Name:

Dr. Oscar Eybers

Position:             Lecturer  

Office:                HSB 17-25

Telephone:        (012) 420 3494

E-mail: [email protected]      

Qualifications: BA Hons, PGCE, PGDHE, MA, PhD

Abridged  CV:

Dr Oscar Eybers embarked on his journey with academic literacies in the late 1990s. His initial foray into facilitating academic literacies began as a tutor for the University of the Western Cape's English for Education Development programme. Guiding students in academic English for discipline-specific subjects provided valuable insights into his own challenges as a budding scholar, as well as those faced by his students.

Following his tenure as an academic literacies tutor at the University of the Western Cape and Stellenbosch University, Eybers transitioned to teaching English and language studies in the Western Cape Department of Education. Here, he primarily engaged with Grade 8 and 9 learners, imparting the fundamentals of academic communication. However, his time in schools was relatively brief, spanning only two years. Since 2002, Eybers has been actively involved in facilitating academic literacies within South African universities.

As an academic literacies facilitator, Oscar contributed his expertise to institutions such as Zululand University, Fort Hare University, Rhodes University, and presently, the University of Pretoria. Throughout his years of guiding students in literacies, Eybers continued his own educational journey. He subsequently earned teaching qualifications, a master's degree in English literature, and ultimately, a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Pretoria. His doctoral research explores students' progression as argumentative writers.

At present, Oscar holds the role of coordinator for the courses ALL 110 and ALL 125 in the Unit for Academic Literacy. These modules are designed to cultivate the talents, gifts, and aptitudes of novice humanities scholars in critical communication. Oscar adopts a Discourse approach in his philosophy of nurturing first-year scholars, focusing on augmenting their identities as disciplinary members alongside their academic literacies.

In addition to his instructional role, Oscar is an active researcher in the Unit for Academic Literacy. To date, he has authored 14 academic articles and contributed two chapters to scholarly discourse. His published works have made appearances in both national and international journals. Oscar's research pursuits encompass academic writing, academic literacy theories, sociocultural linguistics, and Africology. Currently, he is in the process of formulating his own construct of academic literacy rooted in Africa's original modes of communication and knowledge systems. Eybers is also fascinated with GenAI, artificial intelligence, in creating new frontiers for academic literacies.

Publications:

Eybers OO, Paulet EL (2022). Sociocultural theory for academic literacy research involving argumentation in institutions of higher learning. South African Journal of Higher Education, 36 (2), May: pp. 115 - 132.

Eybers OO (2022). A Discursive Study of Educational Governance and Governmentality in South Africa. Edition:1 In S. Amos & F. Masarovic & A. Rohstock (eds.), Perspectives on Educational Governance, Germany, Germany: Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk GmbH. (pp. 61-72). 978-3-8309-4190-3.

Eybers OO (2022). Can Academic Writing Transform Epistemicide to Emancipation? International Journal of Educational Organization and Leadership, 30 (1), pp. 1 - 13.

EYBERS, O., KRUGER-ROUX, HELENA 2021. Discourse as a generator of epistemic relativism in scientific argumentation. International Journal of Literacies, 28, 19-34.

ANGU, P., BOAKYE, N. & EYBERS, O. O. 2020. Rethinking the Teaching of Academic Literacy in the    Context of Calls for Curriculum Decolonization in South Africa. The International Journal of Pedagogy and Curriculum, 27, 1-16.

EYBERS, O. 2020a. Social Realist Ontology for Analysing BRICS Educational Governance: A Higher Education Perspective. Space and Culture, India, 7, 38-48.

EYBERS, O., PAULET, EMMA 2020b. Embedding Ubuntu Principles into Dialectic Argumentation and Academic Writing. Alternation, 36, 50-75.

EYBERS, O. O. 2020c. Intersections of Decolonial and Global Citizenship Principles in Academic Literacy Curricula. The International Journal of Diversity in Education, 20, 1-9.

VON FINTEL, C., EYBERS, O.O. 2020. Leaps into Cyberspace: A Case Study for Scaffolding Argumentation in a Hybridized Academic Literacy Module. International Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Learning, 27, 55-67.

EYBERS, O. O. 2019a. Applying Ayittey's Indigenous African Institutions to Generate Epistemic Plurality in the Curriculum. Transformation in Higher Education, 4.

EYBERS, O. O. 2019b. A social realist ontology for developing Afrocentric curricula in Africa. Journal of Decolonising Disciplines, 1, 47-63.

Eybers, O. O. (2018). Friends or Foes? A theoretical approach towards constructivism, realism and students' wellbeing via academic literacy practices. South African Journal of Higher Education, 251-269.

Eybers, O. O. (2015). From mechanist to critical realist interrogations of academic literacy facilitation in extended degree curricula. South African Journal of Higher Education, 79-90.