Five Strategies for Remediating Sentence-Level Writing Deficiencies

Two types of sentence-level writing problems are often observed in student writing: (1) those that violate conventions of standard written English, such as subject-verb agreement errors and comma splices; and (2) those that involve a stylistic choice, such as beginning a sentence with an expletive structure like "There are" or using "if" rather than "whether". Although more readers are bothered by the first type of deficiency than by the second, readers who are bothered by either will often focus at least momentarily on the writing rather than concentrating on the message, thereby increasing the opportunity for miscommunication. Leonard and Gilsdorf (1990), Gilsdorf and Leonard (2001), and Beason (2001) have reported on readers' reactions to various types of sentence-level deficiencies. This article complements studies reported in Quible (2004, 2006) by presenting five instructional techniques used to help students overcome sentence-level writing deficiencies by correcting certain mistakes marked on their papers. Each of the techniques (Tracking System; Error Identification; Class Mark-Up; Editing Buddy; Exercises) requires that students identify and label deficiencies, especially those that violate the conventions of standard English. (Contains 3 figures.)