Toward an Integrated Perspective: The I and We of Authorial Intention Rhonda L' McCaffery Iowa State

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Toward an Integrated Perspective The I and We
of Authorial Intention Rhonda L.
McCaffery Iowa State University
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Overview

• Examining two technical communication students
  authorial intention (agency) from a Bakhtinian
  viewpoint
• Negotiating individual roles
• Social contexts and situatedness may play
  critical roles in students ability to act as
  agents

Rhonda L. McCaffery, Iowa State University ?
Toward an Integrated Perspective The I and We
of Authorial Intention 2006 MLA Convention
3
Agenda

• Defining terms
• Agency
• I and we experiences
• Case study
• Context and data collection
• Jennys and Shelleys stories
• Conclusion

Rhonda L. McCaffery, Iowa State University ?
Toward an Integrated Perspective The I and We
of Authorial Intention 2006 MLA Convention
4
Defining Terms Agency

• Anthropology (Gell)
• Economics (Berhnheim and Whinston)
• Learning sciences (Scardamalia and Bereiter)
• Literary criticism (Barthes Wimsatt and
  Beardsley)
• Philosophy (Archer Foucault)
• Political science (Dixit, Grossman, and Helpman)
• Psychology (Bandura)
• Rhetoric (Greene Winsor)
• Sociology (Sewell)
• Womens studies (Kabeer) Etc.

Rhonda L. McCaffery, Iowa State University ?
Toward an Integrated Perspective The I and We
of Authorial Intention 2006 MLA Convention
5
Defining Terms Agency

• an individuals claim to be an originator of
  actions
• functioning in opposition to structure
• an intention to act

• a cultural dope
• originating actions that supported existing
  social systems
• the power to carry out ones intentions

Rhonda L. McCaffery, Iowa State University ?
Toward an Integrated Perspective The I and We
of Authorial Intention 2006 MLA Convention
6
Defining Terms Agency

• Semantic role of agent within context of the
  project
• the responsible initiator of an action (Finegan
  207)
• the grammatical subject of the verb in an active
  clause. A prototypical agent is conscious, acts
  with volition (on purpose), and performs and
  action that has a physical, visible effect (SIL
  International)

Rhonda L. McCaffery, Iowa State University ?
Toward an Integrated Perspective The I and We
of Authorial Intention 2006 MLA Convention
7
Defining Terms I and We Experiences

• Individual perceive the world socially
• Language is a social construction
• I experiences are virtually non-existent
• Bakhtin sees a tight link between language and
  individual thought thought is essentially social
  because it takes form in language. Truly
  individual thought an I experience is as
  incomprehensible (and thus as meaningless) as a
  private language... Thought is socialor as
  Bakhtin would say, dialogicbecause it must be
  apprehensible by another in order to be something
  that can be reflected upon (Cooper 85)

Rhonda L. McCaffery, Iowa State University ?
Toward an Integrated Perspective The I and We
of Authorial Intention 2006 MLA Convention
8
Defining Terms I and We Experiences

• The we experience is more prominent
• The individualistic self-experience is a part
  of the we experience
• The individualistic type of experience derives
  from a steadfast and confident social
  orientation. Individualistic confidence in
  oneself, ones sense of personal value, is drawn
  not from within, not from the depths of ones
  personality, but from the outside world (Bakhtin
  1217)

Rhonda L. McCaffery, Iowa State University ?
Toward an Integrated Perspective The I and We
of Authorial Intention 2006 MLA Convention
9
Case Study Context and Data Collection

• Sixteen seniors in a technical
• editing class
• Collaborative client project to
• design walking tour brochures
• Data collection included
• observations and interviews

Rhonda L. McCaffery, Iowa State University ?
Toward an Integrated Perspective The I and We
of Authorial Intention 2006 MLA Convention
10
Case Study Jennys and Shelleys Stories
Collaborative agent
Self as agent
Instructor, client, or other outsider as agent
Other individual student as agent
Rhonda L. McCaffery, Iowa State University ?
Toward an Integrated Perspective The I and We
of Authorial Intention 2006 MLA Convention
11
Case Study Jennys Story

• Class leader organizer,
• note-taker, decision-maker
• Worked as both individual
• and collaborative agent
• Reluctantly yielded to the
• collaborative agency of
• others

Rhonda L. McCaffery, Iowa State University ?
Toward an Integrated Perspective The I and We
of Authorial Intention 2006 MLA Convention
12
Case Study Shelleys Story

• Subtle and assertive
• Took initiative
• I just kinda snaked my way
• in

Rhonda L. McCaffery, Iowa State University ?
Toward an Integrated Perspective The I and We
of Authorial Intention 2006 MLA Convention
13
Conclusion

• Jennys and Shelleys stories indicate that
  collaborative agents can take precedence over
  individual agents, but it is also possible for
  individual agents to find more subtle ways to
  assert themselves
• Social context and situatedness may play a
  critical role in students abilities to act as
  agents, whether individual or collaborative

Rhonda L. McCaffery, Iowa State University ?
Toward an Integrated Perspective The I and We
of Authorial Intention 2006 MLA Convention
14
Conclusion

• What do we want our students to learn?
• Do we want to strengthen our students as
  individual or collaborative agents? Do we have to
  choose?
• How much will our students prior academic
  experiences affect their ability to grow as
  agents?
• How can we prepare students?
• It may be that instructors need to carefully
  reconsider and re-conceptualize the role agency
  plays in the collaborative construction of text

Rhonda L. McCaffery, Iowa State University ?
Toward an Integrated Perspective The I and We
of Authorial Intention 2006 MLA Convention