RR saa Ca aR aR pa a RE PN I SE BT SA,

now?” instead of “Why did you do poorly in the
past?”

The instructor’s main task is to get older students
comfortable cnough with using language that they can
do so effectively. Often, it helps to tell the students
straight out: “Don’t worry about making too many
mistakes now. The more you make now, the more we
will catch and correct, and the fewer you will make
later on.” This attitude, along with a grading scale
which places more emphasis on later work than on
work done carly in the semester, does much to relax
the older students about their real or imagined short-
comings.

There are other ways to help older students relax
while all their fear-filled memories of past English
classes reform in vague shadows on the blank page in
front of them. One of these is to point out that, con-
trary to how or what they may be feeling, most older
students outperform younger students simply because
they have been exposed to more writing opportunities.
They most likely have written more letters, more
business reports, or more PTA or school board reports.
Moreover, older students usually have read more than
younger students and, thus, may have developed a
“street wise” sense in and around the more common
uses of the language. This working knowledge of the
language gives many older students a more confident
start in academic writing.

One last comment on the value of positive com-
ments. Imagine sitting in a dentist chair while the
dentist examines your X-rays. Would you rather have
him click his tongue and shake his head; or would you
rather hear, “Not too bad—a little work here, a little
there maybe, but otherwise no problem”?

Getting an older student to write well is often made
difficult because of past fears and anxicties which loom
as composing obstacles. If a student can realize that
English is not really as painful as she or he recalls, then
corrective measures will come more easily.

William Horrell, Instructor, English
For further information, contact the author at North

Arkansas Community College, Pioneer Ridge, Harri-
son, AR 72601.

 

Suanne D. Roueche, Editor

 

 

 

 

February 10, 1989, Vol. XI, No. 5 INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizatonal Development (NISOD),
Tha University of Texas at Austin, 1989 EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, (512) 471-7545. Subscnptions are available to nonconsor-
Further duplication is permitted by MEMBER —_tium members for $40 per year. Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundaton and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation
institutions for thair own personnel, Issued weekly when classes are in session during fall and spring terms and once during the summer. ISSN 0199-106X