Lily's First Language Learners

In the day where technology is thriving, and the communication through email and text messages are now the common norm, there has been a steady decline and absence on the use of proper punctuation. The slow disappearance of punctuation standards, like commas and apostrophes, indicate the need for change towards the written world. Lynne Truss considers herself a stickler for punctuation, and her book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves addresses the minority of those who regard themselves as punctuation "sticklers" as well. Through the use of humor, figurative language such as relatable analogies and real life anecdotes, Lynne Truss creates a call to action for all the fellow punctuation sticklers: embrace proper punctuation, and require zero tolerance for those who use it incorrectly.

The article “The Writing Revolution” by Peg Tyre is a piece which aims to address the problems in school systems often associated with the way in which writing is taught to students. Tyre’s article conveys the different arguments presented in the course of teaching writing to students, which have been shown to be on opposite sides of the creative and analytical spectrum. These different perspectives of how to build the foundation of writing for the children of America as well as other countries are backed similarly on both sides, though the debate still continues. “The Writing Revolution” instead of focusing on all aspects of writing, highlights the effectiveness of analytical fundamentals over that of creative writing in helping to

This is the second required general core course in college­level writing. Observing the conventions of

“Does Texting Affect Writing” is about Michaela Cullington, the author, comparing two opposing perspectives. The perspective is whether texting hinders the formal writing skills of students or not. Millennials are a population that cannot go a day without looking at their phones so, due to the “increasing use of mobile phones, concerns have been raised about its influence on their literacy skills. No matter if it is sending or receiving a text or checking social media sites, technology has taken over the lives of the young generations. The essay “Does Texting Affect Writing?” in They Say, I say exposes how the significant action of texting and using textspeak, i.e. abbreviations and symbols, may be hindering the writing skills of teenaged students. People communicate using textese to “more quickly type what they are trying to say” (Cullington, 2017, p. 361). Textese is a “register that allows omission of words and the use or textisms: instances of non-standard written language such as 4ever” (Van Dijk, 2016). When these people use textese often, it can become habitual and transition into their school assignments. Michaela Cullington constantly repeats words and uses comparisons and abnormalities for the concerns about textspeak, the responses to the concerns, methods and the discussion of findings on the topic to be analyzed.

Writing is a practice that most of us were taught when we were young. We were taught the basics of grammar, how to form a sentence, conjunction words, how to write paragraphs and more. Although we have learned this skill while growing up and have used the skill every year after entering kindergarten, this does not mean our writing process will ensure the best work. The authors that I chose each encourage their audience to excel in the art of writing in their own way to help with the writing process.

The English language has evolved substantially since its beginning. It has evolved from sign language, to Shakespearean, to modern English we speak today. This evolution has also created a standard of writing, known as the SWE or standard written language. David Foster Wallace’s essay “Authority and American Usage”, addresses the function and importance of a writing class. Wallace finds many of these classes to be troublesome due to the lack of correct usage of standard written language. Most of Wallace’s points and opinions come from his own experiences with his writing class and his experience as a writer. I find that replicating and correctly implementing a style and format of writing that is acceptable to Wallace to

Once students’ starts memorizing different phrases and shorter terms for words, they begin to make it a habit. A very different side of the spectrum is that the author claims that she rarely ever used abbreviations. She also knew that using abbreviations are considered unacceptable in writing and that it would make her look unintelligent. It seems odd that teachers claim that students do not realize their grammar mistakes before the students turn in their work. In Jacquie Ream's newspaper article, she insisted that texting destroys kids writing style.

On the evening of Thursday July 23, 2015 I conducted an interview of Alex Benavides- a senior mechanical engineering major at Oklahoma State University. Benavides describes his experiences in his english courses as enjoyable, and notes that it helped him become a better writer. Benavides also states, that from personal experience during summer internships, that there are ineffective writers in positions where clean, flowing, and proper writing is a necessity. Proper grammar is essential in professional writing situations, according to Benavides, and is also often the first area critiqued by professors and teaching assistants. “You only get out what you put in when you write”, says Benavides, “be serious and grind, it makes the difference”.

Most elements of writing (development, organization, and style) fit task, purpose, and audience. Some identifiable mismatches.

In our society, people communicate through various ways. One of the most essential way is writing. Through writing, people convey their thoughts and ideas, connect to others, and pass on wisdom generations by generations. More importantly, writing effectively promotes the advancement of society. Though some people have not realized the how writing benefits from writing, the author of the article “How to Read Like A Writer”, Mike Bunn illustrates that focusing more on the rhetorical “strategies” and structure rather than the content can improve our own writing.

Chin, Beverly Ann (2000). The role of grammar in improving student’s writing. Retrieved from http://www.uwplatt.edu/~ciesield/graminwriting.htm

As I began to search for an article in the paper to write about that interested me, I was immediately drawn to a title that threw me off; "Why Kids Can't Write," by Dana Goldstien. Considering myself a kid I decided it would be worth a read to try and decipher what I agreed with in the article and what I did not. Early on in the article, the author begins talking about the probable root of the issue; how kids are being taught. She says, "Focusing on the fundamentals of grammar is one approach to teaching writing. But it's by no means the dominant one." As early as second grade, I remember learning grammar, spelling, and punctuation. When deciding what to write about, the topic of discussion was what one did over the weekend, or had for dinner

It is important as a teacher to make sure that they communicate with English Language Learners parents. ELL parents may have a difficult time becoming involved in their student’s academics because they might not know the English language as well. As a teacher, I will want to help the ELL parents as much as possible. I will inform the parents that I am here to help them in any way possible. And that I have found some very helpful community resources that aid in English acquisition and serve immigrant families that may be able to help them out. There might be a lot of questions that the ELL parents might have that as a teacher I will not know the answer, this is when the community resource can help them out. It was mentioned that when someone

Technology is a helpful tool for teaching the writing process, and Marchisan and Alber (2001) concluded that writers can be taught to write using the writing process approach paired with tools of technology, direct instruction, and committed well-trained teachers. Graham, (2008), Graham & and Perin (2007a), and Rogers & and Graham, (2008), agreed that technology makes the process of writing easier and often provides very specific types of support. Word processing provides at least four advantages: (a) revisions are easily made, (b) publishing is professional-looking, (c) typing provides an easier means for children with fine motor skill challenges to produce text, and (d) word-processing programs have software programs, such as spell and stylistic checkers designed to reduce specific types of miscues. Other tools are speech synthesis (i.e., the writer’s spoken words are transcribed to electronic text) and word-prediction programs (i.e., the computer program reduces the key strokes by predicting the writer’s next word). This is helpful for students with difficulties with spelling and the mechanics of writing. In addition, outlining and semantic mapping software can aide with the planning process, and the use of computer networks and the Internet can help to promote communication and collaboration among writers.

Furthermore, perhaps the greatest contrast and the most evident of how language works differently in various types of writing is the discussion blog post. The blog post allowed the class to engage in different types of formality of language. The formality of the language one uses should match the formality of the situation and the relationship between the writer and reader. Therefore, as the public audience was a class of online students taking a required writing course in the summer, the formality of my writing has often been very informal. For example, in my blog post addressing my concern over the unworthy power of Beyoncé I wrote, “It was the year 2008 when the world was blessed with the images of Beyoncé (unapologetically) dancing around in a leotard. Not only is Beyoncé’s single lady video one of her most notable hits it begins her what is now a decade long relationship ending spree” (Marquis, 2016 ). The formality