Revision Strategies of
Student Writers and
Experienced Adult Writers
By: Nancy Sommers
I found this to be the most interesting article we have read. The idea of contrasting student writers with professional writers gave me a new perspective.
• “students understand the revision process as a rewording activity” vs “experienced writers…finding the form or shape of their argument”
As a student I can attest to the fact that I was given a set of formats, searched out data and then tried to mash what I had learned into the constraints of that format. Sometimes I would try and use more specific words or colorful verbs but those were considered flowers and not foundations.
Professional writers create a form to match the information they have. It is likely more time consuming, but when a product is written with purpose then time is a reasonable investment.
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I wonder how Sommers came up with the idea for the study? It is really helpful to see the comparison of the experienced and student writers.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Tara. Revising can be a little bit time consuming but is useful.
ReplyDeleteI love that you emphasize that professional writers "create the form." Yet another idea that problematizes five paragraph form!
ReplyDeleteI think that a student has to feel really comfortable with the form of writing that they are using in order to feel able to make large stuctural revisions. I also think that gap between the student writer and the experienced writing in regards to revision is simply developmental. With enough practice students will begin to view writing as a process of finding the form that they need to express thier view point.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you liked this article. I think her study helps clear up many ideas about revision. Christy
ReplyDeleteYes! Tara sometimes the students want to agree with the teachers, and they only look at the appearence of their writing rather for the content. It is up to us to teach our students to be like professional writers.
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