Innovative Methods and Practices of Academic Writing and Writing Instruction
“TALKING MY WAY OUT OF THE IVORY TOWER”: INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR RESEARCHERS MEET INTERDISCIPLINARY AUDIENCE
Monique (Chantal) Dorang
Freelance Professor collaborating with Graduate Schools and Research Centres in Germany
European Graduate Schools and Research Centres recruit doctoral candidates worldwide. In the STEM disciplines, these junior researchers are required to write in English, which is generally not their native language. This case study investigates workshops for Academic Writing that address international and multidisciplinary graduates and increase reader awareness by making deliberate use of cultural and disciplinary diversity. Concern about readers is frequently revealed through such questions as “How can I avoid oversimplifying matters when I don’t know my readers?” Yet, in truth, when asked about readers, graduate writers often admit to never having imagined any other readers than their research supervisors. However, just as in storytelling, the audience can help the manuscript to evolve. Graduate writers should therefore be encouraged to visualize their readers. This applied research elaborates a didactic approach towards heightening reader awareness that follows Bakhtin’s dialogic principles. The investigated workshops facilitate writing through a strategy derived from ‘talk for writing’ , during which peers from various cultures and disciplines prompt the graduate writer to reveal deeper insight into the research theme at hand through spontaneous, skilled, and critical questioning. By responding to this pluricultural and interdisciplinary curiosity, the graduate writer is, in fact, engaging with potential academic readers. The immediate results of venturing beyond the isolation of the ivory tower are evaluated by the graduate writer. As an outcome, the graduate writer specifies the angle of research more precisely or reformulates the research question.
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