The Newbury House Guide To Writing

Abstract

The Newbury House Guide To Writing by M.E. Sokolik. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1996, 233 pp. Reviewed by Tosha Schore University of California, Los Angeles In keeping with the communicative language learning approach ascribed skills. to by the Tapestry series. The Newbury House Guide To Writing approaches writing Students are in the through the use of authentic materials and the integration of encouraged to be active participants classroom, and to look to both peers their writing. is and teacher as resources for guidance and feedback on The strengths of this text are multifold. Most impressive the success with which the author, M. E. Sokolik, integrates socially relevant multicultural read- ings into the lessons through chapter themes. Threads, colored boxes in the mar- gins next to the writing samples, provide ESL students with culturally relevant information about authors and historical events, thoughts about writing, geographi- cal facts, word definitions, and grammar points. This information helps students to build the cultural base of knowledge that North American bom university first students have acquired throughout ters, their is academic careers. three chap- Effective organization another strength of this book. In the Sokolik focuses on the basics of wriUng. Here students learn techniques for the following: generating and organizing ideas, effective note taking, critical think- ing about their readings, defining the purpose for their writing, and identifying their audience and choosing the appropriate voice for that readership. Students are then given a checklist to help them integrate these concepts into their own writing. Various techniques are presented, and students are encouraged to adopt the ones which work best for them. Chapters Four through Seven focus on specific types of writing: writing to express yourself, writing about literature, writing to persuade, and writing to in- form. After reading a theme-based writing sample, group discussions are orga- nized around both the content of the writing and the structure and style of the writing itself. Students are then guided through the essay-writing process— from choosing a topic, through the actual writing, to peer response and self-editing. Interspersed throughout the chapters are Learning Strategies designed to remind students of the techniques they have learned to help them in the wrifing process. is Editing one's glish speakers. own writing is the focus of chapter eight, which organized into discussions of grammatical points known to be difficult for non-nadve En- Each grammar point is described in terms of usage rules and one or two exercises are provided for student practice. This is the weakest part of the book. While appropriate grammar points are included, the discussion is limited to Issues in Applied Linguistics ISSN 1050-4273 Vol. 9 1998, Regents of the University of California No.