Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, 3E by Janet Lane and Ellen Lange Instructor’s Manual: Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….2 Section 1: How to Work with the Student Text………… ………………………3 Part 1: How to Work with Units 1–15……………………………………… ……………………….3 A A Suggested Lesson Plan for Working Through a Unit B Working with the Post-tests C Working with the Writing Topics Part How to Use Appendix C……………………………………………………………………………5 Part Ways to Use Section - Beyond Grammar: Other Ways to Make Your Writing Clear ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……6 Part Why Have Students Write a Diagnostic Writing Sample….……….……… Section 2: How to Respond to Student Papers………………………………….…7 Part 1: Responding to Content…………………………………………………………….………………7 A B C D Why Is It Important to Respond to Content? How Can You Effectively Respond to Content? Where on the Paper Should You Respond to Content? When in the Writing Process Should You Give Feedback on Content? Part 2: Responding Effectively to Sentence-level Errors……………………….…………14 A Why Is Feedback on Errors Necessary? B How Many and Which Sentence-Level Errors Should You Mark? C How Should You Mark Sentence-Level Errors? D What Are the Benefits of Using Editing Symbols to Locate and Identify Errors? E When Should You Mark Sentence-Level Errors? F How Can Tutors or Peers Help in Responding to Sentence-Level Errors? Part Editing Symbols, Example Sentences, Sample Paper, and Completed Error Awareness Sheet……………………………………….………………………………….19 Part 4: Combining Response to Content and Response to Sentences in an End Comment…………………………………………………………………………… ………….23 A Determining the Effect of ESL Sentence-Level Errors on the Grade of a Paper B Writing End Comments That Incorporate Response to Content, Response to Sentence-Level Features, and Justification of the Grade Section 3: Suggestions for Further Reading …………………….…………………28 A Books B Articles C Works Cited Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, 3E by Janet Lane and Ellen Lange Instructor’s Manual Introduction The Instructor’s Manual for Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, supplements the text with additional information that is helpful for you, the instructor, including suggested ways for teaching a unit in the text, responding to student papers, and deciding upon a grade for a written assignment In this manual, we refer to English as a second language writers as language learners Other common ways of referring to these writers are ESL writers or multilingual writers In the student text, we most often refer to the students as language learners This terminology also is used to refer to EFL (English as a foreign language) writers for whom this text is also written Much useful information about the student text can be found in “To the Teacher” on pages vi–ix of Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, including new features in this edition The editing symbols, illustrated with examples, are located in Appendix B in the student text These are followed by the Error Awareness Sheet and a sample student paper that has been commented on and its errors marked with the editing symbols A filled-in Error Awareness Sheet for the paper on p 344 in the text can be found on p 22 of this manual A list of editing symbols that follows the order of the units in the student text, with example sentences, is also included in this instructor’s manual The answer key to the Exercises for Practice; Section Three: Beyond Grammar; and Appendix C is found on the Writing Clearly 3E Instructor Site Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Section 1: How to Work with the Student Text Part 1: How to Work with Units 1–15 While “To the Teacher” in the student text explains how the text and units are organized, this expanded lesson plan goes into detail on how to work through a unit Please note that these are only suggestions; you may choose to design your own plan according to your instructional needs A A Suggested Lesson Plan for Working Through a Unit Hour Before Class Have students read the goals for the unit on the opening page and prepare to answer the question(s) below the photograph as an in-class activity Also ask them to read about the error in “Learn What the Error Is” and write answers to “Check Your Understanding” to be shared with a classmate during class Ask students to take the pretest and to check their answers against the answer key on pp 350 – 354 Also, have them write their first entry in their grammar journal You may choose to collect the journals at frequent intervals after the students have done the assignment or assign them as work the students on their own In the class prior to beginning the unit, you may chose to preview this material with the students before they read it at home as an assignment During Class Have the students go over their answers to “Check Your Understanding” in small groups or as pairs and respond to any questions students have about their answers Based on what you have observed in the students’ writing, emphasize those points in “Learn What the Error Is” that you feel are especially important for your class to review Go over the pretest answers and ask individual students to note which aspects of the error they feel are likely to give them the most difficulty in their writing Begin working with “Understand Common Problems” by summarizing each problem and, if you wish, have students read the correct sentences aloud under each problem Many instructors find it useful to project the problems and examples in order to go over them as a group in class Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Hour Before Class Students read “Understand Common Problems” and “Review Grammar Solutions.” Students then the first exercise for practice in “Practice What You Have Learned.” (You may choose to assign more than one exercise if the students understand the error or if it is an error with which they are not having that much difficulty.) If writing topics from the book are being used, students can be asked to read the topics with their accompanying photos and choose which writing topic they are interested in writing on During Class Review and continue explaining the problems in “Understand Common Problems” and the rules given in “Review Grammar Solutions.” Make sure the students understand the self-help strategies for helping them reduce the error so that they can begin their journey to becoming self-editors Go over the grammar solutions and clear up any questions the students may have about a particular rule or rules If the class is very advanced, you can expand on the grammar explanations with additional material to cover the error in depth Go over the exercise(s) the students did for homework You can have the students compare their answers in pairs or groups or you can cover the answers as a class If writing topics from the book are being used, students can share the topics they have chosen and