Shih Article Summary

May Shih in A Course in Grammar Editing for ESL Writers talks about how a grammar editing course offered along side of a composition course benefits our diverse population of student writers.  This article is an overview of a grammar for writing course for Generation 1.5 and ESL students.  Dr. Shih discusses how San Francisco State University offers just such a course where ESL students can focus on common grammar errors they make in their writing.  The author goes on to explain how a good majority of the students in the course are Asian long-term residents of the United States (Gen 1.5 students) who need to focus on their grammar errors due to forgetting rules or gaps in their knowledge.  However, she mentions that the grammar for writing course at SFSU can have both generation 1.5 students as well as ESL students. 

Dr. Shih explains when teaching the course she only corrects the students serious errors and gives selective feedback by placing X’s in the margins of students papers so they can notice and self correct their own errors. The author talks about how students in the class have what she calls knowledge that backslides and that they need to be taught grammar rules over and over again.  She provides the students with grammar checklists to help them address their grammar problems.  Dr. Shih then goes on to talk about the role of the teacher in supporting the students as a reader, resource person, coach and counselor.  The author then focuses on describing how to aid students in editing their grammar by having a process approach to teaching writing where she gets the students focusing on the writing first and then editing for errors later.  This shows how students will then be more conscious of their writing audience and also focus on common grammatical errors before turning in their finale drafts.  The article then describes the syllabus for the class and how it is structured.  

Key Takeaways:

△  Only correct serious errors and give corrective feedback so students begin self correcting their own errors.

△  It is good to repeat grammar rules that students may need to become familiar with again and provide students with grammar checklists to help them during their editing process.

△  Take a process approach by focusing on ideas and structure rather than errors at the beginning of the writing stage.

△  Teach students to have editing strategies such as giving oneself enough time for the editing process, taking breaks between readings and looking for common grammar errors.

△  Writing Clearly: an Editing Guide (Lane & Lange 1999) is the text used in the course so that there will be consistency for teachers that teach the course.

△  Sequence of grammar topics: count and non-count nouns, number and determiner agreement; subject-verb agreement; verb forms and tenses; sentence structure/ clause types, fragments, and run-together sentences; conjunctions, logical connectors, and punctuation of clauses; parallel structure; gerund and infinitive complements; relative clauses and participle phrases; word forms; pronoun reference and agreement.

△  An important part of the grammar for writers course is presentation, modeling and practice of specific editing strategies.

△  When students lose motivation and get frustrated it is good to give them positive feedback on what they are doing well and inform them that improving grammar and writing errors takes time and perseverance.

△  Due to the student needs of generation 1.5 and ESL students the grammar for writers course at SFSU has gone from being a 1 unit course to a 3 unit course.