I think in your Commas post you make this significant observation: ...and from a student's perspective, you might be faced with this very issue in your classroom. I'm afraid that trying to encourage conscious and skillful writing– in any but an English or history classroom– bears the very common risk of students just passing you off as a "stickler" and resenting you, or dismissing you as just that one teacher for whom they gotta spellcheck their essays. In both cases they won't be keeping the lessons you teach in proper writing on their mind when they graduate, and might even care less in spite of you. I think your emphasis on writing is super-duper-importanté, but just a heads up that from a student's perspective, you have a thin fence to straddle between encouraging and resented! good luck (sincerely!) p.s. I also have no idea what the right course of action is! sorry!some of my students have been away from school for many years and working in places where correct writing was neither necessary nor valued.
You are so right. My CS class are mostly varying degrees of ESL. They are actually highly motivated and I'll get to marking their stuff in January. So far, this is about my MDM class -- its an interdisciplinary class and most of these older students (20s-40s) have arts and design background, some from business and banking. I have students from architecture, ballet, TV/radio, music, disaster relief, you name it. The things I'm citing here are not serious errors, just irritating. Thanks Pabs.