Thur. Feb. 25, 2010

Utilizing Blackboard and the projector, we looked at a sample 2.1 paper I had from last quarter. We went through it page-by-page to see how this writer went about constructing their piece--writerly/rhetorical moves, etc. Interestingly, after a few minutes, students began calling my attention to places where the text tripped into "readability issues." I came up with this term as an overall designation for content lapses, grammar, syntax errors, and places that cause the reader to halt. This term became necessary after students called me on the fact that I said I don't put a large onus on grammar, and yet I was calling attention to syntax and grammar errors. However, when I created an umbrella that covers many "errors" that cause lapses in readability, students could see the connection. I had one student read the paper out loud and she began getting frustrated when she had to stop because of these "readability" issues. Other students soon joined in so that as the reader tripped, students were calling attention to "why" she tripped.

Pedagogically speaking, I regularly try to make connections between my students' writing and the world outside of academia. Hence, I was pleased when they called my attention to the fact that a problem could arise if their boss continually "tripped" over readability issues in their writing. In the end, hopefully, we're moving towards to the notion of correcting errors in a positive light so the reader can follow along without "tripping." This seems to be working--we'll see how it goes.