ABSTRACT

Previous chapters have reflected on literacy as a social and political phenomenon, as an activity which people in the past engaged in differently from those today, as an activity certain to change in the future, as a matter of individual development, as something to be taught and as an object of research. In each of these there is a sense in which the discussion has been about other people's literacy, that is people other than readers of this book. Now I want to bring the discussion nearer home by reflecting on aspects of literacy likely to experienced by a majority of readers of this book – teachers taking Masters’ courses in education. I wish to focus on two aspects of academic literacy which may be somewhat new to teachers studying at this level – research writing and literature searching. More attention will be given to the former than to the latter. There are other aspects of academic literacy which can be new to Masters’ students (e.g. critical reading of research reports, writing proposals, writing up observations, skim reading abstracts) but focusing on these two will, I hope, be sufficient to show some characteristics of literacy practices and at the same time, by highlighting some practical issues, to make it easier to engage in them.