Learning to Write in the University after the Writing Course Is Over: What Helps Second Language Writers?

Many Western universities provide for focused attention on the development of second language writers' academic writing in first-year courses, but there are generally fewer defined channels for such learning after their departure from these courses. This article uses the lens of writing as situated social practices to investigate opportunities for learning about writing and making gains as writers as students continued their study beyond the first semester. Through semi-structured interviews, and examination of the students' assignment scripts and markers' comments, it identifies opportunities for learning provided by various forms of interaction within their courses, as well as barriers to their uptake. It reveals a balance between attention to genre features and content, and to linguistic accuracy, which appears to have allowed the focal students to make gains in their writing.