The Error of who, quien, which, cual, what, que?

Williams does a great job in this piece discussing the errors of written and spoken language.  I found it quite comical at times, namely when he was analyzing sample errors.  I could not stop thinking of many of the errors that my ELL students commit on a daily basis.  It is not that they don't care or are ignorant of the "Rules of English", it's that they haven't learned all (or many) of the rules and idiosyncrasies of English (or their first language).  They are simply trying to express their ideas, opinions and what they feel is the "right answer".  Their inability to write in "Perfect English" does not signify that they are ignorant of the rules or just don't care, they simply aren't as proficient in their second language as they could/will be someday.

The same can be said for many of our English-dominants students who may want to do well, but cannot articulate it as clearly as, say, Bartholomae or Elbow.  Their opinions, ideas and answers (wrong or right) need to be expressed. They deserve to have their voices heard regardless of their ability to speak "Proper English".

Wednesday's Discussion showed Relevance of Debate

I am happy to have put the articles from last week behind me. I'm sure that they are interesting to Bartholomae and Elbow, but I really had great difficulty in embracing what they had to say.

Even after reading their arguments again, I don't feel that I appreciated their points as much as I should have. Though I felt that some of their points were valid in certain areas, I for once was at a loss for words and felt quite disinterested in the seemingly endless circular debate.

However....I was interested in the comments that were made on Wednesday during the discussion and was better able to see the relevance of their debate. The articles for this week seem to be much more interesting and relevant, and I am looking forward to our discussion tomorrow.

Elbow makes sense (sort of)

After reading both arguments from Bartholomae and Elbow, as well as the responses, all in one setting, I needed some time to process what I had read. I felt at times I had trouble comprehending what each really meant as they talked in circles, covering different sides of their points and seemingly agreeing and disagreeing with each other and themselves at the same time, wanting to cover all of the points and making their arguments weaker in the process. Not having background knowledge on either, I had to go with what was in the articles. In the end, I sided more with the points of Elbow, by having a class that is student-centered. I believe that the students need to be empowered, or at least made to feel that they are empowered, to become the academic, the writer, or the academic writer that they can be.

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