Written English, Word-Processors, and Meaning-Making

Abstract

This chapter rests on three propositions: (1) writing development is a matter of learning how to exploit the possibilities which written English offers as a resource for making meaning; (2) writing in the social sciences in higher education requires the construction of argument, which in turn depends on the exploitation of particular aspects of written English; (3) technology enters the meaning-making process through the kinds of meaning it affords. These propositions provide the rationale and context of a project which addressed two questions: (1) Do ‘non-native speaker’ students see the word-processor’s properties as affecting their meaning-making in written English in their essays or dissertations? (2) To what extent do the printouts of students’ word-processed texts indicate not only an exploitation of the meaning-making resources of written English but also a use of the word-processor’s facilities as semiotic resources?