University Writing: Selves and Texts in Academic Societies

Book excerpt: University Writing: Selves and Texts in Academic Societies examines new trends in the different theoretical perspectives (cognitive, social and cultural) and derived practices in the activity of writing in higher education. These perspectives are analyzed on the basis of their conceptualization of the object - academic and scientific writing; of the writers - their identities, attitudes and perspectives, be it students, teachers or researchers; and of the derived instructional practices - the ways in which the teaching-learning situations may be organized. The volume samples writing research traditions and perspectives both in Europe and the United States, working on their situated nature and avoiding easy or superficial comparisons in order to enlarge our understanding of common problems and some emerging possibilities.