TPC 12 - Writing, Representing, and Speaking (Revising and Editing)

This sub-organizer contains the following sections:
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Suggested Instructional Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
Recommended Learning Resources

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

It is expected that students will:

use electronic technologies to revise, edit, and format communications
consistently apply the common conventions of standard written English and monitor for correct:
- spelling
- punctuation
- capitalization
- diction (choice of vocabulary)
- formal grammar
- usage
revise and edit communications to:
- eliminate false ideas and unsupported claims
- ensure logical and organized presentation of information
correctly use the structural elements associated with particular standard formats for written technical and professional communications

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Provide all students with the same unedited material, including various types of technical and professional documents (e.g., business letters, memos, technical descriptions, lab reports). Have students:
- edit the work for mechanical correctness
- critically review evidence that supports the arguments
- adjust the visual layouts to enhance the messages
Compare different editing suggestions, having students assess which are most appropriate.
Ask students, working in pairs, to edit each other's work, identifying problems and proposing solutions. Have them then re-examine their own work, discuss each edit, and try to agree on final revisions. Relate this activity to what actually happens in publishing.
Discuss with the class readings that focus on the use and misuse of language (e.g., Orwell's "Politics and the English Language," Robert Graves's "The Reader Over Your Shoulder,'' Doris Anderson's "What Ever Happened to Plain English").
Regularly post and analyse verbal "bloopers" (e.g., mixed metaphors, misplaced modifiers, faulty antecedents) that result in unintended humour.
Maintain a collection of sample technical and professional documents. Have students describe the formatting and typical and atypical structural features (e.g., introduction, executive summary, recommendations, conclusions, quotations) of given samples. When discussing the use of standard formats, emphasize the distinction between theory and practice.
Operate a classroom news desk. Suggest that students research and report on information on developments in technical and professional fields (e.g., business, science, mining, environment, law). Have them present the results using various media, for audiences both inside and outside the classroom.
Ask students to produce the school's course handbook, researching the course descriptions, compiling in standard format, gaining approval, and producing the final product.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

When students revise and edit their own and others' communications, look for evidence that they are:
- committed to a high standard of performance
- aware of resources that can help them attain that standard
- willing to seek out advice and feedback and act on it
- able to provide specific, focussed, constructive feedback
- able to set priorities regarding the changes they suggest and consider
- efficient in their use of time and technology
- skilled at using electronic technologies
- able to tailor their efforts to the particular formats they are using
Discuss with students potential revisions to the content of their communications, considering the extent to which they:
- relate data to arguments
- identify and avoid use of clichés, jargon, buzzwords, euphemisms
- use gender-inclusive, neutral, and parallel language
- follow planned, logical developments
- sustain clear, consistent focuses on stated purposes
- make explicit connections between details, examples, and illustrations, and the main message and purpose
Collaborate with students to develop classroom standards they can use to guide their editing and revision. These can be posted in the classroom, along with examples from a wide variety of presentations. Standards might include:
- neatness, visual or aural appeal
- legibility (volume, clarity of diction)
- spelling (pronunciation)
- punctuation, capitalization (intonation)
- sentence structure and standard English
- labelling, including titles (spoken introduction)
- organization; use of text features (visuals)
- documentation follows a recognized style standard