Volume 03 Issue 10-2023
78
International Journal of Advance Scientific Research
(ISSN
–
2750-1396)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
10
Pages:
78-85
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.478
)
(2022:
5.636
)
(2023:
6.741
)
OCLC
–
1368736135
A
BSTRACT
This scientific article highlights the actual problem of the formation of academic writing skills among
students of a non-linguistic higher educational institution for whom English is a foreign language. The
author explores the influence of the lack of knowledge of the peculiarities of the style of the academic genre
and the limited vocabulary on the creation of text samples within the framework of academic writing. The
article substantiates the importance of developing academic writing skills for the academic and
professional activities of students, and also suggests specific ways to solve emerging problems in written
communication.
K
EYWORDS
Scientific article highlights, higher education: problems and prospects.
I
NTRODUCTION
The absence of an independent discipline
"Academic writing in English in the curricula for
training specialists in higher education in
Uzbekistan" [1] prevents the use of a systematic
approach to teaching academic writing skills
within the framework of studying the discipline
"Foreign Language". The full implementation of
such a program requires an additional number of
classroom hours and in-depth knowledge in the
field of linguoculturology . Nevertheless, the
practical skills of academic writing are becoming
indispensable for future professionals in the
Journal
Website:
http://sciencebring.co
m/index.php/ijasr
Copyright:
Original
content from this work
may be used under the
terms of the creative
commons
attributes
4.0 licence.
Research Article
ACADEMIC WRITING IN ENGLISH IN HIGHER EDUCATION:
PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF LINGUOCULTURAL
EDUCATION
Submission Date:
October 04, 2023,
Accepted Date:
October 09, 2023,
Published Date:
October 14, 2023
Crossref doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/ijasr-03-10-14
Navbakhor Abramova
Phd Student, Uzbekistan State World Languages University Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Volume 03 Issue 10-2023
79
International Journal of Advance Scientific Research
(ISSN
–
2750-1396)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
10
Pages:
78-85
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.478
)
(2022:
5.636
)
(2023:
6.741
)
OCLC
–
1368736135
context of the globalization of world processes in
education and business. These skills are
necessary not only to achieve academic success,
but also to create opportunities for successful
work in the international professional field [4].
Figure. 1. The role of academic writing in the formation of academic literacy.
Academic writing is a complex set of skills that is
not limited to just one language aspect. As shown
in the table, this complex includes not only
linguistic skills (language, syntactic, stylistic), but
also metalinguistic competencies (critical
thinking,
rhetorical
elements,
analysis),
linguocultural features and other conventions
inherent in the style of literature associated with
a certain field of knowledge . In this regard,
teachers of English are faced with the task of
adapting the full course of academic writing to the
needs of the relevant specialty or developing an
independent author's program, taking into
account modern requirements for professional
written communication in a foreign language.
This article describes the experience of creating
and
implementing
such
programs
for
undergraduate and graduate students, young
scientists and researchers who are successfully
engaged in publishing activities.
At the initial stage of the development of the
program for undergraduate students of the
"Management" direction, a survey was conducted
in order to find out the difficulties that students
face when writing academic texts. The students
were asked to rank their responses by difficulty
level from the most difficult to the easiest
problems in writing academic texts. The
questionnaire included the main skills that should
be formed by the end of the academic writing
course.
Possession of vocabulary and the ability to
accurately use it. The ability of the author to
determine the target audience and its socio-
cultural characteristics, the purpose of
communication and rhetorical models to create
critical thinking
Prewriting&Writing
Academic writing
skills
Using Evidence
Formal Language
Review
Volume 03 Issue 10-2023
80
International Journal of Advance Scientific Research
(ISSN
–
2750-1396)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
10
Pages:
78-85
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.478
)
(2022:
5.636
)
(2023:
6.741
)
OCLC
–
1368736135
an appropriate discourse (academic, scientific,
professional).
Mastering the rules of spelling. Knowledge of
grammatical principles and their practical
application. Competence in following the rules of
punctuation in English. Ability to write neatly and
legibly.
The results of the survey showed that the main
problems of students in writing academic texts
are associated with insufficient knowledge of
grammar and vocabulary. 90% of the students
surveyed indicated ignorance or insufficient
knowledge of grammar rules as the main
problem. 8% of students noted a lack of
vocabulary, and 1% encountered spelling
problems. Issues related to style, underlining and
punctuation accounted for 1% of responses.
It is important to note that good oral and
grammar skills do not automatically guarantee
good written communication skills. The answers
of 10 interviewed teachers also indicate that the
lack of mastery of the style of academic writing
and the lack of lexical literacy are the main
problems. Students, not understanding the
essence of academic writing in a foreign language
and not realizing the need to develop complex
skills, reduce all their problems to grammatical
errors at the level of morphology and syntax.
For successful written communication in English,
it is necessary to develop not only grammatical
skills, but also the ability to determine the style of
communication, use vocabulary correctly, and
follow the rules of punctuation. It is important to
realize that academic writing requires specific
skills and conventions that are different from
spoken language.
