Transferring Writing Knowledge (Beaufort)

Beaufort, A. "Transferring Writing Knowledge To the Workplace, Are We On Track?" In Expanding Literacies: English Teaching and the New Workplace (Eds. Mary Sue Garay & Stephen A Bernhardt). Albany: SUNY Press, 1998. 179-199.

Does learning standard school genres such as the academic essay or research paper translate into useful knowledge in the world of writing white papers, newsletters, proposals, laboratory reports, and business letters? (179)

In sum, the three emphases in writing pedagogy today--knowledge of the writing process, writing in many genres, and reading the social context--can go far to help writers bridge the gap between academic and workplace writing. (186)

knowledge of the writing process:

Ultimately, what will serve the writer across contexts is a metaknowledge of the differing aspects of writing tasks. Thinking about writing as a series of problem-solving activities will enable writers to approach unfamiliar genres and rhetorical contexts for composing with a greater confidence. (183)

writing in many genres:

Broadening the lens of textual analysis and exposing students to varied contexts for writing and a variety of genres gives them both greater general knowledge and more local knowledge, which should in turn equip them to become better learners of new genres in new social settings. (185)

reading the social context:

The broadest and most comprehensive way to understand social context, though, is to consider, from an anthropological viewpoint, the way written texts function within discourse communities that share common purposes for written communication and a common set of codes to govern that communication. (185)

I would argue that both are intertwined in any given writing situation and that teachers must attempt to work at both levels. We should be helping our students develop that metacognitive awareness that will enable them to generalize across writing situations and solve any number of different writing problems. At the same time we must call our students' attention to the very context specific nature of composing--even in classroom contexts--so that they both gain expertise in specific genres and contexts for writing and can see the interrelationship of context and general writing principles. (196)