My slides for this talk can be downloaded here.

EAP students are often unable to recognise the author’s voice in an academic text. Reading academic journal articles, where almost every other sentence includes a citation, students are under the impression that academics simply quote one another without adding anything original. To be quite honest, this was also my impression when I was first exposed to academic texts. In this talk, I reflect on how my understanding of the writer’s voice has evolved from my undergraduate to post-PhD academic life. I refer to the concept of ‘expert blind spots’, which in my view aptly describes educators’ lack of recognition of students’ inability to grasp how the writer’s voice is manifested. I review how EAP students are taught to demonstrate their ‘voice’ in writing. I present example pieces of writing from undergraduate students, and I indicate the specific features that identify the writer’s voice. I touch upon the limitations of generative AI in producing academically robust writing, by proposing an analogy to money supply in an economic system. I am under the impression that AI-generated text that is not a result of deeper intellectual engagement can be likened to issuing money whose value is not reflected in the goods and services available in a given economy (triggering inflation). Finally, I share my own ways of supporting students in developing their understanding of the writer’s voice.

References

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