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Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using
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Academic Literacies and Blog Writing in University Classrooms
Cecile M. Badenhorst
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ACADEMIC LITERACIES AND
BLOG WRITING IN UNIVERSITY
CLASSROOMS
Cecile M. Badenhorst
ABSTRACT
University students often struggle with academic writing because of the

challenges involved in negotiating the hidden rules and implicit discursive
practices in academic writing. An academic literacies approach has
emphasized writing as social practice and recognized that the literacy
practices of the university are often epistemological. Blogs provide an
opportunity for students to immerse themselves in situated, socially
interactive writing in academic contexts. This study sought to explore
blog writing from an academic literacies perspective. Data were col-
lected from of two cohorts of students (Winter 2010 and 2011 terms)
participating in a small university fourth year seminar class. The data
consisted of blog postings from the two cohorts, interviews with the
instructor, and course evaluations. The blog posts and comments were
analysed using an intertextual analytical framework. Findings indicate
that students do develop academic literacies through blog writing
Increasing Student Engagement and Retention using Online Learning Activities:

Wikis, Blogs and Webquests
Cutting-edge Technologies in Higher Education, Volume 6A, 227 254
Copyright r 2012 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved
ISSN: 2044-9968/doi:10.1108/S2044-9968(2012)000006A011
227
228 CECILE M. BADENHORST
because of particular features of blogs: the immediate audience, the flex-

ibility of purpose of blogs and the informal style of language.
Keywords: Academic literacies; blogs; blog genre; academic writing;

university; intertextuality
INTRODUCTION
Writing is a high stakes activity in the university classroom (Lillis &

Scott, 2007, p. 9). It is the primary means by which students are assessed
and through which judgments of intellect, capability and competency are
made. Students struggle to write in academic contexts and there is a large
body of research actively attempting to address this problem. The prob-
lem is often defined by powerful institutional discourses as the students
fault. In this view students are in deficit because they have not acquired the
skills they need in post-secondary contexts.
The difficulty with this approach is that writing is part of a complex
network of social practices conducted within different academic discourses
and not a discrete and separate skill (Lea, 2004; Lea & Street, 1998, 1999,
2006). Many students find writing difficult because of the challenges
involved in negotiating the hidden rules and implicit discursive practices
in academic writing (Carroll, 2002; Coffin, Curry, Goodman, Lillis, &
Swann, 2003, Creme, 2003). Since the late 1980s, an academic literacies
approach has provided important insights into the challenge of academic
writing for students, faculty and institutions. This new perspective moves
away from a focus on acquiring writing skills to the approach that recog-
nizes writing as social practice. The implication of this approach is that
student writers need to learn literacy practices, which are often epistemo-
logical, if they are to become successful academic writers.
While academic literacies is growing as a theoretical perspective in
conceptualizing how writing can be understood in university contexts
(Green & Agosti, 2011; Gustafsson, 2011; Lillis & Scott, 2007), little is
known about how Web 2.0 technologies can create opportunities
for classroom faculty to engage their students in this approach. In this
chapter, I argue that blog writing can provide a vehicle for such writing
opportunities. Blog writing can open a space for students to engage in
academic literacies and develop the epistemologies they need to partici-
pate successfully in university contexts. The purpose of this study was to
demonstrate how blogs allow students to contribute to the epistemologies
Academic Literacies and Blog Writing in University Classrooms 229
of the discourse through writing. I have used a methodology called inter-

textuality to analyse student blog writing to illustrate the potential of
blogs for creating opportunities for students to engage in embedded,
authentic writing practices.
WHY ARE LITERACY PRACTICES

EPISTEMOLOGICAL?
In 1984, Street identified two models of literacy: autonomous and

ideological. The autonomous approach carries the idea that literacy is a
cognitive issue that is located within an individual and as such is neutral,
universal and benign (Street, 2003). The ideological model proposes that
the idea of literacy is always rooted in a social worldview. If literacy is
rooted in a worldview, then what one thinks about literacy is tied to how
one sees the world (ontology) and how one comes to know that world
(epistemology). Consequently, there are different perspectives of literacy
and some dominate while others become marginalized (Street, 2003).
In academic contexts, these perspectives or theories of literacy are par-
ticularly important because they shape writing pedagogy in post-secondary
contexts and direct the support, if any, that students are given. Lea and
Street (Lea, 2004; Lea & Street, 1998, 1999, 2006; Street, 1984, 1995) have
further expanded on the autonomous and the ideological models and show
how these influence writing pedagogy. They identify three different per-
spectives to writing: (1) a skills approach; (2) an academic socialization
approach; and (3) an academic literacies approach.
The skills approach, which aligns with the autonomous model, is often
the dominant perspective in university contexts. From this standpoint,
writing ability is cognitive and dependent on the individual. If the student
cannot write in an academic context, it is because he/she has not acquired
the necessary skills. If the student learns the generic skill of writing then it
is assumed that he or she will be able to transfer that skill to other con-
texts. For example, if the student completes a general English course, it is
assumed that the student will know how to write a biology paper and
a philosophy essay. Writing is seen as a transparent medium. From this
perspective it is the student who is in deficit and writing support would
take the form of generic once-off courses on writing. Generally, the focus
for these courses would be on grammar, sentence construction and other
surface features of language.
The academic socialization approach, which sits somewhere between

the autonomous and the ideological models, recognizes that writing is not
a generic skill and sees it as being embedded in the discipline. Disciplines
have particular ways of thinking and using language and students need to
be acculturated into these specific ways of writing. From this approach,
writing literacy is seen as acquiring an understanding of the genres
and language used in the discipline. Students become literate when they
understand the disciplinary culture. These genres and disciplines, however,
are viewed as relatively stable and power-neutral. From this perspective,
it is the instructor who is in deficit for not demystifying academic writing
for students and not translating the discipline or culture in ways that the
student can understand. Writing support from this perspective would
include a writing pedagogy embedded in the disciplines, and courses on
unpacking genres, and focusing on discipline-specific language and ways of
writing.
The third approach, academic literacies, takes an ideological approach.
Literacy is seen as acquiring the epistemologies necessary for participating
in a particular discourse. For example, students need to learn what knowl-
edge is valued, what questions can be asked and who is allowed to ask
while at the same time learning what they know and how to write what
they know. Literacies is used instead of literacy to acknowledge the
range and variety of literacy requirements in any discourse. From an ideo-
logical perspective, there are many literacies that one has to acquire to
function in society and that these literacies are embedded in social prac-
tices that are often not neutral, benign or universal. In academic contexts,
for example, students would need critical literacy, reading, visual literacy,
graphical literacy, digital literacies, discipline literacies, writing to an
appropriate audience and so on. All of these literacies are embedded in a
particular discipline/discourse and the writer is not separate from the prac-
tices of the discourse. Writing happens in practice, with other discourse
members. In participating in the social practice of writing, students trans-
form and develop their identities as discourse writers. In other words,
students learn to write like geographers, or scientists as well as developing
their identity as scholars more broadly (Coffin et al., 2003). Writing is the
way they develop their identity and authority in the discourse. Discourses
and disciplines are complex and constantly shifting and the writer has to
interpret and negotiate language, discursive practices and power relations
among individuals in the institution while navigating their own multiple
social identities. It is through engaging in writing in this way that writers
begin to develop authority.
The implications of an academic literacies approach is that it is not the

