[Bkn-english-646-fall-2009] Assignment 7

[Patia Braithwaite]

Patia Braithwaite
Assignment 7
**sorry for the last minute response** 
I have to admit that I’ve been waiting for these chapters for quite some time. My student is ESL level, and I often find it difficult to explain concepts so that she understands them. I also find it hard to distinguish when to point out a mistake and when to let it go. This chapter was a huge help.  
I have recently begun using reading aloud in my sessions. I was absolutely SHOCKED by the difference that it makes, especially with articles and subject/verb agreement.  I must admit that I thought self-correcting was a myth, but I immediately see a difference in my student. The trick is getting students, especially ESL students, to feel comfortable reading and speaking aloud. 
I know that everyone gives The Practical Tutor flack for the “perfect world” role-play scenarios, but I honestly find them helpful. For instance, there’s one about mentioning grammatical errors, and it rings true for me. Any time I try and explain a grammatical error to my student, she immediately gives me doe eyes. I end up talking in circles and confusing us both. The open-ended questions are the best way to leading a student into self-correcting. I find myself getting tongue tied, because I’m constantly trying to “impart wisdom” on my students.  I’m slowly learning that the tutor is sort of a shepherd. The focus should ALWAYS be on self-correcting. Whether thru skillful questions, or other techniques, emphasis should always be on the student’s revelation. Nodding and smiling at me are starting to have no place in my tutoring sessions. 
My student just got an A on her first essay, and we’re getting ready to tackle the second one. I’m actually looking forward to working with her on some sentence-level stuff!! 
Forgive me if this is something that I should know by now, but how much of a role does “form” have in the English Composition curriculum at LIU (and across the country). Do professors spend time on grammar/sentence structure in class? I think back to last weeks class. The poor professor kept correcting the same sentence-level errors over and over. Is any classtime dedicated to this? Or is it all about construction of arguments/essays/content? 

 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://lists-1.liu.edu/pipermail/bkn-english-646-fall-2009/attachments/20091028/117de965/attachment.html