Informed by an interpretive framework of research, this study explores the challenges encountered by six Arab students enrolled at an English-medium American university in the UAE, who are all non-native speakers of English and share the common desire to develop fluent control of the academic literacy practices that will ensure their success in their undergraduate careers. In addition to exploring the nature of challenges the students encounter, the study also aims to illuminate the impact of going through these challenges and the role played by social context dynamics in the development of each participant’s identity. I used frequent in-depth interviews conducted regularly with each student participant throughout an entire academic year, document analysis, and interviews with the professors as the main methods of data collection for this study. The findings highlighted the importance of three factors in forming the students’ perspectives on the academic literacy requirements: the perceived significance of grades, weakness in reading and writing skills, and doubts about the contribution of these requirements to their general academic and professional development. Starting their academic journey with this perspective, the students faced a number of challenges such as lack of time, transition to English medium of instruction (EMI) at undergraduate level, adapting to the changing requirements of academic reading and writing practices across the curriculum, using the library and doing research, and building socio-academic relationships. They tried to cope with these challenges first through studying for extended periods of time, using several corner-cutting strategies, and finally consulting with knowledgeable others and developing assignment-specific study strategies. While going through these experiences did not change the students’ initial perspective on the academic literacy requirements, eventually they got better at responding to these requirements, though they continued to question their purpose. The findings also highlight the impact of the above mentioned experiences on the students’ construction of identity. Their declining academic standing and the difficulties they faced in building socio-academic relationships led the students to develop an identity of deficiency and incompetence, standing in contrast to their former view of self. This emerging identity was partly constructed by the real difficulties they faced and also reinforced by others in their new discourse community, directly or indirectly. Nonetheless, certain literacy practices that they could relate to and that supported their understanding and performance through pair/group work, regardless of the grades they received, helped many of the participants overcome this negative sense of self to some extent. However, the identity of deficiency and incompetence manifested itself throughout the whole study in the cases of two participants who were required to take a non-credit remedial course in spring. Finally, the analysis of the interviews with the professors highlighted the discrepancy between their expectations and students’ knowledge of the required academic literacy demands. It was also revealed that many of the professors were not fully aware of the struggles students go through to meet the expectations. These findings emphasize the significance of understanding the complex nature of challenges undergraduates face and the problem with a remedial approach. Based on the findings and their implications, it is suggested that an inclusive curriculum-integrated model of academic literacy instruction could help English-medium higher education institutions in the UAE to address students’ academic literacy development needs more effectively, thereby saving them from most of the challenges described earlier as well as the identity adjustments brought about by those challenges. Other recommendations include an increased emphasis on academic reading instruction, more effective reading and writing assignments, helping students build effective socio-academic relations and positive identities, enhancing communication and collaboration between English language/writing experts and academic staff in the disciplines, and eliminating non-credit, remedial course requirements for students who are on academic probation.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The aim of my research is twofold: to analyze the discourses of affective trauma, injustice and identity in the personal language narratives of the Academic Literacy (AL) students enrolled in University of the Western Cape’s (UWC) Bachelor of Education Degree. The other major objective is to examine these discourses through an autoethnographic and egalitarian lens by drawing from the students’ real-life worlds via their respective narratives, classroom observations, interviews and survey. Through the analyses of their stories and the other data instruments, my study examines in particular the relationship between what is expected of them academically and the life-worlds that preceded their entry to the university.

Magister Educationis - MEd / Writing is an important skill throughout learners’ schooling trajectory because it is through writing that learners need to situate meaning and sense-making across the curriculum. Writing proficiency becomes even more important when learners access tertiary studies. Yet studies suggest that most students struggle with academic writing. Various authors suggest that writing has not been taught appropriately especially in secondary schooling contexts in South Africa and that writing becomes even more daunting for Second Language speakers of English when they reach tertiary education. There is abundant literature on students’ challenges with academic writing and ways to address academic writing challenges but the use of digital storytelling in relation to academic writing development is recent and distinctively underexplored in the literature. In this study, I seek to explore the potential that digital storytelling has in the teaching of undergraduate academic writing skills. I will focus on first year students' academic writing skills, how they are taught currently and how technology in the form of digital storytelling can help first year students improve their academic writing skills. The theoretical framework for the study is largely based on the New Literacies Studies which is championed by members of the New London Group such as Street and Street (1984) Lea and Street (2006) among others. The theoretical framework will draw on the notion of literacy as social practice rather than a set of reading and writing skills which explains why educators need to find new ways of teaching academic writing skills. I use semiotics and multimodality as a foundational concept for using digital storytelling in academic writing. That is because semiotics and multimodality further support the idea that literacy goes beyond words but that audio and visual elements are also part of learning and can help engage students in their academic work. The main aim of this proposed research is to explore both students and lecturer practices of digital literacies in the teaching and learning of academic writing at The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).

