The Experiences of Feedback Practices on Academic Writing Undergone by Students with English as an Additional Language in a Master’s Programme: A Multiple Case Study

This article reflects upon the experiences and perceptions of feedback practices that five students who spoke English as an additional language (EAL) engaged with as part of their one-year taught master's course at a major UK University. During writing processes and after the submission of assignments, participants received support in a wide range of modes: tutors’ oral, written, and electronic feedback and peer feedback. The paper outlines the key difficulties students encountered when engaging with and responding to feedback. Findings suggested that although students expressed satisfaction with feedback practices provided over the course of their master's degree, instances in which these events constrained their understanding of writing conventions have been documented. Such factors as appropriate timing, the nature of feedback, the type of language tutors employed when providing feedback, variation in tutors’ preferences for marking, as well as students’ individual and cultural differences, sometimes limited students’ understanding and use of feedback

A longitudinal case study of students’ perceptions of academic writing and of themselves as academic writers : the writing experiences of five students who spoke English as an additional language

This thesis explores how students who spoke English as an additional language (EAL) learned to write in a new discourse community, the difficulties they encountered and the changes that occurred in their perceptions of academic writing and of themselves as academic writers. The existing literature reported that learning to write disciplinary assignments is an interactional and dynamic process, encompassing not only writing and reading but also social interactions occurring among novice and more experienced members of the discourse community. Nevertheless, previous studies suggested that HE institutions still tend to hold narrow views on academic writing and to provide little attention to its teaching. Essentially, many studies are limited because they have examined how isolated factors (i.e. tutor written feedback or use of guidelines) impacted on student writing, overlooking the complexity of interactions that can come into play and influence student writing. This research adopted a longitudinal case study to investigate in-depth the writing experiences of five EAL students. To conduct this exploratory project, I employed constructivist and interpretivist approaches and multiple methods such as selfcompletion questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and analysis of tutors‘ feedback sheets and handbooks. This project suggests that indeed learning to write in HE was an active and dynamic process, encompassing interactions with members of the discourse community (tutors, peers and teacher-assistants), with the training system (taught module courses, writing assignments, academic writing class, CELTE support) and with institutional artefacts (samples of previously written work, published guidelines and assessment criteria). Despite a number of literacy practices designed to make the departmental conventions and expectations transparent, there was a level of invisibility of the conventions students were expected to adopt in their writing. As a result, students‘ writing experiences were fraught with tensions and conflicts that influenced their perceptions of academic writing and of themselves as academic writers

A longitudinal case study of students’ perceptions of academic writing and of themselves as academic writers : the writing experiences of five students who spoke English as an additional language

This thesis explores how students who spoke English as an additional language (EAL) learned to write in a new discourse community, the difficulties they encountered and the changes that occurred in their perceptions of academic writing and of themselves as academic writers. The existing literature reported that learning to write disciplinary assignments is an interactional and dynamic process, encompassing not only writing and reading but also social interactions occurring among novice and more experienced members of the discourse community. Nevertheless, previous studies suggested that HE institutions still tend to hold narrow views on academic writing and to provide little attention to its teaching. Essentially, many studies are limited because they have examined how isolated factors (i.e. tutor written feedback or use of guidelines) impacted on student writing, overlooking the complexity of interactions that can come into play and influence student writing. This research adopted a longitudinal case study to investigate in-depth the writing experiences of five EAL students. To conduct this exploratory project, I employed constructivist and interpretivist approaches and multiple methods such as selfcompletion questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and analysis of tutors‘ feedback sheets and handbooks. This project suggests that indeed learning to write in HE was an active and dynamic process, encompassing interactions with members of the discourse community (tutors, peers and teacher-assistants), with the training system (taught module courses, writing assignments, academic writing class, CELTE support) and with institutional artefacts (samples of previously written work, published guidelines and assessment criteria). Despite a number of literacy practices designed to make the departmental conventions and expectations transparent, there was a level of invisibility of the conventions students were expected to adopt in their writing. As a result, students‘ writing experiences were fraught with tensions and conflicts that influenced their perceptions of academic writing and of themselves as academic writers.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

What role do teaching mentors play in supporting new university lecturers to develop their teaching practices?

