Academic literacy across the curriculum: Towards a collaborative instructional approach

Abstract

I respond to the conference theme ‘English across the Curriculum’ by suggesting that ‘Academic literacy’ should be taught across the curriculum. I first explain the concept of academic literacy, which describes the range of abilities that students have to acquire when starting out in a new academic discipline. I then discuss the dominant instructional provision at universities. As this provision fails to address students’ real learning needs, I argue for curriculum-integrated academic literacy instruction that is based on the collaboration between English for academic purposes (EAP) specialists and subject lecturers. I provide examples of collaborative, discipline-specific approaches to supporting student learning, and present some insights from an intervention study that I have carried out to explore feasible ways of teaching and collaboration. Finally, I discuss the need for lecturer training to achieve a curriculum-integrated approach, and report on my experience of running a professional development module which aimed to enable lecturers to embed academic literacy development into their teaching practice.

Developing students’ academic literacies via Wikipedia-based tasks

“…Eelkirjeldatud, aga ka muud Wikipedia-põhised ülesanded, kus õppijad ei ole pelgalt lugeja rollis, toetavad akadeemilise kirjaoskuse arengut. Kuigi akadeemilist kirjaoskust samastatakse mõnikord akadeemilise teksti kirjutamise oskusega, ei seisne kirjaoskus üksnes kirjutamisoskuses: akadeemiline kirjaoskus väljendab suutlikkust akadeemilises ringkonnas pädevalt suhelda, mis omakorda eeldab oskust lugeda, teavet kriitiliselt hinnata ja esitada ning teadmisi luua, seda nii kirjalikult kui ka suuliselt (Wingate, 2018). Peale verbaalsete elementide hõlmab akadeemiline kirjaoskus ka mitteverbaalseid osi, nt fotosid ja graafikuid (Richards & Pilcher, 2018).…”

“…Täname fookusrühma intervjuudes osalenud õppejõude, õppeassistente ja üliõpilasi sisukate arutelude eest. both orally and in writing (Wingate, 2018). Since, based on this definition, academic literacies are no longer a single skill but rather a set of skills, Mary Lea and Brian Street suggest approaching academic literacies in the context of teaching writing as a three-fold phenomenon consisting of study skills, academic socialisation and academic literacies.…”

Power, Identity, and Culture in International Students' Perceptions of Academic Writing

“…Literacies are therefore seen as diverse, socially and culturally situated, shifting, contextualized, ideologically shaped and contested (LILIS AND TUCK, 2016). This views literacy events and practices as something that all students, regardless of linguistic background, must learn to navigate (STREET, 2015;WINGATE, 2018). Further, concepts like power, identity, and culture are centrally situated in this navigation (LEA, 2004).…”

“…Further, concepts like power, identity, and culture are centrally situated in this navigation (LEA, 2004). Additionally, Academic Literacies recognizes the implicit nature of expectations in academia along with the fact that difficulties detected in writing are often wrongly attributed to language problems (WINGATE, 2018).…”

Feedback in Masters Courses and the Development of International Students’ Academic Literacy

“…Existing literature stresses the diverse, complex and changing nature of literacy in different contexts Gee, 1996;Lankshear and Knobel, 2007;Lea and Street, 1998;Leki, 2007;Lillis and Scott, 2007;Wingate, 2018), but much less is known about specific elements that constitute academic literacy in higher education, or how these may be configured in specific ways that allow for differences across disciplines, academic contexts and individuals.…”