Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „Academic writing challenges”

Universities in the UK host considerable numbers of international students pursuing higher degrees, which raises questions about the extent of their adaptation to a new academic environment. Critical thinking is a key skill expected of university graduates in the British education system, and it has been an increasing focus of attention in recent years. Concerns about international students’ lack of critical thinking in academic writing have been raised by teaching professionals. A review of previous literature shows that little research has been undertaken on issues related to critical thinking for a culturally and linguistically diverse range of students. Furthermore, in those research studies which have been undertaken, the learner’s voice has not been clearly evident. The present thesis, therefore, seeks to explore the problems faced by international students with regard to their approaches towards critical thinking, often derived from their previous cultures where people prefer a collective style of learning rather than an individual one, and where they respect and avoid criticizing the work of other scholars. The experiences of international students studying at two British universities were investigated by means of face-to-face individual interviews, self-reports, learners’ diaries and a case study, based on qualitative data. As a result of these findings, it was clear that the students held various conceptions of critical thinking which were based on their socialization and either their present experience of the practice of these intellectual skills, or the absence of this practice in their respective cultures. Majority of the students were found to choose surface rather than deep learning strategies. The analysis of data revealed that students from non-Western traditions are very different in approaching critical thinking tasks such as formulating and evaluating arguments, analysing critically and making sound judgements etc. Particular features of their previous educational experiences were identified as major barriers in the students’ development of critical thinking. International students, in particular, felt that their previous educational background had not developed them in a way which encouraged them to think analytically and creatively. However, the analysis also highlights the fact that EAP language support programmes have been unable to address students’ specific academic writing needs in order to bridge the skills gap of culturally diverse student bodies. The in-depth findings may support developments designed to enhance students’ experiences in the British context. Overall, the present thesis investigates cross-cultural issues by providing explanations for specific areas of difficulty related to students’ poor writing performance, as a result of the fact that critical thinking skills are crucial elements of the basic assessment tools in British universities. The thesis thus aims to make a modest contribution to broadening the understanding of international students’ problems and approaches towards critical thinking, and presents methods which may be useful to facilitate students’ learning experiences.

Research studies in English linguistics and education have long been seeking ways in which NNSs (non-native speakers) can improve the quality of their writing in order to communicate effectively within Higher Education in English speaking countries. While most ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers and scholars consider coherence as one of the key indicators of good writing, NNS university students are often criticised for producing incoherent writing often due to their misuse of cohesive conventions such as English logical connectors (e.g., conjunctive adverbials and subordinating conjunctions). Scholars in various fields of EAP (English for Academic Purposes), ESL, and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) have suggested that NNSs’ lack of success in the appropriate use of logical connectors is due to a) the complex semantic and syntactic nature of these elements and b) shortcomings in pedagogical approaches. Therefore, there is an urgent need for investigating an alternative pedagogical approach which provides further information on the ESL learners’ conceptual and grammatical difficulties associated with logical connectors from learner perspectives and supports learner understanding of the syntactic and semantic values of logical connectors. This study aims to incorporate a scaffolding technique embedded in a social constructivist approach referred to as Learning Conversations and to investigate the extent to which this approach supports learner development of understanding. This qualitative study was carried out with 9 students studying English academic skills at a language centre based in a UK university. The study has made use of various methods of data collection, namely think-aloud protocols, a diagnostic test, Reflective Learning Evaluation, and Learning Conversations. The constituent tools evolved into a dual-focussed process-oriented model. The data suggest the ESL learners’ developed an increasing understanding of logical connectors they had previously found problematic and difficult to use through the application of this model.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
This study explores English academic writing in a Libyan university. The results show a number of challenges and issues that Libyan university students experience in using English for academic writing. The study suggests intervention procedures that may correct students’ linguistic academic deficiencies. Using Gee (1999)’s D/discourse theory and Bourdieu’s theory of habitus and field, which view writing as a social practice embedded in social activities, the study takes a purely qualitative approach, presenting data descriptions by both students and lecturers. The sample size of the investigation is eight – four lecturers and four students. The data was collected mainly through classroom observation, open-ended interviews and an analysis of students’ assignment essays. The results indicate several areas of challenge for Libyan students with regard to academic writing; a lack of adequate ‘scaffolding’, a lack of ample time spent on authentic practice, and inappropriate immediate feedback. Findings also show a lack of teaching methods and strategies that correct syntactical and morphological errors, and a lack of skills – research skills. Further to this, results revealed a lack of synthesis and summary skills, referencing skills – and a lack of confidence in tackling academic writing tasks. In addition, the lack of appropriate materials to consult was a contributing factor, as was students’ social and economic status. The study calls for various interventions that may assist students to acquire academic writing skills and hence develop a sense of confidence in taking on academic tasks.

