CF 25 - The “Research Paper” Prompt - A Dialogic Opportunity for Transfer

Oct 15, 2026

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The essay argues against treating a research paper as an isolated utterance in composition classrooms because this approach can hinder transfer of writing knowledge. Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin’s view of the utterance situated within conversation, it shows how students are disadvantaged when research writing is framed as separate from broader activity systems. Through an illustrative classroom example and scholarly context on transfer, the work proposes integrating research writing into an entire course sequence so students understand its role beyond the first-year writing genre.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

The “Research Paper” Prompt: A Dialogic Opportunity for Transfer

Abstract and central argument

Transfer, utterance, and activity systems

Student expectations versus instructor goals

Supporting scholarship and field context

CF 25: “The ‘Research Paper’ Prompt” by Kerry Dirk Page 1 of 16 Composition Forum 25, Spring 2012 [http://compositionforum.com/issue/25/](http://compositionforum.com/issue/25/) The “Research Paper” Prompt: A Dialogic Opportunity for Transfer [[http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=compforum](http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=compforum)] Kerry Dirk Abstract: The treatment of a research paper as an isolated utterance within a composition classroom is problematic in that such papers may fail to encourage transfer of writing knowledge. In this essay, I argue that a research paper’s failure to work as a utterance situated within a conversation—as critiqued through a framework constructed by Mikhail Bakhtin’s notion of the utterance—often disadvantages students in their future writing endeavors. I conclude by suggesting one way to encourage students to situate their research writing as a part of—rather than separate from—an activity system. By making the research paper an integral part of a entire course sequence, students will be better equipped to understand the role that research and writing plays within a specific activity system. In a recent piece, Amy Devitt notes the frustration she experienced during a conversation with a colleague who was complaining about biology students’ inability to write research papers. Devitt writes,“I thought such a well-respected scholar and teacher would know better than to think that students could be taught writing in their first-year and have it suffice for their senior year. I thought such a well-respected scholar and teacher would know better than to think that the research paper could be taught once and for all, and she need not worry about teaching it herself for her own field”(“Transferability” 215) . Although I have never been challenged in this same way, Devitt’s anecdote reminds me of my own experience when faced with a not altogether different assumption about the research paper. I recently taught a freshman composition course that included several short papers, some of which involved research, but no extensive research project. Although I had distributed a syllabus that included descriptions ofthe assignments we would cover that semester, a student approached me several times throughout the semester to ask when we would write “the big research paper that is common in every English class.” Despite my attempts to convince her that we would be writing no such paper in this particular course, she could not let go of the idea that an English course could exist without the inclusion of this particular genre. What fascinated me most was that her previous experiences had so deeply engrained into her the belief that there is one unified research paper—a paper that seems to belong to an English class—that makes up one unified genre. I could not fault her for this belief, as many students rightly come to my classes with similar expectations, often seeing writing courses as hoops through which they must jump before moving into their disciplinary courses and being done with “English.” Through additional conversations with this student, I realized that for her, and I suspect for many other students, a research paper stood between her and the rest of her disciplinary work for which she believed there would be no such papers. By now, many of us have probably had a similar conversation to one of the aforementioned. On the one hand, we have a professor who expects the first-year writing course to prepare students for any future writing endeavor, specially research papers; on the other hand, we have a student who sees the research paper as belonging only to the first-year writing course. [http://compositionforum.com/issue/25/research-paper-prompt-transfer.php](http://compositionforum.com/issue/25/research-paper-prompt-transfer.php) CF 25: “The ‘Research Paper’ Prompt” by Kerry Dirk Page 2 of 16 From our perspective, we can see a wide gap between the p

FAQs

Why does the essay criticize the research paper as an isolated utterance in composition classrooms?

It argues that isolating the research paper within composition discourages transfer of writing knowledge, leaving students less prepared to use research writing in future contexts.

How does Bakhtin’s concept of the utterance inform the essay’s framework?

It frames research writing as something that should be understood as situated within conversation and activity, rather than treated as detached from the surrounding course discourse.

What solution does the essay suggest to improve students’ understanding of research writing transfer?

It recommends making the research writing an integral part of an entire course sequence, helping students see how research and writing function within a specific activity system.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by jayni