Cover not available
Article published In:
Genre and Disciplinarity
Edited by Tim Moore, Janne Morton and Steve Price
[Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 41:2] 2018
► pp. 130–156

The embedding challenge

Developing students’ understandings of ‘theory’ and ‘critique’ on a Sociology writing program

| Swinburne University of Technology
| Swinburne University of Technology
| Swinburne University of Technology
There is a consensus nowadays that the best way to develop students’ academic literacy abilities is within the context of their studies in the disciplines, an approach known as ‘curriculum embedding’. But despite the demonstrable value of this approach, surveys of the field in Australia suggest there has been only limited success over the years in integrating embedding pedagogies into university courses. In the light of this halting progress, there is a need to constantly document initiatives in this area, both to affirm the principles upon which embedding is founded, as well as to show how these principles can be given practical effect on programs. This paper provides an account of one such initiative – a collaborative project between Sociology academics and an academic literacy specialist. The key motif on the project was how the notions of ‘theory’ and ‘critique’ could be made comprehensible to students in the particular disciplinary context they were working in. We also show that an essential element of such programs is developing a common language by which pertinent issues can be explored, both among academics and with students.
Keywords: disciplinary discourses, academic literacy, embedding, assessment, Vygotsky, threshold concepts, Sociology education, interdisciplinarity
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background literature
    • 2.1Disciplinary discourses
    • 2.2‘Zones’ and ‘thresholds’ in students’ learning
  • 3.The project
  • 4.Understanding the discourse challenges for students
  • 5.The assessment syllabus
    • Task 1.‘Private troubles and public issues’ (Writing exercise)
    • Task 2.You are a social analyst (Tutorial presentation)
    • Task 3.Major essay
  • 6.Student responses
  • 7.Further ‘zones of development’
  • 8.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 10 January 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.00007.moo
References (59)
References
Atkinson, D. (1997). A critical approach to critical thinking in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 31(1), 71–94. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ball, S. J. (1995). Intellectuals or technicians? The urgent role of theory in educational studies 1. British Journal of Educational Studies, 43(3), 255–271.Google Scholar
Ballard, B., & Clanchy, J. (1988). ‘Literacy in the University: An Anthropological Approach’. In G. Taylor, B. Ballard, V. Beasley, H. Bock, J. Clanchy, and P. Nightingale (Eds.), Literacy by Degrees (pp. 7–23). Buckingham: The Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University.Google Scholar
Bernstein, B. (1964). Elaborated and restricted codes: Their social origins and some consequences. American anthropologist, 66(6), 55–69. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Black, M., & Rechter, S. (2013). A critical reflection on the use of an embedded academic literacy program for teaching sociology. Journal of Sociology, 49(4), 456–470. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bruce, I. (2010). Textual and discoursal resources used in the essay genre in sociology and English. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9(3), 153–66. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bruner, J. S., Wood, D., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(2), 89–100. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Candlin, C., Bhatia, V., & Hyland, K. (1997). Academic communication in disciplinary communities. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong.Google Scholar
Carr, E. H. (1961). What is history? Penguin Books: Harmondsworth UK.Google Scholar
Ciabattari, T. (2013). Creating a culture of good writing: A cumulative model for teaching writing in the sociology major. Teaching Sociology, 41(1), 60–69. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chanock, K. (2011). A historical literature review of Australian publications in the field of academic language and learning in the 1980s: Themes, schemes, and schisms: Part two. Journal of Academic Language and Learning, 5(1), A59–A87.Google Scholar
(2013). Teaching subject literacies through blended learning: Reflections on a collaboration between academic learning staff and teachers in the disciplines. Journal of Academic Language and Learning, 7(2), A106–A119.Google Scholar
Coffin, C. (1997). Constructing and giving value to the past: An investigation into secondary school history. In F. Christie & J. R. Martin (Eds.), Genre and institutions: Social processes in the workplace and school (pp. 196–230). London: Cassell.Google Scholar
Coffin, C. (2004). Arguing about how the world is or how the world should be: The role of argument in IELTS tests. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 3(3), 229–246. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Connell, R. (2012). Threshold Learning Outcomes for Sociology + Feedback Received Retrieved from [URL]
Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (1993). Introduction: How a genre approach to literacy can transform the way writing is taught. In Cope, B., & M. Kalantzis (Eds.), The powers of literacy: A genre approach to teaching writing (pp. 1–21). London: The Falmer Press.Google Scholar
Darvin, R., & Norton, B. (2015). Identity and a model of investment in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 351, 36–56. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Davies, A., Hamp-Lyons, L., & Kemp, C. (2003). Whose norms? International proficiency tests in English. World Englishes, 22(4), 571–584. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Davies, M. (2013). Critical thinking and the disciplines reconsidered. Higher Education Research & Development, 32(4), 529–544. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Donohue, J. P. (2012). Using systemic functional linguistics in academic writing development: An example from film studies. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11(1), 4–16. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Drake, R. (2001). The principles of social policy. Basingstoke: Palgrave. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dunworth, K., Drury, H., Kralik, C., & Moore, T. (2014). Rhetoric and realities: On the development of university-wide strategies to promote student English language growth. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 36(5), 520–532. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Edwards, M. (2014). Writing in sociology. Los Angeles: Sage.Google Scholar
