ENGL 330

Researching Communicative Practices
This course examines some of the issues, questions, concerns, and challenges faced by those interested in learning about why, how, and when people use writing and other communicative tools to help them accomplish specific goals. The course examines the way school-based writing has been researched and represented as well as how communicative practices associated with the workplace, the home, and the community have been researched and represented. Some of the questions this course seeks to address: What do researchers hope to gain by examining how children, college-aged students, famous writers, housewives, prisoners, office workers, web designers, and engineering teams use writing as well as other communicative resources to accomplish specific objectives? How do researchers decide upon their methods, and how do they choose their projects’ participants? Finally, how are the results of their studies represented for an audience? Students will be required to research and write about various communicative practices, including ones in their own lives.