Asian ESL Learners

Imagine you are a high school teacher and correct the following essay excerpt by an ESL student. Spot the mistakes. Which ones are characteristic for Asian ESL learners, according to the research essay you have read for today, and which ones are just mistakes anyone could make??? Which grade would you assign for this writing?

The Beijing is a modern city and there are a lot of places to visit. First, there are many new building was build. One of the new buildings, it looks like a bird’s nest. Then, it have a big history. You can visit a lot of old buildings to know the history, just like “the summer Palace”. Finally, many people come from different country, there are kinds of restaurant. You can eat which you want to taste. Beijing is a nice place.

A Contrastive Guide to Teach English to Chinese Students

Chinese students not only have a hard time learning English because of the language itself, but also because their culture, tradition, and values differ as well. Most students that are Chinese tend to be shy, do not do face-to-face conversing, or are afraid to speak in public because their English is not always the best. Studies have shown that many Asian students also do not associate themselves with American students, which does not allow them to practice their English skills. A final problem for Chinese students arises where they work. Many have jobs at Asian restaurants, where poorly educated employees discourage them from going to school and learning the English langage. The language difficulties that the Chinese endure prevent them from taking advantage of all educational opportunities. Learning problems come into play here. Aspiration, or allowing breath to flow while speaking, is important in the Chinese language. Many Chinese people identify "p,t,k" as always aspirated, even when they are not. Chinese people do not understand the difference between voice and voiceless sounds, so they have a hard time distinguishing the difference between "dog/dock," "bag/back," and "cup/cub." They also have no equivlent for sh as in she, so they substitue the s sound for she. Many cannot distinguish the difference between round/wound, road/wood, and consonant clusters including, "pr," "br," "pl," and "bl." For example, "the r disappears in Brooklyn and becomes Booklyn." The Chinese tend to add extra syllables at the end of final consonants. For example, "finish" becomes "fi-ni-shi" and "have" becomes "ha-vu." Unstressed syllables in the English language also pose a problem for Chinese speakers as well. There are no articles, definite or indefinite, in the Chinese language, and the Chinese have trouble with negatives. They cannot distinguish the difference between "no" and "not." Most Chinese students cannot use the words, "too," "either," or "also," correctly, and prepositions are problematic because there are very few in the Chinese language. They are also limited in use. Finally, the word, "there," is troublesome as well, as it is not used as an introducer in the Chinese language. For example, an American would say, "There are a lot of problems here." A Chinese student would say, "A lot of problems here." The Chinese language differs from ours greatly. There are four different tones, which can change the meanings of each word. The repetition of the same subject in one sentence is acceptable, and Chinese adverbs and adjectives can be before or after the subject. There are four different types of verbs and fourteen different types of punctuation marks. Adjectives can be used as verbs as well. As for writing the Chinese language, symmetry and sequence of strokes are extremely important. Each separate character is vital to the meaning of the whole context. Asians read from right to left and top to bottom in Chinese, while in English, we read from left to right, and horizontally, not vertically.

Sharpening, by Ken Marcrorie

Sharpening, in Ken Marcrorie's words means to give life to your writing. He states most beginning writers and some veteran writers use in excess the verb is(and all other forms of to be). Is by itself is meaningless, linking too many adjectives and nouns together deflating the life from the sentence. For example, Ken Marcrorie quotes Shakespeare's 'Macbeth':
"This tyrant whose sole name blisters our tongues,
Was once thought honest."
If Shakespeare incorporated excessive forms of to be, the line would read:
"This tyrant whose sole name is a blister on our tongues,
Was once thought to be honest."
He uses Is-ness and It-ache as explanation of a writer's inability to free themselves to use powerful words.
It & there take the place of an otherwise powerful noun leaving adjectives and adverbs without meaning or effect. Which type of sentence intrigues readers, passive or aggressive?
Passive sentences inhabit the is-ness and the it-ache. For example, Ken Marcrorie mentions this sentence:
"The object that was stepped on by me was a ladybug with lavender spots."
An aggressive (sharpened) sentence would read:
"I stepped on a ladybug with lavender spots."
Ken Marcrorie also stresses the use of verbs with more meaning than just the basic verb get or make, etc. Enlighten the reader, invite them in. Don't leave them yawning.
He also touches base on weasleries. He states, "There is a time to be cautious and a time to be bold." Don't apologize for your words. In his example, "She was unusually hideous." He claims the writer lessens the power of hideous with the weak word unusually.
His statements aren't intended to massacre the use of it & is, only raising attention to excessive use, enticing writers to give more meaning to their words. His moral is not to do away with all uses of the cited words, but to learn where to look for possible weak spots in your sentences.
When reviewing your writing ask yourself, "If the adjectives and adverbs are pulling their weight? Do the words around them render unnecessary?".

