MWDEU

[Amy West]

I have a secret, ulterior purpose in my composition class. One reason
that I'm using the nebulous topic of language in my reading and
writing assignments is to arm them when they encounter the
prescriptivists not just in my department, but elsewhere on campus.
There's one particular pompous blowhard bio professor who is the most
notorious. I've actually had him tell me about how he has to
"unteach" the students what they've learned in their composition
classes. I want the students to realize that they may not win the
battle because of the student-teacher power relationship, but that
they can find out the truth of the matter.

---Amy West

>Date:    Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:44:11 -0800
>From:    Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at STANFORD.EDU>
>Subject: Re: MWDEU
>
>On Feb 23, 2010, at 6:59 AM, Judy Prince wrote:
>
>>  A question for you and Arnold ...:  Why do we need to get a Hacker,
>>  if she so desperately needs
>>  "balancing out"?  What, in short, does she have that MWDEU does not?
>
>she's explicitly directive, something that's genuinely useful for
>students in composition classes (though a lot depends on the accuracy
>of the directions).  students need and want advice -- but good advice.
>
>arnold

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