Teaching technical writing in multilingual contexts: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Teachers of technical and professional writing in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Programmes need to understand the particular needs and social contexts of students for whom English is not a first language. The focus of this paper is on technical writing, and the paper presents the findings from four broad areas surveyed in a meta-analysis of research articles on curricular, teaching, learning and assessment practices for university-level English technical communication in multilingual contexts. Communication lecturers in the SET professions are faced with decisions regarding the kind of language forms, topics and purposes to address when teaching, developing materials, or designing assessment tasks for a multilingual technical communication class. It is hoped that this meta-analysis will provide communication lecturers, who work within SET fields, with information for effective and inclusive practice.

Using scaffolding academic literacy practices in tertiary classrooms: A South African case study

“…If we understand academic literacies as a set of social practices which are contested and socially constructed, this means that literacy practices are best learned within the discipline, as disciplines have different ways of engaging with texts and of constructing knowledge (Lea & Street, 2006;Clarence & McKenna, 2017). This can happen when academic literacy specialists work closely with academics to make these disciplinary practices and conventions explicit (Jacobs, 2013;Winberg, et al, 2010;Dison & Moore, 2019); another option is for academics to learn how to embed the academic literacies work in their own teaching (Rose, 2017a). This practice is not discussed much in the South African literature.…”

“…Knowledge genres are the text genres that are used in their own disciplines. For example, the following genres are typically used in the natural sciences: experimental/laboratory reports, design reports, summary papers, case studies and research papers (Winberg, et al, 2010). Academics need to know the typical genres used in their disciplines and need to recognise the language and grammar patterns of these texts.…”