Summarizing Tardy (2010)

Introducing academic literacy skills into English as a Second Language classrooms.

A summary on Tardy’s (2010) work.

Tardy (2010) considers that second language learners are confronted by new challenges as they move towards writing academic texts. In her article the author gives a detailed account of an approach which aims at fostering such literacy skills on learners and whose final outcome is the composition of a Wikipedia article. This project faces learners with the requirements of coping with the expectations, style and register of academic discourses, therefore placing great demands on them. By following a set of specific tasks, students are guided into fulfilling academic demands.

The approach heralds start by analysing existing Wikipedia articles into small groups and also the differences between writing academic texts and articles of this kind. Then, students work on identifying topics which are not available in the English version and select one for their own assignments. Once this is done, students gather relevant information on the chosen topic to compile and organize. At this stage, the creation of an outline is a useful tool as it facilitates the upcoming drafting process. Next, learners should focus on the collaborative editing of their work and the adequate quotation according to set standards. After polishing their articles, pupils are ready to publish the final version on Wikipedia. 

To conclude, Tardy (2010) examines at how second language learners develop their writing academic skills through the composing of a Wikipedia article. The process expects them to undertake research, summarize information, cite sources, adopt specific genre features, meet discourse expectations and use proper language style at the same time they should avoid plagiarising. All in all, Wikipedia offers a meaningful first opportunity for learners to enter into the writing of academic texts.

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References

Tardy, C. M., (2010). Writing for the world: Wikipedia as an introduction to academic writing. English teaching forum, 1. Retrieved from: http://exchanges.state.gov/englishteaching/forum/archives/docs/10-48-1-c.pdf