Summary Of Linton
Summary of Linton
The article starts out by explaining that disciplinary writing cannot be taught effectively, but rather has to be learned by the undergraduate. Carol Berkenkotter and Thomas N. Huckin both agree that disciplinary writing is "picked up" as opposed to being taught. As undergraduates, most of the time students gain transitional genres which have some of the same features of disciplinary writing but they are set in a classroom context. Aviva Freedman goes on to say that the "explicit teaching of disciplinary genres may be not only ineffective but even harmful."
The article then shifts sides and Linton, Madigan, and Johnson all agree with Joseph Williams and Gregory Colomb in saying that explicit teaching is beneficial, especially for undergraduates. They all agree that explicit teaching of writing by faculty within the disciplines can ease the task undergraduates come across as they move towards mastery. The authors all agree on two fundamental propositions. First, the introduction to the differences of the writing characteristics of different disciplines is a crucial stage in undergraduate's acquisition of disciplinary style. Second, undergraduates must focus on the acquisition of disciplinary style that will lead them into their chosen field of study.
The article then begins to discuss the importance of English faculty in the learning stages of undergraduates. The faculty is there to ensure that the student gets introduced to the disciplinary styles that best prepare them to meet the writing demands of new situations, which will then give the students a better chance of adapting to new communities. Leslie E. Moore and Linda H. Peterson summed this up by saying that if the faculty can't bring knowledge of content to the classroom, then they can bring "an understanding of how conventions operate in a piece of written discourse."
The general composition course is the next subject of the article. It goes on to say that...
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