Gillian Saunders

Topic

Academic Discourse Socialization of Undergraduate Students in Required Academic Writing Courses

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Date & location

• Tuesday, August 4, 2026
• 12:30 P.M.
• Clearihue Building, Room B021

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Tim Anderson, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Victoria (Supervisor)
• Dr. Ralf St. Clair, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, UVic (Member)
• Dr. Tatiana Gounko, Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies, UVic (Outside Member)

External Examiner

• Dr. Megan McIntyre, Department of English, University of Arkansas

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Iain McKechnie, Department of Anthropology, UVic

Abstract

This dissertation examines the academic discourse socialization (ADS) (Duff, 2010; Kobayashi et al., 2017) of undergraduate students enrolled in required-for-graduation writing and research (RAWR) courses across 12 post-secondary institutions in British Columbia, Canada. It uses a multi-site embedded case study design to investigate the perspectives of undergraduate students alongside perspectives of writing professionals who teach and support RAWR courses. Utilizing surveys, interviews, document analysis, and an environmental scan of Canadian writing centres’ public-facing responses to Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), this dissertation explores first-year student preparedness, help-seeking behaviours, and responses to written feedback, as well as institutional stances toward emerging technology as a potential agent of ADS. The findings reveal that undergraduate students bring highly diverse academic writing experiences and dispositions to their post-secondary studies, indicating that a one-size-fits-all approach cannot effectively support their paths to legitimate participation in their target discourse communities. Furthermore, while positive changes are underway to foster student belonging and ADS—particularly among traditionally marginalized populations—RAWR courses and writing centres remain under-resourced and constrained by institutional undervaluation of academic writing skills and notable misalignments between the expectations of students, instructors, and writing support services. Ultimately, this study underscores the critical need for responsive, transformative ADS support within Canadian post-secondary environments and closer collaboration and alignment between stakeholders, with foundational support in the form of systemic institutional recognition of the importance of academic writing skills to student success, retention, and belonging.