Grammar Girl

I first saw Grammar Girl a few months ago on the news. What do you think about this idea? Watch the clip and let me know if you think it is as great as I do!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWFCMOo0Wis

Iconica

The text The Language of Ionica describes the use of symbols as a language. The author writes about the growth of Ionica from the time of cavemen to modern times.
The different elements are described:
(a) REAL: natural forms
(b) SYNTHETIC: ideal archetypes
(c) CODED: information
(d) ABSTRACT: digital abstraction
(e) SUBCONSCIOUS: mind/dreams
(f) METAPHYSICAL: energy
"These elements are the roots of the iconic language,"

The part that surprised me the most was when the author talked about the use of a grammatical system. For some reason, I thought there was no grammar system and everyone who used symbols as a form of language talked like cavemen. Now, I know differently.

Von'Dragas Smalley's New Thread

William Shakespeare's use of language is, arguably, the best in English history in terms of plays and poetry. As a dramatist playwright and poet Shakespeare redefined the performance of plays with his language alone. His plays have been translated in every major living language. Popular belief among philosophers suggest that no new ideas exist. Critiques of Shakespeare have been around so long, that some critical historians believe that eventually no new material will be able to be written or produced about Shakespeare. Thus, Shakespeare will eventually not be taught in classrooms; and subsequently his legacy will die out. Do you agree with this perspective?

Alternatives to the Error Hunt

Helping students revise and edit their work, during the writing process, allows them to learn from their mistakes and eliminate the number of errors that are made in their writing. Thus, Weaver takes a constructivist stance on errors, and believes that errors can be used as a tool for teaching. First, Weaver suggest that teachers give students plenty of time to read during school. This suggestion enforces the assumption that the more a student reads the more familiar the student becomes with discourse associated with that discipline. Thus, is is wise that students use reading time and quick quizzes to get well acquainted with grammar and style. This can also limit the amount of plagiarism that can accidentally happen among students. Next, Weaver insist that teachers make sure students have plenty of time for all phases of the writing process. Reviewing literature review on the discipline, or having students read from a number of different authors on the same topic, is essential for students during the self editing process. Therefore, students will feel that their audience is more public. Teachers should also develop and collect resources that are useful for editing, such as editing checklist. The editing checklist serves as a model for students to follow, which leads directly into Weaver's next suggestion. The author suggest that teachers provide students with a model of what is expected so that students can follow a template for the assignment and have a higher chance for success. Teachers can help students help themselves, by creating peer editing workshops. If the teacher finds that a large number of students are making the same grammatical mistakes, then mini lessons should be taught to the entire class. Teachers should also hold mini-conferences with students to point out what matters need special attention within that particular student's writing. Weaver ends this section of the book by giving teachers some suggestions on how to approach responding to errors in the final draft. The suggestions are the teachers should not do anything about the remaining errors, respond only to selected kinds of errors, or put check in the margin of lines where there is an error and invite the student to correct the errors. Nonetheless, Weaver's approach to using errors as motivation for tutorial materials takes a constructivist stance very common today in American education.

School House Rock---

I thought this was pretty funny! It is a Mad TV version of School House Rock.

ESL Games and Quizzes

This is a cool website for ESL teachers to visit and get great ideas from. The website includes games ranging from elementary to advance. Their are also quizzes for ESL students to practice their newly acquired language skills and such. Play a game and let me know what you think about the overall layout of the site. To visit the website you will have to copy and paste the website URL into the address bar of your current PC.
Peace. One.


http://www.teflgames.com/games.html

The Tower of Babel...

The Tower of Babel and the Teaching of Grammar: Writing Instruction for the Twentieth Century is written by Amy Martinson. She speaks on four separate yet correlating subtopics.
1) What is grammar?
2) Why have we moved away from grammar
as part of writing instruction?
3)What are some of the differing opinions, past and present, regarding grammar as it
relates to writing instruction?
4) Does grammar have a place in the writing
classroom of the new century? If so, where?

