The ability to operate on the second-highest level of Bloom’s taxonomy – that is, to synthesize – is important for developing a scholarly voice. The latter is not merely a matter of maintaining a neutral tone and choosing words carefully to avoid slang and contractions – in a broader sense, it is one’s way of writing academically in its entirety. As noted by Ching and Silva (2017), the ability to “synthesize the material or subjects being learned” is a crucial aspect of education (p. 112). Exercising one’s scholarly voice by writing an academic text means communicating the results gained through the ability to synthesize. In other words, the capacity to communicate on the second-highest level of Bloom’s taxonomy is a cornerstone of expressing and structuring one’s understanding of gained knowledge in the written form.
Operating on the level of evaluation, which is the highest level of Bloom’s taxonomy, is also beneficial for finding a scholarly voice. The development of scholarly voice generally occurs as the students absorb more of academic writing and gradually, step by step, begin internalizing its norms. Yet operating on the lower levels of Bloom’s taxonomy means replicating the approach of other scholars – and, no matter how distinguished they are, it cannot lead to the development of an independent scholarly voice. Operating on the evaluation level, however, allows to “select the solution method best suited” for a given situation (Ching & Silva, 2017, p. 112). Applied to academic writing, it helps in estimating the suitability of each particular formulation, word choice, or writing convention to each particular text. This approach, rather than mere memorization and repeated application of what others have used in their texts, is a true way to develop one’s distinct academic voice.
Reference
Ching, H. Y., & Silva, E. C. (2017). The use of Bloom’s taxonomy to develop competencies in students of a business undergraduate course. Journal of International Business Education, 12, 107-126. Web.