IQ question: Who can guess at what readability level newspapers in the U.S. are written???
Today, we are going to assess our READABILITY, which means the personal grade level we are writing at. We are going to do this by means of a formula developed by Edward Fry: the so-called "Fry graph."
What we need:
For homework and in-class assignments, you have written three 100-words samples:
1) your comment about ENGFISH,
2) your comment about Word Order,
3) your comment about Sharpening.
TASK 1:
Now, cut down each of these three 100-words samples down to EXACTLY 100 words. You can use the word count of Microsoft Word by pasting your blog comment into a Word document, or you can copy and paste it into the word count tool. Simply delete all the words over 100, even if you have to stop in the middle of a sentence.
TASK 2:
1) Count the number of sentences in your 100 words sample. (If you had less than 100 words, add more. If you had more, just stop after having counted up to 100, and delete the rest.) Estimate the length of your last sentence, even if incomplete, to the nearest 1/10.
2) Count the number of syllables in your 100 words sample.
3) Make a table as seen in these INSTRUCTIONS. Draw this table on the handout I give you, because you will receive points for it, and I will collect it at the end of today's lesson!
4) Do the same for your second and third 100-words sample.
5) Total your numbers, and average them. (A little bit of math ;-)). You can use the Microsoft calculator ;-)
7) Make a dot on the FRY GRAPH I distributed in class where your personal readability lies. Write your name on the handout with your graph and your table, and submit it to your teacher for grading (I'm not grading the height of your readability, only the fact that you participated and understood the procedure!) There are no make-ups for this assignment.
HOMEWORK for Wednesday:
Post a comment to this blog (100-250 words) about what you think about your personal readability level. Do you believe the Fry graph correctly displays the grade level you're writing at? Why, or why not? What could be missing? What could the readability level be used for? Will knowing your personal readability level change anything about your future writing? Do you think you have a different readability level when you blog than when you write a research article like you did for this class?
For homework due on Monday, Dec. 7th, please read the short article posted as a Picasa slide show HERE. It is the chapter "Sharpening" by Ken Macrorie.
Then, post a comment of 100 words or more on this blog (as a comment; not as a new thread). You should ponder about the following questions:
a) Does your writing require sharpening when the composing process is done? b) Do you bother with sharpening after finishing a composition, or do you submit it "as is"? c) If you were a teacher, how would you teach sharpening to high school students? Can it be taught at all, or is it a natural gift? d) Imagine you were the editor of a newspaper or a scientific journal, and you are sharpening the incoming contributions of different authors. What other benefits than a better read could sharpening have for your newspaper/journal?
In case you cannot comment to this blog because of password difficulties, you can also email me your comment. On Monday, you should have three 100-word comments accessible (either on the blog, or in emails; if you printed them out, you will have to retype them in class for an activity).
Our three 100-word comments are: 1) your personal opinion about "ENGFISH" 2) your personal opinion about "Word Order" 3) your personal opinion about "Sharpening".
In case you miss this Friday's class, you have to do all of that at home and have your texts ready for Monday. There will be no make-up for the activity on Monday, since this is the last in-class assignment before our final exam coming Friday. Remember that we do not meet in finals week!!!
For Monday: bring a pencil or a colored pen, and if you have, a pocket calculator! If you don't have one, you can use the calculator of Microsoft on your computer.
Before we hear our mini lesson by Shaina Robinson today, we are going to perform a short in-class freewrite:
Take about 5 minutes to read / skim through the 9-page article posted as a Picasa slide show HERE. It is the chapter "The Order of Words" by Ken Macrorie. Then, post a 100-words comment to this blog of what word order means to you:
a) Do you pay close attention to word order when you write, or does it come to you naturally? b) Do you shift words around for stylistic purposes? Why, when, and for what? c) How secure/insecure are you about using the correct word order? d) Do you know any examples of public texts where the word order has disturbed you / caught your attention? e) Do you think word order is a problem nowadays for high school / college students?
The above questions are suggestions for your orientation; you can also mention different aspects that come to mind. The whole activity should not take longer than 15-20 minutes (freewrite).
