from "A Tutor's Audience Is Never a Fiction: When Written and Oral Communication Collide in the Writing Center"
. . . When it comes to teachers of composition, Park (1982) argues that “they expect situations in which the student writes within some kind of rhetorical context and in which the teacher serves not as audience but as editor and judge of success” (p. 255). Ede and Lunsford (1984) discuss in depth the depth of audience awareness for student writing, referring to Corbett’s (1981) model of “The Rhetorical Interrelationships” found in his Little Rhetoric and Handbook as shown in figure 1. The problem we see is the role of the tutor in this process. As discussed earlier in this essay, Ong (1975) describes the differences between oral and written communication and the implications each has on audience awareness, and the role of the tutor lies in between oral and written communication. Adding to the already complex nature of audience awareness as shown in figure 1, tutors enter the discussion using oral communication in order to discuss written communication. In order to help writers establish an audience, writing center tutors must understand the difference between a reader and an audience; they must understand that their role is not to respond as an audience, but respond using questions to help students think critically about their own audience. Ede and Lunsford (1984) claim that “writers create readers and readers create writers. In the meeting of these two lies meaning, lies communication” (p. 169), and where we believe lies the writing center tutor. . . .
. . . When it comes to teachers of composition, Park (1982) argues that “they expect situations in which the student writes within some kind of rhetorical context and in which the teacher serves not as audience but as editor and judge of success” (p. 255). Ede and Lunsford (1984) discuss in depth the depth of audience awareness for student writing, referring to Corbett’s (1981) model of “The Rhetorical Interrelationships” found in his Little Rhetoric and Handbook as shown in figure 1. The problem we see is the role of the tutor in this process. As discussed earlier in this essay, Ong (1975) describes the differences between oral and written communication and the implications each has on audience awareness, and the role of the tutor lies in between oral and written communication. Adding to the already complex nature of audience awareness as shown in figure 1, tutors enter the discussion using oral communication in order to discuss written communication. In order to help writers establish an audience, writing center tutors must understand the difference between a reader and an audience; they must understand that their role is not to respond as an audience, but respond using questions to help students think critically about their own audience. Ede and Lunsford (1984) claim that “writers create readers and readers create writers. In the meeting of these two lies meaning, lies communication” (p. 169), and where we believe lies the writing center tutor. . . .