The metaphor of community has become central to discussions about reading, writing, and teaching. According to this metaphor, an individual learns a discourse through entering into the community that uses it, and by accepting the practices and values of those already in it. Yet an argument can be raised for a definition of discourse that is not…

This text tries to explain what students need to learn to read and write in tertiary academic settings in Australia and to suggest some ways of teaching them. An introduction maps out what this text contains and summarizes the main features of the approach used to teach adults how to read and write academic discourse. The next section describes…