Blog Post #5

Course Syllabi and Outlines

I began receiving course syllabi and class calendars beginning sometime in high school. I do not remember specifics in any of my classes except in my upper level Spanish classes. I had the same teacher my junior and senior years, and she provided a calendar detailing what we would cover in class that day, what homework was due that day, and the homework assigned for that evening. I loved it. I always knew exactly what was due when. I also knew what I should work on if I missed class or needed to work ahead for some reason. I imagine that we would have had to adjust the schedule on occasion, but honestly, I cannot remember how she dealt with that. I suppose that she must have built in makeup and review days that allowed for some flexibility should we have gotten off course. College courses were generally the same - a syllabus outlining class expectations, a course description and contact information along with a calendar of learning objectives and due dates. I really appreciate knowing what is coming up so I do not feel caught off guard.

Reflecting an Institution's Philosophy

While a writing course should reflect an institution's requirements and philosophy, this should just be a starting point for the instructor. When it comes down to it, a student's writing ability will have a huge impact on other courses he or she takes. If the student's composition skills are lacking, it could impact the quality of the work produced in other classes or, worse, in his or her career. Therefore, a student's self-identified needs should be an area of focus. After all, the whole objective is to improve the student's writing. If we do not take time to improve it in the areas the student knows is in need of improvement, we are not leaving the student much better off than they were before taking the course.

Ideally an instructor would be able to meld student needs and wants with the requirements set by the institution. Perhaps the instructor could incorporate new vocabulary by choosing particular texts that would meet that goal. Or an instructor may focus on a particular grammar concept during a peer editing exercise. Whatever means of incorporation, instructors should find areas in the institution-mandated curriculum that they are able to add to or expound upon.

Planning Strategies for a Composition Course

Planning for a content course in an academic discipline such as chemistry or algebra is considerably more straightforward than planning for an L2 literacy or composition course. In such classes, an instructor presents material and students practice, either with study problems or by answering questions about the content. It does not take student needs or wishes into consideration. The purpose of the course is to present information related to the specific field.

An L2 composition course, on the other hand, requires language support beginning with the very basics. As students master the basics they can begin to build upon their knowledge, moving into more complex ideas and tasks. An instructor cannot present an on-level text in L2 that is meant for L1 students without added support and expect positive results. L2 students have special needs and requirements to ensure that they are learning material that is challenging but not overwhelming. Courses should take student needs into consideration by doing a Needs Analysis, determining what a student already knows, where the student struggles, and what he or she wants to know (p. 151). Based on this knowledge, instructors can modify or adapt their class calendars to suit the needs of their students.

Successful Lesson Components

From the perspective of a student, courses should be designed to have interesting but varied material. I remember the horror of finding out that I was expected to read Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles in my tenth grade English class. The thought of reading nerdy sci fi was horrifying to my fifteen-year-old self. Turns out, I loved it. Turns out, I also loved mythology-based American Gods (Neil Gaiman), which I had to read in college. Looking back, I am glad that my instructors stretched me and helped me to realize that I had cut an entire genre out due to my juvenile perceptions about being "geeky." (Full disclosure: I've now embraced the geeky part of me that was always buried under there). But just like in my examples, instructors should plan on pulling a variety of materials that have the potential to pique the interest of a wide range of students. This will hopefully help students to find reading material that interests them so that they continue to read for pleasure outside of class. It also increases their exposure to a huge amount of vocabulary that pulls from so many different genres and themes.

Tasks should be based around a text, so that reading, speaking and writing can all be touched upon at some point during the lesson. Tasks should also contain similarities for continuity but be different enough to maintain student interest without feeling monotonous. As a student, I always appreciated a level of creativity. Lessons should be sequenced in a way that builds knowledge. For example, after an instructor selects a text, he or she should begin with an activity that activates prior knowledge and introduces concepts from the text that may be new to the readers. After that, students can read through the text. Following the reading, instructors should assign activities that pertain to the reading selection that also promote literacy - categorizing words, brainstorming, response paragraphs, formulating questions about the text, partner discussion, etc. Finally, students should receive explicit instruction on the genre and writing task, including formatting instructions and examples of similar texts. With this sequencing students are able to build on their knowledge while they build their literacy skills.

Hallmarks of Productive Classroom Instruction

Productive classroom instruction is based on the instructor's planning. As a teacher, I know that if I have planned the lesson well, even if students are not receptive to the specific activities that I have assigned in class, I have an arsenal of alternate activities that help teach the same topic that I can pull out and use instead. The delivery has to be enthusiastic but genuine. False excitement is met with eye rolls and suspicion, but if the instructor sounds like he or she is bored, the students will definitely be bored and believe that the lesson is not important.

Effective classroom management happens when an instructor actively engages the students and moves around the classroom instead of staying in one spot. Proximity to students helps them focus on the lesson and makes them less likely to misbehave.

Maintaining a classroom with good classroom management, clear class guidelines and learning objectives, and interesting material will do wonders for L2 composition instructors and students alike, allowing for maximized time for classroom tasks that build up student literacy and composition skills.

Ferris, D., & Hedgcock, J. (2014). Teaching L2 composition: Purpose, process, and practice (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.