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Notes on The Importance of Transfer in Your First Year Writing Course

The Concept of Transfer

  • Transfer: the ability to take writing knowledge and practices from one context and repurpose or reframe them for a new or different writing context. It can occur concurrently or in the future.
  • Everyday example: transferring knowledge from high school English to a college entrance essay (positive transfer).
  • Why transfer matters: writing is a fundamental practice in college and in many future contexts (classes, clubs, jobs, social media). It helps you assess and respond to different writing situations.
  • Misconceptions about writing introduced in the introduction:
    • Writing is natural
    • Writing is a one-size-fits-all model
    • There’s nothing more to learn about writing
  • The essay reframes these as truths about writing to explain how to transfer knowledge effectively:
    • Writing is a process
    • Purpose, genre, and audience inform the writing situation
    • There’s always something more to learn about writing
  • Personal analogy used to illustrate transfer: fashion/style development in Steubenville High School
    • Style evolves through practice, reading, following trends, reflection, and experience
    • You transfer elements of your style to different occasions (e.g., a pop of color or a certain look) just as you transfer writing practices across contexts
    • The neon green Sketchers paired with a floral romper symbolizes how past learning shapes current choices; style transfer mirrors writing transfer
  • Connection between fashion and writing transfer: just as you adapt style to each occasion, you adapt writing practices to each writing situation
  • Key question posed: what does “transfer” actually mean and why is it important for your writing?
  • Formal definition clarified: transfer is taking knowledge and practices learned about writing in one context and repurposing or reframing them to help in another context
  • Transfer can be about moving from past experiences to future contexts (past → future) or happening in real time (concurrently)
  • The three pillars of transfer in this course guide: positive transfer, negative transfer, and resistance transfer

The Importance of Transfer in Your First Year Writing Course

  • First year writing (often one or two courses in the first year) aims to teach for transfer: to carry forward writing concepts, knowledge, and practices to future contexts.
  • The goal: help you become a more effective writer who can assess a writing situation and determine what the task asks of you.
  • Why transfer is especially important in college:
    • Writing is a central practice; much of modern communication is written
    • You will write again in multiple contexts (future classes, clubs, jobs, social media)
  • Types of transfer discussed:
    • Positive transfer: moving knowledge/practices effectively to a new context (e.g., high school English to college entrance essay)
    • Negative transfer: when past knowledge/practices hinder performance in a new context (e.g., defaulting to a 5-paragraph essay when a different form is required)
    • Resistance transfer: when past experiences with writing create resistance to new learning, creating a roadblock
  • A key strategy to overcome transfer barriers: acknowledge these tendencies (out loud or in reflection) to make them real and address them
  • The course will walk through common misconceptions, explain how they hinder transfer, and revise them into truths to support effective transfer
  • The section emphasizes the link between writing across contexts and the ability to communicate with diverse audiences across settings

Common Misconceptions about Writing and Their Revised Truths

  • Overarching idea: misconceptions about writing are tied to prior experiences and can lead to negative or resistance transfer
  • Misconception #1: Writing Is Natural
    • Common belief: writing happens naturally or without a deliberate process
    • Counter-evidence: writing is not natural; researchers argue that people judge their writing processes too harshly by comparing them to natural speech (Dryer, 29)
    • Consequence: students may skip pre-writing thinking and task analysis
    • Revised Truth #1: Writing Is a Process
    • Writing is a non-linear process that looks different for everyone
    • Trust the process from messy start to complex finish
    • The writing process typically includes: drafting, revising, peer review, editing, and reflecting
    • Everyone’s process is shaped by their writerly identity (who you are as a writer) and should transcend individual tasks
    • Practices to develop and trust your process include:
      • Brainstorming ideas
      • Generating rough drafts
      • Identifying audience expectations
      • Drafting and revision
      • Peer feedback
    • Exercises proposed to discover your process:
      • Reflect on a piece you’re most proud of: what did you do to create it, why it felt successful, and what you’d change
      • Draw your writing process: visually map the steps, supports, and spaces involved
    • The process can transfer to other contexts, shaping your writerly identity
  • Misconception #2: Writing Is One Size Fits All
    • Everyday questions contrasting casual and formal writing (text messages, Instagram, TikTok captions) with a 1000-word essay
    • The high school habit of using the 5-paragraph essay as a universal model does not fit all contexts
    • Why: different purposes, audiences, and genres require different approaches
    • Revised Truth #2: Purpose, Genre, and Audience Inform the Writing Situation
    • Break down each writing task by:
      • Purpose: what the task asks you to do
      • Genre and conventions: what makes this form distinct (emails vs. rhetorical analyses vs. text messages)
      • Audience: who you’re writing for and what they expect
    • These terms help you understand and articulate your approach
    • Why vocabulary matters: research shows having core terms improves transfer by giving you a language to discuss writing
    • Practical exercise: develop your own key terms for writing, define them, and locate their origins; assess how they fit your process; revise as needed
  • Misconception #3: There’s Nothing More to Learn About Writing
    • Common reaction: excitement dwindles; belief that college writing repeats what has been learned in K-12
    • Consequences: emotional resistance (anger, indifference, bitterness) and reduced willingness to engage with new concepts or tasks
    • Why this is hard: beliefs about writing are powerful and can tie to grades and self-identity as a writer
    • Revised Truth #3: There’s Always Something More to Learn About Writing
    • Writers never stop learning; new life experiences require new writing responses
    • First-year writing will introduce new terms, concepts, and practices
    • Writing about writing (meta-writing) helps you reflect and mindfully engage with learning
    • A positive disposition toward learning supports transfer across contexts and experiences
  • Overall implication: challenging these beliefs helps you bridge prior experiences with current learning to enable transfer

