TODAY’S GOALS
• Finish discussion of previous writing experiences and the difficulties of the English language
• Assess week 1 learning goals
• Discuss what makes quality writing and critical thinking
QUIZ 1
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CLASS DISCUSSION: ENGLISH DIFFICULTIES
“It is not easy to calculate all the costs of English spelling. What is the price of demotivation and turning
large numbers of young children off learning at a young age? Teachers are regularly reminded that when it
comes to motivation, 'Nothing succeeds like success'. English spelling ensures that many children have to
become accustomed to failure from a very young age. Presumably the obverse of success is true of failure,
and therefore 'nothing fails like spelling failure'?
[...] The most serious drawback of English spelling, however, is undoubtedly that it dooms around 20 %
of all learners to guaranteed failure. For about 1/5 of all school children it is quite simply too difficult.
When a system is too difficult, large numbers of people inevitably fail to cope with it. We have seen a
vast expansion in the use of computers once they became more user friendly. If one country had decided to
stick with the DOS system and forbidden the adoption of windows, the use of computers in that country would
almost certainly still be very low. The refusal to modernize English spelling has a similar effect. We insist that
English spelling must stay fiendishly difficult, even though it is clearly beyond the intellectual powers of many
millions (7 mil. in the UK, 40 mil. in the US.)
Inability to read and write reduces an individual's life and job prospects in many ways. For example, in
the summer of 2000 it was reported in the UK that around 25% of British women fail to take up the offer of free
breast screening. How much is illiteracy responsible for this? May functional illiteracy also be the reason why
millions of people living in poverty regularly fail to claim the benefits which are aimed at alleviating their
problems? How many resort to theft and robbery instead because they cannot cope with filling in an
application form?
In June 1999 the Los Angeles Times carried a full page advertisement for voluntary classroom reading
assistants. This claimed that some US states project future numbers of prisoners from child illiteracy rates.
According to a recent audit by the UK's Youth Justice Board, half of all young men in custody in the UK have a
reading age of 11 or below. The US and the UK both jail a relatively high percentage of their populations. The
UK's rate is by far the highest in Europe. English spelling may well be at least partly responsible for this
difference. “
CLASS DISCUSSION: ENGLISH DIFFICULTIES
• Should the United States consider changing the English spelling system
based on these difficulties? Why or why not?
• English has the most second language speakers of any language in
the world. How do you think this has affected its development?
Listen to the two passages representing Old English and Middle English
respectively.
• Where you able to understand any of the passages?
• What might have caused these changes?
• How do you think a speaker of Old English or Middle English would
react to the English we speak today?
CLASS DISCUSSION: ENGLISH DIFFICULTIES
• English, and in fact all languages, change drastically over time
• English can be a difficult language to master due to its:
• Outdated and counterintuitive spelling system
• Influences and loan words from many different languages
• Phonotactic constraints that allow for long consonant clusters
• Complex verb phrase system
• Constant influence from technology and globalization
• However, since you are present in this class, having passed the TOEFL and other
exams, you have already completed the hard part! You are all English speakers.
Now, our job is to make you masters of the English language.
GROUP ACTIVITY:
DEFINING QUALITY WRITING
• In your unit 1 groups
• Answer the following questions below (adapted from activities on pg.
16 of I&A)
1. What is quality writing? Come up with a definition in your own words.
2. Pick one type of writing your group has discussed earlier this week.
Identify at least 3 ways you can make that type of writing as high
quality as possible.
3. What, in your opinion, are the criteria for earning an F, D, C, B, or A in
a college course?
4. Should a student who received high grades in high school expect
similarly high grades in college? Why or why not?
HOMEWORK
•Minor Essay 1
•Due Monday 8/31
•Bring a printed copy to class
•See following slide for prompt
MINOR ESSAY 1
• Purpose: Describe and reflect on two types of writing you have done before coming to FIU. For each type of
writing, make sure to mention:
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Was it based off of a theme or thesis? Open or closed form prose?
What were you trying to accomplish with the writing?
What was the writing for? (A class, personal enjoyment, practicing language, etc)
Was there anything you found particularly easy or difficult about the writing?
How did you feel about the writing? Was it enjoyable or not?
If you had to do that type of writing again, what would you do differently, or what did you learn from the experience?
• Audience: Other students in ENC1930.
• Consider this audience to be informal. Use of first person and colloquial language are suggested.
• Genre: Reflective memo
• Should have a brief introduction, a thesis that mentions both types of writing you will bring up, and body paragraphs
that explain and reflect on those types of writing.
• Example thesis: In high school, I wrote persuasive essays which I enjoyed and found easy as well as personal narratives
which I found a bit difficult.
• Requirements:
• 250-500 words
• MLA Format, typed, double spaced, printed and brought to class
• The prompt should be presented in essay form rather than answers to individual questions