Helping Writers to Think: The Effect of Speech Roles in Individual Conferences on the Quality of Thought in Student Writing

Those conferring with students in U writing clinics find that talk helps students generate new ideas & synthesize material. A study was undertaken of social interaction patterns that characterize these successful interactions. For each of two students two written drafts were compared to discover...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:College English 1977-01, Vol.38 (5), p.489-505
Main Authors: Jacobs, Suzanne E., Karliner, Adela B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Human consciousness
Psychoanalysts
Reading teachers
Teachers
Unconscious mind
Writing
Writing assignments
Writing instruction
Writing teachers
Writing tests
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Summary:Those conferring with students in U writing clinics find that talk helps students generate new ideas & synthesize material. A study was undertaken of social interaction patterns that characterize these successful interactions. For each of two students two written drafts were compared to discover what was new or better synthesized in the second draft. Transcripts of recorded student /instructor conferences occurring between first & second drafts were examined for evidence of idea formation in the student's talk & the talk pattern preceding utterance of the idea. In the conference with the best effect on subsequent writing, the instructor & student both played conversant roles. The instructor rarely evaluated, the student did not always follow the instructor's lead, & both speakers initiated. By contrast, the instructor's role in the second student's conference was dominant & that of the student subordinate. The student answered questions, signaled his understanding (though he did not understand), attempted to initiate, but was not successful. Transcripts & drafts are included. AA
ISSN:0010-0994
2161-8178
DOI:10.2307/376387