Читать книгу Engaging Ideas - John C. Bean - Страница 45

Many teachers across the curriculum will admit that English was not their favorite subject. Although they produce competent professional writing in their own fields, they believe that because they struggle with their own writing and because they do not know grammatical terminology or composition theory, they lack the skills to help students. This book aims to allay these fears. Because the best teacher commentary focuses primarily on students' ideas and the strengths, weaknesses, or clarity of their arguments, no special terminology is needed. Teachers simply need to be honest readers, making comments such as these:

 “I'm getting lost. How does this paragraph connect to the previous one?”

 “Readers will need more evidence here.”

 “What about Petriono's research on this problem? Can you summarize and respond to her argument?”

 “Excellent point!”

A main aspect of teaching writing, as chapter 2 argues, is to encourage students to revise their drafts, showing students how global revision reveals critical thinking at work. The more teachers can show students their own thinking processes as they move from an initial idea to a finished article, the more they can serve as role models for students. In short, your own experience as an academic writer and reader, combined with your expertise in how scholars in your field inquire and argue, should be all the background you need to help your students with their writing.