Papers from the Lancaster University Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics & Language Teachi... more Papers from the Lancaster University Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics & Language Teaching Volume 1. Papers from LAEL PG 2006 Edited by Costas Gabrielatos Richard Slessor JW Unger 2007 Department of Linguistics and English Language Lancaster University ...
Academics Writing recounts how academic writing is changing in the contemporary university, trans... more Academics Writing recounts how academic writing is changing in the contemporary university, transforming what it means to be an academic and how, as a society, we produce academic knowledge. Writing practices are changing as the academic profession itself is reconfigured through new forms of governance and accountability, increasing use of digital resources, and the internationalisation of higher education. Through detailed studies of writing in the daily life of academics in different disciplines and in different institutions, this book explores: - the space and time of academic writing; - tensions between disciplines and institutions around genres of writing; - the diversity of stances adopted towards the tools and technologies of writing, and towards engagement with social media; and - the importance of relationships and collaboration with others, in writing and in ongoing learning in a context of constant change. Drawing out implications of the work for academics, university management, professional training, and policy, Academics Writing: The Dynamics of Knowledge Creation is key reading for anyone studying or researching writing, academic support, and development within education and applied linguistics.
This presentation discusses findings from an ERSC-funded research project investigating the writi... more This presentation discusses findings from an ERSC-funded research project investigating the writing practices of academics at three English universities. The data drawn on in this paper relate specifically to the ways in which digital technologies around writing bring issues of academic identity into sharp focus. Academics have always participated in disciplinary networks, but the gradual shift towards "social scholarship" (Greenhow & Gleason, 2014), in which social networking is part of the research, writing and publishing process, has amplified the need for connectedness. Digitisation has brought not only greater opportunities for collaborative writing, but also the expectation that academics will engage in practices such as maintaining online profiles and sharing output on digital forums. Some have argued that these activities risk crowding out the quiet time needed to get scholarly writing done and that they represent a potential threat to academics' sense of identity. Drawing on a social practice approach to literacy (Barton & Hamilton, 2000), interviews were conducted with academics from three different disciplines and institutions. These focused on the detailed processes and practices involved in academic writing, including the role of digital technologies and relationships with others in text production. Although scholarly writing is often characterised as a solitary activity, a central aspect of almost all the writing processes in this study was the importance of relationships. More and faster collaborative writing was facilitated by digital platforms such as email, Skype, and file-sharing software. However, relationships played a pivotal role even in forms of writing that were, prima facie, solo endeavours. For example, during periods of writing, informal discussions with colleagues or friends, either face-to-face or via online professional networks, could be extremely productive. Similarly, connecting with others by sharing work online was described as an important part of participants’ scholarly identity. In this sense, rather than distracting from the work of writing, relationships with others were highly valued and central to the scholarly identity our participants held dear. These findings highlight the centrality of writing relationships in academic identity and the role of digital technologies in enabling them.
Academics’ sense of scholarly identity is closely linked to the writing they do. However, the ran... more Academics’ sense of scholarly identity is closely linked to the writing they do. However, the range of audiences academics are expected to write for and the types of texts they have to produce are changing. For example, management concern for transparency and accountability in higher education means that academics are often asked to write documents such as module descriptors and learning outcomes, which are aimed primarily at external quality assurance bodies. Likewise, as students are positioned as fee-paying customers, academics may be asked to write reports for management, outlining their response to student satisfaction surveys. This presentation discusses findings from an ESRC-funded research project investigating the writing practices of academics in three disciplines at three English universities. The data presented come from interviews with 51 academics, working in three disciplinary areas: Mathematics, History, or Marketing. We asked these academics about the range of writi...
Locating Social Justice in Higher Education Research, 2020
McCulloch, S. & Tusting, K. (2020). Chapter in McArthur, J. & Ashwin, P. Bloomsbu... more McCulloch, S. & Tusting, K. (2020). Chapter in McArthur, J. & Ashwin, P. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978135008676
Papers from the Lancaster University Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics & Language Teachi... more Papers from the Lancaster University Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics & Language Teaching Volume 1. Papers from LAEL PG 2006 Edited by Costas Gabrielatos Richard Slessor JW Unger 2007 Department of Linguistics and English Language Lancaster University ...
