Das (verhinderte) Potential der Mehrsprachigkeit

This paper introduces the results of a series of writing workshops about “Mehrsprachig Schreiben” [Multilingual Writing], which took place at the University of Vienna between 2015 and 2017. The article poses the question, how individual, multilingual potentials can be used productively and creatively for the development and enhancements of academic literacies in the tertiary education sector. First it focuses on the linguistic landscapes at Austrian Universities such as the handling of multilingualism in this context, as well as it concerns the framing conditions and challenges of academic writing per se, before it shows the terms of the writing workshops and the methodical and didactical approach in connection with the concept of a multilingual process orientated writing didactic. On the basis of an exercise example (“Meine Sprachen und ich” [My languages and I]) it is responding in the end to the concrete challenges of multilingual academic writing at “German speaking” universities.

Authorship and creation for university students

The aim of this study was to investigate the meanings of creation and the possibilities of authorship for students from two public universities. Reading and writing workshops with students, which were recorded via audio recordings and fieldnotes constituted the field of study. The analyses were based on the theoretical perspectives of Bakhtin and Vygotski and focused, from the students’ point of view, on the social places institutionally occupied by professors and students and the meanings about the academic practices and their consequences for the possibilities of authorship and creation. The results indicate places of inequality in the relationship between peers from public and private education, the individual responsibilization of the students for their trajectories within the university and the signification of academic authorship as responsive to the productivist logic guided by the commodification of scientific production.

Academics’ Experiences in Veterinary Educational Research: Results of an International Survey

Research conducted by the veterinary education community is critical to continual improvement of educational outcomes. Additionally, research productivity is one metric in promotion and tenure decisions. We sought to identify challenges encountered or anticipated when undertaking or planning veterinary educational research (VER), to learn how these challenges might be overcome, and to synthesize tips for success from those who have performed VER. A branching survey was developed and deployed along the authors’ worldwide veterinary education contacts in a cascading manner. The survey collected quantitative and qualitative information from participants who had performed VER and those who planned to perform VER in the future. The 258 participants represented 41 countries. Of the participants, 204 had performed VER (79%) and 54 planned to in the future (21%). The median time spent teaching was 14 years, and median time performing VER was 5 years. The most commonly reported challenges in performing VER were lack of funding, lack of time, and difficulties encountered when undertaking a study, including data collection, analysis, and publishing. When asked about overcoming the challenges, a major theme emerged around people, who provided expertise and mentoring. The most commonly reported tip for success was collaboration; 73% of experienced researchers reported people as most helpful upon beginning VER. Collaborators provided diverse help with ideas, study design, statistics, and other aspects. These results suggest that institutions can offer support to academics in the form of small grants, protected research time, writing workshops, and mentorship to assist with the production of meaningful VER.

Using a Systemic Functional Linguistics Genre Approach to Help EFL Pre-Service Teachers Write Research Proposals

This article presents the results of a qualitative research study that aimed to explore the benefits of implementing a Systemic-Functional Linguistics (SFL) genre-based approach to help a group of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pre-service teachers write the statement of the problem section of their research proposals. The implementation comprised a series of writing workshops and individual tutoring sessions with students designed following the principles of the SFL genre-based curriculum cycle. To gain better insights into the benefits of this approach, the workshop sessions, the individual tutoring sessions, and the individual student interviews were audio-recorded. In addition, samples of students’ drafts and final texts were collected and analyzed. The findings show that the approach has the potential to enhance students’ awareness of how to structure arguments in the statement of the problem section of their research proposal. Students also improved their ability to elaborate on each argument that they put forward throughout the section.

Material Design for Teaching Citations Skills in Scientific Writing

Citations are important rhetorical devices that when properly and strategically employed, allow writers to promote their current research findings persuasively and efficiently. As knowledge construction is progressive and cumulative, specifically in scientific disciplines, it is evident that acquiring skills for adequate and effective application of citations is essential for success. Scientific writers are required to possess advanced academic literacy skills in order to ably position their study within the framework of existing knowledge, and strategically employ citations to advance the acceptability of their research findings. This paper endeavors to propose materials for teaching the rhetorical functions of citations in advanced academic writing courses. The tasks are designed specifically to raise students’ awareness of citation norms, especially in their own specific disciplines. Since the practice of citing the work of others ethically is highly challenging for emerging research writers, materials suggested in this paper can be beneficial to instructors who are involved in developing advanced discipline-specific writing courses, or short-term academic writing workshops.

Paesaggi linguistici e scrittura plurilingue Un’analisi di testi plurilingui di allievi/e delle scuole secondarie di secondo grado

The present research investigates linguistic landscaping in plurilingual written communication. Students were asked to write plurilingual texts, using all the languages available in their repertoire. This resulted in a systematic use of code-switching and translanguaging which both became part of the writing process. The data analysis showed that students used the different languages of their plurilingual repertoire to construct and vary meaning in the texts according to specific needs or requirements, thus creating subjective linguistic landscapes. On the basis of an analysis of 69 texts and 5 stimulated recalls held after the writing workshops, the following research questions were investigated: according to which criteria do students chose languages to communicate in writing? What type of attitudes and dispositions emerge? Which linguistic landscapes can be recognised?