“I notice I'm getting more involved, interested, and excited about my future topic.” Action research as a transition from research steps to navigating graduate students' scholarly dispositions
{"title":"“I notice I'm getting more involved, interested, and excited about my future topic.” Action research as a transition from research steps to navigating graduate students' scholarly dispositions","authors":"Michelle Bedeker , Sulushash Kerimkulova","doi":"10.1016/j.jeap.2024.101365","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Graduate students often approach research with predefined steps emphasising procedural aspects that occasionally expose their inadequate preparation for research as social practice. The purpose of this paper is to show how an action research (AR) methodology, in conjunction with English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), has facilitated the scaffolding of explicit formal, rhetorical, procedural, and strategic knowledge in research discourse. We followed a cyclical action research model consisting of 1) recognising students' limited understanding of research as a social practice, 2) developing interventions to promote understanding of how language is structured, represented, and negotiated in scientific discourse, 3) results of the intervention, and 4) reflection. Thematic analysis of six participants' data, including their tasks, reflections, and draft proposals, revealed a discernible progression towards scholarly thinking, transformative learning, and the embodiment of scholarly identity. Integrating ESP and SFL frameworks enhanced our ability to guide students through research-specific discourses, moving beyond a purely theoretical understanding to engage in authentic practices. This approach contributed to the cultivation of Communities of Practice (CoP) in which student-faculty collaboration fostered a shared scholarly mindset and facilitated the gradual integration of students into these academic communities.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47717,"journal":{"name":"Journal of English for Academic Purposes","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of English for Academic Purposes","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S147515852400033X","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Graduate students often approach research with predefined steps emphasising procedural aspects that occasionally expose their inadequate preparation for research as social practice. The purpose of this paper is to show how an action research (AR) methodology, in conjunction with English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), has facilitated the scaffolding of explicit formal, rhetorical, procedural, and strategic knowledge in research discourse. We followed a cyclical action research model consisting of 1) recognising students' limited understanding of research as a social practice, 2) developing interventions to promote understanding of how language is structured, represented, and negotiated in scientific discourse, 3) results of the intervention, and 4) reflection. Thematic analysis of six participants' data, including their tasks, reflections, and draft proposals, revealed a discernible progression towards scholarly thinking, transformative learning, and the embodiment of scholarly identity. Integrating ESP and SFL frameworks enhanced our ability to guide students through research-specific discourses, moving beyond a purely theoretical understanding to engage in authentic practices. This approach contributed to the cultivation of Communities of Practice (CoP) in which student-faculty collaboration fostered a shared scholarly mindset and facilitated the gradual integration of students into these academic communities.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of English for Academic Purposes provides a forum for the dissemination of information and views which enables practitioners of and researchers in EAP to keep current with developments in their field and to contribute to its continued updating. JEAP publishes articles, book reviews, conference reports, and academic exchanges in the linguistic, sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic description of English as it occurs in the contexts of academic study and scholarly exchange itself.