In my former role as supervisor of student teachers, I saw DOL or
something like it being used several times. A few teachers got their
exercises from a book, but others took them from students' own
writing.
Most teachers who were mentoring my student teachers did not use DOL.
I don't know whether that was because they tended to be more
enlightened than some others I could mention.
The DOL type of exercise always came first in the classes I observed.
For unruly classes, it was a good way of getting the class settled
down. That's something, at least.
Bill
>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; Writer's 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
>>
>>
>> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
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>>
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>>
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>
>
>*****
>Amanda J. Godley, Ph.D.
>Assistant Professor
>English Education
>University of Pittsburgh
>412-648-7313
>
>
>To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
>and select "Join or leave the list"
>
>Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>
>To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
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>and select "Join or leave the list"
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>Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
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and select "Join or leave the list"
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