VOA · Education
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed3:562024-12-03public domain
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01From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.
02Today, we continue our series of expert suggestions for academic writing.
03Our guest is Jennifer Ahern Dodson, Assistant Professor of the Practice in Writing Studies at Duke University in North Carolina.
04Ms.
05Ahern Dodson starts a conversation with both students and professors planning to write a paper or essay.
06She asks about their earlier writing experiences.
07Were they negative or positive?
08She advises that you are not alone if you have had problems with your writing.
09She says everyone struggles with writing.
10Writing is hard.
11All writers struggle at some point.
12And even if writing has come easy for you at some point in your work as a student, that eventually you're going to hit a roadblock.
13And so part of what I like to get folks thinking about besides writing is hard for everybody is to really take a moment to think about their past writing experiences and when the writing was going well, what was happening.
14When the writing wasn't going well, what was happening?
15She says most people's negative writing experiences happen because a very special formula is required for a paper, including an exact length.
16And so they primarily focus on and worry about what the final product has to look like, like how many pages that are we suggesting.
17Or if it is second or third language, you know, punctuation grammar, like making sure it gets communicated in the right language.
18And so focusing on the end makes it really hard to get started.
19Another problem can arise when the need to do well on a paper is extremely important.
20Like a timed essay exam or a college application essay or research paper that is at the end of the semester and it's tied to the entire grade for the class.
21So worrying about what would happen if they don't do well, like got grades, don't get into college, creates, of course, significant anxiety and that can make it harder to get the writing done.
22Then she and the people she's helping move to more positive projects.
23She says usually when writing comes easily, the writers feel they have something important to say.
24The teacher advises asking yourself questions.
25What personal understanding of the subject can you bring to your paper?
26Why is this subject important?
27For whom is it meaningful?
28Who will be reading it?
29Think about who your audience is and what it is that you really want to say to them.
30What that can do is help you switch the focus from the final product and what it can look like and really more on what you have to offer your particular perspective.
31She says that is an important change for all writers.
32And that's the VOA Learning English Education Report.
33Coming soon, Jennifer Ahern Dodson talks about doing research, sitting down to write, and sharing your writing with others.
34I'm Geri Watson.
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