Writing and writing instruction have fallen prey to several erroneous beliefs that may actually hinder students' development as better writers and more critical readers. Understanding and overcoming these misconceptions can help instructors produce more effective learning environments for their student writers.
1. Teaching Grammar Improves Quality of Writing
There is a plethora of accepted research that indicates that while teaching formal grammar may improve "standard English" grammar usage, it may have little or no impact on a student's general quality of writing. Correct usage of formal grammar is but one characteristic of quality writing. Teaching grammar will not improve a student's ability to build effective paragraphs or to develop coherent arguments. It will not help a student to generate, organize, and evaluate ideas. Teaching grammar, while certainly having merit, is not central to the type of instruction that will improve a young writer's fluency. Grammar instruction is thus most effective when presented as a part of the rhetorical context.
2. Thoroughly Marking a Student's Paper Will Effectively Enhance the Learning Process
There is no positive correlation between improved writing and a high number of marks on a student's essay. In fact, overmarking decreases the likelihood that the student will read and respond positively to each mark. This does not mean, however, that instructors should not provide insightful comments or helpful suggestions for improvement. Identifying certain patterns of error and problematic construction is essential to a writer's development, but overmarking, which often includes too much emphasis on a student's style rather than conceptual problems, can produce subsequent drafts that show very little evidence of genuine improvement.
3. Writing is a Skill Absolutely
Writing is sometimes compared to riding a bike or to learning a sport--it's a skill one acquires through patient learning and thoughtful practice. There are certainly objective skills connected with writing, but writing must necessarily take place within a context. One cannot learn to write well only by learning discrete skills separated from a context of inquiry. The best writing instruction integrates the teaching of specific skills with a reason for learning those skills--that is, students must understand a meaningful problem or questions that may be addressed by a writer who has the skills to do so effectively.
4. A Writer Must Not Use Contractions or First-Person Perspective in Formal Academic Writing
Academic writing encompasses a variety of genres and styles, so it is illogical to imagine there might be one specific form common to all disciplines. The use of "I," for example, is necessary for a personal experience essay, for a position paper, or for a literature review--all of which are valid forms of academic writing. In addition, many disciplines allow the use of contractions in academic journals and other publications. If you'd like your students to avoid these devices, remember to explain that this is a viable academic demand, but that they may find different rules practiced throughout the discipline.
5. A Writer Must Not Begin a Sentence with a Conjunction
Accomplished writers often use these words to create a rhetorical effect at the beginning of a sentence. If we create a rhetorically ineffective sentence fragment when we use them, however, we have used them incorrectly.
6. Comma Rules are Straight-Forward and Easy to Learn
Many grammar books present comma rules in such a way that readers are led to believe that their use is obvious and almost arbitrary, which it is obviously not. Most writers' comma usage breaks handbook rules and such usage is commonly accepted as rhetorically appropriate. Comma rules also vary from culture to culture (rules that apply to American journalism do not apply to American academic journals, for example), which can confuse a developing writer who uses published models as guides. One of the best rules of thumb for student comma usage is to discern whether a paper's comma usage has improved or hindered communication. If a student's comma usage impedes communication to a serious degree, more focused comma instruction may be necessary.
7. Good Thinking Produces Good Writing
While critical thinking may foster good writing, it is important to remember that good writing skills can also aid in critical thought, especially with regard to writing as a discipline. Most writers do not construct their texts entirely in their heads before putting them on paper. It is usually much more constructive to work through ideas on paper first, clarifying them by writing multiple drafts. Many young writers don't realize this yet, however, and sometimes need to be introduced to the use of unpolished writing as a tool that can aid in the development of effective learning and communication skills.
8. Errors Necessarily Indicate an Absence of Knowledge
While this can sometimes be true, errors in student writing often indicate that a developing writer is in the process of acquiring knowledge. Developing writers often produce more errors in the early stages of development, but as they practice, they refine their knowledge and their errors diminish in number and severity. Taking this into consideration, then, errors can mean that a writer is applying rules, testing his/her understanding of those rules, refining knowledge, and working toward mastery.