Please note: I no longer use academia.edu since it went commercial, and have not added research to this page since 2017. Please find me at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jim_Mckinley Associate Professor of applied linguistics and TESOL, University College London (UCL), Institute of Education, Centre for Applied Linguistics (9/2018 ~). Previously held permanent positions at the University of Bath and Sophia University (Japan). Areas of interest include research methods in applied linguistics, L2 writing, internationalised higher education, especially English-medium instruction (EMI).
The construction of writer identity in English L2 academic writing is not usually explicitly addr... more The construction of writer identity in English L2 academic writing is not usually explicitly addressed in such writing classrooms, yet it plays a significant role for English L2 students learning to write in academic genres. This study investigates the influences on the construction of writer identity by Japanese university students in Japan learning English academic writing, with consideration given to what selves they exhibit in their writing, and how much those selves were shaped by their learning experiences in a required writing course. A total of sixteen students and their four teachers participated in the yearlong study, involving an analysis of students' written texts, supported by monthly student and teacher interviews and classroom observations. The text analysis was done using Clark and Ivanič's (1997) possibilities of selfhood as the main framework, operationalizing Martin's (2000) Appraisal framework for identifying the different selves. Findings showed that the strongest influences on identity construction were from instructors' expectations, while personal beliefs also contributed. The findings also showed that students were more likely to meet writing task expectations where instructors had more reasonable requirements in terms of voice.
In this article we respond to the special issue “Definitions for Applied Linguistics”, where the ... more In this article we respond to the special issue “Definitions for Applied Linguistics”, where the past and future of applied linguistics are discussed, and the place of pedagogy in the field’s scope is debated. In the issue, Hellermann (2015) uses data from 1980-1984 and 2009-2013 to show a shift in the field towards an emerging range of language-related problems, coupled with the declining prominence of pedagogy-related research in the journal. In this paper, we extend Hellerman’s work in order to investigate whether this trend is reflective of other published work in applied linguistics. In our investigation, 336 research papers published in 2015 were analysed from 10 self-identified applied linguistics journals. Data revealed language-pedagogy related studies constituted 32 percent of all empirical research, although this representation was unevenly distributed across the journals. Findings suggest a number of practice-oriented journals now take the lion’s share of pedagogical research, allowing other key applied linguistics journals to focus on a diverse range of non-pedagogy related language problems. Nevertheless, in general, pedagogy remains a key topic in the field.
This article makes the argument that we need to situate student’s academic writing as socially co... more This article makes the argument that we need to situate student’s academic writing as socially constructed pieces of writing that embody a writer’s cultural identity and critical argument. In support, I present and describe a comprehensive model of an original EFL writing analytical framework. This article explains the interrelationship between the elements of cultural practices in academic discourse, writer identity, and critical thinking, and argues how this is influenced by the sociocultural values of academic discourse. This interrelationship is realized by viewing EFL writing through a social constructivist lens, showing how critical thinking processes are shaped by awareness of the sociocultural conventions of academic discourse, and how critical thinking arises from a writer identity aligned with the culture of English academic writing.
For learners of Japanese, a conundrum arises at university level as they are expected to be able ... more For learners of Japanese, a conundrum arises at university level as they are expected to be able to shift between direct and indirect language in various writing tasks. The apparent indirectness in inductive language is required of regular writing tasks such as response essays and e-mails, while the directness of deductive academic writing, a quality traditionally attributed to academic writing in the West, is now a universally accepted quality of academic writing in any language. This shift can cause confusion for students, perhaps in part due to the widespread misunderstanding of it by linguistics researchers from the West in the past. This is not to suggest that English speakers, for example, do not make similar shifts in language use from non-academic to academic registers, but for learners of Japanese as a second language, the shift is less understood. In this article, I draw on some original data to support the posited theories. While instructors may make a clear distinction between the direct and indirect genres of writing, students do not always make the same distinction. Students may display a clear understanding of the Western criticisms of Japanese rhetorical approaches, but experience confusion when trying to meet the writing expectations of their instructors. University instructors of Japanese need to address the Western criticisms when clarifying the specific genres and uses of particular rhetorical approaches in written Japanese, and put more emphasis on the differences between written and spoken Japanese.
This article provides an examination of the literature on issues surrounding the problems Japanes... more This article provides an examination of the literature on issues surrounding the problems Japanese university students face in learning critical argument in their English academic writing courses. Japanese students’ critical thinking skills are criticized as not fostered in their university education, perhaps due to Confucian education ideals, Japanese “reader-responsible” rhetorical structures, or misinterpretations by Western instructors. The article is presented in four sections providing first, an examination of English L2 in the Japanese context, second, an analysis of Japanese to English contrastive rhetoric, and third, a discussion of the debate on Japanese university students’ critical thinking in EFL writing, and finishes with several suggestions to provide ways of dealing with the key challenges and foster more positive development of critical thinking in Japanese students’ EFL academic writing.
