Academics and first-year students: collaborating to access success in an unfamiliar university culture

Academics and first-year students: collaborating to access success in an unfamiliar university culture

[Abstract]: This article argues that the contemporary Australian university constitutes a new and unfamiliar culture for the increasing numbers and diversity of students accessing it. Traditional approaches have viewed language development and literacy acquisition as key factors in dealing with this diversity, conceptualising disadvantage in terms of scholastic deficits and a lack of academic literacy. Inherent in these approaches is the assumption that there is one mainstream discourse and that languages and literacies other than those of the dominant mainstream represent a deficit or a deficiency on the part of students who do not possess them. An alternative approach, utilising Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and cross-cultural communication theory, re-conceptualises the contemporary university as a dynamic culture, subject to ongoing and rapid change and encompassing a multiplicity of diverse cultures and sub-cultures. The students’ transition to it is then re-positioned as one of gaining familiarity with, engaging and mastering the new culture’s multiple discourses and multi-literacies. This article will argue that the use of key socio-cultural competencies constitutes the means by which students can achieve this familiarity, facilitating their successful transition to university culture. The article will additionally argue that academics also have a responsibility in this process, collaborating with students to help them access and negotiate the unfamiliar discourses.

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