student or instructor who is in deficit but rather that writing needs to be
continuously addressed on multiple levels and in many ways across the
university and over the duration of a students programme. Students can
only acquire these literacies over time and with multiple practice sites
(Sommers, 2008). The advantage of an academic literacies approach is that
it includes writing skills and academic socialization but with a broader
understanding that these cannot stand alone. An academic literacies
perspective would advocate that students receive explicit instruction on
writing within a discipline, access to writing centres for ongoing writing
support as well as a wide range of opportunities for students to engage in

the social practice of writing in academic contexts (Gustafsson, 2011).
Blogs provide one such opportunity for students to immerse themselves
in situated, socially interactive writing in academic contexts. What I am
proposing here is not that blogs become the only way students write at
universities but an additional way they can interact with the discipline/
discourse and where they can further acquire academic literacies outside of
classroom time.
HOW DO BLOGS WORK?
Blogs are now a well-established form of digital communication. Anyone

with something to say and access to the Internet can set up a blog page
with little technical knowledge. A key component of the blog format for
both writers and readers is ease of access and interaction. Blogs are easy
to set up and easier to use. Many different kinds of blogs proliferate the
blogosphere ranging from closed and private where members join through
invitation only, to blogs that are completely open to anyone who has
access to the Internet. Blog designers in their development of free blogging
software have established the general format. The person who sets up the
blog has choices with regard to template design, what to have on the page
and how to organize the archives. Most often, a blog page contains three
columns with the middle column wider than the other two. There is a title
bar along the top of the page, a paragraph that explains the purpose of
the blog and navigation devices if not at across the top then somewhere on
the page. The page would also contain archives, possibly images, generally
links and perhaps a few other applications that are readily available such
as a calendar or clock. The middle column is used for the posts and this is
where the bulk of the writing is housed. Information and applications

would run along the sides, top and bottom. After each post, there is
space for readers to comment. The posts and comments are archived chro-
nologically in reverse order with the most recent on top. This format that
blogs follow provides a cumulative account of the writing process over time
(Rettberg, 2008). It is this cumulative writing process over time that per-
mits us a glimpse of writing as a social practice and why blogs are poten-
tially a significant tool for developing students as writers in university
contexts. There are three key features about blogs that contribute to this
significance: (1) the focus on audience; (2) the flexibility of purpose; and
(3) the informal language style.

What makes blogs exciting in the public sphere is that the writer is in the
hands of the audience. If the audience deems the writer and the information
interesting the blog will be read and followed. If not, the writing remains
exclusive and solitary. The power of the audience is what gives popular
open-access blogs their authority. More broadly, this is a fundamental shift
in how we communicate (Rettberg, 2008). Before blogs, a writer was vetted
and authenticated by editors, publishers and other mediators (Myers,
2010). Now, blogs provide a bottom-up approach to writing where the
writer and the audience control the outcome. That many endorse this shift
is evidenced in the 120,000 new blogs that appear per day (Murray &
Hourigan, 2008). In educational contexts, this focus on audience is vital
since an authentic audience is important for developing writers (Zawilinski,
2009). Most of the writing that students complete are for assessment pur-
poses. This means that the audience (the assessor) is constructed and not
an authentic reader. In other words, the assessor is not reading the text
because he or she is drawn into it but rather because there are reasons,
external to the text, for reading it. Students writing on blogs are writing
for a real, live, authentic audience. This has several implications. What
and how they write becomes a key consideration for the author because
they will receive feedback from their readers. Not receiving any com-
ments is as much feedback as receiving detailed comments. Blogs support
higher order and critical thinking skills not only because of the immedi-
ate audience but also the availability of online linking and connecting
(Burgess, 2006; Oravec, 2002; Zawilinski, 2009). From an academic litera-
cies perspective, writing for an authentic audience in a particular situated
context means that the writing is embedded in a social practice. The
writer will need to choose language, engage in concepts, negotiate the dis-
course appropriate to the audience and immerse themselves in the litera-
cies required of that context. The added benefit is that all readers on a
blog can see the whole conversation, so writers can adapt, develop and
adjust in relation to others.
The second reason why blogs are so suited to university writing is their
flexibility of purpose. Blogs are an unstable genre and they continue to
mutate and hybridize (Davies & Merchant, 2009, p. 84). Essentially, they
are topic-oriented (Murray & Hourigan, 2008) and therefore can have
many purposes. On the open web, some blogs are personal web diaries,
while others are more formal information sites. Since anyone can set up a
blog, what the blog represents and the reasons why it is set up is diverse.
The significant issue here is that as readers respond to posts, so communi-
ties develop. There is little hierarchy in this genre (Myers, 2010), and the
authority lies with the audience. Novice writers have as much opportunity
as seasoned writers to develop a following of readers. Many different kinds
of localities are created through the communal nature of blogs. One way
this is achieved is through linking, as Myers (2010, p. 30) argues, linking
is the currency of the blogosphere. One could conclude that the purpose of
blogs, ultimately, is to create a community, a social world, and a communal
online space where writers and readers communicate about topics of
interest. The value of this for educators is clear. Continued collaboration
outside the classroom is surely a worthy goal (Zawilinski, 2009) and if that
collaboration develops knowledge communities and the co-construction of
knowledge (Custin & Barkacs, 2010; Davies & Merchant, 2009; Hall &
Davison, 2007; Kerawalla, Minocha, Kirkup, & Conole, 2009; Lance,
2006; Minocha & Roberts, 2008; Petersen, Divintini, & Chabert, 2009), all
the better. Since writing is a social practice, developing communities
around the practice of writing ensures that writers are engaging in situated
writing. Blogs foster constructivist learning environments where students
develop experience through communal discussion and problem-solving
(Ahmad & Lutters, 2011; Burgess, 2006; Madge & OConnor, 2004). Being
part of a community of writers, removes the power differential that usually
occurs in assessed writing in university contexts because even if they are
being assessed on a blog, these writers are still writing for an authentic
audience. It ensures that writers become owners of what they say and con-
sequently are empowered in their learning (Farmer, Yue, & Brooks, 2008).
Being part of a community means that student writers are practicing their
use of literacies in the discourse.
The language and style of writing on blogs is the third issue. While styles
vary across the blogosphere and have changed over time, there do seem to
be some common features. One such feature stems from the nature of the
web-log from which the term blog originates. Log is originally taken
from the chronological record of events during a sea journey (Rettberg,