Read this short article called ENGFISH (a chapter from Ken Macrorie's book Telling Writing), and write a comment on this blog (must have a minimum of 100 words!!!) about your personal opinion regarding ENGFISH.
If you cannot post for some reason, you may also email me your paragraph, or bring it as a hard copy to class on Friday.
After introducing my topic I will show the class a YouTube video tutorial to spark interest in the topic. My presentation is intended for undergraduate students.
Explain:
After watching some of the video I will continue with a PowerPoint presentation outlining basics in APA formatting. I will focus on citation of articles since most academic research papers use this source to reference.
Extend:
Many examples are provided within the presentation to make the intended format clear. There will be examples of paper format as well as citation and reference formats.
Evaluate:
After the PowerPoint presentation there will be a quiz that the class will partake in as a whole.
To begin my presentation, I will engage the students by showing a YouTube video explaining the different tenses. My presentation is intended for high school students.
Step 2: Explain
I will further explain exactly what tense means, what it is, and the English tenses in general. I will give some of the useful definitions pertaining to tenses.
Step 3: Extend
I will then extend my mini-lesson by telling of some of the most common tenses used in english, and when to use each.
Step 4: Evaluate and E-search
A short quiz is provided at the end of my mini-lesson that deals with different sentences and correct tense use. I will go over the answers to the quiz with the class.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Chicago-Style Citation
Engage & Explore
It may be quite difficult to engage a class of college students just coming back from Thanksgiving break and looking forward to Christmas break! However, in order to get the attention of the class I will begin by giving them sugar to wake up while I am introducing my topic.
Explain
Once I have introduced the topic, and I have the attention of the class, I will begin to explain who uses Chicago-Style Citation. Once they understand this, I will explain the three main components of Chicago Style Citation along with examples.
Extend
I will further explain Chicago Style Citation by giving an example of my own work. In this they will see everything they have learned so far in one example. They will also learn additional information like how to cite a block quote, how to use headers and footers, and how to space correctly.
Evaluate
The class will take a group quiz. The quiz will begin by having them cite information in a bibliography. Then I will ask them questions about information they learned in the presentation. When they answer correctly I will give them a piece of candy.
For my presentation, I will engage the students with a video explaining common misuses of the apostrophe. The lesson is for Juniors and Seniors in high school.
Step 2: Explain
I will explain how the apostrophe should be used in contractions and cases of possession along with a few other rules that are helpful to remember.
Step 3: Extend
My mini-lesson will be extended by showing examples of each rule that I explain.
Step 4: Evaluate and E-search
There will be a short quiz towards the end which I will go over to make sure everyone gets the correct answers.
Step 1- My audience for this mini lesson is high school students at the junior and senior level. I will engage them by presenting my information with a power point.
Step 2: Explaining "Not only, but also;neither,nor;either,or" is commonly used in verbal communication by most people, whether it be in formal/informal communication. I will start by explaining what these types of connecting words, their functions, and how to properly use them.
Step 3: Extend I will extend my mini lesson by showing examples of sentences that correctly use "not only, but also, neither nor, and either or". I will show sstudents how to break the sentences down so they can see what makes up the new sentences.
Step 4: Evaluate and E-search. There will be a short quiz about when to properly use "not only, but also; neither nor and either or." The quiz already has the answers in the drop down boxes, so no cheating! Here is the link for the quiz:
Solutions for our pop-up quiz from Monday, Nov. 9th: According to the prompt in the email, you had to find ONE pronoun-antecedent disagreement:
WRONG sentence: "I mean, who in THEIR right mind would make such a claim if it wasn't true?"
RIGHT sentence: "I mean, who in HIS or HER right mind would make such a claim if it weren't true?"
(You only needed to spot the pronoun-antecedent disagreement; not the "was/were" mistake!)
The rule behind it: "Who" is always singular, like "anybody," "nobody," "somebody," "someone," "anyone," and "no one."
With regard to our most recent pop-up quiz, there is one person, Sylvia Chalker, who argues against the "right grammar rules." Here is a link to one page of a review article where this person gives good reasons for why one might need to rethink a "correct grammar rule."
The rule is: "WHO is always singular." After reading this critique's statement, how do you personally think about this issue? Is Sylvia Chalker right? Is she wrong? If you could change the grammar rule, would you do so, and why? Or, why not?
