Writing for Wikipedia as a Way of Developing Academic Writing Skills

     In the article “Writing for the World: Wikipedia as an introduction to Academic Writing” published in the English Teaching Forum, Tardy describes her approach to use a collaborative web space called Wikipedia, to help students develop academic writing skills. Students create academic pieces of writing and publish them on the website. To be able to do this, there are eight steps they should necessarily follow.

     The leading step is connected to the use of Wikipedia. Students are required to analyze how the website works, what the requirements for editing and contributing are and they also have to become familiar with the type of information that frequently appears in articles. The second step proposed by the author consists of gathering information. Students are expected to choose a topic and collect information about it, bearing in mind that in the pursuit of information and facts they should consult reliable sources. The third step is related to the organization of the information collected by students and paraphrasing is recommended as a strategy to avoid it plagiarism. The fourth step embroils the ability to produce a coherent piece of writing. The fifth step entails revising drafts, and peer correction and editing is praised as a way of receiving feedback. In the sixth step, after giving format to their text, students should include citation of sources consulted. In step seven, students should read their work carefully to identify possible spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes. The final step leads to publishing. Students should register as Wikipedia users to be able to publish their work. Students should be aware of the fact that once they publish their articles, other Wikipedia users can revise, correct and edit their work.

  To conclude, Tardy (2010) portrays her own teaching experience using a website to develop students’academic writing skills. She makes the assumption that publishing an article in Wikipedia is not only a challenge which requires several steps, but also a meaningful activity as students write for a real audience.

    

 

     

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Tardy, C. (2010). Writing for the World: Wikipedia as an Introduction to Academic Writing. English Teaching Forum: http://exchanges.state.gov/englishteaching/forum/archives/docs/10-48-1-c.pdf