Situation based writing - challenges and potential

Within social semiotics texts are perceived in relation to the context of situation. The rhetorician Carolyn Miller has defined genre as typified rhetorical actions; the writer acts on a particular interpretation of the situation, to which he/she is to respond. In this light, the teaching of writing, that aims at a more critical and deeper conceptual understanding of what writing is, must focus not only on content and form, but also bring to light the actual context of situation and interpretations of this. In my ongoing Ph.d-project, I have taken up
this challenge by exploring meaning making within so-called situation based writing. Inspired by Design Based Research, social semiotic Literacy Theory and Rhetorical Genre Theory, I have developed an educational design focused on writing based on rhetorical situations. These situations have been represented in three classrooms (5th grade) in form of a fictional short film and two different real world situations. Students have worked in small groups on interpretations of the rhetorical situations using so-called writing maps in order to organize their texts. I am not (as common in Design Based Research) addressing a perfection of the educational design, though. My approach, on the other hand, has been to try out a design in order to explore and describe the events taking place. Using an ethnografic approach; observation, voice recordings and interviews I am exploring how students encounter, enact and attach aspects of writing significance. Thus, the focus of my presentation is what is happening in
the student writing processes that are based on specific rhetorical situations. I am processing the events as cases aiming to identify challenges and potential in the representation of writing based on rhetorical situations and develop new hypotheses. At the time of writing, I am in particular working with categories such as identification, meaning making, investment, imagined communities and the use of voices.

References
Ivanic, R (1998). Writing and Identity. The Discoursal Construction of Identity in Academic
Writing. Benjamins
Miller, C. (1984). Genre as social action. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 70, 151-167