WRITING SKILLS OF PROSPECTIVE ENGLISH TEACHERS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE WRITTEN EXPRESSION OF CERTAIN PROSPECTIVE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS OF ENGLISH AND WHAT THEY WILL BE EXPECTED TO TEACH

140 Pages·4.866 MB·English

by  PARLER, NETTIE ALLIE PETTY

Copyright by
Nettie P. Parler
1955
Sponsoring Committee: Professor Lou LaBrant,
Professor Glenn S. 'Thompson and Associate
Professor P. C. Blanchard
WRITING SKILLS OF PROSPECTIVE ENGLISH TEACHERS
A Comparative Study of the Written Expression
of Certain Prospective High School Teachers
of English and What They Will he
Expected to Teach
NETTIE P. PARLER
Submitted In partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in the School of Education of
New York University
//
1952
JUN 195?
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I hereby guarantee that no part of the dis­
sertation which I have submitted for publication has
been heretofore published and(or) copyrighted in the
United States of America, except In the case of passages
quoted from other published sources; that I am the sole
author and proprietor of said dissertation; that the
dissertation contains no matter which, if published,
will be libelous or otherwise injurious, or infringe
in any way the copyright of any other party; and that
I will defend, indemnify and hold harmless New York
University against all suits and proceedings which
may be brought and against all claims which may be
made against New York University by reason of the
publication of said dissertation.
Nettie P. Parler
Sponsoring Committee : Professor Lou LaBrant,
Professor Glenn S. Thompson and Associate
Professor F. C. Blanchard
An Abstract of
WRITING SKILLS OF PROSPECTIVE ENGLISH TEACHERS
A Comparative Study of the Written Expression
of certain Prospective High School Teachers
of English, and What They Will be
Expected to Teach
NETTIE P. PARLER
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in the School of Education of
New York University
1952
The Problem
The study was undertaken to determine the extent
to which prospective high school teachers of English in
the accredited Negro colleges of the United States are
developing skills in written language consonant with what
they will be expected to teach.
The language arts program set up by the Commission
on the English Curriculum of the National Council of
Teachers of English was the standard of reference relative
to what the subjects will be expected to teach. From the
mechanics of writing emphasized by the Commission, seven
factors were formulated for the study:
Sentence structure
Grammatical usage
Punctuation
Capitalization
Spelling
Confusion resulting from semantic shifts
Effectiveness of communication: unity,
coherence, emphasis
Procedure
Data were obtained by questionnaire from 322
prospective high school English teachers of the 1952
graduating classes of 62 colleges (more than 80 per cent
of the Negro colleges training English teachers). The
first item of the questionnaire supplied samples of the
writing of the subjects In answer to the question, "Why
2
did you choose the teaching of English as a profession?"
Other items secured information regarding courses in their
college programs of studies.
There were three steps in developing the solution
to the problem:
1. An analysis of the essays in lighb of the seven
selected factors.
2. A comparison of the results of the analysis with
pertinent phases of the standard of reference.
3. A determination of the relationship between the
writing skills of the subjects and courses in
their training programs.
Findings
Analysis of the 322 essays revealed [(.Oljl mechanical
errors in 91*126 running words of matter. Classification
of these errors follows:
Area Number of :
Sentence structure 12i|.6
Punctuation 617
Effectiveness of communication:
unity, coherence, emphasis 295
Spelling 50ij.
Capitalization k.60
Grammatical usage 390
Confusion resulting from
semantic shifts 229
Percentage of essays containing errors in each
3
area follows:
Area Per Cent
Sentence structure 92
Punctuation 8$
Effectiveness of communication:
unity, coherence, emphasis 73
Spelling 8lj.
Capitalization 69
Grammatical usage 68
Confusion resulting from
semantic shifts 5l
Range of errors per essay was 0 to lj.0. Three
essays contained no error; one contained lj.0. The mean
number of errors was 13.1+* standard deviation 7.0.
Average length of the essays was two pages (300 words).
Only a slight relationship was found between the
performance of the subjects in each area of the study and
the skills prescribed by the Curriculum Commission.
Greatest discrepancy was in sentence structure. (Viola­
tions in this area constituted 30.8 per cent of all errors.)
Through a chi-square analysis, it was found that
the subjects who had taken a relatively large number of
writing courses performed better in the mechanics of
writing than those who had taken fewer courses. No conclu­
sive evidence was found as to whether subjects who had taken
certain writing courses performed better in the mechanics
than those who had taken other writing courses.
Significance and Suggested Application of Findings
The findings of this study are significant when it
is remembered that the students who showed a lack of
proficiency in the mechanical skills of writing will not
be able to give adequate training to those whom they are
to teach. Little can be done toward attainment of desirable
outcomes in the writing phases of the high school language
arts programs until high school English teachers gain
command of the elementary tools of writing. It is,
therefore, suggested that the findings of this investigation
be used by college administrators and instructors as a basis
for an approach to the problem of providing a well-planned
curriculum to ensure the development of writing skills by
prospective high school English teachers.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The success of studies in the field of education
becomes increasingly dependent upon the cooperation and help
of many. For whatever merit this study possesses, the
writer is deeply indebted to the generous response of the
chairmen of the college English departments and the
prospective high school teachers of English who made it
possible, and to members of the faculty and graduate
students of the School of Education of New York University
for stimulating criticism and unselfish assistance. The
writer finds great pleasure in expressing her gratitude to
the members of her sponsoring committee: Professor Lou
LaBrant, Professor Glenn Thompson, and Associate Professor
P. C, Blanchard. Especially to Professor LaBrant's
generous help, keen observation, and stimulating criticism,
the writer owes a constant impetus to fuller endeavor. To
the members of the New York University seminar In "Advanced
Problems in the Nature of Language" who served as a jury in
the validation of data, the writer is exceedingly grateful.
For permission to quote material held under copy­
right, the writer Is Indebted to the following: Appleton-
Century-Crofts, Incorporated; Professor William W„ Brickman,
ii
New York University; Harper and Brothers; Professor
Milton Millhauser, University of Bridgeport; The American
School Publishing Corporation; The International Society
for General Semantics; The National Council of Teachers
or English; The Society for the Advancement of Education;
and The University of Wisconsin Press.
New York N.P.P
1952
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