Teaching Writing at University: An Experimental Programme

ABSTRACT

Like death and taxes, the quality of students' writing frequently provokes complaint, less frequently efforts to redress the grievance. In English Departments in particular, the view that staff have better things to do than teach writing is widespread (especially in Australian universities), understandable (if it means remedying an inadequacy that should have been addressed elsewhere), and perhaps justified (at least to the extent that most English Departments are already hard‐pressed teaching literature courses). It is also a view that is increasingly under attack: if our aim is to promote literacy, the ability to write well is as important as the ability to read well.

This paper looks at one attempt to provide a writing programme that does more than offer remedial assistance; it examines the reasons for doing more, the problems in doing it, and the benefits gained from a second‐year credit course in expository writing.