Korean Job Discussion Forums

[aka Dave]

I'm on summer break but I'm teaching "writing class" that prepares English Education students for the English teacher exam (that they have to pass to teach middle school/high school students).

I'm the only weygook in my department and a lot of time I feel I'm out on an island, simply because my lower level students have decent ideas but they tend to express them poorly, and they tend to be generally unoriginal.

I was curious if anyone is teaching essay writing classes and how they go about them, and more particularly if you have any textbooks you could recommend. I teach essay topics based on this textbook.

http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Language-Learning-Teaching-5th/dp/0131991280/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218788254&sr=8-1


Sometimes, frankly, the student's essays make my brain hurt. They're not that bad but they do require a lot of corrections. Example essay:
(btw structure fairly good in this essay)

"Discuss the differences the "process approach" and the "product approach" to writing instruction (sic) (300 words)

"Many students have worried about writing. The writing doesn't just create idea like brain-storming, but is required logical and organizing abilities. In order to be afraid for many students who hate the writing, I have the writing instruction.

The writing instructing is depended on two approaches; process approach and product approach. Both approaches have the difference.

First they are different about topic subjects. In the product approach, topics are assigned but, topics is self initiated in the process approach. So, everybody has a story to tell.

Second, they are different about the mode of the essays. In the product approach, expository essays are the stage of school writing. But, all modes of writing are respected equally in the process approach (I like this sentence).

Third, they are different about the development form of writing..."

Okay the essay goes on for a while. And this essay is one of the most error free I have in my stack.

Problems. Almost always the same problems. Subject agent/verb issues. Add to that subject/agent/verb/object issues. Notice the first senteces where she's using "they" for the product/process approaches and that's a little awkward.

And you have the "writing doesn't create idea" which is an agent mistake (a writer creates ideas) and is so typical in Korean English writing.

I correct the essays the best I can, and usually try to add a couple of content questions if I can.

What's your approach? Any advice? Just throwing this out there because some of my students seem to be stalling in their writing, wheras during the semester we seemed to make more progress.

Yesterday I was a bit frustrated with the essays. Just trolling for advice.

EDIT: am I the only person doing this? I gotta wonder sometimes. My boss said the students need to learn writing for the tests and I said "well, that'd probably be my strongest suit." And she added the writing classes and they just piled up. Most of these students haven't even written a lot of essays before. They don't get credit for the class but it's the most work I do.

[ytuque]

Based on the student example, you are asking students to write an essay on a rather dry topic when they probably can't write a decent paragraph on something they find interesting. Even worse, you have to admit the writing at the sentence level isn't that good!

The textbook is beyond their abilities from what I can see. Why was a TESOL textbook selected when a more appropriate book may have been a basic English composition and grammar text?

Good luck!

[Young FRANKenstein]

I don't START with teaching essay writing. Too painful. They can't write simple paragraphs. I start with paragraph basics and make them practice the various elements of paragraph writing and several paragraph types for at least a month or two. THEN I go on to essay writing. With the basics presumably under their belt, taking the ideas they learned with paragraphs expand them to essays is much easier than starting out teaching the essays from scratch. And less painful grading-wise. I'd rather pull my hair out grading a short paragraph than a long rambling "essay". By the time I get to the essay, I have very little major grading to do. I've drilled the major writing mistakes out of them by then.

EDIT: I use the Folse series of writing texts. It has everything from how to write sentences to writing paragraphs to writing essays.

Great Sentences
Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs
Great Paragraphs
From Great Paragraphs to Great Essays
Great Essays
Greater Essays
plus a few others of similar format...

Start with the book appropriate to your students' level and work up to essays from there.

[Dazed and Confused]

I like Step-by-Step writing. The series has 4 levels and goes through all the different types of writing. It also has very clear steps so a student can organize the paragraph logically. However, if your students cannot write a basic sentence, this book will be too difficult for them even at level 1.

[Hyeon Een]

[Young FRANKenstein]

[Milwaukiedave]

The Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs book that YF recommended is a good one. I taught writing last term and used parts of it (if it had been a longer class I might have used more of it).

I had them do 3 different types of papers with three drafts to each (that might be too much, so you could cut back to 2 essays with 3 drafts).

The grading part was tough because I had 79 students in four classes (thankfully other then my Business English class twice a week that was the bulk of my work load). I ended up spending anywhere from 6-12 hours a week grading.

If you send me a PM with your email address, I'll forward all the stuff (including a good article about how to structure a writing class) to you.

[moosehead]

part and parcel of why most K students can't write a decent essay is because they aren't taught how to do a proper outline as we are in the West.

Every writing class I've ever taught, various ages but always advanced level, I start them off w/outlining and how to put one together - then we work on a topic in class and build the outline and they can see how it all comes together.

I had one director who really got annoyed I was teaching this DESPITE the students praising this method and saying it helped them immensely - as well as IMO their essays improved dramatically.

if they are headed for an American univ at any point they WILL have to understand how to put an outline together.

If they are in a K univ, and trying to write in E, then they need to learn how to do it as painlessly and professionally as possible.

Hope this helps!

[Young FRANKenstein]