Intro: In a case study research project where a Western researcher is observing Japanese universi... more Intro: In a case study research project where a Western researcher is observing Japanese university students in their own classrooms in Japan being taught critical English writing by Western teachers, certainly the issue of cultural sensitivity is crucial. I feel it is my duty as a Western researcher to try to be as objective as possible to be able to have a better understanding of the social phenomena that is learning English writing in a Japanese university...
Writing is one of the most challenging and neglected areas of English education in Japan, particu... more Writing is one of the most challenging and neglected areas of English education in Japan, particularly with regard to developing critical argument and establishing writer identity. This problem requires exploration into English writing classrooms in Japan in order to uncover the problems students face in their practice with these features of writing, and to discuss possible solutions. The purpose of this study was to find out what one Japanese university’s approaches were to English writing. This was achieved through classroom observations, interviews with students and teachers, and an analysis of students’ written texts. It was found that students worked diligently with what was given to them in class, although most of them felt it was not enough, while the teachers felt uncertain about what to give their students. The analysis of the students’ texts revealed that students were able to apply newly acquired skills, but were limited by only superficial understanding of the techniques.
Writing centers in universities across Japan are on the rise. These centers are commonly understo... more Writing centers in universities across Japan are on the rise. These centers are commonly understood to be for remedial language help, deterring students confident with their language ability from attending. Over the past few years the number of student appointments at our writing center had been decreasing. Students were expressing no need for the center since, in their understanding, it was meant only for correcting grammar. To increase awareness of the writing center, we decided to conduct workshops to provide basic frameworks for learning aspects of writing outside of grammar. Since running the workshops, reservations for tutorials have been increasing, suggesting the workshops to be successful.
With the increasing awareness of the importance of sociocultural considerations of students' lear... more With the increasing awareness of the importance of sociocultural considerations of students' learning environments, activity theory was utilised in a study that followed sixteen Japanese university English majors through their English composition courses. It was noted that the students' motivation in completing their tasks reflected their struggle with establishing a global identity.
Intro: Every degree student in the Faculty of Liberal Arts is required to complete English compos... more Intro: Every degree student in the Faculty of Liberal Arts is required to complete English composition courses. After taking the English Placement Test, students are placed in Basic Writing, Composition 1, or Composition 2. The Basic Writing course gives students a chance to better understand the expectations of writing at the university level, but this course is limited to a small number in order for those students to receive extra training and attention to their writing before entering Composition 1, where most students are placed. In Composition 1 it is expected that students will learn the basics of academic writing in order to appropriately develop and construct essays for different purposes. In Composition 2, it is expected that students will learn how to extend these skills into writing for research purposes...
The installation of English language writing centres in Japanese universities is a relatively rec... more The installation of English language writing centres in Japanese universities is a relatively recent event—the first ones established with funding from the Ministry of Education in 2004. Because of the EFL writing context, setting up a writing centre requires consideration of students’ needs and cultural expectations of writing and writing centres. In general, writing centres that have been established in Japanese universities follow a structure similar to those in the US. This raises the question as to whether or not this is appropriate for the particular needs of EFL students and the obstacles they face. For this study, in order to explore students’ attitudes toward writing centres and the role they play in writing education, interview data was collected from students of English composition in two different departments at a university in Japan well known for its English language education: the English department, which does not have a writing centre, and the liberal arts department, which has one of the first writing centres established in Japan.
Doing Research in Applied Linguistics: Realities, dilemmas, and solutions provides insight and gu... more Doing Research in Applied Linguistics: Realities, dilemmas, and solutions provides insight and guidance for those undertaking research, and shows the reader how to deal with the challenges of this research involving real people in real settings. Featuring over twenty chapters by experienced and up-and-coming researchers from around the world, this book:
outlines the steps involved in solving the problem and completing a successful, and publishable, project; provides case studies of obstacles faced at each stage of research, from preliminary planning to report writing; addresses issues of validity and reliability during data collection and analysis; discusses ethical issues in research dealing with vulnerable groups including children, refugees, and students; includes examples from longitudinal studies, and both qualitative and quantitative research. Doing Research in Applied Linguistics is essential reading for students studying research methods, or for those embarking on their first research project in applied linguistics or language education.