HOMEWORK: Post a short comment to this blog (or, if you cannot blog for some reason, email me, or bring a print-out), giving your personal opinion. Due date: Monday, Nov. 16th, at class time. This post is worth 5 points and makes up for the 5 points missed if you didn't spot the mistake in the pop-up quiz. If you did spot it, you'll get 10 points altogther!
must be the best-written part of the whole research essay
must answer your research question (you can restate it!)
must relate to your Literature Review (example: if one of your article in the Lit Review was against marijuana, and listed reasons for it, but your own survey found out that most people were in favor of it, write about the differences.)
must contain MAJOR findings (Unlike your Results section, which talked about ALL your findings from ALL your questions step by step, the Conclusion only contains the main findings in %.)
must contain speculations/assumptions WHY your findings were like this. You don't need to be "right", since you only assume certain reasons for the answers you got. Example: If you found out that 90% of your surveyed students do not participate in off-campus activities, you might assume that their university work load and their job hours make it impossible for them to participate in off-campus activities....)
must contain implications/recommendations for the practice. Example: If you found out that texting really makes students' grammar worse, you could recommend that teachers instruct their high school students in code-switching, so they become aware that texting lingo is appropriate in informal settings, but not in academic papers.
Today, we are composing the Introduction and Conclusion, and then, our papers are finished - yay!!!
Below are the guidelines for how to compose the
Introduction
don't use the words FACT, PROVE, and TRUTH!!!!!
don't use "the writer brings his point across." Say directly what the message is.
stay general
no quotes
no personal opinions (non-evaluative)
some facts and the status quo of your topic in society today
can (not: must!) include statistics (%) that you got from the Internet. If you use statistics, you need to mention who found them out, and in which year, so that we know if they're still valid. Example: "According to a study of the Ministry of Health Education from 2006, 80% of the U.S. women who get an abortion are white...."
if it is "common knowledge," you don't need to cite your sources. That means, if you get ideas from the Internet that could be common knowledge (i.e., could have been your own perception), then it suffices to say, "according to many students' view, the drinking age in the U.S. should be lowered because...", and then you list reasons you find on the Internet.
last sentence: justify why your research was needed, and what GAP in existing research literature it filled. (Example: all your three sources were from the 1940s-1960s. Your research is from 2009 and gives an up-date on the situation. Another example: your three sources only talked about English students. Your research talks about other content areas, like History, as well.....)
My audience for this mini lesson is high school students at the junior and senior level. I will engage them by presenting an entertaining Youtube video.
Step 2: Explain
"Style" can be a difficult concept to grasp since many of the problems are in fact gramatically correct. I will start by explaining what most instructors consider to be major problems in writing that can confuse readers and what can interfere with arguments.
Step 3: Extend
I will extend my mini lesson by showing examples of sentences with ideas that can be expressed more directly, elegantly, and persuasively. I will show students how they can locate certain problems in their work, and offer techniques to help correct those problems.
My audience is high school students for my powerpoint presentation regarding my mini lesson. I will engage them by my Youtube video, sounding interesting and asking them questions to make sure that they understand the topic fully.
I will explain when to use the dash and hyphen along with how they can be distinguished from one another.
Step 3: Extend
I will extend my mini lesson by explaining how to use the dash and hyphen correctly so that they don't get confused. I will show an example with the Youtube video to further the audience's understanding of the topic. My powerpoint also has many examples to help the audience understand the topic better.
Step 4: Evaluate and E-Search
The evaluation will be done by the quiz that I will hand out to the class to do and then explain and go over the answers afterwards. The e-search is my Youtube video that I will show the class.
Step 1: Engage and Explore: I will be presenting a power point presentation on when to use me and my in a sentence
Step 2: Explain: I will explain how and when to use me and my. Also how someone could get those two confused.
Step 3: Extend: I will extend the lesson by also explaining when to use me and I and how they can get confused. A youtube video will also be presented explaining me and I.
Step 4: Evaluate and E-Search: Evaluation will be done by the mini quiz at the end of my presentation. You can watch the Youtube video if you'd like =)
Today, we will hear two mini lessons, and if there is still time left after this, we will compose our Abstracts (what goes in between the black lines of our template; the summary on top of your research essay) as far as we can. We will insert the missing data after Monday, Nov. 2nd, when we get our survey results in.
