The Academic Literacy at the University: A predictive Study

• Published in: Revista electrónica de investigación y evaluación educativa Vol. 21; no. 1
• Main Authors: Guzmán-Simón, Fernando, García-Jiménez, Eduardo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Valencia Universidad de Granada, Revista RELIEVE 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Education; Learning; Literacy; Questionnaires; Roles; Students; Teaching
• ISSN: 1134-4032
• DOI: 10.7203/relieve.21.1.5018

The academic literacy process in the Spanish university system shows many shortcomings now days. This situation is particularly worrisome among future teachers of Pre-School and Primary Education, given the influence that these students will have on the literacy in the early school years. This study aims to determine which variables define the academic literacy of college students and which teaching and learning practices can explain it. A "Questionnaire on reading and writing habits" was administered to a population of 513 students from the Primary Education Bachelor Degree of the University of Seville. The results of this questionnaire allowed us to describe teaching and learning practices that promote academic literacy as well as the academic literacy levels attained by the students themselves. A regression analysis for categorical data was applied to determine the explanatory power of teaching and learning practices (predictors) on academic literacy (criteria). The predictors selected explain satisfactorily the variability in the different levels of academic literacy in students, which show different values for those enrolled in Pre-School and Primary Education Bachelor degrees. One conclusion from this study is that the acquisition of certain reading strategies and critical writing by future teachers requires a specific instruction beyond the development of academic socialization in a community of practice, allowing them to transform knowledge and develop an awareness and intellectual self-regulation