Martinson provides three different definations to grammar. Grammar 1 suggests, "grammar to be the 'unconscious knowledge' of language, claiming that all persons who use a language, whether literate or not, know the language or else they could not use it." Grammar 2 on the other hand, "is our conscious knowledge of language, including "concepts, terminology, and analytic techniques for talking about language." Grammar 3 defines grammar under the the claim of Gribbin, " grammar is not really grammar, but is 'linguistic etiquette' or usage." Next, we will discuss 'why has grammar moved away as part of writing instruction.

Why have we moved away from grammar as part of writing instruction? Research claims that formal grammar did not improve writing and could even bring about a 'harmful effect on the improvement in writing'. In fact, teachers tended to switch from 'product' writing to 'process' writing. The trend of a constructive approach started to replace the traditional behavioral approach to teaching. To clarify, the focus in the writing classroom was no longer on the end product, the paper, but on the process by which the paper came to be. 'Product' versus 'process' is a debate which flares differing opinions, past and present, regarding grammar as it relates to grammar.

One anti-grammar view (already mentioned)is by Braddock claiming grammar to be "harmful" to writing development. On the contary, Constance Weaver, author of "Teaching Grammar in the Context of writing," reminds us "that during the Middle Ages grammar was thought to be the foundation of all knowledge, the necessary prerequisite
for understanding theology and philosophy as well as literature." Most will agree that modern research has hindered students to perform their 'grammatical duties' due to a radical belief that it is the 'process' and not the 'product' which is of up most importance. This brings us to our final question, " Does grammar have a place in the writing classroom of the new century? If so, where?"

Grammar is probably the most important aspect of writing instruction and should always remain an intricate part of the classroom. How may one possibly be grammatical literate if they are not provided with proper instruction. This trial and error approach (process) to writing instruction, regarding grammar, should not be an entity on its own but rather a co-contributor to the 'product'. In other words teachers should implement a sequence to writing papers. This sequence is of the following: 1) Outline 2) Rough Draft 3) Revision 4)Peer Editing 5) Final Paper. For the most part high school teachers follow this writing instruction order, and if they do not well they should. This is a very effective writing system and is efficient within the common high school classroom.

I hope you have all gone away with a new perspective to teaching grammar as part of your writing instruction. Your students will be better off.

Prescriptive Grammar of England in the 17th and 18th Centuries

Chapter 2 of Grammar for Grammarians deals with the period of 1642-1700 in England. This period can be called the Prescriptive Period because many 'grammarians' tried to formulate and control the English language. Because England had been in turmoil for most of this period by the 1660s there was a movement to change language and order, regulate, conform, and correct the language and the cultural of the people. The attitudes and interests of the people began to change and they took a new look into the importance of English. They modeled this view from the perfection of Latin since there was a renewed interest in Latin language and Literature in England. Four prominent figures where John Dryden, Daniel Defoe, Johnathon Swift (The author who we made swifties in class the other day), and Samuel Johnson. These figures tried to do three things to English:
1. Standardize it by creating a system of rules for which it had to follow.
2. Refine it by taking away any defects in the language.
3. Ascertain it by making perfect so it will never change and evolve. They did this so that there work would always be understood.
These ideas were good because standarizing the language would make it easier to be taught in schools and more people would be able to speak and understand the language. However refining it and trying to ascertain it would not benefit the language because having the language grow encourages more intellect between scholars. Since this is was the belief of the group they tried to push for an English Academy to monitor the language and create the three rules above. This did not happen however, but there were grammars that were produced that helped understand the difficulties of English.
Although the grammarians of the time did not fully re-order the English language there were leaps and bounds made it its theory and thoughts. Many people began to look into why we have past participle and why it is important to the language. Grammarians were taking a new look into the marvelous language of English!!!!!!

Conjunction Function

This video is a classic 'School of House Rock' production so I thought it would cool to post this as my thread(Plus, it was a part of my mini-lesson). Enjoy! Let me know what you think of the video. Peace. One.

Tom Swifties

Go to the following website and learn what "Tom Swifties" are.

Look at the books from the 1920s for examples.

PROMPT 1:

Get together in groups of 3-4. Go to the following webpage (and other related ones you find yourself). Your group's task is to create a 12-item test for another group that this group has to solve. The group that solves most of the 12 items it gets from another group wins. You need to retype Tom Swifties that you find on the webpage, but you leave out the last word, i.e., the pun, for the group to fill in the blank.

