Research: Writing and Audience

Question: Does concern for audience improve writing?

Answer: Yes. But there are two aspects of audience: awareness and adaptation to.

Quote: “While previous research has linked good writing to audience in very general, open-ended ways…this study links good writing to specific audience concerns in a comparatively realistic persuasive situation. A more difficult, but ultimately more interesting question is how writers use what they know about their audience to build good essays.” P. 250.

Comment: I could kick myself for not making audience an important part of my writing assignments. RayS.

Title: “Audience Adaptation in the Essays of Proficient and Nonproficient Freshman Writing.” BA Raforth. Research in the Teaching of English (October 1985), 237-253.