Choice Reviews Online · 2003 · 221 citations · 14 references
EducationCurriculumLiteracy EducationInstruction In Higher EducationReading DevelopmentWriting InstructionAcademic WritingLiteracy Across The CurriculumLiteracy InstructionWriting Across The CurriculumWriting DevelopmentWriting SkillsComplex SkillsLongitudinal Correlation StudyStudent Writing DevelopmentWriting Across The Curriculum DesignWriting Across The Curriculum PedagogyWriting Environment
College writing instruction is often viewed as a one‑time skill, but Carroll argues that students’ literacy develops gradually and idiosyncratically across their college years as they assume new writing roles. She conducted a longitudinal study of a cohort at a midsize independent university, tracking their literacy experiences and evolving writing practices over time. Her analysis confirms that first‑year composition has a modest but valuable role, reveals that students learn to write differently across the curriculum—often unnoticed by faculty—and identifies teaching practices that either foster or hinder their development.
In Rehearsing New Roles: How College Students Develop as Writers, Lee Ann Carroll argues for a developmental perspective to counter the fantasy held by many college faculty that students should, or could, be taught to write once so that ever after, they can write effectively on any topic, any place, any time. Carroll demonstrates in this volume why a one- or two-semester, first-year course in writing cannot meet all the needs of even more experienced writers. She then shows how students' complex literacy skills develop slowly, often idiosyncratically, over the course of their college years, as they choose or are coerced to take on new roles as writers. As evidence, Carroll offers a longitudinal study of a group of students and the literacy environment they experienced in a midsize, independent university. Her study follows the experiences that altered their conception of writing in college and fostered their growing capacities as writers. Carroll's analysis of the data collected supports a limited but still useful role for first-year composition, demonstrates how students do learn to write differently across the curriculum in ways that may or may not be recognized by faculty, and evaluates the teaching and learning practices that promote or constrain students' development.
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