A narrative inquiry examining the influences on first year university students’ writing challenges.

Abstract

The purpose of this research study was to examine the influences on first-year university students’ writing challenges to ascertain if there is a link between students’ secondary school literacy practices and their current academic challenges in university. The theoretical framework that was employed was the social constructivism theory. The participants were able to narrate their stories using varied data generation methods such as literate life history, visual representation, and focus groups. This study adopted the interpretivist paradigm. This research philosophy allowed the researcher to hear and understand participants’ lived experiences of their literacy practices. One of the main findings is that first-year B.Ed. students find it challenging to move from secondary school literacy to academic literacy, and thus they need assistance in understanding academic discourse. The findings indicate that students need assistance with academic writing, academic reading, referencing and citing from sources, and academic literacy as a whole. A further finding is that some students face academic writing challenges due to not adequately being taught writing skills in secondary school. As a result, the study’s findings highlighted that students were not aware of basic academic conventions due to the literacy gap that exists between secondary schooling and universities. The study concludes with recommendations.