Dear Lynn,
 
I would like to recommend Helen Fox's Listening to the World: Cultural
Issues in Academic Writing if you aren't already familiar with it. The
publisher, National Council of Teachers of English, describes Listening
to the World as "a valuable resource for all university teachers and
academic advisers who work with students from diverse cultural and
ethnic backgrounds - both international and U.S. students - who often
find it difficult to learn academic writing and understand its purpose
in the U.S. university." 

 

I read Listening to the World and found it to be a candid portrayal of
Fox's experiences with the benefit of extensive reflection on her
practice as a writing instructor of "world majority students." If you or
others have found similar references to the cultural issues of academic
writing in English, I'd love to add them to my reading list. 

 

Having provided this reference, I will also respond to your questions.
As an educator, I understand written communication to be the cornerstone
of academic success. When I teach, I work with the group and the
individual to improve their ability to communicate in writing. This
includes, among everything else, grammar. My policy is to provide
specific feedback, recommend writing resources on campus, and allow for
revisions. All academic writing includes revision and the sooner
university students learn how to revise and come to an appreciation of
the benefits of reviewing and revising their work, the better they will
fare, not only academically but also professionally.

 

Best regards,

Michelle M. Ueland, Ph.D. 
Center for Applied Linguistics 
202-355-1581 
mueland at cal.org <mailto:mueland at cal.org>  
www.cal.org <http://www.cal.org/>  

Improving communication through better understanding of language and
culture 


________________________________

	From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Lynn Boettler
	Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 8:09 AM
	To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
	Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3093] Grading ESL student papers
	
	
	I teach a first-year seminar class for students at a university.
As part of the curriculum in my course, students write various papers.
I'm wondering what other people do with regard to grading papers for ESL
students in university classes that are not English classes?  Do you
make corrections?  Do you count off?  While I normally make corrections
for just minor grammar mistakes on the papers of native English speakers
and do the same for ESL students and do not count off for grammar
errors, sometimes there are many more on ESL papers that could use
correction. 
	 
	Thanks,
	Lynn Boettler
	 
	 


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