Response to Shaughnessy’s “Errors and Expectations”

The Shaughnessy reading this week really made me think about how I consider errors. I do agree with the points she makes especially that errors are not a function of stupidity, laziness, or a character deficiency, but I do find it interesting that that’s how I’ve come to view errors. To me, errors have always been a product of laziness or apathy and one reason for that is I always assumed that students knew what was correct and what wasn’t was. Students were making errors because they were simply too lazy to reread a document and find the errors, because I dare say it, I didn’t always proofread every paper I turned in in undergrad. But then I really started to think about writing errors during and after class on Thursday. I never really considered that errors could be a factor of conditioning, and that students actually don’t know what an error is and what it means.

It’s exactly like the coding language scenario: when you code something wrong and the program tells you it’s wrong and why, the explanation looks like gibberish. Either the student knows when there’s an error but they do not know why there’s an error, or they can’t tell when there’s an error at all. I hate it, but all this really does come back to conditioning and pattern recognition. I know when there’s an error because I have a voice inside of me telling me it doesn’t sound right because of all my years reading and recognizing patterns. But most of these students don’t have that experience, because most of them just don’t read anymore. It’s really very sad. I wish there was some way to have these students go back in time and read more so that they know what errors are and how to correct them. But that would be too easy wouldn’t it?

I’m positive these thoughts will continue developing throughout this semester. I will also continue to question exactly what error is because it automatically implies that there’s a correct and perhaps this is due to social factors amidst other things. I wonder what a class on the history of English grammar and error would be like. I imagine it would be both excruciatingly painful and quite interesting at the same time.