Examples:

1. How do you start a model-T Ford without a battery?" asked Tom _____________ .

(answer: CRANKILY)

2. "I have to wear this cast for another six weeks," said Tom _________________ .

(answer: DISJOINTEDLY)

3. "I'm shocked," said Tom _____________________ .

(answer: ELECTRICALLY)


You should select sentences that people are able to guess, when they think hard.

EMAIL me your 12-item quiz (with solutions). Only one per group, please!


PROMPT 2:

Invent 3 Tom Swifties on your own!!! Publish them as a comment to this blog. If you work in groups, indicate all your names on your blog entry.

Special Languages

TASK 1:

Do a quickwrite as a comment to this blog about the PROMPT:Is it possible to live without numbers? Is it possible to live without words for or sense of time? Is is possible to live without words for colors? Why, or why not? If yes, what would it be like?

TASK 2:

Read the following text. What are the special features of this language? Make a bullet-pointed list with examples in a Word document.

TASK 3:

Do a quickwrite about this philosophical question:

According to the theory of linguist Benjamin Whorf, who died in 1941, "people are only capable of constructing thoughts for which they possess actual words." Do you think this is true? In your opinion, do people first have a concept, and then invent words for it, or do they first need words to create a concept around them?

EMAIL me prompt 2 and 3.

Grammar Tutor

This is actually a very nifty little Web site. I was skeptical at first, but once I began browsing, I realised how cool it is. This site is an online proofreading/ editing site. For those of us who will probably be writing for the rest of our lives, this is awesome, but it would work really nicely for students with major papers that need edited. The company is based out of Australia and charges kind of a lot to actually write a paper for someone, but none of us should care about that anyway. :) However, to proofread they charge $0.037/word. Which, for a small paper wouldn't be that bad. There are also links to a grammar book. It teaches about commas, apostrophes, complex/simple sentences and much more! I think this is an awesome site, what do you think?

ESL Students

I recently have an ESL Student in the class I am observing and I thought this website would be very helpful for an ESL Student. On the website there are games, vocabulary activites, grammar activities, listening activities, poems (even Limericks), songs, sentence patterns, etc. Check it out and let me know what you think.....

Website

Grammarian for Grammarians: Part 1: Prespective Grammar

"This section of the book explores the rules of usage established by the prescriptive grammarians of the 18th century and traces their continuing influence on present-day conceptions of grammar, especially among non-specialists" (8). The first section deals with the Classical Period (500 BC - 500 AD) and centers on the idea that the Greeks and the Romans were the first people to study language. The Greeks were interested in language because they had become aware of other languages through "trade and diplomacy" and the fact that there were many "distinct dialects" in their own language (8). During this time, the Greeks invented the first alphabet that gave each consonant and vowel a symbol. This alphabet was the basis of our own English alphabet. The Greeks were not just interested in the ideas and concepts of language but also the origin of words. Nature vs. convention was one of the main debates during this time; people were trying to figure out if "words imitate nature or do they have an arbitrary relationship to what they represent" (9). A study based on the "order that is found in language" was also being done by the Greeks at this time (9). The Greeks were responsible for the beginnings of the different parts of speech. Plato created the the concept of noun and verb around 400 BC and in 350 BC Aristotle added the idea of a conjunction. In 100 BC Dionysius added "participle, article, pronoun, preposition, and adverb" to the list which gave the Greeks eight different parts of speech. However, in 1761 Joseph Priestley "submitted adjective for participle" in his book The Rudiments of English Grammar (10). Even though the Greeks did many things to advance the study of grammar and language, they were still somewhat in the dark age about three different issues. "First, there was no understanding of the genetic relation among languages, especially between Latin and Greek" (13). "Second there was a fundamental, mistaken belief that any type of language change was a form or language 'decay'" (13). "Third, there arose a mistaken conception that spoken language is secondary to written language; that is, that speech is an imperfect representation of writing" (13). During the Middle Ages (500-1500 AD) the rise of Latin as the "better" language became apparent and became the "primary subject of language study" (14). It was not until the Renaissance (1500-1650) that vernacular languages became a form of writing and study. This was also the time that printing written language was expanding and language easier to obtain and study.

