Towards a writing curriculum: proficiency and politics in student academic writing

Abstract

This paper is prompted by the range of initiatives currently underway to teach writing as an integral part of tertiary curricula. The paper explores some assumptions about the nature of academic discourse, and is critical of those that see such discourse as stable and homogeneous, a skill to be uncritically mastered by the new apprentice. Instead, the paper argues, South Africa's transformational project demands that academic discourse be conceived in more dynamic and enabling terms which would challenge our traditional understanding of the notion of “proficiency.” The paper concludes by suggesting that the way we conceive of academic writing, and the way we teach it, is a reflection of the pedagogical character of the curriculum as a whole.