2008). The purpose of these logs was to record and often to reflect. This
journal-type of writing is something that appears to define blogs although
admittedly not all blogs conform to this. The style of writing is often con-
versational, where individuals express their ideas freely (Murray & Houri-
gan, 2008). While the style is conversational, it is often more formal than
emails or text messages but contains a strong personal voice (Myers,
2010). Myers (2010) argues that since bloggers want to be read, they are
careful how they write. They want to engage readers, not alienate them
and as such, they use techniques to persuade and appeal to readers. In edu-
cational contexts, this is crucial. Blogs are particularly useful in encourag-

ing reflective learning and writing (Hall & Davison, 2007; Kerawalla et al.,
2009; Lance, 2006; Thein, Oldakowski, & Sloan, 2010; Williams & Jacobs,
2004). We want students to be able to articulate content through writing;
we want them to write with voice and to make an argument about what
they are learning. Blogs naturally encourage the writer to be articulate,
persuasive and to write in ways that will get their message across to their
audience. Research shows that blogs allow students to be expressive and
write freely (Brooks, Nichols, & Priebe, 2004; Murray & Hourigan, 2008),
and that blogs do have a positive impact on writing fluency (Lee, 2010).
Developing persuasive, articulate writing appropriate to a contextualized
audience is an important part of acquiring academic literacies.
Educators have not been slow to explore the benefits of blogs in a vari-
ety of classroom situations and research suggests that blogs can be an
effective student-centred learning tool generally (Churchill, 2009). While
the research outlines the many benefits of blogs in academic contexts,
many of these studies are accompanied by words of caution. The broad
theme is that while blog technology promises much, on its own blogs will
not deliver successful learning outcomes (Churchill, 2009; Lee, 2010). For
example, assessment is a tricky issue. Blogs in university contexts will not
mimic viral blogs on the blogosphere as long as there is an assessment
component tacked on. The combination of the public open nature of the
writing and the need to write for assessment purposes can be difficult for
students to navigate (Burgess, 2006; Helmer & Bloch, 2010). Participation
is another problematic issue (Kerawalla et al., 2009). Jones, Ramanau,
Cross, and Healing (2010) argue that it is a mis-perception that students
are familiar with blog technology and that, in fact, not many students use
blogs. They tend to use other social networking media such as Facebook
and text messaging. Some studies on the use of blogs in classrooms stated
that participation was haphazard and that it was difficult to keep students
interested and active on a blog (Lance, 2006; Minocha & Roberts, 2008).
Again, the danger here is that the more structured blogs become for educa-
tional purposes, the less like their wild cousins on the open web they
become. A further issue raised in the literature is that students may need
to learn how to write on blogs. In other words, students need to develop a
range of skills and critical literacies to blog successfully (Burgess, 2006),
and that to ensure quality of writing, students need explicit direction on
how to blog and what to write about (Ahmed & Lutters, 2011; Williams &
Jacobs, 2004). Some studies indicate that adding a blog to course will not
mean that learning happens (Kerawalla et al., 2009; Lynch et al., 2008).
This particular research study would like to add to the debate by sug-
gesting that university students writing on blogs benefit because they are
participating in the social practice of writing. The purpose of the study at
hand was to examine two relatively unstructured blog writing ventures to
explore what was happening in the writing. Were students engaging in the
epistemologies of the discourse? What was the nature of writing as a social
practice on these blogs? Are blogs a useful learning tool for an academic
literacies approach to writing?
BLOGS IN A FOURTH YEAR UNIVERSITY

CLASSROOM
This research project consisted of collecting data from two cohorts of stu-
dents (Winter 2010 and Winter 2011 terms). Both groups of students were
enrolled in a small fourth-year Geography seminar course consisting of ten
and twelve students respectively. Both cohorts had the same instructor but
different course material. My intention was to explore how the use of blogs
played out in each of these courses despite the different circumstances.
The instructor, new to blogs himself, introduced blogs into his courses
because in Cohort 1 the course content was theoretically difficult. He
wanted to find a way to extend discussions to beyond the classroom and
provide students with opportunities to work through concepts and find
critical understanding. He also needed to see how they were coping con-
ceptually with content that sometimes challenged their worldview. He
thought blogs were a technology students were comfortable with and that
this might ease the learning process. He did not want the blog postings to
be an additional burden to the students, on top of extensive reading.
As a result, he did not structure the blog in terms of establishing learning
outcomes or set any rules about what should be blogged and how it should
be blogged. He initiated a discussion on blogs and blog writing in the
first class, set up a private invitation-only blog from Blogger.com and

began posting. Participation in the blogs was assessed under general class
participation and this was worth 30% of the mark. The focus of the assess-
ment for the instructor was not the quality of writing but that they partici-
pated on the blog. Since the instructors motive for setting up the blog was
to encourage participation in the discussion of content and concepts, he
felt that assessing the writing would defeat this purpose. Although, as he
found out, blogs were not a technology students were familiar with, they
enjoyed the blogs enormously which they articulated in the course evalua-
tions. Since the blogs were such a success with Cohort 1, the instructor
instituted them again the following year with Cohort 2, in the same man-
ner, even though the course content had changed dramatically.
Cohort 1: Winter 2010
In this course, the instructor required students to read several key books
that had generated much of the thinking in the field of development geog-
raphy in the Third World. The texts were a mix of theory and practice and
were conceptually challenging for the students even though they were
fourth year students. For the most part, the texts students read were criti-
cal of Development in the Third World and challenged students precon-
ceptions about what they thought of development. Although the instructor
had intended students to post blogs themselves rather than only comment
on his blog posts, this did not happen. As it happened, he posted blogs and
students responded with comments. The comments, however, were often
long pieces of writing and some students wrote several comments as they
responded to other students posts. The instructor posted his blogs as the
class completed reading key texts. These four blogs were posted at pivotal
points in the course and generated 43 blog responses from students. For
each blog post, the instructor raised an issue about the texts they were
reading and posed a question. Although he said that the students
could address any issue, generally they tended to focus on the question he
posed.
Cohort 2: Winter 2011
In this Regional Geography course the content focused on regional devel-

