The document discusses innovative approaches to academic writing and literacy, emphasizing the importance of originality and personal expression while navigating academic standards. It highlights the experiences of international students, their emotional and academic challenges, and the positive growth that can stem from studying abroad. The project encourages creative methods, such as building identity metaphors with LEGO, to better understand and express individual identities and experiences.

1. crossing the bridge – bridging the ‘gap’
doing academic writing differently
ania rolińska
@anzbau
english for academic study
university of glasgow

2. what is academic writing?

3. academic
literacies
lens
focus on students’
writing
literacy as social
practice
literacy as
transformation
(Lillis and Scott,
2007)

4. In my opinion the real writer should disobey the rules and formulate their own
style, coz originality is valuable and pretty important. However, in most cases, if
we try to smash the model or the writing skills, we may get a undesirable mark.
So, what should I do?
(Student’s voice)

5. teaching academic writing differentlyhttp://digital-english.weebly.com/

6. who’s doing the crossing?
Year-Round PS Course winter 2014
China, Iraq, Saudi Arabia
IELTS 5-6
UG / Professional experience
intro to academic practices

7. It is strong and patient where can carry loads and weights does not
matter how heavy they are and this what really we need in order to
face our demanding and challenging life.
This picture might describe me in terms of focusing on one target ...
Maybe I'm relaxing or having a good time but it doesn't mean that I
don't have a target to do in my life ...
Wedding dress also have another meaning that can stand for my
character, that is always keeping a hope. Hope is the personality
that make a human to be a true human.
I am always trying to look for the whole image, like birds having a
wider image from the sky … Confident, birds do not care if somebody
watching them, they always try to do what they have to do … I never
limit my potentials or abilities, just like birds spread your wings ...
who’s doing the crossing?

8. a potential bridgehttp://digitalenglish-mystory.wikispaces.com/

9. course tools

10. course processes

11. Reflection is like your feedback. But it goes deeper than feedback … it includes deep
thinking, special opinions which add to your own experiences. It is also an opportunity to
improve your knowledge and a way to get clarity outside of the “moment”. When you
express your thoughts and what you have learned in context and spent time to think about
it from different angles …
course processes

12. ‘Everything is deeply interwingled’ from Ted Nelson’s Dream Machines
The Internet puts us in the new relationship to writing (Ulmer, 2003)
course processes

13. independent & critical thinking
curation
peer review
reflection
visuality
creativity
effective communication
ethical awareness
digital textual practices
course processes

14. course outcomes

15. inspiration: Gauntlett’s Lego research

16. inspiration: Gauntlett’s Lego research
It gets participants communicating more fully, creatively and expressively, by
asking them to build metaphors of their identities and experiences in Lego.
People think about things differently when making something, using their hands
– it leads to a deeper and more reflective engagement.
By using creative methods to understand how people think about themselves and
their identities, I do think that also helps us to understand how people learn.
People learn effectively through making things (Papert and Harel, 1991).
People learn better when they are creatively challenged (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).
All quotes come from: Gauntlett and Holzwarth, 2006

17. identity boxes

18. researching identities
In contrast, female identity 1, she represented her studying experience by long lonely road
in the desert to imply how much it is a hard, lonely and boring journey. As she is a new
international student this may be a reflection of the distress stage of culture shock when
everything seems difficult and annoying (UKCISA, 2008). International students are more
liable to experience some emotional and academic difficulties as a result of being away
from family and home country. On the other hand, this is has a positive impact on their
personality which made them more independent and ambitious to achieve their goals and
dreams. Also, the experience of studying abroad may lead to a wider vision and
consideration of their identities as an essential and crucial unit of the whole world.
Source: http://digitalenglish-mystory.wikispaces.com/Group+3%C2%A0Report

19. researching identities
Relating to the metaphors arrangement, the
choice of the tree (family) as a head of turtle
describes the significant importance of the
family in his life, like his vision. On the other
hands, the green apple (diet) and glasses
(studying) as the legs of turtle which made him
stand up again after many failures. The
memories were up of the shell, which occupy
the most of his thinking while his work and
creativity as a base of his life (base of turtle).
The central position of the theme was the core
of communication and peaceful principles he
believes.
Source: http://digitalenglish-
mystory.wikispaces.com/Group+4%C2%A0Report

