[Teaching_Composition] Academic Discourse
Linda Adler-Kassner
teaching_composition@mailman.eppg.com
Tue, 21 Nov 2006 08:14:25 -0500
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Just to second or third or fourth Rich's and Russ's comments: I think
we do students - and our profession - a service when we help them
realize (as we all do) that while we can't "prepare" them for a
specific _kind_ (/genre) of writing, we can help them develop
_flexibility as writers._ After all, we can't know every genre. But
we can know how to help students develop the strategies they need to
analyze audience expectations; develop a variety of writing
strategies and think about when, where, and why to use them; know how
to develop even more strategies; make conscious choices.... After
all, that's what writers do.
-Linda
On Nov 20, 2006, at 9:25 PM, Russ Hunt wrote:
> Like Rich Haswell,
>
>> I'm happy to see someone questioning the focus on "academic
>> writing" in the current college-writing curriculum, and
>> questioning it in the
>> interest of the kinds of writing students will do after college.
>
> We need to bear in mind, too, that we can't anticipate what those
> kinds of writing will be, and even if we could we probably couldn't
> "teach" them. A book which makes a similar argument to Anne
> Beaufort's _Writing in the Real World_, but with piles of real-
> world empirical evidence, is _Worlds Apart_, by Aviva Freedman,
> Patrick Dias, Anthony Pare and Peter Medway. They followed writers
> moving out of pre-professional programs of various kinds and into
> professions. Their work convinces me that the best I can hope for
> is to help students learn how to figure out and adapt to the new
> genres they'll encounter in whatever they do. One thng we can be
> sure of, though: the classroom essay almost certainly won't be one
> of them (even if they become academics).
>
> -- Russ
>
> Russell Hunt
> Department of English
> St. Thomas University
> http://www.stu.ca/~hunt/
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----
Linda Adler-Kassner, Ph.D.
Director of First-Year Writing
Associate Professor
Department of English Language and Literature
Eastern Michigan University
612 Pray-Harrold
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
734.487.0148 (o) 734.483.9744 (fax)
http://www.emich.edu/english/fycomp/
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<HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; =
-khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Just to second or third or =
fourth Rich's and Russ's comments: I think we do students - and our =
profession -=A0 a service when we help them realize (as we all do) that =
while we can't "prepare" them for a specific _kind_ (/genre) of writing, =
we can help them develop _flexibility as writers._ After all, we can't =
know every genre. But we can know how to help students develop the =
strategies they need to analyze audience expectations; develop a variety =
of writing strategies and think about when, where, and why to use them; =
know how to develop even more strategies; make conscious choices.... =
After all, that's what writers do.<DIV>-Linda<BR><DIV><DIV>On Nov 20, =
2006, at 9:25 PM, Russ Hunt wrote:</DIV><BR =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type=3D"cite"><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">Like Rich Haswell,</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: =
0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; =
min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE type=3D"cite"><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">I'm happy to see someone questioning the focus on =
"academic writing" in the current college-writing curriculum, and =
questioning it in the</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: =
0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">interest of the kinds of =
writing students will do after college.<SPAN =
class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0</SPAN></DIV> </BLOCKQUOTE><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: =
0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">We need =
to bear in mind, too, that we can't anticipate what those kinds of =
writing will be, and even if we could we probably couldn't "teach" them. =
A book which makes a similar argument to Anne Beaufort's _Writing in the =
Real World_, but with piles of real-world empirical evidence, is _Worlds =
Apart_, by Aviva Freedman, Patrick Dias, Anthony Pare and Peter Medway. =
They followed writers moving out of pre-professional programs of various =
kinds and into professions. Their work convinces me that the best I can =
hope for is to help students learn how to figure out and adapt to the =
new genres they'll encounter in whatever they do. One thng we can be =
sure of, though: the classroom essay almost certainly won't be one of =
them (even if they become academics).</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: =
0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; =
min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">-- =
Russ</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">Russell Hunt</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Department of =
English</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">St. Thomas University</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; "><A =
href=3D"http://www.stu.ca/~hunt/">http://www.stu.ca/~hunt/</A></DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; =
">_______________________________________________</DIV><DIV =
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margin-left: 0px; ">Teaching_Composition maillist<SPAN =
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@mailman.eppg.com</A></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: =
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0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">To =
unsubscribe, please visit <A =
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"><DIV>----</DIV><DIV>Linda Adler-Kassner, Ph.D.</DIV><DIV>Director of =
First-Year Writing</DIV><DIV>Associate Professor</DIV><DIV>Department of =
English Language and Literature</DIV><DIV>Eastern Michigan =
University</DIV><DIV>612 Pray-Harrold</DIV><DIV>Ypsilanti, MI =
48197</DIV><DIV>734.487.0148 (o) 734.483.9744 (fax)</DIV><DIV><A =
href=3D"http://www.emich.edu/english/fycomp/">http://www.emich.edu/english=
/fycomp/</A></DIV><BR class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN> =
</DIV><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>=
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