Establishing an academic identity: Second language writers and the institution.

This study takes an academic literacies approach to writing and draws on the principles of a Critical Applied Linguistic approach to language. It aims to examine international postgraduate students' experiences of academic writing in the UK, with particular reference to their experience of trying to establish an academic writer identity. Importance is placed upon the wider institutional context, and the way that decisions on an institutional level serve to undermine students' attempts to establish a credible academic writer identify. Towards this end, this discussion incorporates an observation of the way that the Pre-sessional English course does or does not prepare international postgraduate students for study in their chosen departments. Significantly, the case study structure of this study allows the voices of the students to be represented in the discussion of such issues and allows them to relate their experiences of learning to represent themselves in an academic writing context. Drawing on the rich data provided, the study focuses on the discussion of the way that negotiation of academic writer identity is affected by feedback and grading practices, issues of patchwriting and plagiarism, and the use of the first person pronoun. The study concludes by analyzing the implications of the data and suggesting ways in which the institution may take practical steps towards providing a more supportive environment for second language writers. This study makes a significant contribution to the field of academic literacies research.