University Students in the Writing Courses From the Centre to the Periphery: A Critical Perspective

Abstract

Because English is the medium of instruction in higher education in the UAE, many students coming from public schools, where English is taught as a subject, find themselves at the periphery; excluded from access to the discourses of the academic culture, and rather blamed for lacking the skills and the proficiency to cope with the demands of writing courses. These freshmen are compelled to master academic writing, an endeavor they are poorly prepared for. They recognize that they would not go on to wear the undergraduate gown, no matter how brilliantly they had performed in all the subjects, unless they had a credit in English (Ngugi, as cited in Pennycook, 1995). Very few studies have examined the difficulties these students face in coping with writing demands. This study aims to analyze within a critical applied linguistics framework what these students go through as a result of contradictory language policies. It also aims to give these students the chance to voice their challenges and suffering. An exploratory methodology with an element of critical ethnography was employed. Qualitative data obtained through interviews and classroom observation showed that these students face huge difficulties with the writing courses due to their previous poor schooling. Consequently, they suffer from a sense of marginalization from the classroom discourse. Results also showed that the price these students paid was very high in relation to their GPA and academic success.