Q 1. Inoue argues that the style of English taught in class
is already racist. I think he has a point in that every standardized and
normalized rule has adopted its society’s dominant discourse. If that’s the
case, how can instructors in composition classes teach academic English in the
class? Do they have to give up on the formatted style or do they have to allow “informal”
languages to be used in a research paper?
Q 2. Shipka introduces various examples of multimodal tasks.
The one submitted by Lindsay reminds me of Hannah’s cassette tapes in 13 Reasons Why, which seems to be a very
good example of telling a narrative in a multimodal way. Do you have any other examples
which can be shared in the classroom?
Hi there Yon!
ReplyDeleteI really like the question and response you brought in from the Shipka reading, "A Multimodal Task-Based Framework for
Composing." When I consider the "multimodal" writing I have done in classrooms myself, I at first worry that maybe I haven't participated in much myself. However, with the clear definition set in the Bazerman reading, I recall taking a class a year ago on Composition Theory where we were assigned to make a presentation to a group of young teachers at UCF on the different ways to teach writing. This certainly wasn't a traditional paper, but the format taught me quite a lot about writing for a particular audience.
Hi Yon,
ReplyDeleteRegarding your first question, I think that the proper response is probably, as is with a lot of these questions, a little of both. "Proper" academic writing is important because if you want to join the academic conversation, you have to play by the rules. That's just the reality, so I think that this is still an important skill to learn and an important topic for composition students to learn about.
But, I think there is plenty of opportunity to explain to students that this is not the only way. Let them know that it's important to learn this, but also tell them about the inherent racial, class, gender, etc. bias inherent in this style of writing.
Likewise, some assignments that step outside of that version of English and allow students to write in other ways that value other experiences and voices would also be a great way to give balance to a class, and I think many students would appreciate the idea that no one type of writing is a good fit for every situation.