[etni] Re: style versus grammar: points off?
- From: "sbshai" <sbshai@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2010 11:32:43 +0200
Agreed, David!
In my original response on the subject (Nov. 25), I explained why points
should not be deducted for "can not"; the rest was just commentary.
In general (to reiterate an important point), credit should not be deducted
for stylistic "errors", which are often largely a matter of personal
preference.
Batya
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Reid" <reidnomad@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, 28 November, 2010 10:44 AM
Subject: [etni] style versus grammar: points off?
> Hi, Etniers,
> I agree with Batya (in her post from 28. November) when she says that one
> should encourage clarity and conciseness in expression, and that there are
> better styles with which to express the examples I brought up (in my posts
> about "can not"). However, the original question was whether one should
> take
> off points for a particular usage. I was under the impression that a
> teacher
> should encourage better style but, at the school level, take off points
> only
> for grammatical mistakes. My point was that there is room for "can not" in
> modern English grammar and that it is an admissible style, even if it is
> not
> the style most favoured by English speakers. I am not sure that a school
> teacher is justified for taking off points for a grammatically correct
> sentence simply because the style is not optimal. Indeed, clarity and
> conciseness are often subjective: from a mathematician's point of view,
> most
> English teachers would not be able to write an essay either in optimally
> clear or in optimally concise style. (No offense meant.) Hence, perhaps
> annotations such as "OK, but it would be better as: ....." or "OK, but
> awkward. Better:..." without a loss of points would be more appropriate.
> David Reid
>
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