Exploring Instructor Perceptions of and Practices for Public Discourse in First-Year Writing Courses

Authors

  • Jill Parrott Eastern Kentucky University
  • Lucas Green Eastern Kentucky University
  • Courtnie Morin Eastern Kentucky University
  • Jordan Newman
  • Cody Smothers
  • Sam Rodgers

Keywords:

public discourse, pedagogy, first-year writing

Abstract

While students entering college are exposed to a variety of novel discourses, many writing instructors feel a growing need to develop students who can engage in civil public discourse, a rhetorical tradition now seen as crucial in our contemporary public sphere. For this project, public discourse is defined as any communicative act that takes place in the public sphere and is about issues that impact wide demographics; ideally, public discourse would aim to be respectful, logical, participatory, and truthful. Through a mixed methods approach using surveys, interviews, and artifact analysis, our research provides a unique examination of the relationship between instructor perceptions of the role of public discourse in first-year writing compared to their practices. Our data shows a gap between instructor belief and practice, illuminating a problematic relationship between implicit and explicit expectations of the applicability of student learning in the classroom to the public sphere.

Author Biography

Jill Parrott, Eastern Kentucky University

Associate Professor in the English and Theatre Department; Quality Enhancement Plan Co-Director

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Published

2019-11-16