Assessing the extent to which the Writing Centre at Nelson Mandela University assists students in understanding academic discourse

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the extent to which the Writing Centre at a selected university in South Africa assists students in understanding the academic discourse utilised within the university sphere, especially regarding writing academic documents such as assignments. The academic socialisation model (Kumi-Yeboah, Brobbey and Smith 2020; Lea and Street 2006) was used as a theoretical framework for analysing the study’s findings. This involved extracting key concepts from the model and using them in the analysis. A qualitative research design was employed and data were collected through a sample of 60 evaluation forms provided to first-year students. These forms were used to assess the workshops attended by the participating students as hosted by the selected university’s Writing Centre. The sample included three groups of 20 students each, one group per different subject area, namely Introduction to Law, Management Studies, and Public Administration. The findings reveal that students benefit from the academic writing skills gained from the support services provided by the Writing Centre. However, the participants expressed a need to improve some methods by which the Writing Centre services are delivered to students. These findings suggest that the Writing Centre effectively provides academic writing skills to students, enabling them to learn academic discourse. Thus, the Writing Centre should enhance inducting students into the university culture’s standards and practices of academic writing, enabling them to use the academic discourse of the university or field of study and gain the capacity to learn the discourse independently.