"Writing Knowledge Transfer"- Six weeks in

Reflection on the readings from the first six weeks of the term.

I remember hearing "writing transfer" in 220A (Teaching College Composition) and thinking to myself how irrelevant that term is for me since I'm in the TESOL program and that class was just to get the Composition certificate. I also remember getting frustrated with myself because I had such a hard time creating assignments that would transfer ideas from my imaginary composition course to my imaginary students' other classes. 

 After taking a closer look to the importance and effectiveness of teaching for transfer, I now understand that my future ESL (English as a Second Language) students will benefit so much if I structure my classes as I read about these past six weeks. Not only are they writing in a different language, but every culture has a different understanding of what an academic paper should look like so that is a challenge all on its own for ESL students. However, if I structure my classes to provide ample opportunities for them to explicitly connect how what they are learning in my course will aid their writing in their GE classes, I will set them up for a better path of success.

 In 220A, I had a tough time understanding all the components that go into a creating a good assignment. The assignments I was given as a child (in Russian school) lacked so many tools that would have made transitioning into the "American school system" smoother. Even the directions were vague. I had little awareness of who I was writing to, what for and more importantly, why I was writing. I understand from personal experience that the clearer an assignment, the better the student's writing will be. However, I lacked such examples growing up.

 Reading the various studies, chapter from Critical Transitions, Naming What We Know, and Writing Across Contexts, it's evident that the field of Composition has come such a long way, yet, there is still so much yet to discover. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Writing to think

How does the concept that writing is a social and rhetorical act impact the key concepts of writing transfer? In "Naming What We Know," multiple scholars present their viewpoints about writing and how it is a social and rhetorical activity. They say writing is a tool that allows thinking, makes knowledge, and invokes an audience. When formed together, words have the power to stimulate the minds of the reader. I nitially , the writer controls the words selected but b ecause the meaning of words may change overtime (ie. the use of 'humankind' instead of mankind), the purpose and intention of any piece is left to the discretion of the audience/ reader.  Because society changes and is ever-evolving, the writing composed in one era may not have the same impact or interpretation in another era. However, writing is not "natural" and calls for more effort than speak because writers are constricted by the writing system's limitations.  With that in mind, ...
Read more

The Obstacles Facing Transfer of Writing Knowledge

How do Teaching for Transfer, Writing about Writing, and Transfer as Recontextualization deal with the obstacles facing the transfer of writing knowledge?   As research has been suggesting, students don't naturally take what they learn in one class and apply it for another class' assignment. And why would they? How is the literature review for their BIO 100 class similar to their personal narrative in their RPTA 122 class or the rhetorical analysis in their CHDV 143 class? Once students are made aware of these similarities or how to effectively write to think, writing skills learned in one class can surely be used in another. Teaching for Transfer stresses the importance of breaking down the tools of writing and making them clear to first year composition (FYC) students. By being explicit, students will better understand how writing has similar themes and concepts, despite the genre. Writing about Writing, termed by Downs and Wardle (2007) underlines the importance ...
Read more

How could the five key concepts from "Naming What We Know" be observed in a learning-to-write setting?

In  Naming What We Know  (Adler-Kassner and Wardle), we read about five threshold concepts that scholars have agreed are "critical for epistemological participation in a discipline" (Adler-Kassner and Wardle, 2015, back cover).  Concept 1: Writing Is a Social and Rhetorical Activity Concept 2: Writing Speaks to Situations Through Recognizable Forms Concept 3: Writing Enacts and Creates Identities and Ideologies Concept 4: All Writers Have More to Learn Concept 5: Writing is (Also Always) a Cognitive Activity But, what does that really look like in a typical, learning-to-write classroom, especially  not  in a composition/English class? When it comes to writing, there is always a social factor that comes into play. Whatever gets written, always has an intended audience (reader). In a classroom, students learn how to form their work through word choice (jargon), style, and format (as simple as MLA vs. APA), just to name a few, because when a r...
Read more