Academic writing and discourse analysis. An approach from the system of Attachment to University Teaching (FaHCE, UNLP).

Abstract

Academic discourse no longer belongs exclusively to the context of universities, but has become the default way of interpreting our realities in everyday life (Hyland, 2009). This type of discourse involves discursive forms, activities, and practices that may be foreign to those who come into contact with it (Hyland, 2009). Within the framework of the University Teaching Attachment system, this paper aims to examine the problems faced by students of the subject English Language 3 (FaHCE, UNLP) during the process of acquiring competencies for the management of academic discourse, with the purpose of contributing to future work that can develop didactic interventions that facilitate this process. Using an ethnographic methodology (Atkinson and Hammersley, 2007), the use of the English language, oral and written, was observed during theoretical and practical classes in order to identify positive and problematic aspects. Among others, lexical-syntactic expression parameters were analyzed. The results show that the use of academic discourse presents fewer difficulties in oral exchanges among students and with teachers. However, the need for a greater formative scaffolding with respect to the adaptation to the conventions of formal academic discourse is evident.