begin to gather ideas for their topics in small groups Hour Before Class Students continue doing exercises in “Practice What You Have Learned” as assigned and work on prewriting and/or drafting their essay During Class Continue any remaining explanations necessary so that the students fully comprehend “Understand Common Problems” and “Review Grammar Solutions.” Go over the exercises students were assigned in “Practice What You Have Learned.” Do any remaining exercises in class Students share their prewriting or drafts in small groups Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Hour Before Class Assignments will vary depending on the students’ progress in the unit and on the essay they are writing During Class This hour can optionally be used for completing longer units (e.g., Unit 1, “Verb Tenses,” or Unit 6, “Relative, Adverbial, and Noun Clauses”) or units from which a particular class could benefit by spending more time Alternatively, this hour could be used to focus on one of the parts of Section 3, “Beyond Grammar: Other Ways to Make Your Writing Clear,” or on doing any of the extra exercises in Appendix C During this hour, students could peer editing of drafts as well B Working with the Post-tests The post-tests are designed for the students to review the material presented in the unit Students can the tests at home or in class You can elect to have the students the tests as individuals or in pairs or groups You can choose to correct the tests yourself or furnish the answer key from the instructor’s manual for students to selfcorrect These tests have been designed to be used for either assessment or additional practice C Working with the Writing Topics Each unit features three writing topics, each accompanied by a photo chosen to capture students’ interest and move them into the topic Responding to these topics gives students ample practice in writing and editing for errors Instructors may choose to have students write on one or more topics of their choice or may assign a specific topic As an instructor, you can choose how you wish to deal with the writing topic, whether as an in-class or out-of-class essay and how many drafts you or the students’ peers will be looking at Part How to Use Appendix C Appendix C, “Additional Exercises for Practice: Editing for a Variety of Errors,” contains five additional exercises for practice which require students to edit for at least two Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved errors These exercises can be done in class, assigned as homework, or given as quizzes any time after the two or three errors covered in each exercise have been covered Part Ways to Use Section - Beyond Grammar: Other Ways to Make Your Writing Clear Each of the five parts of this section focuses on an aspect of writing that goes beyond grammatical errors and addresses clarity and style: Expand Your Vocabulary; Achieve an Academic Writing Style; Avoid Nonidiomatic and Unclear Sentences; Improve Flow of Ideas; and Revise Your Writing This material can be done in class at any time or assigned as homework You may choose to use all or some of the parts according to the needs of your students As an instructor, you may find this material useful as a guide in responding to organization and content of student writing Part Why Have Students Write a Diagnostic Writing Sample At the first or second meeting of class, we recommend that the instructor have the students an in-class writing sample of the type of writing they will be doing in the class You can then use this diagnostic in several ways: To determine the overall needs of the class as well as those of the individual students The diagnostic will show the students’ strengths as well as their weaknesses, including what their sentence-level errors are To give the students an overview of the editing symbols After returning the marked diagnostic, you can briefly explain the meaning of the different editing symbols and indicate that each will be explained more fully during the course You can also direct the students to p 338 in Writing Clearly: Editing for Grammar, Third Edition, so that they will be able to review the editing symbols whenever necessary To help you make decisions on choosing and ordering the units You can use the diagnostic to prioritize the needs of the class and determine which units to cover (if not all are to be covered) and in which order to teach the units It is recommended that global errors be taught first unless the instructor has noted a pattern of local errors, like singulars and plurals of nouns or word forms, that the students are making and which need to be addressed as quickly as possible Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Section 2: How to Respond to Student Papers Responding to student papers is an important way in which the instructor communicates with students Furthermore, because such responses are written, students can easily refer back to them when working on subsequent drafts of the same paper or on future papers Content and language use, the two aspects of a paper that an instructor needs to respond to, are quite distinct from each other; thus, they need different kinds of treatment This part of the instructor’s manual will, therefore, first address how to respond to each area separately and will then show how an end comment can combine the two aspects of response: content and language Providing feedback on content as well as on sentence-level errors provides a balanced approach to the student by the reader of a paper If too much emphasis or none at all is put on one or the other, the student gets the message that errors are more important than content or vice versa Part 1: Responding to Content In giving the student feedback on content, you, as the instructor, are an interested reader, a motivator who encourages the student to continue writing, and a coach who guides the student in improving his or her writing Although the instructor’s responses to student papers usually contain feedback on both content and language, the explanations and sample responses in this section focus on the instructor’s response to content Response to language is then addressed in Part of this section Part of this section contains suggestions for combining response to content and sentence-level features in an end comment A Why Is It Important to Respond to Content? In language learners’ writing, sentence-level errors are often the most noticeable feature However, in addition to responding to sentence-level errors, it is equally, if not more important, that you respond to the content of the paper for the reasons that follow Feedback on content often helps improve the content of a student’s subsequent drafts and future papers As a busy instructor, you may wonder whether you should spend time responding to content You may well ask yourself, “Does response to content improve the content of subsequent drafts and future papers?” Although some research has