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Week 21, Part 2 of 2. First person pronoun in Academic Writing, an error or a stylistic choice ?

continued from Part 1. Im using the Nguyen 5 level framework to structure my reflections.

Conceptual Framework - assumptions that underly my thoughts and actions

A major influence to improving my academic writing style, in a contemporary manner, by showing authorial voice is the book Stylish Academic Writing by University of Auckland academic Helen Sword. Corroborating this shift in academic writing style to include personal voice and first person is an article advocating use of the first person in Academic Writing by the Writers Studio from Duke University, and many others, listed in the references.

 View on Change

This reflection is not a reflexive rejection of Mindlab guidelines, but an opportunity for instructors and students at Mindlab to  consider  authorial choice on using first person pronoun in academic writing. The aim is good communication, and hopefully, stylish academic writing.

Self

What does all the above say about me? I found it necessary to find corroboration from multiple reference sources to back up my position. Perhaps because I am not a scholar of writing or literature studies, I find it  necessary, and comforting to refer to corroborating experts in the field. Why did I feel antipathy? perhaps because of the dissonance created from my recent change in position from a suboptimal status quo to a more enlightened one. Being forced to regress to a less enlightened position is a step backwards -  externally imposed which is an affront to my autonomy.


References

Sword, H. (2012). Stylish academic writing. Harvard University Press. pp36-47









 
Nguyen, Q. D., Fernandez, N., Karsenti, T., & Charlin, B. (2014). What is reflection? A conceptual analysis of major definitions and a proposal of a five‐component model. Medical education, 48(12), 1176-1189. available from

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