Amanda,

The sources you searched seem to be the ones I have used to find any indication that DOL is supported by research.  I am a curriculum facilitator in Cedar Rapids, IA, so the concerns you express in your last paragraph are also my concerns.  Many teachers seem to rely on DOL as a class starter activity, but I am not sure that anyone has any real sense of what it is supposed to do, or whether it does that.  Never mind that used as DOL nearly always is as a class-starting activity, any lessons students draw from it occur in as much isolation as grammar instruction sometimes occurred in days of yore.

I am wondering if McDougall Littell, the publishers of the original DOL (I think), have any research that preceded their introduction of the program, or if someone just sold them a "cool" program.

Thank you for your thoughtful response.  I will find the Whittingham study and read it.  Whenever you have your results in "shareable" form, I would very much like to read them, as well.
  
Ann

-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Amanda Godley
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2005 1:30 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: How widespread is Daily Oral Language?


Ann,
I have searched for research on DOL (ERIC, PsychInfo, other databases and
literacy journals), but only found one study that address DOL specifically
(in addition to the one I am publishing): a dissertation written by Jeffery
Whittinghom at Southern Illinois University in 2003. He compared students
who were taught traditional grammar AND DOL with those who were just taught
traditional grammar. He found no significant difference between what the
groups learned (measured by writing samples and editing exercises).

Another study that looked at a semester-long college composition class in
which students did a similar kind of cooperative editing activity did find
that the students who did the editing activity made significantly fewer
errors in their writing than students who were taught using formal textbook
grammar (see Minchew & McGrath [2001]. Lasting benefits of cooperative
editing for remedial freshman composition students. Community College
Journal of Research and Practice, 25, 591-606.)

My own study of the DOL activity (taught every day for an entire school
year) in 3 high school English classes demonstrated that the students did
not improve in any significant way on multiple choice editing tasks or on
reducing errors in their writing (as measured at the beginning and end of
the school year).  

Based on my study and Whittingham's, I am concerned that DOL seems to be
becoming so popular, mostly (it seems) in response to similar editing tasks
on state and national standardized tests.

If anyone knows of other research on DOL, I would love to know about it.
Amanda 

On 10/4/05 11:06 AM, "Elmborg Ann" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Just out of curiosity--what is the research base for Daily Oral Language? Its
> use is widespread, yes, but how do we know it is actually more effective (in
> whatever it is that it is supposed to do) than other approaches?
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Nancy Lange
> Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 9:04 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: How widespread is Daily Oral Language?
> 
> 
> Daily Oral Language has been adopted for all grade levels in all Language Arts
> classrooms in my school district. However, very few teachers actually use it
> at the high school.
> 
> I teach 11th and 12th grades and use it regularly. I think it's a good review,
> while also preparing students for the ACT/SAT tests.
> 
> Perhaps some teachers are threatened by DOL because their own grammar and
> usage training was limited. I minored in linguistics so grammar is "fun" for
> me, but some members of my department wouldn't know how to explain the reasons
> behind some of the errors represented. I doubt they even know the vocabulary
> to discuss much of it.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Amanda Godley
> Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 3:15 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: How widespread is Daily Oral Language?
> 
> I'm currently revising an article about a study I conducted on the use of
> Daily Oral Language in a high school English class. The editors of the
> journal to which I submitted my article have asked me to indicate how
> widespread the use of this activity is. I was wondering if members of the
> listserv could help me.
> 
> I know that Daily Oral Language (or "Daily Language Practice," as it is
> sometimes called) can be found in the supplemental teacher materials
> included in some of the most widely adopted high school English textbooks
> (e.g., Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes, Prentice Hall; Writer¹s Choice,
> McGraw Hill/Glencoe; The Language of Literature, McDougal Littell and Co.;
> Elements of Language and Elements of Literature, Holt, Rinehart, and
> Winston). Additionally, there are numerous Daily Language Practice/Daily
> Oral Language websites and booklets available for teachers to use or buy.
> 
> The pre-service teachers in our program report that Daily Oral Language is
> being used in many middle and high school English classes in our area. The
> same seemed to be true when I lived in California four years ago. I'd like
> to get a sense if this is true across the country.
> 
> I'd be happy to share the results of my study with anyone who's interested,
> but I hesitate to do so until the article is in publishable form.
> Thanks!
> Amanda
>  
> *****
> Amanda J. Godley, Ph.D.
> Assistant Professor
> English Education
> University of Pittsburgh
> 412-648-7313
>     
> 
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*****
Amanda J. Godley, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
English Education
University of Pittsburgh
412-648-7313
    

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