questioned its Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved value (Leki, 1990, Cohen and Cavalcanti, 1990), most research that has been done on the effects of response to content on later writing performance suggests that feedback on content can help students improve the content of subsequent drafts or future papers (Fathman & Whalley, 1990; Ferris, 1995b, 1997; Conrad & Goldstein, 1999) Experienced ESL composition instructors have found that when students read the instructor’s comments on final drafts, they are often able to make good use of both positive and negative comments to improve content in subsequent papers Feedback to a student indicating that a lack of supporting evidence has made a paper less convincing than it could have been, for example, may encourage a student to provide supporting evidence in subsequent papers because the student’s awareness of a need for specifics has been heightened In addition, positive feedback about a student’s use of interesting specific details may reinforce continued use of this type of detail It also must be taken into consideration that, at the same time, many of these techniques of good writing are being taught in class and can be reinforced through instructor comments on student papers The majority of second-language writers desire feedback on content Studies on second-language writers (Radecki & Swales 1988; Cohen & Cavalcanti 1990; Ferris, 1995b, 1997; Montgomery and Baker, 2007) have found that the majority of these writers desire feedback on content Experienced composition instructors also report that a great majority of their students ask for and appreciate feedback on content ESL writers may need feedback on thinking and organizational patterns they have transferred from their native language to English ESL students may be using thinking and organizational patterns that they have transferred from their native language and which are not used in English writing In Asian languages, rather than directly stating the point being made, it is common to go around it indirectly, which may be confusing and vague to an English-speaking reader Although writing in Romance languages such as Spanish and Portuguese permits considerable freedom in digressing from the topic, this may appear to indicate a lack of organization to an English-speaking reader In responding to content, you can point out these important rhetorical differences by telling the student, for example, to state the point directly or to avoid veering off the topic Instructors not need specialized knowledge of the thinking and organizational patterns common in a student’s native language in order to recognize rhetorical patterns that are not effective in English However, instructors who are interested in this area may want to refer to the research on contrastive rhetoric The following Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved references provide valuable information: Beebe, 1988; Connor & Kaplan, 1987; Gregg, 1986; Koreo, 1988; Meyers, 1985; Reid, 1992 Feedback on content can help the student develop a sense of audience By responding to content as an interested reader, you can help the student develop a sense of audience and become aware of the needs of his or her audience Comments that show weaknesses (such as noting whether more information might better clarify a particular point) as well as underscoring strengths (such as commenting on good organization) ultimately help heighten the student’s awareness of the needs of his or her audience Eventually this sense of audience can be internalized, leading the writer to become much more capable of revising his or her own writing independently rather than depending solely on the instructor’s feedback B How Can You Effectively Respond to Content? The following four suggestions can help you respond effectively to the content of a student’s paper At the end of this section, you will find a student writing sample that has an instructor’s response incorporating these four suggestions Write personalized comments As discussed earlier, you will want to respond to a paper as an interested reader engaged in the text One way to this is to write personalized comments that reflect your personal reaction or response to the ideas in a student’s paper, commenting on elements in the text that are particularly appealing, yet not neglecting those parts of the text that are unclear or need to be strengthened Such comments not only encourage the student to continue writing but also contribute to the student’s development of a sense of audience Provide guidance or direction when necessary Although an instructor does not want to take control of the student’s text, you will often need to provide guidance or direction for students who may be inexperienced in academic writing in English or may lack knowledge of the rhetorical structures of English For example, you may need to suggest that a student analyze a point further or support a point with specific details, or you may need to make suggestions on how to strengthen organization Make text-specific comments In a text-specific comment, you might say, “I liked the example about your sister,” whereas if you used the general comment, “good example,” it could apply to any example in any paper Although, ideally, text-specific comments are best, some Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved research on second-language writers has indicated that even general comments help writers improve the content of subsequent drafts Balance positive and negative comments In your role as motivator and collaborator, it is important that you balance positive and negative feedback Positive comments allow you to establish a “positive affective climate” (Beavens, 1977; Cardelle and Corno, 1981; Krashen 1982; Hyland & Hyland, 2001) so that students can more easily receive the negative feedback on content (and sentence-level features) that you may need to give Sample Response to Content The following is a student response (written in class) to a short-answer essay question The end comment illustrates the four suggestions for responding effectively to content discussed in this section The comments are personalized and text-specific They also show a balance between positive and negative feedback and provide guidance and direction to the student on the need for a stronger focus on the question being answered in the beginning of the response Writing Topic: Discuss the progress you have made so far on your term paper assignment for this class In addition to explaining what you have already done and what you are currently working on, comment on one aspect of writing a term paper that has been challenging for you Student Response: My progress in English has been great Today, I feel more confident in my work and I think I have learned a lot I had worked in different aspects of the English language such as reading, conversation, listening and comprehension, grammar and writing I am currently