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last.updated 3.28.06

Grammar Issues

Purpose

Last week we discussed a lot of the important issues associated with teaching grammar: Should we teach it? And if so, how? Today's discussion focuses more on the second question. To make the discussion more complex we will look at the writing of a second language writing student.

Before Class

• Read Alsup & Bush, Chapter 3 (80-109) & Chapter 4 (110-141)
• English 555: Submit Workshop Plan as a hard copy to the instructor at the beginning of class

Discussion–Alsup & Bush

• Should style be taught in grades 6-12?
• We will talk about the concepts of interlangauge and contrastive rhetoric, as well as their relationship to second language writing. How can these concepts be used to work with second language writers?
• What other questions do you have about second language writing?

Activity–Developing Grammar Pedagogy from Student Writing

For this activity you will adopt the role of the teacher who has assigned an essay to your junior level on representations and reality. One of your L2 students has submitted the following rough draft. This paper represents similar papers produced by about a half-dozen other L2 students in your class.

In groups of four address the following prompt.

• How are you going to pedagogically respond to this situation? There are multiple answers to this question. As a group come to a consensus on an approach that you can all live with.
• Justify your answer in detail using the readings from the last two weeks (and other readings that may be relevant)

You will have about twenty-five minutes to work on this and then about twenty minutes for debriefing. Before break, you will submit your work for a process grade.

Presentations–Group 2

We will be the audience for teaching demonstrations from Group 3 (Anthony, Gia, Heather, Tyler).