Now that Spring quarter 2012 has come to an end, I would like to use my last blog post required in this class as a means of reflecting on what I have learned from our class. If you ask me how much I have learned from this class, my simple answer is "not much". However, I also believe that the real answer is not that simple. There is a complexity in that simple answer. While I have to admit that there were a lot of things that I didn't understand from our discussions, I can also say that there are a lot a great lessons that I got from this class, and for that I have to thank my classmates and Dr. Al.
As a student of applied linguistics, my main interest is in L2 writing instruction with a connection in technology. Since my department does not have many specialized courses in L2 writing, I decided that I should try to find some course that could support my academic goal. The first time I learned about Rhetorical Theory and Writing course, I thought "That, may be the course that I will need". When I received a copy of syllabus from Dr. Al, I kind of hesitated since there were so many things in the syllabus that I was not familiar with. But I does not hurt to try, eh?
The class proved to be difficult for me to keep up with. I encountered a lot of new things that I had never thought about, things that I either had never heard/read about or had thought to be of no interest at all. So, this class really opened my eyes on many realities that was not aware of. Also, I learned from the many perspectives that my classmates and professor offered, the perspectives that I had never used. It was so frustrating but at the same time enriching. The biggest lesson that I learned from this class was that I now realize that I was not really critical. There were a lot of things that I used to take for granted happened to be very interesting, important, as well as complex. So, I am really glad that being in this class has enabled me to think beyond the box, offered me with multiple perspectives on things. Perhaps, I have been too long confined in my comfort zone that I forgot that there were multiple ways of seeing things.
OK, I think that's enough for my confession (I have to confess that I confessed too much). There are also several things that have caught my interests. One of them was from our last topic about multi-modality. Fraiberg's article has especially attracted me. His proposals of re-conceptualizing writers as knotworkers (107) and expanding definition of writing (118) were really enriching. As the 21st century is witnessing the development of technology, we are now being bombarded by the coming of innovations that change our life as well as how we view our life. Such a development always amazes me, seeing how our concept of literacy has changed drastically. While some applied linguists and language pedagogists still believe that literacy are strongly associated with writing (for example Mickulecky (12), it is actually a far more complex concept. As for now, to be literate people are also required to be able to understand and use multimodal media, not only limited to written form, but also other stuff like picture, audio, video, etc. So, being a knotworker--i.e. 21st century writer--one should be able to combine these multiple forms to convey their meanings. So, I think this will imply the redefinition of writing classes, or should we call them knotworking class? Hmmm. Interesting. Indeed, with the coming of the newborn generation, those who are born surrounded with technology, widely known as digital natives, how will we teach them writing? Or, do we even really need to teach them writing? Or should we instead learn from them about this multimodality in order to be able to enter into their discourse?
Indeed, this class and all of what we have discussed and what we haven't, give me more confusion than understanding. Oh, yes, before I forget. That Mark C. Taylor's "I am writing as much as I am being written" thing is also one of my recurring dreams as well, the thought that have been provoking my mind. I have to be thankful to what we did in our class. This confusion, I believe, will lead me to some understanding. So, just as the class ends, my journey begins.
Works Cited
Fraiberg, Steven. "Composition 2.0: Toward a Multilingual and Multimodal Framework." College Composition and Communication 62.1 (2010): 100-126. Print.
Mickulecky, Beatrice. Short Course in Teaching Reading. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, US: Pearson Education, 2011. Print.
As a student of applied linguistics, my main interest is in L2 writing instruction with a connection in technology. Since my department does not have many specialized courses in L2 writing, I decided that I should try to find some course that could support my academic goal. The first time I learned about Rhetorical Theory and Writing course, I thought "That, may be the course that I will need". When I received a copy of syllabus from Dr. Al, I kind of hesitated since there were so many things in the syllabus that I was not familiar with. But I does not hurt to try, eh?
The class proved to be difficult for me to keep up with. I encountered a lot of new things that I had never thought about, things that I either had never heard/read about or had thought to be of no interest at all. So, this class really opened my eyes on many realities that was not aware of. Also, I learned from the many perspectives that my classmates and professor offered, the perspectives that I had never used. It was so frustrating but at the same time enriching. The biggest lesson that I learned from this class was that I now realize that I was not really critical. There were a lot of things that I used to take for granted happened to be very interesting, important, as well as complex. So, I am really glad that being in this class has enabled me to think beyond the box, offered me with multiple perspectives on things. Perhaps, I have been too long confined in my comfort zone that I forgot that there were multiple ways of seeing things.
OK, I think that's enough for my confession (I have to confess that I confessed too much). There are also several things that have caught my interests. One of them was from our last topic about multi-modality. Fraiberg's article has especially attracted me. His proposals of re-conceptualizing writers as knotworkers (107) and expanding definition of writing (118) were really enriching. As the 21st century is witnessing the development of technology, we are now being bombarded by the coming of innovations that change our life as well as how we view our life. Such a development always amazes me, seeing how our concept of literacy has changed drastically. While some applied linguists and language pedagogists still believe that literacy are strongly associated with writing (for example Mickulecky (12), it is actually a far more complex concept. As for now, to be literate people are also required to be able to understand and use multimodal media, not only limited to written form, but also other stuff like picture, audio, video, etc. So, being a knotworker--i.e. 21st century writer--one should be able to combine these multiple forms to convey their meanings. So, I think this will imply the redefinition of writing classes, or should we call them knotworking class? Hmmm. Interesting. Indeed, with the coming of the newborn generation, those who are born surrounded with technology, widely known as digital natives, how will we teach them writing? Or, do we even really need to teach them writing? Or should we instead learn from them about this multimodality in order to be able to enter into their discourse?
Indeed, this class and all of what we have discussed and what we haven't, give me more confusion than understanding. Oh, yes, before I forget. That Mark C. Taylor's "I am writing as much as I am being written" thing is also one of my recurring dreams as well, the thought that have been provoking my mind. I have to be thankful to what we did in our class. This confusion, I believe, will lead me to some understanding. So, just as the class ends, my journey begins.
Works Cited
Fraiberg, Steven. "Composition 2.0: Toward a Multilingual and Multimodal Framework." College Composition and Communication 62.1 (2010): 100-126. Print.
Mickulecky, Beatrice. Short Course in Teaching Reading. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, US: Pearson Education, 2011. Print.
Dedy,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your frank and intriguing post. I am not surprised by your confusion but can see that you connected with much of what we read. I can see how Fraiberg's piece would be powerful for you. he brings together ecology, multilingualism, and digital literacies. You are right that this is the cutting edge--or one of them.
Keeping Brandt in mind, that literacies accumulate--and that media remediates prior media (Bolter ad Grusin), I don't think we will be abandoning words and composing conventional discourse any time soon. On the other hand, it is clear that what we do teach has to respond to how writing is changing across the world.