The challenge of academic writing for Chinese students within ...

on university expansion had already begun and plans had been drawn up before the
publication of the report, the Robbins Report was regarded as a ‗symbol of post-war
university expansion‘ and ‗a decisive turning-point‘ (Anderson, 2006, p.131). The new
universities of the 1960s were quite different from the ancient universities and big civics.
These new universities were characterised by their distinctive physical (built on green-fields
in non-industrial towns), organisational (structured as campus universities; creating schools
of studies, or large departments with several disciplines) and academic/cultural (to be
extramural and modern) features (Scott, 1991).
Another group of the new universities consists of former polytechnics which achieved
university status in 1992 and former colleges that have gained university status since 1992.
The 30 polytechnics were originally developed under the initiatives of the ‗binary policy‘ for
higher education articulated by Tony Crosland, Secretary of State for Education and Science,
in 1965 (Aldrich, 2002). The polytechnics were intended to create a close association with
local business and industries providing vocational and technical training. In a sense points of
similarity between the polytechnics and civic universities are evident. These former
polytechnics and former colleges are more associated with the concept of diversity of
learning, inclusion, widening participation, accessibility, flexibility, innovation in teaching
and assessment. With an emphasis on vocational and professional education many of these
new universities are also committed to scholarly research, and have gained national and
international recognition of excellence in research. The ranking of these new universities in
national league table varies in average teaching and research quality and in the range of
subjects. The Open University, one of the products of university expansion in the 1960s, was
established in 1969, and has developed as a primary provider of distance learning. Some of
courses at the Open University are open to students who live outside of UK.
A number of higher education colleges have been conferred the university title since 2005.
The creation of these universities is the largest expansion since the polytechnics became
universities in 1992 (MacLeod, 2005). Some of the newest universities can trace their history
back to the 19 th century. For instance, Liverpool Hope University, the institution within
which the research participants are undertaking their undergraduate studies, originated from
two 19 th century colleges and one college established in 1965. The newest universities such
as Liverpool Hope, Edge Hill, Chester, and Bath Spa have undergraduate degree and
postgraduate taught degree awarding powers. Some of them, such as Queen Margaret
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