Abstract
This chapter explores the questions that arise in teaching writing to Third World graduate students in US planning schools. If, as Paulo Freire suggests, our language is more than correct English grammar, if using it engages the very structure of our thinking and is integral to our ability to solve problems, then it is an important source of power. Why are we not more actively teaching the use of language — written and spoken — in the discipline of planning? If we were to do so, what would we be teaching? Is there a model for professional writing in the US? If so, is it one that can express “new thinking” for people from the Third World, or does it reinforce dependency and silence? What difficulties do students from Third World cultures have with our model, and why is it that US students experience so many of the same difficulties?
Language is not only an instrument of communication but also a structure of thinking
We need to decolonize the mind...A new thinking expressed in the colonizer’s language goes nowhere
The dependent society is by definition a silent society. Its voice is not an authentic voice but merely an echo of the voice of the metropolis — in every way, the metropolis speaks, the dependent society listens
There are no neutral educators. What we educators need to know is the type of political philosophy we subscribe to and for whose interests we work
Paulo Freire in The Politics Of Education (1985)
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, P., 1987,’Technical Writing: A Reader-Centered Approach,” Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, Inc., New York.
Becker, H., 1986, “Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article,” University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Berthoff, A. E., 1978, “Forming/Thinking/Writing/: The Composing Imagination,” Hayden Book Company, Inc., Rochelle Park, NJ.
Berthoff, A.E., 1981,”The Making of Meaning: Metaphors, Models and Maxims for Writing Teachers,” Boynton/Cook Publishers, Upper Montclair, NJ.
Coe, R., 1987, “Toward a Grammar of Passages,” Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.
Elbow, P., 1981, “Writing With Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process,” Oxford University Press, New York.
EPA (The Environmental Protection Agency), 1981, “Be A Better Writer,” US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Fanon, F., 1968, “The Wretched of the Earth,” Grove Press, New York.
Flower, L., 1986, “Problem Solving Strategies for Writing,” Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, Inc., New York.
Freire, P., 1985, “The Politics of Education: Culture, Power, and Liberation,” Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Granby, MA.
Fulwiler, T., 1986, “Teaching with Writing,” Boynton/Cook Publishers, Upper Montclair, NJ.
Fulwiler, T., ed., 1987, “The Journal Book,” Boynton/Cook Publishers, Upper Mountclair, NJ.
Griffin, C.W., ed., 1982, “Teaching Writing in All Disciplines,” Jossey-Bass Inc, San Francisco.
Krieger, M., 1988, The inner game of writing, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 7 (2).
Lanham, R., 1981, “Revising Business Prose,” Scribners Publishing Co., New York.
McCloskey, D.N., 1985, “The Rhetoric of Economics,” University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.
Odell, L., and Goswami, D., eds., 1985, “Writing in Nonacademic Settings,” The Guilford Press, New York.
Samuels, M.S., 1988, “The Technical Writing Process,” Oxford University Press, New York.
Smart, G., 1985, Writing to discover and structure meaning in the world of business, Carlton Papers in Applied Language Studies, 11.
Strunk, W., and White, E.B., 1979, “The Elements of Style,” Macmillan, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1990 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Dunlap, L. (1990). Language and Power: Teaching Writing to Third World Graduate Students. In: Sanyal, B. (eds) Breaking the Boundaries. Urban Innovation Abroad. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5781-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5781-0_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-5783-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-5781-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive