The Role of Audience in Student Writing

This research assesses the effects of audience on the voice and persuasive processes of student writers and records the changes in students’ concepts of their voice and powers of persuasion and the effects of audience specification on students’ motivation. O’Haynes’ peer-reviewed study used quantitative and qualitative procedures to determine the effects of audience specification on the writing and attitudes of three classes of first-year college writers at a small university. As a result of this study and years of research and teaching experience, O’Haynes advises the use of a variety of specified audiences in the writing classroom and recommends that all student-writing, aside from journal-writing, have a definite audience. Asking students to imagine an audience does not promote audience awareness. O’Haynes questions teaching theories that put emphasis on writing process, written product, or audience analysis in the absence of a viable audience—the primary purpose of all written communication.