Task1: Go to this website and read about the four components of an abstract:
1) Motivation/problem statement: Why do we care about the problem? What practical, scientific, theoretical or artistic gap is your research filling?
2) Methods/procedure/approach: What did you actually do to get your results? (e.g. analyzed 3 novels, completed a series of 5 oil paintings, interviewed 17 students)
3) Results/findings/product: As a result of completing the above procedure, what did you learn/invent/create?
4) Conclusion/implications: What are the larger implications of your findings, especially for the problem/gap identified in step 1?
Also read the many example abstracts for different fields (social studies, humanities, biology, etc.) offered on this website. This is what your abstract is supposed to look like. Mind the word limit: 150-200 words!
Task 2: Then, compose an abstract for your own research essay, leaving the parts blank that you don't know yet (the exact results).
Have your paper with you (in electronic format; in an email, or on a memory stick or CD) on Monday, because we will complete the results section in an in-class workshop! That means, bring your template with your complete, peer-edited Literature Review, with your Annotated Bibliography, and your xls file with your three "fake" graphs that we are finalizing in class on Monday. Also, if you have a chargeable ID card, put some money on it, so you can print out your Surveymonkey pdf report sheet in class. You can also print it out at home later; everyone needs a print-out, because you will submit it as evidence in the Annex of your Research Paper when you hand it in.
It is easier to work with the results if you have a print-out and don't need to switch back and forth between different windows on your screen ;-)
Engage: I will be presenting 3 notorious grammar confusables. access/excess, accept/except, affect/effect.
Explore/explain/extend: I will present a powerpoint and show the difference in meaning. I will show an example sentence using the word appropriately. I will also show more ways to determine affect/effect. affect/effect is one of the most common grammar confusables. I will then go over a couple final examples and have a volunteer choose the correct answer.
Evaluate/E-online: I will first go over a couple extra access/excess questions to begin the quiz portion. The online quiz does not include it. Last is the online quiz that I found to give the class: Link
1) Our first activity today is to test-take a survey and grade it with the Survey Grading Rubric. Click on the survey below your name on the list, have a piece of paper and a pen ready, and note down every button that does not work, every option that is missing, every spelling mistake, every wrong deadline or header, etc.!
Then, you are going to give the author of the survey you took WRITTEN feedback (by email; cc to your instructor for grading) of all the mistakes you found in the survey, and all the suggestions/additions you might have. You will also assign a grade and email the author (cc to me) the grading rubric (in the same email, as attachment).
Each student takes the survey of the person below his/her own name on our list on the blog below. The last person on the list takes the first person's survey. This way, every student will receive ONE peer-edit.
For those students who have missed classes: check my grade book for how many unexcused classes you have missed. I give you the unique opportunity of earning up to 3 extra credits to make up for 3 missed days by taking an extra survey per day, and by sending the corrective email and the grading rubric to the author of that survey. You MUST put in your email (in cc to me) that you did it for EXTRA CREDIT; otherwise, I will assume that it is for the mandatory one you did.
2) When you are done test-taking the survey, you can start on your Literature Review.
Basically, you will need the three research articles you have chosen, and which you brought to class today as print-outs, with the quotes underlined which you might want to use in your paper.
The Literature Review is a major component of your research essay and talks about the status quo of current research about your topic - its achievement as well as its shortcomings, which you are trying to fill by adding your own research.
It is a SYNTHESIS of your 3 external sources, not a SUMMARY. Merge, contrast, and compare your sources to one another, and find their shortcomings that you are going to fill with your own research.
You will need meaningful TRANSITIONS between your paragraphs. Don't talk about the first source in the first paragraph, then glue a second paragraph under it talking about the second source, and so on... You need to compare/contrast your sources, and find similarities and differences!
Read the following description of what a literature review is intended for, and of what components it consists.
You can choose whether you want to cite in APA or MLA, but be consistent! On this site, you will find a link to the APA style manual which helps you create the citations for your Lit Review in APA. On this link, you will find a link that helps you to create citations in MLA.
