LINGUIST List 21.2455 Thu Jun 03 2010 Review: Applied Linguistics: Carter, Lillis, and Parkin (2009) Editor for this issue: Monica Macaulay <monicalinguistlist.org> This LINGUIST List issue is a review of a book published by one of our supporting publishers, commissioned by our book review editorial staff. We welcome discussion of this book review on the list, and particularly invite the author(s) or editor(s) of this book to join in. If you are interested in reviewing a book for LINGUIST, look for the most recent posting with the subject "Reviews: AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW", and follow the instructions at the top of the message. You can also contact the book review staff directly. Directory         1.    Luna Bergh, Why Writing Matters Message 1: Why Writing Matters Date: 03-Jun-2010 From: Luna Bergh <BerghLufs.ac.za> Subject: Why Writing Matters E-mail this message to a friend Discuss this message Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/20/20-1816.html EDITORS: Carter, Awena; Lillis, Theresa; Parkin, Sue TITLE: Why Writing Matters SUBTITLE: Issues of access and identity in writing research and pedagogy SERIES TITLE: Studies in Written Language and Literacy 12 PUBLISHER: John Benjamins Publishing Company YEAR: 2009 Luna Bergh, Unit for Development of Rhetorical and Academic Writing (UDRAW), University of the Free State, South Africa SUMMARY ''Why Writing Matters'' is a festschrift in honour of Roz Ivanič comprising 22 contributions written by colleagues and students on the themes Creativity and Identity, Pedagogy, and Methodology. Each of the three parts, in turn, includes three brief reflections and four chapters. The three parts are outlined in the Introduction by the editor most concerned with research in the respective area of writing. The 12 chapters are united by varying social practices perspectives (xvi) and the threefold purpose (xvii) of celebrating Roz Ivanič, indicating how she inspired individuals through her thinking, teaching and research, and recording the projects that developed from what she initiated - especially as far as the theme of writing and identity is concerned. Courtney Cazden, in recalling a lecture by Roz Ivanič, introduces Part I, Creativity and Identity, by reflecting on the manifold voices that a writer carries into a text. Mary R. Lea continues the discussion in Chapter 1 of Part I by focusing on two key aspects of academic writing, namely ''ownership and authority'' (10) in the meaning-making process of students - here specifically in the topical context of online writing. Chapter 2, by Sue Parkin, touches on the theme of creativity, also in student writing. She illustrates Ivanič's term ''wrighting'' in the textual patterns employed by an art student. Chapters 3 and 4 are preceded by James Paul Gee's reflection on the thorny issue of ''identity without identification'', faced by so many potential writers. Richard Edwards expands this theme in Chapter 3 by contemplating the danger of self-plagiarism. The same pattern as in the previous combination of chapters then unfolds as Chapter 4 also deals with creativity, here specifically in academic writing and in respect of working within the delineations of the genre. The first section of this chapter, written by Mary Hamilton and Kathy Pitt, describes how ''power, identity and convention'' (63) can ''bind the writer into particular straightjackets'' (63). This is counteracted by the second section, in which they indicate ''some of the ways these bindings have already been broken, or stretched into new shapes'' (63). Min-Zhan Lu and Bruce Horner complement the views on writing by their acknowledgement of aspects of Ivanič's non-written contribution in Reflection 3 at the end of Part I. Part II, Pedagogy, opens with Denny Taylor's Reflection ''Writing pictures, painting stories with Roz Ivanič''. Chapter 5 by Awena Carter extends this child language focus and deals with discourses of learning and teaching in dyslexic primary school learners. The conceptual framework was developed by Ivanič, Carter's PhD supervisor, and is applied to the writing practices of Chris, a nine-year old learner. The focus of Chapter 6 is on English written in a Korean context. As in Chapter 5, the term 'practices', which Ivanič prefers rather than 'skills' or 'procedures', comes to the fore as Youngwa Lee describes Accommodation as a strategy used by EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students learning to construct arguments in English. In the subsequent Reflection, Karin Tusting shares her experience of Ivanič as far as ''Collegiality and collaboration'' (127) is concerned. Both Chapters 7 and 8 focus on forms of rewriting in the work of students. In Chapter 7, David Camps concentrates on revision practices in the writing process undertaken by advanced EFL students at a private university in Mexico City. This is followed by the contribution of Mary Scott and Joan Turner in Chapter 8 entitled ''Reconceptualising student writing: From conformity to heteroglossic complexity''. This chapter is related to Chapter 4 in that it deals with academic conventions, but here the focus is more strongly on implications for the teaching of academic writing. Norman Fairclough closes off the teaching focus in Part II with his brief reflection on Ivanič's role in the establishment of critical language studies at Lancaster University. Hilary Janks introduces Part III, Methodology, with a reflection on Ivanič's shared writing with students and her influence on academic literacy and teaching in higher education in South Africa, especially in the context of first generation university students. Chapter 9 by co-editor Theresa Lillis illustrates the method of ''talk around texts'' developed by Roz Ivanič, and its contributions to writing research. What is of particular importance here is that this method makes the writer the focus of writing research (185), an argument that also holds for the next chapter. In Chapter 10, Sue Sing and Nigel Hall return to a younger audience in their description of how a study of children's thoughts on punctuation was approached. What was new about the study, and revolutionary at the time, was the fact that young writers were asked about why they used punctuation marks the way they did in their texts. In his Reflection, David Russell captures a rare feature of writing, namely joy, and the way in which it was evident during his visit to the Lancaster writing centre and in Ivanič's approach to teaching and research. As Zsuzsanna Walkó points out (209), the aim of Chapter 11 is to show ''the value of combining case study data about writers with a close linguistic analysis of their texts''. In this chapter, she applies Van Leeuwen's notion of recontextualisation and the coupled framework to the texts of two undergraduate teacher trainees. Chapter 12 gives a strong account of the problem of adherence to research methodology, but then hesitance to write up the results. Samina Aman Qadir's contribution is entitled ''Researcher identity in the writing of collaborative-action research''. It is especially this chapter that emphasises Ivanič's role in the creation of social awareness of the importance of writing as a process and not only a technical product. The vision is broadened to include not only English-speaking countries. The last Reflection of the volume, ''Roz Ivanič: An appreciation'' by Brain Street, revolves around the question students always ask in academic writing classes, namely whether they should use the pronoun ''I'' or a more impersonal, objective or passive form of reference in their texts - and how this relates to probably the most characteristic theme of Ivanič's work: writing and identity. EVALUATION ''Why Writing Matters'' is a gentle and inspirational appreciation of Roz Ivanič. The authors try to focus on professional and academic aspects, but seem to find it difficult not to refer to her personal attributes. Roz Ivanič is repeatedly and consistently portrayed as a supportive, enthusiastic and generous scholar. Potentially contentious remarks such as ''the aim should be to provide understandings not rules'' (152) are put in perspective by the two points Karin Tusting makes: ''Roz has the gift of seeing first the strengths of her students' work and developing these, rather than focusing on the flaws and limitations, ...'' (127) and ''However, to praise Roz' enthusiasm for students' and colleagues' work is not to say that she overlooks problems with it either. Her forensic attention to detail means that gaps in arguments and errors in reasoning cannot be disguised with fancy rhetoric'' (128). What is of particular value in Chapter 9 by Theresa Lillis is its relevance to the challenge of keeping the balance between linguistic analysis and writing concerns (179-180), here specifically the writer's voice, in examining a written text and guiding the writer. Why does writing matter? In the first place, because of its ''purposefulness'' (247) and specifically in the case of Roz Ivanič as a vehicle for helping people identify who they are and who they want to become (31, 247). Writing is essential for the acquisition of literacy (68), for joining in ''the great conversation of literature'' (66), and in the ongoing process of creating one's own voice (66), for the establishment of ''collective and individual writing identities'' (67) and in ''developing a sense of authorship'' (67). Because ''texts reveal physically and textually the tools that were used to create them and the decisions that were made in their construction'' (85) and, ultimately, because writing is ''something beautiful that connects us with our histories and with our everyday lives'' (87). ABOUT THE REVIEWER Dr. Luna Bergh is a lecturer in the Unit for Development of Rhetorical and Academic Writing (UDRAW) at the University of the Free State, South Africa. She is mainly concerned with the MBA writing programme on campus. Her research focus revolves around reference points, punctuation, mental spaces and blending, and the speaking-writing interface. Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue Page Updated: 03-Jun-2010       About LINGUIST    |   Contact Us       While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.