Magister Educationis - MEd / Writing is an important skill throughout learners’ schooling trajectory because it is through writing that learners need to situate meaning and sense-making across the curriculum. Writing proficiency becomes even more important when learners access tertiary studies. Yet studies suggest that most students struggle with academic writing. Various authors suggest that writing has not been taught appropriately especially in secondary schooling contexts in South Africa and that writing becomes even more daunting for Second Language speakers of English when they reach tertiary education. There is abundant literature on students’ challenges with academic writing and ways to address academic writing challenges but the use of digital storytelling in relation to academic writing development is recent and distinctively underexplored in the literature. In this study, I seek to explore the potential that digital storytelling has in the teaching of undergraduate academic writing skills. I will focus on first year students' academic writing skills, how they are taught currently and how technology in the form of digital storytelling can help first year students improve their academic writing skills. The theoretical framework for the study is largely based on the New Literacies Studies which is championed by members of the New London Group such as Street and Street (1984) Lea and Street (2006) among others. The theoretical framework will draw on the notion of literacy as social practice rather than a set of reading and writing skills which explains why educators need to find new ways of teaching academic writing skills. I use semiotics and multimodality as a foundational concept for using digital storytelling in academic writing. That is because semiotics and multimodality further support the idea that literacy goes beyond words but that audio and visual elements are also part of learning and can help engage students in their academic work. The main aim of this proposed research is to explore both students and lecturer practices of digital literacies in the teaching and learning of academic writing at The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).

Magister Educationis - MEd / In this paper, I focus on the issue of student perceptions and experiences of a 3rd generation academic development programme in higher education. I set out to explore the issue from two perspectives: firstly from the perspective of the higher education institution’s approach to academic development, namely, a learning skills programme and a first year sociology course, and secondly from the perspective of students’ intentions, expectations and experiences of such a programme. The research questions focused on the learning priorities embedded in the curriculum of a learning skills programme at Monash University, South Africa and the learning experiences of students in this programme.The methodology used in this study includes a case study which focused on the responses of six participants from a number of African countries completing their BA degrees. Semistructured interviews held and the content analysis method was used to analyse the data. The study concludes: that the main priority of the learning skills programme is to prepare students for their university learning rather than to prepare students for the world of work i.e. it falls within Street’s (2004) academic socialization model and that the Learning Skills programme can be seen as an example of Boughey’s (2007) 3rd generation academic development programmes.The study also suggests that there is a need to explore Volbrecht’s (2003) argument on the limitations of discipline-based models of academic development, the need to examine how academic literacy is constructed and how identity and power relations intersect in this construction. It further highlights the importance of the idea of multi-literacies as put forward by Street (2004) and suggests that as practitioners we should include a consideration of these literacies in academic development programmes to improve the quality of students’ learning and meaning making.

