1 Learningtowrite:Writingtolearn

AcademicWriting:ALiteratureReview Academicwritingplaysamajorroleinthefieldofhighereducation andistheprimaryformofcommunicationwithinindividualsubject disciplines.Inrecentyearshowever,concernshavearisen regardingstudentabilityinthisarea.Manyresearchersand academicsarenowinvestigatingthecurrentandfutureroleof st academicwritingwithin21 Centuryeducationalinstitutions.This paperwillthereforediscussthecurrenttheoriesimplementedby practitionersandthepracticalwaysinwhichsuchdebatescanbe developed. Theproblemofacademicwriting Academicwritingisusedtoexpressacquiredknowledgeina specificsubjectarea.Suchwritingtendstobeseriousinnatureand oftendemonstratesparticulartheoriesorargumentsinrelationtoa specifieddiscourse.Academicwritingismainlyundertakenfor learningdevelopmentorcourseassessmentpurposesandthesame principlesapplytopublicationofacademicpapers. Thechangingnatureofhighereducationiscreatingamajorissuein thesupportanddevelopmentofacademicwriting.From1987to 1992studentparticipationinhighereducationdoubled,changing fromanelitistsystemintoamassone(althoughcritics,Layer2006, arguethatthefailureoffundingagenciestomatchthegrowthof resourcesmeansthatitissimplycrowded). Inadditiontothis growth,thepresentgovernmentplanstoincreasethenumberof studentsinhighereducationsubstantiallyoverthenextdecade effectively, expandingtowards50%participation(GreatBritain2003.p.22). Thisincreaseinstudentnumbershasbroughtwithitaproliferation instudentdiversity,withhighereducationinstitutionsencountering studentswithvaryingacademicabilitiesandculturalbackgrounds. Practically,theincreaseinstudentnumbershasalsocreated resourceissuesinmanyinstitutionswithbothacademicstaffand learningfacilitiesbeingconsiderablystretched.TheDearingreport in1997highlightedtheneedforaradicalchangeinattitudesto teaching(p.15)inordertocopewiththenewchallengesfacingthe highereducationsector.

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Themagnitudeoftheissuesraisedabovedemonstratesaneedfor swiftandsignificantchangeinhighereducationwritingprovision andhighlightstherequirementforashiftinbothteachingpedagogy andpracticalmethod(Haggis,2006).Academicwritingis increasinglybecomingaprominentissuewhichneedstobe addressed. Internationally,academicwritinganditstheoriesareevidentin Australia,SouthAfrica,andNorthernEuropehoweveritisthe UnitedStatesthathasdevelopedmostsubstantiallyinthefield. Americaninstitutionshavebeenprovidingtheirstudentswith th writingsupportsincethelate19 century.Inresponse,theories anddevelopmentsinacademicwritinghavebeendiscussedand publishedintheUSAsincethe1960s(GrabeandKaplan,1996). ConsequentlyBritainalsoneedstoimplementarangeof approachestoacademicwritingtoreflecttheincreasedsizeand diversityofthestudentpopulation. Theimportanceofacademicwriting Academicwritingplaysamajorroleinhighereducation,bothin studentunderstandingofcoursecontentandtheconsequent assessmentofstudentknowledge.Recentstudieshavehighlighted thatacademicstaffareawareoftheimportanceofwriting,withone surveyhighlightingthatalmost90%ofstafffeltthatitwas necessarytoteachwritingskillstouniversitystudents(Ganobscik Williams,2004.p.28).Maintainingstandardsofacademicwriting hassignificantimplicationsforboththoseteaching,andlearningin highereducation. Theabilitytoexpressthemselveseffectivelyisanintrinsic transferableskillforstudents,whichcanbemasteredand developedthroughouttheiruniversityeducation. Inorderfor studentstolearnandcontributetotheirsubjectfield,an understandingofthelanguageusedandtheabilitytocommunicate insuchdialogueisessential.Fromapractionersviewpoint,marking becomesfarlesslaboriouswhentheworkiswellwrittenand displaysargumentsclearlyandconcisely. Itconsequentlyfallsto theroleofteachingstafftoinitiatestudentsintotheirdisciplineand tosupportthemduringtheiracademicprogress.Thedevelopment ofeffectiveacademicwritingsupportclearlyoffersreciprocalbenefit tobothstudentsandstaff.Nevertheless,thewaysinwhichitis integratedintosubjectdisciplinescreatesachallengeforthehigher educationsector.

