Challenges and Potentials for Writing Centres in South African Tertiary Institutions

Autor/in	Archer, A.
Titel	Challenges and Potentials for Writing Centres in South African Tertiary Institutions
Quelle	In: South African Journal of Higher Education, 24 (2010) 4, S.495-510 (16 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1011-3487
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Program Descriptions; Academic Discourse; Writing (Composition); Laboratories; Writing Skills; English (Second Language); Second Language Instruction; Remedial Instruction; Writing Instruction; Teaching Methods; Educational Practices; Intellectual Disciplines; Politics of Education; Multiple Literacies; Academic Support Services; Educational Strategies; South Africa + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Discourse; Diskurs; Schreibübung; Laboratory; Laboratorium; Writing skill; Schreibfertigkeit; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Förderkurs; Schreibunterricht; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Bildungspraxis; Geisteswissenschaften; Educational policy; Bildungspolitik; Lehrstrategie; Südafrika; Süd-Afrika; Republik Südafrika; Südafrikanische Republik
Abstract	There are many challenges involved in developing and running Writing Centres in tertiary contexts in South Africa. These challenges include recognizing the role Writing Centres need to play in the redress of basic academic literacies. They also involve emphasizing writing as a mode of learning where higher cognitive functions such as analysis and synthesis are developed through spoken and written language. Academic discourse takes a distinct written form, comprising often unspoken conventions which dictate appropriate uses of lexicogrammatical structures. Each discipline also has its own particular "dialect". Acquiring these "foreign" methods of communication poses a challenge to many students, not only English Additional Language students. One of the main challenges for Writing Centres is to provide access to academic and disciplinary discourses through making explicit how texts work in a critical manner, whilst at the same time inducting students into these discourses. This article examines some key tensions in Writing Centre practices in the South African context, including debates about decontextualization, skills versus practices, process versus genre approaches to writing, the challenges and opportunities of the one-to-one. It explores how the Writing Centre at the University of Cape Town tries to address some of these challenges, and looks at the potentials for Writing Centres in tertiary institutions. (Contains 1 table and 2 notes.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Unisa Press. Preller Street, P.O. Box 392, Muckleneuk, Pretoria 0003, South Africa. Tel: +27-24-298960; Fax: +27-24-293449; e-mail: sajhe@vodamail.co.za; Web site: http://www.sajhe.org.za
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10