Chapter 5 does something very interesting in using stories and examples from both traditional and non-traditional students' concerns/issues with the writing process. I found Tale 50 particularly useful in its somewhat humorous but honest story of a Swiss-German student who misunderstood the advice from an electronic grammar checker. I recently presented to Accounting 305 classes on argumentative writing for the writing center. One of the specific requests from the professor was to addressed "misused and misspelled words." I instantly knew what words she was referring to: the ones that spellcheck can't fix because they aren't technically wrong.
The other week in 601, we were asked to write down our values as a teacher. I typed three simple words: Freewriting, Revision, and Reflection. While these words are simple, they aren't implemented enough. Freewriting and pre-writing on a topic takes time and is an easy component to ignore. Yet making things like journal assignments and annotated bibliography stepping stones to a larger essay not only parses out the workload for students and teachers, but also deters plagiarism.
Revision is too often confused with editing. The student in Tale 55 is a prime example of how going through the motions of "revision" usually means auto-correcting things like missing words, run-ons, clarity, etc., because the writer understands what he means. Tale 58 is further proof that revision strategies, especially in the ESL situation given, are not made clear or emphasized in the classroom. These pre-writing and revision elements need to stop being sponsored almost solely by supplemental initiatives, such as writing and learning centers.
I believe one great way of gauging an individual student's concerns is through reflective writing. By assigning some kind of self-assessment, the teacher can not only understand how students' feel about their writing, but also make commentary on the things the students aren't noticing. Again, Tale 55 shows an example of how reflection in an earlier essay may have provided a window for the professor to step in and say, "Your concerns and evaluations are valid. Here is another thing to consider in your writing, namely word omission."
Freewriting, revision, and reflection are definitely important elements of writing. Studying the writing process to some degree made this even more apparent to me. The tools on Microsoft Word can miss quite a lot, and I think they are useful for limited tasks, but can't really do the same job of a human reader who knows something about what was probably intended. The plan of building into the classroom times for freewriting, revision, and reflection makes a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteOlivia, I value freewriting, revision, and reflection, too. We're, like, composition soulmates. :)
ReplyDeleteRevision is one of those concepts that most students find difficult. I imagine they are thinking, Who wants to reread/write an essay multiple times?? Well, I do. But that's why I'm studying writing and the teaching of writing. Students, though, haven't necessarily found how writing meshes with their own interests. To be honest, the actual act of writing doesn't interest me and is quite difficult; however, the way we construct language to make meaning and make sense of the world is what interests me. And, alas, I have to use writing to write about my interests. That's why I'm so interested in WID/WAC programs because the incorporate and integrate writing into the disciplines students are a part of.
When students get to the point of being a junior/senior in their field, they become engaged in discipline-specific writing. At this point, writing becomes a tool to communicate their interests/research/knowledge in the field. I wish WID/WAC was more widespread.
All good points, Olivia. I think, too, that getting students to put their work out there for audiences beyond us, their instructors, is a way to encourage serious revision. We all seem to put more time into writing that does something in the world, that has a purpose beyond earning a grade.
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