First year students’ construction of an academic identity in English as a foreign language

<p class="REDUTEXTORESUMEN"><span lang="EN-US">This paper studies the construction of an academic identity through writing in English as a&nbsp; foreign language, using a theoretical approach based on socio-constructivism, genre theory, systemic-functional linguis...

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Autores principales: Angels Oliva Girbau, Marta Milian Gubern
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
ES
Publicado: Universitat Politècnica de València 2013
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/666095cd3c9d4b64b191fb0241cc043f
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id oai:doaj.org-article:666095cd3c9d4b64b191fb0241cc043f
record_format dspace
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
ES
topic Academic identity
Cultural-Historical Activity Theory
ACLITS
WAC/WID
activity system
academic genres
discourse communities
Education
L
spellingShingle Academic identity
Cultural-Historical Activity Theory
ACLITS
WAC/WID
activity system
academic genres
discourse communities
Education
L
Angels Oliva Girbau
Marta Milian Gubern
First year students’ construction of an academic identity in English as a foreign language
description <p class="REDUTEXTORESUMEN"><span lang="EN-US">This paper studies the construction of an academic identity through writing in English as a&nbsp; foreign language, using a theoretical approach based on socio-constructivism, genre theory, systemic-functional linguistics and cultural-historical activity theory. Specifically, we study the relationship between academic genres and identity in first-year Humanities students, and to what extent a reflective social approach to writing instruction can foster students' initiation by providing spaces to analyse and discuss the nature of the academic activity system. The theoretical underpinnings present students' identity in construction as an essential element in the process of acquisition of academic genres, hence key to students' success at university, and students' identities as key elements of the academic activity system, at the same level as the other three &ndash;&nbsp;its communication tools, users, and goals. The theoretical framework guided the design of a course on academic English as a foreign language for first-year Humanities students at&nbsp;<em>Universitat Pompeu Fabra</em>. The course materials were used simultaneously as research tools to gather the data for the study, using an emic perspective as a teacher/researcher. The results show a close relationship between students' problems with the acquisition of genres in English and conflicts between their identities and other elements of the academic activity system, particularly their relation to other members and to ideational content, and hence students' inability to make relevant contributions due to problems using academic genres in English.</span></p><p class="REDUTEXTORESUMEN">&nbsp;</p><p class="REDURESUMEN"><strong>RESUMEN</strong></p><p class="REDUTITULOINGLES"><em><strong><span lang="GL">Construcci&oacute;n de la identidad acad&eacute;mica a trav&eacute;s del ingl&eacute;s como lengua extranjera en alumnos de primero.</span></strong></em></p><p class="REDURESUMEN">El presente art&iacute;culo estudia la construcci&oacute;n de la identidad acad&eacute;mica a trav&eacute;s de la escritura en ingl&eacute;s como lengua extranjera, desde la base te&oacute;rica del socioconstructivismo, la teor&iacute;a de g&eacute;nero, la ling&uuml;&iacute;stica sist&eacute;mico-funcional y la teor&iacute;a de actividad hist&oacute;rico-cultural. Concretamente, se analiza la relaci&oacute;n entre los g&eacute;neros acad&eacute;micos y la identidad acad&eacute;mica en alumnos de primero de Humanidades, y hasta qu&eacute; punto un planteamiento social reflexivo de la ense&ntilde;anza de la escritura contribuye a mejorar la integraci&oacute;n de los alumnos, provey&eacute;ndoles de espacios y herramientas para el an&aacute;lisis del sistema de actividad acad&eacute;mico. Conceptualizamos la identidad en construcci&oacute;n de los aprendices como un elemento esencial del proceso de adquisici&oacute;n de los g&eacute;neros acad&eacute;micos, y por tanto clave para su permanencia en la universidad. Las identidades de los estudiantes son vistas como elementos clave del sistema de actividad acad&eacute;mico, al mismo nivel que sus otros componentes &ndash; herramientas de comunicaci&oacute;n, usuarios y metas. A partir de este marco, se dise&ntilde;&oacute; un curso de ingl&eacute;s para usos acad&eacute;micos para alumnos de primero de Humanidades en la Universidad Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona). Los materiales del curso se usaron como herramientas para recoger datos para un estudio &eacute;mico, evidenciando la relaci&oacute;n entre los problemas de los estudiantes con la adquisici&oacute;n de g&eacute;neros acad&eacute;micos en ingl&eacute;s y los conflictos que experimentan cuando sus propias identidades entran en contradicci&oacute;n con elementos del sistema, particularmente en relaci&oacute;n con otros miembros del sistema y con el contenido del campo, lo que dificulta que los alumnos puedan construir conocimiento a trav&eacute;s de los g&eacute;neros en ingl&eacute;s.</p><p class="REDUTEXTORESUMEN"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p>
format article
author Angels Oliva Girbau
Marta Milian Gubern
author_facet Angels Oliva Girbau
Marta Milian Gubern
author_sort Angels Oliva Girbau
title First year students’ construction of an academic identity in English as a foreign language
