ERIC Number: EJ752071
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-May
Pages: 7
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0098-6291
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Using Niche-Market Magazines to Teach Audience
Tichenor, Stuart
Teaching English in the Two-Year College, v33 n4 p455-461 May 2006
In technical writing classes, audience is one of the most important concepts. Technical writing is typically written to a specific audience for a specific purpose. In addition, as audiences change, so must the way a document is written. An audience's lack of knowledge in a technical area, for example, would require more background information or history; in contrast, technically trained readers may not require that material and could, instead, proceed to the information and issues that concern them and others who share their advanced level of expertise. Unfortunately, students often incorrectly assume that if they know something then everyone else should know it. That assumption, of course, is just not valid and leads to gaps in information that may leave readers questioning what they have read. In order to point out obvious differences in audiences, the author created two exercises that require students to analyze and describe content from niche-market magazines being defined as those magazines targeting specific interest groups or gender groups. Asking students to analyze the content in specialized magazines is a good way to teach students the meaning and importance of audience. Through the analysis, students learn to critically appraise writing by analyzing and describing the variations in audience; from that, they must synthesize what they have discovered and evaluate it based on their perception of audience-appropriateness.
Descriptors: Audiences, Technical Writing, Audience Awareness, Writing Instruction, Writing Skills, Periodicals, Content Analysis, Teaching Methods, Audience Analysis, Community Colleges, English Instruction
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
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