Computational Limericks

This was a very interesting article. The article begins by stating what us as readers might be thinking, which is “ why is this relevant”. Lessard and Levison stated that limericks represent the stage between puns and jokes. In short, unlike crass jokes, these jokes have a loose structure. We are then given three models of limericks.

The first of these is exhaustive generation. The text was a little unclear as to what this entails, but I gathered that this is writing whatever you are thinking, no matter how senseless. I assume that this can clear ones’ mind, and also give a bank of ideas to go back to. The next step is production, followed by backtracking and editing, restricted by a set of rules. The third is multiple constraint satisfaction.. This , as the article states, “ is the production of a text that obeys multiple constraints”.

After we are given a summary of the rules that govern a limerick, we get an explanation of what a limerick actually is. I would rather have this come before the specifics, but I digress. For those that don’t know, ( and trust me, I was a part of this group before I read this article) a limerick is a 5 line poem that is generally humorous. The poem has an aabba rhyme scheme, and lines 1, 2 and 5 have 9 syllables. Lines 3 and 4 have six syllables.

The articles talks in detail about how the limerick is dictated by the rhyme scheme, which I found to be interesting. Obviously any type of set rhyme scheme is self restricting, and it is this restriction that ironically can bring out some pretty creative limericks. As the article states, this rhyme scheme sets about a right to left approach of writing the lyric, where the writer may choose the word that will rhyme first, and then base the rest of the line off of that word. When the Limerick begins, the writer sometimes chooses to make a skeleton of the overall poem. For example, If I was writing one, and was including my name, I would try and compose a list of words that rhyme with Zach ( quack, sack, rack, tack, etc).

The article talks about how most limericks have some lexical similarities within the poem. For example, many of the words could be dealing with the same topic. The example we are given is food preparation, with many of the words having to deal with this topic ( the limerick contains the words roasted, boiled, baked, toasted, stewed). Also there is such a thing as a historical limerick, which generally follows a certain plot structure, if you will. A limerick about the crashing of the Hindenburg would start out with the motivation, the act, the factor that made it crash, and the consequences.

Limericks also deal with a great bit of wordplay. Generally the sound of the word is very important. For example, we are given a limerick about a dog that plays a musical instrument and keeps thieves away. Given its relation to music, we see some clever wordplay on the word bark. Almost anyone vaguely familiar with music knows of Bach, so the limerick states at the end” For its Bach was much worse than its Bite”. All in all, I found this article to be interesting because I didn’t realize that something so seemingly simple could have such complexity.

Limericks

Today, we'll do a group-work CREATIVE WRITING task that deals with rhythm and rhyme of language.

I have emailed you all the works of art of last year's ENGL 300 course.

Let's see if we can exceed them! Go to the following website, and learn about the rhythm and rhyme of limericks.

Then, look at your email and read the examples from last year.

TASK:

Get together in groups of three or four people (maximum), and create your own limerick. Observe the following rules:

1) The rhythm must be correct.
2) The long lines must rhyme.
3) The short lines must rhyme.
4) There must be a pun in it.

No restriction about the topic! Can contain "language," too. After all, limericks allegedly originate from pubs in Ireland...

When you're done, publish your limerick as a comment to this blog entry, and indicate all the names of your group members!

Can one invent a language with a grammar system???

TASK 1: Do a quickwrite (3-5 min.) as a comment to this blog entry about the PROMPT:

"Is is possible to invent a language with a whole new grammar system, which can actually be used for communication by people all over the world?"


TASK 2:
We are going to watch the following film in-class: "The Language Challenge - - Facing up to Reality."

TASK 3:
TOPIC: translation again..... take about 10 minutes to complete this task.Work with a partner and translate the following text into English to the best of your ability:

Patro nia, kiu estas en la ĉielo, Sankta estu Via nomo.
Venu reĝeco Via. Estu volo Via, kiel en la ĉielo, tiel ankaŭ sur la tero.
Panon nian ĉiutagan donu al ni hodiaŭ.
Kaj pardonu al ni ŝuldojn niajn, kiel ni ankaŭ pardonas al niaj ŝuldantoj.
Ne konduku nin en tenton, sed liberigu nin de la malvera:
Ĉar Via estas la regado, la forto, kaj la gloro eterne.