Remember these rules:
Quotes that are under 4 lines go in your text flow and have quotation marks, and you indicate your source in parentheses: (Miller 2008, 59).
Quotes that are 4 lines and over are indented, have NO quotation marks, and also have the source indication in parentheses. (See example text below.)
Then, create your own Literature Review, and type it into a blank Word document. Due date for the finished Lit Review is Monday, Oct. 19th, at class time, as an email to your instructor.
LENGTH REQUIREMENT:
Below is a sample of a Literature Review in APA style which I wrote for an education course:
(This is also the minimum length yours should be; you have 3 external sources, so you need to write 2-3 pages (double-spaced; we'll single-space after our peer editing session to achieve the required format.)
_______________________________________________________
A C.A.L.L. for Fresh Wind in Grammar Teaching: Computer Assisted Language Learning as Best Practice for Literacy Education
Literature Review
Who wants to learn grammar? Let’s put it another way: who wants to teach it? Given that this highly analytical topic with its morphology, etymology, and diagramming is one of the most unpopular curriculum components in English language arts both in the conception of students and teachers, there must be a best practice to convey it in an agreeable, content-immersed manner proper for our computer age. We notice that students in middle and high schools have a more and more limited knowledge of technical terms such as genitive or accusative, but skills in information technology exceeding those of the teachers. Instead of bemoaning the status quo, we should readily address those skills, for in 2012, technological literacy will become part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), or the Nation's Report Card, which means that in addition to reading, writing, math, science, history, etc., the technology literacy of students will be measured nationwide.
This important milestone in educational history justifies a more intense integration of information technology into the classrooms, exposing students and teachers alike to new software products and corresponding skills. Why not try it in grammar teaching? It can be argued that instead of drilling the technicalities of Greek and Roman grammar – a language the modern student does not understand – it might make more sense for teachers to use an alternative approach to teaching grammar, such as by imitation strategy, conveying it in the form of computer-assisted instruction in order to address the needs of the modern student.
More and more constructivist teachers change their methodologies by addressing their tech-savvy young audiences in a motivating way. According to Dexter and Anderson (1999), teachers make use of computer technology along a continuum of instructional styles ranging from instruction to construction, exposing their students to either drill and practice, with computer technology as complementation, or, respectively, to active work for knowledge-building, with computers as a tool (Dexter & Anderson 1999, p. 2). They purport that teachers are not only constant decision-makers, but also learners who have to go with the change in the “nowness” of instruction, and reflect upon their own effectiveness to make their teaching fit modern standards (Dexter & Anderson, 1999, 2).
In their study about teachers’ use of computers in their instruction, and their perception of the changes thus introduced in existent classroom practices, Dexter and Anderson quote one teacher who exemplifies the general attitude of all teachers interviewed by stating that computers are not driving, but facilitating the changes she makes: “It is not like there is a written curriculum for the computer. We kind of put it together as we go along based on the needs of the students. Like I said, we try and connect it as much as possible to what is happening in the classroom.” (Dexter & Anderson, 1999, p. 9)
Putting it together according to the needs of the students is also the aim of the present study about teaching grammar courses by using computer-assisted language learning (C.A.L.L.) in the form of WebQuests, blogs, online survey builders, etc. There are, however, characteristics of C.A.L.L. that Dexter and colleague do not mention – the immanent dangers, such as limited on-task supervision, the proneness to use Internet lingo in academic settings, plagiarism, and the leaving-behind of students who are less fortunate than the excelling tech geeks, such as the case study of an Amish student who had just learned what a computer was, but not yet how to use its higher functions. Kuang-wu Lee (2000) analyzes in detail the barriers of C.A.L.L., namely the financial obstacles, the availability of soft- and hardware, the technical and theoretical knowledge, and the acceptance of the technology. Despite all those adversaries, Lee concludes that what matters is not the technology, but how we use it, and states that
[c]omputers can/will never substitute teachers but they offer new opportunities for better language practice. They may actually make the process of language learning significantly richer and play a key role in the reform of a country's educational system. The next generation of students will feel a lot more confident with information technology than we do. As a result, they will also be able to use the Internet to communicate more effectively, practice language skills more thoroughly and solve language learning problems more easily. (Lee, 2000, n.p.)
