Susan Norton

Betwixt and Between: Creative Writing and Scholarly Expectations

Abstract I have written this article from my own point of view as a full-time lecturer of English who is also a publishing and broadcasting essayist. Though I teach composition and writing skills on a daily basis in my college (a college of arts), my own creative work is worth little in terms of measurable scholarly activity. I find this discrepancy ironic. My institute is known for its teaching excellence, its links to industry, and its emphasis on transferable ‘real world’ learning. Yet refereed research remains the more prized form of scholarly activity, even though, by its nature, refereed research is directed at other academic insiders.

Discourse Analysis As an Approach to Intercultural Competence in the Advanced EFL Classroom

In 1991 Michael McCarthy wrote in his Preface to Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers that discourse analysis is ‘not a method of teaching languages; it is a way of describing and understanding how language is used’ (McCarthy 1991: 2). By 1994 he had reformulated his position and, with Ronald Carter, published Language as Discourse: Perspectives for Language Teaching, which argued in favour of providing students with a metalanguage by which to analyse the language they were learning. These days, owing to the work of McCarthy, Carter, and others, the basics of discourse analysis can indeed comprise an appropriate subject matter for the advanced English learner, especially in a multicultural setting. This paper outlines one way in which discourse analysis can not only give Advanced EFL [1] learners the opportunity to sharpen their critical thinking skills, but to simultaneously examine the cultural assumptions embedded in both their target and native languages.

Conventional Wisdom in the Writing Classroom: A Short Defence of Grammar Instruction

This article considers whether instructors of writing in higher education ought prescriptively to involve students in the mechanics of standard written English or, rather, encourage them to prioritise ideas and content. Recognizing the reluctance of many practitioners to distract learner-writers with rules, and thereby alienate them from their creativity, it nevertheless recommends judicious delivery of lessons in conventional grammar, syntax, and punctuation. Taking standard written English as a variant that continues to hold sway in general, academic, and professional readerships, the article concludes with a selection of language components relevant to undergraduate writing and commonly addressed by readily available resource materials.

The Regulating Daughter in John Updike's Rabbit Novels

http://www.updikereview.com/?p=118 Abstract This article considers the ways in which John Updike creates female characters who suffer in some way so that their family units can remain intact. His Rabbit novels privilege the so-called nuclear family as an abiding family form, one which rests upon the sacrificial choices made by girls and women. It uses Family Systems Theory as a tool of interpretation in reading the texts and establishing their underlying ethos. Recommended Citation Norton, S. : The Regulating Daughter in John Updikes Rabbit Novels, The John Updike Review, University of Cincinnati, Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring 2014. DOI 10.21427/D7KF5V  Download

Assessing the Writing of International Learners: a Discussion in Two Voices

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School ofLanguages at ARROW@DIT. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articlesby an authorized administrator of ARROW@DIT. For more information,please contactyvonne.desmond@dit.ie, arrow.admin@dit.ie.This work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License