When the teacher becomes the student: the acquisition of academic literacy revisited

The idea of successful postgraduate studies representing “a rite of passage” into the academic community is not new. Entry into the community is facilitated by immersion in the discipline. In my doctoral studies, I investigated the acquisition of academic literacy among a group of first-year students, tracking their first steps in becoming members of the broader academic community. This article describes the similarities between my experience and that of the students, highlighting the challenges that doctoral students face when seeking to negotiate their entry into the different discourse communities.