UCB professors encourage students to meet the challenges of writing in their discipline in different ways. Here are four approaches.
Claire Kramsch
Writing is generally viewed as one of the "four skills"—speaking,
listening, reading, writing—taught and learned in language classes.
But learning to write in a foreign language is not about stringing together
grammatically and lexically correct sentences, although these are, of
course, the tools of the trade. Nor is it about expressing ideas that
might equally well be expressed in English. Rather, the challenge is to
let yourself, so to speak, be remade in the other language, by trying
on the new combinations of words, the new patterns of sound and meaning
that it alone can offer. I facilitate this experience by showing students
how foreign writers use their language to write themselves into print.
I have them experiment with style though "a la maniere de" exercises,
compose concrete poetry, write multilingual journals, communicate directly
with native readers via e-mail or the Internet, and, of course, write
academic essays as well. The goals are to foster authorial awareness and
the conviction that the choices students make are only in part determined
by native speaker use. My job is to show them their room to maneuver between
native writer norms and non-native writer creativity.
"African
American Life and Culture in the United States" is a lower-division
course; typically 40-50% of enrolled students are freshmen. Through the
years I have resigned myself to the fact that a hodge-podge of knowledge
and sentiments entangle the study of African Americans. To begin to detangle
students' preconceptions, I assign a four- to six-page essay at the end
of the third week. This carefully crafted question is grounded in the
lectures and assigned readings. In order to answer it successfully, students
must muse over issues of historical context, evidence, and diverse opinions.
I strongly encourage students to discuss their ideas about the question-related
material with other students in the class.
It
may seem strange, but in science one of the biggest challenges is not
to write in the style of the prose that you read. Many scientists are
excellent writers, especially when they write for the public. But usually,
when our students consult the scientific literature for term papers and
their own research projects, they're reading the primary literature, which
is virtually free of any editorial hand that elevates grace or clarity
of expression to any importance. (John McPhee's books on geology are a
delight, but who would consider Newsletters in Stratigraphy absorbing
bedtime reading?) So: write as we say, not as we do. In our classes we
try to focus on avoiding the poor habits of primary science writing (passive
voice, overuse of Latinate verbs, useless copulatives such as "due
to," "the nature of," and "in and of itself"),
and on communicating the logic and intellectual excitement of scientific
questions. Good prose follows more easily from good stories, and science
has some great stories.