What tutors need to know: Genre knowledge

Genre knowledge: What tutors need to knowWill ButlerKomysha HassanRobert LoveladyShould tutors have specialized knowledge?Perceptions and Genre knowledgeGenre knowledge: individuals repertoire of situationally appropriate responses to recurrent situations (Clark, 11)

Perceptions:Tutor perceptions on unfamiliar genresShowed uncertainty when working with specialized disciplines

Instructor perceptions on writing instructionInstructors expressed value for writing, emphasized writing for their field

So what?Tutors sometimes find it difficult when working with STEM papers or other texts from the disciplines. Some argue that tutors need specialized knowledge to be effective in these sessions. But this isnt the case.

ACTIVITY: ANALYZING GENRESRead the excerpt from the engineering report and answer the following:

What moves does this genre make?

What does this genre do?

What steps did you take in analyzing this genre?Genre knowledge QUESTIONSWhat can I ask?What can it tell me?What purpose does this genre serve?ExigenceWhat are the features of this genre?Form/ PurposeHow do its particular generic features serve its own purposes?Form/PurposeWhose interests does it serve?AudienceHow is this genre similar and different from other text genres?What I can compare it toWhat creative variations on this genre are likely to enhance its effectiveness?How I can develop itWhich ones will be inappropriate and therefore ineffective?ConstraintsClark, Irene L. "Addressing Genre in the Writing Center."Writing Center Journal20.1 (1999).

WHY ANALYZE GENRES?Genre theory, as it has evolved from social constructionism, provides generalists and specialists with a tool to analyze discipline-specific discourse. (Walker, 28)Genre theory: Genres accomplish social action (social constructivism)- understand the social action to understand the genreWCs are social environments in which genres can be studied and understood, and tutoring practices can act to spread genre knowledgeCourse genres differ and complicate tutoring- identifying genre characteristics are more important than knowing genresGeneralist tutor: A tutor without discipline-specific knowledge, relies on rhetorical knowledge insteadSpecialist tutor: A tutor with field-specific knowledge about writing, has experience with specialized genres

Weissberg paper as example for spreading genre knowledge5Genres in sheeps clothingSometimes genres will be familiar or distinctSuch as annotated bibliographies, or lab reports

But sometimes genres will not look like anything youve seen before (and they may not be that well defined)and can be the result of overt teaching of genre as dogmatic, simplistic, formalistic, and tyrannical (Clark, 11) focusing on writing as a productAssignments such as annotated bibs, or lab reports; assignments such as 5 par essay or made up mutt genres6SPECIALIZED WRITING (In the disciplines)WAC movement promotes both learning by writing and improving writing skills values reflected by two kinds of writingTransactional writing- writer explains ideas so others can understand, evaluate, and act upon them. (Writing for evaluation)Emphasizes a finished product rather than thought processActs to inform, advise, persuade, or instruct (social actions)Reports, term papersExpressive writing- looks for connection between ideas, explores and clarifies them (writing for learning)Conducive to thinking, allows writer to sort out ideasQuestions, speculates, expresses ideasJournals, free-writes, informal assignmentsLeahy, Richard. "Writing Centers and Writing-for-Learning. Writing Center Journal10.1 (1983).31-37

AN EFFECTIVE GENERALIST TUTORReads with a focus; picks out 1 or 2 key points to work on (Valued Practice 8)Asks the writer to explain things they dont understand; uses their knowledgeAsks though provoking questions and asks what feedback will be most helpful (Valued Practice 6)Understands that they wont be familiar with some texts, and resists the urge to re-write things in a way that makes sense to them (Valued Practice 18 & 19)Greiner, Alexis. Tutoring in Unfamiliar Subjects.A Tutors Guide: Helping Writers One to One.Ed. Ben Rafoth. New Hampshire: Boynton/Cook Publishers, 2000. 85-90. Print.

Weissberg paper as example for spreading genre knowledge8AN EFFECTIVE SPECIALIST TUTORUses genre to involve writer in rhetoric of the discourse (Valued Practice 18)Values learning more than the paper (Valued Practice 5)Does not rely entirely on models or guidelinesRemembers and uses generalist strategiesTutoring should revolve around the rhetoric of the discourse (Walker, 26)Greiner, Alexis. Tutoring in Unfamiliar Subjects.A Tutors Guide: Helping Writers One to One.Ed. Ben Rafoth. New Hampshire: Boynton/Cook Publishers, 2000. 85-90. Print.

Weissberg paper as example for spreading genre knowledge9READINGSClark, Irene L. "Addressing Genre in the Writing Center."Writing Center Journal20.1 (1999). Greiner, Alexis. Tutoring in Unfamiliar Subjects.A Tutors Guide: Helping Writers One to One.Ed. Ben Rafoth. New Hampshire: Boynton/Cook Publishers, 2000. 85-90. Print. Leahy, Richard. "Writing Centers and Writing-for-Learning. Writing Center Journal10.1 (1983).31-37Walker, Kristen. The Debate over Generalist and Specialist Tutors: Genre Theory's Contribution. 18.2. (1998): 27-47.The Writing Center Journal.Web. 23 Jan 2014.