Assessing academic literacy: A task-based approach

Weideman, Albert

doi:10.1080/10228190608566253

Cited by 62 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…However, it is important to note that all the tests used in South Africa appear to be based on roughly the same construct or definition of "academic literacy" (Scholtz 2012, Weideman 2006. Van Dyk and Weideman (2004) summarise the latter in competencies, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Scholtz 2012). The main objective of this practice is to assess students' preparedness to meet the challenges posed in higher education institutions (Scholtz 2012, Van Dyk 2005, Van Dyk and Van de Poel 2013, Weideman 2006. This preparedness can be roughly referred to as "academic literacy", a concept that has been explored from different angles (cf.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Improving academic literacy by teaching collocations

Nizonkiza

2017

SPIL

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This study explores the effect of teaching collocations on building academic vocabulary and hence improving academic writing abilities. A pre-/post-test experimental design was used to analyse collocations produced in two tasks completed by the study's participants, English majors at a university in Burundi. They were presented with a completion task and an essaywriting task before and after being exposed to a collocation-based syllabus. The results show that participants performed significantly better on the post-test than on the pre-test in their production of collocations in both tasks. This suggests that an intervention contributes towards building students' productive use of collocations in both cued recall and essay writing, supporting earlier findings (cf. Barfield 2009, Seesink 2007. In light of these findings, pedagogical consequences and avenues for improving higher education students' use of collocations in writing are discussed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving academic literacy by teaching collocations

Nizonkiza

2017

SPIL

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“…Van Dyk & Weideman (2004) outlined a number of competencies higher education students are expected to have achieved for them to complete their university degrees successfully (see also Weideman, 2006 (Butler, 2013).…”

Section: Academic Literacy and The Need For Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Productive knowledge of collocations may predict academic literacy

Dyk

Louw

Nizonkiza

et al. 2016

PLING

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The present study examines the relationship between productive knowledge of collocations and academic literacy among first year students at North-West University. Participants were administered a collocation test, the items of which were selected from Nation's (2006Nation's ( ) word frequency bands, i.e. the 2000 and the Academic Word List (Coxhead, 2000). (cf. Gitsaki, 1999;Bonk, 2001;Eyckmans et al., 2004;Boers et al., 2006;Nizonkiza, 2011; among others). This study therefore concludes that growth in productive knowledge of collocations may entail growth in academic literacy; suggesting that productive use of collocations is linked to academic literacy to a considerable extent. In light of these findings, teaching strategies aimed to assist first year students meet academic demands posed by higher education and avenues to explore for further research are discussed. Especially, we suggest adopting a productive oriented approach to teaching collocations, which we believe may prove useful. The scores from the collocation test were compared to those from the Test of Academic Literacy Levels (version administered in 2012). The results of this study indicate that, overall, knowledge of collocations is significantly correlated with academic literacy, which is also observed at each of the frequency bands from which the items were selected. These results support Nizonkiza's (2014) findings that a significant correlation between mastery of collocations of words from the Academic Word List and academic literacy exists; which is extended here to words from other frequency bands. They also confirm previous findings that productive knowledge of collocations increases alongside overall proficiency

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“…This needs attention before students can attempt to meet the professional competence of a chosen career. Weidman [4] contends that whilst it may be accepted that ability in the language or languages of instruction and learning, is not the only factor that contributes to poor student performance, poor language ability remains a very important obstacle. Interestingly, Harris and Ashton [5] attest that not only do universities contend with lower literacy rates of domestic students, they also attract a high percentage of international students, for whom many identify English as an additional language.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Weidman [4] asserts that a student who is academically literate should be able to: use academic vocabulary; interpret and use; understand and be aware of the logical development of (an academic) text, via introductions to conclusions, and know how to use language; show sensitivity for the meaning conveyed, and the intended audience; interpret, use and produce information presented in graphic or visual format; make distinctions between essential and non-essential information, fact and opinion, propositions and arguments; distinguish between cause and effect, classify, categorise and handle data that make comparisons and can be applied for the purposes of an argument; know what counts as evidence for an argument, extrapolate from information by making inferences, and apply the information, or its implications to other cases than the one at hand; understand the communicative function of various ways of expression in academic language (such as defining, providing examples, arguing); and make meaning (e.g. of an academic text) beyond the level of the sentence (p.2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The piloting of an Academic Literary Education Course (ALEC) to improve academic literacy of first semester undergraduate students in a Western Australian university

Hendricks

Andrew

Fowler

2013

JNEP

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Widening participation has enabled access to higher education for an increasing number of students via a range of non-traditional pathways. Consequently, whilst having a large repertoire of skills and experience, these students may not have developed sufficient competence in academic literacy. The School of Nursing and Midwifery has a large proportion of such students who have difficulty making the academic transition to university study.It is believed that a 'built in' approach to supporting these students to develop academic literacy will result in an improvement in their abilities to meet the requirements of the University and to better prepare them to graduate. This paper discusses the piloting of an Academic Literary Education Course (ALEC) for undergraduate students enrolled in the first semester unit of a three year health degree, within the disciplines of nursing and paramedical science. The students completed tests on academic literacy before and after completion of the ALEC. Particular areas of difficulty for students were found to be in referencing and unpacking the assessment question. When mean scores were compared between pre and post-tests in the same group, it was found there was a significant difference between scores at t value = -7,721, degrees of freedom = 181 with a p value of 0.000 or p value < .001. Recommendations include incorporating the ALEC approach in further stages of the undergraduate degree program to support developing levels of academic literacy.

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Assessing academic literacy: A task-based approach

Cited by 62 publications

References 9 publications

Improving academic literacy by teaching collocations

Improving academic literacy by teaching collocations

Productive knowledge of collocations may predict academic literacy

The piloting of an Academic Literary Education Course (ALEC) to improve academic literacy of first semester undergraduate students in a Western Australian university

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