An Introduction to Applied Linguistics

Students: Imagine a group of high-intermediate or low-advanced students of 
English from either heterogeneous or homogeneous L1 backgrounds (you decide 
which), whose language requirements include reading skills in the social sciences 
(for example, in an EAP programme).

---

231
Reading
Activity: The activity focuses on reading strategies to comprehend the text and 
to use the information for other tasks. These strategies may include setting a 
purpose for reading, previewing the text, predicting key information, skimming 
the text to determine main ideas, note-taking, summarizing, clarifying difficult 
concepts, identifying supporting ideas and evidence.
Task for the reader:
• How might you model the application of the reading strategies listed above 
(and others) to the selected text?
• How can you help students make their use of each strategy ‘meta-cognitive,’ to 
include student awareness of what the strategy is, how to use the strategy, why 
the strategy should be used, when and where to use the strategy, and how to help 
students evaluate their use of the strategy?

---

Writing
Paul Kei Matsuda
Arizona State University
Tony Silva
Purdue University
Introduction
Writing has always been part of applied linguistics. Even before the 1960s, 
when writing was considered as a mere representation of speech, it provided a 
way of monitoring students’ language production and of providing linguistic 
material because the technology for sound recording was not widely available. 
For researchers, it has always provided a source of tangible and relatively stable 
data for analysis as well as a way of recording speech. In the early years of applied 
linguistics, however, writing was not considered to be one of the proper goals of 
language learning; it was used only to the extent that it assisted the learning of 
speech. (See Matsuda, 2001a, for an account of the place of writing in early applied 
linguistics.)
In the latter half of the twentieth century, writing, or written discourse, and the 
teaching of writing began to receive significant attention as an important area of 
inquiry within applied linguistics. With the growth of composition studies in the 
USA and the parallel development of the field of second language writing, the 
act of writing also became an important focus of research and instruction in L1 
and L2 writing. More recently, prompted by the recognition of the complexity of 
writing and the teaching of writing, second language writing has evolved into an 
interdisciplinary field of inquiry involving many related fields, including applied 
linguistics and composition studies, which are themselves highly interdisciplinary 
(Leki, 2000; Matsuda, 2003).
Aspects of Writing
Writing is one of the three modes of linguistic expression and communication – 
along with speaking and signing. Writing is not just a representation of speech, as 
it was once thought; rather, speaking, writing and signing are all manifestations 
of language users’ knowledge, perspective and communicative competence 
(Canale and Swain, 1980; Bachman, 1990). Writing is both a noun and a verb: 
it refers both to the written text and to the act of constructing written texts. The 
process of writing involves a series of highly complex cognitive activities that 
takes place in response to a rhetorical situation (Bitzer, 1968) – a complex web of 
relationship among the elements of writing, including the writer, the reader, the 
text and reality (Silva, 1990). Those relationships are constantly shifting, and it 
is quite possible for writers and readers to develop different perceptions of any 
particular rhetorical situation. For this reason, the writer’s task is not as simple as 
constructing an accurate representation of reality; the writer also has to negotiate 
his or her own view of these elements of writing with the views held by the 
readers – the process which is mediated by the way the way the text is constructed 
14

