ERIC Number: EJ1116100
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Dec-21
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1554-8244
EISSN: N/A
Attitudes about Graduate L2 Writing in Engineering: Possibilities for More Integrated Instruction
Jordan, Jay; Kedrowicz, April
Across the Disciplines, v8 n4 Dec 2011
International graduate students often face significant challenges with academic writing. These challenges create uncertainty about faculty members' roles as teachers of discipline-specific writing, especially in relation to the roles of writing specialists in other academic units. This qualitative case study explored faculty members' attitudes about second language writing in a College of Engineering at a large state-supported university. The college under study systematically and successfully integrates writing instruction into undergraduate engineering courses, but does not do so for graduate curricula. Thus, we also explored the implications of faculty members' attitudes for fuller graduate-level integration of writing instruction. We conducted semi-structured interviews with four engineering faculty members who have mentored L2 graduate students. Results show that all of the advisers appreciated the importance of strong writing skills and recognized the need for more focused attention directed toward improving students' writing. They encouraged their students to use the resources currently available and are also open to the development of more direct instruction at the graduate level. We advocate a distributed, social approach to writing instruction in graduate students' labs to bridge the divide between individual and public professional writing.
Descriptors: Engineering, Engineering Education, College Faculty, Graduate Students, Teacher Attitudes, Writing Instruction, Semi Structured Interviews, Writing Skills, Writing Improvement, Direct Instruction, Second Language Learning, Teaching Methods, Second Language Instruction, Mentors, Academic Discourse, English (Second Language), Writing Across the Curriculum, Grammar, Morphemes, Feedback (Response), Case Studies
WAC Clearinghouse. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523. Tel: 970-491-3132; Web site: http://wac.colostate.edu
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Utah
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A