Job Discussion Forums

[Old Surrender]

I teach an essay-writing class at a university. This week my students are writing their first draft of an essay and the week after the October Holiday I plan on having them "workshop" (also known as peer edit) their essays in class. Has anyone else done this at a Chinese university? I know the pitfalls of workshopping in the U.S., but I am wondering if there are any Chinese-exclusive pitfalls I should be aware of.

I did peer-editing with a class of Korean middle school students and it went pretty well, however, their English and study ethic was stronger than my current crop of university students.

Thanks!

[ryanwhistler]

The typical Chinese English major student is incapable of editing someone else's paper. They can't write their own, let alone edit a different one. Besides, their copy-and-pasted essay's from the internet will require little peer editing.

[Old Surrender]

I share your cynicism about copying from the Internet. I am forcing them to write their essays in class. I did a diagnostic essay (basically a freewrite in class) to gauge their writing skills. I was pleasantly surprised.

Funny aside, one of co-teachers had a student who MEMORIZED an essay from the Internet and wrote it in class. Took him 15 minutes. She refused to take it unless he found some things to improve about it and told him that a good essay takes longer than 15 minutes to write. The kid sulked for the rest of class and turned it in when the bell rang.

[randyj]

Any kind of peer review or an activity that smacks of classmate criticism has not been successful for me in China. Maybe it's part of the culture.

[Miles Smiles]

Forget it.

[Teatime of Soul]

[Old Surrender]

Heh. Got it.

[Neilhrd]

I don't go along with the posters who have written off peer editing in
China. I have done it regularly for a couple of years now with classes being prepared for study in western universities.

My main purpose is to alert students to a method which they will be assumed to know in western universities. However I have also found that it has some benefits as a teaching method in itself.

However there are some pitfalls. First of all you have to accept that Chinese students have no knowledge of the concept and teach it from the beginning. The difficulty is that most elementary exercises found on the internet are for primary school students in the USA and it is difficult to teach the basics to high school or university students in China without being patronising.

Secondly many students don't know what is, or is not, correct grammar in each other's work. I always tell them to ask if they are not sure whether something is right or wrong. Most students will do this. I find that it does raise students conciousness of grammar issues and is often more effective as a remedial tool than the traditional presentations on the whiteboard. It also sometimes leads to sharing of correct structures and relevant vocabulary between students with different knowledge. For this reason I try to change pairs regularly and sometimes collect in essays and hand them out at random for peer editing.

I also tend to use peer editing to try to get them to focus on structure, cohesion, and logic as well as grammar. However it takes persistence to get the students to look beyond correcting grammar and spelling in each other's work. I explain what I am looking for and model it before they write then put on the board the things to look for when peer editing as guidance. I always circulate and try to keep them focused on these aspects.

Peer editing isn't an excuse for the teacher to take a break. Chinese students rarely take that level of responsibility for their own learning. It demands active participation from you.

That said some students do get it after a few attempts and do make constructive suggestions to improve each other's work. However others are incapable of discussing in a friendly way and heated arguments can develop if face becomes involved. This takes careful monitoring and it is essential to nip trouble in the bud and facilitate a more rational discussion of the point between the students.

Peer editing is undoubtedly time consuming and because of the need for constant monitoring works best in small classes. However even in a large class it is a possible compromise if you don't have time to mark 50 scripts.

Overall I find that peer editing does help most students to become more engaged with the writing process and makes writing classes less mechanical. I will continue with it but I am also interested in any tips from other posters about how to do it better.

[Insubordination]

I just design a checklist, depending on what I have taught. An essay, a description, a recount, a personal email or a report would all have specific checklists. Obviously, you would need to use the terminology you have used in class.

1. Does each body paragraph have a topic sentence? y/n
If it does, underline it.

2. Is there one idea per paragraph? y/n
If so what is the idea? If not, how many ideas are there?

3. Is there signposting (however/firstly etc.) y/n
Circle these words.

4. Is there academic language? y/n
List words you think are academic

5. Is there cause and effect language? Have personal forms been used? Are there any noun groups? Underline five examples of subject/verb agreement. Is there an introduction? Does the conclusion summarise the essay/have a final comment? etc.

I think a more structured approach like this works well and heightens awareness. It's also not too personal/critical. It's just a checklist with a bit of underlining or circling of positive features or a 'no' if they aren't there. My students, (95%) Chinese, seem to find it quite engaging. Of course, it's better if they're all at the same level. Heck, take the names off the top if you're worried about ego/sensitivity/face.

[DixieCat]

Good one above...

[Ariadne]

Insubordination... Great ideas. Thanks.

.

[randyj]

Absolutely, appreciate the insights.