This study explores MBA students’ experiences of academic writing, and endeavours to determine the difficulties experienced by MBA students during the writing of their dissertations especially in terms of academic literacy. Case study research design and mixed methods were used to generate both quantitative and qualitative data in this qualitative study. A constant comparative method of analysis was used to identify categories and themes within the data. The results of this research showed that the majority of MBA students, while at Business School X, viewed their identities primarily as business professionals as opposed to students of business in an academic setting. Findings of the study showed that MBA students’ identities as readers and writers are strongly framed by the business genres they encounter in their professional capacities. The study also revealed that MBA students writing their dissertations desire to produce a professionally relevant research document as much as one that meets the requirements of academic rigour. It is within this arena of academic research writing that a dilemma exists for MBA students with reference to the purpose, format and value of the dissertation as a vehicle for reporting research findings. Recommendations are that academic literacies and genre pedagogy are mainstreamed into the course design of the MBA programme at Business School X and that the repurposing of the dissertation as a genre be evaluated in terms of business relevance.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to discover the value of ‘deep’ talk in developing Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), with primary focus on a group of ‘under-prepared’ first year university students for whom English is an additional language (EAL), who were registered for an ‘extended degree’ in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Johannesburg, Kingsway campus. The method of research was qualitative and took the form of a teaching intervention in which groups of students voluntarily participated in the performance of different learning activities (such as reading, talking and writing) either as individuals of as members of a group. All of the students were given identical background texts to read. The texts provided contextual information on a topic pertaining to a gender debate. Some students read the texts prior to participating in a discussion on the topic, after which they wrote an argumentative essay. Other students talked about the topic first, and then read the texts before writing their essay. A ‘control’ group of students did not talk at all, but just read the texts and then wrote an essay on the topic. The researcher analysed transcriptions of tape-recordings of the group discussions, using limited discourse analysis to highlight various ‘speech acts’ to assess how the students used language to actively engage with each other and build their arguments. The research findings were also assisted by an analysis of the essays and reflections written by each student. The research found that the process of talk itself in which the students used language to respond to each other’s ideas, helped to cognitively challenge the students in the development of their arguments. The research also found that the cognitive development gained through the talk was helpful in assisting students to formulate their written arguments in their essay. The research found that some contextual support in the form of background readings was also helpful. The order in which this took place was also found to be important. The research found it to be particularly useful for students to be given background reading before their talk, rather than after their talk, as this gave students a more informed perspective with which to approach their group discussion. By examining the essays in relation to the transcripts of the talk, the researcher explored the extent to which a more informed perspective on the topic, coupled with the way in which students used language, helped students to develop a more balanced approach in developing their written arguments.

Iniciada em 2008, a ampliação do acesso ao ensino superior por meio de cotas realizado na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) ocorre concomitantemente ao desenvolvimento de ações de políticas de permanência. Este trabalho discute as ações de ensino de língua e letramento integrantes das iniciativas pedagógicas da política de permanência para os universitários indígenas: o Curso de Inglês para Estudantes Indígenas e, especialmente, o Curso de Leitura e Escrita na Universidade para Estudantes Indígenas. O objetivo deste trabalho é discutir a abordagem pedagógica e teórica fundamentada no campo dos Estudos de Letramento Acadêmico (LEA; STREET, 1998, 2006; LILLIS, 2001; LEA, 2004) dessas ações de permanência, de modo a oferecer subsídios para a construção e o desenvolvimento de ações de permanência que visam a fomentar a diplomação de estudantes de grupos minoritários, principalmente de estudantes indígenas, nas universidades públicas brasileiras, em processo de adequação à Lei de Cotas nacional (nº 12.711/2012). Esses subsídios se contrapõem ao discurso deficitário em relação às práticas letradas de estudantes minoritários e à prática historicamente constituída de socialização acadêmica embasada na suposta transparência das expectativas institucionais em relação à escrita e numa compreensão do letramento como habilidades cognitivas adquiridas pelos sujeitos e transferíveis para quaisquer contextos. A abordagem de letramento acadêmico adotada aqui orienta-se para a diversidade das práticas letradas e para o dialogismo (BAKHTIN, 2003), fomentando-os nos espaços pedagógicos da ciência em favor da legitimação de novas vozes nas universidades e entende letramento como múltiplas práticas sociais que envolvem a escrita em discursos inscritos ideologicamente, situados histórica e socialmente. O estudo apresenta um panorama, no plano nacional, da formação dos programas de ações afirmativas e da participação política dos povos indígenas na construção da demanda para si por ensino superior e descreve as ações de acesso e de permanência da UFRGS, no âmbito das quais são oferecidos os cursos de leitura e escrita acadêmica focalizados. Possibilidades e demandas para o desenvolvimento das políticas afirmativas no ensino superior brasileiro são fornecidas pela discussão teórica na área do letramento acadêmico e das ações afirmativas, contemplando perspectivas de intelectuais indígenas e não indígenas. / The expansion of access to higher education through quotas initiated at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in 2008, in the same year a public policy of permanence actions was developed. The aim of this study is to analyze the literacy and language actions which are part of the educational initiatives of this policy aimed at indigenous students: the English Course for Indigenous Students and the Academic Reading and Writing Course at the University for Indigenous Students. The theoretical and pedagogical basis for the courses, namely the Academic Literacy Studies (LEA; STREET, 1998, 2006; LILLIS, 2001; LEA, 2004) (ACLITS), is presented, and its implications for the development of permanence actions aimed at assisting minority students in their undergraduate courses, mainly those actions targeting Indigenous students. Indigenous students have recently had access to Brazilian public universities, which are currently adjusting their admission systems to the national Quota Act (No. 12.711/2012). The contributions of ACLITS oppose language deficit approaches concerning minority students’ literacy practices and historically held practices of academic socialization, which are grounded in supposedly transparent institutional expectations and in a perspective of literacy as cognitive skills acquired by individuals and transferable to any contexts. The academic literacy approach adopted here is oriented towards the diversity of literacy practices and dialogism (BAKHTIN, 2003), which should be fostered in pedagogical spaces for building science and to legitimate new voices in the academy. Literacy is defined as multiple social practices that involve writing in ideologically inscribed discourses, and which are situated socially and historically. The study presents an overview of the development of affirmative action programs in Brazil and of the political participation of Indigenous peoples in organizing their demands for higher education. Moreover, the access and permanence actions developed at UFRGS are described in order to contextualize the academic reading and writing courses offered to Indigenous students. Possibilities and demands for the development of affirmative action policies in higher education in Brazil are discussed based on the current theoretical debates on academic literacy and affirmative actions held by indigenous and non-indigenous researchers.

