Literacies in Multiple Languages in Higher Education: A Case Study on How Bi/Multilingual Students Acquire a 'Voice' to Strengthen Their Academic Writing

Abstract

Research indicates that regularly bi/multilingual university students lean on their whole language repertoire whilst they may be writing in a language that is not always their home language (L1). Commonly, many university students are writing in a language that is not always their L1 and accordingly they locate methods to express themselves in their second or third language (L2/L3) efficiently. The cognizance of this paper can be at the impact of code-switching on university students at some point of the writing process. This qualitative study was conducted on university students in Switzerland and Brazil, in which they have been requested to finish a written questionnaire in English. The questions addressed in this paper study the variety of students that use their L1 ‘voice' whilst they may be writing. This paper also looks at the way students use their L1 ‘voice' when they undertake an extended writing task. An analytical tool regarding andragogy was used to research the facts to recognize the complexities that mature writers go through. Bi/multilingual students believe that once they write in English they think in English, however, the facts advocate this is not always constantly the case. In addition to my findings, it appears that L2 students are continuously borrowing words/phrases from their L1 whilst they may be writing in a language that is not always their L1. The implication of this study is to demonstrate lexical transfer that L2/L3 students make at some stage during their writing and that this should be regarded as the lack of exact equivalency in their L1 and not a lack of language proficiency. Finally, this study addresses methods whereby bi/multilingual students may want to use their code-switching to help them in their academic writing.

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