Scratching the Surface: ↗Dealing with Grammar, Mechanics, and Editing Problems ↗Writing Program Conversation ↗October 28, 2015

How would you rate Georgetown students’ writing?

Strengths ↗ Effective organization (43.3%) ↗ Effective explanation and development of ideas (41%) ↗ Clear prose (40.3%) Weaknesses ↗ Difficulties with organization (43.3%) ↗ Insufficient development of ideas (53%) ↗ Awkward prose (45.5%) What strengths and weaknesses do you see in your students’ writing?

It’s all about editing – or is it? “Contrary to what the doomsayers would have us believe,... the rate of student error is not increasing precipitously but, in fact, has stayed stable for nearly one hundred years.” Lunsford, Andrea A., and Karen J. Lunsford. ""Mistakes are a Fact of Life": A National Comparative Study." College Composition and Communication 59.4 (2008):

Changes over time ↗Students write longer papers ↗More research and analysis, rather than personal essay ↗Different patterns of error – word choice and documentation vs. punctuation and grammar

Then vs. now – errors per 100 words A 4-page student paper today would have only about 3 errors more than a student would have made in 1917.

From the editor’s desk ↗ Wrong word ↗ Misspelling – including the names of people cited ↗ Missing or unnecessary comma ↗ Inappropriate passive voice ↗ Wordiness ↗ Awkward phrasing ↗ Convoluted sentences ↗ Lack of clarity or precision ↗ Missing citations ↗ Vague pronouns ↗ Problematic organization

The paradox of error ↗ Knowledge ≠ understanding – students may “know” the rules but still make mistakes ↗ Correctness vs. effectiveness – errors matter when they interfere with communication ↗ Clarity, persuasiveness, and professionalism matter everywhere – so they have to count in all classes ↗ Few of us – even English faculty – are grammar and editing experts

Instead of being an editor... ↗ Approach problems as issues of clarity and effectiveness rather than correctness ↗ Identify patterns of error rather than individual errors ↗ 5-minute style lessons ↗ Suggest sources of help – tutoring, online writing guides, and style books ↗ Make style and editing count

↗ writingcenter.georgetown.edu

“The Real Reasons Students Can’t Write” ↗ “I’ve found that most students really do know how to write -- that is, if we can help them learn to value and care about what they are writing and then help them manage the time they need to compose effectively... “ ↗ “Most college professors would prefer to complain about poor writing than simply refuse to accept it. Therefore, students rarely experience any significant penalties for their bad behaviors in writing. They may get a low mark on an assignment, but it would a rare event indeed if a student failed a course for an inadequate writing performance.” Laurence Musgrove, Inside Higher Ed, April 8, 2006

John Bean’s version “Your grade has been reduced for excessive sentence-level errors. Please find them and fix them, then resubmit and I will raise your grade.” ↗ Put a small mark in the margin next to sentences that need to be edited, so you and the student can locate them easily. ↗ Ask the student to use track changes to highlight these edits, so they’re easy to find.

What’s the appropriate standard? ↗ How many errors, or what kinds of errors, make student writing “insufficient”? ↗ What conventions – of editing, formatting, or style – do we want students to follow? ↗ What kinds of errors matter most to students’ ability to communicate? Or to present themselves well?