working on my term paper, collecting the information, organizing it, and trying to get the table of contents I almost have all the papers that I am going to include in this paper I started to read some of them and take notes on the main ideas I think that the most challenging part for me will be to paraphrase and summarize all the information and get the conclusions End Comment: I am glad you are progressing well on your term paper I certainly agree that learning how to summarize and paraphrase effectively in a new language is challenging When responding to short-answer essay questions, you will want to focus immediately 10 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Note that certain types of verb errors, such as conditional, modal, passive, and subjectverb agreement, have their own distinct symbol or sub-category, rather than being combined with verb form or verb tense The reason for this division is that students need to study each of these types of errors separately since each has its own distinct set of rules and each creates different kinds of problems for second-language writers Also note that within the units, certain errors may be further sub-divided, such as modal vf Methods of marking errors vary widely from writing in the correct form above the error to simply putting an “X” or “” in the margin to indicate that an error of some kind has occurred somewhere in that line Research (Lalande, 1982; Hendrickson, 1980; Walz, 1982) and practice suggest that an optimal method of marking a paper is indirect (using symbols or other marks) rather than direct (rewriting for the student) Ferris & Roberts (2001) and Foin & Lange (2007) found that long-term immigrant students had a much higher success rate of correcting marked errors (77 – 81%) versus unmarked errors (32%) Ways to Locate and Identify the Error In the example sentences below, you will see several ways, depending on the type of error, to locate and identify ESL sentence errors, using a method that is designed to be user-friendly for the student In this system, the error is identified at its location rather than simply being indicated at the end of a line of text or just underscored Write the grading symbol over the error vt I am a student here at UC Davis since 1991 Underline the error and write the grading symbol over the error You can also choose to underline just the part of the word that is incorrect vt I am a student here at UC Davis since 1991 sv They reads as many books as they can after school Underline the error and put the symbol in the middle of the set of words if the error involves several words cond cond If Kennedy did not visit Dallas in 1963, he might not be assassinated as he was at the time Underlining is effective when the error involves several words together, such as several words in a verb phrase or two connectors in a sentence that not work together 17 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Put in brackets the part containing the error and place the symbol over the group of words where the most significant problem is located if an error involves a large number of words or even the whole sentence ss Astronauts need to be prepared for every obstacle [that could encounter in space.] The example sentences above suggest ways to locate and identify sentence-level errors on paper However, you may choose to respond to papers online If you are using track changes, we suggest you insert the editing symbol after the error where it will automatically appear in color Whether or not you also underline the error, highlight it, or put it in brackets is a choice you can make Even though I emigrated from Vietnam to the United States 15 years ago, event s/pl from my childhood had always remained vt in my memory Those unforgetful wc= unforgettable events become vt=present perfect a wonderful reminder of my past and have enable vt me to remember my country of origin Notice also a suggested way to enter a correction if you feel, in some cases, that the student needs to be given the correction or further information about it D What Are the Benefits of Using Editing Symbols to Locate and Identify Errors? Engaging Students in a Discovery Process Marking errors systematically with symbols in the ways suggested above helps make error analysis a discovery process in which students take an active role in analyzing their own problems with errors Each student must take the responsibility to learn what the symbols mean, discover exactly what his or her particular errors are, and then take the steps needed to reduce those errors Offering the Students Consistency Students learn much more efficiently when you are using the same set of grading symbols on all papers throughout the term Applying this type of consistency throughout a program is very helpful for students since each term they would be working with symbols they have already seen as they move through classes in a writing program 18 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved E When Should You Mark Sentence-Level Errors? On early drafts, the primary focus of feedback should be on content, although some instructors may choose to mark those frequent errors that interfere with understanding (global errors) or note in an end comment that one type of error is prevalent throughout the draft On later drafts, as well as on graded papers, if there are few problems in organization and development, marking a number of sentence-level errors is entirely appropriate However, while attending to errors in a student’s paper, always ensure that the focus on errors does not detract from the primary focus, the content of the paper F How Can Tutors or Peers Help in Responding to Sentence-Level Errors? Other readers, including tutors and peers, can also take an active part in indicating or marking errors that need attention Tutor training, even just as little as a one-hour workshop, will enable tutors to confidently use at least part of the systematic approach described here in helping students work on errors Students in peer response groups can also help one another locate sentence errors in drafts; however, this is best done only after peer response to content You can guide the peer response in stages—first content, then sentence errors Part Editing Symbols, Example Sentences, Sample Paper, and Completed Error Awareness Sheet In the student text, in Appendix B, pp 338 – 342, are the editing symbols with example sentences These are in alphabetical order In this chart, you will find that the editing symbols are in the order of the units themselves This chart is for your reference but also may be used in teaching the symbols to your students Examples of Global Errors—(more serious, usually interfere with understanding) Symbol Explanation Example Sentence vt verb tense incorrect verb tense vt I am a student here at Princeton since 1998 Page in Student Text 19 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Symbol Explanation Example Sentence Page in Student Text 32 vf verb form verb incorrectly formed Unlike me, Khan Duong did not vf received any training in English when she was in Vietnam modal modal incorrect use or formation of a modal Chinese people think that a stranger who greets you without modal any reason must has some bad intentions 58 cond conditional incorrect use or formation of conditional sentence cond If Kennedy did not visit Dallas in 1963, he cond might not be assassinated 80 pass passive incorrect formation or use of the passive voice If a student pass overcomes by his financial problems, he or she cannot concentrate on studying pass A power failure was occurred last night in the dorms 104 cl clause incorrect use or formation of a dependent clause In the dining hall, I was served some food cl [which I had never seen them before.] 