Because L2* students, in addition to being developing writers, are
still in the process of acquiring the L2 lexicon and morphological and
syntactic systems, they need distinct and additional intervention from their
writing teachers to make up these deficits and develop strategies for finding,
correcting, and avoiding errors (Ferris 4).
Error correction should not be seen as the means to eradicate all
student errors but as the means to encourage gradual but consistent improvement
in accuracy over time, acquisition and application of linguistic knowledge, and
development of effective self-editing strategies (Ferris 74).
Only when instructors consider the needs, knowledge, and prior
experience of students; make careful decisions about the goals and mechanics of
error correction; and embed error feedback in a larger context of developing
knowledge and building strategies that will improve student writing will such
feedback have the desired effects on our students (Ferris 76).
*L2 = stands for second language versus L1 or
first language
I’m reading a number of books by Dana Ferris
at the moment and I’m finding her both very thoughtful and practical in terms
of her approach to L2 writing in general and to error feedback
specifically. The above quotes are
some of my favorites from Dana Ferris’s 2002 book, Treatment of Error in Second Language Student Writing. This book is an extremely accessible
text aimed at teachers of multilingual writers—both those who work with them in
L2 writing classrooms and those who work with them in more mixed settings. Though her focus is teachers, I’m
interested in thinking about how some of her insights might shape tutor
development in the writing center.
Overview:
Ferris
begins this book by talking about how for many years grammar instruction/error
correction was the “dirty little secret” in L2 writing classrooms because
teachers struggled to balance key L1 process approach principles with L2
writers linguistic accuracy issues—the end result being that accuracy issues
were often not given much emphasis by teachers or teachers felt vaguely guilty
when they spent class time dealing with them. Ferris claims that her own classroom-based “need to understand what might help
university ESL writers improve the linguistic accuracy of their texts” (xii)
shaped her research agenda over the last 20 years and what she’s learned from
this research underlies a lot of her practical suggestions in the book.
Ferris
sets four (4) goals for teachers who read this text. She hopes they gain a better understanding of how to:
- Adequately prepare themselves to respond to
grammar errors and provide instruction;
- Accurately assess students’ needs for error
correction and grammar instruction;
- Provide written feedback on student papers
that not only helps students to “fix” problems in current texts but will lead
to long-term improvement in accuracy and writing style;
- Teach mini-lessons that help writers grasp
key terms and rules needed for writing and to develop effective strategies for
editing their own work both out of class and under time pressure (2).
Ferris works toward these goals by first,
exploring why error treatment is important for L2 writers and how L2 writers
issues may differ from L1 writers.
She gives some background about the grammar instruction/error correction
debate in second language writing but concludes that this book is based around
the assumption that “most teachers—and
certainly their students!—nonetheless believe in the potential for error
correction, grammar instruction, and editing-strategy training to have positive
effects on student writers’ overall development” (9).
With
this assumption in mind, Ferris introduces scholarly perspectives on error
correction in L2 writing in Chapter 2 and organizes her discussion around four
main research questions that have a number of sub-questions. For example, while exploring the
question of “What are the effects of teacher error correction on student
writing?” Ferris discusses research that focuses on everything from adequacy of
teacher feedback to what degree student writers use this feedback to the
different ways this feedback can be given.
In
Chapter 3, Ferris discusses the important topic of how L2 writing teachers need
to be prepared (or prepare themselves) for helping writers with their
linguistic needs. Ferris outlines
four (4) principles that she thinks are key to this process:
- Principle 1. Teachers
of ESL writing need to study aspects of grammar that are particularly
problematic for nonnative speakers of English (41).
- Principle 2. Teachers need practice in recognizing and identifying
errors in student writing (43).
- Principle 3. Teachers
need practice in developing lessons and teaching grammar points to their ESL
writing students (43).
- Principle 4. Teachers
need to understand the principles of second language acquisition and of
composition theory (46).
Ferris discusses each of these principles in
depth and provides examples of ways to put these principles into action from
the MA-TESOL program she teaches in.
In
Chapters 4 and 5, Ferris gets even more practical and discusses specific issues
teachers need to consider about what, when, and how to give error feedback as
well as other ways teachers can help student writers deal with error, beyond
focusing on a specific paper. For
example, Ferris discusses approaches teachers can use to help writers
understand the importance of editing, to give students instruction in and
experience with self-editing strategies, as well as to provide other classroom opportunities
for student writers to develop their knowledge and skills.
Finally,
in the Appendices section, Ferris provides examples of materials and worksheets
one can use both to help teachers and students develop their linguistic
knowledge.
Quick Evaluation:
I
think this book is a must-read for any teacher who works with multilingual
writers. Though it doesn’t provide
any quick fixes, it provides some solid principles and ideas that I think most
writing teachers could benefit from thinking about. I will talk more about WHY I think this is an important book
for you to read in my next post.
Stay tuned.
