Thesis Writing Workshop: A Case in Postgraduate Education in Spanish from an SFL-Grounded Approach
Thesis Writing Workshop: A Case in Postgraduate Education in Spanish from an SFL-Grounded Approach

Author(s): Margarita Vidal Lizama
Subject(s): Higher Education , Stylistics
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: postgraduate thesis writing; writing workshop design; systemic functional linguistics (SFL); textual meanings; Spanish as an L1
Summary/Abstract: This chapter presents the design of a writing workshop aimed at developing students’ abilities in thesis writing in Spanish (L1) as part of their doctorate programmes in Social sciences, Arts, and Humanities. The theoretical foundations underpinning this design correspond to the language theory of systemic functional linguistics and its pedagogical proposal, known as Sydney School or genre-based pedagogy. The chapter discusses the pedagogical principles in the workshop design as well as the adaptations introduced to respond to the constraints and opportunities brought by the teaching context. The chapter proposes that, in order for postgraduate students to improve their thesis writing, they need to develop relevant knowledge about language (KAL) and how it works in specialised fields. This recontextualised knowledge is the base for critical reflection on writing. To exemplify this proposal, the chapter describes the overall syllabus of the workshop, then moving on to the discussion of textual meanings at the discourse-semantics stratum (periodicity), which are considered the most productive starting point for teaching in the workshop design. The chapter finishes with a description of teaching activities aimed at developing students’ knowledge in textual meanings.

• Details
• Contents