opment policy and practice in North America and Europe. Students
were required to read relevant articles, watch content-related films and
then discuss these issues in class. The content of the course was more
locally oriented and students were more familiar with the issues being
raised. The blogs for this Cohort developed substantially differently from
Cohort 1. Blog posting were short and the content revolved around action
more than theory. In this series of blog postings, both the instructor and
students initiated blogs. There were 12 blog posts and 57 comments. The
instructor posted 7 blogs and students themselves initiated 5 blog posts.
INTERTEXTUALITY
The data collected for this study consisted of the course handouts, inter-
views with the instructor, the blog posts and blog comments, and course
evaluation forms from both cohorts. In order to examine what was hap-
pening in the writing I drew on intertextuality, an acknowledged analytical
framework in writing generally (Bazerman, 2004), and in blogs particularly
(Myers, 2010).
The term intertextuality originates in literary analysis and comes from
the postmodern view that no text is originally independent. While we often
conceive of writing as an individual isolated activity, it is anything but.
Intertextuality is the study of how texts relate to one another and it exam-
ines the relationships between texts (Bazerman, 2004). In academic writing,
intertextuality is most apparent through citations and referencing. Who,
what and how we cite creates a picture of the social practice and the rela-
tional nature of writing. These relationships are always rooted in specific
contexts. One of the ways to explore the social practice of writing is to
unravel and trace these threads of relationships.
Intertextuality can be interpreted in multiple ways from the quantitative
to the more impressionistic and explorative methods (Huckin, 2004). Some
approaches focus on the micro details such as the content analysis while
others use a broader lens situating the text within a culture or society
(Titscher, Meyer, Wodak, & Vetter, 2000). I have elected to draw on
Bazerman (2004) and Myers (2010) and developed a combined analytical
framework. Bazerman discusses levels of intertextuality from the most
explicit to the more implicit textual references. The explicit textual refer-
ences refer to another text or person. This is done by using direct quota-
tions, paraphrasing or mentioning other authors, people, documents,
statements or hypertext (Bazerman, 2004). These explicit textual references
show inter-connectedness in writing. They also provide evidence of aca-
demic literacies and discursive practices, such as referencing authorities in
the field, providing evidence for issues raised and developing arguments.
For explicit textual references, I looked for evidence of:
1. Direct quotations from course texts to see interactions with content.
2. Paraphrasing and direct referencing from course texts also provided
evidence of interactions with content. In this study, I focused on 1 and
2 to show how students were grappling with concepts and articulating
the discipline.
3. References to personal examples showed how students engaged with
course content and writing. More specifically, it also showed evidence
of reflection, attempts to conceptualize course content, and attempts to

articulate course content.
4. References to classmates were identified to see connections between
classmates with regarding content, the co-construction of knowledge
and the shared nature of learning/writing.
5. References to media/current events provided evidence of students
extending beyond the course content in their attempts to communicate.
6. References to hyperlinks showed that students were extending beyond
the course content but incorporating the online connective nature of
blogs.
These explicit textual references allowed me to explore how students
engaged in the epistemologies of the discourse and how writing as a social
practice played out in these blogs.
Bazerman (2004) also identifies implicit textual references which are
more difficult to identify. Most often, these references are evident in the
use of recognizable terms, phrases, sayings, proverbs and cliches. I also
looked at language use, persuasive techniques and knowledge construction.
The purpose of looking at implicit intertextual references was to explore
the extent to which writers shaped their writing to their audience, and how
situated the writing was in practice. The implicit and explicit textual
references give an indication of participation in the course content, aca-
demic literacies such as referencing, and the way in which the writer has
attempted to use language to engage the audience.
Myers (2010) conducted his intertextual analysis on the blogs on the
open web. He established that blog writers draw on language elements to
connect to readers. Some devices blog writers use to engage readers include
(Myers, 2010):
1. Pronouns blog writers use personal pronouns, particularly you, I

and we to connect with readers.
2. Questions or directives blog writers often use questions where they call
for an answer and directives where they call for action ensure a
response.
3. Enacting conversation writers write as if they were talking or having a
conversation. The language is casual and more like talk than formal
writing.
4. Interjections in a sentence writers use interjections such as Yum!; lol
(laugh out loud) or emoticons to indicate actions, body-language or
emotions.
5. Hedging blog writers use politeness to soften directness and modali-
ties to soften certainty as a way to appeal to their audience (I think ;

Its possible )
My purpose in drawing on these five devices from Myers (2010) was to
see the extent to which the blogs these students wrote compared with blogs
on the open web. All of these devices are fairly explicit.
For the analysis, I used an explorative qualitative approach in that
although I identified and extracted numbers of explicit textual references
and tabulated the results, these results need to be seen in context in which
they were written. For this, I was guided by a constant comparison method
of data analysis (Merriam, 2009).
WHAT THE RESULTS SHOW
The comments written by Cohort 1 (see Table 1) were closely focused on

the texts they were reading and analysing in class. There were no posts that
deviated from the course content. Although the instructor posted only four
blogs, they generated detailed and long comments. Students wrote about
the new complex theoretical concepts they had not been exposed to before.
The blogs followed the pattern of the instructor posting a question or dis-
cussion issue and then every student in the class responding with a com-
ment. The order of the comments changed with each blog but all students
in the class wrote comments. Although there were only four blogs, the
comments span the entire 3-month semester which indicates an ongoing
dialogue on the course content. In Blog 3, one student posted two com-
ments and in Blog 4, 2 students posted two comments. The content of
these blogs was shaped by the instructors question that he posed in each
post. The questions related to issues raised in the books they were reading
in class and occasionally to content-related films they had watched in class.
Table 1. Description of Cohort 1.

