The writing of abstracts in the framework of undergraduate students’ academic literacies

Abstract

The writing of scientific works’ abstracts integrates complex and diversified literacy practices, in which students are invited to participate since their undergraduate courses. In this study, from the perspective of literacy studies and genre theories applied to academic writing, we analyzed 32 exemplars of abstracts, observing their rhetorical configuration as one of the indicators of undergraduate students’ academic literacies. Additional observations on the authors’ academic literacies were constructed through a questionnaire sent to them by email. The results suggest a certain flexibility both on the part of the students and of the experienced participants of the discourse community in dealing with the conventions that govern the construction of the academic abstracts.