Ennis, R. (1992). The degree to which critical thinking is subject specific: Clarification and needed research. In S. Norris (Ed.), The generalizability of critical thinking: Multiple perspectives on an educational ideal (pp. 21–37). NY: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Freedman, A., & Medway, P. (1994). Introduction. In A. Freedman & P. Medway (Eds.), Learning and teaching genre (pp. 1–22). Portsmouth NH: Heineman.Google Scholar
Giddens, A. (2009). Sociology (6th ed.). Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Gilbert, R. (2004). Studies of society and environment as a field of learning. In R. Gilbert (Ed.), Studying society and environment: A guide for teachers (3rd ed.) (pp. 4–21) Thomson Learning, Southbank, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). An introduction to functional grammar (2nd ed.). London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
(1989). Some grammatical problems in scientific English. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics. Supplement Series, 6(1), 13–37. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hammond, J., & Gibbons, P. (2005). Putting scaffolding to work: The contribution of scaffolding in articulating education. Prospect, 20(1), 6–30.Google Scholar
Hyland, K. (2000). Disciplinary discourses: Social interactions in academic writing. London: Longman.Google Scholar
(2002). Specificity revisited: How far should we go now?’ English for Specific Purposes, 211, 385–395. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jordan, R. R. (1997). English for academic purposes: A guide and resource book for teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lizzio, A., & Wilson, K. (2008). Feedback on assessment: Students’ perceptions of quality and effectiveness. Assessment & evaluation in higher education, 33(3), 263–275. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
MacDonald, S. P. (1994). Professional academic writing in the humanities and social sciences. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press.Google Scholar
Marx, K. (1998). The German Ideology, including Theses on Feuerbach, Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books (Original work published 1848).Google Scholar
Meyer, J. H. F. & Land, R. (2003). Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge (1): linkages to ways of thinking and practising within the disciplines. In C. Rust, (Ed.) Improving Student Learning: Improving Student Learning Theory and Practice – Ten Years On, (pp. 412–424). Oxford: OCSLD.Google Scholar
Mills, C. W. (1967). The Sociological Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mooney, L., Knox, D., & Schacht, C. (2014). Understanding social problems (5th ed.). Scarborough: Nelson Education.Google Scholar
Moore, T. (2007). The ‘processes’ of learning: On the use of Halliday’s transitivity in academic skills advising. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 6(1), 50–73. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moore, T., & Morton, J. (2005). Dimensions of difference: A comparison of university writing and IELTS writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 4(1), 43–66. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moore, T. J. (2011). Critical thinking and language: The challenge of generic skills and disciplinary discourses. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.Google Scholar
Nesi, H., & Gardner, S. (2012). Genres across the disciplines: Student writing in higher education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Poulos, A., & Mahony, J. (2008). Effectiveness of feedback: The students’ perspective. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 33(2), 143–154. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ramsden, P. (2003). Learning to teach in higher education. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rayner, J. (2016). Generation less: How Australia is cheating the young. Melbourne: Black Inc.Google Scholar
Simon, M. K., & Goes, J. (2011). Dissertation and scholarly research: Recipes for success. Dissertation Success, LLC.Google Scholar
Standing, G. (2011). The Precariat. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Stoddart, K. (1991). Writing sociologically: A note on teaching the construction of a qualitative report. Teaching Sociology, 191, 243–248. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Taylor, G., B. Ballard, V. Beasley, H. Bock, J. Clanchy, and P. Nightingale (Eds.) (1988). Literacy by Degrees (pp. 7–23). Buckingham: The Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University.Google Scholar
Taylor, G. (1988). ‘Foreword’. In G. Taylor, B. Ballard, V. Beasley, H. Bock, J. Clanchy, and P. Nightingale (Eds.), Literacy by Degrees (pp. 7–23). Buckingham: The Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University.Google Scholar
Thill, C. (2012). Threshold learning outcomes for Sociology + Feedback Received. Retrieved from [URL]
Thompson, G., & Yiyun, Y. (1991). Evaluation in the reporting verbs used in academic papers. Applied linguistics, 12(4), 365–382. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Toulmin, S. (1972). Human Understanding (Vol. 11). Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
van Krieken, R., Habibis, D., Smith, P., Hutchins, B., Martin, G., & Maton, K. (2013). Sociology. Sydney: Pearson Higher Education.Google Scholar
Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and Language (E. Hanfmann & G. Vakar, Trans., Eds.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (Original work published 1934). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Willis, E. (2004). The Sociological Quest: An introduction to the study of social life. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Wingate, U. (2006). Doing away with ‘study skills’. Teaching in Higher Education, 11(4) 457–469. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wrigglesworth, J., & McKeever, M. (2010). Writing history: A genre-based, interdisciplinary approach linking disciplines, language and academic skills. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 9(1), 107–126. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Oliver, Rhonda, Honglin Chen & Sender Dovchin
2024. Review of selected research in applied linguistics published in Australia (2015–2022). Language Teaching ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Garvey, Loretta, Georgina Willetts, Antje Herrmann, Elena Verezub & Elena Sinchenko
2023. A multi-layered approach to developing academic written communication skills for nursing students. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship 20:1 DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 29 june 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.