Basic writing

Basic writing, or developmental writing, is a discipline of composition studies which focuses on the writing of students sometimes otherwise called 'remedial' or 'underprepared', usually freshman college students. Basic writing, or developmental writing, is a discipline of composition studies which focuses on the writing of students sometimes otherwise called 'remedial' or 'underprepared', usually freshman college students. Sometimes called “remedial” or “developmental” writing, basic writing (BW) was developed in the 1970s in response to open admissions policies. BW can refer to both a type of composition course and a field of study. The term 'basic writing' was coined by Mina Shaughnessy, a pioneer in the field of basic writing, to distinguish it from previous terms like 'bonehead' or 'remedial.' BW courses are designed to teach formal written standard English to students deemed under-prepared for first-year composition. Institutions typically enroll students in BW courses based on standardized or placement test scores, with standards varying by institution. BW is traditionally characterized by a lack of understanding of the rules of formal written English, which may manifest itself in non-traditional syntax, grammar, spelling, punctuation, usage, mechanics, organization, and clarity. However, BW has shifted its focus from error correction to other composition interests, including the writing process, rhetoric, development, and diversity. BW as a field of study tends to resist narrowly defining basic writers. Shaughnessy characterized basic writers as “those that had been left so far behind the others in their formal education that they appeared to have little chance of catching up, students whose difficulty with the written language seemed of a different order from those of the other groups, as if they had come, you might say, from a different country, or at least through different schools, where even modest standards of high-school literacy had not been met.' Basic writers have been characterized as students who are first-generation, non-traditional, English language learners, racial minorities, or members of disadvantaged socioeconomic groups. However, further research shows that basic writers are more diverse nationally than allowed for within these broad generalizations.