We examine the support mentors provide to new lecturers as part of a postgraduate programme designed to familiarise them with university teaching. Drawing on qualitative data collected from 13 new lecturers and nine mentors, we document the support new lecturers’ call upon to shape their practice. We identify important issues surrounding the significance of mentor choice, in terms of a mentor’s experience, position and knowledge of their role, which determine the effectiveness of professional learning. Difficult issues were observed relating to prioritisation and workload for new lecturers and their mentors, and as a consequence the wider networks of colleagues and peers that new lecturers drew upon were seen as an essential source of advice. Indeed, the extent of their use depended on assistance available from mentors. Our data indicate the need for careful framing of mentoring relationships in terms of professional development and teaching enhancement to ensure the benefits of these interactions are realised. Equally both parties need to be encouraged to use reflection to scaffold interactions to promote professional learning. Our data also identify the need for recognition for those performing mentoring roles, to ensure they can dedicate necessary time so that productive relationships are sustained for the duration over which support is required

Pedagogies across borders: perspectives from teaching staff and students engaged with transnational programmes in Hong Kong.

While there is a continuing growth in the demand for transnational programmes, the pedagogy of transnational education (TNE) remains largely under-researched. In an attempt to understand the nature of the transnational classroom and the implications for the provider of TNE, this paper explores the experiences of staff and students on programmes provided by a UK university in Hong Kong. Findings suggest that the transnational classroom is a complex and demanding environment as it entails multiple contexts, cultures, participants, roles and modes of delivery. This study proposes a range of strategies that aim to develop a shared vision on partnership and course design to enhance the teaching and learning experience

Analysis of the current situation in the financial technology sector

Tato diplomová práce se zabývá analýzou odvětví finančních technologií. Cílem této práce je upozornit na vývoj rozšiřujících se trendů ve sféře finančních technologií, současnou regulaci v EU související s finančními technologiemi a provést analýzu portfolia vybraných veřejně obchodovatelných FinTech společností. Pro tento účel jsem použila tabulky a grafy, které zachycují konkrétní veřejně dostupná data. V první kapitole jsem popsala základní charakteristiky FinTech společností. V druhé a třetí části jsem se zabývala vývojem trendů v odvětví finančních technologií, předpoklady, riziky, klasifikací a regulací FinTech. Následně jsem analyzovala portfolio vybraných veřejně obchodovatelných českých FinTech institucí.This thesis focuses on the analysis of the financial technology industry. The purpose of this master thesis is to draw attention to the development of trends in the sphere of financial technologies, current regulation in the EU related to financial technologies and to analyze the portfolio of selected FinTech companies. For this purpose, I used tables and graphs that contains specific publicly available data. In the first chapter I described the basic characteristics of FinTech company. In the second and third parts I focused on the development of financial technology trends, assumptions, risks, classification and regulation of FinTech. Then I analyzed the portfolio of selected publicly traded Czech FinTech institutions

Comparison of the Czech and German insurance market

This thesis focuses on the latest development trends and the degree of the Czech and German insurance market and their comparison. In this thesis were presented the following indicators of the insurance market: written premiums, claims expenses, concentration of insurance market, insurance penetration, relation between claims expenses and written premiums, and some more additional indicators, as the number of insurance companies, employees, insurance contracts, premium per capita. In the first chapter I described the theory related to this topic. I tried to analyze, as exactly as possible, the development of the Czech and German insurance market in the second and the third chapter. This analyze was based on statistical data. After that I realized subsequently their comparison. All data was obtained from the following internet sources: Czech Insurance Association (ČAP), Swiss Re, Czech National Bank, German Insurance Association (GDV)