Teacher Resources: Grammar, Error, Syntax: Patterns of Error

Patterns of Error | Patterns of Error, Cont. | Grammar Presentations, Other Resources

What is a "pattern of error"?
Most of us come to teaching with considerable skill as editors. We're used to reading our peers' work and offering suggestions and corrections. For some, the instinct to simply correct a grammar or spelling mistake when we come across it is almost overwhelming. In our teaching, however, we need to adopt practices that encourage students to find and correct their own errors before the paper is due. This is why the Writing Program pedagogy emphasizes "patterns of error" rather than individual mistakes.

Very few papers run the gamut of potential grammar mistakes, even when it seems like it at first glance. Most students have a handful of errors, such as sentence fragments, subject-verb agreement, confusion over their/there/they're, etc., which they make again and again. This is what we call a "pattern of error." Some patterns are severe (the student makes the same mistake several times in almost every paragraph) and some are mild (the error occurs once or twice in each paper.) Some errors such as comma placement, are relatively superficial, some are "fatal."

Patterns of error and grading
If we look at the grading criteria, we can see that a non-passing paper "has significant sentence-level error that makes it difficult to follow," while "a passing paper has fatal sentence-level errors under control. Although errors may appear on each page, they do not significantly impede the meaning of the essay or undermine the credibility of the writer." So one factor that must be taken into account is the type and severity of the student's pattern(s) of error. Certain errors, including subject-verb agreement, verb tense, sentence boundary issues (run-on and fragments), and, to a lesser extent, pronoun reference are called "fatal" errors and are severe enough to hinder the author's ability to communicate effectively. A paper that has several of these kinds of mistakes on each page should not pass.

Non-fatal errors include articles, preposition choices, word choice, spelling and punctuation. Some of these, particularly the first three, may still be severe enough to prevent a paper from passing if several occur in almost every sentence, but in general they do not prevent the reader from understanding the author's intention. In order for a student to move beyond a C+ in the class, however, they must have both kinds of errors reasonably under control.

Teaching students their patterns of error
Sometimes you will be faced with sentences that seem overwhelming in their grammatical confusion. Here is an example from one student's third essay:

"An outcome of re-thinking that people was brought up with kindness towards other can make us realize that different positive approach to problems that's been going on."

The temptation may be either to mark this as "awkward" and move on (which doesn't really tell the student how to address the problem) or to start listing problems in the margin and overwhelm the student. Neither of these approaches is likely to be very effective. Instead, it is better to focus on a pattern of error rather than a particular sentence. In order to do this, we need to find other sentences that are awkward in a similar way. Looking earlier in the same paper, we find:

"Re-considering a more humanitarian method of solving other problems, on the other hand, would make some difference in some situations that's been happened lately."

and

"Since now that the journalist was killed, Americans are more raged than ever."

Sentences A and B show us that the student runs into problems when she tries to contract verbs in subordinate clauses. This seems to be part of a larger difficulty with subject-verb agreement. Once you have noticed a problem like this, go through the paper marking all of the subject-verb errors with a line in the margin. You might notice a second problem, like a tendency to mis- or overuse "that" clauses, in which case you might mark all of those problems as well. In general, however, try to mark only one or two fatal errors and one or two non-fatal errors in each paper letting the rest slide. The problem with comparatives ("more raged" instead of "angrier") in sentence C, while it looks particularly unnatural, is probably not serious or common enough in the student's writing to be worth calling attention to at this stage. Two or three patterns of error are probably as much as the student can deal with in two weeks before the next paper is due.

In the end comment, mention to the student that he or she has x, y or z pattern of error and that they need to address it either in office hours with you or with a tutor.

1. When the student comes in to talk with you, start with the "cleanest" example you can find-the sentence with the fewest problems apart from the one you are trying to isolate. Given a choice between sentences A and B above, you would probably pick B.
2. Explain to the student what the problem is-in this case the student needs to uncontract her verb to "that has", find the subject of "has" and decide if they are both singular or plural-and help her correct it.
3. Once Jan understands how to recognize and fix the problem, take her back to the final clause of sentence A and have her fix it on her own.
4. Then give her the whole sentence and see if she can find the other subject-verb problem.
5. After this, you might have her correct the rest of the mistakes you marked on her own as "homework".

One problem may lead directly into another. Looking at sentences A and B side-by-side you might point out to Jan how she uses "that's been going on" in one sentence and "that's been happened lately" in the other. She understands how to use a gerund correctly in one sentence but not the other. Isolation and comparison allow her to see the difference. You may find that many ESL students who have had formal grammar training recognize the problem immediately and already know how to solve it. This should not get them off the hook because they may not be able to control the error on the final exam if they make it carelessly when they are tired. These students should still meet with you in office hours and drill on practice sentences from their papers.

You do not need expertise in the meta-language of English grammar to help students, but it is a good idea to label problems as much as you are able using terms that students can look up in their copy of Easy Access . This helps you build a common language for talking with the student about his or her pattern of error. You will find that you pick this language up quickly if you start by finding groups of sentences that are awkward in similar ways and then try to find labels to explain aspects of this awkwardness.

Addressing patterns of error in class
In every class, the students seem to develop a pool of common errors. By the third paper, it should be clear what these errors are. Just as lectures on the assigned texts are less enabling than activities which require the students themselves to make meaning, so the discussion of grammar, clarity, organization, and related issues should occur in the context of workshops that require revisions and then some discussion of the results. (Not every revision is an improvement, of course.) These sorts of activities are most effective if you can talk about the mistake in the context of the students' own writing. Examples from grammar handbooks tend to be too simple to be really useful.

Many teachers scan the rough drafts pulling sentences that contain common grammar mistakes. It helps to take one or two from every paper so that everyone sees that they have a problem and no one feels singled out. Try to avoid errors that are ESL related, such as articles and preposition choices, since this embarrasses the student in question and is less helpful for the other students. Put all of these sentences together into a worksheet and hand them out in class. You might introduce this exercise by going over some examples of the two or three most frequent or serious problems. Then have the students correct the sentences either alone or in groups. At the end of the period, you can go over the "answers" in class.

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