The academic writing process in Spanish universities: perceptions of students and faculty / El proceso de escritura académica en la universidad española: percepciones de estudiantes y profesores

Abstract

This paper is intended as an exploration of university faculty and students' perceptions of a number of dimensions involved in the written composition of academic texts. We analysed the responses to scale 3 in the European Writing Survey (EUWRIT) (in its Spanish version: Encuesta Europea sobre la Escritura Académica, EEEA) by a group of social science and humanities students (n = 1,030) and faculty (n = 230) from nine Spanish universities. We then examined the similarities and differences in their perceptions and established a factorial structure of the different dimensions underlying the writing process. The data indicate that both groups concur in the value assigned to both changing ideas in the course of the composition process (although this process seems to be understood differently by each group) and the revision and feedback processes. The students, however, claim to be involved in more planning and previous reading activities than the teachers perceive them to be. The significance of these results for a processoriented perspective in academic writing is discussed.

Academic writing practices in a psychology degree in the distance learning modality (Prácticas de escritura académica en el pregrado de psicología en modalidad a distancia)

“…Based on the responses to these questions, we can draw a general conclusion that the results found in the distance-learning modality are quite similar to those found in the face-to-face modality, both in how writing practices are described and in some of the differences in faculty's and students' perceptions (Marín et al, 2015). Thus, for example, the data from this study reveal that the text product is valued more than the intellectual process of writing (Carlino, 2013), as activities oriented at the process were done quite seldom (Castelló & Mateos, 2015), given that a significant proportion of students write a draft before beginning to write a text only rarely or sometimes, and they state that they always receive only a grade for their written work.…”

“…Recent studies conducted in Spain like Castelló and Mateos (2015), Castells et al (2015), Corcelles et al (2015) and Marín et al (2015) found that epistemic writing tasks in university education are scarcely or never assigned. Thus, in the opinion of Castelló and Mateos (2015), their absence is one of the main findings of studies framed within these two approaches (WAC and WID) which have examined the status of academic writing in Spain and the Latin American countries.…”

Euskarazko alfabetatze akademikoa helburu: irakaskuntza sistematizatzeko urratsak. Academic literacy in Basque: aims to systematize its teaching.

“…Idazketa akademikoa, hortaz, jarduera konplexua da, konpetentzia anitz menderatzea eskatzen duena. Horien artean, hurrengoak ditu bere baitan: testuen ekoizpenean agertzen diren mekanismo diskurtsiboen kudeaketa, diziplinaren ezagutza eta diziplina horretara lotuta dauden genero diskurtsiboen ezagutza, arlo horretan ekoiztu diren testuen ulermena, hizkuntzaren erabilera zuzena eta egokia, idazteak eskatzen dituen erregulazio-prozesuen koordinazioa eta diskurtsoaren inguruko komunitatearen eskaera nahiz itxaropenei erantzuna ematea (Marín, López eta Roca de Larios, 2015). Hori dela eta, unibertsitateko lehen ikasturtetik, ikasleek hainbat genero diskurtsibotako idatzizko testuak ekoitzi behar dituzte: idatzizko azterketak, txostenak, erreseinak, etab.…”

Una intervención formativa del Centro de Escritura Nebrija en la Facultad de Ciencias Sociales

“…Es decir, los universitarios deben aprender a comunicarse como los miembros de la comunidad universitaria de la que son parte al igual que como los miembros de las comunidades discursivas profesionales de las que pretenden formar parte en su futuro (Carlino, 2013). Asimismo, han de ser conscientes de su propio proceso de escritura, de los recursos de los que disponen y de los diferentes géneros y modos de escribir que les serán necesarios (Camps, 2011;Carlino, 2003;Lacon y Ortega, 2008;Marín, López, & Roca-De-Larios, 2015). El segundo objetivo de la alfabetización académica es ayudar a los estudiantes a apropiarse del conocimiento producido por ellos durante el proceso de escritura.…”