Working with writing: understanding texts, writers and readers

Writing has been a central topic in applied linguistics for over half a century is a central area of teaching and research. Its complex, many-sided nature, however, seems to constantly evade adequate description and explanation, and many forms of inquiry have been summoned to help clarify both how writing works and how it should best be taught. 

In this presentation Professor Ken Hyland (University of East Anglia) explores the main approaches to teaching and researching writing. Making a broad distinction between theories concerned with texts, with writers and with readers, he demonstrates what each approach offers and neglects and what each means for teachers, examining what the research tells us and what this means for classroom practice. 

While the categorisation implies no rigid divisions, Professor Hyland argues that this offers a useful way of comparing and evaluating the research each approach has produced and the pedagogic practices they have generated.  The speaker's field is focused towards reader-oriented theories of writing and he will present some of his own research to illustrate what this approach contributes to our understanding of writing and the advantages it offers in the classroom.

This event will be particularly useful for those interested in academic English teaching and learning.