Like Ian and others I also have problems with this 'proof-reading' concept.
This was brought home to me most vividly when a student told me that she has
a friend who helps with her by 'proof-reading' her initial draft. Since
gaining this 'proof-reading' help her grades improved from bare passes to
As.
It is not surprising that lecturers get concerned about whose work are they
marking when assistance is provided. This is a key reason for ensuring that
guidance is provided by trained study-skills tuors, who will be well aware
of the bounderies to be observed.
Observing boundaries is a key reason why lecturers [whether in their role as
a lecturer or personal tutor] are reluctant to provide detailed advice on a
draft of an assignment [especially if it is an assignment set by another
lecturer.]
Proof-reading, as I understand the term, is the last process before 'going
to press'. By that stage all the conceptual intellectual work has been
undertaken. A proof-reader is reading for correctness of detail, not for
meaning [which can at times cause problems in its own right].
One aspect of dyslexia-related study-skills support is that of providing
guidance at what may be the most important stage of writing an essay - that
of enabling a student to learn how to best express his or her ideas so that
the quality of those ideas [or otherwise] is self-evident. Given that a
weak working memory results in difficulties with organising ideas and in a
tendency to write long rambling sentences, then support is appropriate.
This is a long way from proof-reading. Drafting would be a far better term.
It requires skill to enable to student to develop this skill, and skill to
avoid stepping over boundaries. Postgrads, in my opinion, may handle the
latter far better than the former.
David Grant, PhD., Chartered Psychologist
dyslexia diagnosis - a specialist service for students
3 Rosebank Road
Hanwell
London W7 2EW
Tel: 020 8579 1902
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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