[Englecturers] Post on Literacy: Devon's reply

[englecturers at lists.ucr.edu]

Howdy uno mas tiempo,

Since we seem to be in agreement that this listserv is and should be a safe 
place to air ideas, I want to briefly (well, maybe not-so-briefly) respond to 
John's posting on the pervasiveness of on-demand writing inside and outside of 
academia.

 Anecdotal evidence suggests wide differences between on-demand classroom and 
on-demand business writing including the use of technology (internet access, 
word processing programs), available printed resources, co-worker 
collaboration and assistance, and the deadlines, all of which are usually more 
readily available and elastic in the business world. Again, in my fourteen 
years in the business world, I never saw anything more important than an 
internal email (usually corresponding numeric or factual data) requiring 
completion in a short amount of time.  Quick, on-demand letters are often 
begun with templates that have been customized for particular businesses, and 
what looks like a lengthy missive often only amounts to a few lines of 
original text. Even a "by the end of the day" deadline is much longer than 
what is available to our students in a typical on-demand classroom essay. 
Surely the worker may not spend all day on this one project given the multiple 
demands in business, but she or he has the ability to consider the task for 
some time before actually writing it.

Likewise, it is interesting to ask students the total time they spend on one 
typical out-of-class essay; my students routinely tell me between eight and 
ten hours total (not counting reading). The other two weeks is spent 
ruminating, I suppose. In talking to my family, neighbors and friends who are 
deeply involved in many levels of the business world, the consensus seems to 
be that high-pressure reports, business proposals (akin to grant writing), and 
contracts usually are rewritten numerous times over the course of a few days 
or weeks, by various parties in either a collaborative or imposing manner. 
These demands do, however, lead to many on-end late nights at the office. 
Little of this happens in an academic "on-demand" situation.

More importantly, people writing in the business world often have a deep 
understanding of the basic subject matter of their work, something that makes 
their writing demands a bit easier to undertake. I do not understand how 
presenting students with a somewhat new, esoteric topic and demanding that 
they respond in two and a half hours can adequately prepare them for business 
on-demand writing unless we are teaching them templates to use (as many 
instructors did in the old English 4 and 5 D-courses).

And if we are teaching how to write for a particular writing demand, should it 
be  structured in this way? Engineering proposals often focus on gaining 
funding for a new idea by explaining the idea and the work-to-date, business 
plans look at the past direction of a company and plan for either a 
continuation in that direction or a change of direction, and (as my brother's 
job requires) business analysts are asked to dissect practices and make 
recommendations. These types of writing demands use cause and effect, problem 
and solution, evaluation and analysis: similar demands that are echoed in 
out-of-class assignments. I suppose they can be echoed in timed writing tests, 
but the connection seems a bit more forced for me. Again, all of these writing 
demands presuppose the writer's deep affinity with the subject matter; this 
familiarity grows with time. I would love to offer a high stakes, timed, 
in-class final exam that I could grade in a quick, holistic manner, but my 
life experiences (both inside and beyond academia) do not find this very 
helpful to the students. Instead, I offer a "deep revision" that demands 
significant textual change (to the content) and the inclusion of visual 
material as a final exam: this seems appropriate and provides a lesson of what 
students should be doing on their own.

Maybe my case is uniquely isolated; if so, and if we are preparing students 
for the demands of academic writing, perhaps John is right. Alas, I know of no 
studies that support my views of business writing demands, but I know of no 
studies that counter them either, probably because I have not researched this 
area very much. Anybody up to the challenge in your spare time? How about 
academic writing demands: there should be studies of WAC programs available on 
ERIC and MLA databases.

To answer the metaphor, perhaps some of us are training and forcing students 
to run cross-country instead of the 100 meter dash. There is nothing lazy 
about it.

Finally, John I want to extend my congratulations to your recent graduate and 
the condolences of my family for your recent loss. If nothing else, maybe this 
exchange is a bit of a diversion from everyday life delirium.

Let's keep dancing.

Devon Hackelton