Volume: 19  Number: 1  Page: 50–73

Divine Interventions: Needs Analysis for Post-graduate Academic Literacy and Curriculum Development, in a South African School of Theology

Fiona Jackson Applied Language Studies, School of Language, Culture and Communication, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg

This paper provides a critical exploration of work in progress to develop a genre based academic support that promotes post-graduate academic literacies among new EIL and EAL Hons and Masters students in the School of Theology, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. It traces the path of an action research project, using an eclectic needs analysis of post-graduate Theological students for their writing, in order to design and implement an effective intervention course. The paper evaluates the successes and failures of the project thus far. The final section of the paper considers the challenges presented by both micro- and macro-level contextual factors within the tertiary education sector to such a project, and the implications arising from these for academic development responsibilities facing both disciplines seeking to expand student access to post-graduate study and academics with writing development expertise.

Keywords: post-graduate academic literacy needs, inter-disciplinary studies

© 2005 F. Jackson

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