Interdisciplinary postgraduate writing

Developing genre knowledge

Authors

  • Kathrin Kaufhold Department of English, Stockholm University, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.30568

Keywords:

genre knowledge development, interdisciplinarity, Humanities, postgraduate writing, research-based writing, English for Academic Purposes

Abstract

Humanities departments across European universities have established an increasing number of interdisciplinary, international master’s programmes that culminate in thesis projects. Yet, the challenges of such interdisciplinary research-based writing have been largely neglected in EAP research. This article investigates how postgraduate students in interdisciplinary fields express and develop genre knowledge during an EAP course for Humanities students preparing for their thesis writing. In two case studies, the article qualitatively explores students’ perspectives on their writing along the related dimensions of disciplinary positioning and genre knowledge. Students’ explicit expressions of such knowledge in course tasks and interviews are analysed. In addition, students’ research-based writing is compared to trace manifestations of this knowledge. The results highlight the students’ use of individual reference points to evaluate writing within their heterogeneous research fields. In terms of their research-based writing, the cases illustrate two related trajectories, namely, the development from writer to topic focus and the combination of themes into a coherent argument. Tracing the textual developments reveals the significance of mapping interdisciplinary studies on the interrelated epistemological, thematic and discoursal levels in postgraduate writing. Developing an awareness of these levels requires an understanding of the situatedness of postgraduates’ writing in interdisciplinary, departmental and biographical contexts.

Author Biography

  • Kathrin Kaufhold, Department of English, Stockholm University, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.

    Kathrin Kaufhold is a lecturer at the English Department at Stockholm University, Sweden, where she teaches EAP and professional communication. She presented on postgraduate research-based writing at national and international conferences and published amongst others in the Journal of English for Academic Purposes and Teaching in Higher Education. Kathrin holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Lancaster University, UK.

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Published

2017-11-17

Issue

Section

Research Matters

How to Cite

Kaufhold, K. (2017). Interdisciplinary postgraduate writing: Developing genre knowledge. Writing and Pedagogy, 9(2), 251-274. https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.30568

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