Academic Literacy in University Students

Rachida Mohamed-Amar; Horía Mohamed-Amar

doi:10.24857/rgsa.v18n8-044

Authors

Rachida Mohamed-Amar https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3827-5742
Horía Mohamed-Amar https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7895-5817

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24857/rgsa.v18n8-044

Keywords:

Academic Literacy, Students, University, Digital Literacy, Academic Writing

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this research is to explore the academic literacy of university students, evaluated as a construct composed of five dimensions: academic writing and discursive genres, stages and steps in academic writing, sources of information used, digital literacy, and the use of digital platforms for collecting academic works.

Theoretical Framework: This section presents the main concepts and academic literature that support the research, providing a solid foundation to understand the context of the study.

Method: The methodology adopted for this research is quantitative in nature, with a cross-sectional design, and exploratory and descriptive scope. Data collection was conducted using a questionnaire composed of five dimensions, in order to cover all aspects inherent to academic literacy.

Results and Discussion: The study on academic writing in university students reveals significant deficiencies in essential practices and skills. A high percentage of students infrequently engage in writing academic texts and self-assess as deficient in essay writing, which suggests a lack of confidence and critical ability. Moreover, most do not follow proper planning or drafting processes in their work and tend to opt for less rigorous information sources like Google, instead of specialized academic databases. These findings indicate an urgent need to reinforce the teaching of academic writing and digital literacy, with a focus on improving argument structuring and critical evaluation of sources to prepare students for future academic and professional challenges.

Originality/Value: This study provides a critical perspective on the effectiveness of academic writing practices in higher education, identifying key areas for improvement of essential skills and digital literacy among university students.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Ávila Reyes, N., Figueroa, J., Calle-Arango, L. y Morales, S. (2021). Experiences with academic writing: A longitudinal study with diverse students. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 29(August - December), 159. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.29.6091 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.29.6091

Bawden, D. y Robinson, L. (2009). The dark side of information: Overload, anxiety and other paradoxes and pathologies. Journal of Information Science, 35(2), 180-191. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165551508095781 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0165551508095781

Bazerman, C. (2009). Genre and cognitive development: Beyond writing to learn. Pratiques, 143(144), 127-138. https://doi.org/10.4000/pratiques.1419 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/pratiques.1419

Bazerman, C., Dean, C., Early, J., Lunsford, K., Null, S., Rogers, P., y Stansell, A. (Eds.). (2012). International advances in writing research: Cultures, places, measures, Perspectives on writing. WAC Clearinghouse. https://tinyl.io/9sbH DOI: https://doi.org/10.37514/PER-B.2012.0452

Beaufort, A. (2007). College Writing and Beyond: A New Framework for University Writing Instruction. University Press of Colorado. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt4cgnk0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt4cgnk0

Bennett S., Maton K. y Kervin L. (2008). The ‘digital natives’ debate: A critical review of the evidence. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(5), pp. 775-786. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00793.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00793.x

Borgman, C. L. (2015). Big data, little data, no data: Scholarship in the networked world. The MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9963.001.0001

Canagarajah, S. (2013). Translingual practice: Global Englishes and cosmopolitan relations. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203073889

Carlino, P. (2005). Escribir, leer, y aprender en la universidad. Una introducción a la alfabetización académica. Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Carlino, P. (2013). Alfabetización académica diez años después. Revista Mexicana de Investigación Educativa, 18(57), 355-38. https://tinyurl.com/4x84kwcm

De Brito Cunha, N, y Angeli dos Santos, A. A. (2005). Comprensión de lectura en universitarios cursantes del 1er año en distintas carreras. Paradígma, 26(2), 99-113. https://tinyurl.com/47awv3h2

Echevarría, M.A. (2006). ¿Enseñar a leer en la universidad? Una intervención para mejorar la comprensión de textos complejos al comienzo de la educación superior. Revista de Psicodidáctica, 11(2), 169-188. https://tinyurl.com/3yhdxh58

Echevarría, M. A. y Gastón, I. (2002). Dificultades de comprensión lectora en estudiantes universitarios. Implicaciones en el diseño de programas de intervención. Revista de Psicodidáctica, 10, 59-74. https://tinyurl.com/3sdtcfvr

Flower, L., y Hayes, J. R. (2014). A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing. College Composition and Communication, 32(4), 365-387. https://doi.org/10.2307/356600 DOI: https://doi.org/10.58680/ccc198115885

Graff, G. y Birkenstein, C. (2018). They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing (4ª ed.). W W Norton & Company.

Graham, S., y Perin, D. (2007). Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools. A Report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Alliance for Excellent Education. https://tinyl.io/9sVB

Greenhow, C. y Lewin, C. (2016). Social Media and Education: Reconceptualizing the Boundaries of Formal and Informal Learning. Learning, Media and Technology, 41(1), 6-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2015.1064954 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2015.1064954

Head, A. J., & Eisenberg, M. B. (2010). How today’s college students use Wikipedia for course-related research. First Monday, 15(3). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v15i3.2830 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v15i3.2830

Hernández Garre, C. M. (2009). Comprensión lectora y ortografía en el ámbito universitario. Actas del Congrés Internacional Virtual d’Educació CIVE 2009 (1–10).

