Research on expert performance suggests that deliberate practice provides optimal opportunities for expertise development. This study examined whether the provision of computer-based scaffolding (CBS) guiding deliberate practice facilitates students' development of writing expertise. A CBS environment "escribo" was designed to externally…

This study compares rhetorical citation functions in eight high- and eight low-graded master's theses in the field of gender studies, written in English as a second language. The following rhetorical functions of citations are identified: attribution, exemplification, further reference, statement of use, application, evaluation, establishing links…

Based on extensive interviews, this book investigates how women in different academic disciplines perceive and describe their experiences as writers in the university. The book focuses on: (1) the writing strategies of 35 women from 5 different disciplines (anthropology, education, history, nursing, and psychology) and 4 academic ranks (seniors,…

While research papers may hold unique challenges for all writers, they are especially daunting for "less experienced" writers because these students often come to college without ever having written a research paper. A study examined several research papers written by students who took part in the Summer Bridge program at California…

Examines the reading and writing strategies of one student over a three-year period and traces the process she went through to acquire college-level academic literacy in English, her second language. Suggests that the student's educational background shaped her approach to United States academic discourse practices. (TB)

Students have to learn two distinctly different tasks when writing research papers: a) creating and organizing prose, and b) formatting a manuscript according to the nuances and mechanics of a pre-determined format, such as Modern Language Association (MLA) or American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines. Two studies examined different…

Examines how three English-speaking advisers and their non-native English-speaking doctoral students used citations and related writing techniques to make new knowledge claims in science dissertation writing. Finds that academic advisers play an important role in helping the students, and finds no negative influence from the students' native…

In preparing students for their future discourse communities, the EAP/ESP literature has shown interest in the role of hedges in scientific literature. This interest has resulted in several studies that define and classify hedges, and hypothesize about their purpose. With these as our theoretical basis, we are led to ask "What is the relation to…

Describes a project in which a college composition instructor and five students studied the relationship between general academic literacy and the content of freshman composition instruction. Concludes that the "discourse community" of the writing class differs greatly from the divergent roles of teacher and student in other…

This study argues that community college composition instructors need to develop their own body of research and scholarship on theories of writing, one that is not solely dependent upon four-year college theory, but that works as an equal partner in the composition theory debate. The premise that community college students are different from…