Journal of Basic Writing

 

Volume 23 Issue 2, fall 2004

 

Table of Contents

 

 

Abstracts, Volume 23 Issue 2, Fall 2004

 

 

Catherine Matthews Pavia

Issues of Attitude and Access: A Case Study of Basic Writers in a Computer Classroom

I conducted teacher research in a basic writing computer classroom to discover what two basic writers brought to the computer classroom that could complicate their interactions with technology and their ability to write with computers during our class.  My discussion is twofold: First, I explore the writers’ differing attitudes towards computers, writing, and writing with computers and the effects of these attitudes on my pedagogy. Second, in the guise of presenting opportunity, the computers accentuated the differences in the students’ past technological opportunities. The computers empowered the two students by giving them access to the technology for their writing, yet the students were at a disadvantage when compared to their classmates who were more experienced in using computers.  I conclude by discussing the effects that these case studies and the issues that emerged from them have had on my pedagogy.

 

Martha Clark Cummings

“Because We Are Shy and Fear Mistaking”: Computer Mediated Communication with EFL Writers

This article describes an experiment in Computer Mediated Communication conducted  in two English as a Foreign Language (EFL) academic writing classes in rural Japan.  In this online course for EFL writers, there were positive changes in attitudes, motivation, and relationships for both the instructor and the students.

 

Linda Stine

The Best of Both Worlds: Teaching Basic Writers in Class and Online

Basic writing students and online learning are not necessarily an ideal match. In hopes of stimulating more conversation and research on how technology can best advance the basic writing curriculum, this article first classifies the problems students and faculty encounter when a basic writing class moves online and discusses the pedagogical questions these problems raise.  It then presents ten categories of arguments for making the move despite the problems involved.  The article concludes with a description of how and why a hybrid model, one in which students meet with their instructor in a classroom on campus every other week and work online during the off weeks, provides one means of minimizing potential problems while maximizing learning opportunities for basic writers. 

 

Robin Murie, Molly Rojas Collins,  and Daniel F. Detzner

Building Academic Literacy from Student Strength:  An Interdisciplinary Life History Project

U.S. high school graduates for whom the home language is not English run the risk of inadequate preparation for the rigors of higher education.  Whether this poor preparation is the result of disruptions caused by the transition to a new country/language/culture, or of a watered-down high school curriculum that reacts to language error but does not always help the student develop a rich academic literacy, there is a need for courses and assignments that acknowledge the strengths of multilingual writers and that build fluency and academic literacy in ways that allow students to make meaningful connections with the college curriculum. This article describes a pilot ethnographic research course Life History Project designed in collaboration with a professor in Family Social Science and two ESL basic writing instructors.

 

Molly Hurley Moran

Toward a Writing and Healing Approach in the Basic Writing Classroom: One Professor’s
Personal Odyssey

The author’s therapeutic experience of writing a book about a personal tragedy led her to investigate the fledgling interdisciplinary field of Writing and Healing to see if it holds implications for the teaching of basic writing and also to revisit the debate about personal versus academic writing in the introductory composition class.  The result was her redesigned basic writing course, in which students do extensive private writing on personal and sometimes  painful issues.  This private writing forms the basis for all their essays, beginning with personal narratives and moving toward more academic genres.  The author’s initial  experiment with this approach suggests that it has the potential to  improve students’ attitudes toward and confidence in their writing and to help them develop a stronger prose style and more authentic voice.