The role of academic literacy courses in students’ disciplinary knowledge-building: a case study of a Namibian university
- Authors: Nekondo, Linus Vaakohambo
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466383 , vital:76723 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/466383
- Description: This doctoral study investigated the role of academic literacy courses in shaping students’ disciplinary knowledge within the context of a Namibian university. Motivated by concerns surrounding persistently high attrition rates in higher education institutions globally, the research challenges the prevailing tendency to attribute poor student performance solely to individual factors, thus neglecting systemic issues whereby the higher education sector is absolved of responsibility. This absolution is often on the premise that the university has provided adequate support, such as through academic literacy courses, to equip students for success. However, despite the provision of such courses, high attrition rates persist. The study was guided by the following questions: 1. How is ‘academic literacy’ conceptualised in the UNAM English for Academic Purposes course curriculum? This question is further divided into two sub-questions: (a) How do the academics who teach the UNAM EAP course conceptualise ‘academic literacy’? and (b) How is knowledge structured in course documents and assessments? 2. How do academics who teach other courses conceptualise UNAM's EAP course and its relationship to the literacy practices expected in their courses? 3. How do students experience the EAP course at UNAM, and how do they understand the relationship between the content and activities of the EAP course and the academic literacy demands of their other courses? Data collection involved individual interviews with both English for Academic Purposes (EAP) lecturers and discipline-specific lecturers across three UNAM campuses, the Faculty of Education, Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Health Sciences. Additionally, focus group interviews were conducted with students from these same campuses. To ensure robustness, triangulation of interview data was achieved by complementing it with document analysis of EAP course materials and mainstream course documents. The goal was to identify instances of code-matches (where academic literacy practices align with the expectations of the disciplines) or code-clashes (where discrepancies emerge). The findings illuminated prevailing perceptions of academic literacy as a set of skills encompassing reading, writing, and related competencies. Implicit in this understanding was that these presumed academic skills are universally applicable across academic contexts and can be taught with equal effectiveness to students regardless of their chosen discipline. An analysis using Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) revealed that such conceptualisation of academic literacy as practices that are neutral and generic across the academy indicates weaker epistemic relations (ER-), and weaker social relations (SR-). That is, the understanding of academic literacy that dominated in the data legitimated neither specialist knowledge nor any specific disposition in the knower. This results in what is known in LCT as a relativist code. Moreover, the study identified a distinct emphasis on generic, skill-based instruction in the EAP course documents. The relativist code identified in the analysis of the interviews with EAP lecturers, and echoing concerns raised in academic literacy literature about add-on courses, was starkly evident in the EAP course content. A code-clash emerged between the skills and genres taught in the EAP course and those required for success in mainstream courses. Three focus areas of the EAP course, essay writing, report writing, and referencing, were analysed in some depth to ascertain the nature of the code-clash. The thesis presents a comprehensive examination of a specific course and its reflection of prevalent generic common-sense approaches observed in various contexts. While the study centred on UNAM's EAP course, its aim was not to critique a particular course or colleagues. Rather, many findings resonate with issues identified in academic literacy research globally, underscoring persistent challenges associated with generic approaches that often fall short of enhancing epistemic access. The study concludes that there is an urgent need to assess the efficacy of academic literacy courses in fostering students’ disciplinary knowledge-building at grassroot level i.e. at the level of HEIs or disciplines. Such an assessment should consider not only the complexities of acquisition of academic literacy but also the broader global elements with transboundary influences, such as neoliberalism, massification, and the globalisation of higher education. This comprehensive examination contributes to ongoing discussions regarding the enabling of epistemic access and epistemic justice within higher education contexts. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning, 2024
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- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Exploring a genre-based pedagogy in the teaching of writing explanation texts in a Grade 11 ESL classroom: an action research case study
- Authors: Nekondo, Linus Vaakohambo
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/41603 , vital:25107
- Description: This thesis reports on an action research case study into the use of a genre-based approach (GBA) in teaching the writing of explanation texts to Grade 11 learners in Ohangwena Region, Namibia. Knowledge of how to write different genres is a requirement of the Namibian curriculum, and in particular the Grade 11-12 English Second Language [ESL] syllabus. The study aimed to improve my pedagogic practice in the teaching of genre as an English Second Language [ESL] teacher. It also aimed to further develop my Grade 11 learners’ academic language proficiency in genre writing. I employed two action research [AR] cycles. The first cycle was aimed at establishing learners’ baseline proficiencies with regards to writing explanation texts. The second was then aimed at strengthening the weaknesses I identified in my first cycle. Theoretically informed by the genre and socio-constructivism theories, and following the recommended stages of the genre pedagogy cycle, I designed a GBA lesson unit comprising seven lessons. The lessons spanned a two week period. I used formative assessment to assess my learners’ activities during each lesson using marking rubrics designed in line with the structural and linguistic conventions of explanation texts. Data sources include document evidence from my learners’ pre- and post- instruction written works, my written reflections on the teaching/learning process from my research journal, my learners’ written reflections on each lesson, and the whole class closing discussion. The data revealed that, prior to the GBA intervention, while my Grade 11 learners possessed some skill in writing shorter explanations for content subjects; they lacked deep knowledge for so doing in ESL. The post GBA intervention data revealed that, by interacting with texts and working collaboratively in unpacking the features of the genre, learners were able to develop a more critical awareness of the generic and linguistic features of written explanation texts. The study concludes that learners’ genre writing skills can be strengthened through using a GBA approach in which they are immersed in the relevant text features and provided with appropriate assistance and feedback.
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- Date Issued: 2017