A role for genre-based pedagogy in academic writing instruction?: an EAP perspective

In this paper I discuss the use of genre as a theoretical construct in academic writing instruction in the context of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses. I begin by considering the notion of discourse competence as a concept that accounts for the knowledge elements and skills employed by expert academic writers, and then consider genre as a way of operationalizing the different elements of discourse competence knowledge for the purpose of writing instruction. I review briefly the diversity of approaches to theorizing genre knowledge, and then present the dual social genre/cognitive genre approach that I have used as a basis for research and course design in an EAP context. I exemplify this model by summarizing the key elements of two studies of research genres in which I have used this model. I conclude with a brief theoretical discussion of the issue of construct validity in relation to using the concept of genre in research that relates to writing instruction

Theorising tertiary writing instruction: Accounting for the process, post-process, genre and critical literacies approaches

This discussion of theories of writing instruction arises from the context of teaching research writing to postgraduate students for whom English is an additional language. However, given the present diversity of the student body in all tertiary writing courses(as a result of the democratization and internationalization of higher education), it is argued that a principled evaluation of theories of writing instruction that places the academic literacy needs of the student writer as central is relevant to the wider field of tertiary writing instruction. As a basis for this review discussion, the paper proposes that student writers need to develop their knowledge and skills in three areas: discourse competence; identity and voice (within a specific academic community) and critical competence, and that the development of these three areas of writer competence is loosely sequential. The paper reviews four different theories of writing instruction is terms of their capacity to advance these areas of writer knowledge and skills; they are the process writing, post-process, genre-based and critical literacies approaches. The paper argues that a critical understanding of these theories and the ways in which they underpin currently available materials and teacher practice is essential if teachers are to be able to provide a well-argued rationale for assumptions, knowledge, skills and ideologies that underpin their courses

A glimpse into nursing discursive behaviour in interprofessional online learning

Background: The importance of interprofessional learning to provide quality patient care has resulted in the increasing use of asynchronous computer mediated conferencing in healthcare programmes within universities. The asynchronicity based on typed-written discussions in a virtual learning environment which provided flexibility in learning was used to increase opportunities for nurses and other allied healthcare professionals to participate in interprofessional learning in higher education. However, successful online learning relies on discursive practices in the virtual learning environment, embedded within discursive exchanges in practice are power relations in nursing language use; which had a negative impact on interprofessional learning and working relationships amongst nurses, between nurses and other allied healthcare professionals. This paper presents an analysis of the discursive practices of registered nurses in interprofessional learning based on asynchronous computer mediated conferencing. It aimed to ascertain if power relations were implicit in nursing language. Methods: Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis was used to analyse eight hundred and ninety typewritten online messages created in a 100% text-based online learning module at Master’s level in a University in North England between September 2004 and September 2009. Although the messages were created by 9 registered nurses and 4 other allied healthcare professionals undertaking interprofessional learning to learn about the issues surrounding e-learning in healthcare settings, this paper is part of a larger study focused on the messages by the nurses. Results: Nurses’ messages tended to appear as the first few responses in the discussion threads and their language was formal and objectifying. The genres resembled those found either in written assignment within higher education or in nursing documentation within practice. The virtual learning environment was an alternative social space for clinical practice where dominance of nurses was created, maintained and reinforced. Conclusions: Existing literature highlighted the incidents of problematic issues of interprofessional learning. In contrast, this paper explains the way nurses, through discursive practices, construct themselves in relation to their nursing and allied healthcare colleagues. Nurses need to be aware of the power-relations embedded in their language use and future research could usefully focus on the discursive aspect of interprofessional learning

Rethinking network governance: new forms of analysis and the implications for IGR/MLG

Our position is that network governance can be understood as a communicative arena. Networks, then, are not defined by frequency of interactions between actors but by sharing of and contest between different clusters of ideas, theories and normative orientations (discourses) in relation to the specific context within which actors operate. A discourse comprises an ensemble of ideas, concepts and causal theories that give meaning to and reproduce ways of understanding the world (Chouliaraki and Fairclough 1999). Consequently, network governance can be understood as the inherently political process through which discourses are produced, reproduced and transformed. Democratic network governance thus becomes the study of the way in which the core challenges of democratic practice are addressed – how is legitimacy awarded, by what mechanisms are decisions reached, and how is accountability enabled. Three approaches to the discursive analysis of democracy in network governance are considered - argumentation analysis, inter-subjectivity, and critical discourse analysis – and their implications for the study of intergovernmental relations and multi-level governance (IGR/MLG) are discussed. Case examples are provided. We conclude that the value for the study of MLG/IGR is to complement existing forms of analysis by opening up the communicative and ideational aspects of interactions between levels of government and other actors