nÃo hà / A presente pesquisa propÃe uma anÃlise das mudanÃas no letramento acadÃmico e suas implicaÃÃes no perfil identitÃrio de professores(as), fundamentando-se nos estudos sociais do Letramento e na AnÃlise de Discurso CrÃtica. à objetivo desta pesquisa responder à seguinte questÃo: De que modo o Mestrado Profissional, como uma nova modalidade de formaÃÃo continuada, exerce influÃncia nos processos identitÃrios dos(as) professores(as), conduzindo a mudanÃas discursivas e possÃveis mudanÃas de aÃÃo? Para tanto, o estudo toma por base dados qualitativos gerados entre professores(as) da educaÃÃo bÃsica inscritos(as) no Programa de Mestrado Profissional em Letras (Profletras). Reconhecendo os limites de uma anÃlise somente textual e a necessidade de anÃlise conjunta de outros elementos da prÃtica social, adota-se a etnografia como metodologia de geraÃÃo e coleta de dados. Para a triangulaÃÃo do mÃtodo, alternativa para intensificar e assegurar a qualidade da pesquisa qualitativa, selecionaram-se os mÃtodos da observaÃÃo participante, das entrevistas semiestruturadas e do diÃrio de participante. Os dados foram analisados com base no aporte teÃrico da Teoria Social do Letramento (STREET, 1984; 2003; 2010; 2012; 2014; BARTON e HAMILTON, 1998; BARTON e HAMILTON, 2000) e da AnÃlise de Discurso CrÃtica (FAIRCLOUGH, 2001; 2003), tendo em vista que algumas pesquisas anteriores adotaram essa abordagem teÃrica integradora e jà demonstraram a compatibilidade entre as duas teorias (MAGALHÃES, 1995; RIOS, 2009; SATO, 2013; BATISTA JR, 2013, FONTENELE, 2014). Em relaÃÃo à Teoria Social do Letramento, o intuito à descrever os eventos de letramento do Mestrado Profissional e relacionÃ-los Ãs prÃticas de letramento, que por sua vez envolvem dimensÃes sociais e culturais, como valores, atitudes, sentimentos e relaÃÃes sociais. Em relaÃÃo à AnÃlise de Discurso CrÃtica, analisa-se o significado identificacional, por meio das categorias modalidade e avaliaÃÃo, ambas relacionadas ao comprometimento do(a) autor(a) com suas proposiÃÃes. A anÃlise indicou que a incursÃo em prÃticas de leitura/escrita/discussÃo de textos propiciadas pelo Mestrado Profissional contribuiu para mudanÃas significativas no letramento acadÃmico dos sujeitos pesquisados e, no contexto dessas mudanÃas, hà redefiniÃÃo e reconstruÃÃo das identidades sociais, definidas por Faiclough (2001) como os âeusâ associados a domÃnios e a instituiÃÃes especÃficas. / Our motivation for this thesis comes from the fact that we teach in basic education, and became familiarized with the issue of academic literacy in a course by dr. Izabel MagalhÃes in the M.A. Course in Linguistics. In addition to literacy, we are also committed to set up a profile of teachers and their practices. Both the Social Theory of Literacy and Critical Discourse Analysis helped us in this regard. We are particularly committed to answering the following question: being a new mechanism of continuing education, how far does the Professional MasterÂs Program impact on teacher identities? The main purpose of this work is then to pull together findings that directly address this question, reporting on data from teachers who are enrolled on the Professional MasterÂs Program (Profletras). Given the limitation of any textual analysis vis-Ã-vis the need to take up seriously social features, we adopted ethnography as a methodology that would generate the data required. This methodology was necessary because it allowed for a useful triangulation for intensifying and ensuring all the qualifying procedures related to teachers interviews as well as participant observation. This enquiry follows previous research by Social Theory of Literacy scholars (STREET, 1984; 2003; 2010; 2012; 2014; BARTON and HAMILTON, 1998; BARTON, HAMILTON and IVANIC, 2000), and Critical Discourse Analysis according to Fairclough (2001, 2003). Other investigations show the compatibility between both theories (MAGALHÃES, 1995; RIOS, 2009; SATO, 2013; BATISTA JR, 2013, FONTENELE, 2014). With the Social Theory of Literacy at hand, we described some literacy events within the Professional MasterÂs Course and relate them to literacy practices, which in turn involve social and cultural dimensions, such as values, attitudes, feelings and social relations. And with the help of Critical Discourse Analysis, we analyzed the meanings of identity, by means of the categories of modality and evaluation, both related to speaker assumptions. The analysis revealed continuing and widening literacy practices among the participants under analysis, in part due to reading, writing and discussing about texts which were presented to teachers by the Professional MasterÂs Course. In the context of these changes, we observed a redefinition and reconstruction of the teachers social identities.