Blog Date Post by Number of Title
Number Comments
Blog 1 January 15 (last Instructor 10 comments On Africa

post January 19)
Blog 2 January 21 (last Instructor 11 Comments, Membership and
post February 1) 1 comment by mimcry
instructor
Blog 3 February 4 (last post Instructor 11 Comments Wrapping up
February 16) Ferguson!

Blog 4 March 3 (last post Instructor 12 Comments Encountering
March 28) development
The language used in student writing was academic in style although there
was trend of the blogs becoming increasingly less formal over the duration
of the course. For example, more students quoted and cited references at
the beginning of the blog than towards the end. However, right from the
beginning students used personal pronouns which indicates that although
they were writing about the course content and referencing, they were
using a less formal, more reflective style to work through their thinking.
These postings were characterized by students trying to understand the
concepts and theories. There were few informational postings and links.
The posts and comments for Cohort 2 (see Table 2) were markedly dif-
ferent. These were much shorter. The writing generally contained one to
two paragraphs, it was less tied to specific texts, more general in that they
included references and comments to news and media, and also more links.
The blogs were much more personal with personal pronouns characterizing
most of the postings. Another difference is that students themselves initi-
ated posts and did not wait to respond to the instructors post. The blogs
were often informational and action oriented, pointing out events, media
and links to other students. The focus was more on the application of
knowledge and debates of issues rather than grappling with processing
concepts. Again, the blogs and comments spanned the 3-month semester
indicating a continuing dialogue. In this Cohort, not all students partici-
pated in all the blogs. In fact, none of the students participated in all the
blogs. Nine students participated frequently while three contributed only
twice each. It is difficult to say why because I did not interview the stu-
dents. The content of these blogs focused mostly on in-class discussions
and content-related films students watched in class. Only a few discussed
Table 2. Description of Cohort 2.

Blog Date Post by Number of Title
Number Comments
Blog 1 January 12 (last post Instructor 14 Comments Writing at

January 24) university
Blog 2 January 25 (last post Student 7 Comments, North vs South
February 1) 2 comments
by instructor
Blog 3 February 2 (last post Instructor 7 Comments Responding to
February 8) change
Blog 4 February 8 (last post Student 9 Comments, No title
March 15) 1 comment
by instructor
Blog 5 February 25 Instructor Blog 5, post Memorandum of
by instructor, understanding
0 comments
Blog 6 March 2 (last post Instructor 4 Comments Simple policy for a
March 9) complex world
Blog 7 March 9 (last post Instructor 6 Comments More on the MOU
March 15)
Blog 8 March 11 (last post Student 4 Comments Natural disasters
March 21)
Blog 9 March 21 Student 0 Comments No title
Blog 10 March 21 Student 0 Comments Knowledge regions
Blog 11 March 23 (last post Instructor 3 Comments Toyota
March 29)
Blog 12 March 29 Student 0 Comments North Atlantic
forum
specific course texts. The language used by students was less academic than
in Cohort 1 and much more conversational and personal in style but the
course content dominated the conversation.
Explicit Intertextual References
The analysis of the explicit intertextual references (see Table 3) shows that in
both Cohorts, students primarily wrote about issues covered in class. All the
blogs contained some reference to course content. The blog writers did not
deviate or get side-tracked into discussing other issues. Students in Cohort 1
directly referred to course texts. Fifty-one per cent of the posts contained
direct quotations and 83% contained paraphrasing from course texts. This is
Table 3. Bazermans (2004) Explicit References in Cohort 1 and 2.

Intertextual References Cohort 1 (Total Posts 43 Cohort 2 (Total Posts 57
(Bazerman, 2004) Excluding Instructors Excluding Instructors
Posts) Posts)
Posts that contained references to 43 (100%) 57 (100%)

course content
Posts that contained direct 22 (51%) 1 (1.7%)
quotations from course texts
Posts that contained direct 36 (83%) 4 (7%)
references to course texts via

paraphrasing
Posts that contained references to 9 (20%) 34 (59%)
personal examples
Number of references to classmates 35 (81%) 38 (66%)
Number of references to media/ 7 (16 %) 11 (19%)
current events
Number of references to links/ 2 (4%) 10 (17%)
hypertext
not surprising since the course was theoretically difficult. It makes sense that
students would keep their writing close to the original texts, relying on quot-
ing and paraphrasing. Cohort 1 also shows a trend of less referencing and
quoting of the course texts over the duration of the blog indicating that
as they became familiar with the concepts, less reliance on the texts was
needed. In Cohort 2, this picture is considerably different with only one
direct quotation and four posts that contained paraphrasing. Although all
the blogs in Cohort 2 contained course content, they wrote reflectively and
personally and did not rely on quotations or referencing of course texts.
Using personal examples is an indication of applying knowledge and
trying to articulate it in a way that connects to an audience. Situated writ-
ing in practice contains content and examples that appeals to the immedi-
ate audience. To illustrate, here is an extract: For example, when a new
form of technology arises, we embrace it! I know my grandmother for
instance calls my blackberry a machine. She really has no idea about the
power and usefulness of a blackberry, simply because it is unfamiliar and
too complex [Cohort 2 Blog 3]. In Cohort 1, although students did use
personal examples to articulate and explain concepts, this only consisted
of 20% of the posts. While in Cohort 2, personal examples were used
in almost 60% of the posts. Again, this is not too surprising as Cohort 1
students were grappling with complex unfamiliar concepts.
The intertextual references to classmates in the blogs were high with

81% and 66% in each cohort respectively. These were direct references to
a classmate or another persons comments on a blog but it does not
include the many incidences where students used connecting language
without specifically referring to a classmates writing. The most common
example of the direct reference was I like what X said or I agree with Y. An
overwhelming feature of both Cohorts of blogs was the interaction
between writers. Writing did not stand alone, it was always connected to
other posts, to classroom discussions or to discussions outside the class-
room. In Cohort 1 where students writing was so closely aligned with the
course texts, referring to classmates was higher because of the need to give
and get feedback on difficult concepts. It is an indication of how much
students relied on each other to process the content.
The number of references to media and current events (16% and 19%)
and the number of references to links and hypertext (4% and 17%) was
relatively low in both cohorts although much higher in Cohort 2. Since
Cohort 2 was characterized by applying knowledge and discussions around
community action, these references are consistent with the characteristics
of this cohort. Public blogs are defined by their connectivity (Myers, 2010)
and generally they display many links to other sites. These private blogs
did not display this feature to any extent.
In analysing some of the genre language elements outlined by Myers
(2010) (see Table 4), it is clear to see that these blogs contained few
Table 4. Myers (2010) Explicit References in Cohort 1 and 2.