Construing The Great Fire of London through online media: A case of exploring discourse semantics and register

This paper considers the exploration of genre and register of historical texts recontextualised in online media and school textbooks through the lens of Systemic Functional Linguistics especially by exploring their discourse semantics and register features. Particularly, this paper shows how the relation between discourse semantics resources and register variables contribute to the overall organisation of the recontextualized history genres. This paper provides a detailed qualitative analysis of discourse semantics as instantiated in the deployment of APPRAISAL, IDEATION, IDENTIFICATION, and PERIODICITY to give a clearer picture of how history genres in the media are established. A set of corpora consisting of historical texts from online media and school textbooks was used as a main source of data in this study. The historical texts collected from online media were from various platforms including online newspapers, online magazines, encyclopaedia entries, and universities websites/blogs. For the illustrative purposes, two texts from the corpora were selected for a detailed analysis using the discourse semantics toolkits to find out similarities and differences in terms how an historical event – The Great Fire of London – was established.  The analysis found that there was a tendency that historical events could be reconstrued in the media through different ways. The first text informs readers about the fire and its significance in a chronological manner. The second text provides an explanation of the influence of the Great Fire to other historical events. This paper also suggests that history genres tend to be ‘evolving’ as reproduced in varied media discourses. Though still at the infancy stage, this paper offers a great insight into how genres are organised in relation to the choices in register variables and discourse semantics

Workplace writing: A multi-perspective study of engineer alumni’s preparedness for English L2 writing in Oman

This explorative, interpretive, qualitative study seeks to understand and problematise college alumni’s preparedness for engineering workplace writing in English in Oman. The issue of preparing learners to write for workplace writing has been widely contested by social learning theories and previous research on university-workplace transition of novices. This is due to the situated nature of writing which makes teaching genres outside their local contexts problematic. The study has two primary objectives. First, from Social Constructionism and Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS) perspectives, the study makes a theoretical contribution to conceptualising workplace English L2 writing preparedness by adopting a social view of writing to explore the contextual and situated nature of workplace writing. Second, the study makes a contribution to knowledge in the field by tackling the issue of alumni’s preparedness for workplace writing gained in college writing classes through directly investigating the views of alumni and line managers to understand the factors contributing to the perceived preparedness. To achieve these objectives, I used a multi-perspective approach. I collected qualitative data over a period of one year through 16 semi-structured interviews as the main method for data collection, with 12 Higher College of Technology (HCT) engineer alumni and four line managers at five different private sector companies in Oman. The participants included both new and experienced alumni in different fields of engineering. To better understand the workplace writing in these specific contexts, the interview data was supported with subsidiary data from textual analysis of 29 alumni’s workplace written samples. The findings revealed two levels of contextual elements at which workplace writing operates in the studied context: rhetorical and socio-contextual. The former includes audience, purpose and valued style, and the latter collaborative writing, physical environment and level of experience. Participants’ perceptions were shaped by factors such as genre awareness, deficiencies in technical writing experiences at the college, such as lack of task authenticity, lack of feedback and graduates’ attitudes. The interpretations of the findings suggest that the college role in learners’ preparedness for workplace writing is significant and perceived differently by individuals. The findings also provide theoretical, methodological and pedagogical implications for research and teaching in the area of ESP/ technical/ professional writing

Textual organisation and construal of interpersonal meanings in different genres of medical texts

This thesis investigates thematic organisation and construal of interpersonal evaluative meanings in the Introduction (Beginning) and Discussion (Concluding) sections of two medical genres: medical research articles (RAs) and medical review articles (reviews). Situated within EAP educational context, the study aims to examine variations between medical professionals and PhD candidates in academic writing, thus assisting candidates for successful academic publication. Two sets of corpus data are established, which involve published professional medical papers and students draft medical writings. Linguistic analyses concerning thematic structures and evaluative stances are explored, drawing on Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Appraisal theory. The major findings reveal that PhD candidates demonstrate capabilities of handling textual organisation and construction of interpersonal meanings in medical RA genre.However, some problems do arise when they compose their review drafts. The pedagogical implications of this research for the motivation of PhD candidates, for discourse-based writing approach and for raising awareness of organsing textual and interpersonal aspects of meanings in academic writing instruction are considered.These elements may provide useful insights in informing curriculum design for academic writing and publication

Arguing on-line and off: a study of students' argumentation in the context of computer-mediated discussion and individually written assignments.

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