Audience

Annotated Research

Question: When do college freshmen consider audience?

Answer: “Good and below-average college freshmen both deferred audience considerations until the revision stage of composing.” BA Raforth. 1989. P. 212.

Comment: As a result of teacher recommendation? This is not the first time that research on audience has suggested consideration of audience be deferred to the revision stage of the writing process. I think that consideration of audience in the revision stage makes sense—after, perhaps, initial assessment of audience during pre-writing. I will recommend it to my students. In other words, write the draft without considering audience, then revise by adapting to audience. RayS.

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” JD Marshall and RK Durst, Eds. Research in the Teaching of English (May 1990), 205-221.