TASK 4:
Open the following file. Read along with the text (original and English translation) while we are hearing the sound file on the smartboard computer.

PROMPT: Email me the following answers in essay format. If you don't get done in class, it will be homework for Wednesday.

1) How much would you understand if you just heard the spoken version?
2) If you understood something, what was the reason for that? If you didn't, what was the reason for that?
3) Would it take you longer or shorter to learn this language than to learn German, French, Spanish, or another languague like these? Explain.
4) Do you think it has a future? Explain.
5) Could you create something like this? If you had to, how would you proceed; whom/what would you involve, what would it be like?


LAST EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY: (Due date: Friday this week)

If you still need to make up for an unexcused missed day, or for homework/blog comments, write a 2 page essay about the history and development of this language! You can use the Internet for sources, but you have to quote accordingly in correct MLA or APA format.

OR:

Write a paper of the same length about other languages like that!

Joker: English translation of an Indian song

Go to the following Youtube file and read the subtitles of the "English translation of an Indian song."

:-) This is just MY new thread; you don't have to comment on it!

How important is grammar when grading English Papers?

If you are an English major or have had a few English classes, you have most likely realized that each instructor is different. A paper you reeive an A on in one class might earn you a C in another. Some instructors will lower your letter grade with every 3 grammatical errors they find in your papers. Other instructors focus more on content then mechanics. Personaly, I think that content is always more important than mechanics. I think the abillity to craft a well formulated argument with plenty of relevent evidence and a proper format and flow is much more important then a few grammatical errors. What type of relation should content and grammar have in an English class? I am a content person, but I've known professors that are anal about mechanics. Which are you? :)

Mission of Writing Centers Blog Summary

The article decsribes the three types of customers they see: first time patrons, return students, and referred students. It also explains how a tutors job is to use minimalist tutoring, and should avoid becoming an editor for the students. They stress the need to ask the students questions about their papers such as: "What concerns do you have?" The job of a tutor is to educate the student on proper writing techniques and help them become better writers. As a tutor, you might edit a first time student's paper, but only if you inform them to make an appointment in advance next time and come prepared with specific questions and concerns. A returning student should come prepared and be ready to answer questions about his paper as well as learn how to improve. Tutors may also hand out or refer writing manuals and guides to the students. A referred student is someone who has been refered to the writing center by a faculty member. These students will most likely need some serious work on mechanics(grammar) or even proper structure for papers and how to formulate a well developed thesis. The article also discusses the use of technology in the internet age. Tutors must realize and educate themselves on various ways of cummincating via technology. Word processing programs, e-mail, and blogs are examples of the various ways in which the world communicates or uses technology in writing today.

In-Class, April 18: Grammar, Syntax, and Translations

Today, we are going to investigate in how far a TRANSLATOR is able to remain "close to the text" (literal translations), or has to transcribe (free translation) the content of the original text.

TASK 1:
Do a short freewrite about WHAT IS BETTER: TO TRANSLATE AS LITERALLY AS POSSIBLE, OR TO SAY IT ACCORDING TO YOUR OWN LANGUAGE'S CUSTOMS AND IDIOMS, THUS LOSING PARTS OF THE ORIGINAL TEXT AND THE AUTHOR'S STYLE?

Publish your quickwrite on this blog as a comment.


TASK 2: Read the texts (6 pages) in the following Translations">Picasa slide show.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Click on the first SMALL one of the six images you see. Then, click on the MAGNIFYING GLASS symbol on your right side (because the original texts are very small). When you've enlargened the image with the magnifying glass, pull the page up and down with the cursor, so you're able to read the whole page.

When you've read the six pages, answer the following essay questions, and EMAIL THEM TO ME:

1) What do you think about the different translations of the same original text from Homer? Which one is your favorite?

2) What are the reasons for different translations of the same text?

3)If you translated a text, what would influence you, and what would you try to do?

4) Do you think human translators will ever become unnecessary?

5) What would you prefer to read - books in their original versions, or as an English translation?

6) Can there be a perfect translation?

7) for extra credit (makes up for one missed blog response from the past): Find an online translation engine, and email me a long German sentence of at least 10 words that you translated from English, and which you think I can understand.