---

233
Writing
(Matsuda, 1997). Writing involves the consideration of the relationship among the 
elements of writing (relational aspect), the use of various strategies for developing 
and communicating ideas (strategic aspect), and the use of available discursive 
repertoire (textual aspect).
Relational Aspect of Writing
Writing does not happen in a vacuum; it is always embedded in a rhetorical situation 
– a particular social and material condition under which written expression and 
communication take place. No two rhetorical situations are exactly the same, but 
similar situations do tend to recur. This gives rise to typified responses (that is, 
genre as typified rhetorical action) that are developed and shared by a network 
of writers who work in a particular context of interaction (Miller, 1984; Bakhtin, 
1986). ‘Genre knowledge’, that is, the knowledge that helps shape possible 
responses to particular rhetorical situations, functions as a scaffolding that assists 
writers in managing the complexity of writing and readers in interpreting the 
text (see Bazerman, 1988; Berkenkotter and Huckin, 1995; Swales, 1990; Tardy, in 
press).
The writer’s task is complicated by the varying and ever-changing nature of the 
elements of writing. The notion of the writer is more complex than it may appear 
at first because the writer is more than just the physical person who creates texts. 
Writers are not only presenting their view of reality but also constructing their 
discursive identity (Goffman, 1959; Ivanic, 1998), which may affect the way the 
text is read and responded to. The writer, however, does not have full control 
over their discursive identity because, ultimately, the resulting image of the writer 
is co-constructed by the writer and the reader with the mediation of the text 
(Matsuda and Tardy, 2007). A writer’s self-representation may also be constrained 
by his or her past work, especially if the writer is writing in the same discursive 
network; a sudden change in self-representation can be highly marked and even 
distracting (Matsuda, 2001b).
Writers who are learning to write in new rhetorical situations may struggle (for 
example, writing a book review for the first time) not only because the genre 
knowledge may not be sufficiently developed but also because conventional self-
representation in the particular situation may not be compatible with the writer’s 
self-image. A piece of written discourse may also be co-authored by two or more 
writers – or sometimes even by a committee. In professional settings, it is also 
possible to write on behalf of an organization or a client, in which case the writer’s 
discursive identity, if represented in the text, can be distracting. Even when the 
author is singular, the text may have been shaped by feedback and interventions 
from peers, tutors, teachers, mentors and editors.
The reader is not a simple concept either. Like the writer, the reader may be 
one person or many. In most cases, the writer is the first reader who provides 
comments, asks questions and makes suggestions for revision; in some cases, such 
as private diaries, the writer may be the only intended reader (Murray, 1982). 
Readers may play different roles, such as that of a friend, critic, coach, evaluator, 
learner or bystander. Those roles may belong to real audiences addressed by the 
writer, but they may also be imagined roles invoked in the text (Ede and Lunsford, 
1984). For example, this chapter addresses you, the reader, who may be beginning 
applied linguists – perhaps a graduate student in an introductory applied 
linguistics course. At the same time, this chapter invokes readers who may not be 

---

234 An Introduction to Applied Linguistics
familiar with writing issues but are certainly intelligent and inquisitive, wanting 
to understand theory and research as well as pedagogy. This imagined audience 
role is invoked by the ‘content’ (for example, the choice of topics, the amount of 
and type of explanations and examples) as well as the ‘form’ (for example, the use 
or non-use of certain technical terms, strategies for referencing sources).
The text is also complicated. Although each text is unique in some ways, a text 
cannot be understood only in terms of itself because the text is always situated 
in a network of other texts, to which it may respond explicitly or implicitly 
(Bakhtin, 1986). Other texts also provide a pool of discursive features that may be 
appropriated by the writer in order to achieve similar rhetorical effects, and by the 
reader in interpreting the text. In many cases, each local ‘discourse community’ 
develops its own network of texts that are shared by its members. However, the 
formal and functional features of those texts continue to evolve as members of 
local discourse communities bring in practices from other discourse communities. 
When new rhetorical situations arise, writers often draw on practices in existing 
discourse communities in developing hybrid discourses (Berkenkotter and Huckin, 
1995; Hyland, 2000).
Reality may seem stable, but it can be interpreted in many ways – in fact, reality 
cannot be accessed without going through interpretive layers. Although there is a 
reality people can interact with physically, reality is also socially and discursively 
constructed to the extent that people understand, communicate and agree upon 
versions of reality through language and other semiotic systems (see Berger and 
Luckmann, 1966). Knowledge is not simply discovered or represented, but also 
transformed in the process of writing (Bereiter and Scardamalia, 1987). Because 
people conceive of and relate to reality in various ways, and because writers and 
readers have varying degrees of access to different aspects of reality, the writer has 
to use the text to construct a version of reality and negotiate it with readers within 
the local and historical context of interaction.
As we have seen, writing is a complex phenomenon because writers have to 
negotiate all the above elements of writer, reader, text and reality, and construct 
written discourse accordingly. In order to manage this complex process, writers 
adopt, develop and use various strategies.
Strategic Aspect of Writing
Writers draw on various strategies (or ‘heuristics’) to assess the rhetorical situation 
and respond to it by developing written text. Those strategies are often internalized: 
some writers may have acquired them so naturally through practice that they may 
not even be aware of some of the strategies they use. For most writers – especially 
less experienced ones – it is often helpful to have an explicit understanding of 
some of the strategies that can be internalized through practice. Understanding 
the strategic aspect of writing is important for writing teachers because it enables 
them to teach ‘writing’ rather than teach ‘about writing’.
In order for the process of writing to begin, the writer has to assess the rhetorical 
situation and identify the primary purpose or aim of writing, with an emphasis on 
one of the elements of writing. The aim of writing may be ‘expressive’ (emphasis 
on the writer), ‘persuasive’ (emphasis on the reader), ‘referential’ (emphasis on 
reality) or ‘textual’ (emphasis on the text) (Kinneavy, 1971). The writer may also 
identify and develop ideas for writing by focusing on one or more of the elements, 
such as:

---

235
Writing
• Exploring or discovering what the writer already knows, feels or believes through 
techniques such as clustering, listening and free writing (focus on the writer).
• Looking for dissonance or conflict in the community (focus on the reader).
• Examining reality through reading or observation (focus on reality).
• Choosing a form of writing, such as sonnet, personal narrative or conference 
proposal (focus on the text).
Once the topic is identified, the writer needs to explore, develop and sometimes 
redefine the topic. One of the most commonly known heuristics for exploration is 
journalists’ ‘5W1H’ (who, what, when, where, why and how). Burke’s (1969) ‘pentad’ 
(act, scene, agent, agency and purpose) is a similar heuristic designed to aid the 
exploration process. Another example of an exploration heuristic is ‘Tagmemics’ 
(Young, Becker and Pike, 1970) which facilitates the exploration of the topic by 
focusing on its distinctive features, on changes over time and on classification. 
Reading on the subject may also be a way of exploring topics and generating 
responses. Visually oriented writers may map out their ideas on paper in order to 
explore and organize as well as present various aspects of the topic. The writer’s 
intuitive sense of what is to be discussed in a certain rhetorical situation – an 
aspect of genre knowledge – can also guide the writer as an implicit exploration 
heuristic. For example, in empirical studies, writers’ methods of exploration are 
often directly guided by accepted research procedures and conventionalized ways 
of reporting that research.
Writers also need to identify, develop and assess rhetorical appeals. The 
Aristotelian conception of ‘ethos’ (ethical or credibility appeal), ‘pathos’ 
(emotional or affective appeal) and ‘logos’ (logical or rational appeal) have been 
widely taught in writing classrooms. They have also been used in text analysis 
(Connor and Lauer, 1985). Although ethos and pathos are especially important 
when the primary aim of writing is persuasive, they also contribute, to varying 
degrees, to the success of discourse with other aims. Traditional approaches to the 
analysis of logos focused on the evaluation of arguments according to the rules 
of formal logic and the identification of logical fallacies. More recently, writing 
teachers have come to use situationally based theories of informal argumentation 
that consider audience and discourse communities as important criteria in 
generating and evaluating arguments (Toulmin, 1958; Perelman, 1982).
‘Drafting’ can be a challenge for writers because factors such as the writer’s 
self-image and anxiety about writing can make the writing task overwhelming, 
sometimes resulting in writing inhibition, commonly referred to as ‘writer’s block’ 
(Rose, 1980). Various strategies have been suggested for reducing anxiety levels 
and facilitating the production of written text. Writers may choose to ignore one 
or more of the elements of writing, such as grammar and audience, in the early 
stages of drafting (Flower, 1979; Elbow, 1987). Some writers may draw on their 
spoken language or their knowledge of other genres to develop and revise written 
texts. Second language writers may also translate from texts generated in their L1, 
although the effectiveness of this strategy may vary depending on the writer’s L2 
proficiency level (Kobayashi and Rinnert, 1992; Wang, 2003).
‘Revision’ is an important part of the writing process. Writers often revise based 
on comments and suggestions from peers and teachers. The writer may also be 
able to revise the text by letting it sit for a while, which allows the writer to see 
the text from a somewhat different perspective. Editing and proofreading – the 
processes of checking and changing grammatical and stylistic features – is also 

---

236 An Introduction to Applied Linguistics
an important part of the revision process. In the writing classroom, students are 
often advised to focus on content before focusing on form.
These strategies are not always used consciously by writers. Furthermore, writers 
do not always go through these stages (planning, drafting and revising) in a linear 
and orderly fashion; rather, the process of writing is often ‘recursive’ (Flower 
and Hayes, 1981). Most writers go through numerous revisions – both during 
the process of drafting and after the draft is completed. Some of the revisions 
are invisible because they take place in writers’ minds as they rehearse particular 
passages. In fact, experienced writers writing in a familiar rhetorical situation 
may be able to rehearse so extensively in their heads that their first drafts require 
relatively few revisions. Genre knowledge also functions heuristically to assist 
the writers in planning, developing and organizing ideas as well as in choosing 
appropriate linguistic features for the specific rhetorical context.
Textual Aspect of Writing
We discuss the textual aspect of writing last, not because it is least important 
but because it is the material realization of the other two aspects of writing. It is 
through written text that the writer constructs, represents and negotiates his or her 
conceptions of the elements of writing. Writers do not simply encode ‘ideational 
meaning’ (the meaning of their ideas); they also create ‘textual meaning’ (the 
meaning that helps the readers navigate through the text) as well as ‘interpersonal 
meaning’ (the meaning about the relationship between the writer and the reader) 
(Halliday, 1973). The knowledge of how these meanings can be constructed 
through the use of particular written discourse features is therefore an important