This article responds to a widely held presumption that ineffective student writing in Canadian classrooms can be resolved through technical solutions on the model of the popular Grammarly app. In contrast, this article suggests that a solution to the problem of writing instruction should focus on how to teach argument through rhetoric as a responsive, situated practice that occurs within different dynamic discourse communities. The article makes this case by recommending a renewed emphasis on the rhetorical concept of kairos, which provides students with an ethical comportment for decision-making in a pluralistic and uncertain world. This article concludes with a call for revitalized interdisciplinary attention to rhetoric in Canadian writing studies and programs.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Lukas, M., Personn, T., (2025), "Writing as Responsive, Situated Practice: The Case for Rhetoric in Canadian Writing Studies", HSSCommons: (DOI: 10.31468/cjsdwr.779)

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1. Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie

Original publication: Lukas, Michael; Personn, Tim. "Writing as Responsive, Situated Practice: The Case for Rhetoric in Canadian Writing Studies." Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie, vol. 29, 2019, pp. 160-172. DOI: 10.31468/cjsdwr.779. This material has been re-published in an unmodified form on the Canadian HSS Commons with the permission of Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie. Copyright © the author(s). Work published in DW/R is licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA license