This is our version of an Urban Dictionary – we’re trying to give practical explanations of the some of terms we use commonly in the program. Download a PDF of Key Terms
Activity System
According to David Russell, activity systems are cooperative interactions aimed at achieving a goal. As a lens, the activity system helps us to analyze the psychological and social processes of achieving that goal. Each system has a goal(s), which is achieved through the work of people and the tools they use.
There are five key things that you should know about activity systems:
- They are historically developed, meaning that they developed over time and interactively with the culture in which they operate.
- They are inherently social–that is, they are changing systems of interaction between people, their environments, and their culture.
- They are dialogic, meaning that they are in constant conversation with their objectives and how best to achieve them.
- They are collective, rather than individual. Activity systems are not the product of one, but of many.
- They are always changing and adapting to meet the needs of participants within the system.
Understanding activity systems is key to understanding how a given genre works, as genre is the tool (or tools, as an activity system may require more than one genre) that the participant(s) use to achieve the objective. To take a genre out of its activity system is to remove its reason for being. Understanding activity systems also allows us to see the complex ways that they interact with people and communities.
Example:
While there are many different games that rely on the player’s ability to manipulate a ball, they’re not all the same. Each game is its own activity system, with its own objective, and each game has its own ball as its tool. Even similar games, with similar objectives, might have different balls (think of baseballs and softballs). Each ball is specifically designed for working with the players to achieve the objective of the game. Some skills in ball handling are generalizable (just as with writing), but players/participants must work with the specific rules and tools of each game to be successful in achieving their objectives.
For further reading:
- Check out Angela Sheets’ article “Angela Rides the Bus…” from issue 5.1 of the GWRJ. Angela does a great job showing how different participants and tools interact to achieve the goals of a simple activity system: riding the bus.
- Read David Russell’s article, “Big Picture People Rarely Become Historians,” which shows how important it is to be aware of activity systems as you are writing.
Antecedent Knowledge
Antecedent Knowledge is a term we use to describe all the things a writer already knows that can come into play when a writer takes up any kind of writing. For example, if you are asked to write a timed essay, and you’ve written them before, you’d certainly use that antecedent knowledge to help you write the essay. That’s just common sense. But Antecedent Knowledge can also be tricky because we’re not always fully aware of all the knowledge we are using when we write, and sometimes we use knowledge and experience that are actually NOT useful in a situation. As another example, if you are asked to write a paper, and the instructor says, “I don’t want a 5-paragraph essay!”, you might find yourself creating an essay that looks a lot like a 5-paragraph essay, even while you are trying NOT to write one. It’s weird, for sure, but it happens all the time! In our program, we refer to Antecedent Knowledge and Antecedent Genres (a 5-paragraph essay would be an antecedent genre for folks who have lots of experience writing them) because we think it’s really important for folks to be as aware as possible of the different kinds of knowledge they are using, both so that they can know when it would be helpful and so they can know when it would actually hurt their writing in a specific situation.CHAT
Our take on Cultural-Historical Activity Theory is developed from the work of Paul Prior (see CHAT article in the Grassroots Writing Research Journal online archive for a more detailed description). In our program, we use CHAT to help us think about and study the complex genres that we encounter in the world. In traditional rhetorical models, one might describe the author, the audience and perhaps some of the features of the genre. CHAT allows us to focus on any aspect of the myriad elements of textual production, so it is more robust than these other methods for investigating texts.
The key terms in CHAT are:
Production
Production deals with the means through which a text is produced. This includes both tools (say, using a computer to produce a text vs. using a cell phone to produce a text) and practices (for example, the physical practices for using a computer vs. using a cell phone have some similarities, but also many differences). Production also considers the genres and structures that can contribute to and even pre-shape our ability to produce text (think of filling out a job application form the form directly controls the kind of information we can produce, and consequently, the kind of image of ourselves we can project to potential employers). If we got to make a video instead of filling out the paper form, we could create a very different self-representation.Representation
The term representation highlights issues related to the way that the people who produce a text conceptualize and plan it (how they think about it, how they talk about it), as well as all the activities and materials that help to shape how people do this.Distribution
Distribution involves the consideration of where texts go and who might take them up. It also considers the tools and methods that can be used to distribute text, and how distribution can sometimes move beyond the original purposes intended by the author(s).Reception
Reception deals with how a text is taken up and used by others. Reception is not just who will read a text, but takes into account the ways people might use or re-purpose a text (sometimes in ways the author may not have anticipated or intended).Socialization
Socialization describes the interactions of people and institutions as they produce, distribute and use texts. When people engage with texts, they are also (consciously and unconsciously) engaged in the practice of representing and transforming different kinds of social and cultural practices.Activity
Activity is a term that encompasses the actual practices that people engage in as they create text (writing, drawing, walking across the hall to ask someone else what they think, getting peer review, etc.).Ecology
Ecology points to what we usually think of as a mere backdrop for our purposeful activities in creating texts: the physical, biological forces that exist beyond the boundaries of any text we are producing. However, these environmental factors can become very active in some situations in shaping or interacting with our textual productions (think of putting on a play outdoors when it’s raining, or think of the people of New Orleans using the internet to find family members after Hurricane Katrina).A NOTE on other definitions of CHAT: Angela Sheets, in her Grassroots Writing Research Journal article “Angela Rides the Bus: A High Stakes Adventure Involving Riveting Research, Amazing Activity Systems, and a Stylish Metacognitive Thinking Cap” (GWRJ, 5.1, p. 134-5), provides two additional definitions of CHAT; one with pictures!