SocioCultural Context of Writing
BRIDGING THE GAP – MOTIVATION AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES VERSUS ACADEMIC CREDIBILITY IN THE EAST END OF LONDON. HOW WIDE IS WIDENING HIGHER EDUCATION?
Elspeth (Jackson) McConnell
Newham College University Centre, Stratford, London, UK
The recent, rapid growth in the provision of Open Access to Higher Education in the UK and other European cities, raises many practical issues concerning academic literacy. An overriding one is the problem of ‘acceptable’ language content in assessments, particularly from second language speakers and less formally educated native speakers of English. There has been very little research in this exact area as the phenomenon is relatively new. Lecturers vary in their degree of tolerance to grammatical accuracy and language use, leading to a lack of standardization. I have produced two questionnaires, one for lecturers and one for students, with both binary, graded and open questions. This will allow me to quantify a large part of the results. When the data are collected, over the next few months, I will be able to identify the critical language areas that lead to a loss of marks and, in a consultative process with lecturers, establish a benchmark for an acceptable English language level for all submissions. As the lecturer responsible for EAP at our university, I can see the problem clearly from all points of view: ∙ The students themselves, who are frustrated by the discrepancy between lecturers for similar standards English in their work, leading to demotivation. ∙ The lecturers, who are subject specialists but may themselves not be fluent language users and who have different standards of English language use. ∙ An acceptable level of English for a British University Degree. References
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