Academics Writing recounts how academic writing is changing in the contemporary university, trans... more Academics Writing recounts how academic writing is changing in the contemporary university, transforming what it means to be an academic and how, as a society, we produce academic knowledge. Writing practices are changing as the academic profession itself is reconfigured through new forms of governance and accountability, increasing use of digital resources, and the internationalisation of higher education. Through detailed studies of writing in the daily life of academics in different disciplines and in different institutions, this book explores: - the space and time of academic writing; - tensions between disciplines and institutions around genres of writing; - the diversity of stances adopted towards the tools and technologies of writing, and towards engagement with social media; and - the importance of relationships and collaboration with others, in writing and in ongoing learning in a context of constant change. Drawing out implications of the work for academics, university management, professional training, and policy, Academics Writing: The Dynamics of Knowledge Creation is key reading for anyone studying or researching writing, academic support, and development within education and applied linguistics.
This presentation discusses findings from an ERSC-funded research project investigating the writi... more This presentation discusses findings from an ERSC-funded research project investigating the writing practices of academics at three English universities. The data drawn on in this paper relate specifically to the ways in which digital technologies around writing bring issues of academic identity into sharp focus. Academics have always participated in disciplinary networks, but the gradual shift towards "social scholarship" (Greenhow & Gleason, 2014), in which social networking is part of the research, writing and publishing process, has amplified the need for connectedness. Digitisation has brought not only greater opportunities for collaborative writing, but also the expectation that academics will engage in practices such as maintaining online profiles and sharing output on digital forums. Some have argued that these activities risk crowding out the quiet time needed to get scholarly writing done and that they represent a potential threat to academics' sense of identity. Drawing on a social practice approach to literacy (Barton & Hamilton, 2000), interviews were conducted with academics from three different disciplines and institutions. These focused on the detailed processes and practices involved in academic writing, including the role of digital technologies and relationships with others in text production. Although scholarly writing is often characterised as a solitary activity, a central aspect of almost all the writing processes in this study was the importance of relationships. More and faster collaborative writing was facilitated by digital platforms such as email, Skype, and file-sharing software. However, relationships played a pivotal role even in forms of writing that were, prima facie, solo endeavours. For example, during periods of writing, informal discussions with colleagues or friends, either face-to-face or via online professional networks, could be extremely productive. Similarly, connecting with others by sharing work online was described as an important part of participants’ scholarly identity. In this sense, rather than distracting from the work of writing, relationships with others were highly valued and central to the scholarly identity our participants held dear. These findings highlight the centrality of writing relationships in academic identity and the role of digital technologies in enabling them.
Academics’ sense of scholarly identity is closely linked to the writing they do. However, the ran... more Academics’ sense of scholarly identity is closely linked to the writing they do. However, the range of audiences academics are expected to write for and the types of texts they have to produce are changing. For example, management concern for transparency and accountability in higher education means that academics are often asked to write documents such as module descriptors and learning outcomes, which are aimed primarily at external quality assurance bodies. Likewise, as students are positioned as fee-paying customers, academics may be asked to write reports for management, outlining their response to student satisfaction surveys. This presentation discusses findings from an ESRC-funded research project investigating the writing practices of academics in three disciplines at three English universities. The data presented come from interviews with 51 academics, working in three disciplinary areas: Mathematics, History, or Marketing. We asked these academics about the range of writi...
Locating Social Justice in Higher Education Research, 2020
McCulloch, S. & Tusting, K. (2020). Chapter in McArthur, J. & Ashwin, P. Bloomsbu... more McCulloch, S. & Tusting, K. (2020). Chapter in McArthur, J. & Ashwin, P. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978135008676
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