BLOGS

hello,

based on our class readings, i bravely present ... my personal musings - and those of my classmates!
bear in mind that viewpoints therein came from those destined to be 'greatness'. HA! Talk about intellectual masturbation!

so if you wanna get a dose of interesting e-discussions on rhetorical theory and/or computers & writing respectively, be sure to visit the following links by copying & pasting the addresses below to your browser:

www.theorist06.blogspot.com
(my blog for english 724 rhetorical theory of the written discourse, spring 2006)

www.english728.candconline.org
(class blog for english 728 computer-mediated composition instruction, spring 2005)

florence
researcher05

SIGN OFF BLOG 8th DEC 2005

hello guys,

am signing off for this semester. it has been fun engaging in fruitful discussions with you all. i really learned a lot! special thanks to dr. blair for unconsciously pushing me to explore an unknown territory - experimental study and STATS! now my research design has already taken shape. i know that this is NOT the end of my quest, though, as endless finetuning/modification is just about to begin. nevertheless, for now ... THANK GOD IT'S OVER! :)

disclaimer: any notions of geekiness because of the fusion of 'grammar' and 'numbers' (i.e. statistics) for this topic should be entirely removed from researcher05 and must be credited to epistemic justification. :)

merry christmas all!

see you later,

florence
researcher05

BLOG UPDATE FOR WEDNESDAY November 16, 2005

I’d have to say I’m about ready to start sitting down and plan my research design at this point. I did think about some details for this study and I am all the more convinced that an experimental study is the way to go for my topic. I am glad I came across the idea of using a technology-based grammar instruction for a composition class and the only way to find out whether the lesson I devised really works would be to implement it in an experiment involving two groups – the control and the treatment/experimental group. The bit about statistics, which Dr. Blair mentioned in class today, is not far-fetched from my study’s plan.

I think I came across a study which kind of reflects the idea I have for this experimental study. I have yet to check out the context on which it was implemented since I am not sure if it was done in an ESL Composition class. Could anybody advise me if a replication is a valid route to take in an academic/composition research just in case my research design reflects the same methodology/framework as previous studies? I’d appreciate any feedback on this.

For now, I am also looking at the best possible techno-based pedagogy I could use as part of my research focus for Dr. Carter’s class. The result of my research in that class (hopefully, one that leads toward a sound techno-based grammar instruction designed for a composition class) will be utilized for my experimental research design for Dr. Blair’s class.

And so as I try to wrap up my investigation, I am almost ready to start writing up my design … that is, after I hear from you guys. Thanks!

Florence
Researcher05

BLOGGING FOR 26 OCTOBER WEDNESDAY

While mining sources for my bibliographic list, I was not really sure yet of my focus for this study. However, after my conference with Dr. Blair, I became more comfortable (and a bit confident) with my topic and with the direction I wanted to take. After I wrote my lit. review (and after digesting it for the nth time), I realized that I need to orient myself more with ‘key figures’ emphasized in a number of the articles I’ve read – Weaver, Connors, Bakhtin – and see how I could situate my research design theoretically. At this point, I know that one of my purposes for this study would be to answer Weaver’s challenge to Composition teachers to experiment with unique ways to teach important grammar points “in less time” during the revision process in order for students to produce rhetorically effective pieces. Since there is a dearth of studies on ESL composition pedagogy with regard to its use of technology-based (and contextualized) grammar instruction, I thought this is where I would like to posit my plan. As part of my ongoing research, I will continue to mine more sources on studies/researches done on ESL composition practices and grammar instruction using technology so that I could be assured that there really is an existing gap in this area. Another concern for me at this point is to search for sources that would pinpoint which specific grammar points are needed by ESL students in composition classes so that I could start planning/designing mini-lessons that would target their deficiencies (this time, by using technology). Beth gave me a li’l anecdote earlier (ethnographic bit!) on a possible focal point for grammar instruction. Otherwise, I would just have to implement in my experimental design a strategy to measure which grammar points are necessary to focus on in both my experimental/treatment group and my control group.

More to come as am picking up speed and moving forward. As always, your kind advice would keep me from getting lost.

Florence :)
Researcher05

MY BLOG POST FOR 10/5 WED

Based on the articles/other sources I found, it seems that there really was a dearth of dissertations (from ProQuest) when it comes to ‘grammar improving writing’ – a category I assigned for articles which relate the benefits of teaching grammar in composition classes as well as some of its effective rhetorical pedagogy. I surmised that this could signal what has been a movement away from grammar prevalent in the mid-80s, what with NCTE’s resolution that teaching mechanical grammar is not relevant to students at all. Conversely, I found a lot of journal articles that argue FOR the effectivity of grammar instruction in writing. I thought there seems to be ‘something going on there’, a ‘gap’ that reflects differing opinions about this subject so that absolutely doing away with grammar seems easier said than done. My sampling of bibliographic lists on this subject might indeed signify something about current pedagogical composition practices.

I am entertaining a shift in my focus for this study. Though I still want to work on grammar and its integration with rhetorical pedagogy (a la Bakhtin), I want to explore more on how technology could help usher in a comeback of grammar instruction (or does it actually ‘worsen’ students’ writing proficiency because of the proliferation of technological practices like emails, blogs, etc?). Could it be that most compositionists, writing instructors, etc leave out grammar because it proves to be inconvenient or too traditional in this postmodern age? By investigating more on the role of technology in grammar instruction in composition classes, I might be led to a more promising direction for this research. As always, your suggestions and insights are valuable.

At this point, am willing to take a stab in search for the Holy Grail…

florence
researcher05

a li'l update

My topic of interest is on grammar and writing / teaching of grammar in the context of writing. So far, I have found 12 bibs about the subject from ERIC, 6 from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 15 from Academic Search Premier, 5 NCTE Positions and Guidelines, and 1 CCCC Position Statement. I know this wealth of information is a bit overwhelming. Reading the abstracts (and some full texts!) as well as making sure they’re sorted out in a coherent fashion do take a lot of time. Apparently, I am in the process of distilling my main focus. From reading the abstracts, it seems that I could go into several directions. I could conduct a study (perhaps ethnographic) that establishes a link between the integration of rhetorical pedagogy and grammar instruction as I am fascinated with Bakhtin’s pedagogue on stylistics/ grammar (and other readings patterned after his theory)… OR I could focus on how teacher (or students?) feels about teaching grammar in the context of writing (via survey, ethnography, etc)…

I was able to sort out the sources I’ve gathered into several categories for ease of reference (the disadvantages of teaching grammar in writing; the benefits of teaching grammar in writing and some techniques/methods; ESL/EFL writing and grammar issues; the role of computers in language teaching; and on rhetoric and composition). Among these categories, surprisingly, I have MORE sources on the benefits of teaching grammar in the context of writing! So, this could serve as springboard for me to direct my area of study towards that trail... but then again, my topic could be an enigma :)

about me :)

hello,

for this research project, i am interested in the role of teaching grammar in the context of writing. i am interested in finding out whether teaching grammar points have any or no transfer value at all in student composition skills. and if they do, what grammar points reasonably transfer to writing proficiency. i know the issue of teaching grammar lessons in a writing class is a bit wishy-washy (?) among students, teachers and writing program administrators alike. any feedback from you cool people would really help the success of this enterprise! :)