Monday, November 26, 2007

Professional Journals on Writing 19

What is an interesting introductory writing assignment? First assignment is to interview a classmate and write it up. Diagnostic writing tool. We need to pay more attention to teaching skillful interviewing in class. Interviewing skills are important in many careers. BA Morris. Teaching English in the Two-Year College (Mar. 07), 287-290.

What are some useful tools for editing? In addition to a class handbook for writing and editing, keep a stock of individual handbooks that have special features helpful for different problems in learning to write. SK Miller-Cochran. Teaching English in the Two-Year College (Mar. 07), 335.

What are some criticisms of students’ ability to write? “A majority of college students do not speak, write or read their own language well. Graduate instructors who direct master’s essays and doctoral dissertations are shocked at the extent to which they must become teachers of ‘hospital’ English. Yet we are aware that many of the candidates for higher degrees are already engaged in part-time teaching of freshman English. If they cannot recognize and correct their own egregious errors, what is happening to the end-products of their teaching?” Report of the Commission on the Humanities, 1964, p. 138. College Composition and Communication (Feb. 07), 319.

What are some issues in teaching writing? People in the disciplines do not learn to write in their disciplines by any direct instruction, but by accumulating experience within the discipline. People in English writing classes think their writing instruction is generalizable to all disciplines. M Carter. College Composition and Communication (Feb. 07), 385.

How should students learn to write in specialized disciplines? Disciplines have “meta genres,” forms of writing peculiar to the discipline. Professors in the disciplines should define these “meta genres” for their students. M Carter. College Composition and Communication (Feb. 07), 385-418.

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