Abstract

Research writing is identity work. At the heart of this work are attempts to align with institutional norms and simultaneously assert individuality. This session will explore Ubuntu to understand how postgraduate researchers can take up authoritative positions in their written communication by drawing on the multicultural, multilingual and multimodal resources they bring along to their work.

Geoffrey Nsanja has a PhD in Academic Literacies. He is a Lecturer in EAP at the Language Centre, University of Leeds. His research interests are in academic writing as social semiotic work with identity implications. He is also interested in how practitioners and students take up identity positions in spoken and written discourse.