The conflation of English competence and academic literacy: A case study of three Namibian universities

Success in higher education relates in part to competence in the medium of instruction. But the academic literacy literature provides compelling evidence that competence in the medium of instruction is insufficient to ensure success. Crucially, students need to take on the literacy practices of the discipline or field. This study offers a thematic analysis of the mandatory support courses that have been developed at the three universities in Namibia to enhance students’ chances of success. The data comprised course documents, interviews with academics, and classroom observations. In all three institutions the courses introduced to support student success were offered in an ‘autonomous model’. Higher education success was seen to rest on English competence, conceptualised as the correct use of standard grammar. In making a call for better induction we also ask: how might we enable access to practices of the academy while providing space for challenging the norms and values?. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.