"Is WHO really singular?"

Sylvia Chalker does not seem to believe that the word who always has to be singular. She thinks that both singular and plural verbs can be used along with who. She also points out that it might make more sense to use plural verbs when a plural answer is necessary, for example, “Who are coming over to swim?” “Melanie and Anna are coming.” Chalker believes that a plural verb might sound more natural in the previous question because the answer is plural. She supports her case with rare situations where plural verbs seem to fit better because of the context of the sentence. Her other way of supporting her case is by using a kind of context where the verb is followed by a “plural noun group” that accompanies the subject. One of her examples, number 15- “Who are understudying Macduff and Lady Macduff?” is a good example of this. Clearly, “Who are understudying…?” does not sound grammatically correct, but it does force the person being asked to realize that the answer should be plural. She came to the conclusion that who is not necessarily singular, but more “neutral” and that the meaning of who can be a little hazy because when used in different questions it can be singular or plural.

Text for blog post: Is WHO always singular???

There is the following grammar rule: "Who" is always singular, like "anybody," "nobody," "somebody," "someone," "anyone," and "no one."


However, not everybody agrees with this! (Which, however, has had no impact on the rule so far, so you MUST observe it ;-))) For example, there is one person, Sylvia Chalker, who argues against the "right grammar rule." Here is a link to one page of a review article where this person gives good reasons for why one might need to rethink a "correct grammar rule."

One of your peers will summarize Mrs. Chalker's arguments for you, and post the summary here on the blog as a new thread. All of you (even the person who posted the summary!) then have to post a short comment with their personal opinion about whether Mrs. Chalker was right or wrong.

Learning Cycle, and ML on WHO vs. WHOM

For your mini lessons, I want you to employ the classic LEARNING CYCLE used in science, but also applicable in language arts.

The learning cycle (LC) consists of 6 E's:

1) Engage
2) Explore
3) Explain
4) Expand
5) Evaluate
6) E-Search


I have emailed you all my ppt about the mini lesson on WHO vs. WHOM, as well as the quiz we have taken today in class (for those who have missed today's class: you should take the quiz at home, and read through the material).

After our mini lesson on WHO vs. WHOM, please click on this LINK and take the corresponding grammar quiz.

HOMEWORK: Write a short comment on this blog what you think about the learning cycle (is it just for science, or does it work to use it in English? Is it beneficial as a teaching strategy? Why, or why not? Have you been taught this way? For education majors: do you/will you teach this way? Etc......

Solution of extra credit pop-up quiz

Solution of the Milka pop-up quiz (1 big mistake, two small mistakes):

Wrong sentence:

"This is our home, for the preservation of which we are strongly engaging ourselves, for example as "Official Sponsor of the Hohe Tauern National Park," or the sole use of renewable energies for the Milka production."

Right sentence:

"This is our home for the preservation of which we are strongly engaging ourselves, for example as Official Sponsor of the Hohe Tauern National Park, or as purporter/user of renewable energies for the Milka production."

What was wrong:
1) The "as" only referred to the word "sponsor," but not to "sole use." We function as sponsor, but do we function as sole use? No. We need two subjects here: "sponsor" and "user," "purporter," "fighter for," etc. This is what we stand for. We are sponsors and users, not a "use."

2) There should not be quotation marks around the Official Sponsor of the Hohe Tauern National Park; however, you need to capitalize the words, because it is an official title. It's like being an Official Sponsor of the Olympic Games. You don't need quotation marks around "Hohe Tauern National Park," either, because this is just the name of the park.

3) The first comma was redundant. You just need "our home for the preservation of which."

When the "as" refers to both subjects correctly, you have a parallelism (for good style): you function AS sponsor and AS user. (You can leave out the second "as," because it is a repetition.)

I gave 1 point for each of the small mistakes, but you really should have found the "as," for it is a wrong connection. It must refer to both things, not just to the sponsor.

Homework for Friday, Jan. 22nd

David Macrorie uses an interesting term in his book TELLING WRITING:

ENGFISH. You can find the corresponding chapter from his book at http://www.kristisiegel.com/engfish2.htm

This is a special kind of English used by many people, including students, professors, and
textbook publishers...

For homework, post a comment on this blog about your personal experience with ENGFISH.

Welcome and First Assignment

Dear all,

Welcome to ENGL300-2, our ultimate grammar course!!!

If you're able to post your first comment, you have already mastered the first hurdle of this class ;-)

Our first assignment is easy: we are going to introduce ourselves. Click on "comment" in the lower right hand corner, and publish a short introduction to yourself, talking about your major, your hobbies, your career, etc. etc.... If you have a myspace site or website, you can include a URL so people can look you up and get to know you. If you have a photo of yourself, you are welcome to attach it to your profile.