Reading Response #4

Let’s finish our discussion about placement here on the blog.

On p. 155 of “On the Ethical Treatment of ESL Writers,” Tony Silva advocates for giving ESL students “as many placement options as possible.” In class on Wednesday we verbally outlined the methods of placement of students into English courses in junior high, high school, and at UPRM. First, state whether or not you agree with Tony Silva. Next, critique the way that students are placed into your class, outlining the advantages and disadvantages of this method (or choose any context that you know, explain how students are placed, and critique the method of placement). Finally, propose a change in the placement method. Be sure to describe what institutional obstacles stand in the way of implementation of this placement method and make suggestions for how these obstacles might be overcome.

Book Review Assignment

English 6040
Book Review Guidelines and Format
Mazak (adapted fro Dr. G. Smitherman)

Your book review should be both a review (i.e., a summary) and a critique of a writing textbook or a general ESL textbook that includes writing. The suggested length is (5) typed, double-spaced pages. At the top of the first page, before you begin the body of the review, include the following information: title, author, publisher, date of publication, number of pages, indicate if first, revised, or subsequent edition. Be prepared to give a 3-5 sentence oral summary of your review on the due date.

Summary:

This generally comes first. Summarize the purpose and audience of the book and basically how the book achieves its purpose. Ask yourself questions such as:

-What is the book’s purpose?
-How does the author go about achieving this purpose?
-What level is the book aimed at (both grade level and English level)?
-Is the book written for native or non-native speakers of English?
-How is the book organized?
-Is the book visually appealing?—color, print size, layout, pagination format, etc.? (or, alternatively, is the content so good that these details are irrelevant?)
-What is the author’s approach to teaching writing?

Critique:

Critically assess the book in light of the principles, theories, and issues about teaching writing that we have been discussing in class and on the blog. Ask yourself questions like:

-How adaptable is this book to students’ own sociocultural contexts?
-What would Friere, Canagarajah, Johns, or any other authors that we’ve read say about the book’s approach to teaching writing?
-How appropriate is the book for use in the context for which it was designed? (For example, is it too easy/too hard for the level it is targeting?)
-How appropriate is the book for use in the context that you know well?
-Does the book view writing as a process or product?
-Are there any significant areas or topics missing?
-Does the book provide examples to illustrate the author’s points?
-Is the book interesting to students?
-If you knew this author and were a friend or colleague, and the author was working on a revision of this book, what suggestions would you make to him/her to enhance the book?

Reading Response #3

The African students in Ibrahim’s study, “Becoming Black,” targeted BESL (or Black English as a Second Language) rather than “standard” English in their learning. He concludes, “Learning is hence neither aimless nor neutral, nor is it free of the politics of identity” (p. 144). In light of his article (and the others that you read for this week), discuss the relationship between learning/speaking/writing English and racial/ethnic identity in Puerto Rico. For example, does mastery of a particular variety of English make a person less “Puerto Rican”? What role should Puerto Rican or other Caribbean varieties of English (Jamaican, for example) play in the classroom?

OR

Ibrahim’s conclusion quoted above gives us the opportunity to examine our own teaching practice to understand how it is political (though we may think that we are apolitical). Think about the class that you are teaching now (or one that you have taught) and reflect on how it was political. (By “political” Ibrahim does not mean “related to party politics,” but rather he means, roughly, “related to power relationships.”)

OR

In light of the Ramanathan/Atkinson article, how do mainstream notions of voice in the field of composition in English (as expressed in textbooks, etc.) differ from those in Spanish? What makes “good writing” in English and “good writing” in Spanish, according to mainstream norms?

Reading Response #2

Please answer ONE of the following questions in a 500-1000 word response. You are encouraged to read the responses of your classmates and respond to them.

1. Canagarajah asks (on p. 220): “Is it proper to encourage and facilitate the use of a language that is tainted with a history of global domination, colonizing other languages and communitites with its values?”
(a) Summarize Canagarajah’s answer to this question.
(b) Answer this question yourself–Do you agree or disagree with Canagarajah? Why?

OR

2. What does Johns mean by the “socioliterate” classroom? Summarize this apprach. How could you apply this approach in your own classroom?

SLW book on reserve starting Friday

Hi,
The SLW book is on reserve in the library, but it will not be available to you until Friday (!). The readings for August 27 are available under “documents” on this blog.

I will leave the book on reserve for ONE week. If you are going to copy the readings from the book on reserve, you must do so between Friday, Aug. 24 and Friday, Aug. 31. I put my personal copy of the book on reserve and need it back to teach the class! I have marked all the readings that we will use in class with a star in the table of contents.

Happy reading,
Cathy

Readings for August 27

Readings for August 27: To solve the SLW book problem, I am posting the readings from that book here.Canagarajah, Understanding Critical Writing and Johns, Opening Our Doors. Also, please read, Friere: The Banking Concept of Education. The Canagarajah and the Johns are also available in the SAC.

Change in office hours

Hello,

I have decided to change my published office hours to Tuesday at Thursday from 9:00-10:30 a.m. I am also available by appointment. Sorry for any problems that this may cause.

-Cathy

Teaching Issues

Are there issues in your day-to-day teaching that you would like to discuss with us? Need feedback on something or want to share an idea? Post it here!

Reading Response #1

As we discussed in class, since you are unable to purchase the books from the bookstore I am posting the readings here. You are in luck because I am going to reschedule the reading from The St. Martin’s Guide (SMG) Chapter 1: Preparing for the Course for 9/17. That means for Monday 8/20 you only need to read “CCCC Statement” and “Second-Language Writing in the Twentieth Century” by Matsuda. The Matsuda article is a great overview of second language composition as a field, and how it relates to other fields such as TESOL, Cultural Studies, etc. The CCCC (Conference on College Composition and Communication, a professional organization of writing teachers) statement outlines the position of the organization on how ESL learners in the North American context should be treated in English writing classes.

Please respond to the prompt below by clicking on “comments” (the link next to the title of this post). Then read at least one other student’s response and comment on it. Please do this by Friday so that I can read them all by Monday’s class.

PROMPT for Reading Response #1:
Both of the readings deal with teaching writing in English to ESL students in North American teaching contexts. In what ways is teaching writing different in the Puerto Rican context? If you were to write a statement on teaching writing in English in Puerto Rico, what would it need to include? (For example, what should the policy be for placement of students into university level writing courses in PR?)
OR
The Matsuda article talks about the history of the relationship between Second Language writing and different disciplinary fields, such as TESOL, rhetoric and composition, etc. In Puerto Rico, there has been a trend towards teaching using literature. In other words, the approach has been very similar to teaching native English speakers. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this, in your opinion? What “field” do you think second language writing in Puerto Rico belongs in (or do you think that it belongs in an “interdisciplinary” field–see Matsuda p. 23)? Try to refer to the Matsuda article in your response.
OR
If you are not yet very familiar with the Puerto Rican context, or if you would like to write about something else, please respond to the reading however you wish. The important thing is to respond to the reading–that means comment on/engage with SPECIFIC ideas in the texts. (I want to know your thoughts but I also want you to show me that you read and understood the material.)

Welcome

Welcome to the blog for the course INGL 6040, The Practice of Teaching Composition. Here you will spend one hour a week reading and writing with me and your classmates. You will post all of your reading responses here and you will be able to read and comment on others’ reponses. We will discuss some of the readings that we do not have time to discuss in class. In addition, we can discuss issues that come up in your teaching throughout the week.