In "The Computer and the Inexperienced Writer," Christine Hult uses another article by Elizabeth Sommers to explain the difference between student writers and adult writiers and how those differences relate to word processing and revision.
"'Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers' identified two main ways in which the revision strategies of student and experienced writers differ: (1) student writers saw their compositions in discrete parts and considered revision to be a rewording activity; experienced writers saw their compositions as a complete unit and considered revision to be a communication activity," Hult says.
Hult's main point in defining these differences is to serve her purpose of showing how word processing can "potentially inhibit the very revision strategies we attempt to teach our inexperienced student writers", but I think I.A. Richards (who I will be forced to think about constantly now after my presentation) would be interested in these kinds of differences.
It may speak to his efforts of trying to get student writers to communicate better that Sommers found that experienced writers saw revision as a communication act. We are affected constantly by the language we use to communicate and if you are an experienced writer, then you have mastered language so that you communicate clearly. Student writers who see revision as rewording are missing the meaning of writing: to get across your meaning as clearly and efficiently as possible.
Richards would also be interested in Sommer's other finding: " student writers viewed their texts as the embodiment of redefined meaning; experienced writers used writing and rewriting to discover meaning." In creating his theory of Basic English, Richards wanted us to always be aware of the fact that we can create meaning through metaphor. We can communicate anything we want with the use of language as a metaphor.
Richards and Sommers seem to be on the same page in some sense because their findings reveal what Richards advocates for: being aware of how you use language so language does not use you. Experienced writers are successful because they know this.
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Great connections, Audrey. I blogged about a similar subject this week. I think when we focus the writing classroom on isolating and fixing errors that we send the message that writing is about error and detail. Emerging writers forget that writing is about communication. I love the line you quote from Hult, "revision to be a communication activity." And, I also enjoyed the idea you share from Sommers that experienced writers use writing and rewriting to discover and learn. One thing I do is teach revision, editing and proofreading as different steps in the process, reminding students that revision is "big picture" rewriting that focuses on content and ideas. Editing is for tweaking words and other details. And, then finally, proofreading is for fixing grammar, spelling and punctuation. While I haven't done brain scans or anything like that, I believe that you actually use different parts of your brain to revise/rewrite and proofread. That is why they can't really be done simultaneously.
ReplyDeleteI really like your way of teaching revision, Dawn. I never thought of separating these into three different steps and I think they would do a good job of emphasizing the differences inexperienced students have while they are in the revision process. In my own writing, I can't do enough revision and it's only when I have to meet a deadline that I'm forced to stop. When working in the writing room, I see so many students that just want me to edit their papers. I struggle to help them understand that revision is so much more than editing. Your ideas will be very helpful!
ReplyDeleteThe comment about experienced and inexperienced writers was something that I thought about as I read. As the experienced writer sees it as discovery, the inexperienced writer sees it as redefining meaning. How do we get students to view writing as discovery?
ReplyDeleteIn more of the CCC articles that I read, I am finding my pedagogy changing in respect to different aspects of the revision process. There is a HUGE difference between editing and revising that teachers often disregard for the sake of time, but if we want students to be better writers and rhetors, that is time we are going to have to sacrifice.