Writing instructors often identify clichés as the weakest spots in student writing, but looking at students’ uses of cliché in context can teach us about their struggles to fashion new knowledge from what they already believe to be true. Most importantly, writing instructors who examine their responses to cliché (or any other “undesirable” aspect of student writing) can learn about the ways in which their pedagogical practices can deafen them to what students are trying to say.

Writing instructors often identify clich6s as the weakest spots in student writing, but looking at students' uses of clich6 in context can teach us about their struggles to fashion new knowledge from what they already believe to be true. Most importantly, writing instructors who examine their responses to clich6 (or any other undesirable aspect of student writing) can learn about the ways in which their pedagogical practices can deafen them to what students are trying to say.