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Much recent discussion of "academic literacies" has focussed upon the ways in which students are accultured into appropriate discourses and genres in the academy. This may be particularly true where a discipline has a very strong sense of lexicon and content. In awareness of this, semistructured interviews were carried out in the spring of 2009 with three highly experienced academic writers in the department of Accounting and Finance at the Manchester Business School. The main focus of this paper is on academic literacy practices. The results of the interviews are discussed in this paper, which examines the relationship between experienced writers and their discourse community, the norms within which they work, the place for creativity, and the extent to which each of these may be negotiated. It will firstly consider the concepts of "discourse community" and "Community of Practice" (CoP), before discussing notions of creativity and ideas-generation as a means of informing the academic work that these writers develop.

A number of commentators have discussed the importance of the relationship between culture and language learning. However, there appear to be few courses within language learning contexts that seek to explore that relationship. This article discusses one such course at the University of Manchester. The first part will outline the context of the course, the second will examine the ways in which the course supports the student learning experience. Students' reactions to the course and its effects on their negotiations with identity are described in part three, and finally we outline some of the language learning implications.

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to discuss the “Q-Step in the Community” programme, part of the Q-Step Centre based in the Sociology Department at Manchester Metropolitan University, designed to help address the skills gap in quantitative methods (QM) that is evident across parts of the UK higher-education sector. “Q-Step in the Community” is a data-driven work-based learning programme that works in partnership with local organisations to provide placement opportunities for final year undergraduates and postgraduates. Students conduct a quantitative research project, which is typically identified by the placement provider.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use quantitative and qualitative feedback from students and placement providers, along with our own reflections on the process to evaluate the placement programme. Data were collected through a focus group and email interviews with placement providers, along with a questionnaire, which was distributed to “Q-Step in the Community” alumni.FindingsData-driven work-based learning opportunities allow students to develop and demonstrate their quantitative skills and support networking opportunities whilst also developing valuable soft-skills experience of the workplace that develops their career-readiness. In addition, those opportunities provide valuable research for placement providers, which support their sustainability and enhance their service delivery.Research limitations/implicationsThe research focusses solely on one programme at one university offering quantitative data driven work-based learning opportunities at undergraduate and post-graduate level. It is not possible to make valid comparisons between those who do a placement with those who do not.Originality/valueViews of key stakeholders in the process have been sought for this research, which can be useful to consider for others considering developing similar programmes for their students.