In Through the Out Door

I have a new printer in my small apartment. The previously unwieldy pile of research that I have been shuffling around is growing and spreading across the floor. I have been feeling a vague unease about the direction of my research - something was not coming together. Today though, I came across the following from a 2010 conference abstract called Academic Writing and International Students: The Need for a Free Space by Enrica Piccardo and Choongil Yoon (bold text mine):
"While research has been proving the significance of writing as a fundamental skill to improve both L1 and L2  competence (Brookes & Grundy, 1991, Hyland, 2002, Cummin, 2006), because of its heuristic, reflective and scaffolding potential (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987, Greg & Steinberg, 1980, Graves, 1983), the lopsided emphasis on academic writing in tertiary education may cause a lack of space for students to effectively improve their writing skills by being allowed to express themselves, write creatively or for pleasure and therefore make it hard for them to fully exploit the potential of writing (Graves,1983, Allen, 2002, Piccardo, 2005).
This idea seems to resonate with my experiences. Few of the students I encounter will pursue academic writing in English beyond the end of their ESL programs. Still, most will have opportunities to communicate in written English - in their various career paths, as well as in their personal lives. Imagine if the writing style we taught, the style students practice in our classes, made it a possibility that they might "fully exploit the potential of writing"? I'm no longer convinced that rigorous adherence to academic rules is the most productive or life-enhancing approach to teaching writing.

So - do we need to permeate the borders between academic writing rules and self-expression? Or would we be better to offer an alternative writing course, for students who are interested in writing for non-academic purposes?

One final thought: I hope to find a means of conveying to students that their identities - straddling, hybrid, and in-transition, are a rich resource in the context of writing, not a problem that an outsider must 'solve'.

Gonna shove the papers aside and watch 'Hoarders' now.