La communication écrite à l’université, un enseignement polymorphe à la croisée de la réussite étudiante et de la professionnalisation

Abstract

During last years, French higher education landscape is going through a important transformation resulting from the gradual generalization of a competency-based approach (CBA). This transition from disciplnary centered approach leds institutions to reorganize, transform and enrich their training offers. So-called « soft-skills » can then be valued alongside technical or disciplinary skills. While some of these specific skills were already covered in previous training curricula, others are now being recognized and highlighted in a new way. Courses on written communication, intended to every students during first year at univrsity, are one of those. The work presented here is based on an impact assesment study conducted for a french national pedagogical project. The main elements presented here – resulting from both a quantitative and qualitative approach – highlight the polymorphous character of these courses, as well as the difficulty to face with a presumed lack of legitimacy alongside students and teachers. We particularly shows tensions between professional integration logics and academic needs as they are noticeable within actors representations, while appearing intrinsically linked to CBA implementation.