Social Motives for Writing Psychology: Writing for and with Younger Readers

Abstract

This article describes a project that dramatizes two ways in which writing is motivated by readers. A university introductory psychology class wrote a booklet about psychology for a Grade 9 English class. The two groups of students began with vastly different notions of psychology, and it was this conflict of belief between writers and readers that motivated the writing in the first place. Later, the younger students made editorial comments on and responded to the first draft of the booklet. The difference between intended and actual effects now motivated the psychology students to revise their work. The article concludes with a discussion of some issues involved in helping students become more authoritative writers.