This multidisciplinary collaboration between language and medical educators was conducted in a joint venture between the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and the Department of Medicine at the University of Verona. It aims to support disciplinary writers—particularly non-native speakers—in refining their academic English through iterative, reflective, and collaborative processes. In this presentation we focus specifically on the negotiation strategies used in face to face online meetings with medical professionals, who aim to improve their academic English writing skills. The learning design is applied by means of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL): participants in the study, primarily medical researchers, voluntarily submit early drafts of their research articles, which are analysed using Markin software (v. 4.3.1.1), with linguistic annotations provided as prompts for revision rather than explicit corrections. In the subsequent phase, participants engage in self-directed reflection, identifying and interpreting the annotations. This is followed by structured think-aloud sessions (Zhang & Zhang, 2019), in which learners discuss potential revisions with peers and facilitators. These sessions emphasise the negotiation of meaning, allowing participants to articulate uncertainties, defend linguistic choices, and co-construct improved versions of their texts. This negotiation phase has been established as being a fundamental stage in the learning process (Cross 1977). Preliminary findings suggest that integrating CALL tools with collaborative negotiation fosters increased linguistic awareness, more confident authorial voice, and enhanced control over genre-specific conventions. The pedagogical model supports both tutoring and autonomous learning, offering a replicable framework for the development of academic medical English in globalised higher education contexts.

Authors:
Carlotta Fiammenghi, University of Verona, Italy
Sharon Hartle, University of Verona, Italy

About the Presenter(s)
Prof. Sharon Hartle is an Associate Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Verona. Her research interests are related to the development of learning design in ELT, with a particular interest in inclusion

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-hartle-01898929/

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