The Talking Cure
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Gillian Diane Lazar
Abstract
Narrative, particularly of an oral nature, is not generally a genre given much consideration in the teaching of academic writing in the tertiary sector. Yet, in everyday discourse, oral narrative predominates. This article begins by describing the difficulties of some British university students engaged in writing academic assignments which were grounded in reflective practice. The use of oral narratives was found to be a useful bridge into academic writing for these students. Thus, I consider some features of narrative discourse, and the ways in which these can be exploited to develop academic writing skills which incorporate argument. Some examples of practical classroom techniques and materials used with students from different disciplinary backgrounds, including education and product design, are suggested.
Abstract
Narrative, particularly of an oral nature, is not generally a genre given much consideration in the teaching of academic writing in the tertiary sector. Yet, in everyday discourse, oral narrative predominates. This article begins by describing the difficulties of some British university students engaged in writing academic assignments which were grounded in reflective practice. The use of oral narratives was found to be a useful bridge into academic writing for these students. Thus, I consider some features of narrative discourse, and the ways in which these can be exploited to develop academic writing skills which incorporate argument. Some examples of practical classroom techniques and materials used with students from different disciplinary backgrounds, including education and product design, are suggested.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Specialized languages 1
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Section one. Research based on corpora
- The historical shift of scientific academic prose in English towards less explicit styles of expression 11
- Heteroglossic (dis)engagement and the construal of the ideal readership 25
- Structure, content and functions of calls for conference abstracts 47
- Summarizing findings 71
- The use of adverbial hedges in EAP students’ oral performance 95
- Integrating approaches to visual data commentary 115
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Section two. Research based on meta-analysis and applications in LSP
- Some dichotomies in genre analysis for Languages for Specific Purposes 139
- English for legal purposes and domain-specific cultural awareness 155
- The Talking Cure 175
- UrgentiAS, a lexical database for medical students in clinical placements 191
- Using natural language patterns for the development of ontologies 211
- Notes on contributors 231
- Index 237
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Specialized languages 1
-
Section one. Research based on corpora
- The historical shift of scientific academic prose in English towards less explicit styles of expression 11
- Heteroglossic (dis)engagement and the construal of the ideal readership 25
- Structure, content and functions of calls for conference abstracts 47
- Summarizing findings 71
- The use of adverbial hedges in EAP students’ oral performance 95
- Integrating approaches to visual data commentary 115
-
Section two. Research based on meta-analysis and applications in LSP
- Some dichotomies in genre analysis for Languages for Specific Purposes 139
- English for legal purposes and domain-specific cultural awareness 155
- The Talking Cure 175
- UrgentiAS, a lexical database for medical students in clinical placements 191
- Using natural language patterns for the development of ontologies 211
- Notes on contributors 231
- Index 237
