Obviously, writing requires a solid foundation of English grammar, vocabulary, punctuation and capitalization rules. But good writers also have developed composition skills, such as knowing where to start and end a paragraph, when to use complex sentences and simple ones to achieve a desired effect, and how to control the register of a text (friendly or businesslike, formal or informal) through word choice.
Before I moved to Spain and began teaching English as a second language, I taught American students to write. It was a very challenging job, for the reasons mentioned above--but very satisfying and instructive, and I try to apply what I learned in that role to my current teaching as much as possible.
One of the things I learned is that it was not helpful for students for me to "fix" their compositions for them. While it was often easier and less time-consuming for me to just add a period, correct a misspelled word, or draw an arrow to put an adverb in it's logical place within a sentence, doing so robbed the author of valuable opportunities to understand his or her errors, and learn from them.
I have developed the following Error Correction Key as a way to classify errors made in compositions. This system will help you learn in two ways:
- By revealing your habitual errors, it will help you become aware of your general strengths and weaknesses as a writer (and speaker) of English.
- By actively working through your mistakes, it will contribute to the learning of specific elements (spelling, grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, etc.) that aren't yet clear to you.
The goal is to give each student practical, personalized information about how to improve his or her compositions.
However--and this is very important--this system only works when students reflect on the errors they've made, consult grammar references and dictionaries, and attempt to figure out why what was written is not correct. I am happy to meet with any student who wishes to discuss their composition but only AFTER they have attempted to correct the mistakes on their own. It is not appropriate to stop me after class and ask me what the marks on your composition mean; you have the key to tell you what they mean. When you've had a chance to look at the errors, one by one, bring a corrected version with you to my office hours and we can talk about your composition in detail.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THE ERROR CORRECTION KEY
