Economic Literacy: Understanding the Gap between Novice and Expert

Abstract

The number of students applying to do tertiary economics courses reflects the importance placed on the need for South Africans to develop improved understandings of commerce and economics. However, failure rates in first-year courses are still disturbingly high. This paper gives a detailed analysis of the characteristic discourse of economics in order to develop an understanding of what the literacy requirements are for first-year economics students. It argues that students need to be introduced to the discourse of the subject and that their early examples of academic writing should be seen as a stage in their learning. It claims that the analysis of student writing can help tutors and lecturers to give useful feedback and to design curricula which might enable students to improve their writing and to learn more effectively. Finally, acknowledging the central role of language in learning, it explores ways in which a language workshop, complementary to the economics course, can assist students in the acquisition/learning of the new academic discourse.