The Construction of Addressee in Law Students' Writing

Abstract

Successful writing by students is often presumed to be possible only when students have achieved mastery over relevant genres, and genres are described in terms of the relatively stable forms which characterise texts produced for specific purposes in specific social contexts. However, students are often engaged in the successful production of texts prior to gaining mastery. Bakhtin suggests genre is defined by the typical addressee it is directed to. However, for many students the typical addressee is relatively opaque. This paper takes up Bakhtin’s concept of dialogism to show how students produce addressee and genre through dialogic responsiveness to the contingent circumstances of their writing. It argues that this process is more critical to successful writing than gaining mastery over typified formulations of addressee and genre.