Showing papers in "Written Communication in 2015"
TL;DR: This paper found that when asked to write an essay to support their opinions on capital punishment, individuals who had argued to reach consensus were more likely to cite claims that challenge their position, reconcile these claims with their position and make use of claims that had originally been introduced by their dialogue partners.
Abstract: Research has shown that novice writers tend to ignore opposing viewpoints when framing and developing arguments in writing, a phenomenon commonly referred to as my-side bias. In the present article, we contrast two forms of argumentative discourse conditions (arguing to persuade and arguing to reach consensus) and examine their differential effects on my-side bias in writing. Our data reveal that when asked to write an essay to support their opinions on capital punishment, individuals who had argued to reach consensus were more likely to cite claims that challenge their position, reconcile these claims with their position, and make use of claims that had originally been introduced by their dialogue partners. We discuss these findings in light of educational policy and practice and caution against an overemphasis on using persuasive discourse as a means of teaching argumentative reasoning and writing.
46 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in "Written communication", 2015, volume 32, issue 1, pages 39-65, published by SAGE Publications.
Abstract: NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in "Written communication", 2015, volume 32, issue 1, pages 39-65, published by SAGE Publications. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. A definitive version: http://wcx.sagepub.com/content/32/1/39.abstract or doi: 10.1177/0741088314557623 . Copyright © 2015 SAGE Publications.
31 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of writing in the lives of adolescent Muslim girls who used writing as a sociopolitical tool when participating in a literacy program was explored. But they did not explore the role literacy in their own lives.
Abstract: In this study, the researcher explores the role of literacy—specifically writing in the lives of adolescent Muslim girls who used writing as a sociopolitical tool when participating in a literacy c...
30 citations
TL;DR: There is increasing usage of creative writing in the ESL/EFL classroom based on the argument that this pedagogy develops writer's voice, emotional engagement, and ownership as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: There is increasing usage of creative writing in the ESL/EFL classroom based on the argument that this pedagogy develops writer’s voice, emotional engagement, and ownership. Within the context of t...
27 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors take a situated and material approach to texts and writing practices and examine writing ethnographically as it transpires and displayed in museums, highlighting the rich nature of writing practices.
Abstract: The study takes a situated and material approach to texts and writing practices and examines writing ethnographically as it transpires and displayed in museums. The ethnography highlights the richn...
27 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined memory and distributed cognition involved in the writing practices of emergency medical services (EMS) professionals, and found that EMS professio indicate that EMSprofessionals used distributed cognition for writing practices.
Abstract: This article examines memory and distributed cognition involved in the writing practices of emergency medical services (EMS) professionals Results from a 16-month study indicate that EMS professio
24 citations
TL;DR: Some literacy scholars have embraced rooted cosmopolitanism as a framework for educating in today's globalized and pluralistic world, where communicating across difference is an important individua... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Some literacy scholars have embraced rooted cosmopolitanism as a framework for educating in today’s globalized and pluralistic world, where communicating across difference is an important individua...
22 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigates the strategies web-writers develop when their audiences respond to them via textual participation, and identifies five major strategies to accomplish this aim: (a) editing after production, (b) quotation, (c) question posing, (d) naming secondary writers, and textual listening.
Abstract: This article investigates the strategies web-writers develop when their audiences respond to them via textual participation. Focusing on three web-writers who want to “continue the conversation,” this article identifies five major strategies to accomplish this aim: (a) editing after production, (b) quotation, (c) question posing, (d) naming secondary writers, and (e) textual listening. Using the lens of writer-audience tension, I find that due to these web-writers’ perceptions of audience, one that is partially externalized via the website’s template, the term audience itself may not be a discrete concept, but a fluid, evolving, and recursive one, in other words, ongoing. These perceptions of audience reflect the unending nature of online texts and are exemplified by these five strategies.
18 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined students' literacy practices during Mass and other Catholic religious services in a multilingual, multiethnic urban Catholic school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and found that the students' reading skills were comparable to those of other students in the United States.
Abstract: This article examines students’ literacy practices during Mass and other Catholic religious services in a multilingual, multiethnic urban Catholic school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It discusses...
13 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigated the ways in which a news article's text is altered, and found that some types of news article altered more significantly than others, and that certain news article sections are more prone to alterations.
