Managing academic literacy practices in specific disciplinary courses

Managing academic literacy practices in specific disciplinary courses:

Investigations into students’ learning subject specific knowledge

Dr Peter Mickan Discipline of Linguistics

University of Adelaide

[email protected]

ERGA presentation

Adelaide September, 2012

Discipline knowledge & skills What is it to be competent in a course? How do we conceptualise knowledge & skills in a

discipline? How do we screen/select students for competence? How do students exhibit competence? What do students need to do to become

competent?

Preparation for academic study

Language competence: a significant factor in tertiary students’ academic success & graduates’ workplace effectiveness

Language preparation in PEP/EAP/ESP programs

For discipline specific study, what are the actual language demands or expectations?

Managing disciplinary discoursesRemediation

Error identification Grammatical focus on discrete items e.g.

punctuation, spelling, sentence structure Sentence level analysis

General language competence

English for academic purposes - a general language competence underlying academic work [like general engineering?] But

Need language specific to an academic course context - to purpose & task

How can we investigate this?

Subject specific knowledgeEpistemology

Epistemology: episteme to know/understand + logos word, speech

What is it to be a nurse [insert profession, job] in terms of knowledge & skills?

Example of Environmental Impact Assessment [EIA], in Geographical Studies

Case studies in specific disciplines Postgraduate Curatorial and Museum

Studies Masters in Environmental Policy and

Management Environmental Impact Assessment [EIA]

Postgraduate Nursing

Environmental Impact Assessment course

Topic Aims Learning Outcomes/Graduate Attributes

1. Develop and understanding of the purpose, process and methods of EIA

1. Explain the history, context, methods and various stages of the EIA process

2. Show the critical role of EIA processes indifferent states of Australia and in other countries

2. Comprehend the role of EIA in environmental management and for achieving the goal of sustainable development

3. highlight the variability of EIA processes in different states of Australia and in other countries

3. critically assess the usefulness, strengths and limitations of the EIA process

4. draw attention to the strengths and weaknesses of the EIA process

4. Discuss the social, ecological, political and economic dimensions of the EIA process

5. further develop critical thinking skills or ecological literacy in regard to developmental and environmental issues

5. communicate effectively about concepts, ideas and issues of the EIA process

EIA literacy resources Reading materials for students:

representations of Geography and Environmental Studies: EIA Course Guide: Course Information,

Study skills, Course Resources, Details of Assignment Tasks, Assessment Guidelines, Lecture and Seminar details etc.

Readings: journals, text books, articles Seminar handouts

EIA literacy eventsGeography and Environmental Studies students

engage in the following literacy practices: • Classroom discussion-open class, small group • Listening to Lectures/Seminars • Social chatting between the students • Asking questions (tutor, each other); Discussing class requirements &

assessment/assignment requirements;

Different texts for different purposes: oral, written, formal, informal text types

EIA text extract for analysis China’s EIA system has made much progress to

develop a framework of environmental laws, regulations and procedures during the last three decades, while there are some deficiencies in the statutory framework. China’s government is keeping to improve its institutional capacity for managing the environment. China’s 2003 EIA Law can be regarded as a significant step towards a more effective environmental management system in China (Wang, 2003). However, in China’s 2003 EIA Law there are two design limitations needed to be improved: 1) a limited scope 3) an ambiguous role for environmental authorities in regulating EIA. (Excerpt 2)

Theories of language & learning: Socialisation & semiotic

Social theory of language learning: Halliday (1978) Language as social semiotic—a resource for making meanings

Knowledge: “to “know” something is to have transformed it into meaning, and what we call “understanding” is the process of that transformation” (Halliday in Webster (ed): 2)

Becoming a Nurse: the lecture

Okawa case study: analysed in detail selected literacy events & practices of a student nurse, one being the lecture:

pre-reading (textbooks), fill in the blanks in textbook, Note taking during lecture Viewing power point after lecture (visuals &

technical terminology) Video-streaming of lecture after lecture plus note-

taking (Okawa 2008)

Nursing (cont.) Tutorial & workshop

Literacy practices:•video-streaming of physical assessment, •Multiple choice questions, •participating in the pair-work and group work,•Viewing the mechanism of the body using dummy & visual aids,•Note taking,•Reading & documenting during the Physical assessment

Literacy events in nursing

Making meanings with texts +Building discourse skills

Language in context

With discipline skills

Text awareness - analysis of text types

Focused instruction related to purpose of texts

Texts in a nursing lecture Printed study plan.Printed textbooks:Text types- Explanation - Diagrams.Power Point Presentation.Information on white board :Vocabulary DiagramJ1’s lecture notes.Displayed electronic text. Lecture displayed in electronic mode.Lecture notes written by J1.

Academic action! Investigate! What is your subject or course on about? The

epistemology? What knowledge/skills? What literacy practices? What texts & discourses? What awareness of literacy expectations? Reflection! Collaboration! Knowledge-building!

Thanks Thanks to PhD and MA Applied

Linguistics Students in the Academic Literacies Research Group

In particular thanks to Kateryna Katsman & Thomas Wanner for use of EIA data and Toshi Okawa

Further reading References

Halliday, M. (1978). Language as social semiotic: the social interpretation of language and meaning. London: Edward Arnold.

Mickan, P. (2012) Language Curriculum Design and Socialisation. Brighton, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Mickan, P. (in presss) Social Semiotics and Academic Literacies: An Epistemological Approach to The Study of Disciplinary Discourses. International Journal of Innovation in ELT and Research, Vol. 2: 2-12

Professional choices? Academic dependency?

Innovation? Knowledge creation? Exploit technology

Create curriculum, build knowledge, collaborate & empower students & ourselves

Please join in our research! [email protected]

Inquiry: action research, reflective practitioner Research identity & professional practice Practitioner managed Classroom research Qualitative/naturalistic studies Relevant investigations Collaborative—in community Resource-based—people + information Documentation & reporting

Language learning—why inquiry-based instruction? Multiple, conflicting theories: cognitive,

structural, behaviourist, acquisition v. learning, naturalistic, social theory, acquisition v. learning etc

Contradictory research methods: quantitative, experimental, ethnographic, naturalistic, case study etc.

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Sttudents’ experiences of learning languages Universal, normal-shared experiences

& knowledge of language

Texts in a nursing lecture Printed study plan. Printed textbooks: Text types- Explanation - Diagrams. Power Point Presentation. Information on white board : Vocabulary Diagram J1’s lecture notes. Displayed electronic text. Lecture displayed in electronic mode. Lecture notes written by J1.