The purpose of this study was to determine if my practice of having 4th grade students participate in engineering design challenges impacted their attitudes towards engineering, the classroom climate, and writing ability. In this action research students were given a pre and posttest that measured their attitudes towards engineering and their perceptions of the classroom climate. A pre and post written reflection was also examined and compared for the use of predicting, observing, thinking, explaining, reflecting, and yearning to learn more. A triangulation of data included the use of pre and posttest statistical analysis, rubrics, teacher observation, and student interviews. The data collected from this action research project showed that that students were more satisfied with the course after completing the design challenges, the classroom environment improved in that students perceived the level of friction in the class had decreased. The data collected also showed that students' attitudes towards engineers was changed in that they were more likely to want to pursue a career in engineering and take a future school course in engineering after having completed this action research. Student generated definitions of engineers demonstrated a decrease in the number of misconceptions about the work of engineers and an increase in students' knowledge as to what engineers do for a living. My practice of implementing engineering design challenges with a 4th grade class did not have an impact on students writing ability.
ID: 031001309; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Adviser: Bobby Jeanpierre.; Title from PDF title page (viewed March 22, 2013).; Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Central Florida, 2012.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-112).
M.Ed.
Masters
Teaching, Learning and Leadership
Education and Human Performance
K-8 Math and Science

The growing number of language minority students graduating from a U.S. high school and entering college has motivated many studies. These students are often referred to as Generation 1.5, a term that loosely indicates they arrived in this country at an early age and had most of their education in U.S. K-12 settings. The studies that have focused on this population often group refugees with other immigrants. Although refugees may not have arrived in this country at an early age, those coming from war torn countries as teenagers have often had their formal education interrupted in their home countries with the result that schooling in the U.S. comprises most, if not all, of their education. The purpose of the current study was to investigate how refugee students experience academic literacy practices in their first year of college, the challenges they face in this process, and the resources and strategies they use to cope with postsecondary reading and writing demands. In order to carry out this investigation, a qualitative year-long multiple-case study (Duff, 2008) was conducted. Participants were seven refugee students attending a small liberal arts college. Data collection involved interviews with the focal participants and faculty, class observations, and written documents. Findings revealed that all seven participants were successful completing their first year in college, passing all the classes they registered for. At the same time, the day-to-day struggle to keep up and cope with reading and writing assignments presented these students with several challenges resulting from their still developing English language proficiency, lack of background knowledge, and unfamiliarity with academic genres, to name a few sources of difficulty. These challenges were offset by the motivation showed by the seven participants and their ability in developing coping strategies and drawing upon the resources made available to them. Repeated use of resources and uncritical acceptance of support, however, sometimes yielded undesirable results. The findings indicate that many of the strategies used by the participants involved peers, tutors, and professors who, within the supportive college environment, offered these students the assistance they needed.

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of the essay writing process of first year undergraduates at Chancellor College (University of Malawi) and to a lesser extent those of the lecturers responsible for teaching academic skills. A mixed methods design, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques, was employed in order to obtain richer data for deeper understanding of the students’ writing process. Two hundred students from the humanities and social science faculties responded to a self-completion questionnaire towards the end of semester one. Based on the students’ responses, an open-ended questionnaire was administered to four full time English for Academic Purposes (EAP) instructors. Findings from this study indicate that most students find it very challenging to obtain sufficient and relevant source text information, paraphrase or summarise information, and use an appropriate academic writing style. As solutions to these challenges, the students suggested the need for timely essay writing instruction, availability of resources for essay writing, increased amount of time spent on essay writing instruction, and discipline specific instruction in essay writing. EAP instructors identified lack of teaching and learning materials, large EAP classes, and students’ negative attitude towards the EAP course, as some of the challenges they encounter when teaching the course. The EAP instructors proposed an increase in the number of staff members, making students aware of the significance of the EAP course at an early stage, and the availability of up to date resources, as some of the ways in which the teaching of the course can be improved. Overall, the findings seem to suggest that difficulties that students encounter during the writing process and teaching challenges that EAP instructors face, have great impact on students’ perception of academic writing as well as their approach to writing tasks. The findings also suggest a lack of dialogue between the students and their lecturers. This is evident in students’ unawareness of the nature of the writing demands of their lecturers and disciplines; students’ desire to have timely essay writing instruction; and the lecturers’ concerns about students’ negative attitude towards the EAP course.