In-Class, April 16: Writing Centers and Tutors

For those who have not yet done so: read the blog summary about MINIMALIST TUTORING first.

Then, either pick one partner, or work by yourself:

Your TASK 1 is to read the following ERIC document, "How to Communicate Politely and be a Tutor, Too" by Therese Tonus.

Answer the following three questions in written form:

1) How should Writing Center tutors behave?
2) Which mistakes do Writing Center tutors make? (with examples)
3) Which compromises do Writing Center tutors have to make?

Email the answers to me. If you have worked with a partner, write both your names in the email.


TASK 2: (individual work)
Pretend you are a tutor at the Writing Center.
Go to Purdue's website "Exercises for Eliminating Wordiness." Do the assignments on this site (first, rewrite the sample sentences, eliminating redundancies and repetitions, thus shortening them. Then, rewrite the story about mysteries in a short and precise way.) Email me your shortened sentences and story (this will be HOMEWORK for next Monday if you don't get done in class).

TASK 3:
If you get done early with the assignments, answer to the newly published blog threads by your peers.

Free Rice

I was watching the news and saw a piece on this website and thought we should all try it out in class!!!! The goal of the website is to give you 4 clues to a word and when you guess the word right the website donates grains of rice to a third world country. If you get 4 words right then 1 person gets enough rice to live on for 1 day!!! Imagine if everyone in the United States answered one word a day?????


FREE RICE

Online Teaching

Recently, online teaching has become very popular. Students are no longer attending classrooms, instead they stay home every day and learn through their online courses on the computer. What are some advantages/disadvantages to this? Do you think this is an overall good idea? How will it affect students and teachers?

Minimalist Tutoring

Video Summary

Minimalist tutoring makes a lot of sense to me. The students go to the writing center to get help with their writing. The goal of the tutors there is to get the students to write on their own. To facilitate this they have them start writing as soon as they get there. If student has specific questions they answer them but in a way that encourages learning. They will not give the student the answer but help them find it out for themselves. If the student gets stuck, the tutors will ask them probing question in an attempt to stimulate the student’s ideas. The idea is to get the student to write the paper themselves. This way they do not get Dependant on the tutors but eventually don’t need them anymore. Most of what the tutors do is encourage the students to think that they are capable of writing. Low self efficacy is the biggest problem that they deal with. The students also need help getting their ideas on paper in a cohesive manner. Sometimes they have read the material but don’t have a starting place. These students often times just need a little push in the right direction. These tutors are doing the same things for these students that my parents did for me. Minimalist tutoring seems to be a great way to help students learn to write proficiently.

Bryan Norbut

Commas

Amy Mckenzie's New Thread

One of my high school English teachers told me that it was pointless for teachers to teach their students pure grammar. She believed that doing so was a waste of time because students may be able to fill out worksheets but the next day they would not be able to apply what they had learned in their writing. At the time I thought she was right but now that I am writing a lot more papers, I wish I knew more about grammar and think that it would be helpful. What do you think?

Second Language?

Many people have said that it is integral to your education to learn a second language. The arguments range from it helping the learner better understand the grammar of their native language to helping them better understand a different culture and thus encourage diversity. I have been encouraged from a very young age to learn a second and them third language. This encouragement has come from teachers and friends and my parents. It is also apparent that SIU agrees with them because it has made it a requirement for students to study a second language. What do you think? Is it important to learn a second language? Does it help you to understand grammar? Does it encourage diversity? Is it really worth all of the work? Are there other reasons why it would be beneficial to learn a new language?

In-Class, April 14: Peer-Edit Session

For our peer-editing session today about the research package, fill in all the points on the peer editor's sheet, and also look for:

HOC (Higher Order Concerns; i.e., organization, format, ideas, logic, content, etc.)
and
LOC (Lower Order Concerns; i.e., grammar, spelling, punctuation, text flow, etc.).

You're allowed to write on the original paper (in a different color, please). In case you're peer-editing an electronic version instead of a paper copy, you have to insert electronic comments, and you also need to fill in the peer editor's sheet electronically.

