Argumentative Writing Evaluation Rubric (used in ENGL 110)

Communication Across the Curriculum
Monmouth College
Dr. Steve Price, Director

(16 January 2008)

The title for this CAC Suggestion comes from a handout made available to ILA professors at the beginning of the Fall 2007 semester, which is available here and can be adapted for your own students.

Listening, which is one of the communication skills covered in CATA 101, is a great skill to remind students about at the beginning of the semester, since it is a skill so often taken for granted.

Why Listen?

Listening, students learn in CATA 101, is an active process that includes selecting, organizing, interpreting, and judging information (in contrast to hearing, which is the passive, physiological act of sound waves hitting your eardrums). Listening takes energy and attention, and we all need to work at it.

So why listen, students might ask, if it involves energy and work? At the beginning of the semester, remind them that two major reasons to develop their listening skills are that:

We learn through listening—it’s how we process and remember information; and,
Faculty see when they’re listening. We like that, and it builds their credibility (ethos).

Suggestions For Promoting Effective Listening:

Julia T. Wood, the author of the textbook we use in CATA 101, focuses on what she calls being “mindful.” Mindfulness, according to Wood, “is being fully engaged in the moment” (176),¹ or actively paying attention to a speaker, a professor, a friend, or anyone who is presenting important information that you might need.

A good thing about Wood, students see in CATA 101, is that she gives a lot of suggestions for improving communication skills, including mindfulness. To become more mindful—say, in a Convocation or larger lecture room, where the size of the room and number of people present can often be very distracting—Wood suggests (177) to students:

	“Empty your mind of thoughts, ideas, and plans so that you are open to listening to another.”
	“Concentrate on the person with whom you are communicating. Say to yourself, ‘I want to focus on this person and what she or he is saying and feeling.’”
	“Don’t be surprised if distracting thoughts come up or you find yourself thinking about your responses instead of what the other person is saying. This is natural. Just push away diversionary thoughts and refocus on the person with whom you are talking.”
	“Evaluate how well you listened when you were focusing on being mindful. If you aren’t as fully engaged as you want to be, remind yourself that mindfulness is a habit of mind and a way of listening. Developing it takes practice.”

¹ Julia T. Wood. Communication in Our Lives. 4^th ed. (Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2006).

WELCOME TO CAC

Communicating to Learn

and

Learning to Communicate

The MLC Writing Center is open during Finals Week! Click here for the complete schedule. You can find us iin the Library Cafe--look for our sign!

Read the current issue of The Writing Scots: The Newsletter of the MLC Writing Center.

Questions about citing sources? Check out our new resource page.

Results from the 2008 ILA and Global Perspectives Writing Contests, sponsored by CAC and funded by the Waid Prize.

The Spring 2008 CAC Brownbag Discussion Series is underway.

Guide to the new ENGL 110 textbook, Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments

Promote Effective Listening!

Information available on the Monmouth College C Plan, including distinguishing traits.

Why CAC at Monmouth College? Find out here.

Check out recently received materials in the CAC Resource Collection.

Home | Contact CAC | Top