The audience may be an unknown public, a specific group, or an individual. Writing as social action involves presenting an idea to stimulate social action. For example, writing an editorial to change an environmental situation or a letter to persuade someone to take action would be appropriate activities. The audience is usually an individual, a company or the readers of a particular publication. Writing to respond electronically enables students to communicate specific content or ideas in any discipline through a computer.
Students learn to read accurately, to understand technology protocol and to respond concisely.
The audience may be someone in another country or geographic location, a group in the student's own environment, or a group of people with a common interest in a specific idea. Notice that in all cases the writing fulfills more goals than just the improvement of one's writing. The WAC movement began in this country in the 1970s after James Britton, Nancy Martin and others published their research on Language Across the Curriculum in England. The need to have teachers in all disciplines work together for the development of quality student writing became primary in the original goals of the movement in this country. At first college instructors focused on writing to communicate ideas.