Hi everyone,
I would like to cover the chapter that you read about style this week on the blog, since we didn’t have time to talk about it in class.
Please choose one (or a combination) of the following questions and respond:
a. p. 208-211 in the St. Martin’s Guide: What do you think about the copying exercises recommended in the book? Would you try them? Why or why not? How might they be useful to ESL students (or not)?
b. Style-shifting: Could the style shifting concept be used for language shifting?
c. What is the danger of letting students use different (non-academic, non-literary styles)? Isn’t it our job to teach them academic writing? (p. 216)
I believe that the theory proposed by Weather’s is not something that can be a healthy procedure in student writing, due to the fact that even though in the classroom that you teach you apply that theory and the students follow through it and understand it, they might get confused and not follow the guidelines of other types of academic writing that is protocol for research classes or essay writing classes. In the fields of study of engineering or in science the proper pattern to follow in essay writing encompasses a pattern of writing and if that pattern is obstructed it might be a danger to the student resulting him to fail the course.
Our job as writing educators lies mainly in the purpose of teaching them diverse ways in which students write a paper, the way that they follow orders is another thing that has to do with them developing proper writing techniques and attitudes. Students learn from us academic writing because that is what they will use in their scholastic and professional career. We teach them the rules of grammar and composition and they in turn absorb it and think that this way of writing is the one they need. If we resort to teaching them other types of writing that do not fit into the standardized process of writing academically they in turn will not see it as necessary or useful for their careers.
I think that some of the examples to explore the use of style by looking other writing can help students understand how language conveys mood, images, and meaning. However students need to understand that it’s all about time and place. When they’re writing in their journals, it’s free write for their own pleasure. Then, there’s the time you need to use academic writing.
Using imitation exercises in the classroom:
I understand that with this kind of exercise the students will be more conscious and analytical about the structure that others make by exploring the use of words, sentences and paragraphs and other features in a literary passage. The process of analyzing the style and the design of a passage is demonstrated by a think aloud process, which models the ways that a skilled writer can move through a piece, and having the ability to design your own piece in very different form of what students are use to. By completing this exploration of an author’s style using similar pattern sentences and finding a variety of features and techniques, I’m aware that the students will be encouraged to make connections between their choices in a design and their creativity.
However, even though the author gives some rules to follow this activity, I find it difficult for students to practice. I don’t think that I will use this type of method in my classroom because it will be very time consuming and it will require lot of efforts and individual assistant. I think that this type of exercise will be good for a more advanced writing class.
I believe that students need to learn and understand the different styles available, in order for them choose their favorite one or to make up their own, “it leads students to internalize the structures of the piece being imitated” (208) and according to William Gruber “imitation does not affect creativity but assists in design”(208). By other way, is good to teach them the important models but we have to emphasize that they are going to copy what they are reading with the purpose of getting the “feel” of a different style. I believe that these examples could be helpful for SLA students but with easier readings because transcribing texts from another can help them to observe and understand the choice and disposition of words, sentence structure, the length and variety of sentences, syntax and the use of clauses. The second kind of imitation exercise presented, “pattern practice” is useful for Intermediate or Advanced students since in this exercise they have to create sentences of their own using one sentence model, which will make them use their own acquired vocabulary. I believe that students should have knowledge of “what has been done by others, so there’s profound originality” (210).
I have always believed that imitation exercises are very helpful for students that are at a basic level of language acquisition. Students that posses a low proficiency level can use imitation to get an idea of how the grammar rules are put together in order to form sentences and paragraphs. They can also reach a higher level of understanding of the language because they can divide ideas into small pieces because they will be able to know the rules that connect ideas into a paragraph or sentence.
In the Saint Martin’s Guide there are three writing exercise that involve imitation. The one that I like the most was An Exercise in Imitation, Revision, and Reflection because it is not completely based on imitation and transcription. I like the fact that in this exercise the student is able to reflect on his/ her own writing. This way they get to keep the sentence structure skills that they have already mastered and they would just have to incorporate the skills that they need to fill the gaps that they have developed through the years. I also like that after they measure their essay against a scholarly well-developed piece that they will have the opportunity to reflect on the changes that they made. The second imitation activity that I liked the most was the Model Sentence exercise. In this exercise students reflect on writing prompts and they create sentences based on these prompts. They final result will be sentences that somehow mirror the prompts but are modified by the interpretation of the writer. I find this exercise useful because it still gives students space to use their creativity. Even when I like imitation exercises I still believe that sometimes they can backfire. If we present students with “correct” pieces of writing they might create a limited image of what is good writing. This image is going to prevent them from being creative and they wont pursue a creative stylistic style. I believe that the key for these exercises to be effective is to make sure that our students understand that imitation is only one tool for the acquisition of a second language and that it needs to be complemented with other tools in other of it to be effective. This is the reason why I do not believe in the exercise provided by Edward P.J Corbett. In this exercise the student is asked to copy large chunks of information. I do not believe in this exercise because I do not find effective for studying any subject, whether it is science, math or Spanish. I believe that students learn more when they are able to analyze the material that they are learning. This is why as I said previously I would use the other two exercises because they involve the rational analysis of sentence structure. I would try some of the exercises provided by the guide to teach ESL but I would also incorporate reading exercises because they also make students reflect on their writing style.
Well, to a certain degree I believe this is what all English teachers do. Don’t we all (3103 TA’s) teach a rhetorical mode in class, then send our students to read an essay that “follows” this pattern and finally ask them to write one of their own using what was given in class and the readings as guides? The main difference to our approach to teaching writing relies in that our method does not seem as straight forward to ourselves. But I believe that if someone asked our students what it is that they do in class they will say: I read an essay and then write another. Aren’t we having our students imitate somebody else’s writing? The only way in which a teacher could have students do “genuine” writing would be by allowing them to do creative writing and still they will be imitating and mix matching the writing that they have seen published during their whole lives. Not saying that our way of teaching is wrong, though not necessarily the best, it holds some truth and logic. Novice writers need some type of guidance, especially when the language in which they are writing is not their L1. How would they become conscious of a new grammatical structure if they are not taught? Infants accomplish this easily but for students who have already fossilized a language structure it is not an easy task. I do believe we need to provide them with examples but I don’t really agree with the author in having them COPY a structure exactly as it is, I am a true believer on reading and practicing as a way of achieving “good-writing”.
I read and read the explanation of the copying excercise and a really don’t see the use for it. I think that if I used this in my class my students will hate it and find it tedious, boring and a waste of time.
But by the contrary I do think that the study of various writting styles should be part of a writting course and that studend should try to shift from one style to another. This will make the writting process more dynamic and interesting. At the end they will now in which style they like to write best.
I also think that they should be given the chande to write in a non-academic way. I believe that journals, blogs, and even reaction -papers are a good source for non-academic writting. Now, of course we should also teach the process of academic writting which can be left for the essays. All in all, I think that a balance is the a key to a sucessful writting class.
Personally I don’t teach but as I read the exercise I didn’t like it. Students are lazy and if a teacher would ever do this they might think that you can do this to write an essay. Then they will feel comfortable to re-write in their own words somebody else work. This is first thing that I don’t like about the exercise. Students don’t like to write essays and they are wiling to plagiarize to get it done. If they see a teacher doing this they will then practice the exercise in a real essay even when the teacher has already explained that this is an exercises to improve their writing and that this should never be done in class. Even I in classes haven’t heard an instruction that a professor has said in class. Another thing is that if you do want this exercise to work you should do this exercise with a numerous of essays so the students can have a big range of different styles from where you can choose from. This means that because there are a lot of different styles of writing essays and a lot of authors each with different styles time will never be enough. You will have to provide a lot of time to let the students do this exercise with so many different styles from where they can choose. I believe that the same or a very similar effect can be reached the way we usually discus essays. The students read thee essay at home, they then come to class, they have supposed to have read the essay, and in class as a group discuss the essays and the style that the author used in that essay. Or if you do want to do this exercise, it can be modified. The students should have read the essay that will be discussed at home and come to class and discuss it. Once they have discussed the essay in class this exercise can be done but as a group discussion. The entire group can participate in doing this exercise and telling them that this is just an exercise and emphasize that this would be considered plagiarism and that it should never be done in an a real essay. Another thing that will not help our students is that many of them do not have the vocabulary necessary to be capable to actually do this exercise effectively. They will have a lot of trouble and might become more frustrated. Then they might think that the essays that they have to turn in have to be as good as the one they used in the exercise and will not be capable to work as freely and effectively as they could. So when we are working with ESL students we have to be careful not to give them a task that later on they will try to imitate as closely as possible and the outcome will not be legible. Or be plagiarism. Many of our students rely on translating directly from Spanish to English and may become frustrated because their work doesn’t look like the one discussed in the classroom. We need to be careful and look for or make exercises that are suitable for the needs of our students.
Using imitation to write an essay can be useful for an ESL student due to the fact that their main writing structures and examples of such are in English. They may use their favorite author’s style to develop their own, and may grab bits and examples from others to improve. Keeping this in mind, we should then consider that this cannot turn into a plagiaristic practice for the student. It should be a genuine effort from the student, to be used as a tool, and not as an easy way out. In my courses, I give my students the essays, not to discuss them and what they are about in detail, but to pin point specific aspects in the writing structures which may help the students understand and write in a specific format, or develop different ideas.
ESL students can have a lot of trouble when it comes to writing; even more so, when they have to do this in a specific format. After a discussion of a writing format, I always ask my students what they prefer to see or do in order to help them understand such structures of the format. The sample essay is something that (even though I know they need) they recognize they need. This helps them develop their own, and when discussing their final work, it is usual that they come with the sample essay and show me how they differ or are similar from it.
On a more negative note, I do acknowledge that students may see these sample essays and formats as strictly what they have to do and not as a format to which they can integrate their own styles and ideas. Also, as I mentioned before, the plagiaristic practices of writing exactly what they author writes, and only changing the topics and content words, which adds up to a not so positive learning experience and practice.
Imitation in the classroom has its place but I don’t really think it will work all together that well in an ESL classroom. I would consider it under certain circumstances also depending on the level. Imitation has more drawbacks than not in my view. Dealing with ESL students is difficult enough without trying to scrutinize their style, since they already possess their own unique style. It may not be a creative masterpiece like something Ezra Pound or T.S. Eliot would write, but it is their and shouldn’t be compared. Imitation can stagnate their creativity, especially if the set goals are too high to reach. It may help students depending of their level and comprehension of what and why they are imitating.
Hans Ostrom’s imitation technique seems to be a more creative and fun exercise to do than P.J. Corbett’s. Corbett’s is highly structured and seems to be more teacher oriented than Ostrom’s who sees the original text as an “invitation” to recreate a style and at the same time make it their own. Corbett’s seems so structured that by the third instruction students will get bored and in the end hamper their learning in the long run.
I really did not like the imitation exercises that are presented in the book. I understand that both Orbett and Ostrom’s ideas can be helpful but not for my students. I have students in 3103 that are beginning to learn how to follow a writing process. If they are still at this stage, giving them these imitation activities can truncate their growth as writers. Many of my 3103 students are still in the processes of discovering themselves as writers and I think that by presenting them with other writers’ styles and asking them to imitate them, they can be confused.
What I would ask them to imitate is the writing structure instead of style. This would be more appropriate for my students. Once they are at a level in which they feel comfortable with the structure of a composition then we can move to style. However, even if they were ready for this I would not ask them to imitate. Again, I feel as if I was taking creativity from them and teaching them that in order to become good writers, they need to imitate others. When it comes to structure, they do need to make sure that their compositions are complete in terms of the essential parts of it e.g. introduction, body and conclusion. That is why I do use sample essay that follow the rhetorical style that is being worked with in the classroom, but only so that they can see the structure clearly to them be able to use the style successfully in their own writing.
In that occation the teacher has the obligation to instruct that writing is a personal thing. it could be taught as i the reading process. Futhermore, it depends on the assigment or the level because most of the times students write in circles.
To avoid it students need to support on different readings, but as a rule the teacher must remind and instruct how they can use different styles and considering the author it can be used ” To discover our own natures”, If the writing style is weak changes can be controlled through ideas in order to improve the writing style.
First of all I would like to apologize for not posting my response earlier but I had forgotten to do so.
Writing is a very delicate procedure in my opinion and I believe that students can experience many types of writing without letting it get out of control. Students need to learn the basic structures of writing the correct form and use of words. They need to be prepared for the outside world the corporate world, the world that is going to ask for a professional view on things and I personally believe that using “ain’t” in a business letters in not that convenient.
But I do suggest that some time be given to the students to do free creative writing, this is where the students are given time to write the way they want. They can use the words they like but not tolerating any use of foul language. I believe this is activity could be also used in order to teach teach the students the correct way of writing things.
I honestly believe that free writing can go either way; it all depends on who and when. Many students need structure first in order for them to become loose and free. For a student that is just beginning to learn the language, in my opinion it is not advisable to grant that much amount of freedom if the do not have the language structure rules down to a T. They may get confused and become lost all together.
On the other hand, is students have prior knowledge of the rules and regulations of the language and the entire purpose is to get the students writing differently than what they are used to- than i can see the advantage in that.
I agree with Lidsay when she says students first need structure in order for them to them become “loose and free”. I strongly believe in giving students freedom in their writing, however, when you are conducting a class with a specific purpose (in my case 3201/02, composition writing), then you need to fulfill the requirements as such. I think one good aspect of teaching essay writing/5 paragraph structure to students first is that it helps them organize their writing, so the end result is more fluid. This is a skill they can transfer into any language, and any writing style.When students have no background whatsoever in writing, they don’t realize the differences in “academic” writing and “free” writing — to them, writing is writing. In a situation where the students are also ESL learning adds complexity to the task.
However, I don’t necessarily think the imitation exercises, like the ones presented in the book, are the most effective way to teaching structure, though as Fabiola mentioned, it sometimes inevitable with ESL students. I have said it before and I will say it again: I think having my 3201 student write ‘process’ papers really helped them grasp the idea of writing an essay, because they are defining paragraphs in “steps”, and I think this aids in helping them understand the concept of “separating your ideas” into paragraphs. But, I guess that is a form of imitation, in a way…
I can say that I do not agree with the imitation method that is being described in the book because the students do not get an opportunity to try for themselves the process of writing. I can see the point in them trying to give an example to the students on how to specifically do the work, but I see that the way they can correct their mistakes is not by copying something that is done correctly, where is the teaching in that? They will never know why they made the mistakes they did and they will correct knowing that it was written wrong but will not know what to make of it the next time that the same mistake appears in one of their papers. In my personal experience the only way that I would allow imitation is by letting the students see an example of how things should be done and then they could write their own interpretation of what I showed them.