STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS ACADEMIC WRITING TASKS IN KENYAN HIGHER EDUCATION: A PRAGMATIC APPROACH
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Date
2019-05-01
Authors
Kinuthia, Jane Wanjiku PhD.*
Rutere, Josleen
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Innovative Research and Knowledge
Abstract
Academic writing is a common type of writing in many academic institutions. In higher education, the practice involves inquiry that uses research and writing to either form new questions or pursue existing enduring questions that would be of interest to the academic community. It is also viewed as a platform that provides learners with an opportunity to navigate through critical questions in their field of study. At the undergraduate level, the research inquiries and write-ups mainly rely on secondary sources of information. Higher education involves adapting ways that may lead to understanding, interpreting and organizing knowledge. Problems may arise in students’ writing due to gaps between the expectations of the academic staff and that of the students regarding what this kind of writing involves. Bearing in mind that this type of writing has its own characteristic features and distinct style, we conducted a survey research from a corpus drawn from a twelve percent random sample of all chartered Universities in Kenya. The collected data was analyzed with a view of determining the perceptions from both students and members of academic staff regarding most of the issues associated with the process of academic writing such as knowledge, authority, technical skills and linguistic competence. Guided by the principles of Gricean pragmatics, the qualitative and quantitative responses enabled the study to interrogate how perceptions in the entire process influence management of this very important aspect of learning in academic institutions. It is hoped that the views from this exploratory overview as well as findings and the discussions thereof, will contribute some meaningful insights that will deepen the understanding and management of this discourse practice.