Dr. Hamilton and I met near the end of last spring semester to discuss possible amendments to our courses in 2019 that will later become the platform from which to launch our proposed podcast on language and identity. Having received a small grant for the purchase of field microphones, we were, then, specifically discussing our projected crossover assignment, whose larger scope for all of our students should be the role of language communication in forming individual identity. Dr. Hamilton’s students will be studying disorders among the various forms of communication, while my first-year composition students will be focusing on written communication, research, and, to the extent that it’s useful, oral communication.
At its most basic, our crossover interdisciplinary assignment will require our respective students to interview the students from the other course. Presumably, then, their questions should lend themselves to the study of how they and others communicate. At this moment, I’m seeing this as an assignment about one third of the way into the semester, possibly during week five. This should both give them time to have gained some perspective on the general subject and leave them time to apply any insights derived from the assignment to their remaining work. Of course, we will also have to consider the ratio of Dr. Hamilton’s students to mine to avoid putting an undue burden on a smaller class.
Since I want my students to be more aware of the rhetorical context of their communications, particularly as it applies to their academic writing, their crossover assignment should also be an ideal chance for them to investigate audience awareness and the varieties of address. Generally speaking, FYC students have a limited sense of rhetorical context, and so many of them begin writing as they might speak to their peers or use social media. Ironically, others will inflate their prose, both intentionally and not, to attempt a more academic voice. Neither outcome is desired. Neither indicates a proper respect for their prospective readers.
What I want my students to get from this interdisciplinary assignment is an awareness of the complexity of effective communication, including the values and consequent assumptions we attach to varieties of expression. I’d like them to gain a better sense of the effort required of them to communicate with ethical effectiveness, that is, without the value-laden assumptions we might otherwise make. And, of course, I see this as another opportunity for them to reflect on their own writing, thinking, and valuing. Obviously the interview questions at the heart of this proposed assignment will determine how successfully these broad goals may be met. This is why, for now, I’m thinking a minimum set of required questions should be built into the assignment, with room for the students both to ask follow-up questions and to devise their own original questions.