title_short First year students’ construction of an academic identity in English as a foreign language
title_full First year students’ construction of an academic identity in English as a foreign language
title_fullStr First year students’ construction of an academic identity in English as a foreign language
title_full_unstemmed First year students’ construction of an academic identity in English as a foreign language
title_sort first year students’ construction of an academic identity in english as a foreign language
publisher Universitat Politècnica de València
publishDate 2013
url https://doaj.org/article/666095cd3c9d4b64b191fb0241cc043f
work_keys_str_mv AT angelsolivagirbau firstyearstudentsconstructionofanacademicidentityinenglishasaforeignlanguage
AT martamiliangubern firstyearstudentsconstructionofanacademicidentityinenglishasaforeignlanguage
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:666095cd3c9d4b64b191fb0241cc043f2021-12-02T12:42:34ZFirst year students’ construction of an academic identity in English as a foreign language1887-45921887-4592https://doaj.org/article/666095cd3c9d4b64b191fb0241cc043f2013-04-01T00:00:00Zhttp://red-u.net/redu/index.php/REDU/article/view/580https://doaj.org/toc/1887-4592https://doaj.org/toc/1887-4592<p class="REDUTEXTORESUMEN"><span lang="EN-US">This paper studies the construction of an academic identity through writing in English as a&nbsp; foreign language, using a theoretical approach based on socio-constructivism, genre theory, systemic-functional linguistics and cultural-historical activity theory. Specifically, we study the relationship between academic genres and identity in first-year Humanities students, and to what extent a reflective social approach to writing instruction can foster students' initiation by providing spaces to analyse and discuss the nature of the academic activity system. The theoretical underpinnings present students' identity in construction as an essential element in the process of acquisition of academic genres, hence key to students' success at university, and students' identities as key elements of the academic activity system, at the same level as the other three &ndash;&nbsp;its communication tools, users, and goals. The theoretical framework guided the design of a course on academic English as a foreign language for first-year Humanities students at&nbsp;<em>Universitat Pompeu Fabra</em>. The course materials were used simultaneously as research tools to gather the data for the study, using an emic perspective as a teacher/researcher. The results show a close relationship between students' problems with the acquisition of genres in English and conflicts between their identities and other elements of the academic activity system, particularly their relation to other members and to ideational content, and hence students' inability to make relevant contributions due to problems using academic genres in English.</span></p><p class="REDUTEXTORESUMEN">&nbsp;</p><p class="REDURESUMEN"><strong>RESUMEN</strong></p><p class="REDUTITULOINGLES"><em><strong><span lang="GL">Construcci&oacute;n de la identidad acad&eacute;mica a trav&eacute;s del ingl&eacute;s como lengua extranjera en alumnos de primero.</span></strong></em></p><p class="REDURESUMEN">El presente art&iacute;culo estudia la construcci&oacute;n de la identidad acad&eacute;mica a trav&eacute;s de la escritura en ingl&eacute;s como lengua extranjera, desde la base te&oacute;rica del socioconstructivismo, la teor&iacute;a de g&eacute;nero, la ling&uuml;&iacute;stica sist&eacute;mico-funcional y la teor&iacute;a de actividad hist&oacute;rico-cultural. Concretamente, se analiza la relaci&oacute;n entre los g&eacute;neros acad&eacute;micos y la identidad acad&eacute;mica en alumnos de primero de Humanidades, y hasta qu&eacute; punto un planteamiento social reflexivo de la ense&ntilde;anza de la escritura contribuye a mejorar la integraci&oacute;n de los alumnos, provey&eacute;ndoles de espacios y herramientas para el an&aacute;lisis del sistema de actividad acad&eacute;mico. Conceptualizamos la identidad en construcci&oacute;n de los aprendices como un elemento esencial del proceso de adquisici&oacute;n de los g&eacute;neros acad&eacute;micos, y por tanto clave para su permanencia en la universidad. Las identidades de los estudiantes son vistas como elementos clave del sistema de actividad acad&eacute;mico, al mismo nivel que sus otros componentes &ndash; herramientas de comunicaci&oacute;n, usuarios y metas. A partir de este marco, se dise&ntilde;&oacute; un curso de ingl&eacute;s para usos acad&eacute;micos para alumnos de primero de Humanidades en la Universidad Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona). Los materiales del curso se usaron como herramientas para recoger datos para un estudio &eacute;mico, evidenciando la relaci&oacute;n entre los problemas de los estudiantes con la adquisici&oacute;n de g&eacute;neros acad&eacute;micos en ingl&eacute;s y los conflictos que experimentan cuando sus propias identidades entran en contradicci&oacute;n con elementos del sistema, particularmente en relaci&oacute;n con otros miembros del sistema y con el contenido del campo, lo que dificulta que los alumnos puedan construir conocimiento a trav&eacute;s de los g&eacute;neros en ingl&eacute;s.</p><p class="REDUTEXTORESUMEN"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p>Angels Oliva GirbauMarta Milian GubernUniversitat Politècnica de ValènciaarticleAcademic identityCultural-Historical Activity TheoryACLITSWAC/WIDactivity systemacademic genresdiscourse communitiesEducationLENESRed U, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 59-77 (2013)