While Lee – who tackles the subject from the point of view of foreign language learning – discusses computer technology in general, Zheng and colleagues (2004) go more into detail by describing the perceptions of WebQuests by higher-education learners. After a definition of the role of WebQuests and quotes of what they ought not to be, such as “a panacea for all manner of educational ills,” and “merely worksheets with URLs” (quoted in Zheng et al., 2004, p. 41), the researchers mention the key features of WebQuests: a) critical thinking, b) knowledge application,c) social skills, d) scaffolded learning. Their survey of the perceptions of males and females of their WebQuest learning led to the results that males and females both have equal opportunities to learn from scaffolding (including the components of content comprehension, learning, and goal attainment) as embedded in WebQuests without any gender preferences, and can perform equally well in cooperative learning. Although the researchers stress the difference between the old construct of WebQuests focusing on knowledge application and critical thinking versus the new one of constructivist problem solving, they underline that there cannot be uniform standards for WebQuests established, since they display a wide range of quality and design (Zheng et al., 2004, p. 48).
The present study is going to analyze university students’ perception of their grammar learning through WebQuests and other computer-assisted functionalities, hopefully coming to some general statements where this C.A.L.L. in literacy will lead us in the future.
From now on, we will have your MINI LESSONS every FRIDAY (in the order of our list), and occupy ourselves with our term paper every MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY.
Today, we are laying the foundation for our big semester paper (either a research paper, or a newspaper/magazine article; your choice).
The paper will deal with grammar. The first steps are the same for ALL, regardless of whether you choose to do a research article or a newspaper report. You will sign up for a given topic at the end of this blog (multiple sign-ups per one topic are possible), or pick a topic of your own which I will approve before you start collecting data for your research.
STEPS: 1) establish data pool (through sending out of an online survey) 2) analyze the incoming data (after 2 weeks of collecting) 3) write paper about data, incorporating 3 outside sources
those who write research paper: Your sources MUST be from peer-reviewed, published research articles from data bases such as JSTOR, ERIC, Google Scholar. You have to cite correctly in APA or MLA style, both in-text and in your References. Attention: if you are sick and have to research these data bases from home, remember that JSTOR requires a password. You need to log into Morris Library with your DAWG tag number first, and THEN access JSTOR!!!
those who write a newspaper/magazine article: Your sources can be quotes from famous people about grammar, or stem from research articles. You won't cite in MLA or APA, but follow newspaper conventions of how to integrate quotes.
4) Proofread and peer-edit paper (it must not contain ANY grammar mistakes!!!). We will do a peer-editing session, and the Writing Center will hold a short presentation of their services on October 12th or 14th (for 10 minutes), so you can visit the WC later on and have your essay checked.
5) The papers are due as hard copies on the last course day of November, so you have plenty of time for data collection, analysis, and editing.
If you are NOT in class today (Monday, Oct. 5th, 2009), you NEED to perform the steps below at home, so you won't be left behind. If you have questions, call me or email during my office hours. Don't worry, the whole unit can be performed online, so all you need is a computer with Internet access. People who have the flu or are otherwise out of class for an extended time are EXPECTED to perform the same task at the class at about the same time, using this blog and their email accounts.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Pick one grammar topic from this list you would like to research.
Pay attention:
If you do a "public opinion survey," your audience will be anybody from the general public, which means you can put the link to your online survey on your facebook page, email it out to all your friends and family, and to people whose email address you acquired.
If you do a "teachers' perception survey," your audience consists only of teachers (high school, or college, or mixed). YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EMAIL ANY SIU FACULTY!!! (because they get mad at me for doing those surveys every semester with my classes ;-) Therefore, pick different teachers/professors.)
If you do a "students' perception survey," your audience will be college students (NO MINORS; NOBODY under 18 years of age!). You ARE allowed to ask SIU students.
WHOEVER your audience is, you must have MORE THAN 10 RESPONDENTS. That means, you MUST send out our online survey to at least 20 people, because 50% generally won't take the survey. If you should end up with less than 10 respondents although you emailed 20 or more people, your own peers will simulate being your audience and take your survey for you (for EXTRA CREDIT). This means, you can still analyze your data, but your results will be fake (won't have any impact on your grade, but you know your research isn't worth while).
