Academic summary “Writing for the
World: Wikipedia as an Introduction to Academic Writing”
In the article
“Writing for the world: Wikipedia as an Introduction to Academic Writing”, Tardy
(2010) provides a description of Wikipedia as an information source, describes
an assignment to introduce academic writing skills for second language (L2)
writers, and outlines the stages to carry on a Wikipedia research
project.
The author begins by introducing the term wiki, stating facts about the
website, and also making reference to differing opinions as regards the
usefulness of the webpage. Besides expressing her opinion, “it is difficult to
deny the usefulness of the site as general reference” (p.13) she emphasizes the
significant contribution that Wikipedia offers to those students who are being
trained in academic writing, stating some of the issues that students face
along the writing process.
The article describes a project work which
may be considered useful to introduce academic writing skills to students of
L2. The assignment requires students to compose an article for the
collaborative webpage Wikipedia. The author states the final goal of the
assignment, the advantages that those who live in a non-English speaking
country may have when publishing an article in Wikipedia, and the importance
that the assignment will have in introducing several conventions necessary for
academic writing.
The article focuses on the different stages necessary
to carry on the Wikipedia project which consist of 8 steps, going
from examining Wikipedia to finally publishing student's article.
Each stage is explained in detail and also some examples are provided so that
the reader may get a clear picture of what she is presenting.
On the whole, Tardy (2010) provides the reader
with detailed and clear information about the benefits that a Wikipedia
research project may bring to the field of academic writing, as the author said
"students gain a real sense of audience and enjoy the satisfaction of
seeing their work published on a high-traffic global website." (p.18).
References
Tardy, C. M. (2010). Writing for the world: Wikipedia as an introduction
to Academic Writing. English Teaching Forum, 1, pp. 12-19, 27.
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