Language Elements Cohort 1 (Total Posts 43 Cohort 2 (Total Posts
(Myers, 2010) Excluding Instructors 57 Excluding
Posts) Instructors Posts)
Posts that contained personal 37 (86%) 54 (95%)

pronouns
Posts that contained questions 18 (posts with questions) 13 (posts with
or directives (41 %) questions) (23%)
2 (posts with directives) 1 (posts with
(5%) directives) (2%)
Posts that contained enacted 7 (16%) 7 (12%)
conversations
Posts that contained 10 (23%) 12 (21%)
interjections (comments in
brackets)
Posts that contained hedging 43 (100%) 57 (100%)
characteristics of popular open web blogs. Both Cohorts showed few direc-
tives (5% and 2%), few posts that enacted conversations (16 % and 12 %)
and few blogs that contained interjections (23% and 21%). Cohort 1 incor-
porated more questions into their posts (41%) and Cohort 2 only 23%.
However, the use of personal pronouns (I, you, me, we) was high in both
cohorts, which reflects the more informal conversational style of writing is
consistent with blog writing more generally. All posts contained hedging
where the writers used politeness or modalities to soften their stance
(I would think it is safe to say ; I found this particularly interesting ; I
would like to raise a point which may or may not be true ). In these two
cohorts of blogs, the only blog genre elements that appear consistently are
questions and hedging. Not surprisingly, these are elements of academic
writing as well. The other genre elements are not. Students writing here
reflects the academic context within which the blog writing takes place.
How students write has been adapted to fit the social practices of the con-
text. In other words, although these are blogs, they are blogs within an
academic context and the writing confirms the situated and embedded
nature of these texts.
Implicit Intertextual References
The social practice of writing is also apparent through the less explicit
intertextual references. These are the uses of language that are hard to
quantify and can only be understood within the context of the blog or
the continuing dialogue over a number of posts. In the analysis, I found
evidence of four categories of persuasive language techniques: (1) Use
of phrases to connect to readers such as I found this particularly interest-
ing ; (2) Use of common sense phrases such as cliches; (3) Exposing
vulnerability; and (4) Linking to others in communal knowledge construc-
tion. Each of these will be expanded on below.
1. Use of phrases to connect readers
Although all the blogs for both Cohorts were closely tied to the course
content, there is strong evidence that these writers were constantly aware of
their audience. Even if the post did not explicitly refer to another classmate,
there is an implicit acknowledgment of a reader presence. Here are examples
of phrases from different writers from Cohort 1 Blog 1 On Africa.
This is a poignant example of how African countries are emulating the
Western model We like to think that the rich well off places of the world are there
to help these poor shadowed places with no strings attached, but that just isnt
the case.
So why is it that these countries in Africa are not doing the same?
From Cohort 2 Blog 2 North vs South:

I think it is a blip decrease southwards, all be it a big one in their economies, but hey
they are still better off than the U.S.A. at the moment!
The use of this is a poignant model and but that just isnt the case are
techniques to engage the reader and to pull him or her over to the writers
perspective. The question, dropped into the prose is intended to connect to

the reader with a perception of a shared response. The last quote contained
insider knowledge and is written to an audience. While not all blogs contained
phrases intended to connect with readers, analysis of the blogs show that this
is a defining characteristic of the posts. All the writers use it at some point.
2. Use of common sense phrases.

Bazerman (2004) argues that when a writer wants to connect to a
reader, he or she will often draw on phrases where there is shared under-
standing. These phrases are often over-used, common-sense sentences but
they serve the purpose of drawing the reader into a close relationship with
the writer implicitly. The reader may not even be aware that they have
become more empathetic. In the two Cohorts, this was a common tech-
nique. The examples below are again written by different writers and are
illustrative of many other such phrases. I have highlighted the key parts of
the phrase with italics.
It was merely an attempt to put themselves on the map (Blog 2 Cohort 1)
So Africa is at a stand-still, stuck. (Blog 2 Cohort 1)
We know all too well that you cant put all of your eggs into one basket. (Blog 2 Cohort 2)
You would have to be blind not to see this happening here in Canada (Blog 2 Cohort 2)
Now, how long will it take for the tides to change? (Blog 2 Cohort 2)
It is only a band-aid on a festering wound. Its not going to get better with only the
band-aid you need to clean it up before it will get better. (Blog 7 Cohort 2)
All of these phrases show an attempt to explain meaning and connect to

a reader. These phrases would bookend more detailed content. In other
words, students would use these phrases before and after engaging with
course content to appeal to the audience and persuade readers to acknowl-

edge their thoughts. Again, these implicit intertextual references show how
writing is situated contextually and culturally. In Cohort 1, these phrases
change over the duration of the blog as students begin to transform their
world-views as they come to understand the texts they are reading. The
change in phrasing reflects epistemological changes.
3. Vulnerability
Another common technique, in the blogs, for appealing to and connect-
ing with an audience was writers opening up in a confessional manner

and allowing their vulnerability to show. Again, there are many examples
of this. Since the audience is so immediate in blog writing, this may be an
attempt on the part of the writer to prevent criticism, to draw the reader
into an empathetic relationship and to convince them.
Again, this is just something which came to mind while doing the readings and there-
fore I could be entirely wrong and off topic, but at the same time it is something which I
wanted to reflect on in this blog. (Blog 1 Cohort 1)
Much of my life I have personally ignored the state of Africa, it was always someth-
ing that distressed me to comprehend so I found it much easier to ignore . (Blog 3
Cohort 1)
Many times I found myself confused, thought provoked, frustrated, informed, and
enlightened, usually all at the same time. (Blog 3 Cohort 1)
It has been over two weeks since this question has been posed, and I have been avoiding
it with good reason. (Blog 4 Cohort 1)
How this might look on the ground? I cannot yet say. (Blog 4 Cohort 1)
It is hard to say. It was an eye opener for me . (Blog 4 Cohort 2)
Cohort 1 generally had more posts where writers opened up to their vul-
nerability. This also could be because the content was theoretically com-
plex and it challenged their existing preconceptions. It could also be that
they were often not sure if they were correct in their thinking. Opening up
to vulnerability is also sometimes an indication of transformation. It was
an eye opener for me is an example where the writer openly acknowledges
that change has happened. In other instances, changes in thinking took
place over the course of many blogs. Although, it could be argued that
each set of blogs for both cohorts is small in number, the conversation
spans the 3-month duration of the course and it provides an invaluable
view of the process of writing on discipline-oriented content.
4. Communal knowledge construction

