ERIC Number: ED178908
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1979-Apr
Pages: 55
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
"Dialect Interference" in Writing: A Critical View.
Hartwell, Patrick
Arguing that dialect interference in writing does not exist, this paper contends that pedagogies for teaching writing skills to native speakers of English that assume such interference are wrong. It examines arguments and evidence that support the notion of dialect interference in writing, offers counter evidence, and explores an alternative explanation for apparent dialect interference. It analyzes positions and evidence used by others to establish the existence of dialect interference, including: the common sense argument, the necessary precondition argument, the second language learning analogy, and the dialect interference in reading argument. The counter explanation offered in this paper is that apparent dialect interference in writing reveals partial or imperfect mastery of a neural coding system (the print code) that underlies both reading and writing. The implication of this analysis is that writing instruction for all students ought to be broadly rhetorical, stressing voice, audience, and purpose, rather than narrowly grammatical, stressing surface detail and its presumed connection with a spoken standard. (MKM)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Information Analyses
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (30th, Minneapolis, MN, April 5-7, 1979)