Topics to pick from:
1) Public opinion survey about gender: Are females better at grammar than males? (or vice versa) 2) Public opinion survey: Should sentence diagramming be taught at high school? 3) Teachers' perception: Do college students today know enough grammar? 4) Students' perception: Did high school prepare us well enough for college with regard to grammar? 5) Public opinion survey: Does good grammar in one's native language help one to learn foreign languages? 6) Public opinion survey: Does grammar knowledge rise or decline with age? 7) Public opinion survey: Does "good grammar" depend on the region one lives in? (dialect/slang; survey about socio-economic and environmental variables)
8) Public opinion survey: Does good grammar help one to be competitive on the job market? 9) Public opinion survey: Is it important how well our political leaders use grammar? 10) Public opinion survey: Should grammar be taught in grammar-only classes, or integrated into English classes? 11) Public opinion survey: Would learning Latin early in high school help students to be better at English grammar, and the grammar of foreign languages they might study? 12) Public opinion survey: What is the right grade level to start teaching grammar to students? 13) Public opinion survey: Should grammar be taught through drill and practice, or through imitation or other methodologies? 14) Public opinion survey about race: Are (put in a race; e.g., African Americans) better at Standard American English grammar than (put in a race; e.g., Caucasians)? 15) Public opinion survey: Does socio-economic status have an influence on grammar? 16) Public opinion survey: Does texting make students' grammar worse?
17 - 25: Topics of your own choice which you can type on this blog after my approval. Come up with ideas during class!
When you have chosen a topic, log into this website http://www.surveymonkey.com/, in order to create a NEW SURVEY. I have emailed you the log-in and password!!! Go to your email here: Choose the GENERAL template, pick a background color, and start your survey.
Guidelines:
1) Name your survey: firstname_lastname_topic; e.g. Christina_Voss_grammar_in_HS
2) Your survey must have a minimum of 20 questions, and a maximum of 24 questions. 3) The first 4 questions MUST be demographic (e.g., ask gender, age, provenance, income (only if it makes sense for your survey, e.g. if you want to find out about socio-economic differences), level of education, years of grammar at school/college, etc.).
4) There must be 10 questions that are a grammar quiz (if you do it about sentence diagramming, you can design diagrams by hand and insert a scan into your survey!) After all, you want to know whether your audience says the truth and is really good/bad at grammar!!!
5) The remaining questions are up to you (those are the content question where you explore people's attitudes and perceptions).
We'll model and do the survey together in class (you'll finish it up for homework). If you're not in class today, try your best from home and call/email if you encounter problems.
WHEN your survey is finished: I'll show you how to create the online link, and we'll post it on this blog under your name. For those who missed class: I will access surveymonkey, and will get your URL by myself, and put it on this blog.
Step 2: Explain
I will explain how to diagram sentences using a power point presentation.
Step 3: Extend To extend the lesson, I will discuss more complicated examples of sentence diagramming.
Step 4: Evaluate and e-search
I will evaluate the class with a short quiz during the power point presentation and finish by having some of the students diagram a few sentences on the white board.
For this exercise, you need a pencil, eraser, and lots of paper ;-)
When repairing our pretest, we already learned how to diagram simple sentences:
REVIEW
rule A: start with a baseline rule B: separate noun and verb by a vertical line through the baseline rule C: nouns always go on horizontal lines rule D: adverbs go on lines parallel to the adjectives they are modifying
The first sentence contained only verb, subject, adverb: "Big, bright rainbows appear very often." Diagram this sentence on a piece of paper and see how much you remember. The difficulty here was where the word "very" goes.
The second sentence was a prepositional phrase: "The ship of my dreams sank quickly on Tuesday." Diagram this sentence on a piece of paper. What you had to remember here is that "Tuesday" is a noun, and nouns go on horizontal lines, so "Tuesday" goes on a horizontal line under the baseline, and parallel to it, going off from the preposition "on."
Check with your teacher on the board whether you were correct. Now, we will learn to diagram three new categories of sentences.
