Collective Wisdom:

I would like your recommendations on possible texts or materials for
my class. I teach Developmental (Expository) Writing at a California
community college. The vast majority of my students are "generation
1.5", speak English as a second language, or were under-prepared by
their high school.

Many of my students produce writing with very idiosyncratic issues
which many grammar texts don't address, such as speech-based,
under-punctuated prose, mixed constructions ("In the book convinces us
it is a good idea"), predication issues ("The victims are an example
of tolerance"). Other students have issues that more traditionally
show up in ESL guides, such as sentence-boundary issues, agreement,
unidiomatic constructions, preposition selection, etc.

Does anyone have a recommendation on a good text or other materials to
help my students become more self-sufficient at identifying and
correcting errors and anomalies in their writing? Specifically, I am
looking for something that doesn't present grammar in a
de-contextualized way (lots of drills) but that addresses it in the
context of meaning-making and writing-as-process. I know this is a lot
to ask, but I'd appreciate your insight. It would be helpful if you
could explain how your recommendation addresses my specific needs.

Thanks in advance,
Dan Roth
Contra Costa College

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