This article reports on a comparative analysis of two sets of essays, student-discursive essays (SDEs) and ChatGPT-generated discursive essays (ChatGPT-GDEs) on the same essay topic using Coh-Metrix. It focused on three Coh-Metrix indices, lexical density, syntactic complexity, and referential cohesion as the basis for the comparative analysis.…

Literacy in the twenty-first century global environment is increasingly essential to participation in society. Literacy skills include not only the ability to read, write, and interact with text, but also the capacity to use semiotic (sign) systems, numeracy, multiple modalities, and to link oracy to text using computerised devices. Despite this…

Academic writing presents a range of challenges for students, particularly those enrolled in distance university institutions. These challenges encompass various facets such as understanding citation and referencing, developing a distinctive writer's voice, mastering academic discourse, paraphrasing, summarising, and adhering to academic…

Often, at universities, it is assumed that students will automatically find their 'voice' after a period of exposure to the academic field. What is not understood fully are the struggles that students with different levels of preparedness have in finding and asserting their academic voice, particularly in the academic writing genres necessary for…

Whilst research has been conducted on reading skills at primary school level in South Africa, not much research exists on writing, especially boys' writing. This article focuses on the use of an interactive questionnaire to get Grade 6 boys involved in research that is based on a cycle of the writing programme as prescribed by the Curriculum and…

Writing functions as an important tool that spans various spaces in higher education. Moving away from a 'skills approach' to writing, this article argues that the writing centre serves as an intermediary between students and academic lecturers. The article discusses how the current practices at the writing centre promotes the development of…

Curriculum transformation is a central concern for higher education in response to rapidly expanding technologies, globalisation and the widening diversity of the student and staff body. This is particularly true for South Africa, which is still grappling with inequalities and pressure for social redress in its universities. Early responses to…

The importance of plagiarism in an academic setting cannot be overlooked. Creating an awareness of plagiarism avoidance amongst students may be achievable and teaching students certain skills to avoid plagiarism, like paraphrasing, may also be possible. Although paraphrasing is one of the most important skills for avoiding plagiarism, it is a real…

The development of graduate attributes in higher education is enjoying much attention worldwide. Employers consistently rank communication skills, in particular writing ability, among the most important skills for graduates to possess. The inclusion and development of graduate attributes in undergraduate curricula have received little attention.…

The expectations placed on students with respect to appropriate academic writing may hinder successful participation in Higher Education. Full participation is further complicated by the fact that each discipline within the University constitutes its own community of practice, with its own set of literacy practices. While Writing Centres aim to…

In 2009 we developed an experiential Research Writing course to help academics at our university to become more productive and successful writers. Our aim was to create a stimulating environment in which each participant's voice, knowledge and experience was valued, and where learning was characterised by optimism, creativity and energy. In this…

A former whites-only South African university's journalism department employs a dual-medium language policy in which Afrikaans and English alternate in classrooms, and students may use either. Admissions processes include a test of linguistic ability (general/cultural knowledge and writing skills). Citing Bourdieu, this article disputes the…

There are many challenges involved in developing and running Writing Centres in tertiary contexts in South Africa. These challenges include recognizing the role Writing Centres need to play in the redress of basic academic literacies. They also involve emphasizing writing as a mode of learning where higher cognitive functions such as analysis and…