ABSTRACT
To study situated academic writing tasks, I first conducted research in a graduate seminar in second language education at Midwestern University, a major public research university in the United States. 1 The seminar, Language Research, was one of five courses designed to prepare students for advanced research and scholarship in second or foreign language education. Institutionally, it was particularly addressed to the need for students to produce doctoral dissertations and master’s theses. The instructor for the class, Jay Mead, was a senior professor in second languages education, active and well published in his field, and with many years of experience at the university. A total of 15 students, 12 female and three male, were enrolled in the class. Of the 15, eight were international students: four from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), three from the Republic of China (ROC), and one from Spain. 2 Seven of the 15 students were pursuing master’s degrees; the remaining eight, PhD’s. Although all the students were degree candidates in second languages education, they were a fairly diverse, multilingual, and multicultural group.
