You Can Learn To Write In General
There are so many bad ideas about writing that many people used to believe. Ideas that are still taught in middle school and even high school. These bad ideas make it hard for people to write really well. Elizabeth Wardle says that the idea “You Can Learn To Write in General” actually hurts students. “It’s a dangerous idea that needs to die because it hurts students and frustrates teachers and employers.” (Wardle, 31). Elizabeth Wardle and Tom Deans believe that a better idea about writing is for students to use their knowledge about writing and apply it to the new situations. This idea is whenever you’re going to a new environment or situation. This is a better idea because it doesn’t allow students to believe that there’s a magic formula that will help them write well in all situations. (Wardle, 32). No one can learn to write in general, but there’s things that a person can learn to help them become a better writer.
Tom Deans is the author of the book review of Worlds Apart: Acting and Writing in Academic and Workplace Contexts article. He is reviewing someone’s book, which means he’s basically giving a summary of it. This article goes into detail about the huge gap between academic and work. He gives numerous examples to make it very clear that there is most definitely a gap. Then he goes on to talk about the research that was conducted. After the research is done, he explains the results. Then he talks about what the solution to close the gap between academic and work is. His better idea is using community-based academic experiences to close the gap.
Students have to make an adjustment whenever they go to a new level. Whether it’s middle school, highschool, college, corporate America, etc. “The authors reveal both the socially situated nature of writing and the considerable gap between university and workplace contexts” (Deans, 1). T did multiple case studies of university courses in architecture, social work, finance and professional jobs such as a hospital or bank. (Deans, 1). Patrick Dias, Aviva Freedman, Peter Medway, and Anthony Paré Mahwah are the authors of the book that Tom Deans reviewed. The original authors came to the conclusion that “workplace writers generally receive little or no formal training; rather, they learn by doing and by apprenticeship”. (Deans, 1). This means that when workplace writers are hired, they aren’t trained in the ways of the company. Which means they don’t learn exactly how the company wants them to write. They have to learn by trial and error or have someone mentor them.
So we now know that there is a decent sized gap between school and work. That’s not a good thing because there needs to be a smooth transition so that the student will be successful. Tom Deans, in his review of “Words Apart: Acting and Writing in Academic and Workplace Contexts” actually discusses how to close the gap. The book’s main idea to close the gap is by using community-based academic experiences. “Like internships that give students real life experience in workplace discourse”. (Deans, 2). This gives students a taste of what it’s like working so they can get some knowledge. This would definitely close the gap because it would allow the students to get a feel of what the company’s wants.
Learning to write in general is a really bad idea about writing. Wardle says that because it makes it seem like there’s a formula whenever you have to write. That’s just not true because “Writers always have more to learn” (Wardle, 32). Every new situation is different so there’s something new that has to be learned. There are things researchers have learned, and things that will help writers be more effective. This means that you can’t learn to write in general, but there are things that will help you become a better writer or a more effective one. Dean say that community-based writing is a better idea because it will help people who are going from academic to work. It’s going to make the transition much smoother and allow them to be more successful and effective.
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