Settling students into a community of practice

The supervisor's role is to prompt the writer's development of writing skill. Literacy teaching is a time-consuming exercise, even more so when the quality of the student's written work is poor. Supervisors could encourage the formation of peer-led mentoring groups, preferably teaming up with other academic colleagues and merging groups of students. An additional benefit is that learning does not take place only within the supervisor-student interactions, but also with other members of the community of practice. This chapter presents five strategies that supervisors could consider when working with their students in a community of practice: develop writing and feedback as a thinking process; encourage 'noticing' and acquisition of lexical bundles and academic vocabulary; provide a range of feedback; consider the emotional aspects of feedback; and pre-empt possible misunderstanding and tensions. Depending on the university's support services, these strategies should ideally be implemented and practised with the support of academic skills advisors.