The shock is in the realization of the potential text holds. The connection is in the realization that text has always been hyper, in the sense of "augmented" or "enhanced." Look at that fragment of manuscript again (or look at the whole manuscript page).
My research interests are in syntax, stylistics, corpus linguistics, composition, literacy theory, hypertextuality.
My professional interests have also led me to think about the uses of hypertext as a communications and educational tool. Though it is commonplace for discussions of hypertext to become hyperbolic immediately, I do not see writing in digital media as a revolutionary activity but more as part of an evolutionary process. To move from text to hypertext seems to me a natural next step on the road to literacy.
My experiences with computers in education have also been a personal road toward e-literacy for me. After twenty-five years of teaching — ten years teaching online — I feel that we are only beginning to realize the potential that communications and information technology holds for teaching and learning. Recently, my interests in text, new media, and education have led me to begin a domain devoted to these issues — http://papyr.com.
My understanding of language and literacy has been heavily influenced by my training in linguistics, systemic linguistics, and stylistics. My master's and doctoral work was in English linguistics and language study under the direction of Sidney Greenbaum, who later became the Director of the Survey of English Usage at University College London. The Survey is the largest, ongoing research project in language study in this century, and probably the next. I have also served on the Advisory Board of the linguistics journal, Functions of Language.
My colleagues in Communications honored me by electing me the Outstanding Faculty Member of 1995.
More information about my courses and work:
