Marie Kato

ENG 150
Designing a Writing Assignment
1. Writing Task (It is for Japanese students who are learning English as a foreign
language.)
Make a bestseller! -Japanese stories are interesting to read!-
You are a translator of Ball State Publisher. It is going bankrupt, because they dont have any
good pieces. You found a very interesting piece of writing (your favorite books, stories, comics,
and so on), but it is written only in Japanese. Please translate it into English to make a bestseller
and save us! You can use your textbook, dictionaries, or any other things to look up for grammar,
vocabulary and so on. You dont have to translate all the things if its too long. (e.g. comics for
20 pages, books for 7 pages) There are lots of word which have the same meaning in English, so
use English English dictionary or ask your teachers to know the difference and find the best way
to translate your piece.
Here is a model.
Im a cat. I dont have my name, yet. I have no idea where I was born. I only remember that I
was crying in a dark and gloomy place. There, I saw a human being first
To sell your story better, you need to write a recommendation to everyone. It can be a wraparound band, a POP (the thing you see in the bookstore), a mini-article, a book cover, and so on.
Please think what kind of information you want to know about the story or what attracts when
you buy a book, including your own story/opinion in it. It is the good way for drawing an
attention. Think about the things listed below (you dont have to stick to them), and your work is
surely be a bestseller!
I like this character, because
I moved by this book, because
I related my life to the story
The best part of this story is
In my opinion
I know this, but in the story
Here is a model.

After making our pieces, lets enjoy our wonderful works! Give some feedbacks to each other.
What do you like about the piece? Do you translate in the same way? Was the recommendation
attractive? What do your peers do effectively to tell their pieces are attractive?
2. Student objective
Students understand that there is no one answer when they try to express something in
English, so it is important to think how to express it using English as a tool.
3. Details of Task
<Blooms Critical Questions>
Level 1: What did you learn in grammar lessons?
What English words do you know?
Can you spell what you learned correctly?
Can you write grammatical sentences using what you learned?
Level 2: Can you translate simple sentences into English correctly?
Can you explain what you think in simple English sentences?
Understand the different nuances between synonyms and choose better words for the
context.
Level 3: Rephrase Japanese sentences into easier sentences for translation.
Select the best words for your translation using dictionaries.
Explain what you think about your favorite piece in English.
Level 4: Think why your peers choose the words or phrases in their translations.
Which part of your peers works do you like? Why?
Level 6: How do you explain the attractive points of your favorite piece?
What kind of forms do you choose for your recommendation?
How can you draw attentions of others by your writing?
4. Assessment
<Formative Assessments>
(Check their pieces and recommendations at least two times before the final version.)
Make students exchange the pieces with peers and make them check these points below
How long is the piece? (Do you think its too short?)
How do they try to translate Japanese nuance into English? (Are they successful?)
What are they trying to write about the story?
(Do they relate themselves? Do they explain why they like the piece? Do they use the
effective ways to recommend their pieces?)
Give some feedback like
Show some patterns of writing (sentences in books or basic grammatical sentences)
Underline grammatical mistakes
Suggest other words (they may not know them) for their works
Make them write more, or write better (using conjunctions, different vocabulary, strong
verbs/expressions)

<Summative Assessments>
Assess from these points of view
Is the length appropriate?
Are there any significant mistake? (Restricted to what they learned, like subject/verb
agreement, spelling, conjugation, and etc.)
Did they revise what I said? (especially about spelling and grammatical mistakes)
Did they tell the attractive points of the story? (Is the review attractive?)
5. Accommodations
For ENL students: Let them use English English dictionaries for advanced learners, let them
translate English pieces into Japanese.
For students with special needs: Let them translate shorter pieces (like picture books), let them
draw pictures as recommendations.
For gifted and talented students: Make them translate longer/difficult pieces, let them use
some sources with more information like thesauruses or dictionaries for high school students.
6. Standards
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and content-specific words
and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to
comprehension or expression.
Distinguish among the connotations of words with similar denotations.
Demonstrate command of English grammar and usage, focusing on:
PronounsStudents are expected to build upon and continue applying conventions learned
previously.
VerbsRecognizing and correcting problems with subject/verb agreement.
CapitalizationStudents are expected to build upon and continue applying conventions
learned previously.
SpellingStudents are expected to build upon and continue applying conventions learned
previously.