Language in Use 101-102
This unit is concerned with the judgements that we make about other people's
use of language and how these judgements relate to the formal organisation of
the language. It explores the kind of correction teachers make on written
work and examines the relationship between the aesthetic and grammatical notions
which underlie them.
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[1] For this session a collection of corrections made on the written
work of the class is required. If at all possible, it should include work from
different years. It may, therefore, be necessary to give the class time to collect
examples. Spelling and punctuation mistakes are a special case and should be
left out. Working in small groups, the class sort out the corrections and discuss
what leads them to group examples together.
The following list of types of correction may be useful:
(a) verb forms like 'he'd' or 'can't'
(b) use of 'get' as in 'get moving'
(c) objections to colloquialisms and slang
(d) words stigmatised as jargon
(f) 'overworked words', especially words of praise and blame
(g) lack of concord of person, number and tense: verbless sentences
(h) repetitious use of words and phrases
(j) repeated use of 'and' and 'but'
[2] The aim of this session is to see how far the rough sorting carried
out in [1] can be related to different aspects of the formal organisation of
the language. The discussion should focus upon the relationship between what
has been classed as error and what is properly a failure to apply the organising
rules of the language.
The following categories may be useful:
(a) failure to apply the rules of the grammar
(b) inadequate use of the variations the grammar allows
(c) grammatically correct, but stylistically inappropriate, usage
(d) incorrect use of words and phrases
(e) inappropriate use of words and phrases
(f) usage which does not meet the taste of the reader.
[3] This session takes up the basic distinction arrived at in [2] and
goes on to consider what kinds of personal judgement are involved in assessing
the validity of what others have written.
Points which should emerge include:
(a) the degree to which judgement is purely personal in that what is being asked
for reflects an idiosyncratic view of common usage
(b) the degree to which a person appears to be influenced by an idea of 'Good
English': that all writing should be
judged by the same criterion
(c) the effect of aesthetic taste in the assessment of writing in a specialist
field
(d) the degree to which inadequate thought is confused with inadequate expression.
Vocabulary may be approached through A9, which includes a consideration of jargon, or through F8 'How we use Slang'.