Media Theory of Composition - Intersections With Other Composition Theories

Intersections With Other Composition Theories

Because media theory focuses so much on specific, often technical aspects of writing, it has a lot of room for overlap, and facilitates other theoretical composition pedagogies.

For instance, Writing Across the Curriculum (commonly known as WAC) focuses on the different ideologies, paradigms, and standards between various disciplines, especially when it comes to writing and how these play out within writing. Thus, WAC recommends an approach to teaching writing that emphasizes these differences and the rhetorical awareness that is needed to write to varying audiences. Media theory works well with WAC because it, too, emphasizes different and multiple literacies. Not only does it emphasize a multi-modal approach to writing, but it also emphasizes the fact that the writer will have to be aware of different audience’s familiarity with technology. Furthermore, WAC can easily be combined with media theory because technology and digital writing are becoming more popular in all disciplines, so understanding the differences that come with various fields could potentially interact with the implications of using digital composition instead of traditional print.

Another theory that media theory is conducive to in composition is collaborative learning theory. Typically, this theory focuses on the construction of knowledge as a social act. Media theory aligns well with collaborative learning because, with the advancement of technology, writing can easily accommodate multiple authors. This can be exemplified through something as simple as an online forum, in which writers converse through text to come to conclusions. Another example would be Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia where authorship is relatively open to the public, so various writers may inform others of their knowledge and build off of others’ to create a constantly evolving definition and explanation of a certain topic.

Media theory also works well with critical pedagogy and feminist theories of composition. These theories challenge traditional notions of hierarchies in relation to certain social groups, like race or gender, and how this affects writing. When in practice, media theory can break down hierarchies in several ways. The first way is tied directly to writing as a product. Critical and feminist theories value texts written in non-traditional ways (for example, a narrative essay –as a “feminine writing style-versus a thesis-driven essay – as a masculine writing style) and texts written by minorities. Media theory breaks down the hegemony that “pure text” has over other modalities by utilizing “non-traditional” methods and modes of writing through the use of technology. The second way media theory in practice breaks down hierarchies is tied to writing as a process. There is a democratization to media theory because everyone is involved in the creation and consumption of a text because of common features like public access and interactivity. In terms of concrete pedagogy, Massively Open Online Classrooms (MOOC’s) work to break down hierarchies by encouraging learning in an informal setting with partially anonymous users, which potentially allows for minorities to let their voices to be heard without worrying about discrimination.