In regards to story 50 by Mark Israel:
Mark's roommate was Swiss-German and incorrectly substituted 'sparingly' for the word 'funny' in a paper. Mark later realized this was most likely because his word checker said, "The word 'funny' is trite. Use sparingly."
This story is very relevant as colleges continue to diversify and include more foreign students. When I first read the story it was easy to laugh at, but then I started to think that the struggles non-native English speakers face daily are probably immense. English is so complex that I often wonder if all professors should be required to take a TESL course or two just to understand how and when misinterpretations occur.
In my last teaching position, there were many foreign students, and I struggled with teaching composition to them because of the language differences. I speak Spanish, so it was easier to catch errors in papers written by native Spanish speakers. However, I had one student from Sri Lanka that I just couldn't seem to grasp why he was making certain mistakes. I spent extra time with him, referred him to a TESL tutor, and signed him up for writing center visits, yet he still failed my class. I felt like I did all I could, but I also feel that the school did not do all they could have done. The entrance exams for college placement have some kinks in them, sure, but some students can pass multiple choice English-based-knowledge tests but not be able to apply those skills to composition. I'm not sure how to fix this problem, especially since I have noticed a push away from remedial courses.
English definitely can be a complex language to learn; a lot of times its "rules" don't apply in all cases and complicates the process it takes to learn the patterns. I sympathized with this even more when I took Spanish classes in college. I have seen a lot of students work to improve their language skills and succeed at writing; I have also seen a lot of students struggle. I would try to support them however I could and ultimately realize the practice and work needed to come from them and I could not be everything in that. Thanks for your post!
ReplyDeleteI have no solution to propose for the problem you brought up in your post, but I do have similar experiences as far as recognizing the struggles non-native English speaking students face in their writing intensive courses. Working with English language learners in the writing center at my previous university, they would often confide in me that they have to spend days just trying to finish a simple assignment that their native English speaking classmates could complete in an hour. It sounds difficult and frustrating. It's hard to know what to "do" about it except sympathize, though.
ReplyDeleteIt's really interesting to consider all the factors that bring international students to schools in America. I have friends who have never left China in their lives, but I know could complete 103 assignments easily and beautifully. Language learning can be a really different process for different people, and like you said, sometimes the knowledge needed for an English competency test doesn't translate to an ability to compose clear, readable writing. I'm really interested in how to help with this as well!
ReplyDeleteFor our bi-weekly meeting last week, the Writing Center staff watched a document called "Writing Across Borders." It talked about strategies instructors use when they have non-native English speakers in their classes. You might want to watch it at some point. I'm not sure how freely available it is online, but I'm sure there are some copies floating around the writing program staff that you could find.
ReplyDelete