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Lisa Dunick
Threshold Concepts for Writing
Learning Objectives
After completing this reading you should be able to
- Define Threshold Concepts
- Define Writing Studies
- List and Explain Four Threshold Concepts for Writing
What is a Threshold Concept?
A ‘threshold concept’ is a concept that, once understood, changes the way that a person thinks about a topic.
“A threshold concept can be considered as akin to a portal, opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking about something. It represents a transformed way of understanding, or interpreting, or viewing something without which the learner
cannot progress.’ (Meyer and Land, 2003, p1)
A threshold concept is an idea that is essential for mastering the subject and for adopting a worldview that allows fluency, literacy, and expertise in a discipline.
The idea of Threshold Concepts was first identified in 2006 by researchers J.F. Meyer and Ray Land. They argued that learning certain types of concepts can be transformative. The learner doesn’t just see something new, but the learning actually changes something about the learner themself. Once they’ve learned a Threshold Concept, it’s like walking through a portal. There’s no going back.
Think about learning to ride a bike or driving a car. Once you “get it,” there’s no going back. You have the skill and knowledge. It becomes part of you. You can’t unlearn balance or the precise amount of pressure you need on a gas pedal. You just have it.
Threshold Concepts are similar. They can be difficult to master at first, but once you have it, they change everything.
Characteristics of Threshold Concepts
Difficult:
These concepts are hard to learn. They might be conceptually difficult, contradict earlier knowledge, or may ask the learner to take on a new identity. These concepts are often uncomfortable. Learning a Threshold Concept is rarely straightforward. Learners will often experience setbacks, just as they think they almost have it.
Transformative:
Threshold Concepts are more than just key concepts or ideas. Instead, they change the way the learner sees the world. Once learners understand a concept and cross the threshold, there’s no going back. They cannot only see the concept clearly, but they can use the Threshold Concept to see everything else clearly as well. We are what we know, and mastering a Threshold Concept changes us.
Irreversible
Once you’ve mastered a Threshold Concept, it is very difficult to go back. Think about the example of riding a bike. Or learning to swim. Once you’ve integrated that learning into yourself, it’s hard to go back to a time before. Think about anything you’ve mastered, whether it’s a video game or knowledge about history. Or, think about reading. Can you remember what it was like to not be able to decipher what letters and words were? Probably not. Once you have that deep, transformative knowledge, it’s very difficult to remember a time before. It’s even harder to lose that knowledge.
What is Writing Studies?
You probably already know that there are professional scientists with PhDs who study biology, chemistry, physics, and other sciences in order to discover new knowledge. You’ve probably heard of expert historians and anthropologists who discover new information for how we can understand our past. But did you know that there is a discipline called Writing Studies, where experts study how people write?
Writing Studies (sometimes called Composition Studies) is an academic field that was established in the mid-twentieth century. Experts in this field research and study how people write. The field is broad and varied, but much of it focuses specifically on how college students learn to compose, improve their writing skills, and become stronger writers.
Writing is not just something people do, but something people study through inquiry.
One portion of the field of Writing Studies has focused on Threshold Concepts for Writing. In 2016, Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth Wardle published a book called Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies. In this book, they outlined the foundational ideas–the Threshold Concepts–for learning writing skills.
In this study, they outlined five (5) Threshold Concepts and even more subtopics about those Concepts.
For this class, we’re going to be focusing on a few of those.
Threshold Concepts in Writing
Writing is a Process, and All Writers Have More to Learn
Writing can be both a noun and a verb. But writing is best understood as something we do. The process of writing.
“Writing is a process of composing. It usually takes time and practice to compose an effective piece of writing. And when you write texts that are new to you, or longer texts, or write with new kinds of technology, you are likely to need more time and practice” (Wardle and Downs, 10).
There is no such thing as a perfect text or a perfect writer. Even professional writers have more to learn, and each new writing situation is a new opportunity to learn.
Many people think they are “bad writers” or “bad at English,” because writing doesn’t come easy for them. But research has shown that this is actually a false idea. Writing is a difficult activity–it’s a verb. Good writers are those who are willing to engage with the process and who are continually learning new things from the process of writing.
Writing is Impacted by Identities and Prior Experiences
People are not born writers. Your experiences with literacy (reading and writing) are part of who you are–your identity.
“Each writer is a combination of the collective set of different dimensions and traits and features that make us human” (Yancey, 52).
Our past experiences with writing and reading affects the way we think about writing and what we do as writers. But if we never stop to think about our experiences with literacy, we might not understand why we approach writing the way that we do.
“Good” Writing is Always Contextual
There are no universal rules for good writing. All writing is dependent on context.
“Writing is rhetorical–it is always situated in a particular context and part of a communicative act” (Wardle and Downs, 14).
Have you ever wondered what the point of a school writing assignment is? Chances are that at some point in your academic experience, you’ve written an essay or other text without really understanding the purpose of the exercise. You likely just got the work done. And, you probably also felt like it was pointless or busy-work.
But when we talk about effective writing–or being a “good” writer–we need to talk about the context we’re writing in. Writing is first and foremost a mode of communication. The only measure of “good” writing is whether it gets things done.
This is going to be a hard threshold for some people to cross because it might require some unlearning. If you were taught the five-paragraph essay, rules for thesis statements, formats for essays that you had to use every time, you likely think that there is one way to meet the requirements of an essay. That simply isn’t true.
Teachers often use frameworks, structures, or rules like “never use I” because it helps to clarify concepts for students. These “rules” are usually useful for standardized tests. And, they also make things a lot easier to grade.
But this semester, we’re going to be questioning those rules.
Academic writing is a specific genre of writing, one based in the needs and requirements of the classroom. It’s different from the writing you do when you text your friends or email your boss, but it’s often much more flexible than you might currently believe. That flexibility is always based in the idea that all writing is dependent upon its context.
People Collaborate to Get Things Done with Writing
People use writing to get things done.
When we think about writing as a noun, we have to understand that it is a tool, a technology.
Writing helps us communicate ideas. You know this already. You likely have multiple text message groups with friends who share ideas and support one another. You’re creating a community through that writing.
“How and why particular writing does (or does not) work depends on who the people are, where they come from, what their goals are, what technologies they have available to them, and the kind of text (genres) they are writing” (Wardle and Down 18).
There are “rules” or “conventions” for how specific groups of people use writing together. Essay structures, for instance, are a type of convention for how students can effectively transmit evidence of their learning to a teacher.
But different writing communities have different rules–even in education. Different subjects will have different conventions for what they consider effective written communication. The business world has different rules and conventions than academia.
Understanding that all writing is used by communities to accomplish something–even if it is simply to share information–can help you more effectively approach individual writing scenarios.
References:
Alder-Kassner, Linda and Elizabeth Wardle. Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies: Classroom Edition. Utah State University Press. 2016.
Wardel, Elizabeth and Doug Downs. Writing About Writing. 4th Edition. Bedford St. Martin’s. 2020