Communal knowledge construction is definitely a feature of these
blogs. In the student evaluations, students noted that they enjoyed the
blogs because it allowed them to see what others were thinking. They
could read how other students had interpreted the readings and in
doing so, could assess their own thoughts. Comments from the students
included: It was helpful to have a public way of sharing ideas with the
rest of the class and seeing what and how others were responding to the
material ; It was helpful to see what classmates were writing/thinking
about the material ; the blog was a great way to not only put your
own ideas forward but also to see what others are writing ; when
maybe you are stuck on an idea or concept, sometimes other people
clarify it for you . It also helped them think through ideas because
they had to write them down, as one student stated, the blogs helped
to clear up ideas because I had to write them out. Finally, the blogs
helped students to understand concepts because they were reviewed in
the blog: it helped me better understand some of the concepts and
readings
The communal nature of knowledge construction is also evident in these
illustrative comments from the blogs themselves. Both Cohorts showed
high numbers of references to classmates (81% and 66% respectively) and
in each case, the writer was making a connection to something a previous
writer had said. For example, the quote below shows that the author is
presenting something contrary to other posts and is expecting to have his/
her comment challenged.
It seems like it could be an obvious answer, however, I think all of you may have some
input to sway my opinion? (Blog 3 Cohort 2)
The quote below illustrates a collective conclusion, highlighted by one

writer to represent the others:
It seems that from the comments so far we all agree to a certain extent that this is an
excellent step in the right direction. (Blog 7 Cohort 2)
Obviously the blogs do not stand alone and are interconnected with the
other classroom activities but as the quote below demonstrates, the blogs
add to the whole. In this particular blog, the students discussed the con-
tent-related film they had seen in class:
I really liked our discussion last week and the posts here on the blog. I spent my entire
walk home thinking about the movie we watched. (Blog 4 Cohort 2)
The quote below comes from the same post that was initiated by a stu-
dent and shows implicitly the complexity of responses, that possibly not
everyone would agree but that perhaps there is some consensus and also
possibly some action:
Thanks for all the thoughtful comments! I think you all raise excellent points to which
there are really no easy answers, but certainly potential for lots of ongoing discussion
and perhaps action on some of these topics. To that end, Im posting below links to
three groups (two provincial, one national) that are doing work in some capacity
related to . (Blog 4 Cohort 2)
Similar evidence of knowledge construction is ever present in the Cohort

1 blogs but these are more closely tied to the concepts they were covering
and it would be difficult to extract and illustrate here without contextual-
izing the content. There is no doubt that co-constructing knowledge is
something that writers achieve from blog writing.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS ANALYSIS?
In attempting to unpack what this analysis means, Id like to return to the

three key features of blogs that make this genre so useful for writing in
university contexts: the focus on audience; the flexibility of purpose; and
the informal language style.
What an intertextual analysis of these two cohorts of blog writing shows
is, first, that audience is a fundamental component. Writers drew on per-
suasive techniques to connect and engage with their audience. As other
studies have noted, the presence of an immediate audience is crucial (Leed-
ham, 2009). These blog writers were notably conscious of their audience
despite the different way the two Cohorts of blogs developed. Writing for
an audience affects the writing itself in many ways. Richardson (2006)
argues that blogs involve a distinctive kind of learning which he calls con-
nective writing that involves active reading, writing and posting of links
which supports the co-construction of meaning. Writing for an audience
affects how students process and articulate content. It happens through
interactions with each other and through writing. Students in this study
drew on others conceptualizations of the content, they tried out their own
thinking in relation to an audience, and they challenged one another.
In addition, students interacted as both writers and readers. In writing,
they conceptualized their thinking and in reading they saw how their
thinking fared in relation to others (Ducate, 2008). The immediate feedback

or possibility of immediate feedback was important because of the poten-
tial for their audience to respond to their writing seriously. Their thoughts
were worthy of consideration, not only for assessment purposes but
because they had something to say (Godwin-Jones, 2006). Writers wrote as
authors and owners of knowledge. The less structured nature of both blog
cohorts may have contributed to this (Farmer et al., 2008). Writing for an
authentic audience in a particular context means that writing is embedded
in a social practice. The writer needs to use language, conventions and
content relevant to the audience. In addition, the writer needs to engage in
the literacies required of that context. All these issues point to the value of
blogs because of their immediate audience but from an academic literacies
perspective, a bottom-up approach to writing, where students have a voice
and the potential to control the conversation is all the more important.
The second issue that this analysis highlights is the flexible nature of
blogs. Since they are topic-driven, they are ideally suited to classroom con-
texts. The two Cohorts illustrate the varied nature of blog writing. In
Cohort 1, the writing was systematic in addressing the topic, more aca-
demic and it involved long pieces of writing. In Cohort 2, the writing was
short, more sporadic but more active and applied. The difference was the
content and how that played out in the ongoing dialogue between the
classroom, the texts and the blogs. Essentially what developed in both
Cohorts were communities around the topic. Admittedly, these two
cohorts were small and it is easier to develop community around small
groups. It might be more difficult to develop communities around larger
class sizes. These Cohorts also consisted of upper-level students who were
probably more independent in their learning and were able to participate
in blog writing without too much explicit instruction. The point here is
that what these students processed in terms of content, writing and aca-
demic literacies on the blogs outside of the classroom, the instructor would
not have been able to do in the classroom time. Although the instructor
posted blogs, he did not control what students wrote about and that lends
itself to community development. Students noted in the course evaluations
that they enjoyed the blogs. Instead of working alone, they had become
part of a group. As Vygotskian scholarship has noted, modelling and
mediation bridges the gap between what students can do alone and what
they can achieve with assistance (Leedham, 2009). Seeing how others write,
process concepts and draw conclusions about content provides a source
of modelling which students find helpful (Ellison & Wu, 2008). Getting
feedback on their own writing, thoughts and conceptualizations provided

mediation for these students. As such blogs are an alternative to teacher-
to-student mediation through student-to-student interactions outside of the
classroom (Lance, 2006). Blogs contributed to these students academic lit-
eracies by allowing them to be part of a community of practice (Davies &
Merchant, 2009; Yang, 2009), no matter how small. In this community,
they developed useful disciplinary knowledge. They learned which ques-
tions to ask, what counted as evidence and what counted as knowledge in
that particular discipline. All of these constitute disciplinary epistemolo-
gies. They authentically engaged in the discourse through debating and
articulating ideas (Abu Bakar, 2009; Godwin-Jones, 2006). Reading,

