Being clear and authorial in my writing

Version 1

My research is interested in understanding how students in digital multimodal disciplinary environments demonstrate their learning through the assessment texts the curriculum requires them to produce. I argue that implicated in such text production are academic literacy practices which account for the socio-cultural values, principles and regulation of the ways in which texts should be produced. I am further interested in uncovering empirically the influence of the social structuring of such academic literacy practices and the research proposes to do so by considering knowledge construction in the curriculum using a Bernsteinian lens. Bernstein's pedagogic device offers a way to explain how certain knowledge is privileged in academic contexts and how this privileging is directed through the legitimisation of particular assessment texts. By analysing what knowledge becomes situated in academic literacy practices, and how academic literacy practices reflect the privileging and legitimisation processes of certain texts, the social basis of academic literacy practices can be revealed. The implications of the contextual structuring on academic literacy practices on student learning and success can then be considered from a position that challenges current student deficit discourses.

 

Version 2

My research is interested in understanding how students in digital multimodal disciplinary environments demonstrate their learning through the assessment texts the curriculum requires them to produce. I argue that implicated in such text production are academic literacy practices which embedded socio-cultural values, regulating the ways in which texts should be produced. I am further interested in uncovering empirically the influence of the contextual structuring of such academic literacy practices and the research proposes to do so by considering knowledge construction in the curriculum using a Bernsteinian lens. Bernstein's PDv offers me a way of explaining not only how certain knowledge becomes privileged in the academic contexts of my research, but also how assessment texts legitimatise such privileged knowledge. The argument I am making in my research is that by analysing what knowledge becomes situated in academic literacy practices, and how academic literacy practices reflect the privileging and legitimisation processes of certain texts, the contextual basis of academic literacy practices can be revealed. I hope to be able to show the implications of contextual structuring on academic literacy practices and student learning and success and in this way challenge current student deficit discourses.

 

 

Version 3

In my research I am interested in understanding how students in digital multimodal disciplinary environments demonstrate their learning, through the texts the curriculum requires them to produce for assessment. I argue that academic literacy practices which embed socio-cultural values are implicated in the production and assessment of these texts, regulating the ways in which they should be produced. I am further interested in uncovering empirically the influence of the contextual structuring of such academic literacy practices and propose to do so by considering knowledge construction in the curriculum using a Bernsteinian lens. Bernstein's PDv offers me a way of explaining not only how certain knowledge becomes privileged in the academic contexts of my research, but also how assessment texts legitimatise such privileged knowledge. The argument I am making in my research is that by analysing what knowledge becomes situated in academic literacy practices, and how academic literacy practices reflect the privileging and legitimisation processes through certain texts, the contextual basis of academic literacy practices can be revealed. I hope to be able to show the implications of contextual structuring on academic literacy practices and student learning and success and in this way challenge current student deficit discourses.

 

All of this reworking happened over a period of 1 week as I tried to become more clear about what I wanted to say and assert myself more directly in the text. In version 3 I had a lot of help from my supervisor who suggested some subtle changes in how I arranged my sentences. On a pedagogical point, my supervisors and I will be looking more carefully at my writing style and I am keen to find out exactly how to spot 'problems' and then correct it.