20. In conclusion, the new culture environment brings various effects to the international
students no matter where they come from. Most of the impacts are positive, such as the
concern of future, the explore inspiration and self-motivation. However, there still comes
with some negative influences. For instance, the loneliness easily leads to loss of self-
confidence. Therefore, it will helps a lot to clarify oneself by creating own identity box.
Source: http://digitalenglish-mystory.wikispaces.com/Group+2+Report
researching identities
To sum up, this project give the student the
opportunity to portray their identities in more
efficient and sensible way than other
traditional interviewing methods. In addition,
this was a very useful way to help the
international student to express their identities
and show up what they might be suffering
from, happy to achieve or different feelings
regarding being away from family.
Source: http://digitalenglish-
mystory.wikispaces.com/Group+3%C2%A0Report

21. This project helped me …
1. Understand the visual culture
2. Use the visuals for academic and social purposes
3. Create identity box using different sites
4. Analyse metaphors
5. Express feelings and emotions using identity box
6. Understand myself more as an expatriate
7. Use the right ways and academic conditions to comment on others works
8. Focus on the digital literacy in terms of using social medias such as blogs for
academic purposes
9. Develop several skills such as communication skills, working within groups and
pairs, investigating problems, finding solutions, writing essays and reports,
using variety of references and resources to get new information, innovation
skills , class participation skills, listening and commenting skills ......etc
10.This course was a good introduction for my masters course (sociology). It
taught me a new methodology (using visuals) that is used in order to analyze
people's feelings, emotions, problems and desires rather than interviews and
questionnaires
Source: http://manalawati89.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/this-project-helped-me-to-1-understand.html
student’s voice

22. student’s voice

23. Gauntlett, D. (2007) Creative Explorations. Routledge.
Gauntlett, D. and Holzwarth, P. (2006) Creative and visual methods for exploring identities. Online:
http://www.artlab.org.uk/interview-mar06.htm Accessed 13 June 2015.
Lillis, T. and Scott, M. (2007). Defining academic literacies research: issues of epistemology,
ideology and strategy. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4(1), pp. 5–32.
Ulmer, G.L. (2003) Internet invention: from literacy to electracy. New York: Pearson Education.
JISC (2015) Digital Student Exemplars. Digital English for international students. Online:
http://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org/wp/files/2015/01/DS04-Digital-English-for-international-students.pdf
Accessed 13 June 2015
Rolińska, A. (2015). Digital English – me, online, writing & academia. In K. Borthwick, E. Corradini, A.
Dickens. (Eds), 10 years of the LLAS elearning symposium: case studies in good practice (pp. 127-137).
Dublin Ireland: Research-publishing.net. doi:10.14705/rpnet.2015.000273

24. images – all under CC licence
He Didn't "Mind The Gap" by Scott Smith https://flic.kr/p/8xuuWT
Desktop Sketching by Eric Heupel https://flic.kr/p/bbqqTR
Through the lens… by Peter Hellberg https://flic.kr/p/8GsPac
Questioned proposal by Ethan Lofton https://flic.kr/p/4S8uZe
Water Pipit - Anthus spinoletta - Bisbita alpina - El grito - The Scream by Ferran Pestaña
https://flic.kr/p/8Vxnre
Danboard Package Received by Louish Pixel https://flic.kr/p/9z7CMv
shadow silhouette by LoggaWiggler http://pixabay.com/en/shadow-shadow-play-
hispanic-human-198682/
bibliography (early sign of trouble) by papertrix https://flic.kr/p/4mUry
Inquire, Learn, Reflect by mrsdohpaz https://flic.kr/p/4mSyZ9 rosemary.reilman.com
Experiencing, Learning, Reflecting by Denise Krebs https://flic.kr/p/dZu4aS
From text to hypertext by [Ed] https://flic.kr/p/hKcZwG
Hypermedia by Dominik W. Neuffer https://flic.kr/p/8wAWLg

25. annarolinska@yahoo.co.uk