KeyTheoriesandMethodologies Keythinkersinvolvedinthefieldofacademicwritingcomefroma rangeofdisciplinesandmanyhavetaughtandarestillteachingina highereducationenvironment.Asacademicsthemselves,writersin thisfieldhavedocumentedtheirattemptstonegotiateapath betweenthelimitedresourcesoftheeducationsectorandthe escalatingdemandsplaceduponthem. Mostofthecurrentresearchundertakentendstofocusprimarilyon smallscaleprojectsthatexamineindividualexperiencesasopposed toawholeinstitutionapproachtoacademicwriting. Consequently, thefindingsofsuchsmallscaleresearchcannotbeeasilyappliedon anationalscale. IntheUKthereisabroadconsensusaboutthethreemain approachestoacademicwritinginhighereducationtheskills model,thesocialisationmodelandfinallytheacademicliteracies approach. SkillsModel Theskillsmodel(oftenreferredtoasthedeficitmodel),involves theteachingofstudyskills,(includingwriting)throughindividual onetoonesupportsessionsorgroupworkshops. Suchclassesare usuallybasedinthestudentsupportcentreandareconductedby nonacademicstaff.Sessionsfocusongenericbasedsupport outsideofthesubjectdisciplineandtendtofocusonindividual projectsorassignmentswithwhichstudentsmaybestruggling.Due tothenatureofsuchsupportitisoftenviewedasaservice providedforstudentsexperiencingacademicdifficultiesand thereforehasarelativelevelofstigmaattached. Inpreviousyears thethinkingbehindstudentwritingandstudysupporthasidentified academicwritingasastudentcentredproblem(LeaandStreet, 1998).Consequentlytheskillsmodelofferspracticalsolutionsin linewiththisnotion.Thismodelidentifiestheresponsibilityforthe problemofacademicwritingaslyingprimarilywiththestudent. Thisapproachidentifiestheissueasapersonalfailingandoffers minimalsupporttostudentswhomaybestruggling.Whilst,some studysupportcentresareattemptingtoprovideaservicethatis, nonstigmatisedandwhichhasanondeficitmodel(Orrand Blythman,1999.p.203), itremainstobeseenjusthowtheroleof studentstudysupportwilldevelopwithregardtogenericacademic writingskills. Theskillsmodelalsohastheadvantageofbeingpowerneutral andanonymousandforsomestudentsthismaymaketheservicea

lessintimidatingactivity.Theskillsmodel,althoughimperfect,does haveanimportantroletoplaywithregardtostudentswhomaybe strugglingwithgenericwritingskillsandthereforeismaintainedby mostinstitutionsasavitalareaofsupport. SocialisationModel Thesocialisationmodel,(alsoreferredtoastheinstitutionaldefault model),impliesthatstudentswillacquireacademicwritingskills throughimplicitinduction(GanobcsikWilliams,1996.p.32). The modelholisticallyexaminesstudentsdailyengagementwiththe subjectdiscoursealongsidetheroleoftheinstitutionalhabitus. Thisapproachassumesthatstudentswilldevelopknowledgeand skillsintheirchosendiscoursesimplybybeingimmersedinthe cultureofhighereducation.Assuchthesocialisationmodelismore attunedtoissuesofcontextandculturethanthatoftheskills model,andchallengesthepresumptionthatacademicwritingis solelyanindividualissue. Whilstthisapproachhighlightsthe studentneedtoidentifyandinterpretthelanguageofthediscourse, italsorecognisestheuniversityanditsteachingstaffasbeing integralinthetransferenceofacademicwritingskillsand knowledge. Thesocialisationmodelallowsforanappreciationoftheconceptof acculturationandfindsitsrootsinconstructivisteducationmethods. Byidentifyingthat,Learningisasocialactivity(Hein,1991.p.2)it becomesclearthatsocialisationintothehighereducationculture playsanimportantroleinstudentdevelopment. Whilstan emergenceinthecultureofhighereducationmayplayanimportant partwecannotsupposethatsimplesocialisationmayremedy academicwritingissues.Ultimatelythesocialisationmodeltreats theuniversity, Asahomogenousculture,whosenormsandpracticeshavesimply tobelearnttoprovideaccesstothewholeinstitution.(Leaand StreetascitedinLeaandStierer,2000.p.35) Discussionsoflinguisticsandacademicliteracies(SpackandZamel, 1998)however,demonstratetousthecomplexitiesoflanguage, highlightingthatitcannotbeassumedthatstudentswillsimply soakupthelanguageofacomplexdiscoursethatmayhavetaken theirlecturerthemselvesmanyyearstounderstand. Togetherthetwoapproacheshaveprovidedthetheoreticalbasisfor practicalacademicwritingprovisionthroughouthighereducation institutionsintheUK.Howeverthelimitationsofthesetwo

