'New Workplaces' By Elizabeth Wardle Summary

The article by Elizabeth Wardle entitled “Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces” addresses English teachers. Wardle claims English teacher must direct their focus beyond a student’s knowledge of academic writing, to the influences identity and authority may have on one’s writing. The author describes socio-historic theories regarding identity and authority to understand how new workers learn to write in the workplace. The author further discusses identity by explaining Wenger’s three modes of belonging: engagement, imagination, and alignment. These modes of belonging direct new workers to engage in work that other members do, imagine their job as a part of the larger enterprise, and negotiate identity reconstruction. Authority is also continually negotiated in the workplace. Institutions bestow authority, but can just as easily be taken away by the institution or its members. Newcomers to a community normally have a ‘grace period’ for adopting community practices, also known as enculturation. However, the newcomer may lose the authority bestowed upon them, if they do not quickly learn how to ‘talk the talk, or walk the walk.’ Finally, Wardle provides her readers a study regarding Alan’s experiences with learning to write in a new workplace. This
According to Wardle’s study, the humanities department did not view Alan as a member of the discourse community, but a “tool” to fix things they needed. Furthermore, the social norms of the humanities department governed the content and style of emails, which Alan admits was difficult for him, resulting in breakdowns of communication. However, Wardle also discusses that breakdowns in communication can lead to positive change, when all participants are willing to work together to resolve the