The teachers, in turn, noted their difficulties in
teaching students academic writing, especially in
terms of correction of written work and
assessment. They noted that correcting style
errors is a much more difficult task, and in many
cases there is a desire to completely rewrite the
desired text of an essay or report.
An analysis of the answers of students and
teachers allowed us to more accurately determine
the tasks that arise before creating a course on
academic writing. We faced questions about what
material should be included and how it should be
presented in order to build strong academic
writing skills and abilities, as well as how writing
should be assessed and error correction
prioritized for teachers.
When planning the program, we took into account
the fact that although knowledge of a foreign
language is the basis of writing, for students for
whom English is a foreign language, language
errors are not a primary problem. More often
than not, international students do not meet the
reader's expectations in the target language. In
this case, teachers who teach academic writing
classes have a high level of proficiency in the
subject, as they have improved their professional
skills in this area at American universities and are
well aware of the linguocultural difficulties that
arise when faced with a foreign written language.
In addition, American teachers who worked with
our students confirmed our findings that students
use English words and sentences, but the idea of
Volume 03 Issue 10-2023
81
International Journal of Advance Scientific Research
(ISSN
–
2750-1396)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
10
Pages:
78-85
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.478
)
(2022:
5.636
)
(2023:
6.741
)
OCLC
–
1368736135
a written statement is not clearly formulated,
which leads to a misunderstanding of the main
idea or individual arguments given in the text of
the statement.
Low order academic writing skills (Lower order
concerns) include grammar, punctuation,
spelling, and sentence structure. These skills are
essential for creating clear and grammatically
correct texts. Teachers should pay attention to
these aspects and help students develop their
skills in these areas.
High order academic writing skills (High order
concerns) are related to the development of ideas,
text
organization,
logical
structure,
argumentation, and critical thinking. Teachers
should help students develop the ability to
analyze information, formulate ideas and
arguments, and structure their work for a logical
and coherent presentation of the argument.
When developing an academic writing program, it
is necessary to take into account the principle
"from simple to complex". This means that
students are first presented with tasks and
exercises that help them develop low-order
academic writing skills, and then gradually move
on to more difficult tasks that require the
development of high-order academic writing
skills.
It is also important to take into account the
diversity of the target audience and adapt the
program to its needs. The program should be
flexible and take into account different levels of
language proficiency, students' prior knowledge
and their academic goals.
Teaching academic writing should be based on a
combined approach that includes a linguocultural
aspect. This means that in addition to language
skills, students also need to master the cultural
conventions of academic writing in order to
function adequately in university culture and
foreign language disciplinary subcultures.
In general, the development of an academic
writing program requires taking into account
linguistic and cultural aspects, the consistent
development of low and high order skills, as well
as adaptation to the needs and level of language
proficiency of students.
To achieve the expected result when teaching
academic writing, already at the initial stage, it is
necessary to develop not only low-level skills that
are more related to grammar and syntax, but also
other important components of writing. This
includes the ability to formulate the thesis of a
written statement, determining the target
audience and purpose of communication,
choosing appropriate strategies for organizing a
written sample, as well as knowing the stages and
correctly applying the features of the
development of thought in English, taking into
account the rules of rhetoric and culture of
foreign language written communication.
In the process of teaching academic writing to
students at any stage, it is necessary to pay
attention to the development of skills of mental
activity. At the same time, the student's cognitive
readiness and his linguistic literacy should be
taken into account, offering adapted practical
tasks. For example, our courses help students
Volume 03 Issue 10-2023
82
International Journal of Advance Scientific Research
(ISSN
–
2750-1396)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
10
Pages:
78-85
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.478
)
(2022:
5.636
)
(2023:
6.741
)
OCLC
–
1368736135
develop reflective and critical thinking, which are
an integral part of the academic writing process.
We pay attention not only to writing words and
sentences, but also to conveying thoughts in a
logical sequence in written samples belonging to
a particular academic subculture.
The importance of reflective writing cannot be
underestimated. Reflective writing is not limited
to choosing an essay topic and collecting
information for writing it, it also requires a clear
statement of thought, confirmation or examples
illustrating its regularity after an analytical
analysis of the information received. As J. Moon
notes, reflective writing promotes learning from
experience and the development of skills for
analyzing and comprehending this experience
through the written presentation of thoughts and
the analysis of these thoughts.
Students need to constantly analyze the
information they receive, and not be limited to
retelling it, and independently evaluate their
achievements in writing.
During the implementation of the academic
writing program, the student must achieve the
following skills in writing:
•
Analyze and respond to described events,
experiences and new information presented
in the text.
•
Develop your own methods to achieve clarity
and better understanding of the material
being studied.
•
Extract the most significant information from
the read in accordance with the goal.
•
Independently
develop
and
improve
academic writing skills.
To develop these skills, students are offered the
following practical tasks: writing reflective notes,
writing a personal essay on an academic problem,
peer review of the work of other students, self-
assessment (using rubrics for which assessment
is carried out or in the form of an essay).
Particular attention should be paid to the
assignment
known
as
the
Annotated
Bibliography.
