Adopting a Writing about Writing Approach
TEACHING TO
TRANSFER
Adopting a “Writing about Writing” Approach
for English 201
Meaghan H. Brewer, PhD
mbrewer2@pace.edu
Writing in the Disciplines
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Defining Transfer
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(David N. Perkins and Gavriel Salomon 22).
The Controversy - Transfer in First-Year
Writing
Douglass Downs and Elizabeth Wardle (2007):
“
F
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(
5
5
2
)
.
The Controversy
(cont’d)
David Russell (1995):
Just as there is “no autonomous, generalizable skill called
ball using or ball handling that can be learned and then
applied to all ball games,” there is no “autonomous,
generalizable skill or set of skills called ‘writing’ that can be
learned and applied to all genres or activities” (57,59).
The Controversy
(cont’d)
Douglass Downs and Elizabeth Wardle (2007):
“We are not arguing that transfer of writing knowledge
cannot happen; rather, we are arguing that ‘far transfer’ is
difficult (Perkins and Salomon, ‘Teaching’ and ‘Transfer’)
and that most current incarnations of FYC do not teach for
it as explicitly as is necessary” (557).
Near vs. Far Transfer
N
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Near vs. Far Transfer
(cont’d)
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/
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Ex. Learning how to use quotations, how to counterargue
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Ex. Work on building students’ ethos in writing their papers
transfers to ethos in writing for their future careers
Writing about Writing
•
Resists treating writing as a “skill” that can be
unproblematically transferred from one writing situation to
another and that is independent of context
•
Instead focuses on teaching writing AS CONTENT
•
Students “read writing research, conduct reading and writing
auto-ethnographies, identify writing-related problems that
interest them, write reviews of existing literature on their
chosen problems, and conduct their own primary research”
(Downs and Wardle 558).
Writing about Writing
(cont’d)
Benefits
•
teaches students to be able to analyze and respond to the
new writing situations they will encounter
•
students become more reflective about writing, realizing
and correcting prior misconceptions
Pitfalls
•
Students tend to get bored when this is the focus of the
whole semester
Writing about Writing
(cont’d)
From Teresa Thonney:
•
Have students read authentic texts from various
disciplines
•
Help students notice how academic writing varies
•
Help students infer and practice academic writing
principles – both the universal and the discipline specific
•
Help students see that academic writing is dynamic
Works Cited
Downs, Douglas and Elizabeth Wardle. “Teaching about Writing,
Righting Misconceptions: (Re)Envisioning ‘First-Year
Composition’ as ‘Introduction to Writing Studies.’”
College
Composition and Communication
, 58.4 (2007): 552-584. Print.
Perkins, D. N., and Gavriel Salomon. “Teaching for Transfer.”
Educational Leadership
,
46.1 (1988): 22 - 32.
ProQuest
. Web.
18 Oct. 2013.
Russell, David R. “Activity Theory and Its Implications for Writing
Instruction.”
Reconceiving Writing, Rethinking Writing
Instruction
. Ed. Joseph Petraglia. Mahwah: Erlbaum, 1995.
51-77. Print.
Thonney, Teresa. “Teaching the Conventions of Academic
Discourse.”
Teaching English in the Two-Year College
, 38.4
(2011): 347-362. Print.
Writing in the disciplines recognizes that each discipline has its own rules for writing due to genre-specific needs and ideologies. Explore the controversy surrounding transfer in first-year writing and learn about near vs. far transfer concepts.
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Presentation Transcript
TEACHING TO TRANSFER Adopting a Writing about Writing Approach for English 201 Meaghan H. Brewer, PhD mbrewer2@pace.edu
Writing in the Disciplines Writing in the Disciplines recognizes that each discipline has its own rules for writing, which arise from context and genre-specific needs and the ideologies held within that discourse community
Defining Transfer Transfer Something learned in one context . . . [helps] in another (David N. Perkins and Gavriel Salomon 22).
The Controversy - Transfer in First-Year Writing Douglass Downs and Elizabeth Wardle (2007): First-year composition (FYC) is usually asked to prepare students to write across the university; this request assumes the existence of a universal educated discourse (Russell, Activity Theory ) that can be transferred from one writing situation to another. Yet more than twenty years of research and theory have repeatedly demonstrated that such a unified academic discourse does not exist and have seriously questioned what students can and do transfer from one context to another (552).
The Controversy (contd) David Russell (1995): Just as there is no autonomous, generalizable skill called ball using or ball handling that can be learned and then applied to all ball games, there is no autonomous, generalizable skill or set of skills called writing that can be learned and applied to all genres or activities (57,59).
The Controversy (contd) Douglass Downs and Elizabeth Wardle (2007): We are not arguing that transfer of writing knowledge cannot happen; rather, we are arguing that far transfer is difficult (Perkins and Salomon, Teaching and Transfer ) and that most current incarnations of FYC do not teach for it as explicitly as is necessary (557).
Near vs. Far Transfer Near transfer a writing skill/strategy learned in one context is either directly applicable or applicable with little modification to another context Far transfer a writing skill/strategy or habit of mind learned in one context has to be modified to make it applicable to another context
Near vs. Far Transfer (contd) Transfer of skills/strategies Ex. Learning how to use quotations, how to counterargue Transfer of ways of being/habits of mind Ex. Work on building students ethos in writing their papers transfers to ethos in writing for their future careers
Writing about Writing Resists treating writing as a skill that can be unproblematically transferred from one writing situation to another and that is independent of context Instead focuses on teaching writing AS CONTENT Students read writing research, conduct reading and writing auto-ethnographies, identify writing-related problems that interest them, write reviews of existing literature on their chosen problems, and conduct their own primary research (Downs and Wardle 558).
Writing about Writing (contd) Benefits teaches students to be able to analyze and respond to the new writing situations they will encounter students become more reflective about writing, realizing and correcting prior misconceptions Pitfalls Students tend to get bored when this is the focus of the whole semester
Writing about Writing (contd) From Teresa Thonney: Have students read authentic texts from various disciplines Help students notice how academic writing varies Help students infer and practice academic writing principles both the universal and the discipline specific Help students see that academic writing is dynamic
Works Cited Downs, Douglas and Elizabeth Wardle. Teaching about Writing, Righting Misconceptions: (Re)Envisioning First-Year Composition as Introduction to Writing Studies. College Composition and Communication, 58.4 (2007): 552-584. Print. Perkins, D. N., and Gavriel Salomon. Teaching for Transfer. Educational Leadership, 46.1 (1988): 22 - 32. ProQuest. Web. 18 Oct. 2013. Russell, David R. Activity Theory and Its Implications for Writing Instruction. Reconceiving Writing, Rethinking Writing Instruction. Ed. Joseph Petraglia. Mahwah: Erlbaum, 1995. 51-77. Print. Thonney, Teresa. Teaching the Conventions of Academic Discourse. Teaching English in the Two-Year College, 38.4 (2011): 347-362. Print.
