ERIC Number: EJ926202
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1356-2517
EISSN: N/A
Doctoral Students Writing: Where's the Pedagogy?
Cotterall, Sara
Teaching in Higher Education, v16 n4 p413-425 2011
Writing occupies a key role in doctoral research, because it is the principal channel students use to communicate their ideas, and the basis on which their degree is awarded. Doctoral writing can, therefore, be a source of considerable anxiety. Most doctoral candidates require support and encouragement if they are to develop confidence as writers. Drawing on interviews with two international doctoral students at an Australian university, this paper examines the writing practices the students have encountered and discusses them in the light of recent research on doctoral writing pedagogy. Analysis of the students' experiences in terms of Wenger's "communities of practice" framework suggests that this perspective fails to account adequately for the power relations that impact on the students' learning opportunities. Examining the students' experiences also highlights the importance of good pedagogy in supporting the development of scholarly writing in the doctorate. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.)
Descriptors: Communities of Practice, Doctoral Programs, Graduate Students, Writing (Composition), Interviews, Foreign Students, Foreign Countries, Power Structure, Teaching Methods, Writing Instruction, Guidelines, Scholarship, Anxiety, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A