Commenting at the sentence-level is a critical part of the feedback we can provide; however, we also want to comment in ways that don’t simply correct, but that help writers improve their clarity. This module provides strategies for providing useful and efficient sentence-level comments on student writing and save time. We start with two readings and include a section to help you work with multilingual writers at the sentence-level.
Begin with these two readings on teaching writing at the sentence level:
Why not mark all the errors you see in a student paper? If we want students to improve as writers, why shouldn’t we show them exactly what they’ve done wrong?
Gottschalk and Hjortshoj explain why this technique could backfire:
However virtuous and dutiful your reasons for falling into the practice of line editing, most of that labor will be lost on your students. Those who will not rewrite the paper will simply register the mass and weight of your corrections in relation to the grade, without looking closely, and will perhaps conclude that they need to do better next time—a value you could have gained simply by saying, This paper is error-ridden and disorganized. You need to do better next time. Those who will rewrite the paper will simply make all of your corrections that they can decipher because you have, in effect, assumed responsibility for the quality of their work. (52)
Marking every error you see takes control of the paper out of the students’ hands and places it squarely into yours.
However, this doesn’t mean that issues of style and correctness shouldn’t be attended to. As the Structured Protocol explains:
If you wish, additionally, to comment on “lower order” concerns (e.g., style, grammar, and/or punctuation), please focus on just one or two patterns encountered throughout the essay, explain these in a separate paragraph of your head comment, and mark up only a single representative paragraph in the essay to model corrections.
Note that the suggestion mentions patterns. Limit your commenting to errors that occur consistently throughout the paper and are rule-bound (e.g., run-on sentences, comma splices, subject/verb agreement). Marking one-off errors throughout the essay could distract students from focusing on more important issues they should attend to in revision.
Remember: only mark errors that you are prepared to teach to your students. If you think something “sounds wrong,” but aren’t certain how to explain the issue to students, leave it alone.
Gottschalk and Hjortshoj emphasize the distinction for new instructors between correcting error and helping students make choices of style.
To think about how to help students at the sentence-level, therefore, we need to distinguish between helping students learn how to correct their mechanics, punctuation, and grammar and how to make wise choices of style. These tasks call for attention at different points in the writing process and may call for different methods. (88)
They suggest new instructors define key sentence-level terms such as mechanics, syntax, punctuation so that we don’t “confuse problems of error with matters of style.”
The University of Michigan’s Anne Curzan argues that writing instructors encourage critical inquiry about the rules of language:
…we must fundamentally rethink how we teach grammar in the classroom. We and our students should not accept ‘Because’ as an appropriate answer if a student asks, ‘Why do I have to write this way?’ We must have a better explanation for them. (871)
Curzan helps instructors of writing draw useful distinctions between prescriptive grammar and descriptive grammar — emphasizing the critical role of the conventions of Standard English and correctness, while also entering a conversation with our students about “who says?”
If we open up a conversation about ‘who says,’ students learn the usage conventions of written Standard English while being given the tools to challenge them appropriately.
She concludes with a proposal to “produce better learning in our classrooms.”
This proposal aims to energize the teaching of grammar (in the prescriptive and descriptive senses) — to transform it from behavior modification to engaged learning not only about language but about everything else that gets wrapped up in attitudes towards language.” (877)
But you should check out her proposal for yourself.
There are obviously many methods to work with your students on their sentences and some overlap in the approaches discussed here (yes, having students read their sentences aloud, for instance, can help them recognize their own patterns and hear their own emphasis). But most critically, finding ways to help your students recognize and take control of each of their sentences can empower their writing and improve sentence-level clarity. Here’s an additional handout to support you in working with your students on sentence-level issues:
Here are some additional readings with strategies and suggestions that we recommend:
“Research has shown that college-level ESL writers can and do learn to become proficient editors of their own texts when given the necessary instruction.” (84)
To begin, please read Linville’s chapter on working with multilingual writers:
Linville explores six common treatable error types you are likely to encounter and provides a sample word form grammar resource sheet that will help you prepare. She also discusses several tutoring strategies to support your work with multilingual writers.
She recommends “that identifying errors should focus on those that are most common, serious, and treatable.” (86)
We also encourage you to visit these resources and readings:
Write 200 words or more in response to the following prompt:
What strategies and methods do you currently use to provide feedback at the sentence level? After completing this module, what specific changes or adjustments will you make to improve how you provide sentence-level feedback to your students? What concerns or questions do you still have?
Write a reply to at least two other responses that fully engages with the issues and questions your peer presents. You might add another perspective, add another question, or contribute additional thoughts to your peer’s response.
We will begin with your questions and concerns in our next face-to-face class meeting.