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www.sciedu.ca/ijhe International Journal of Higher Education Vol. 3, No. 1; 2014
The Academic Writing Challenges of Undergraduate Students:
A South African Case Study
Ernest A Pineteh1
1 Faculty of Informatics and Design, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa
Correspondence: Pineteh Ernest Angu, Faculty of Informatics and Design, Cape Peninsula University of Technology,
P O Box 652, Cape Town- South Africa. E-mails: pinetehe@cput.ac.za or ernie.angu@gmail.com
Received: July 19, 2013 Accepted: August 13, 2013 Online Published: September 25, 2013
doi:10.5430/ijhe.v3n1p12 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v3n1p12
Abstract
This article discusses the academic writing challenges of undergraduate students at Cape Peninsula University of
Technology (CPUT), South Africa. It examines challenges such as lack of a mastery of academic writing
conventions, analysis of writing topics, using writing to construct social identities; ability to research and apply
knowledge across different context and poor sentence skills. It also focuses on the implications of these challenges
for students' academic development and possible strategies to address these challenges. The article draws on
sustained interviews with twenty 2nd year students, 1st year student reflections and discussions with four
Communication lecturers. The data revealed that academic writing challenges of students in universities of
technology are consequences of students' linguistic and general literacy backgrounds, their attitudes toward
academic writing and the privileging of middle-class literacy practices in South African higher education. To
mitigate these challenges, this article proposes the following strategies: the integration of academic literacies in
disciplinary curricula, the promotion of multimodalities of teaching and assessment as well as collaboration between
language lecturers and core course specialists. It also recommends intensive academic reading and writing
workshops, and increased formative feedback.
Keywords: Academic writing, Academic literacy, South Africa, Cape Peninsula University of Technology
1. Introduction
Academic writing plays a critical role in socialising students into the discourse of subjects and disciplines in
universities. However, with the massification higher education, many students especially those in many South
African Universities of Technology are struggling to maintain academic writing standards that are acceptable in
higher education. This has increased the demand for academic development programmes as a viable strategy to
enhance the academic writing skills and other soft skills required by students (Reda, 2011; Jacobs, 2007; Layer,
2006). This article discusses the academic writing challenges of undergraduate students in Cape Peninsula University
of Technology (CPUT), South Africa. It highlights the major weaknesses in student writing such as lack of a mastery
of academic writing conventions, analysis of writing topics; using writing to construct social identities; ability to
research and apply knowledge across different context and poor sentence skills. It also examines the implications for
students' academic development and the strategies for addressing these challenges. The article is written against
the backdrop of discrepant narratives about why university of technology students struggle with academic writing
and the increasing pressures on South African universities to transform and "to standardise and systematise the
teaching and learning context by introducing quality assurance measures" (Bailey 2008: 2). It is also set against the
backlash of increasing "marginalization of writing from mainstream curricula" especially in universities of
technology such as CPUT (Archer 2010:496).
Furthermore, the article is framed around the epistemological assumptions that academic writing challenges of
students in universities of technology are consequences of students' linguistic and general literacy backgrounds, their
attitudes towards academic writing and South African universities' privileging of middle-class literacy practices. For
example, undergraduate students are expected to possess excellent English language and higher order thinking skills
such as logical and critical thinking as well as analytical and innovative skills. However, in advocating for these high
order thinking skills, institutions like CPUT are often oblivious of the schooling experiences of students and how
they influence their writings in higher education (Pineteh, 2012; Jacobs, 2007). To address these issues, this article
Published by Sciedu Press 12 ISSN 1927-6044 E-ISSN 1927-6052
www.sciedu.ca/ijhe International Journal of Higher Education Vol. 3, No. 1; 2014
refers to academic writing as a literacy practice rather than a skill because writing in higher education is not simply
"a set of neutral techniques that are somehow separate from the social context..." (Archer 2010: 499). Rather it
denotes "not just what people do, but what they make of what they do, and how it constructs them as social subjects"
(Clark & Ivanic 1997: 82).