124 ss sentence structure Incorrect sentence structure ss 158 [When we meet new people and start living in a totally new environment are scary.] 20 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Symbol Explanation Example Sentence wo word order incorrect or awkward word order Students have to ask themselves [what wo courses are they going to take.] conn connector incorrect or missing connecting word(s) Even though she became deeply involved in her work conn again, but she was still energetic and driven Page in Student Text 178 200 Examples of Local Errors—(less serious, distracting, yet usually not impede understanding) Symbol Explanation Example Sentence sv subject-verb agreement incorrect subject-verb agreement What I saw when I came out of the airport five months sv ago were totally different from what I expected art article incorrect or missing article Students may like mathematics because art it is straightforward subject s/pl singular/plural With this Incorrect singular or plural sophisticated s/pl of a noun or equipments… adjective The two most s/pl important reason… Page in Student Text 220 238 256 21 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Symbol Explanation Example Sentence Page in Student Text 270 wc word choice incorrect word choice I think it is only wise to take advantage of the technology that is wc possible to us wf word form incorrect word form Because of my wf confident in speaking English, I have made a great many friends in Boston 284 prep preposition incorrect use of a preposition Living in an apartment is difficult if you are prep not happy of your roommates 302 Two other useful symbols you will need when marking an ESL paper: Symbol Explanation Example Sentence nonidiom nonidiomatic not expressed this way in English [It takes one’s nonidiom courage in both hands] to leave his family and start life all over again in another country unclear unclear message not clear Unlike Hong Kong, the streets here are busy yet quiet, and [only solitude cars unclear are on their wheels.] Page in Student Text 328 330 Example of a Sample Marked Paper Example of a Filled-Out Error Awareness Sheet for the Sample Marked Paper 22 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Part 4: Combining Response to Content and Response to Sentences in an End Comment This part explains how to combine response to content and to sentence-level features in an end comment that summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of the paper Along with responding to content and to sentence-level features, instructors may also need to assign grades to student papers First we will cover how to determine grades on student papers, in particular how to determine the effect of sentence-level errors on the grade of a paper Then, we will explain how to write full end comments that incorporate the grade (if needed), along with response to content and sentences A Determining the Effect of ESL Sentence-Level Errors on the Grade of a Paper The task of assigning grades to papers is often the most challenging aspect of responding to ESL papers, which often not fit neatly into any one grade category Instead, ESL papers can often be strong in terms of content, yet weak in terms of sentence-level features, leaving it up to the instructor to decide how to weigh the strengths and weaknesses of these two aspects of the paper in determining the grade While content is of primary importance in judging a paper, ESL sentence errors should still be taken into consideration since these errors, when local (less serious), can be highly distracting to the reader and, even more important, when global (more serious) can impede the reader’s understanding of the writer’s ideas To help you decide just how much weight to give ESL sentence errors in determining the grade of a paper, consider these questions Are the sentence errors global or local? Global errors, even when infrequent, usually affect the grade of a paper, while local errors most likely affect the grade only if they are frequent Yet, the exact effect of both global and local errors on the grade will vary depending on whether the student is, for example, at the beginning levels of an ESL language program or at the higher levels of a native-speaker composition program Clearly, the needs of students in these different types of writing classes may differ as well as the demands for accuracy; these differences must be considered in assigning grades Moreover, an instructor teaching a group of students studying English only for the summer in an intensive English program, for example, may choose not to grade these students as strictly as a class of students preparing to graduate work at an American university or preparing to take the TOEFL Test 23 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Do sentence-level errors dominate the paper? Deciding whether or not sentence-level errors dominate the paper also helps in determining how much effect the sentence-level errors have on the grade While it is usually easy to assign a high grade to a paper with strong organization and development and few serious ESL errors or a low grade to a paper in which serious ESL errors make the paper largely incomprehensible, the most problematic paper to grade is the one with frequent ESL errors but strong organization and development In a paper in which the errors dominate, the errors are so distracting that you will be highly aware of them while reading This sense of frequent distraction will build until the overall effect at the end of the paper is that the paper is dominated by ESL errors, however strong the content may be The reader’s attention is continuously drawn to sentence errors rather than to the ideas the writer is expressing The difficulty in determining a grade on this type of paper is that the paper is unbalanced; it has strong content but weak sentences Therefore, the grade may more closely reflect the domination of errors rather than strengths in content Would a split grade be best for a paper? Some instructors resolve the dilemma of weighing both content and sentences by assigning two grades to a paper, one for content and