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Articles

Vol. 25 No. 3 (2022): Special Issue: Writing Pedagogy with Linguistically Diverse Language Learners and Users: The Nexus of Multilingualism, Multiliteracies and Multimodalities

Les tâches intégrées plurilingues nécessitant la compréhension en anglais dans des universités non anglophones : les perceptions et les pratiques déclarées d’étudiants ayant des profils académiques et langagiers variés

DOI
https://doi.org/10.37213/cjal.2022.33395
Submitted
March 31, 2023
Published
2022-12-01

Abstract

In academic contexts, students are often asked to complete integrated writing tasks that require comprehension of information for text production. These complex academic tasks have frequently been studied as monolingual tasks with English speakers or English language learners studying at English-medium universities. However, as the development of scientific knowledge often involves reading in English, regardless of the language of instruction, in certain contexts, these tasks are plurilingual. At present, the experiences of students from non-English-medium universities, who are required to complete plurilingual integrated writing tasks (e.g., reading in English to write in French), have largely been ignored in research. To better support this student population, it is important to examine how users of English, not active learners, complete plurilingual integrated writing tasks in the language of instruction, in this case, French. This qualitative study examines the perceptions and reported practices of three students when completing a plurilingual integrated task while studying at a francophone university. The results show that students experience different challenges depending on their levels of language proficiency and their academic path. Future research needs to examine the roles of academic programs and professors that expect students to complete plurilingual integrated tasks in order to better understand what support is possible and desirable to ensure all students can develop their academic and disciplinary literacy. 

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