The construction of writer identity in English L2 academic writing is not usually explicitly addr... more The construction of writer identity in English L2 academic writing is not usually explicitly addressed in such writing classrooms, yet it plays a significant role for English L2 students learning to write in academic genres. This study investigates the influences on the construction of writer identity by Japanese university students in Japan learning English academic writing, with consideration given to what selves they exhibit in their writing, and how much those selves were shaped by their learning experiences in a required writing course. A total of sixteen students and their four teachers participated in the yearlong study, involving an analysis of students' written texts, supported by monthly student and teacher interviews and classroom observations. The text analysis was done using Clark and Ivanič's (1997) possibilities of selfhood as the main framework, operationalizing Martin's (2000) Appraisal framework for identifying the different selves. Findings showed that the strongest influences on identity construction were from instructors' expectations, while personal beliefs also contributed. The findings also showed that students were more likely to meet writing task expectations where instructors had more reasonable requirements in terms of voice.
In this article we respond to the special issue “Definitions for Applied Linguistics”, where the ... more In this article we respond to the special issue “Definitions for Applied Linguistics”, where the past and future of applied linguistics are discussed, and the place of pedagogy in the field’s scope is debated. In the issue, Hellermann (2015) uses data from 1980-1984 and 2009-2013 to show a shift in the field towards an emerging range of language-related problems, coupled with the declining prominence of pedagogy-related research in the journal. In this paper, we extend Hellerman’s work in order to investigate whether this trend is reflective of other published work in applied linguistics. In our investigation, 336 research papers published in 2015 were analysed from 10 self-identified applied linguistics journals. Data revealed language-pedagogy related studies constituted 32 percent of all empirical research, although this representation was unevenly distributed across the journals. Findings suggest a number of practice-oriented journals now take the lion’s share of pedagogical research, allowing other key applied linguistics journals to focus on a diverse range of non-pedagogy related language problems. Nevertheless, in general, pedagogy remains a key topic in the field.
This article makes the argument that we need to situate student’s academic writing as socially co... more This article makes the argument that we need to situate student’s academic writing as socially constructed pieces of writing that embody a writer’s cultural identity and critical argument. In support, I present and describe a comprehensive model of an original EFL writing analytical framework. This article explains the interrelationship between the elements of cultural practices in academic discourse, writer identity, and critical thinking, and argues how this is influenced by the sociocultural values of academic discourse. This interrelationship is realized by viewing EFL writing through a social constructivist lens, showing how critical thinking processes are shaped by awareness of the sociocultural conventions of academic discourse, and how critical thinking arises from a writer identity aligned with the culture of English academic writing.
For learners of Japanese, a conundrum arises at university level as they are expected to be able ... more For learners of Japanese, a conundrum arises at university level as they are expected to be able to shift between direct and indirect language in various writing tasks. The apparent indirectness in inductive language is required of regular writing tasks such as response essays and e-mails, while the directness of deductive academic writing, a quality traditionally attributed to academic writing in the West, is now a universally accepted quality of academic writing in any language. This shift can cause confusion for students, perhaps in part due to the widespread misunderstanding of it by linguistics researchers from the West in the past. This is not to suggest that English speakers, for example, do not make similar shifts in language use from non-academic to academic registers, but for learners of Japanese as a second language, the shift is less understood. In this article, I draw on some original data to support the posited theories. While instructors may make a clear distinction between the direct and indirect genres of writing, students do not always make the same distinction. Students may display a clear understanding of the Western criticisms of Japanese rhetorical approaches, but experience confusion when trying to meet the writing expectations of their instructors. University instructors of Japanese need to address the Western criticisms when clarifying the specific genres and uses of particular rhetorical approaches in written Japanese, and put more emphasis on the differences between written and spoken Japanese.
This article provides an examination of the literature on issues surrounding the problems Japanes... more This article provides an examination of the literature on issues surrounding the problems Japanese university students face in learning critical argument in their English academic writing courses. Japanese students’ critical thinking skills are criticized as not fostered in their university education, perhaps due to Confucian education ideals, Japanese “reader-responsible” rhetorical structures, or misinterpretations by Western instructors. The article is presented in four sections providing first, an examination of English L2 in the Japanese context, second, an analysis of Japanese to English contrastive rhetoric, and third, a discussion of the debate on Japanese university students’ critical thinking in EFL writing, and finishes with several suggestions to provide ways of dealing with the key challenges and foster more positive development of critical thinking in Japanese students’ EFL academic writing.
Intro: In a case study research project where a Western researcher is observing Japanese universi... more Intro: In a case study research project where a Western researcher is observing Japanese university students in their own classrooms in Japan being taught critical English writing by Western teachers, certainly the issue of cultural sensitivity is crucial. I feel it is my duty as a Western researcher to try to be as objective as possible to be able to have a better understanding of the social phenomena that is learning English writing in a Japanese university...
