Academic Writing and Information Literacy Instruction in Digital Environments: A Complementary Approach

240 Pages·2023·4.997 MB·English

by  Tamilla Mammadova

Academic Writing and
Information Literacy
Instruction in Digital
Environments
A Complementary Approach
Tamilla Mammadova
Academic Writing and Information Literacy
Instruction in Digital Environments
Tamilla Mammadova
Academic Writing
and Information
Literacy Instruction
in Digital
Environments
A Complementary Approach
Tamilla Mammadova
ADA University
Baku, Azerbaijan
ISBN 978-3-031-19159-6 ISBN 978-3-031-19160-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19160-2
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2022
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar
or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
Within the last few decades, the educational system in most countries
around the globe underwent considerable changes such as the process of
reformation and development. These changes mainly depend on two key
processes—globalization and technological advancement. In turn, glo-
balization has resulted in change in student population from monocul-
tural to multicultural classes; the appearance of Generation 1.5—that is,
students who have had the majority of their education in English but for
whom English is not their native language; and, of course, the explora-
tion of Web Generation 2.0—technological advancement that generated
the digitalization of education globally. All these processes have consider-
ably affected the teaching of Academic Writing and Information Literacy
(AW & IL) which presently has totally new implications. One implica-
tion that remains unchanged is the challenge of having the students’
attention on your subject for the whole semester, and this is central to the
current volume, either in a real or virtual dimension. Overall, the teach-
ing of academic writing itself needs to deal critically with the norms and
expectations of particular discourse communities, to raise issues of social,
economic, and political concern, yet provide students with the tools
they need.
There are hundreds of publications on AW & IL, yet, the rapid devel-
opment of the discipline says that this is never enough. While the existing
literature in academic writing normally focuses on organizational
v
vi Preface
structures, that is, the way to write certain types of papers, focusing on
main ideas, grammar, and vocabulary selection; writing drafts; proofread-
ing; editing; and many others, the current book provides some theoretical
and practical recommendations on how to teach academic writing to stu-
dents, native or non-native speakers of English, whose language level is
higher than B2 (c.f. CEFR 2001). In turn, while a good level of language
proficiency is necessary, it is not, however, sufficient for students to suc-
ceed in academic settings. Moreover, the current volume is probably the
first attempt to demonstrate the indivisibility of academic writing and
information literacy, including digital literacy, under a single shelter.
Finally, the book does not impose any ready-made methodology but
rather suggests various components used in the teaching of AW & IL to
be picked up by the instructors to design their own unique methodology
applicable to the particular classroom. Just like in a supermarket, you
choose those products that would favorably mix in your pot to make a
tasty dinner. Enjoy!
Baku, Azerbaijan Tamilla Mammadova
Contents
1 I ntroduction 1
Academic Writing and Information Literacy Today 1
From EFL, CALL, and DL to AW & IL 5
Writing Teachers and Teaching Writing 7
What We Expect, and What We Are Expected To? 10
References 13
2 A cknowledged Digital Era 17
Technology-Integrated Education 17
What Do We Know About Digital Environments? 19
Digital Citizenship 22
Academic Writing and Technology 23
Multimodality 24
Digital Approach to Teaching 25
Digital Classes and Learning Management Systems 26
Online Bichronous Classes 27
Hybrid Class 27
Blended Class 28
Flipped Class 28
HyFlex Class 29
Digital Tools 30
Mobile Technologies 30
vii
viii Contents
Apps 31
Websites 32
Search Engines 33
Social Media 33
Cloud Services 34
References 36
3 Writing Is a Challenge 41
Common Writing Problems 41
Motivation or Its Absence 43
Lack of Interest 46
Distractions 47
Ineffective Concentration 48
Stress and Its Management 49
Writer’s Block 51
Lack of Confidence 54
Lack of Ideas 55
Deadlines 56
Procrastination 58
Time Management 60
References 63
4 Pedagogy of Writing and Digital Writing 67
Students’ Needs 68
Students’ Attitudes to Writing 69
Students’ Engagement 71
Goal-Setting 73
Students’ Learning Experiences 74
The Way to Start Teaching AW & IL 76
Right Content and its Value 78
Syllabus Design 80
Developing Habits of Mind 83
Critical Reading 84
Critical Writing 86
Critical Thinking 86
Critical Analysis 88
Contents ix
Writing Across Curriculum—WAC 90
Digitalization of Writing 93
Multimodal Reading and Writing 94
Creative Writing 96
Digital Storytelling 97
References 101
5 Information Literacy and Digital Literacy 107
Information Versus Knowledge 108
Methods to Acquire Knowledge 108
Information Literacy 110
Digital Literacy 112
Digitally Literate Students 113
Digital Natives 114
Digital Immigrants 115
Digital Citizens 115
Digital Literacy Toolkit 116
Web Search Engines 116
Open Educational Resources—OER 117
Library Databases 118
Reference Generators 119
Export Citations 120
Sources: Reliable Versus Unreliable 120
Source Evaluation 122
Information Assimilation Techniques 124
Note Taking 124
Paramedic Method 125
Quotation 126
Paraphrasing 126
Summarizing 126
Academic Misconduct 127
Plagiarism 127
Prototypical Plagiarism 128
Patchwriting 129
Ghost Writers 130
x Contents
Ways to Prevent Academic Misconduct 131
Plagiarism Detectors 131
Respondus LockDown 133
Generally Accepted Techniques to Prevent Plagiarism 134
References 139
6 F acilitating Collaboration 143
Collaborative Learning and Student Communication Tools 143
Communication Tools 145
Collaborative Assignments 146
Collaborative Reading 146
Collaborative Writing 147
Group Projects 150
Collaborative Presentations 151
Peer Support and Its Challenges 153
Peer-Feedback 153
Peer-Review 155
Peer-Assessment 158
Misunderstandings Among the Team Members and Their
Solutions 160
Student Complaints and Peer Pressure 160
Group Formation Peculiarities 161
Group Types 161
Division into Groups 162
Setting Ground Rules for Effective Group Collaboration 163
Conflict Resolution Documents 164
Assessing Student Collaboration 165
References 168
7 G rading and Feedback 173
Grading and Its Essence 173
Constructive Feedback 176
Technology-Mediated Feedback 180
Graded Versus Ungraded Assignments 181
Rubrics for Graded Assignments 183
Grade Distribution 184