In this study an attempt was made to explore the challenges with regard to publications experienced by academic women at three selected Historically Black Universities (HBUs). Although based predominantly within a feminist qualitative metholodogical framework, both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used in this study. Based on the findings of the study, the recommendations illustrated participants' responses. Some of the recommendations illustrated participants' expressed need of staff development with a specific focus on training in publication skills
mentoring and support networks
assistance and support for their publishing venture at both institutional and departmental level and the development of strategies that would assist academic women in 'juggling' their personal and academic roles.

The challenges for a diverse intake of first-year engineering students, when acquiring a new academic discourse during the transition to university, has triggered this study of literacy practices in the first project task in a core first-year chemical engineering course, in a four-year undergraduate degree programme at a South African university. Most reviewed engineering courses incorporate a socialisation approach into valued practices including literacy skills, particularly writing. Research on such courses focuses on the outcome of successful acquisition of a new discourse, rather than the process. This study focuses not only on the successful outcome, but also on describing and explaining the process of acquisition in the classroom leading to this outcome. It specifically investigates what is valued in the reading and writing tasks of the first project and the qualitative detail of students' writing, as they utilise school resources to fulfil their interpretations of the literacy task requirements. The study followed an ethnographic case study approach, informed by Norman Fairclough's language and social theory and his related methodology of critical discourse analysis. It included observation, interviews with twelve selected students, the course convenor and lecturer, and the analysis of course documents and written texts of two students, each from a selected group. The analysis shows that there is a strong socialisation approach into valued literacy and other practices in the course project work from the start of the programme. This requires integrating valued knowledge, literacies and ways of being and interacting into different learning areas (called “strands”), related to professional graduate outcomes, and with activities which should be completed in the valued prescribed way to meet these outcomes. The analysis also shows that the project work includes potentially transformative aspects, associated with an Academic Literacies perspective, by including current shifts in valued knowledge and by extending support for a gradual socialisation process with projects throughout the degree programme. The key finding of this study is that the socialisation process is very complex, not only because of the type of literacy resources which students bring from school, but because of multiple issues occurring in the classroom when they interpret and produce texts. These include the range of information given meaning in the course documents, time pressure related to competing demands of various strands, and power relations within groupwork. The results can inform further collaborative educational development and longitudinal research between disciplinary and literacy staff to strengthen the existing support for this complex process. This would increase the transformative potential of the course project work by helping students to access valued practices for their first task within a new academic discourse, especially for a diverse student cohort.

The COVID-19 pandemic has extensively impacted upon society and limited opportunities for social interaction due to government regulations. University students have been required to adapt to a transition from classroom to online based learning, with a subsequent loss of resources and study-specific venues for social interaction. In general, university students are identified as being at increased risk of experiencing mental health issues; social isolation and loneliness incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic can further contribute to students’ vulnerability. The present study explores student attitudes concerning the transition to online studies using the theoretical foundation of Challenge and Threat states, and examines the utility of Written Emotional Disclosure to improve student coping. The study was undertaken with 45 students (23 women, 22 men; aged between 18-35 years) attending Umeå University. Data were collected during the completion of an online based expressive writing intervention. Participants were instructed to write about their experience of the transition to online studies, and reflect upon how they could develop strategies to cope with possible academic difficulties. Participants also reported levels of general anxiety, positive and negative affect, emotional and social loneliness, challenge, threat, worry, and confidence. Data analysis revealed that students’ reporting heightened levels of general anxiety as well as emotional loneliness were more likely to experience the transition as threatening and were more prone to excessive worry. No statistically significant intervention effects were found. Limitations of the present study are discussed and future research is proposed.
COVID-19-pandemin har påverkat samhället i stor utsträckning och de införda restriktionerna har begränsat möjligheterna till social interaktion. Universitetsstudenter har varit tvungna att ställa om till onlinestudier, med förlust av resurser och studiespecifika sociala sammanhang som följd. Universitetsstudenter är en riskgrupp när det kommer till mental ohälsa; social isolering och ensamhet till följd av COVID-19-pandemin kan ytterligare bidra till elevernas sårbarhet. Denna studie har undersökt studenters attityder gentemot övergången till onlinestudier utifrån teorin om Challenge- and Threat states och om Written Emotional Disclosure kan förbättra studenternas coping. Undersökningen genomfördes med 45 studenter (23 kvinnor, 22 män, i åldern 18-35 år) som studerade vid Umeå universitet. Data samlades in genom en onlinebaserad skrivövning. Deltagarna instruerades att skriva om sina erfarenheter av övergången till onlinestudier och reflektera över hur de kunde utveckla strategier för att hantera eventuella svårigheter. Deltagarna rapporterade också nivåer av positiva och negativa affekter, emotionell och social ensamhet, challenge, threat, oro och självförtroende. Analyser visade på att studenter med högre nivåer av ångest och emotionell ensamhet var mer benägna att uppleva övergången till onlinestudier som mer hotfull och oroade sig i högre utsträckning kring densamma. Inga statistiskt signifikanta interventionseffekter hittades. Denna studies begränsningar diskuteras och fokus för framtida forskningsområden föreslås