Writing is one of the most challenging and neglected areas of English education in Japan, particu... more Writing is one of the most challenging and neglected areas of English education in Japan, particularly with regard to developing critical argument and establishing writer identity. This problem requires exploration into English writing classrooms in Japan in order to uncover the problems students face in their practice with these features of writing, and to discuss possible solutions. The purpose of this study was to find out what one Japanese university’s approaches were to English writing. This was achieved through classroom observations, interviews with students and teachers, and an analysis of students’ written texts. It was found that students worked diligently with what was given to them in class, although most of them felt it was not enough, while the teachers felt uncertain about what to give their students. The analysis of the students’ texts revealed that students were able to apply newly acquired skills, but were limited by only superficial understanding of the techniques.
Writing centers in universities across Japan are on the rise. These centers are commonly understo... more Writing centers in universities across Japan are on the rise. These centers are commonly understood to be for remedial language help, deterring students confident with their language ability from attending. Over the past few years the number of student appointments at our writing center had been decreasing. Students were expressing no need for the center since, in their understanding, it was meant only for correcting grammar. To increase awareness of the writing center, we decided to conduct workshops to provide basic frameworks for learning aspects of writing outside of grammar. Since running the workshops, reservations for tutorials have been increasing, suggesting the workshops to be successful.
With the increasing awareness of the importance of sociocultural considerations of students' lear... more With the increasing awareness of the importance of sociocultural considerations of students' learning environments, activity theory was utilised in a study that followed sixteen Japanese university English majors through their English composition courses. It was noted that the students' motivation in completing their tasks reflected their struggle with establishing a global identity.
Intro: Every degree student in the Faculty of Liberal Arts is required to complete English compos... more Intro: Every degree student in the Faculty of Liberal Arts is required to complete English composition courses. After taking the English Placement Test, students are placed in Basic Writing, Composition 1, or Composition 2. The Basic Writing course gives students a chance to better understand the expectations of writing at the university level, but this course is limited to a small number in order for those students to receive extra training and attention to their writing before entering Composition 1, where most students are placed. In Composition 1 it is expected that students will learn the basics of academic writing in order to appropriately develop and construct essays for different purposes. In Composition 2, it is expected that students will learn how to extend these skills into writing for research purposes...
The installation of English language writing centres in Japanese universities is a relatively rec... more The installation of English language writing centres in Japanese universities is a relatively recent event—the first ones established with funding from the Ministry of Education in 2004. Because of the EFL writing context, setting up a writing centre requires consideration of students’ needs and cultural expectations of writing and writing centres. In general, writing centres that have been established in Japanese universities follow a structure similar to those in the US. This raises the question as to whether or not this is appropriate for the particular needs of EFL students and the obstacles they face. For this study, in order to explore students’ attitudes toward writing centres and the role they play in writing education, interview data was collected from students of English composition in two different departments at a university in Japan well known for its English language education: the English department, which does not have a writing centre, and the liberal arts department, which has one of the first writing centres established in Japan.
Doing Research in Applied Linguistics: Realities, dilemmas, and solutions provides insight and gu... more Doing Research in Applied Linguistics: Realities, dilemmas, and solutions provides insight and guidance for those undertaking research, and shows the reader how to deal with the challenges of this research involving real people in real settings. Featuring over twenty chapters by experienced and up-and-coming researchers from around the world, this book:
outlines the steps involved in solving the problem and completing a successful, and publishable, project; provides case studies of obstacles faced at each stage of research, from preliminary planning to report writing; addresses issues of validity and reliability during data collection and analysis; discusses ethical issues in research dealing with vulnerable groups including children, refugees, and students; includes examples from longitudinal studies, and both qualitative and quantitative research. Doing Research in Applied Linguistics is essential reading for students studying research methods, or for those embarking on their first research project in applied linguistics or language education.
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Books by Jim McKinley
outlines the steps involved in solving the problem and completing a successful, and publishable, project;
provides case studies of obstacles faced at each stage of research, from preliminary planning to report writing;
addresses issues of validity and reliability during data collection and analysis;
discusses ethical issues in research dealing with vulnerable groups including children, refugees, and students;
includes examples from longitudinal studies, and both qualitative and quantitative research.
Doing Research in Applied Linguistics is essential reading for students studying research methods, or for those embarking on their first research project in applied linguistics or language education.
outlines the steps involved in solving the problem and completing a successful, and publishable, project;
provides case studies of obstacles faced at each stage of research, from preliminary planning to report writing;
addresses issues of validity and reliability during data collection and analysis;
discusses ethical issues in research dealing with vulnerable groups including children, refugees, and students;
includes examples from longitudinal studies, and both qualitative and quantitative research.
Doing Research in Applied Linguistics is essential reading for students studying research methods, or for those embarking on their first research project in applied linguistics or language education.