one for sentences The benefit of this method is that the student is rewarded for what he or she has done well The drawback is that the student may get the impression that content and sentences are distinct, rather than two entities which function together to make up a piece of writing Also, the student receiving a split grade may rejoice in the “A” and ignore the “D,” thus not seeing the necessity of working on the weaknesses in his or her writing Therefore, many program administrators advise that instructors decide on a single grade, rather than give a split grade to a paper Note: Your department or program may have written grading standards which provide instructors with criteria they can use to assign grades as consistently as possible to ESL papers within a class or across several classes in a program B Writing End Comments That Incorporate Response to Content, Response to Sentence-Level Features, and Justification of the Grade In addition to responding to content and sentence-level features in the margins or within the text of a paper, you will usually want to summarize your overall response to content and language in an end comment There you can summarize the strengths and weaknesses of a paper in terms of both content and sentence-level features You can also, if appropriate, suggest strategies for revision to the student 24 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved A response to the final draft of a paper will probably include: response to content; response to sentence-level features; and the grade (if the paper is being graded), as well as some justification of the grade Including response to content in the end comment In the end comment, you should respond first to the content of a paper because, as noted earlier, content is ultimately the most important part of the paper Keep in mind the benefits, discussed in Section 2, of establishing a positive affective climate by first responding positively as an interested reader and then pointing out weaknesses in content, including organization and development Including response to sentences in the end comment Next, you will want to respond to the sentence-level features of a paper Keep the following guidelines in mind: a Balance positive and negative feedback on sentences Whenever possible, give both positive and negative feedback on sentences Perhaps begin or end the sentence-level comment with positive feedback, such as “You have made excellent progress in controlling your verb tenses in this paper.” In giving negative feedback on sentences, your aim is to draw the student’s attention to his or her most serious and frequent errors Even if you have marked sentence-level errors on the paper itself, in most cases you will still want to draw the student’s attention only to the most serious and frequent errors in the end comment Doing this helps the student know which errors he or she should begin working on first b Indicate the effect of sentence-level errors on the grade If sentence-level errors significantly weaken a paper and thus affect the grade, you should make this fact clear to the student Likewise, if a student has significantly improved his or her sentence-level work, whether from earlier drafts or from previous papers, point out this improvement, noting its general effect on the grade, if appropriate Including the grade, and perhaps some justification of the grade, in the end comment To help a student see exactly what he or she needs to work on and also to avoid disputes over grades, you may need to justify the grade you have assigned to a paper in the end comment You may, for example, want to emphasize that weaknesses in content have caused a particular paper to fall below the passing mark or that sentence25 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved level errors have caused the grade to drop significantly In these cases, it is always best to be as specific and forthright as possible in identifying those weaknesses that have had the most significant effect on the grade It is equally important to point out exactly what has made a paper receive a high grade In this case, a clear focus on the student’s strengths enables the student to build on these strengths For instance, if a student becomes conscious of his or her ability to use effective specific details, he or she will be motivated to continue using them in future writing If you are using written grading standards, you may wish to further justify the grade on a paper by quoting appropriate phrases or sentences from the grading standards or by attaching a copy of the grading standards with the appropriate areas highlighted In the two sample end comments that follow, you will see how an instructor has incorporated response to both content and sentence-level features on two different papers—one a very effective paper and the other a weaker paper Note that, in each of these end comments, the instructor refers to the grade on the paper, making it clear to the student why the paper has been assigned either a high or a low grade Sample End Comment In the following end comment, the instructor incorporates response to both content and sentence-level features The instructor also justifies a high grade to the student Your analysis of how your father and mother helped you develop a love of learning was very nicely done The specifics you used about how your father’s guitar playing made you want to learn to play it put the reader right in the living room with your mother and you The earlier draft of this paper had problems in verb tense shifting that made it hard for the reader to know whether you were talking about the past or present In this final draft, verb tenses are used effectively The scattered errors in singular and plural of nouns and word form are few and usually not distract the reader Keep up the good work in editing your papers for verb tense and verb form errors! As you can see from the high grade on this paper, your careful job of revising both for content and language resulted in a very effective paper I enjoyed reading it Sample End Comment In the following end comment, the instructor incorporates response to content and sentence-level features The instructor also justifies a low grade to the student 26 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved In this essay you make several very strong points about the topic of suicide— about the pain of family and friends left behind and about the help that is available Several weaknesses in development and sentences, however, keep the essay below the passing mark You stay focused on the thesis of your essay, yet evidence and analysis are lacking on several points Also, frequent global sentencelevel errors (especially verb tense, sentence structure, and unclear sentences) often make it difficult for the reader to understand your good ideas 27 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Section 3: Suggestions for Further Reading The following list is not all