Written Communication Apr 1990

Moving Beyond the Academic Community

CHRIS M. ANSON ; L. LEE FORSBERG

Abstract

This qualitative study examined the transitions that writers make when moving from academic to professional discourse communities. Subjects were six university seniors enrolled in a special “writing internship course” in which they discussed and analyzed the writing they were doing in 12-week professional internships at corporations, small businesses, and public service agencies in a major metropolitan area. Participant-observer and case-study data included drafts and final copies of all writing that the interns produced on the job (including texts and suggested revisions by other employees), an ethnographic log of data and speculations arising from the group discussions, written course journals from each intern, transcriptions of taped, discourse-based and general interviews with the interns, and a final 15-page retrospective analysis of each intern's writing on the job. Results showed a remarkably consistent pattern of expectation, frustration, and accommodation as the interns adjusted to their new writing communities. The results have important implications for the lateral and vertical transfer of writing skills across different communicative contexts.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
1990-04-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088390007002002
Open Access
Closed
Topics
transfer qualitative research professional writing disability studies revision

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (41)

  1. McCaughey (2026)
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  2. Bay et al. (2022)
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  4. Smith et al. (2021)
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  5. Pigg et al. (2020)
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  1. Mehlenbacher et al. (2018)
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  2. Anson et al. (2016)
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  3. McGrath et al. (2015)
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  4. Jagla (2015)
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  5. Bourelle (2014)
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  6. Quick (2012)
    From the Workplace to Academia: Nontraditional Students and the Relevance of Wo…
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  7. Bourelle (2012)
    Bridging the Gap between the Technical Communication Classroom and the Internsh…
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  8. Bremner (2012)
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  9. Shaver (2011)
    Using Key Messages to Explore Rhetoric in Professional Writing
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  10. Dannels (2011)
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  11. Dannels (2009)
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  12. Spilka (2009)
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  13. Lagerwerf et al. (2008)
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  14. Russell (2007)
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  15. Artemeva (2005)
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  16. Rehling (2005)
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  17. Dannels (2003)
    Teaching and Learning Design Presentations in Engineering
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  18. Winsor (2001)
    Learning to Do Knowledge Work in Systems of Distributed Cognition
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  19. BEAUFORT (2000)
    Learning the Trade
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  20. Smith (2000)
    Strength in the Technical Communication Journals and Diversity in the Serials Cited
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  21. Dannels (2000)
    Learning to Be Professional
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  22. Matthews et al. (1999)
    Integrating service learning and technical communication: Benefits and challenges
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  23. HILGERS et al. (1999)
    “As You're Writing, You Have these Epiphanies”
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  24. RUSSELL (1997)
    Rethinking Genre in School and Society
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  25. BLAKESLEE (1997)
    Activity, Context, Interaction, and Authority
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  26. FREEDMAN et al. (1996)
    Learning to Write Professionally
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  27. Spinuzzi (1996)
    Pseudotransactionality, Activity Theory, and Professional Writing Instruction
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  28. LARSON (1996)
    Patterns in Transition
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  29. GRIGGS (1996)
    A Legal Discourse Community
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  30. MOORE (1996)
    Instrumental Discourse is as Humanistic as Rhetoric
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  31. Scott (1995)
    Sophistic ethics in the technical writing classroom: Teaching<i>nomos,</i>delib…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  32. CROSS (1994)
    Ethnographic Research in Business and Technical Writing
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  33. Thralls et al. (1993)
    The social perspective and pedagogy in technical communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  34. MOORE (1992)
    When Politeness is Fatal
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  35. Bosley (1992)
    Broadening the base of a technical communication program: An industrial/academi…
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  36. HARE et al. (1991)
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Cites in this index (15)

  1. BONK (1990)
    A Synthesis of Social Cognition and Writing Research
    Written Communication
  2. BEACH et al. (1988)
    The Pragmatics of Memo Writing
    Written Communication
  3. McCarthy (1987)
    A Stranger in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing Across the Curriculum
    Research in the Teaching of English
  4. PIAZZA (1987)
    Identifying Context Variables in Research on Writing
    Written Communication
  5. TEICH (1987)
    Transfer of Writing Skills
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Show all 15 →
  1. HARRISON (1987)
    Frameworks for the Study of Writing in Organizational Contexts
    Written Communication
  2. Porter (1986)
    Intertextuality and the discourse community
    Rhetoric Review
  3. FAHNESTOCK (1986)
    Accommodating Science
    Written Communication
  4. BRANDT (1986)
    Toward an Understanding of Context in Composition
    Written Communication
  5. DOHENY-FARINA (1986)
    Writing in an Emerging Organization
    Written Communication
  6. Herrington (1985)
    Writing in Academic Settings: A Study of the Contexts for Writing in Two Colleg…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  7. TOMLINSON (1984)
    Talking about the Composing Process
    Written Communication
  8. RUBIN (1984)
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    Written Communication
  9. Odell et al. (1982)
    Writing in a Non- Academic Setting
    Research in the Teaching of English
  10. Florio et al. (1982)
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    Research in the Teaching of English
Also cites 9 works outside this index ↓
  1. Anson, C. M. (1987)
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    Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association  ↗
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CrossRef global citation count: 95 View in citation network →

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