Editing ESL Speakers

1. Editing ESL Speakers TECM 5195 Dr. Lam

2. Today’s Plan • How do students acquire a second language? • What types of errors will you see in their editing? • What is comprehensive editing? (review) • What should your tutoring session be like?

3. First, some vocabulary • ESL = English as a Second Language • L1 = "Language 1" or the student's native (primary or first acquired) language • L2 = "Language 2" or the language being learned or studied

4. Language Acquisition vs. Learning

5. L2 Acquisition and Second Culture Acquisition • How you believe second language acquisition occurs is usually connected to what type of cognitive psychologist you are. • Generally speaking, however, linguists believe that L2 acquisition proceeds rather predictably and does depend in part on your native language.

6. Models of L2 Acquisition • Pre-production • Students do not usually produce their own language • Students understand language that has been made comprehensible • Early Production • Students have a small, active vocabulary • They feel ready to speak in one- or two-word phrases

7. Models of L2 Acquisition • Speech Emergence • Noticeable increase in listening comprehension; students speak in short phrases • Students begin to use the social language necessary in the classroom • Nearly fluent • Students understand what is said in the classroom • Express their ideas comprehensibly in both oral and written communication • Ability to read most grade-level material

8. Main Types of Mistakes • Translating the native language into English • Mistaking one word for another in English • Mistakes in features that are non-existent in the native language, or generalizing a pattern which does not generalize (e.g., he work in a store) • Mistakes in sociocultural knowledge

9. Mistaking One Word for Another in English • Its/it’s • Where/wear • To/two/too

10. Having difficulty with features not in the native language

11. Verbs

12. Plurals of Nouns

13. Plurals of Nouns

14. Gender and Nouns

15. Sociocultural Knowledge • China airlines flight crashed into side of mountain • Last words were “What does pull up mean?” • Modern jets use buttons, so no pulling is actually involved • Official term used in “control tower” is climb • Phrasal verbs like Pull up are difficult for ESL learners • *Excerpt from Emily Thrush’s Technical Communication article.

16. Try this in different languages • He looked up the word in the dictionary • He looked up the mountain.

17. Chinese Language • Two prominent “languages” (also called dialects) • Mandarin is widely used in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Singapore • Cantonese is widely used in Hong Kong

18. Chinese Language • No alphabet like in English • No plural nouns • No gendered pronoun when spoken • No past tense in verbs • No articles • Different question formation

19. Chinese Language Links • http://www.china.org.cn/e-changshi/index.htm • http://middlekingdomlife.com/guide/section-I-teaching-english-in-china.htm • http://www.eslall.com/learn_english_1071.html

20. India • Official Language: Hindi—40.2% mother tongue • Recognized Official Languages: 15 • Official Working Language: English • Estimated Dialects: 1600

21. Indian Language Links • http://www.usingenglish.com/teachers/articles/not-best-way-to-teach-english.html • http://www.ehow.com/how_5164971_learn-english-urdu.html

22. General Problems • Sections may not be introduced • Tenses may shift unnecessarily • Probably be article issues

23. Visuals Problems • Visuals might not be adequately explained • They might appear before or after the text that mentions them • They might not be referenced in the text at all

24. More visual problems • The captions on the visuals may be inconsistent (some are bold, some are sentences, some are fragments) • Their numbers might not be in order (Figure 2 then Figure 4) • The figure that’s being referenced may not be the same as the one that has that number (the author is talking about a statistic in Figure 3 that actually appears in Figure 4)

25. Comprehensive Editing (a review) • Analyze the document’s readers, purpose, and uses to determine what the document should do and the ways it will be used. • ***Evaluate the document’s content, organization, visual design, and style to determine whether the document accomplishes what it should • Establish editing objectives to set forth a specific plan for editing. • Review the plan with the writer to work toward consensus.

26. Your ESL Client • Many of you will be assigned your client next week • The client will be a graduate student in the sciences or engineering • Most of you will edit some type of research paper

27. Our Client Stats • Clients are in disciplines of STEM Education, Biology, and Psychology • Clients are from Nepal, India, and China

28. Client Tutoring Video or Session • Begin with two to three examples of what your client did well. • Briefly describe the changes you made. • Show the client how he or she can tell what changes you made (explain the comment function, point out the change in color, etc.) • If your client begins to ask many questions at this point, stop your explanations and go on to the next part.

29. Client Tutoring Session, cont’d • Using POSITIVE LANGUAGE, describe the top two or three areas for improvement. • YES • The top three ways to improve your writing . . . • These two techniques will make your writing even stronger . . . • NO • The top three mistakes you made the most often . . . • The two errors I noticed the most . . .

30. Client Tutoring Session, cont’d • After explaining the first technique, have the client practice the technique—ideally, on his or her own paper, rather than isolated examples. • Then, explain the second technique and practice it. • Then, the third. • Summarize what you have done with the client. • Provide information on the Writing Lab, where the client can go for additional help. If off campus, point them to online resources.

31. Client Tutoring Session, cont’d • Express good wishes for the success of his or her project, and say goodbye! • Write up a memo for me about the experience: • Explain what you did • Explain how you think it went • Explain what you learned *Your examples and resources should be clearly labeled, so if you run out of time to practice each technique, your client can still follow what he or she should practice.

32. Overall, be encouraging! • You probably know how difficult it is to take a foreign language; imagine taking graduate courses in it. • And finally, remember that this client has probably struggled with the errors you are pointing out, in addition to others, for years, and may be very, very frustrated. Be kind.

33. Choosing Errors • Choose the errors you review based on a number of factors (and please communicate this thought process to me in your memo): • What you would consider the “worst” errors • What are the most frequent errors • What errors can you teach your client in a half hour (naturally, they won’t master it by then, but you can discuss it)

34. Tips on ESL Tutoring • http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/esl/esltutoringtips.html • http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/tutor/problems/esl.shtml • http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/