Discipline matters: embedding academic literacies into an undergraduate nursing program

Area of Science:

• Higher Education
• Nursing Education
• Applied Linguistics

Background:

• Australian universities face increasing demands to ensure English language proficiency among students.
• Academic and professional tasks require high levels of language competence.
• Culturally and linguistically diverse student populations present unique challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effectiveness of embedding academic literacies development into a core first-year Bachelor of Nursing subject.
• To assess the impact of targeted literacy support on nursing students' written communication skills.
• To determine if improvements in academic literacy are transferable to other subjects.

Main Methods:

• A Post Enrolment Language Assessment was administered to 747 first-year nursing students.
• Students with identified language support needs were enrolled in streamed tutorials with an added literacy focus.
• A comparative analysis was conducted between students in streamed and non-streamed tutorials.

Main Results:

• Students with lower language skills in streamed tutorials demonstrated significantly greater improvement in written communication.
• This improvement in writing skills was observed to transfer to other non-streamed subjects.
• The findings indicate a positive correlation between embedded, discipline-specific literacy support and enhanced academic performance.

Conclusions:

• Discipline-specific strategies embedded within core subjects are effective for developing academic literacies.
• Targeted literacy support integrated into nursing curricula can enhance student writing proficiency.
• Universities should consider implementing similar embedded approaches to support diverse student populations.