The flowering of EAP/ESP: Customised support for the development of communicative competence in writing in the disciplines
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Eva Braidwood is a lecturer in English Language and Communication at the Extension School of the University of Oulu, Finland. She holds a PhD in English Literature from ELTE University, Hungary. Her current research focuses on academic and scientific writing across the disciplines, from humanities to medical writing. In recent years she has co-authored several articles on topics such as rhetorical patterns and argumentation in qualitative scientific articles.
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Suzy McAnsh is also a lecturer in English Language and Communication at the Extension School of the University of Oulu, Finland. She holds a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Birmingham, UK. Her research and professional interests lie in the methodology of teaching scientific writing, particularly in science and engineering, and in providing support for EMI teachers in higher and further education. In recent years she has co-authored articles on these topics.
Abstract
Despite a proliferation of research into academic writing and the availability of a number of guides to writing, little attention has been given to the means of supporting students striving to reach the level of proficiency in English expected from graduates in their respective fields. Our study aims to explore the prevalent problems in writing in English encountered by Finnish university students. In doing so, we revisit the notion of communicative competence in order to gain deeper perspectives on academic/scientific written discourse and apply these to classroom practice. The corpus on which we draw comprises academic/scientific texts produced by students of biochemistry and architecture in their field-related English courses. We begin by surveying and categorising recurrent problems observed during course work. Then we establish a matrix of the most salient problems on various levels, including macro-textual aspects, micro-structural concerns such as morphology, style, register and syntax, as well as metalinguistic issues. Using this matrix, we systematically analyse a sample of the corpus to determine the prevalence of the problems. Further, building on earlier models of competence, we propose a model which consists of six competence areas, the significance of which vary according to the purpose of the text, the learning needs of students or the teacher's didactic purpose. The model can be used for raising learners' awareness of what academic/scientific writing entails, and for analysing texts in order to diagnose students' difficulties and inform course design.
About the authors
Eva Braidwood is a lecturer in English Language and Communication at the Extension School of the University of Oulu, Finland. She holds a PhD in English Literature from ELTE University, Hungary. Her current research focuses on academic and scientific writing across the disciplines, from humanities to medical writing. In recent years she has co-authored several articles on topics such as rhetorical patterns and argumentation in qualitative scientific articles.
Suzy McAnsh is also a lecturer in English Language and Communication at the Extension School of the University of Oulu, Finland. She holds a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Birmingham, UK. Her research and professional interests lie in the methodology of teaching scientific writing, particularly in science and engineering, and in providing support for EMI teachers in higher and further education. In recent years she has co-authored articles on these topics.
©[2013] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead
- The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the European Language Portfolio: Some history, a view of language learner autonomy, and some implications for language learning in higher education
- The CEFR and the dynamics of second language learning: trends and challenges
- Adaptation of the CEFR to remedial English language education in Japan
- Applying the writing scales of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages to the new HSK test of proficiency in Chinese: Realities, problems and some suggestions for Chinese language teachers and learners
- Self-assessment and placement tests – a worthwhile combination?
- Oral proficiency teaching with WebCEF and Skype: Scenarios for online production and interaction tasks
- Test di ingresso e validità. Proposte per un miglioramento della performance del placement di Italiano L2/LS per studenti ispanofoni
- Re-conceptualizing the ELP as a Web 2.0 Personal Language Learning Environment
- The role of the syllable in foreign language learning: Improving oral production through dual-coded, sound-synchronised, typographic annotations
- Designing ICT-enhanced language programmes: Academic writing for postgraduate studies
- The flowering of EAP/ESP: Customised support for the development of communicative competence in writing in the disciplines
- Asiakaspalvelua vieraalla kielellä: Riittääkö, että on kohtelias ja osaa joitain fraaseja?
- Towards a standardised qualification for primary school teachers of English as a foreign language: The experience of Parma (Italy)
