Academic Writing at
Postgraduate Level:
Introductory focus on
Process, Text Types and
Communities
Jackie Tuck/Theresa Lillis
October 2014
Activity-Brainstorm:
1 what is ‘academic writing’
2 what are my views about
‘academic’ writing?
From Matt Kent (postgraduate
researcher at the OU)
• http://www.theguardian.com/highereducationnetwork/blog/2013/apr/19/academicwriting-first-person-singular
• http://www.theguardian.com/highereducation-network/blog/2012/jul/25/theart-of-academic-writing
Today’s session: focus on
academic writing in terms of…
process
text types
communities
Part 1: Focus on process
How do I
go about
writing?
generating ideas,
understanding the ideas
of others, collecting
information, note-taking,
freewriting,
brainstorming
organising and
focusing ideas: mind
mapping, clustering,
listening, outline
writing initial drafts of
a text focusing mainly
on the development,
organisation and
elaboration of ideas
drafting
planning
reflection
pre-writing
additional research
or idea generation
supervisor
review
editing and
proofreading
focusing attention
on the “surface”
level features of
the text
letting work sit,
coming back to it
at a later point
feedback
from others
revision
further developing
and clarifying ideas,
the structure of the
text
Focusing on different aspects
of the writing process (see
sheet The Process Approach
to Writing)
Activity- Freewriting: write 5
minutes on one idea or issue
relating to any aspect of
your post grad study that is
of particular interest to you
at the moment
Activity: editing and
proofreading- (see page 122
Doing postgraduate research,
sheet Examples of revising).
Seeking and negotiating feedback
(see sheet Seeking and Negotiating
Supervisor Feedback)
My reflections and thoughts on the material on the sheet: Jackie Tuck
No. 1 reflects my strategies for "getting what I need" from sups!
I've highlighted the phrases which seemed most significant in retrospect
- orienting my supervisors to what it is we're talking about, because they
are busy and I am not their only concern, and it might be a while since
arrangements are made..., trying to make it clear how the attached piece
of writing fits in to a bigger picture...
- being specific about what I feel I need from the feedback - as a way of
making feedback task seem focused and doable to supervisor, and to
reflect the fact that I'd thought about it...plus also a bit of face saving
here!
- showing appreciation of the work involved - something I'm aware of as I
am also an HE teacher myself, but that it does not do any harm to be
aware of - even if essentially supervisors' workload is not supposed to be
the student's problem, in practice it is...
No. 2 is a simple illustration of the fact that feedback at
this level is not about getting the "answers" but also about
moving towards making decisions about how to address
the questions that come up. You both gave different advice
here which makes it particularly obvious that I could not
just do as i was told - but the same applies to feedback
given by one supervisor only - it is still to some extent to be
taken as a proposition rather than an instruction...this
excerpt also illustrates very specific in situ request for
particular info - a very useful device from my point of view.
This example is where the negotation comes in - making it
not just a passive process but an active one...
Acknowledging that writing is
hard work ..and not panicking
too much…
…and, sometimes, experiencing
satisfaction, a sense of
achievement, and pleasure that
you have communicated with your
readers.
Part 2: Focus on texts types
What types of
texts am I
writing?
What types of academic
texts will you be producing
over the next couple of
years?
Some examples…
Sections/chunks on
methods, literature,
theory
Conference
abstracts/proposals
Summaries for web pages
Draft chapters of
thesis/dissertation
Case studies
Field notes
Journal articles
Book reviews
Thesis
Blog
Article for The Conversation
Responses to reviewers
Participant recruitment
contact letters/info sheets
Different conventions for
different text types?
Figure 3: Core elements of a research thesis
Core elements
Main functions
Introduction
To establish the significance of the general research area
To locate your research within the field
To outline the aims and the nature of your research
Literature Review
To provide an overview of relevant research
To locate your research more specifically in relation to the
literature
To set boundaries around the ‘field’ of relevant research
Methodology
To provide an overview of the methodology adopted
To justify the choice of methodology in relation to
epistemological traditions and research aims
Data analysis
To offer closely argued analysis of the data
To present findings and discuss interpretations
Conclusion
To summarise the research and main findings
To locate the findings within the field as defined earlier in
the thesis
To offer a critique of the research and its limitations
(see sheet Different genres for
different purposes)
Setting some writing priorities…
public and private
Draft literature review by end April….
List methods I plan to use and brief rationale—end of this week ….
Drafting some ideas about what I think I’m researching
Write abstract for conference that I want to go to in March 2015!
Write book review…find appropriate journal
Ideally….first draft of article for academic journal by October 2014
Re read my journal for this week- and underline key tasks I need to do
next…
What are your immediate priorities for
writing?
Part 3: Focus on the community/ies
What
community/ies
am I writing
to/for?
Writing for a number of
communities…
Alicia is a Spanish post graduate student doing a
PhD in a UK institution. During her period of post
graduate study she has worked on projects with
academics, presented papers at conferences-as
well as working on her PhD research. As part of her
PhD she has spent time in Spain, England and
Argentina. She hopes to work as a university
lecturer when she completes her thesis.
Writing as part of Alicia’s
postgraduate research activity…
•
•
•
•
Doctoral thesis (examiners –Bernstein)
Article in English aimed at academics…
Article in Spanish aimed at teachers..
Grant application (with others) to national bodies
in Spanish
• Grant application (with others) to international
body in English
• Conference proposals in English
• Conference proposals in Spanish
• What is/are the (sub)communities that
you hope to be addressing?
• What are your short term and longer term
goals in reaching these communities?
Bear in mind that…
• Writing is a process and involves
considerable work and time
• You will be expected to write according to
conventions that have become associated
with different types of texts…
• but some conventions are being broken
• You need to find out about the particular
text types conventions in your
(sub)disciplines…(also use available
resources on writing)
• and to think about how you want to write..
PACE 2014-5
• Block 1: Academic Reading and Writing
Jackie Tuck – Oct-Nov
• Block 2: Academic Reading and Writing
Jackie Tuck – Jan-Feb
• Block 3: Academic Interaction/Presentation
Skills
Jenny McMullan – Feb-March
Session details
PACE
Block
1
Topics
Writing Task
Session 1 22nd October
11-1
Library Presentation
Room
Tackling reading,
academic genres,
summaries, your
priorities.
Summary to Jackie by
October 29th
1-1 feedback slots t.b.a.
Session 2 5th November
10.30 – 12.30
Library Research
Meeting Room
Reading and writing
conference abstracts
Abstract to Jackie by
November 12th
1-1 feedback slots t.b.a.
Session 3 19th
November
10.30 – 12.30
Library Research
Meeting Room
The literature review:
issues of design,
argument and voice
Lit review (or part) to
Jackie by November
26th
1-1 feedback slots t.b.a.
Session 4 3rd December Using your networks
10.30 – 12.30
and other
CMR11
issues/genres
[to be agreed]
Text to Jackie by 10th
Dec or negotiated.
1-1 feedback slots t.b.a.