The purpose of this study was to examine the role that the use of subtitling can play as an aid in academic literacy (AL) programmes, particularly against the background of insufficient AL levels at the University of Buea (UB) and elsewhere. Essentially, the study wanted to investigate whether the AL levels of freshmen at UB would improve significantly if they were to be exposed to subtitled popular television programmes (dramas and documentaries) over a period of one academic semester, compared to the AL levels of students who were not exposed to these programmes. The literature survey provided an overview of the field of AL at tertiary level as well as of the use of subtitling in an educational context, clarifying the relevant terminology related to AL, and also investigating other studies that have been done on the benefits of the mode. The survey also investigated the language policy in Cameroon and specifically at UB. Apart from determining whether exposure to subtitled programmes has a positive effect on AL levels, the study also sought to establish which specific areas of AL are improved by exposure to subtitling (if any), and whether the choice of genre (drama or documentary) or the medium of prior learning of participants (English or French) has an impact on AL levels in English. In order to determine the above, the study exposed four test groups enrolled for the UB AL course to popular television programmes over a period of 12 weeks or one academic semester. Two of these groups saw dramas (one with subtitles and the other without) and two saw documentaries (one with subtitles and the other without). A fifth group was used as control group and did not watch any film. The data used was collected from the Test of Academic Literacy Levels (TALL) used as pre-test and post-test, questionnaires, interviews and observations. The study concluded that: 1. In terms of overall improvement, even though there was statistically significant improvement in all test groups (in the case of the weighted data), the improvement of the groups that saw subtitled films was statistically highly significant and had large practical significance. This indicates that the AL levels of the two groups that saw subtitled film improved more than those of the two other groups when compared to the control group. 2. Specific areas of statistically significant AL improvement revealed by the experiment were academic vocabulary, text comprehension and text editing abilities, as a result of exposure to subtitled film (and in certain cases exposure to film without subtitles). 3. The study found no statistically significant difference between the improvement of the two groups that saw subtitled film, indicating that either genre could be used for this purpose. 4. It would also seem that Anglophone and Francophone students benefited equally from exposure to subtitled film. On the basis of these findings, a model was designed for the implementation of subtitling as an integrated aid in AL programmes at tertiary institutions. This model provides for a general and specific integration of subtitled audiovisual material. The former has been used successfully in this study at UB, and it should be possible to make use of the general application of this model with similar levels of success at other tertiary institutions. The use of the latter (applying the model for specific integration) focuses on institutions with discipline-based AL interventions or specific AL purposes. It is important, however, that the model proposed in this study is further refined by ongoing research on its implementation. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Lanuage Practice))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.