Words and Word Usage
Resources
Learning about Words(developing abilities to analyze words for structure and meaning) General reading comprehension – especially as related
to GED Science material |
Word Form Awareness (Shaughnessy) Fourteen Master-Words (James I. Brown) (Crossword) Classifying Words Word Parts: Number Prefixes (crossword) Thinking about WORDS (word
parts and vocabulary terminology crossword)
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Learning Words (absorbing specific words
into one’s active vocabulary) There are no shortcuts to
building an active vocabulary.
Reading and writing at appropriate progressively challenging levels
are the necessary conditions. Other teaching
methods, lessons, and resources can only provide context and direction to
those all-important reading and writing efforts. Spelling – with
the opportunity to develop computer and organizational skills:
classification, vocabulary reinforcement, study skills |
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Learning a Sensitivity to Words (awareness of how exact word
choices are made in writing) The
GED essay is directly geared to expository writing where overall organization
and planning, sentence structure, and mechanics are
weighted as heavily as word choice and usage. Image Grammar: Using Grammatical Structures to Teach
Writing by Harry Noden offers approaches to help learners add fluency to
their writing during a process of systematic revision. These patterns apply
equally well to creative and expository writing. |
Harry Noden’s “Basic Brush Strokes”: * * * * * * Image Grammar Resources for Learners |
Organizing Source and Categories for Learning
Words: Errors & Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing by Mina P
Shaughnessy, Oxford University Press, 1977
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Beginning Basic Writers |
Intermediate Basic Writers |
Advanced Basic Writers |
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In
terms of word usage, Beginning Basic Writers are primarily identified by
“lack of specificity. The
challenges of spelling and mechanics easily overwhelm memory and attention
requirements for meaningful composition and elaboration. |
The Intermediate Beginning Writer is
developing increased Fluency, “access to words”. This “stage” is marked by a growing vocabulary along with an
awareness of the need for specificity. The
biggest challenges involve handling written conventions for conveying
abstract relationships The
writer is developing a sense of the reader and the capacity to begin
comparing written words with intended meanings. |
An
Advanced Beginning Writer has the background and experience to profitably focus
on Precision, “ the ability to judge a word’s usefulness.” The writer
is still challenged by many standard conventions, but can compensate with
inventions or command of alternative forms. The
writer has a basic ability to self consciously use writing as a tool for
learning (about one’s self, the world, and writing itself). |
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Often
fail to name the subject/topic of their writing clearly ·
Often
fail to track changes in “subject” appropriately ·
(pronoun
reference errors, lack of connecting and transition words) ·
Dependence
on vague nouns and pronouns (“thing”, “it” “this”) ·
Dependence
on basic verbs (make, get, have, be, put, keep, etc) ·
Limited
use of modifiers ·
Dependence
on basic (and vague) modifiers (“better”, “bad”, “important”) ·
Rarely
use “ly” form adverbs ·
Difficulty
articulating the manner in which an action is taken ·
Difficulty
with altering word forms (i.e. exist – existing- existence) ·
Difficulty
articulating conditions under which a statement is true or false ·
Rarely
use lists ·
Challenged
by sound/spelling correspondences and spelling conventions ·
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·
Growing
Vocabulary ·
Increased
use of Modifiers including “ly” form adverbs, alternate descriptions and
appositives ·
Difficulty
with logical relationships ·
(may
over use lists) ·
Manage
transitions with difficulty ·
Unfamiliar
with logical and rhetorical idioms of connection ·
Awkwardness
with words that coordinate or subordinate ideas ·
Difficulty
with abstractions and words that suggest abstract connections ·
Rarely
uses figurative language |
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Extensive
use of connecting and transitional constructions ·
Can
identify a subject in multiple ways ·
Can
use multiple ways to describe an idea ·
Few
pronoun reference errors (“it” “this” used mostly to avoid redundancy) ·
Still
unaccustomed with (insensitive to) many conventions of written discourse ·
Difficulty
controlling tone and style ·
(Sometimes
oversensitive to “audience” and perceived demands of “formal” styles) ·
Experimenting
(often awkwardly) with metaphor/figurative language ·
Difficulty
recognizing and controlling for conventional formulae and cliché
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This
broadly conceived rubric represents the thoughts and experience of Mina
Shaughnessy to the best of my ability to interpret them from “Errors and
Expectations”
A
Note on “Research” and “Writing” and “Grammar”
It
is fairly easy to point out discrepancies between certain rules and guidelines
for writing as it is sometimes taught and actual “good” writing as it is
commonly published and consumed, written and read, and even criticized and
acclaimed by those who claim the competence to judge such matters. For an enormous number of reasons, mostly
related to problems with definitions and controls, it is much more difficult to
prove or discredit the relationship between teaching approaches and practices –
and substantive learning outcomes.
Alluding
to these difficulties seems necessary because some of the references below are
linked to claims that research has “proven” that teaching grammar is
ineffectual or even detrimental to the development of writing skills in
learners. Aside from any methodological
problems with such a claim, my own limited experience and intellect makes it
difficult to avoid dealing with at least some aspects of grammar when helping
learners improve their writing. The
work of Mina Shaughnessy, Harry Noden and Constance
Weaver is geared to developing competencies towards helping learners to
focus on and utilize a bare minimum of grammatical concepts as part of their
resources as developing writers.
Adios, Strunk and
White by Gary Hoffman
Writeful
by Gary Hoffman
Seeing
Through Language by Ronald Carter and Walter Nash (1990)
The
Art of Styling Sentences: 20 Patterns for Success by: Marie L. Waddell ,
Robert M. Esch , Roberta R. Walker (1993)
Korzybski's Structural
Differential and Hayakawa's Abstraction Ladder
Scene
& Structure Jack
Bickham
The
Improvement of Student Writing: What Research Says by Lana M. Danielson (2000)
Facts
on the teaching of grammar
Punctuation:
Less Is More? ERIC Digest.
Figures of
Rhetoric in Advertising Language
Effective
Composition Instruction: What Does
the Research Show? by Michael P. Carter, Carolyn R. Miller, and
Ann M. Penrose
Not
all Errors are Created Equal by Maxine Hairston in Nelms
After
THE END: Teaching and Learning Creative Revision by Barry Lane
Revising
Prose (4th Edition) by Richard Lanham
The
Craft of Revision by Donald M. Murray
The Role Of
Grammar In Improving Student's Writing by Beverly Ann
Chin
20
Master Plots (And How to Build Them) Ronald
B. Tobias 2003
The
Territory of Language: Linguistics, Stylistics, and the Teaching of Composition
by Donald A. McQuade;
Though there may well be a wealth of transferable intellectual skills
resulting from the artful teaching of grammar, the GED instructor is primarily
concerned with developing the abilities of basic writers. Due to numerous constraints, the
complexities of grammar must be kept to an absolute minimum. However, since some GED learners do have
realistic aspirations to go on to college, there is a need to provide
conceptual tools for them to continue developing themselves as self conscious,
self-confident writers. Some of these tools will probably be grammar concepts.
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·
teaching concepts of subject, verb, sentence, clause, phrase, and
related concepts for editing; ·
teaching style through sentence combining and sentence generating; ·
teaching sentence sense and style through the manipulation of
syntactic elements; ·
teaching the power of dialects and dialects of power; ·
teaching punctuation and mechanics for convention, clarity, and style. |
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Harry Noden’s “Basic Brushstrokes”
seem to be an excellent way to prompt learners to begin the practice and
understanding of the “manipulation of syntactic elements”. It also provides the possibility of an
entertaining way to grapple with the some punctuation conventions. These brushstrokes, along with what he
calls “Ancient Greek Special Effects”
(rhetorical flourishes) may also provide a springboard for exploring some
aspects of “the power of dialects and the dialects of power.” Some of these rhetorical patterns may also
in some way connect a practicing teacher with what is most valid in the
traditions of liberal arts education in its classical (and scholastic) origins.
Though much of the substance of this unit is based on the work of Harry
Noden, the inspiration and general outline comes from Mina’s Shaugnessy’s work
with “Basic Writers”. Shaugnessy’s
basic writers were open admissions college students whose skill levels are
comparable to our GED learners. This unit is also guided by a framework for
essay writing provided by Steck
–Vaughn’s Complete GED Preparation:
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Organization (planning, paragraphing, and transitions) Sentence Structure (subordinating ideas, parallel structure, etc.) (Word) Usage (Verb forms, Subject-Verb agreement, etc) Mechanics (Capitalization, commas, spelling) |
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The above structure seems to provide an excellent starting place for
learners to develop their own, individualized “Writer’s Revision Checklists”
for focusing on improving writing for clarity and effectiveness as much as on
the “search and destruction” of errors.
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Finally this unit can be related to the Massachusetts ABE Curriculum
Frameworks strands and standards for English Language Arts:
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Awareness and control of
tone & style (Writing) Awareness of rules for
grammar and mechanics (Writing) Develop writing vocabulary (Writing) Revise to include more
details and information (Writing) Use figurative language (Writing) |