Meet Dr. Vera Lee-Schoenfeld
Associate Professor of Linguistics
WIP Courses
Intro to Generative Syntax, LING 3150
Advanced Generative Syntax, LING 3160
For Dr. Lee-Schoenfeld, writing is a way of learning and a resource for teaching. A writing assignment is due for each class period. This consistency helps students practice writing and reinforces the value of writing for the course and the field.
A semester of writing-intensive generative syntax begins with less writing and builds progressively over time. Early on in the course, Dr. Lee-Schoenfeld models for her students how to complete assignments, approach problems, and engage in linguistic discourse. For the first half of the semester, writing assignments focus on basic tools for linguistic research, while the second half involves larger assignments that require students to apply the tools they have learned to harder data sets. By the end of the semester, Dr. Lee-Schoenfeld finds that extensive writing makes students more invested in the course and the field of linguistics. Students also greatly improve their understanding of technical writing, though Dr. Lee-Schoenfeld recognizes a lingering problem in students’ work: “not enough depth.”
In her course, “all learning happens through writing up problem sets.” For these problem sets, students are asked to use descriptive rules to describe grammatical sentences. By completing problem set write-ups, students come to understand connections between rules and sentences. They explore these connections in a four-part process:
Solutions to the problems
Observations (what students see in the grammatical sentences)
Hypothesis (a descriptive rule)
Evidence and examples
These components allow students to break-down their reasoning into clear steps, and Dr. Lee-Schoenfeld says, show them the value of writing as the “only way to get them to understand.”
Revision is also a crucial part of the writing process Dr. Lee-Schoenfeld teaches. To her, revision means “new engagement with material . . . the prose must change.” Such emphasis on revision supports a foundational tenet of Dr. Lee-Schoenfeld’s course: that writing is the main method for improving students’ understanding of course material.
But writing is not just something that students work on independently and submit. The class itself is “homework driven.” That is, the work students do outside of class fuels and guides the learning that happens in class. Dr. Lee-Schoenfeld finds it important for students to brainstorm ideas together and then discuss their independent writing work in small groups. These regular discussions enable students to practice participating in the give and take of academic discourse, as they argue their points and defend their ideas among their peers. In addition, several times during the semester, she asks teaching assistants and students to present their work to the class. “Samples of writings are crucial,” she says, to teach technical writing conventions and critical thinking.
According to Dr. Lee-Schoenfeld, writing is central to linguistic inquiry; it’s “what we do as scholars.” She continues, “Through writing, we make ideas our own and show new connections between ideas.” And when students are able to explain “beautifully in their own words, they prove that they own the material.”