Women are currently underrepresented in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how this underrepresentation translates to a gender gap in the field of technical communication and how this gap causes women to challenge the predominant objectivist paradigm in the field. Through an investigation of peer-reviewed journal articles, periodicals, critical theory, and articles published in online magazines such as Slate, I identify the gendered nature of modern technology and discuss to what extent a shift in the predominant paradigm has occurred in the professional arena. In looking at several theoretical approaches and contemporary examples, I conclude that a significant paradigm shift has not in fact occurred due to an underlying, culturally promoted sexism. Additionally, I conclude that neither new approaches in the technical communication classroom, nor attempts to increasingly include women in the technological fields will result in a significant paradigm change by themselves. I also point to a need for further meaningful research in how sexism influences the professional world as well as a more thorough conversation regarding a fundamental shift in workplace relations between the genders.
M.A.
Masters
English
Arts and Humanities
English; Technical Communications

博士
國立中正大學
語言學研究所
105
The past two decades have seen a tremendous amount of research on ELF spoken communication in academic settings. Substantial reconceptualizations have also been proposed to challenge the traditional concepts in English teaching, including rethinking language learners as legitimate language users and learners’ errors as different uses. However, studies on ELF academic writing and its pedagogy are still sparse. This research, therefore, aimed to investigate (1) the variation of two ELF morphosyntactic features, variant use of articles and nonstandard past-tense marking, and (2) how teachers perceived the two ELF features in academic writing. In response to the first goal, the researcher collected 188 short essays of class reflection from one general education course at undergraduate level and 84 draft research papers from one research and writing class at graduate level. The written texts were analyzed by a variable rule analysis (VARBRUL) to show systematic patterns of the two ELF features. In terms of the variation of the variant use of articles, the results showed that NPs assumed to be known to the hearer (+HK) and countable plural nouns favored zero article when the was supposed to be used. +HK and clause initial position favored zero when a was supposed to be used. +HK and clause initial position favored the when zero was the obligatory article. In general, the findings suggested that L1 transfer effect and pragmatic and discourse effects contributed to the variant use of articles. With respect to the variant use of past-tense marking, the results showed that when verbs were copula and regular verbs, they favored present tense instead of past-tense marking. This indicated that phonetic saliency had impacts on the use of past-tense. In addition, when verbs were state verbs, they also favored present tense rather than past-tense marking, suggesting lexical aspects had effects on the variant use of past-tense marking. To address the second question on teachers’ perceptions of the two linguistic features in writing, ten professors who had experience in using ELF for teaching were recruited for interviews. By using content analysis, the findings revealed that all of the interviewees showed no incomprehension when variant use of articles and past-tense marking were present in the texts, but more negative attitude was revealed toward the past-tense marking variants. Moreover, several style-related factors that could influence the acceptance of ELF were identified, including the nature of the course, discourse communities, stakes of writing activities, and class size. It is found that when courses are not research-oriented, have local discourse communities, low-stakes writing activities and large student number, the use of ELF features are acceptable. However, when courses are research-oriented, have global discourse communities, high-stakes writing activities and small student number, standard English is more preferred. In addition, in contexts such as journal publication where ELF is the common situation, standard forms are still the norm in that it is the practice of a discourse community. Drawing insights from the quantitative and qualitative analyses, the researcher proposed some implications for ELF writing pedagogy. First, it is argued that the variant usages should not be seen as chaotic errors but natural uses. Accordingly, in line with the major claims in ELF paradigm, variant usages in the present study should be seen as variants but not simply errors because they have systematic and rule-governed patterns. To incorporate this idea into ELF academic writing, it is suggested that using corpus, texts with ELF features, and peer-reviews are useful resources that should be introduced to teachers and students for an attitude shift. In addition, students should be informed to be sensitive to the stylistic factors and the existing standard so that they could select which code is more appropriate. Finally, with respect to assessment, it is suggested that teachers need to distinguish between formal and informal styles at discourse level, followed by grammatical/ungrammatical uses and standard/variant forms.

