I was excited to read that Chase, Gibson, and Carson were focused on "increasing the likelihood that students will transfer what they learn in developmental reading courses to effective reading and study practices in their 'regular' undergraduate courses..." This touches on the issue of skill/learning transfer, and it is a topic that I'm particularly interested in. I attempted to write a fieldwork report, which was somewhat like a simplified version of an ethnography, but I wasn't able to formulate good research questions. The idea that developmental classes, or at the very least, beginning classes such as first year composition should take an approach that will teach students a repertoire of strategies and tactics that will prepare them for the tasks and texts they will encounter in college. As their study proved, the sheer range of academic literacy makes it extremely difficult for instructors to adequately prepare students for every academic scenario they will encounter. Rather than attempting to teach students a specific method or genre of reading and writing, I believe it would be much more effective and efficient to equip students with the aforementioned skills in hopes that they will be able to use some of it in their following courses. Theoretically, after completing such a course, students should have the basic academic tools to at least survive in "regular" undergraduate courses.
I agree with you, Raymond, about the importance of skills transfer. I often focus my Reading Classes on expository texts for that reason, but I realize there are so many other kinds of texts, as well. It was good for me to read Chase, et. al as a way to think about the common threads among the various disciplines, as oppose to genres like expository texts. Still, I want to continue to argue for Writing AND Reading across the disciplines and involving content area teachers in more explicitly guiding students to thinking, reading, and writing in the disciplines.
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