The problem in this sentence is that you need a perpendicular line for the direct object. The direct object is the one you ask for with "whom", that is, "Whom will I hit?" "The board."
Here, you need a back slash for the complement, which is the word "man." Who can continue the sentence with "on his shoulder"??? Hint: is it a prepositional phrase (what we've had before)?
The gerund is written on a pinnacle, diagonally over a step.
Do it alone for the following sentence:
Swimming is fun.
Now, use all the three categories we have just learned (direct object, subjective complement, and gerund) in one phrase: Diagram the ultimate sentence, "The ENG300 students grew weary of their teacher explaining stupid sentence diagrams on the board."
Exercise in group work (4 groups): You may use your textbook for help! But don't take sentences literally from it...
EASY TASK Take a big poster from your teacher, and write on it one sentence that contains more than one of the categories we have already learned. Give this sentence to your partner group to diagram it. Check their diagram with your solution to see whether they were correct.
DIFFICULT TASK Draw a complicated diagram on a big poster you get from your teacher, but leave out the words!! (You need the completed diagram WITH the words on a separate small piece of paper.) Give the blank diagram to your partner group. Your partner group has to determine which categories you demand, and has to fill your blank diagram with words that work and make a correct sentence. Of course, their sentence will be different from yours, but check whether they did it correctly.
If we don't finish in class, we'll continue Monday. REMEMBER: Friday, Sept. 25th, no class, because teacher will be at a meeting!!!!! (see your email)
Homework for Monday is to read chapter 2 from the black textbook.
“You get a picture of this gallant little band of the last literates going down to the peak with ‘Warriner’s Grade Four Grammar’ in one hand and ‘Best-Loved Poems of College English Departments’ in the other….Though our popularizers of good grammar…think they are defending standards and traditions, they keep attacking idions that are centuries old.” (Quinn, p.9)
a.What theory of grammar is the author talking about? Explain.
b.What theory of grammar does the author most likely adhere to? Explain.
a-Prescriptive because they stick to the book and the author has the opposite opinion.
b-Contextual because the author cares more about the analysis more than the rules.
4. In the movie Running on Empty, one character says of his mother, “I said: ‘I wish it was easier’ and she said: ‘You wish it were easier!’ She’s correcting my grammar like one of the kids she teaches.” What type of grammar does the mother teach: prescriptive, descriptive, generative, or contextual?
-Prescriptive.
5. Consider the following three sentences.
A. John hurt himself.
B. John hurt hisself.
C. John hurt heself.
a.What would a prescriptive grammarian say about these sentences, if anything?
b.What would a descriptive grammarian say about these sentences, if anything?
a-They might say there is only one correct answer.
b-They would be interested in whom the speaker is or what dialect it came from since they are interested in all dialect.
Definitions.
1.Grammar is the correct way of writing and speaking a language. It is considered formal and does not include the use of slang.
2.Grammar is how someone constructs sentences within his/her speech or writing, in order to communicate effectively.
3.Grammar is the structure behind how we write words and sentences, but it varies from language to language.
f. Grammar is the rules of writing correctly. Prescriptive because prescriptive grammar is interested in constructing rules of usage. g. I see grammar as sort of the ‘government’ of words. It contains rules and regulations that help words get along with each other. Prescriptive because this also explains the constructing of rules for grammar. h. Grammar is the correct usage of the English language. Contextual because it describes how people produce and interpret the language. i. Grammatical sentences are easier to understand than ungrammatical ones. Descriptive because it is the building blocks of sentence structure. j. Grammar is the structure and content of language. It varies according to language, regions, individuals, and environments. Includes sounds, punctuation, word choice, word order, etc. Generative because it refers to the effect of context and/or real-time limitations on the way speakers process language. k. Grammar means the system by which we have chosen to write and speak. Generative because it also refers to how speakers/ writers have chosen to process languages. • Grammar is the structure behind how we write words and sentences, but it varies from language to language. Descriptive because its purpose is to describe the structure of language. • Grammar is the correct way to form sentences and punctuation. Prescriptive because it is normal grammar. • Grammar is how someone constructs sentences within his/her speech or writing, in order to communicate effectively. Generative because it is common knowledge to all speakers.
