| In this thesis project, the author undertook to redesign a formal grammar course at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) and teach the experimental course using a reading/writing approach to improving student writing. The experimental course, based on a model created by Bartholmae and Petrosky and their colleagues, was taught to 29 students in two sections of business English in the fall quarter 1993 at SLCC.; Using qualitative research methods, the author observed student interactions, made daily notes during and after each class session, interviewed students in one-on-one conferences, collected all written work from nine students, and extracted information from an end-of-quarter evaluation of the course.; Based on the above sources of data, the study concluded that the course successfully promoted writing improvement for students who subscribed to the values and methods of the course and who were actively involved in the course activities. Most students significantly reduced the number of errors in their work; at the same time, they developed a sense of authority and ownership over their work, developed their critical thinking abilities, and began to write more complex material.; A small number of students resisted the reading/writing approach because of their strong belief in the value of formal grammar instruction. These students who did not trust the experimental approach did not experience any substantial improvement in either the correctness of their writing (as measured by Standard Edited English criteria) or their writing style and complexity.; As a result of the outcomes of this study, faculty of the Business Communication Department at SLCC have officially redesigned their business English course using the reading/writing approach described in this study. |
