Malmö University Publications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Why is researchers’ professional life important for students?
Malmö högskola, Faculty of Education and Society (LS), Department of Culture, Languages and Media (KSM).ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3958-3971
Malmö högskola, Faculty of Education and Society (LS), Department of Culture, Languages and Media (KSM).ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9243-0766
2014 (English)Conference paper, Poster (with or without abstract) (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Previous research indicated students’ difficulties in acquiring academic reading and writing literacies. Achieving language proficiency expected in higher education often requires hard work from students. Their problems with reading and writing academic texts also presents a challenge for university teachers, who are expected to support students in their academic language development. Our research project aims at exploring how text-based conversations can be used to develop students' understanding of the conventions in academic texts, as well as students’ ability to examine these texts critically. Students’ need for continuous support, related to the educational content, has been discussed before (e.g. Lea & Street, 1998; Monroe, 2003). University teachers, regardless of their subjects or disciplines, can support students’ reading and writing development in a variety of ways (e.g. Lillis & Scott, 2007; Wingate, 2011). Our point of departure is in socio-culturally oriented research on academic writing (e.g. Lea & Street, 1998; Blåsjö, 2004). For this investigation of text-based conversations, however, we also use more text-oriented and genre-based approaches (e.g. Hyland, 2004; Bazerman, Bonini & Figueiredo, 2009). Our project is based on a qualitative study of students' conversations on a scientific text included in their course. The text-based conversations were conducted during a three-hour session, in which the first part included a joint teacher-led discussion between the students and the teacher. This discussion was based on issues focusing some fundamental aspects of a text and its context: what is the problem and purpose of the study, what methods are used and for whom is this article written. The second half of the session was devoted to group discussions, where the task was to examine critically the qualities of the text based on a number of typical features in scientific texts, such as clarity, transparency, independency of context, text structure, and validity claims. The purpose of the assignment was for students to engage in a close reading of the text. These text-based conversations were recorded in several student groups. The recorded material was subsequently transcribed and analysed. We identified three themes relevant to the students’ comprehension of the academic text discussed: the text's usability, the text's reliability, and students' attitudes towards the text and the researchers. The results highlight the teacher’s role in supporting students' reading and writing. Furthermore, the study indicates that students need knowledge about researchers’ working conditions and their writing to understand why academic texts look as they do. In this talk, we focus on the critical potential of text-based conversations as a tool for students’ reading and writing development. Bazerman, C., Bonini, A. & Figueiredo, D.D.C. (Eds.). (2009). Genre in a changing world. Fort Collins, Colorado: WAC Clearinghouse. Blåsjö, M. (2004). Studenters skrivande i två kunskapsbyggande miljöer. Stockholm: Almqvist och Wiksell International. Hyland, K. (2004). Disciplinary Discourse. Social Interactions in Academic writing. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. Lea, M. R. & Street, B. V. (1998). Student writing in higher education: An academic literacies approach. Studies in Higher Education, 23(2), 157-172. Lillis T. M. & Scott, M. (2007). Defining academic literacies research. Issues of epistemology, ideology and strategy. Journal of Applied linguistics, 4(1), 5-32. Monroe, J. (2003). Writing in the disciplines. Peer Review, 6(1), 5-32. Wingate, U., Andon, N. & Cogo, A. (2011). Embedding academic writing instruction into subject teaching. A case study. Active Learning in Higher Education, 12(1), 69-81.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2014.
Keywords [en]
academic writing, critical thinking
National Category
Social Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-16554Local ID: 18294OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-16554DiVA, id: diva2:1420068
Conference
Writing Research Across Borders (WRAB), Paris (2014)
Available from: 2020-03-30 Created: 2020-03-30 Last updated: 2022-06-27Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(152 kB)61 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 152 kBChecksum SHA-512
bad9a2c0e9d14cd9200ab80369ddc79854b407866588740b57f932e0fcc18d33f816721ef8c456e8f41e29b2e101a86588e6a04bc543233d0bac365029d4ecdd
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

http://conference2014.fr/wrab_accueil_en.php

Authority records

Olsson Jers, CeciliaBergman, Lotta

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Olsson Jers, CeciliaBergman, Lotta
By organisation
Department of Culture, Languages and Media (KSM)
Social Sciences

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 61 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

urn-nbn

Altmetric score

urn-nbn
Total: 70 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf