Epistemological Underpinnings and Pedagogical Implications

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Epistemological Underpinnings and Pedagogical Implications

This is the last chapter of the article Developing Authority in Student Writing through Written Peer Critique in the Disciplines written by Barbara Schneider and Jo-Anne Andre to The Writing Instructor Journal in September 2007. 

In this chapter the authors explain why writing is a social activity and not just knowledge transmission and they highlight the ways in what they help to the newcomers to write appropriately for their disciplinary and professional communities. Moreover they explain that through written peer critique students can improve their academic writing when they write to a real audience of their peers, also they show how in each course written peer critique can help students to improve their written skills.

The authors defends the idea of have a written meta-conversation instead of an orally. This is because the authors thought that students have the opportunity to make a deep analysis and revision of their peers’ writings and construct a considered response besides of give them a experience as readers and to improve their discourse. They comment that the students who don't be able to make a critic review with a sense of authority in their peers' work "may remain trapped in text-processor or layperson roles, subservient to others' knowledge claims and reluctant to adopt the identify of legitimate - albeit novice- members of their disciplines and profession". For that is important that the students take the rol of professionals-in-training, because in this way they may become full members of their disciplines and professions.

In my opinion, the authors are right when they say that is better to have a written-meta-conversation because as readers and critics we can deeply analize the content of the text in all its forms, I mean grammatical, syntatical, order of words, cohesion, expressions and all that things that are difficult to find in a first oral meta-conversartion. It results important to make an elaborate critique that will be useful to our peers' written improvement and also to become more analytical at the moment of read something.