inclusive but rather reflects the many publications on responding to second-language writing Many of these books and articles have extensive bibliographies that may be useful for finding further reading on the subject A Books Bates, L., Lane, J., & Lange, E (1993) Writing Clearly: Responding to ESL Compositions Boston: Heinle & Heinle Byrd, P and J.M Reid (1998) Grammar in the composition classroom: Essays on teaching ESL for college-bound students Boston: Heinle & Heinle Campbell, C (1998) Teaching second language writing: Interacting with text Boston: Heinle & Heinle Ferris, D (2002) Treatment of Error in second language writing Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press Ferris, D (2003) Response to student writing: Implications for second language students Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Ferris, D (2009) Teaching college writing to diverse student populations Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press Ferris, D and J S Hedgcock (2005) Teaching ESL composition: Purpose, process, and practice Second Edition Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Goldstein, L (2005) Teacher written commentary in second language writing classrooms Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press Hyland, K and F Hyland (2006) Feedback in second language writing: Contexts and issues Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Kroll, B (Ed.) (1990) Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Leki, I (1992) Understanding ESL writers: a guide for teachers Portsmouth, NH: Boynton Cook B Articles Ashwell, T (2000) Patterns of teacher response to student writing in a multiple-draft composition classroom: Is content feedback followed by form feedback the best method? Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, 267–296 Bitchener, J & Knoch, U (2008) The value of written corrective feedback for migrant and international students Language Teaching Research, 12, 409–431 Bitchener, J & Knoch, U (2009) The value of a focused approach to written corrective feedback ELT Journal 63(3), 204–211 Bitchener, J & Knoch, U (2010a) The contribution of written corrective feedback to language development: A ten month investigation Applied Linguistics, 31, 193–214 28 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Bitchener, J & Knoch, U (2010b) Raising the linguistics accuracy level of advanted L2 writers with written corrective feedback Journal of Second Language Writing, 19, 207–217 Bitchener, J., Young, S., & Cameron, D (2005) The effect of different types of corrective feedback on ESL student writing Journal of Second Language Writing, 14 (3), 191–205 Blanton, L (1987) Reshaping ESL students’ perspectives of writing ELT Journal, 41, 112–118 Celce-Murcia, M (1988) Integrating grammar into the ESL composition class Intensive English Programs TESOL Interest Section Newsletter, (1), 1–3 Chandler, J (2003) The efficacy of various kinds of error feedback for improvement in the accuracy and fluency of L2 student writing Journal of Second Language Writing, 12 (3), 267–296 Cohen, A.D (1987) Student processing of feedback on their compositions In A Wenden & J Rubin (Eds.), Learner strategies in language learning (pp 57–69) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Cumming, A (1989) Writing expertise and second-language proficiency Language Learning, 39, 81–141 Ferris, D.R (1995a) Can advanced ESL students be taught to correct their most serious and frequent errors? CATESOL Journal, (1), 41–62 Ferris, D.R (1995c) Teaching students to self-edit TESOL Journal, (4), 18–22 Ferris, D.R (1999b) One size does not fit all: Response and revision issues for immigrant student writers In L Harklau, K Losey, & M Siegal (Eds.), Generation 1.5 meets college composition (pp 143–157) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Ferris, D.R (2004) The “Grammar Correction” Debate in L2 Writing: Where are we, and where we go from here? (and what we in the meantime…?”) Journal of Second Language Writing, 13, 49-62 Ferris, D.R et al (2011) Responding to L2 students in college writing classes: Teacher perspectives TESOL Quarterly, 28, 207-234 Hedgcock, J., & Lefkowitz, N (1994) Feedback on feedback: Assessing learner receptivity to teacher response in L2 composing Journal of Second Language Writing, 3, 141–163 Hillocks, G., Jr (1986) Research on written composition: New directions for teaching Urbana, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on reading and Communication Skills and the National Conference on Research in English Janopoulos, M (1992) University faculty tolerance of NS and NNS writing errors: A comparison Journal of Second Language Writing, 1(2), 109–121 Kroll, B (1990) What does time buy? ESL student performance on home versus class compositions In B Kroll (Ed.), Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom (pp 140–154) New York: Cambridge University Press Leki, I (1991) The preferences of ESL students for error correction in college-level writing classes Foreign Language Annals, 24, 203–218 McGirt , J.D (1984) The effect of morphological and syntactic errors on the holistic scores of native and non-native compositions Unpublished M.A thesis in TESL, University of California, Los Angeles Polio, C., Fleck, C., & Leder, N (1998) “If only I had more time”: ESL learners’ changes in linguistic accuracy on essay revisions Journal of Second Language Writing, 7, 43–68 29 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Reid, J (1998) “Eye” learners and “ear” learners: Identifying the language needs of international student and US resident writers In P Byrd & J.M Reid (Eds.), Grammar in the composition classroom: Essays on teaching ESL for college-bound students (pp 3-17) Boston: Heinle & Heinle Robb, T., Ross, S & Shortreed, I (1986) Salience of feedback on error and its effect on EFL writing quality TESOL Quarterly, 20, (1), 83 – 95 Roberge, M (2005) Symposium on multilingual student writers: working with Generation 1.5 student writers in our college classrooms UC Berkeley, February 26 Santos, T (1988) Professors’ reactions to the academic writing of nonnative-speaking students TESOL Quarterly, 22 (1), 69–90 Truscott, J (1996) Review article: The case against grammar correction in L2 writing classes Language Learning 46 (2), 327–369 Truscott, J (1999) The case for “the case for grammar correction in L2 writing classes”: A response to Ferris Journal of Second Language Writing 8, 111–122 Vann, R.J., Meyer, D.E., & Lorenz, F.O (1984) Error gravity: A study of faculty opinion of ESL errors TESOL Quarterly, 18(3), 427-440 C Works Cited Beavens, M.H (1977) Individualized goal setting, self-evaluation, and peer evaluation In C.R Cooper and L Odell, eds., Evaluating writing: Describing, measuring, judging Urbana, Ill.: NCTE Beebe, L (1988) Issues in second language acquisition New York: Newbury House Burt, M.K (1975) Error analysis in the adult EFL classroom TESOL Quarterly, 9(1): 53– 63 Burt, M