2. Key Research Questions
This article attempts to answer the following three key research questions:
1. What are the academic writing challenges of undergraduate students at CPUT?
2. Why are these students challenged by academic writing activities?
3. What are the possible strategies for addressing the academic writing challenges of CPUT undergraduate students?
The following questions guided the data collection process and the responses to the questions provided a framework
for the discussions in the ensuing sections of this article.
3. The Context of Higher Education in Post-Apartheid South Africa
The landscape of South African universities and universities of technology has changed significantly since the
demise of the apartheid regime. Although the legacy of apartheid is still ubiquitous in South Africa, higher education
has become more accessible to South Africans regardless of race and gender (Pineteh, 2012; Archer, 2010;
Leibowitz, 2004; Leibowitz, Goodman, Hannon & Parkerson, 1997). The shifting vision of South African
universities is attributed to the government`s envisions to redress the ills of the apartheid era, democratise the
education system through the promotion of racial and gender parity, and the development of skills that are responsive
to needs of the new South Africa (Pineteh, 2012; Archer, 2010; Leibowitz, 2004). The government's meddling in the
way South African universities are managed has resulted in the irruption of infamous educational policies and
curriculum documents aimed at restructuring schools and universities as well as fostering the social changes
promised by the new political dispensation (Leibowitz, 2004; Ensor 2004; Waghid, 2002). For example, the
implementation of outcomes-based education (OBE) curriculum in 2005 and the National Qualification Framework
(NQF) as well as the Higher Education Qualification Framework (HEQF) exemplify the new government's political
will in addressing the challenges in schools and universities (Chisholm, 2007; Young, 2005; Leibowitz, 2004; Jansen,
1998). On the one hand the NQF was mandated to "to steer South Africa along a high skills, high growth path of
economic development [which] would lay the foundation stones of a new democracy society" (Ensor 2004: 341). On
the other hand, OBE was intended to forge a teaching and learning framework which privileges outcomes rather than
content and process (Jansen, 1998; Ensor, 2004).
The pressure on South African universities to transform and to perform has had far reaching implications for
teaching and learning in general and for student literacy practices such as academic writing. Although South
African universities privilege middle-class literacy practices, the landscapes of South African universities have
changed drastically over the years (Smith, 2012; Shore 2010). Today, universities like CPUT now have to deal with a
contingent of students from previously marginalised and under-privileged communities who are often not intellectual
and emotionally prepared for higher education. This academic unpreparedness has affected their literacy practices
and their overall academic development (Pineteh, 2012; Archer, 2010; Leibowitz, 2004). It is therefore the civic
responsibility of these universities "to address the realities of educational transformation" (Archer 2010: 495).
4. Student Writing in Higher Education
Representing academic writing in this article as a literacy practice suggests that writing is linked "with what
individuals as socially situated actors do, both at the level of context of a specific situation and at the level of context
of culture" (Chouliaraki & Fairclough 1999: 21). This justifies why academic writing is at the centre of the
scholarship of teaching and learning in universities. It also explains the burgeoning research interests in student
writing in higher education (Tuck, 2012; Lillis & Scott, 2007). For example New Literary Studies such as Lee &
Street (1998) and Street (2004) discuss student writing as academic literacies, heralding "the role of literacy practices
in the success or failures of students, as they negotiate the complex demands of their degree journeys" (Tuck 2012:
210). For them, student writing in higher education are social and cultural practices that are ideological in nature.
Academic writing as a literacy practice is not simply about conforming to a set of conventions or disciplinary rules
but it is also a cultural and social practice, which involves using different cognitive abilities to negotiate power,
authority and identity within the landscape of universities (Beard, Clegg & Smith 2007; Street, 2004). It is highly
dependent on the context, on power relations and on the social relationships that human beings construct when they
write (Archer 2010; Lillis, 2001; Kelder, 1996). It is also the discursive space which establishes "the link between
Published by Sciedu Press 13 ISSN 1927-6044 E-ISSN 1927-6052
www.sciedu.ca/ijhe International Journal of Higher Education Vol. 3, No. 1; 2014
students' entry into disciplinary communities and their acquisition of the formal conventions associated with the
academy" (Leibowitz et al 1997: 5).