At the end of the lesson, give your peer the edited paper back, and staple your editor's sheet at the back. Your peer has to hand in his/her editor's sheet together with the final paper. I WON'T ACCEPT ANY FINAL PAPER WITHOUT THE EDITOR'S SHEET. If you've peer edited an electronic version in class today, you can fill in the sheet electronically (you already have it in an email), too. Just make sure your peer can print it out and attach it to his/her final essay.

When you're done with peer-editing, you can fill in the remaining blog entries, and already begin with the readings for the next blog summaries indicated in the blog below (and also emailed to you).

last blog summary texts

The following are the texts for the blog summaries that still have to be done this semester:

Daniel Colcord: Look at the following website and describe the mission of Writing Centers, the typical kind of students they receive as “customers,” and the best practices of Writing Center tutors. Prompt for the others: What is your personal opinion about the “best practices”?

Bryan Norbut: Watch the video (interview of Writing Center tutors) on the following website, and explain what “minimalist tutoring” is. Are you in favor of it, or against it? What would the contrary be?

John Lynch: Summarize pp. 150-157, chapters “Teaching Grammar via Mini-lessons” through “Mini-Lessons as a Reflection of the Cognitive/Constructivist Paradigm,” from the Weaver book Teaching Grammar in Context.

Von Smalley: Read pp. 87-101, “Teaching Final Revision and Editing/Proofreading” from the Weaver book Teaching Grammar in Context, and offer your personal opinion about “hands-off policy” and “benign neglect.”

Jessica Berry: Summarize aspects from pp. 8-20, “Part I: Prescriptive Grammar” from the Parker/Riley book, Grammar for Grammarians. It deals with the history of grammar from the classical period over the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Alison Romershausen: Summarize aspects from pp. 21-35, “The Prescriptive Period” from the Parker/Riley book, Grammar for Grammarians. It deals with grammar in 17th-19th century England.

If there's anybody who has not published a blog summary yet, and is not on this list, this is the time to contact me and get your topic!

Inclusion of Students with Special Needs: Teaching and Learning

It can be difficult enough to teach students in a class when they have minor learning differences, but when you add a student who has a special need or mental disorder it can add to the complication. When it comes to teaching language or grammar in your class, how would you cope with a student in your class who has special needs? How would you balance out your lesson to include the students with special needs and the students who are at normal standards? To go along with this idea, how would you incorporate students into your lesson who are gifted or advanced learners?

This link has useful tips and ideas on how to teach students with special needs and how to include them in a normal classroom setting.

In-Class, April 9: Fry Graph for Readability

In-Class activity:

A) Watch the Youtube file "One Semester of Spanish Love Song."
Do a quickwrite of 100 words or more about the prompt: "What did you learn about teaching an L2 language from the Youtube file 'One Semester of Spanish Love Song'?"

B)Today - while we are awaiting the survey results coming in - we are going to assess our own personal READABILITY level measured by the Fry graph.

The reading of the handout which was due today explained who Fry was, what the graph assesses, how the procedure goes, and what readability really is. You also have the blog summary which gives you a detailed account.

Now, your TASK is to create your own Fry graph. Use the following link to review the procedure, and draw a colored bullet on the handout I gave you at the place where your own readability score lies.

For this assessment, you will need three 100-words-samples of your previous writing.

Where do we get those from?

1) Your first 100-words-sample will be one of your previously published blog comments. Just cut any of your comments out of the blog, paste it into words, and cut it off after having counted 100 words. Then, perform the steps mentioned on your handout from Monday. (This sample will probably have a less high readability level, since most student don't consider blogs "academic writing," and pay less attention to word choice, syntax, vocabulary, flow, and sentence length.)

2) Your second 100-words-sample should come from the finished parts of your research essay. You can either take your abstract, if it has 100 or more words, or parts of your Lit Review or other subheadings. Just count 100 words in a row, and perform the steps mentioned on the handout. (This sample is expected to have a very high readability level, because our research essays are aimed at a professional audience.)

3) Your third 100-words-sample will come from the quickwrite which we did at the beginning of the lesson. Your prompt was: "What did you learn about teaching an L2 language from the Youtube file 'One Semester of Spanish Love Song'?" (Well, this sample should show your average readability, when you don't try to sound 'academic,' and you don't talk down because it is 'just a blog'...) Perform the usual steps.