engaging with concepts and writing over time helps students to become
subject matter experts. By integrating new knowledge with prior knowl-
edge and engaging in diverse perspectives (Farmer et al., 2008) students
develop a deepened understanding of course material (Higdon & Topaz,
2009).
The relaxed personal style of writing is the third issue that this research
emphasizes. In both cohorts, the writing was characterized by an informal
style even when students were referencing and quoting directly. More aca-
demic writing was interspersed with personal examples, use of personal
pronouns and language techniques to engage readers. This loose style is
important because it allows students to engage with their thinking about
content without having to worry about strict academic conventions and
disciplinary requirements. In Cohort 1, students still referenced but their
writing was reflective, questioning and characterized by processing their
thinking. Although they followed conventions, they did not have to think
of the rules first. These blogs allowed students the space to develop what
they thought without first focusing on what they should think. At the same
time, because they wrote in a community, they had to express themselves
in a way that the community could understand. In doing so, they begin
to use language of the discipline and engage in the epistemologies of the
discipline. In addition, with their need to engage with their immediate
audience, these writers had to develop skills of persuasion and argument
(Godwin-Jones, 2006). In both Cohorts, students showed evidence of using
language to persuade their audience about content issues. Blogs provide
the opportunity for students to develop as writers because it is an ongoing
dialogue of writing and being read. While this research cannot state that
the blogs show evidence of the writers developing their authority as wri-
ters, it is clear that they are engaging in the process of embedded writing
practices which leads to authority in writing. If the instructor is also a

writer and not only an assessor, blogs also provide authentic writing
experiences for both students and instructors (Mullen & Wedwick, 2008).
A final point is that in both Cohorts, the writing did not exhibit the lan-
guage elements of blogs on the open blogosphere, this illustrates the versa-
tility of blogs to be used in university contexts in multiple and varied
ways.
CONCLUSION
In these two Cohorts, students engaged in complex academic literacies

when participating on the blogs. The duration of the blogs allowed them
the time to engage in the process of thinking and writing. The immediate
audience meant that students had to adapt their writing. Reading and writ-
ing on the blogs meant that students could think through concepts in a col-
lective way. By participating in the ongoing social practice of writing, these
students engaged in discipline-related activities and they began to learn the
epistemologies of the field. Through interaction with the content, class-
room activities and their peers, these students began to write as knowers
with something worthy to say. Blogs, in this project, illustrate the ideolog-
ical model of literacy espoused by Street (2003). The inclusion of blogs in
a face-to-face classroom allows students to engage in literacy practices that
enable them to transition to the more formal aspects of academic writing.
That students worry less about formatting conventions and focus more on
processing content and concepts discursively is a strong endorsement for
including blogs in academic literacy settings. This chapter forms part of a
rich vein of research that supports this broader point. Further research is
being conducted on exactly how students engage in concepts in their blog
writing, how students develop their voice through blogs and how blog
entries compare to student assignment writing.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Charles Mather in the
preparation of this chapter. Ethical approval for this research was secured
through Memorial Universitys Interdisciplinary Committee on Ethics in
Human Research.
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Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using

Online Learning Activities

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*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

University students often struggle with academic writing because of the

Increasing Student Engagement and Retention using Online Learning Activities:

because of particular features of blogs: the immediate audience, the flex-

Keywords: Academic literacies; blogs; blog genre; academic writing;

Writing is a high stakes activity in the university classroom (Lillis &

of the discourse through writing. I have used a methodology called inter-

WHY ARE LITERACY PRACTICES

In 1984, Street identified two models of literacy: autonomous and

The academic socialization approach, which sits somewhere between

The implications of an academic literacies approach is that it is not the

support as well as a wide range of opportunities for students to engage in

HOW DO BLOGS WORK?

Blogs are now a well-established form of digital communication. Anyone

where the bulk of the writing is housed. Information and applications

(3) the informal language style.

from the chronological record of events during a sea journey (Rettberg,

cational contexts, this is crucial. Blogs are particularly useful in encourag-

BLOGS IN A FOURTH YEAR UNIVERSITY

first class, set up a private invitation-only blog from Blogger.com and

Cohort 1: Winter 2010

Cohort 2: Winter 2011

In this Regional Geography course the content focused on regional devel-

of reflection, attempts to conceptualize course content, and attempts to

1. Pronouns blog writers use personal pronouns, particularly you, I

ties to soften certainty as a way to appeal to their audience (I think ;

WHAT THE RESULTS SHOW

The comments written by Cohort 1 (see Table 1) were closely focused on

Table 1. Description of Cohort 1.

Blog 1 January 15 (last Instructor 10 comments On Africa

February 16) Ferguson!

Table 2. Description of Cohort 2.

Blog 1 January 12 (last post Instructor 14 Comments Writing at

Explicit Intertextual References

Table 3. Bazermans (2004) Explicit References in Cohort 1 and 2.

Posts that contained references to 43 (100%) 57 (100%)

references to course texts via

The intertextual references to classmates in the blogs were high with

Table 4. Myers (2010) Explicit References in Cohort 1 and 2.

Posts that contained personal 37 (86%) 54 (95%)

Implicit Intertextual References

From Cohort 2 Blog 2 North vs South:

perspective. The question, dropped into the prose is intended to connect to

2. Use of common sense phrases.

So Africa is at a stand-still, stuck. (Blog 2 Cohort 1)

All of these phrases show an attempt to explain meaning and connect to

course content to appeal to the audience and persuade readers to acknowl-

ing with an audience was writers opening up in a confessional manner

It is hard to say. It was an eye opener for me . (Blog 4 Cohort 2)

4. Communal knowledge construction

The quote below illustrates a collective conclusion, highlighted by one

Similar evidence of knowledge construction is ever present in the Cohort

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS ANALYSIS?

In attempting to unpack what this analysis means, Id like to return to the

thinking fared in relation to others (Ducate, 2008). The immediate feedback

feedback on their own writing, thoughts and conceptualizations provided

articulating ideas (Abu Bakar, 2009; Godwin-Jones, 2006). Reading,

practices which leads to authority in writing. If the instructor is also a

In these two Cohorts, students engaged in complex academic literacies

Learning, 25, 3142.

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