Hyland, K. (2004). Genre and Second Language Writing. University of Michigan Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.23927

Hyland, K. (2017). Metadiscourse: What is it and where is it going? Journal of Pragmatics, 113, 16-29. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.03.007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.03.007

Ivanič, R. (2004). Discourses of writing and learning to write. Language and Education, 18(3), 220-245. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500780408666877 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09500780408666877

James, C., Davis, K., Flores, A., Francis, J. M., Pettingill, L., Rundle, M., y Gardner, H. (2009). Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media: A Synthesis from the Good Play Project. MIT Press. https://tinyl.io/9tZt DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/8520.001.0001

Jones, R. H., y Hafner, C. A. (2012). Understanding Digital Literacies: A Practical Introduction. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203095317 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203095317

Kellogg, R. T., y Whiteford, A. P. (2009). Training advanced writing skills: The case for deliberate practice. Educational Psychologist, 44(4), 250–266. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520903213600 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520903213600

Kress, G. (2009). Multimodality, learning and communication: A social semiotic frame. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315687537 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315687537

Lankshear, C., y Knobel, M. (2011). Literacies: Social, cultural and historical perspectives. Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers

Lea, M. R., y Street, B. V. (2013). The 'academic literacies' model: Theory and applications. Theory into Practice, 45(4), 368-377. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4504_1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4504_11

Lea, M. R., y Street, B. V. (2015). Student writing in higher education: An academic literacies approach. Studies in Higher Education, 23(2), 157-172. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079812331380364 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079812331380364

Li, D. (2022). A review of academic literacy research development: from 2002 to 2019. Asian. J. Second. Foreign. Lang. Educ. 7, 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-022-00130-z DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-022-00130-z

Lillis, T. y Scott, M. (2007). Defining Academic Literacies Research: Issues of Epistemology, Ideology and Strategy. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4(1), 5-32. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v4i1.5

Lillis, T., y Curry, M. J. (2010). Academic writing in global context: The politics and practices of publishing in English. Routledge.

Lillis, T. M., y Scott, M. (2015). Defining academic literacies research: issues of epistemology, ideology and strategy. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 4(1), 5-32. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v4i1.5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v4i1.5

Lin, Y. y Yu, Z. (2023) Extending Technology Acceptance Model to higher-education students’ use of digital academic reading tools on computers. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 20(34). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-023-00403-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-023-00403-8

Marginson, S. (2016). Higher education and the common good. MUP Academic.

Marginson, S. y Van der Wende, M. (2007). Globalisation and higher education. Education working paper, (8). https://tinyl.io/9sIu

Martínez, G. R. y García, R. (2019). Literacidad Académica. Interpretación y producción de textos para la formación académica y profesional en educación superior. Revista Caribeña de Ciencias Sociales, 12(Diciembre). https://tinyl.io/9scL

McGuinness, C. y Fulton, C. (2019). Digital Literacy in Higher Education: A Case Study of Student Engagement with E-Tutorials Using Blended Learning. Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice, 18, pp. 001-028. https://doi.org/10.28945/4190 DOI: https://doi.org/10.28945/4190

Nicol, D. J. y Macfarlane‐Dick, D. (2007). Formative Assessment and Self‐Regulated Learning: A Model and Seven Principles of Good Feedback Practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2),199-218. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070600572090 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070600572090

Parodi, G. (2014). Comprensión de textos escritos. La teoría de la Comunicabilidad. Buenos Aires: EUDEBA.

Quintana, M. A., Raccoursier, M. S., Sánchez, A. X., Sidler, H. W., y Toirkens, J. R. (2007). Competencias transversales para el aprendizaje en estudiantes universitarios. Revista Iberoamericana De Educación, 44(5), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.35362/rie4452213 DOI: https://doi.org/10.35362/rie4452213

Rowlands, I., Nicholas, D., Williams, P., Huntington, P., Fieldhouse, M., Gunter, B., Withey R., Jamali H. Dobrowolski T. y Tenopir, C. (2008). The Google Generation: The Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future. Aslib Proceedings, 60(4), 290-310. https://doi.org/10.1108/00012530810887953 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/00012530810887953

Singh, P., y Han, J. (2017). Pedagogies for internationalising research education: Intellectual equality, theoretical plurality, and global citizenship. ‎ Palgrave MacMillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2065-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2065-0_2

Solé, I. (1998). Estrategias de lectura. Graó.

Tolchinsky, L. (2000). Contrasting views about the object and purpose of metalinguistic work and reflection in academic writing. En A. Camps y M. Milian (eds.) Metalinguistic Activity in Learning to Write. Amsterdam University Press

Warschauer, M. (2012). The digital divide and social inclusion. America’s Quarterly, 6(2), 130-135. https://tinyl.io/9sFi

Warschauer, M., y Matuchniak, T. (2017). New technology and digital worlds: Analyzing evidence of equity in access, use, and outcomes. Review of Research in Education, 41(1), 179-225. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X09349791

Wingate, U. (2015). Academic Literacy and Student Diversity. The case for Inclusive Practice. Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783093496 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783093496