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22
Writing to learn by learning to write in the disciplines
- Journal of Business and Technical Communication
, 2007
"... The traditional distinction between writing across the curriculum and writing in the disciplines (WID) as writing to learn versus learning to write understates WID’s focus on learning in the disciplines. Advocates of WID have described learning as socialization, but little research addresses how wri ..."
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The traditional distinction between writing across the curriculum and writing in the disciplines (WID) as writing to learn versus learning to write understates WID’s focus on learning in the disciplines. Advocates of WID have described learning as socialization, but little research addresses how writing disciplinary discourses in disciplinary settings encourages socialization into the disciplines. Data from interviews with students who wrote lab reports in a biology lab sug-gest five ways in which writing promotes learning in scientific disciplines. Drawing on theories of situated learning, the authors argue that apprenticeship genres can encourage socialization into disciplinary communities.
Teaching and learning design presentations in engineering: Contradictions between academic and workplace activity systems [Electronic version
- Journal of Business and Technical Communication
, 2003
"... In courses within technical disciplines, students are often asked to give oral presenta-tions that simulate a professional context. Yet learning to speak like a professional in this academic context is a process often laden with complications. Using activity theory and situated learning as theoretic ..."
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In courses within technical disciplines, students are often asked to give oral presenta-tions that simulate a professional context. Yet learning to speak like a professional in this academic context is a process often laden with complications. Using activity theory and situated learning as theoretical frameworks, this article explores the teaching and learn-ing of one of the most common oral genres in technical fields—the design presentation. A study of the teaching and learning of this oral genre in three sequential engineering design courses reveals critical academic and workplace contradictions regarding audi-ence, identity, and structure. Results of this study show that in the teaching and learning of design presentations, audience and identity contradictions were managed by a pri-mary deference to the academic context whereas structural contradictions were addressed by invoking both workplace and academic activity systems.
Designing for Lifeworlds: Genre and Activity in Information Systems Design and Evaluation
, 1999
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Tactics for Building Images of Audience in Organizational Contexts: An Ethnographic
- Study of Technical Communicators.” JBTC
, 2000
"... Discourse theories frequently emphasize the importance of understanding audience but seldom delve into how writers form conceptions of their audiences, especially in organi-zations. This study examines computer documentation writers ’ tactics for conceiving of their audiences. Based on two ethnograp ..."
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Discourse theories frequently emphasize the importance of understanding audience but seldom delve into how writers form conceptions of their audiences, especially in organi-zations. This study examines computer documentation writers ’ tactics for conceiving of their audiences. Based on two ethnographic case studies and insights from activity the-ory, the author describes and evaluates technical communicators ’ tactics for understand-ing audiences, constrained and supported by their organizations. She discusses the advantages and limitations of each tactic, looking at how each tactic might answer ques-tions about audience. This research should be useful to technical communication educa-tors as they expand students ’ options for audience research in nonacademic settings. In addition, the findings of this study can enhance theories about the ways writers create images of their audiences.
HOW UNIVERSITY STUDENTS FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS CONSTRUCT THEIR ACADEMIC LITERACIES AND ACADEMIC IDENTITIES
, 2012
"... ii ©2012 by Whitney Ann Tudor Sarver All Rights Reserved iii ..."
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An Activity Theory Analysis of Differences in the Cultures of Two Engineering Firms
"... Using activity theory as a supplement to genre studies, this article explores a case of the disintegration of a traditional engineering firm. It focuses on the causes of such disinte-gration and the role of different types of communication in serving as sites where contra-dictions can be brought to ..."
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Using activity theory as a supplement to genre studies, this article explores a case of the disintegration of a traditional engineering firm. It focuses on the causes of such disinte-gration and the role of different types of communication in serving as sites where contra-dictions can be brought to visibility and resolution. The authors ’ goal is both to show the power of activity theory in illuminating issues of tension, contradiction, and dissonance that lead to the breakup of the original organization into two separate firms and point to fundamental differences in the cultures of traditional engineering firms and software design enterprises.
Composing Facebook: Digital Literacy and Incoming Writing Transfer in First-Year Composition
, 2014
"... Most new first-year composition (FYC) students already have a great deal of writing experience. Much of this experience comes from writing in digital spaces, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. This type of writing is often invisible to students: they may not consider it to be writi ..."
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Most new first-year composition (FYC) students already have a great deal of writing experience. Much of this experience comes from writing in digital spaces, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. This type of writing is often invisible to students: they may not consider it to be writing at all. This dissertation seeks to better understand the actual connections between writing in online spaces and writing in FYC, to see the connections students see between these types of writing, and to work toward a theory for making use of those connections in the FYC classroom. The following interconnected articles focus specifically on Facebook—the largest and most ubiquitous social network site (SNS) — as a means to better understand students ’ digital literacy practices. Initial data was gathered through a large-scale survey of FYC students about their Facebook use and how they saw that use as connected to composition and writing. Chapter 1 uses the data to suggest that FYC students are not likely to see a connection between Facebook and FYC but that such a connection exists. The second chapter uses
STUDIES By
, 2015
"... Language difference and expansive learning: negotiating concepts, contexts, and identities in writing-related transfer studies. ..."
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Language difference and expansive learning: negotiating concepts, contexts, and identities in writing-related transfer studies.
Thompson The Mediation of Learning in the Zone of Proximal Development The Mediation of Learning in the Zone of Proximal Development through a Co-constructed Writing Activity
"... This article develops a theoretical understanding of the processes involved in the co-construction of a written text by a teacher and student from a Vygotskian perspective. Drawing on culturalhistorical and sociocultural theories of writing and Vygotsky's concept of the Zone of Proximal Develo ..."
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This article develops a theoretical understanding of the processes involved in the co-construction of a written text by a teacher and student from a Vygotskian perspective. Drawing on culturalhistorical and sociocultural theories of writing and Vygotsky's concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), this case study of a student and teacher interaction in a UK secondary school examines the social mediation of collaborative activity in the negotiation of meaning. While expressivist process theories of writing focus on the development of the authentic voice of the writer, this article contends that the development of a student's writing abilities requires active intervention by a teacher within a constructed zone of development. Writing is viewed as a situated activity system that involves a dialectical tension between thought and the act of composition. Finally, the article will argue that the recursive and complex nature of writing development is an integral tool in the learner's own agency in creating a social environment for development.
Article
"... A large number of students learning English are facing the challenges of carrying over their writing instructions to other tasks, disciplines, and languages. In the academic writing contexts of L1 and English as L2, students usually rely on ..."
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A large number of students learning English are facing the challenges of carrying over their writing instructions to other tasks, disciplines, and languages. In the academic writing contexts of L1 and English as L2, students usually rely on
