What we read
Bixby and Scanlon conclude unit 2 with the usual Study Skills page (2013, p. 26), in this case, the topic is strategies for editing and proofreading work, both of which we have already practised this term.
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My response
Since they include a peer review exercise as part of each writing task, it is clear that Bixby and Scanlon think that such strategies are an important step in the writing process, which is consistent with the title they give their general review checklist on page 109: "Process Writing Checklist".
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Bixby and Scanlon's suggestions
You have already done review and proofreading exercises as part of the writing tasks for units 1 and 2 on your own identity and the design of a chosen structure. Similarly, there will be a peer review exercise for this week's narrative essay on a dangerous situation that you have faced.
With this experience to look back on and more coming, it's timely to look at editing and proofreading strategies. Following their narrative of Ramon's experience, Bixby and Scanlon give five suggestions for consideration to help you edit and proofread your work.
With this experience to look back on and more coming, it's timely to look at editing and proofreading strategies. Following their narrative of Ramon's experience, Bixby and Scanlon give five suggestions for consideration to help you edit and proofread your work.
Their suggested strategies are:
- Edit for ideas and organization.
- Do a reverse outline.
- Create a personal editing list.
- Read backwards.
- Ask a classmate to read your paper.
My question
- Choose two (or three) of the strategies that Bixby and Scanlon suggest that you already find useful or would like to try. In a comment, explain your choices.
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Reference
- Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing: Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education
Strategy I would use
ReplyDelete1.Read backward because if you read the sentence backward you are be able to spot an error easier.
2.Ask a classmate to read your paper, Other people can spot the error and mistake better than the author because sometimes the author ignore or overlook the errors but when it comes to other people, they can see the error that has been ignored.
I agree with both of these. My own idea below is to read backwards. But I also know from experience that others are good at spotting mistakes in my own writing that I've missed. People who might not like my ideas are particularly good at this.
DeleteI like all of the suggestions for editing and proofreading. I always edit my work for ideas and organization before I send it off for others to read, well, almost always. I sometimes skip that when I'm blogging, but for anything more formal, I always read through to check my work is clear, that it's logically organized for readers to follow easily, and that there is enough support, especially if I've said something that might be controversial.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, proofreading for mistakes is more difficult, and I usually try to ignore the ideas when I'm proofreading: if I try to multitask and review ideas at the same time that I'm checking the language for mistakes, I'm more likely to mess up both.
I have a problem spotting my own small mistakes – having missed a typing mistake when I made it, my eyes easily skip over it when I read my own work later, although coming back the day after can help me to spot those annoying mistakes. Unfortunately, that is sometimes too late.
I like the idea of reading backwards. that will definitely stop me getting distracted by the ideas and organization when I'm focusing on accuracy in grammar and vocabulary. Maybe I'll give it a go. (I think it sounds promising, but that doesn't always mean I'll do it!)
I think personal checklist is a good idea and I have never tried it before. It might help me go through all the points quickly.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting tip is backward reading. I have never thought of this before. I think it help me notice my own mistakes easily. Someone suggest me taking a break, going for a fresh air and then getting back to check the work. That will help to spot errors more easily.
I want to try using 'Edit for ideas and organization' and 'Read backwards'.As I think main idea and supports are important to check whether they are well-organised and strong enough. Moreover, I have to check my errors too especially grammar and spelling, but this choice may a bit hard for me to correct all grammar mistakes.
ReplyDeleteThe strategies I would like to improve is create a personal editing and ask more classmate to read my work. Firstly, creating a personal editing checklist is really important to avoid repeating the same mistakes. when I can avoid the same mistake, I can concentrate more on organizing ideas, content and so on. Secondly, I normally finish my work very close to the deadline. There is no time for classmate to comment my work. I found the strategy very useful to me. I can edit my work well from my classmate or teacher comments. When I write long essay of my master thesis in the future, I tend to focus on mu own work and cannot think of new ideas or cannot find the weak point. Is my idea or my work clear?
ReplyDeleteMy choices are edit for ideas and organization and read backwards.
ReplyDeletethe reason that I choose the edit for ideas and organization because it will be helpful with checking your writing that each paragraph has a topic sentence or concluding sentences in the correctly way for correct writing or not.
for the reading backwards which is a very important thing to do because it helps for checking you grammars for your writing a lot.
The strategies that I find it useful is edit for idea and organization because it reminds me to check each paragraph of my writing whether it has a topic sentence and supporting sentences.
ReplyDeleteI also find that doing a reverse outline is helpful because sometimes I'm not sure the organization yet.
Another strategy that I will use is to create a personal editing checklist. When I first review Peter's revise version, I quickly noticed my common errors which are articles, tense choice, verbs and Capitalization. So, going forward, I will make sure that these categories are correct before submitting an essay.