approacheshasleadresearcherstoproposethatamoreholistic approachtoacademicwritingisrequired.Consequentlyinthelast decadetheprominenceoftheacademicliteraciesapproachhas developedintotheprimaryschoolofthought,withmuchof proposedfutureactionbeingbasedarounditspropositions. AcademicLiteraciesModel Academicliteraciesisaprominenttheoreticalinfluenceupon practitionersresearchingacademicwriting.Theapproachchallenges thenotionthatwritingissolelyatechnicalskilloranindividual actionbutinstead, identifieswritingasasocialanddisciplinarypractice(Lillis1999. p.26) Theacademicliteraciesmodelthereforeexaminestheinstitutional cultureinwhichwritingtakesplaceandthewayinwhichthismay encourageorhinderwritingdevelopment.Thetheorytakesa holisticapproachtowritingandexaminesthewaysinwhichcurrent modelsandpracticesmayneedtobeadaptedinorderto accommodatethechangingcultureofhighereducation. Bydevelopingtheskillsandsocialisationmodelsacademicliteracies hasbeguntoquestiontheverynatureandcontextofacademic writing.Byexaminingwritinginsuchamoreholisticmanner, academicliteraciesexploresthecultureandcontextinwhichwriting takesplaceandconsequentlytheverynatureofhighereducation itself. Researchinthefieldofacademicwritingisprimarilybasedonsmall scalecasestudiesandethnographicaccountsofwritingat university(Ivanic,1998).Suchresearchprovidesamuchdeeper understandingofthepersonalintricaciesandculturalissuesraised bystudentsandstaffwithregardtoacademicwritingprovision. Onekeyfeatureofthisapproachisthatitintrinsicallylinks academicwritingandpersonalidentityhighlightinghow, Astudentspersonalidentitymaybechallengedbytheformsof writingrequiredinthedifferentdisciplines(LeaandStreet,2000. p.35) Recentresearchhasalsoexaminedissuesofidentityandwriting withregardtoclass,race(Lillis,1999.p.24)andgender(Francis, B.2001),highlightingtheeffectsofincreasingdiversitywithinthe fieldofhighereducation.Lillis(1999)foundthatsomestudents wereactuallyfullyawareofthecorrectstylesandtechnicalitiesof writingacademically.Despitethis,theyfeltthatbywritinginsucha

mannerthepieceofworkdidnotfeelreflectiveoftheirpersonal style. Thesefindingschallengetheskillsandsocialisation approaches,insteadprovidingsoundevidenceforamoreholistic model,examiningthecultureandcontextinwhichwritingtakes place.Whilsttheacademicliteraciesapproachinfluencesthe majorityofwritingsupportestablishedinAmerica,themajorityof UKhighereducationinstitutionsdonotpracticetheacademic literaciesapproach,butareinsteadtrappedinanineffectivesystem basedprimarilyontheskillsandsocialisationmodels.Itis importanttonotehoweverthatnoneofthesemethodsaloneis sufficienttotackletheissueshighlightedaboveandinstitutions needtobeawarethatthemodels, arenotmutuallyexclusiveanddonotfollowasimplelinear pattern(GanobscikWilliams,2004.p.36). Itisinsteadconsideredthatthethreemodelsinterlinkandthat eachplaysanimportantroleinthevariousfacetsofacademic writing.Individualinstitutionsconsequentlyneedtobeawareof eachoftheseapproachesandabletoutilisethemasandwhen appropriate. Thepracticalapplicationofacademicwritingtheory Academicliteraciestheorychallengescurrentpracticeswithregard towritingsupportandhaspromotedasubjectbasedapproachto teachingwritingskills. Consequentlythroughthemergingofskills, socialisationandacademicliteraciesapproaches,arangeof practicalmethodshavebeenestablished.Thisunificationof approachescanbeseeninanumberofinitiativesfromcompulsory writingcoursesforstudentsintheirfirstyearthroughto institutionalwritingcentres.Despiteclearfindingsfromthefieldof academicliteraciesandpracticalapproachestakeninAmerica,the majorityofmeasurestakenintheUKhavesimplyinvolved integratinggenericwritingassistanceintostudentsupport programmes.Nevertheless,practicalacademicwritingsupportcan beeffectiveinanumberofwaysfromgenericwritingcoursestothe implementationofsubjectspecificwritingwithinlectures. Academic literaciestheorysuggeststhatinstitutionsneedtodevelopagreater awarenessoftheissueandthereforestaffdevelopmentandtraining wouldprovebeneficial.Allofthesemethodscanbeimplementedin avarietyofwaysandareinformedbytherangeoftheoretical approachesdiscussedabove.Oneoutcomeofthecurrentinterestis 2 3 thecreationoftwoCETLsLearnhigher andWriteNow whoare

2 3

http://www.learnhigher.ac.uk/ http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/depts/dops/writingcentre/writenowcetl.cfm

currentlyinvestigatinganddevelopingcollaborativeresourcesfor sectoruse. Insummary,academicwritingisasubstantialissuethatneeds attentionandsupportfromtheacademiccommunity.By amalgamatingboththeskills,socialisationandacademicliteracies approach,institutionshavetheopportunitytodevelopeffective frameworkstoassiststudentsintheiracademicdevelopment. Embeddedineventhemostabstractofwritingtheoriesisthe possibilityforpracticalinitiativestoimprovestudentwriting. Itis thereforenecessaryforvariouspracticalwritingmethodstobe implementedandevaluatedatbothaninstitutionwideand individualprogrammelevelinordertodeveloparangeof resources.Withoutsuchsupportproblemsmayarisenotonlyfor retentionbutalsoforstudentengagementandoverallcourse satisfaction. Althoughthispapersuggestsafewpracticalwaysofintroducing anddevelopingsubjectspecificacademicwritingsuchprocesses needtobedevelopedandadaptedtofitprogrammesandindividual academicstyles.Whilstissuesofresourcesandtimewillalwaysbe present,theresearchoutlinedinthispaperallowsacademicstaff theopportunitytodeveloptheirownpracticeandconsequently improvethelearningexperiencefortheirstudents.

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