In their article, “Genre Awareness, Academic Argument, and Transferability,” Irene Clark and Andrea Hernandez investigate how a curriculum that promotes genre awareness in effect promotes transfer. They recognize the different needs of various disciplines beyond FYC and posit that by teaching students how to be aware of these needs via genre awareness, then students will be able to approach writing situations beyond FYC with great insight (65). For Clark and Hernandez, “genre,” as derived from rhetorical genre theory, is defined as “the function for which texts are used” (67; Miller; Russell; Devitt). The students will develop appropriate responses to situations as a result of their ability to determine the function of a piece of writing. As Clark and Hernandez put forth genre awareness as “a means of enabling transfer,” they define awareness as a threshold concept (66). Student awareness is key to understanding and flexible thinking. Therefore, when students have gained genre awareness, they can then determine how “a given genre fulfills a rhetorical purpose” (66-67). Though their article, Clark and Hernandez also examine the controversy over transferability. Most notably, they identify Russell’s position that the only way an individual can learn and negotiate a situation, or genre, effectively is by “participating in the activity system of a particular discipline” (67). In response to Russel and other scholars, Clark and Hernandez highlight Beaufort and Devitt, who value student discussions of genre and genre awareness as effective meta-cognitive practices (68-69).
Beyond their discussion and literature review, Clark and Hernandez present their study of a first year writing class of 24 students with several different declared majors. Over the course of the semester, three different assignments were given to these students in which they were asked to compose evaluative, analytic, and self-reflective arguments, each focusing on discussions of genre. Following their study, Clark and Hernandez found support for both sides of the discussion of transfer. Evidence from some students suggests that students are concerned with the superficial level of merely learning about genres, but evidence from other students suggests that they were developing genre awareness and felt more confident as a result.
While Clark and Hernandez hold that “fostering genre ‘awareness’ enables students to gain a ‘threshold concept,’” it’s important to note that without explicitly asking students to call on this threshold concept, understanding and flexible thinking may be limited, if it occurs at all. In other words, awareness may benefit transfer, but students may not “be aware” unless they are asked to “be aware.” Clark and Hernandez remind of the unanswered question, “How does a piece of writing demonstrate an awareness of genre?” (70; Downs; Wardle; Russell; et al.). Likewise, I still question, how does genre awareness demonstrate transfer?
Clark, I.L. & Hernandez, A. (2011). Genre awareness, academic argument, and transferability. The WAC Journal 22.