Pedagogical Directions on Language Difference

Delpit's article brought up a teaching problem that I've been thinking about a lot this semester as I approach assessing student writing: the way that I "correct." As background, I've always been in favor of the red pen sort of approach, adding in editing marks on students' papers, correcting spelling and punctuation, crossing out awkward wording and writing in my my own suggestions. My theories as to why I do this (in order of least problematic to most problematic) are: a) because I like to edit and have done a lot of editing work; b) because it was done to/for me as a student; or c) because it feels like I've accomplished something when I grade this way. For me, this feels like I've made my "argument" in response to their writing.

As I mentioned, I know this is problematic. But I think Delpit gets at the heart of why it is when she writes that this correction can actually mar the teacher/student relationship and can impede student's reading and writing, rather than making it more fluent. I notice this more in my online teaching, where the performance of my students in Standard English is much less proficient than at ISU and where all my feedback is necessarily in writing, on the page. When I correct them, they don't just make a change in their habits. Instead, they seem to get defensive about their language. Often, they e-mail me to express frustration at how much they're getting wrong, saying that writing is not their thing or that they've always struggled in English classes. What I've realized is that what is more beneficial (but yes, takes longer) is to summarize tendencies that I notice in their writing and to use those to create lectures for the entire class about why we use certain types of punctuation or what possibilities lie in spellings words different ways. Referring these students to these optional lectures then allows them, hopefully, to feel like they're investigating language on their own and making choices about what mode to employ. At least, I'm hoping that it's more of a choice. This is just one workaround to solve the "correction" problem that I've found, but I'm sure that there are better out there. I find it particularly challenging in an online class, where the curriculum is fairly rigid and it's more difficult to have one-on-one conversations with students.