Re: Query about proofreading -Reply

[DOSSINMM@splava.cc.plattsburgh.edu]

Date sent:  26-JAN-1996 11:47:53 
One thing we do when working with ESL students or others with many 
grammatical/mechanical errors is to encourage them to begin a notebook, 
organized by type, of samples of the kinds of errors they tend to make with 
incorrect forms and correct forms written side-by-side.  These "samples" 
come from their own writing.

It's very time-intensive for both writer and tutor to usethis process, but 
for those who are willing to work at it it's very effective.

The patterns of error principle is important here too, I think.  Look for 
examples of one type of error at a time rather than going from line to line 
in the text encountering many different types of errors at once.  

We encourage them to consult their error notebooks during the revision/
editing stage of writing.
Mary Dossin