The purveyors of New Literacy Studies such as Mary Lea and Brian Street criticise the deficit model which
represents student writing as somewhat reductionist, meaning it is dependent on a set transferable skills, and
language proficiency rather than critical thinking. This model claims, student writing is based on "relatively
homogeneous norms, values and cultural practices" and it is a "transparent medium of representation [which] is
probably more appropriate for advanced students" (Archer 2010: 497/498). This article is framed around around
academic literacies model because university students are expected to use academic writing to access university
culture, understand disciplinary discourses and negotiate power relations as well as construct their individual
identities, new generic and discipline specific knowledge (Jones, Turner & Street 1999). To this end academic
writing is a literacy practice because it provides "the link between students' entry into disciplinary communities and
their acquisition of the formal conventions associated with the academy..."(Leibowitz, Goodman, Hannon &
Parkerson 1997: 5).
In the context of CPUT, Academic writing and other literacy practices have been taught through mandatory courses
such as Communication Skills and Academic Literacy. These courses are located within mainstream curricula in the
different faculties of the university (Pineteh, 2012; Jacobs, 2007). The location of the offerings within mainstream
curricula suggests that literacy practices play an important role in the cognitive development of students. Needless to
mention that the "language of academia is a very specialized discourse which presents a problem for all students
whether they are first or second language speakers" of English (Archer 2010: 496). Student success in any university
is inextricably about developing a `voice', a culture of intellectual enquiry and "aspects of social integration which
involve the affective dimensions of their engagement with higher education" (Beard, Clegg & Smith 2007: 236).
Effective academic writing provides an uncharacteristic space for students to negotiate and articulate these multiple
discourses that shape higher education (Archer, 2010; Adams, 2008; Lea, 1998). It is critical not only for socialising
students into discipline-specific writing but also for their cognitive development. For a student to succeed in a
university of technology like CPUT, they "need to develop their writing skills in order to cope with university course
work" in different disciplines (Bacha 2002: 161). In this light, the academic writing challenges of CPUT students fall
within the realms of the three writing categories proposed by Lea and Street (1998): study skills, academic
socialisation and academic literacies.
5. Methods of Data Collection
To understand the academic writing challenges of undergraduate students at CPUT, the researcher used qualitative
research methods to collect empirical data from students and lecturers. These methods were used to gain access to
the multiple realities and subjective meanings about academic writing at CPUT (Maree, 2007; Appleton, 1995). Here,
one-on-one interviews were conducted with twenty 2nd year students in the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the
end of 2012 academic year. The interview questions were developed from the three main research questions listed in
section 2. The participants comprised of 12 males and 8 females, generally between the ages of 19 and 25. They
were selected from two departments: Information Technology (IT) and Town and Regional Planning. The interview
questions were developed by the author of this article and the actual interviews were conducted on the Cape Town
campus by the author and a research assistant. The interviews were generally 20-30 minutes long. The questions
were framed around student writing skills, writing assignments, interactions with Communication lecturers and so on.
Additionally, two Communication course reflections were facilitated with approximately 150 1st year students
registered for the IT programme in the Faculty of Informatics and Design. The reflections concentrated on students'
academic writing experiences and other relevant topics taught in the course. In the interviews and reflections students
were asked to comment on their academic writing strengths and weaknesses as well as on ways to improve their
writing skills. Interviews were also conducted with Communication lecturers: one from the Department of
Accounting in the Faculty of Business two from the IT department and one from the Department of Town and
Regional Planning. They were 2 males and two females, ages between 30 and 55. The lecturers had at least a
postgraduate degree either in Language Education, Linguistics or Applied Language Studies- the few cases with the
right qualifications to teach this course. Communication lecturers were chosen because academic writing is located
within the boarder Language and Communication skills courses. During the interviews, the staff members
commented on their experiences as academic writing instructors, the challenges encountered by students and the
implications for their academic development. The interviews also paid attention to the ways the challenges can be
addressed.
Published by Sciedu Press 14 ISSN 1927-6044 E-ISSN 1927-6052


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