Abstract: Thus far, professional editing has not been researched extensively in writing research. This article zooms in on sub-editing in newswriting as a form of professional editing, addressing three research questions: (a) What are the ways in which a news article’s text is altered?, (b) Are some types of news article altered more significantly than others?, and (c) Are certain news article sections more prone to alterations? Merging the contextualized insights of fieldwork with a corpus-based discourse analytic research perspective, we trace the differences (viz. additions, deletions, translocations, replacements) between the “initial” (right before sub-editing) and “final” (published) version of six different types of news article, (frontpage, headline, long, medium, short, and news wire article) in a corpus sample of 30 broadsheet articles. Our findings are first that—contrary to popular belief that sub-editors mainly “hack away” at news stories, or merely “trim the fat”—additions prevail. Second, we found th...
11 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a study of one bureaucratic literacy practice, correspondence, of 25 international migrants in the United States was conducted, and it was found that migrants adopt the practices of bureaucracy, becoming participants in modern bureaucracy.
Abstract: Contemporary international migration produces a great deal of bureaucratic writing activity. This article reports on a study of one bureaucratic literacy practice—correspondence—of 25 international migrants in the United States. Contextual and practice-based analysis of data collected through literacy history interviews shows that (a) by virtue of living transnational lives, migrant writers develop correspondence practices that seem vernacular, but in fact take on the hegemonic qualities of modern bureaucracy, and (b) when composing everyday correspondence, migrant writers, rather than being subject to bureaucracy’s whims, take up bureaucratic roles that allow them to manage their own and others’ economic and geographic mobility. These findings complicate claims that migrant correspondence simply maintains relationships or fosters cultural cohesion. Migrant writers, while often corresponding to keep in touch with family and friends elsewhere, also adopt the practices of bureaucracy, becoming participants ...
TL;DR: In this article, the role of writing as a space for producing representations of children's identity as Catholics in a First Communion preparation course is discussed, focusing on writing in the preparation sessions.
Abstract: This article reports on research addressing the role of writing as a space for producing representations of children’s identity as Catholics in a First Communion preparation course. It draws on data from ethnographic participant observation over one year in a Catholic parish in England, focusing on writing in the preparation sessions, taking a social practice approach to identity and literacy. The article argues that in this course, written texts are drawn on to provide spaces within which children produce written representations of aspects of their lives that reify their identities as Catholics. Analysis of the data set demonstrates four ways in which particular kinds of identities were constructed through writing processes. Writing provided space for reframing aspects of children’s unique histories and identities within a faith-based perspective; representing children as active agents in the world; producing reifications of internal emotional states in linguistic form; and making relational connections ...
TL;DR: Rhetorical use of citation is a means of indirectly reaffirming authority while avoiding the appearance of argument as discussed by the authors, and is therefore an especially useful strategy for people and institutions with c...
Abstract: Rhetorical use of citation is a means of indirectly reaffirming authority while avoiding the appearance of argument. It is therefore an especially useful strategy for people and institutions with c...
TL;DR: The authors describe the use of literacy, including the written word, in the maintenance and practice of Lukumi, a Diasporic African spiritual tradition, and reveal the ways in which orality, material culture, and the spoken word exist within a communicative continuum critical to Lukumi devotion and practice.
Abstract: This study describes the use of literacy—including the written word—in the maintenance and practice of Lukumi, a Diasporic African spiritual tradition. While Lukumi is decidedly orally transmitted, the written word is still a critical part of its contemporary practice. Relying on data collected during participant observation of ceremonies and rituals, semistructured interviews and focus groups, the study reveals the ways in which orality, material culture, and the written word exist within a communicative continuum critical to Lukumi devotion and practice.
TL;DR: The authors found that researchers' religious positionalities acting as terministic screens and promoting identification with participants, and researchers' efforts to fairly represent participants' beliefs and the methods they use to do so.
Abstract: Greater attention to methods and methodologies when studying writing in religious contexts is needed to help researchers navigate ethical issues specific to faith communities and religious practices; to improve knowledge regarding the relationships among writing, religion, and faith; and to encourage respect for religious and nonreligious beliefs. To that end, I present findings from a study based on interviews of 14 scholars who have published results from their empirical studies on writing and religion or faith. Specifically, interview data show, first, researchers’ religious positionalities acting as terministic screens and promoting identification with participants, and, second, researchers’ efforts to fairly represent participants’ beliefs and the methods they use to do so. The article also offers a heuristic, based on findings from the interviews, for maintaining a reflective position when conducting research on writing and religious contexts.