The Learning Process and Writerly Identity

  • The writing process is central to becoming an effective writer; it helps you understand what a task asks for and how to respond
  • Components often include:
    • Drafting (brainstorming ideas, rough drafts)
    • Understanding audience and purpose
    • Peer review and revision
    • Editing
  • Two reflective practices to identify and document your process:
    1) Reflect on a piece you’re proud of: what did you do to create it and what would you change?
    2) Draw your writing process: depict spaces, supports, people, and steps involved
  • Purpose: to reveal your process so it can transfer to other contexts
  • Writerly identity: who you are as a writer; your process contributes to your identity and can be recognized across tasks
  • Example: even a well-known author (Stephen King) has a writerly identity defined by consistent elements (tone, phrasing, etc.) that help him recognize his work
  • The practice of process and identity is reinforced by activities such as peer feedback, reflection, and repeated drafting

Key Terms for Writing and Building a Transferable Vocabulary

  • Key terms help you understand and articulate writing situations: purpose, genre, and audience
  • Why key terms matter:
    • They provide a framework to analyze and respond to writing tasks
    • They help you communicate about writing with others and yourself
    • They become part of your transfer toolkit
  • Activities to develop key terms:
    • List your key terms for writing and define each one
    • Identify where you learned them and what terms you need from this course
    • Map how these terms fit into your writing process and whether you need to revise your map
  • How these terms support transfer: a defined vocabulary gives you a mechanism to transfer knowledge across contexts by clarifying what each task requires

Activities and Teaching Resources for Building Transfer (The Teaching Resources section)

  • Goal: introduce transfer early and repeatedly, and name transfer so students can verbalize and apply it
  • Core idea: many students bring a “prior” understanding that conflicts with current learning; instructors should repeatedly pose questions and prompt reflection to develop awareness of ongoing learning about writing
  • Activities and scaffolding are designed to build on prior experiences and progressively deepen understanding of transfer
  • Suggested activities include:
    • Reflection Activity (Week 1): explore your prior relationship with writing, your understanding of writing, your writerly identity, and attitudes toward writing; answer questions about readings, key terms, moments that shaped you as a writer, and your day-to-day writing
    • Concept Map on Writing (within the first month): create a literal map (road map, world map, etc.) of good writing, how prior experiences influence your view of good writing, and your key terms; plot your terms to show connections
    • Theorizing about Writing (one month after the map): identify and reflect on evolving key terms; analyze how terms expand writing practices and understanding
    • Writerly Identity activity (toward the semester end): define your writerly identity and represent it in a creative form (e.g., a job ad, obituary, short story, song, or narrative poem) to convey who you are as a writer
    • Quick reflection after completion: explain why you chose certain characteristics and how past experiences shaped your writerly identity; reflect on memorable college writing experiences
  • These activities aim to help students articulate their prior experiences, develop a transferable vocabulary, and conceptually map writing to real-life contexts

Don’t Fade into the Transfer Cracks: A Conclusion

  • Reiterates the fashion analogy: style evolves and takes time to develop; transfer in writing works similarly
  • Emphasizes ongoing learning and evolving writerly identity through continued reading, practice, and risk-taking in different contexts
  • Highlights the importance of acknowledging common misconceptions and building on prior experiences to enable transfer
  • Reiterates that first-year writing is important for creating foundations that transfer to future college courses and beyond
  • Encourages ongoing commitment to learning and writing as a lifelong practice
  • Final takeaway: viewing writing as a transferable, evolving skill helps you succeed in college and in broader life contexts

Works Cited (Sources Referenced in the Text)

  • Dryer, Dylan. “Writing is not Natural.” Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts in Writing Studies, edited by Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth Wardle, Utah State UP, 2015, pp. 29-31.
  • Driscoll, Dana, and Jennifer Wells. “Beyond Knowledge and Skills: Writing Transfer and the Role of Student Dispositions in and Beyond the Writing Classroom.” Composition Forum, vol. 26, 2012.
  • Jarratt, Susan, et al. “Retrospective Writing Histories.” Writing Research Across Borders, 6 Feb. 2005, University of Santa Barbara.
  • Perkins, David, and Gavriel Salomon. “Teaching for Transfer.” Educational Leadership vol. 46 no. 1, 1988, pp. 22-32.
  • Robertson, Liane, et al. “Notes Toward A Theory of Prior Knowledge and Its Role in College Composers’ Transfer of Knowledge and Practice.” Composition Forum vol. 26, 2012.
  • Rose, Shirley K. “All Writers have More to Learn.” Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts in Writing Studies, edited by Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth Wardle, Utah State UP, 2015, pp. 59-61.
  • Russell, David, and Arturo Yañez. “‘Big Picture People Rarely Become Historians’: Genre Systems and the Contradictions of General Education.” Writing Selves/Writing Societies: Research From Activity Perspectives, edited by Charles Bazerman and David Russell, WAC Clearinghouse, 2002, doi: 10.37514/PER-B.2003.2317.2.10.
  • Yancey, Kathleen Blake, et al. Writing across Contexts: Transfer, Composition, and Sites of Writing. Utah State UP, 2014.

Notes on Structure

  • The content above follows the transcript’s structure: introduction to transfer, importance for first-year writing, three misconceptions with revised truths, process and writerly identity, key terms, instructional activities, and a conclusion with a teaching resource section.
  • All major and minor points from the transcript have been captured, including concrete examples (e.g., high school to college essays, the 5-paragraph essay example, the fashion/style analogy, and specific classroom activities).
  • Mathematical references are included where relevant by presenting numbers in LaTeX form, e.g., 3 misconceptions, 5-paragraph essay, and course structure hints like 1–2 courses for first-year writing.