Contextual Literacy : Writing Across the Curriculum /
edited by Catherine F. Schryer, Laurence Steven.
- Winnipeg : Inkshed Publications, 1994.
- vi, 177 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
Includes index.
Includes bibliographical references: p. [158]-172.
"The [...] following chapters emerge from a collective concern about writing, especially writing across the curriculum (WAC), in the Canadian university context and about whether the concepts embedded within the terms "contextual literacy" serve to facilitate or illuminate the enterprise of teaching writing. [...]
The teaching of writing in Canada, for several historical reasons, is a marginalized activity, especially in English departments. This marginalization is at work, for example, in Frank Davey's recent comments that during periods of fiscal restraint English departments ought to cut composition courses since such courses are peripheral ("Cuts here have no effect on the range of texts we teach"), students ought to acquire writing skills in high schools, and individual disciplines should teach their own discourse to heir own students. The authors collected here fundamentally disagree with Davey's attitude to students and literacy. He uses the language of remediation to blame students for perceived inadequacies and fails to recognize that the entire university (even the English department) is responsible for teaching students advanced forms of literacy. However, many contributors to this volume acknowledge his point that non-English disciplines do need to take responsibility for teaching these advanced forms of literacy to their students. It is the unreflective and perhaps uncritical way that such writing is taught that is disturbing.
The heart of the debate lies in the two terms "contextual" and "literacy" and their connections to "writing across the curriculum"" (Introduction, p. 1-2)
CONTENTS:
Introduction / Catherine Schryer and Laurence Steven
Contextual Literacy: Discourse Community as Socializing Force
1. Writing Across the Curriculum: History and Future / Elaine P. Maimon (Queen's College/CUNY)
2. Determining Writing Standards for Civil Engineering Students: The Implications for Writing Across the Curriculum / Marie Dowler (Ryerson Polytechnical Institute)
3. Revision, Context and Acculturation: A Case Study of Two Neophyte Academic Physicians / Ruth Greenberg (Jeffferson Community College)
4. Genre as Community Invention / Graham Smart (Bank of Canada)
Contextual Literacy: A Many-Sided Critique
5. In the Box: Students' Attitudes to Academic Writing / Margaret Procter (Erindale College)
6. WAC and Institutional Change / John Lundy (Nipissing University)
7. The Institutionalization of WAC at York University / Mary-Louise Craven, James Brown, and John Spencer (York University)
8. Limited Literacies: English Instruction in Ontario's Community Colleges / Kim Fedderson (Lakehead University)
Toward a Contextual and Critical Literacy
9. Writing Across the Disciplines: Where Do We Go from Here? / Joseph Comprone (Arizona State University)
10. Beyond the Cure-all/Scapegoat Axis: The English Department and WAC / Laurence Steven (Laurentian University)
11. A Consultancy Model of Research for Literacy and Writing Across the Curriculum Researchers / Catherine Schryer (University of Waterloo)
12. A Workshop: Knowledge in the Making in Writing: English, and Other Content Courses / Russell A. Hunt and James A. Reither (St. Thomas University)
Bibliography Index
0969835213 (pbk)
949201758
English language--Rhetoric--Study and teaching (Higher)--Canada.
English language--Style--Study and teaching (Higher)--Canada.
Interdisciplinary approach in education.
Includes index.
Includes bibliographical references: p. [158]-172.
"The [...] following chapters emerge from a collective concern about writing, especially writing across the curriculum (WAC), in the Canadian university context and about whether the concepts embedded within the terms "contextual literacy" serve to facilitate or illuminate the enterprise of teaching writing. [...]
The teaching of writing in Canada, for several historical reasons, is a marginalized activity, especially in English departments. This marginalization is at work, for example, in Frank Davey's recent comments that during periods of fiscal restraint English departments ought to cut composition courses since such courses are peripheral ("Cuts here have no effect on the range of texts we teach"), students ought to acquire writing skills in high schools, and individual disciplines should teach their own discourse to heir own students. The authors collected here fundamentally disagree with Davey's attitude to students and literacy. He uses the language of remediation to blame students for perceived inadequacies and fails to recognize that the entire university (even the English department) is responsible for teaching students advanced forms of literacy. However, many contributors to this volume acknowledge his point that non-English disciplines do need to take responsibility for teaching these advanced forms of literacy to their students. It is the unreflective and perhaps uncritical way that such writing is taught that is disturbing.
The heart of the debate lies in the two terms "contextual" and "literacy" and their connections to "writing across the curriculum"" (Introduction, p. 1-2)
CONTENTS:
Introduction / Catherine Schryer and Laurence Steven
Contextual Literacy: Discourse Community as Socializing Force
1. Writing Across the Curriculum: History and Future / Elaine P. Maimon (Queen's College/CUNY)
2. Determining Writing Standards for Civil Engineering Students: The Implications for Writing Across the Curriculum / Marie Dowler (Ryerson Polytechnical Institute)
3. Revision, Context and Acculturation: A Case Study of Two Neophyte Academic Physicians / Ruth Greenberg (Jeffferson Community College)
4. Genre as Community Invention / Graham Smart (Bank of Canada)
Contextual Literacy: A Many-Sided Critique
5. In the Box: Students' Attitudes to Academic Writing / Margaret Procter (Erindale College)
6. WAC and Institutional Change / John Lundy (Nipissing University)
7. The Institutionalization of WAC at York University / Mary-Louise Craven, James Brown, and John Spencer (York University)
8. Limited Literacies: English Instruction in Ontario's Community Colleges / Kim Fedderson (Lakehead University)
Toward a Contextual and Critical Literacy
9. Writing Across the Disciplines: Where Do We Go from Here? / Joseph Comprone (Arizona State University)
10. Beyond the Cure-all/Scapegoat Axis: The English Department and WAC / Laurence Steven (Laurentian University)
11. A Consultancy Model of Research for Literacy and Writing Across the Curriculum Researchers / Catherine Schryer (University of Waterloo)
12. A Workshop: Knowledge in the Making in Writing: English, and Other Content Courses / Russell A. Hunt and James A. Reither (St. Thomas University)
Bibliography Index
0969835213 (pbk)
949201758
English language--Rhetoric--Study and teaching (Higher)--Canada.
English language--Style--Study and teaching (Higher)--Canada.
Interdisciplinary approach in education.