Facilitating graduate student and faculty member writing groups: experiences from a university in Japan

ABSTRACT

Writing groups have been implemented in higher education institutions in the US, UK and Australia as a means of supporting a writer's productivity (e.g., journal articles or book chapters) as well as developing their soft academic skills (e.g., collegiality). However, writing groups are seldom discussed in the Japanese context. Therefore, this study describes the development, facilitation and implications of writing groups at a Japanese university (i.e., graduate and faculty level groups who met on a weekly basis for eight to ten weeks). The ways in which the facilitator managed each group using structured and unstructured approaches are discussed focusing on a description of the social, theoretical and practical activities of each group. In order to analyze the efficacy of the writing groups, participant experiences were explored in terms of their initial assumptions, expectations and successes. Finally, the characteristics of the two writing groups are compared to previous research findings. The comparison demonstrates that both groups are similar to those in other contexts. Group members are faced with universal issues such as time pressures, motivation, and varying writing abilities. Overall, this study draws attention to the characteristics of two types of writing groups at this particular university, and begins the conversation regarding the development, facilitation and efficacy of these groups in the Japanese context.

KEYWORDS:

• Writing groups
• Japan
• publishing
• experiences
• facilitation
• academic writing

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge Ms. Hiroko Araki and Dr. Norifumi Miyokawa from the research planning office, for their kind assistance in this study. I wish to thank the writing group members for their hard work and detailed feedback. I also wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers and editor for their kind advice and guidance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Todd James Allen http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4958-3193

Notes

1 This article was first presented at the Symposium of Writing Centers in Asia in 2018. Thank you to attendees who provided constructive feedback.

2 The information in this section derives from a MEXT report available online: http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/26/09/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2014/10/07/1352218_02.pdf

3 A writing advisor fellow is a paid position at this university. This is an initiative to support graduate student and faculty member academic writing. The fellow facilitates writing groups, consults with graduate students and faculty members and conducts academic writing workshops.

4 For further research regarding the role of Tachiba and its influence on Japanese society (and interaction), Haugh (2007) and Haugh and Obana (2011) are recommended for points of reference.

5 HASS refers to Humanities and Social Sciences.

6 STEM refers to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.