I am thinking about context, grammar and Lil's pronouncement to strive for fluency with language first; then follow up with clarity and correctness. Fluency creates confidence in one's ability to express Self.
Makes sense...
I attended a seminar in June at RCCC and had the opportunity to attend a session facilitated by Dr. Linda Best from Kean University in Union, NJ. The title of the presentation was: "What Writers Know and Do: The Nature of Writing and Implications for Teaching and Learning". She bases much of her research off research conducted by Flower and Hayes, 1981. What is interesting to note is her focused attention to differences in dialogue between proficient writers and weak writers. She notes, "Whereas proficient writers envision their writing, developmental and weak writers adopt a 'what's next' approach, often adding new and unrelated material to their writing, which results in breaks among ideas and an overall lack of coherence"(24). i.e. lack of fluency!
Even more fascinating are the numbers that come from her data highlights from a 20-year research program on first year college students. "On the average, student writers producing essays in the 250-word range generated 2500-3000 words during the process of composing these essays"(17). Kean specified that these students dialogue their thoughts - much like the stream of consciousness exercise that Lil had us do today. Kean also documented that students repeat words on average five times in order to generate new words. (17)
Wow, today solidified the importance of dialogue in relationship to writing! I can't wait to practice these exercises with my students!
Flower and Hayes are good solid standbys. Flower also has a piece, "Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning" that I use with my freshman comp classes because I think that another part of making meaning in one's writing comes from being able to make meaning in one's reading.
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