This task can have a variety of content and cover
a wide range of issues, as well as be limited to
small tasks determined by the teacher. Here is an
example that describes the possible tasks:
•
review of the literature of a particular subject;
•
demonstrate the quality and depth of reading
•
what you have done;
•
exemplify the scope of sources available
—
such
•
as journals, books, websites and
•
magazine articles;
•
highlight sources that may be of interest to
others
•
readers;
•
explore and organize sources for further
research.
This is only an open list of tasks, which can be
supplemented or shortened depending on the
requirements for the target audience.
The thought process, which includes reflective
and critical thinking, cannot be clearly separated.
Volume 03 Issue 10-2023
83
International Journal of Advance Scientific Research
(ISSN
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2750-1396)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
10
Pages:
78-85
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.478
)
(2022:
5.636
)
(2023:
6.741
)
OCLC
–
1368736135
However, the above division and the skills that
are acquired as a result of teaching academic
writing are conditional categories that help
students understand the requirements of the
teacher in the learning process.
Regarding the formation of critical thinking skills
in teaching writing, this aspect is widely
represented in the methodological literature. In
this context, we will consider this side of mental
activity solely from the point of view of the genre
approach in academic writing.
Thus, academic writing is a discipline that
develops a complex of academic and professional
skills. On the one hand, this makes it difficult to
teach, and on the other hand, it is an integral part
of the preparation of students in an
interdisciplinary approach. The problems listed
above and the need for the correct setting of the
objectives of the course make it highly variable
and multifaceted.
The choice of material and the focus on a certain
approach to its implementation depend on the
professional goals of the course and its target
audience. Considering that our courses are aimed
at future managers, we have limited the course
content to the main genres of academic writing
that will be promising for use in the professional
field.
For undergraduate students, the main genres of
academic writing are writing two types of
summary -- classical and summary synthesis with
elements of analysis . In addition, the course
program includes writing peer review after each
written assignment. The main genre at the first
stage of the program is writing an academic essay.
The type of essay depends on the purpose of
written communication and is conditionally
divided into 4 groups. The topic for writing an
essay is chosen by the student in a particular
discipline and agreed with the teacher teaching
this discipline. Some of the disciplines for which
essays are often written include Leadership,
Knowledge Auditing, Organizational Behavior,
Human Resource Management, Corporate Social
Responsibility, and others.
Figure 2. Types of essays
The master's program includes other genre
writing examples, such as Literature review ,
Abstract writing , Article writing . The content of
the work is determined by the student and
Expository
essay
Argumentative
essay
analytical essay
Persuasive
essay
Volume 03 Issue 10-2023
84
International Journal of Advance Scientific Research
(ISSN
–
2750-1396)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
10
Pages:
78-85
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.478
)
(2022:
5.636
)
(2023:
6.741
)
OCLC
–
1368736135
usually coincides with the topics considered in
Russian. However, the student does not translate
the text from Russian into English, but writes a
version in English, taking into account the
linguacultural
features
and
academic
requirements associated with this genre of
academic writing.
The elective program in academic writing for
graduate students and young scientists who are
actively published is implemented in the format
of interactive lectures and practical group and
individual lessons.
The course program includes the following
topics:
Requirements for writing articles in international
scientific collections.
Work on the article before its publication (
Prepublication activities ).
Linguocultural problems associated _ With
publication articles (Challenge: breaking the ice
by submitting your first manuscript to a journal).
Types articles For publications ( Types of
Research Publications ).
Work on the article after the review ( Review
Activities ).
In the Prepublication section Activities focuses on
the following issues:
Development and conduct of research.
Preparation of a research proposal for
symposiums and conferences.
Effective presentations at conferences and
conventions.
In the Types section of Research Publications
discusses the features of writing published works,
such as:
Positional article (position paper).
Analytical research (analytical study).
Review literature (review of the literature).
Report about evaluation ( evaluation report).
Descriptive report and others.
C
ONCLUSION
In conclusion, we can say that although the
discipline "Academic Writing in English" is not an
independent discipline in the curriculum of
higher education, its role in the development of a
student's intercultural competence should not be
underestimated. Understanding that written
communication in a foreign language has a socio-
cultural orientation and requires specialized
training will help the graduate to successfully
enter the global international business space and
become a competitive specialist in their
professional field.
R
EFERENCES
1.
Coffin, C., Curry, MJ, Goodman, S., Hewings
, A., Lillis, T., & Swann, J. Teachingacademic
writing: A toolkit for higher education.
Volume 03 Issue 10-2023
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International Journal of Advance Scientific Research
(ISSN
–
2750-1396)
VOLUME
03
ISSUE
10
Pages:
78-85
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.478
)
(2022:
5.636
)
(2023:
6.741
)
OCLC
–
1368736135
[Text] C. Coffin et al.
–
London and New
York: Routledge, 2003.
2.
Grabe , W., Kaplan, R.B. Theory and
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Longman, 1996. - 487 p.
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Langer, J., Applebee, A. How writing
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Urbana, Illinois: NCTE, 2007. - 160 p.
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Moon, J. Short Courses and Workshops:
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[Text]/ J. Moon.
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London and New York:
Routledge, 2003.
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179 p.
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