Digital Design: English Language Learners and Reader Reviews in Online Fiction

Tanaka Nanako, a sixteen-year-old native Mandarin Chinese speaker who had studied the English language for two and a half years, began to write an anime-based, fourteen-chapter, fan fiction series entitled, Love Letters.  What I found most interesting from this chapter was Nanako’s ability to guide her reviewers in what kind of feedback they gave her on her writing.  This reminds me of an article I read for an assessment class I’m taking (I don’t remember the title, and I am blogging by the pool at a friend’s house trying to enjoy my summer break in spite of my masters classes :D, but if you really want the name of the article, just post a comment about it, and I’ll look it up later when I get home.).  So, the article that I’m referring to mentioned that a teacher’s feedback on student writing might seem “less judgmental” if the teacher allowed the student to choose what the teacher would focus his or her attention on during assessment of the student’s work.  Similarly, Nanako begins her chapter with an Author’s Note, in which she mentions that she is an ELL (English Language Learner) and asks her readers to look over minor typos and grammatical/spelling errors.  She also requests “no flames,” commenting that she doesn’t want anyone to cruelly insult her writing, but instead to give her constructive criticism.  (This reminded me of a certain professor of mine who had an evil teacher scribble “monkey sh*t” on his paper rather than telling him what needed work.)  We all need constructive feedback...not just mean insults.

In spite of Nanako’s request of her readers to look over minor grammar errors, some of her readers do mention grammar mistakes that occur frequently in her writing or that make her writing hard to understand.  However, they structure their critiques in such a way that the author does not lose confidence.  For instance, a common trend in Nanako’s critiques was to compliment her, to give advice, to follow that advice by a “disclaimer or mitigating statement,” for example, “Sorry for wasting your time, and finally, to compliment the author again. 

Nanako heeded much of the advice given to her by her readers, and even went back and revised certain chapters to “fix the problems.”  Also, many errors that were present in her early writings are not present in her later writings.   

I think this a good model to use for students.  Sometimes it is really hard to find something good to complement their writing on, let alone finding two things to sandwich the critique in.  However, if we let students first, comment on what they liked about their own writing, and then follow that with what they wanted the teacher (or their classmates) to focus on or notice while the piece was being assessed, this could serve both the student and the teacher better.  I believe it would save time for the teacher, and provide an opportunity for the student to get feedback that his more meaningful to him or her. 

This information in this chapter could be used in English class!  However, I love the disclaimer from Rebecca W. Black, “I’m not suggesting that educators adopt popular culture and fan fiction wholesale into their curriculum, as this would certainly diminish its popularity with students.  Nonetheless, I do think there is a vital need for educators to critically engage with and develop activities around media and popular culture that are central to students’ lives” (p.134-5).