Write your name on your Fry graph entry and submit it to your instructor!

When you're done with this little assessment exercise and still have time, you can continue working on points 6+12 (Lit Review, and Annotated Bibliography) for your research essay, or create your own "new thread" for our blog, or answer to the interesting new threads opened by others!!!

HOMEWORK for Friday:
Have your points 1-9, as well as 6+12 completely finished. We are going to edit our previously created graphs on Friday by typing in the correct numbers resulting from our surveys. Then, we'll complete the research essay in an in-class workshop Friday and next Monday by analyzing our three graphs, and putting the last results in our abstracts, the 'result' part, and the conclusion.

Input and Classroom Interaction

This article offers different case studies that involved a Polish teacher of English history interacting with Polish speaking students. When the students, who are not as far advanced as the teacher, do not understand him, he speaks to them in Polish. This article opened up the question of whether the teacher should continue to talk to the students in English or in their own language?

In my opinion, I feel that the teacher should speak in their own language if the students are having a difficult time understanding. To me understanding is the beginning of knowledge. To further emphasize my point, I would not expect a teacher speak to L2 beginners at a college level standard.

Here are some points that the article brings forth:

--That teachers need to match the level of their classroom interaction and the teaching materials with the learners proficiency level.

--To explain difficult words before teaching the passage and look for contextual learning in their students.

--Make sure the students know clearly what the learning tasks involved for the lesson before presenting the lesson.

--Basically trying to remove communication barriers and to teach contextually versus word for word memorization. Let the students discover the message.

After consideration of this article, what would you believe is the right avenue of education on this particular subject?

Total immersion in the L2 language, or explanations in L1?

....Regina M. Evans....

Readability versus leveling

The article talks about two types of procedures that teachers use to select books for readers and different stages; readability and leveling. Teachers know that introducing reading material that is appropriate for the grade level is an important part of the reading process. Readability formulas usually give a numerical score to rank books or other reading matter in an order of difficulty. Leveling, on the other hand, also yields a score of difficulty, but it is less objective and takes into account some subjective factors of judgment.
William Holmes McGuffey developed the first widely used "leveled" set of readers in 1836, using a numerical ranking instead of grade level designations. Most traditional readability formulas are based on two measures: syntax difficulty (grammatical complexity) usually measured by sentence length and semantic difficulty (meaning or word meaning) usually measured in syllables or number of letters. Leveling, however, is less objective and takes a number of "text support" factors into consideration such as; content, illustration, length, curriculum, language structure, judgment and format.
Readability formulas can be bad because they do not take into account motivation and appropriateness. There are many students that read on a level below their grade and when a student cannot understand what they are reading, they most likely will not read it. Readability formulas do not take into account factors inside the reader's head and tend to be text based. Leveling tries to compensate for part of this limitaion. Leveling is not used outside the classroom while readabilty is used in both. Readability has the strength of objectivity and consistency that any person or computer will get the same score. Leveling has the strength of taking more factors into account than traditional readability formulas and usually provides finer gradations at the primary levels. Both those in the field of readability and leveling are trying to help classroom teachers to teach reading better by helping them select books for their students.

Language in the Court Room

In the following link there is an article about a judge who likes to "think out side of the box" and give unique rulings. In this case he told Spanish speaking defendants that they need to learn English or go to jail. Since we know that it takes awhile to learn language and it can be extremely hard how do you feel about his ruling? Do you think it is right for their crimes? If you were a judge would you use your power to get more people to learn English? Think of these questions as you read. It is diffidently a unique article!!

Judge's Ruling

Language Assignment

Teaching Students with ADD

For teachers, teaching students with Attention Deficit Disorder can be really difficult. These students can cause disruptions in the class because of uncontrollable restlessness, blurting out of answers, and an inability to pay attention. The link that I have given is a website that gives some ideas on how to teach students with this disability.

Teaching Foreign Languages to Elementary Students

How early should we start teaching students a foreign language? Is it appropriate to teach a foreign language to a student who is still learning their native language? I found this article about an elementary school who began teaching their students a foreign language in kindergarten. Tell me what you think!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/07/AR2006080701284.html

Amanda