Profiling the outcomes of academic discourse socialisation through academic writing: A Q methodology study on student writers’ self-reflections

Abstract

Academic writing can be viewed as academic discourse socialisation (ADS), wherein learners engage with contextual affordances to adapt their writing, thinking and acting patterns. While the discoursal aspect of ADS outcomes is typically reflected in students' written products, the cognitive and behavioural aspects have yet to be effectively evaluated, despite individual-level evidence from case studies. To holistically explore students' changing writing- and learning-related beliefs and practices as their ADS outcomes, we introduced Q methodology to elicit cohort-level reflections. The same 60-statement Q sorting task was administered twice during an academic English writing course at a Chinese EFL university to 30 undergraduates from one class, followed by Q-based interviews with representative cases. By comparing the students' profiles yielded across two rounds, we identified three primary facets of their ADS outcomes, including advancing formal and rhetorical understanding of academic writing, enhancing awareness of academic source use, and effective use of socialising learning resources. Nevertheless, within a confined EFL learning and writing context, they consistently showed little sense of integration either into tertiary academic culture or into broader academic communities. Round 2 profiles' divergences further implied the variations in ADS outcomes stemming from individuals’ differing perceptions and interactions with contextual affordances.