Writing Centres, Writing Seminars, Writing Culture:

Teaching Writing in Canadian Universities

Roger Graves & Heather Graves
Université de l’Alberta

A discussion of writing instruction at institutions in Québec can be enhanced by placing it in

the context of writing instruction across Canada. In Canada writing instruction differs from
other countries such as the U.S.A. because it does not generally occur in English departments
offered as service courses to the rest of the institutions (for example, first year writing in the
U.S.). Writing instruction, especially at Anglo-Canadian institutions, often takes place outside
of English departments, through writing centres and individual programs or seminars
developed by writing specialists and offered to students of a faculty that sponsor that
instruction (for example, engineering at University of Saskatchewan and University of
Toronto or science at University of Alberta) (Graves & Graves 2006). Other institutions offer
limited solutions to demands for writing instruction (for example, effective writing programs
housed in student services). To understand what is going on in writing instruction in Quebec,
it is helpful to understand what is going on in writing instruction in the rest of Canada.
We propose to present a poster that outlines what is happening (and has happened) in writing
instruction in universities and colleges in Canada outside of Quebec. The poster (It may be
previewed at this URL: http://publish.uwo.ca/~rgraves3/research_poster.pdf.) presents
highlights from Writing Centres, Writing Seminars, Writing Culture: Writing Instruction in
Anglo-Canadian Universities, a collection of essays by writing instructors and writing studies
scholars in Canada that appeared in 2006.
This poster presentation provides a visual and textual overview of programs, courses, and
approaches to writing instruction at Anglo-Canadian post-secondary institutions across the
country. The textual portion outlines some “ancient” as well as more recent history about
developments in writing instruction at Anglo-Canadian universities. This history includes
brief summaries of three essays introducing readers to the history of writing instruction in 19 th
century Canada. The more recent historical coverage reviews the writing instruction provided
at two Canadian institutions during the 20th century (the 1990s). The section on current
practices summarizes some of the important insights collected from the essays in the volume.
The textual section of the poster ends with a summary of the book’s afterword by Russ Hunt.
The visual part of the poster features a map of Canada with the individuals and locations
marked on it of the contributors to the volume and the main arguments they make in their
essays in Writing Centres, Writing Seminars, Writing Culture. The visuals emphasize not only
the geographical variation in writing instruction in Canada but also the theoretical variation in
approaches to teaching writing. Providing an historical overview and a description of current
practices, the poster presents a brief but compelling introduction to the past and present state
of writing instruction in Anglo-Canada.
In addition to the poster, information will be available for those viewers who are interested in
how to order the book, Writing Centres, Writing Seminars, Writing Culture: Writing
Instruction in Anglo-Canadian Universities. Copies will also be present for viewers to peruse
on site.
Bibliography
Graves, R., and H. Graves, Eds. (2006). Writing Centres, Writing Seminars, Writing Culture:
Writing Instruction in Anglo-Canadian Universities. Winnipeg, MB: Inkshed Publications.

Colloque International « de la France au Québec : l’Ecriture dans tous ses états »

Poitiers, 12-15 Novembre 2008

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