K., & Kiparsky, C (1972) The gooficon: A repair manual for English Rowley, MA: Newbury House Cardelle, M., & L Corno (1981) Effects on second language learning of variations in written feedback on homework assignments TESOL Quarterly, 15(3): 251–261 Cohen, A.D., & M Cavalcanti (1990) Feedback on compositions: Teacher and student verbal reports In B Kroll, ed., Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom New York: Cambridge University Press Connor, U., & R Kaplan, Eds (1987) Writing across language: Analysis of L2 text Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Conrad, S M & Goldstein, L M (1999) ESL student revision after teacher-written comments: Text, context, and individuals Journal of Second Language Writing, (2), 147–179 Fathman, A., & Whalley, E (1990) Teacher response to student writing: Focus on form versus content In B Kroll (Ed.), Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom (pp 178–190) New York: Cambridge University Press Ferris, D.R (1995b) Student reactions to teacher response in multiple-draft composition classrooms TESOL Quarterly, 29, 33–53 Ferris, D.R (1997) The influence of teacher commentary on student revision TESOL Quarterly, 31, 315–339 30 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Ferris, D.R & Roberts, B (2001) Error feedback in L2 writing classes: How explicit does it need to be? Journal of Second Language Writing, 10, 161–184 Foin, A.T & Lange, E (2007) Generation 1.5 Writers’ Success in Correcting Errors Marked on an Out-of-Class Paper CATESOL Journal, 19 (1), 146–163 Gregg J (1986) Contrastive rhetoric: An exploration of Chinese and American expository patterns Temple University Working Papers in Composition, 1–18 Hendrickson, J.M (1980) The treatment of error in written work Modern Language Journal, 64, 216–221 Hyland, F & Hyland, K (2001) Sugaring the pill: Praise and criticism in written feedback Journal of Second Language Writing, 10, 185–212 Koreo, K (1988) Language habits of the Japanese English Today, IV(3): 19–25 Krashen, S (1982) Principles and practice in second language acquisition New York: Pergamon Lalande, J (1982) Reducing composition errors: An experiment Modern Language Journal, 66, 140–149 Leki, I (1990) Coaching from the margins In B Kroll, ed., Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom New York: Cambridge University Press Meyers, M (1985) The teacher-researcher: How to study writing in the classroom Urbana, Ill: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills and the National Council of Teachers of English Montgomery, J.L & Baker, W (2007) Teacher-written feedback: Student perceptions, teacher self-assessment, and actual teacher performance Journal of Second Language Writing, 16, 82–89 Radecki, P & Swales, J (1988) ESL student reaction to written comments on their written work System, 16(3), 355–365 Reid, J (1992) Helping students write for an academic audience In R Richard-Amato and M Snow, eds., The multi-cultural classroom: Readings for content-area teachers White Plains, N.Y.: Longman Walz, J.C (1982) Error correction techniques for the foreign language classroom Language in Education, Theory, and Pactice, NO 50 ERIC Document Reproduction Service No ED 217704 FLO 12967 31 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved [...]... students write for an academic audience In R Richard-Amato and M Snow, eds., The multi-cultural classroom: Readings for content-area teachers White Plains, N.Y.: Longman Walz, J.C (1982) Error correction techniques for the foreign language classroom Language in Education, Theory, and Pactice, NO 50 ERIC Document Reproduction Service No ED 217704 FLO 12967 31 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third... in-class essay written by a student in an intermediate-level university writing course for multilingual writers Preparation for the assignment included reading and discussing an article on the amount of time children in the U.S spend watching television and on the types of programs they watch The writer of this 12 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle,... Page in Student Text 4 19 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Symbol Explanation Example Sentence Page in Student Text 32 vf verb form verb incorrectly formed Unlike me, Khan Duong did not vf received any training in English when she was in Vietnam modal modal incorrect use or formation of a modal Chinese... sentences) often make it difficult for the reader to understand your good ideas 27 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Section 3: Suggestions for Further Reading The following list is not all inclusive but rather reflects the many publications on responding to second-language writing Many of these books... preventing him or her from 11 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved developing the skills needed to read his or her own writing critically and to progress as a writer D When in the Writing Process Should You Give Feedback on Content? You have several options on when during the writing process to respond... may, for example, want to emphasize that weaknesses in content have caused a particular paper to fall below the passing mark or that sentence25 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved level errors have caused the grade to drop significantly In these cases, it is always best to be as specific and forthright... grading symbols on all papers throughout the term Applying this type of consistency throughout a program is very helpful for students since each term they would be working with symbols they have already seen as they move through classes in a writing program 18 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved E When... and NNS writing errors: A comparison Journal of Second Language Writing, 1(2), 109–121 Kroll, B (1990) What does time buy? ESL student performance on home versus class compositions In B Kroll (Ed.), Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom (pp 140–154) New York: Cambridge University Press Leki, I (1991) The preferences of ESL students for error correction in college-level writing. .. Writing, 7, 43–68 29 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition, Instructor’s Manual Copyright © Heinle, a Part of Cengage Learning All rights reserved Reid, J (1998) “Eye” learners and “ear” learners: Identifying the language needs of international student and US resident writers In P Byrd & J.M Reid (Eds.), Grammar in the composition classroom: Essays on teaching ESL for college-bound students... identifying it with an editing symbol Each type of error listed in the chart on pp 338 – 342 in the student text and in the chart in Part 3 of this section is identified by a brief abbreviation or editing symbol Using these symbols will enable you to mark sentence errors quickly—yet clearly—so that students, with a little practice, can easily see the error 16 Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing, Third Edition,