As a graduate teaching assistant, I have had the exciting
opportunity of educating college freshman, plunging headfirst into the college teaching
experience. The challenge that I’ve
noticed must, however, is the lack of proper writing etiquette college students
possess. Today, when we refer to writing
literacy, it surpasses the traditional writing assignment completed on paper,
but extends to typed documents, email messages, and even student Internet
posts.
After brief interactions with my fellow peers, colleagues, and
educators, this is sadly a typical list of the writing errors we’ve
encountered:
- Run-on sentences and sentence fragments
- Missing punctuation, including periods, commas, and semicolons
- Lowercase “ i “ representing for capitalized “ I “
- Casual language (“We did a lot of fun activities like feeding the ducks and stuff.”)
- Slang (e.g. “What’s good with you?”)
- Uncapitalized proper nouns such as september and bill gates
- Use of second person (“When you read this book, you will see…”)
- Lack of organization
- Use of numerals instead of words (“…15 years ago…”)
- Ebonics (e.g. “She is trippin…”)
Higher education sets the bar for enhanced writing skills over to be
developed over the course of four years.
Professors are expecting their students to write concisely and
consistently.
Discussion: Do you feel as
educators we should address these errors when seen? What grade level should this correction
begin?
Yes we should address these errors when seen. If we don't, they will not see the need for corrections. I think that this correction should begin as low as Pre-K as far as correction of language. They are like sponges and soak up everything said and done. With that being said if you correct them while they are young they are more than likely to start self correcting themselves.
ReplyDeleteI believe that these should be addressed early on! I recall going over grammar, punctuation, and "there-their-they're" when I was as young as 8 years old (third grade or so). My daughter is 3 and I have started going over phonetics and grammar with her daily. Once she is in school, I plan on playing a large part in making sure she is writing and reading at or above her grade level. Parents play a large role in this. We cannot leave this all up to the teachers.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear your thoughts on the parent's role in this matter. Being that advocate for speech and grammer for a child in the household I believe is an effective way to enforce literacy.
DeleteAccording to the American Speech Hearing Association we "learn language from the day we are born." I agree that writing errors should be corrected early. Today with the advances in technology sometimes we take the ability to write casually. We use grammar and spell check routinely. We make use of the shortcuts many times such as emoticons and texting speak. Our students should be able to pen their thoughts correctly. Using grammar properly helps us to think critically and to communicate messages properly.
ReplyDeleteAmerican Speech Hearing Association
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/literacy.htm
Without a doubt the issues should be addressed. I saw the same kinds of erros years ago as a T.A. in a professional school; I wondered then how students could graduate from undergraduate school with such poor writing skills. Is this a case of trickle down process wherein your students did not have strong writing teachers in high school?
ReplyDeleteASAP! As Soon As Pre-School! Encouraging our very young to see reading and language as important with play, everyday life, book reading and family time.
ReplyDeleteAs a graduate student and former high school volunteer, I hate to say that some high school seniors can write a better paper than many college students.
ASAP for Pres-school....I like that acronym. Preschool is the stage were children are introduced to literacy and oral language development. This would be a good time while they're already learning to practice these English skills.
DeleteI agree with the previous post urging the importance of addressing this issue as soon as possible. Being a graduate student myself, I see these same occurrences in my daily interaction with my peers, be it in papers, presentations, and/or in-class discussions. Sadly enough, these individuals fail to see these errors as they have become a way of life and the norm. However, this is not the norm and these individuals are limiting themselves in the long run when it comes to professional demeanor and presentation. I myself, would not say that grammar is my strong suit. However, I do know the appropriate channels to go through in order to correct this area of weakness. Still yet, I have found that many do not utilize these same resources be it due to laziness or obliviousness. Educators need to address these areas for improvement as soon as possible so that it is brought to the student’s attention so that they can make the necessary changes. There should not just be a discussion about it in general. Rather, each students areas for important should be addressed. Because we cannot assume that they know that this is a weakness that needs improving upon.
ReplyDelete