Journal of Response to Writing Jan 2018 RSS Open Access

Affective Tensions in Response

Caswell, Nicole I.

Abstract

This article reports on a study focused on understanding the relationship between teachers’ emotional responses and the larger contextual factors that shape response practices. Drawing from response and emotion scholarship, this article proposes affective tensions as a way for understanding the tug and pull that teachers experience between what they feel they should do (mostly driven from a pedagogical perspective) and what they are expected to do (mostly driven by an institutional perspective) in a contextual moment. The case study of Kim, a community college instructor, offers an analysis of two affective tensions that emerged from her think-aloud protocol (TAP): responding to grammar/sentence errors over content and responding critically to students she likes. Kim’s case reveals the underlying affective tensions between individual emotions, cultural constructions, and institutional contexts that are negotiated while she responds to student writing. This article concludes with suggestions for identifying emotions and affective tensions that both influence and paralyze writing teachers’ response practices.

Journal
Journal of Response to Writing
Published
2018-01-01
CompPile
Open Access
OA PDF Gold
Topics
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation context

Citation data not yet available for this article.

Citation data is not available for Journal of Response to Writing. This journal's publisher does not deposit reference lists with CrossRef.

Related articles

  1. Written Communication Jul 2026
    The Dynamics Between the Biographical Factors, Professional Identities, and Teaching Practices of Second Language Writing Instructors ↗
    Young Wha Lee
    first-year composition writing pedagogy graduate education teacher development assessment qualitative research multilingual writers grammar and mechanics
  2. Computers and Composition Mar 2025
    High-context instruction: A case study of community college student responses for academic success in online composition courses ↗
    Roberto Rojas-Alfaro; Jeshua Enriquez
    writing pedagogy two-year college teacher development qualitative research online writing instruction race and writing
  3. Teaching English in the Two-Year College May 2024
    Feature: The Misalignment between the Discipline and the Teaching of Writing ↗
    Steven Accardi; Jillian Grauman
    rhetorical criticism first-year composition writing pedagogy creative writing two-year college teacher development labor and working conditions qualitative research
  4. Pedagogy Oct 2023
    Contributors ↗
    rhetorical criticism first-year composition writing pedagogy writing across the curriculum two-year college teacher development collaborative writing assessment writing centers qualitative research multimodality literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies affect and writing literary studies book reviews editorial matter
  5. College Composition and Communication Sep 2022
    Composing Addiction: A Study of the Emotional Dimensions of Writing Processes ↗
    Patty Wilde
    first-year composition writing pedagogy two-year college qualitative research disability studies