The purpose of the research was to investigate academic writing challenges faced by first year B.Ed. students at the University of the Witwatersrand in order to assist tutors support these students. One of the main findings is first year B.Ed. students find it challenging to move from school literacies to academic literacy, and thus they need to be ‘initiated’ into academic literacy. The findings indicate that students need assistance with reading the articles on which essays are based, with understanding what essay questions require them to do, with quoting and referencing from sources and with the ‘mechanics’ of writing. A further finding is that some students face academic writing challenges because they resist being initiated into academic conventions for several reasons. The study concludes with some recommendations to course designers and tutors including the recommendations.

This dissertation reports on a multi-case study of 15 Mainland Chinese graduate students in sciences and engineering at a major Canadian university as they wrote disciplinary course assignments and research proposals during their first two years at the university. Using data collected through multiple in-depth interviews with the individual students, supplemented by their writing samples and follow-up interviews with faculty, the study explores the writing processes and challenges of the students in completing their written assignments.. The study finds that the faculty differed considerably across and within disciplines in their expectations of the students' work. The Chinese students preferred to receive both positive and corrective feedback; however, interactive feedback-based conferences could be more effective. Imitating model journal articles was a common approach for the students to learn to write. One method for writing source-based assignments was modified copying as the students tried to learn to write professionally. While planning and writing the paper, the students varied along a continuum from thinking entirely in Chinese to thinking entirely in English, depending on their English proficiency and other factors. The students often found challenge in technical terms, varied vocabulary and sentence structures, appropriate style, thought transcription, and language flow. Even more challenging sometimes were managing information, organizing the paper, and writing the research rationale and discussion with original sentences and strong arguments. Since the students had more difficulty making sentences flow than determining the overall paper structure, I distinguish micro- and macro-level formal schemas. Further, I challenge the traditional notion of plagiarism, arguing that language reuse can be reconceptualized as a textual strategy in the development of ESL students learning and using disciplinary language and content. Finally, I discuss the implications of my study for policy and practice in terms of institutional development, such as faculty development and curriculum development. In particular, I recommend that the university offer credit writing courses designed for graduate ESL students.

This thesis investigates the changes and challenges technology has created in the field of technical illustration. Technical illustration includes the fields of technical drawing as well as scientific and medical illustration. Previously, technical illustrators learned and used traditional illustration methods, without the aid of computers. However, technology has rapidly entered the field and has changed the education, work environment, skills, and role of the technical illustrator. I note both the benefits and disadvantages that current technical illustrators are facing in their work. I explore both sides of the digital media and traditional art debate while focusing on the technical illustrator's role, tools and methods used in the illustration process, education, idea-generation, and the future of technical illustration. By emphasizing the issues associated with the incorporation of digital media into traditional methods, I hope to bring awareness to the transformation of technical illustration and the future of this discipline.
M.A.
Masters
English
Arts and Humanities
English; Technical Communications Track

Flow is a state of consciousness where the individual experiences engagement, concentration, and enjoyment. An intervention was conducted focusing on challenge-skill balancing and intrinsic motivation, both previously conceptualized as aspects of flow. The variables evaluated were challenge-skill balance, concentration on task, flow, and intrinsic motivation. The study had 211 undergraduate college students (control = 104, intervention = 107). Repeated measures ANOVA was used to evaluate the data. The findings were mixed. Significant main effects between groups were not found. Significant main effects for time (pre-test to post-test) were found for challenge-skill balance, flow, and intrinsic motivation. A statistically significant change from pre-test to post-test for the control group on intrinsic motivation suggests the possible presence of a confounding effect by the control group curriculum. Some evidence was found that flow can be influenced by direct intervention. Further research is needed to clarify, evaluate, and extend these findings.
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