this is seen as emblematic of a culturally deeply embedded predisposition to privilege knowledge or content over language.

The "Academic Literacies" Model: Theory and Applications

Although the term academic literacies was originally developed with regard to the study of literacies in higher education and the university, the concept also applies to K–12 education. An academic literacies perspective treats reading and writing as social practices that vary with context, culture, and genre (Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Street, 1984, 1995). The literacy practices of academic disciplines can be viewed as varied social practices associated with different communities. In addition, an academic literacies perspective also takes account of literacies not directly associated with subjects and disciplines, but with broader institutional discourses and genres. From the student point of view, a dominant feature of academic literacy practices is the requirement to switch their writing styles and genres between one setting and another, to deploy a repertoire of literacy practices appropriate to each setting, and to handle the social meanings and identities that each evokes.

Academic literacies and e-learning: A critical approach to writing in the online university

This paper adopts an academic literacies perspective to argue for a critical approach to the writing practices of the online university classroom. It describes an on-going action research project in an online Masters in Online and Distance Education (MAODE) programme at the UK Open University, which aims to create an online writing resource to support distance learners in developing a critical awareness of the writing practices on the programme. The paper presents the results of an evaluation study of this resource during the 2005 presentation of the MAODE, and discusses the evidence from this study that such a resource can provide a space for students to critique the dominant literacies of the online university.