Punctuation

One of the most important tools for making paper speak in your own voice is punctuation.

                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                               -Russell Baker

When speaking aloud, you punctuate constantly--with body language. Your listener hears commas, dashes, question marks, exclamation points, quotation marks as you shout, whisper, pause, wave your arms, roll your eyes, wrinkle your brow. In writing, punctuation plays the role of body language. It helps readers hear you the way you want to be heard.


Don't let the rules scare you. Think of them as guidelines. For example, comma. Commas are part of a system; knowing that system is more helpful in making decisions than memorizing a list of rules about commas.

There are two basic systems of punctuation:

1. The loose or open system, which tries to capture the way body language punctuates talk.
2. The tight, closed structural system, which hews closely to the sentences's grammatical structure

No matter which system you prefer, be warned: punctuation marks cannot save a sentence that is badly put together. If you have to struggle over commas, semicolons and dashes, you have probably built a sentence that's never going to fly, no matter how you tinker with it.Throw it away and build a new one to a simpler design. The better your sentence, the easier it is to punctuate.

Paraphrasing

"Be careful to avoid plagiarism!"

Paraphrasing:
To express what someone else has said or written using different words, especially in order to make it shorter or clearer.

"Paraphrasing and summarizing require that you fully digest an author's idea and interpretations and restate them in your own words. It is not enough simply to modify the original author's sentences slightly, to change a word here and there."

When you paraphrase information, you are really "translating" the author's English into your own English.

Whereas quoting means you use the exact words of the writer, paraphrasing means restating the words or ideas from a book or article in your own words. So you need to follow the rules of paraphrasing carefully in order to avoid being accused of plagiarism.

1.  Change word forms  

            When we look at a comparison between A and B ...

            When we compare A and B ...

The noun comparison is replaced with the verb compare.

            There are a variety of solutions to problem C.

            There are various solutions to problem C.

The noun variety is replaced with the adjective various.

Guides for Varying Sentence Types and Elements

A long series of sentences identical or very similar in length and structure is monotonous. But a series of well-written, varied sentences provides the reader with more than mere absence of monotony. It reflects the writer's careful molding of form to thought and the careful choice of length and structure to supply emphasis that creates meaning. The following is five guides for varying sentence types and elements. 

1.  Transform short sentences into compound or complex sentences.
     I went into the snake house. Elmer waited outside.
     I went into the snake house, but Elmer waited outside. (compound)
     Jan and I went to the zoo. We watched the seals.
     When we went to the zoo, Jan and I watched the seals. (complex)

2. Transform two or more simple sentences into one smooth simple sentence by combining elements into a compound.
    This salat is delicious. It is also attractive.
    This salat is delicious and attractive.

3. Combine sentences by using a single word or a phrase.
    A pair of dungarees lay across the chair. They were dirty.
    A pair of dirty dungarees lay across the chair. (word)
    I often attend the open-air concerts. They are held in Grant Park.
    I often attend the open-air concerts held in Grant Park. (participial phrase)
    I studied hard. I wanted to pass the test.
    I studied hard to pass the test. (infinitive phrase)
    I basted the hem. Then I stitched it.
    After basting the hem, I stitched it. (prepositional phrase containing a gerund)
    I lost my fountain pen. It was an old one.
    I lost my fountain pen, an old one. (appositive)

4. To show a closer relationship between ideas, transform one sentence into a noun, adjective, or adverb clause.
    A man just came into the room. He is my father.
    The man who just came into the room is my father. (adjective clause)
    I reached the office. Mr. Sims was already there.
    When I reached the office, Mr. Sims was already there. (adverb clause)
    John was bluffing. Everyone realized that fact.
    Everyone realized that John was bluffing. (noun clause)

5. The best expression is usually the most concise. Try reducing a phrase to a word, or a clause to a phrase or a word.
    A face wearing a smile peered out at me.
    A smiling face peered out at me. (phrase to word)
    When he saw me, the man began to run.
    Seeing me, the man began to run. (clause to phrase)
    Today I wore my new coat, which is a red one.
    Today I wore my new red coat. (clause to word)

Learning and Teaching

What do we know about language learning?

Outside  the context of any classroom, all children who are repeatedly exposed to a language will in normal circumstances learn it. They do this unconsciously - rather than as a form of study.

Most adults can learn a language without studying it, providing they are in the right kind of contact with it. Though they may have more trouble with pronunciation and grammar than younger learners, they may still be able to communicate fluently.

Children and adults who do acquire language successfully outside the classroom seem to share certain similarities in their learning experiences. First of all, they are usually exposed to language which they more or less understand even if they can't produce the same language spontaneously themselves. Secondly, they are motivated to learn the language in order to be able to communicate. And finally, they have opportunities to use the language they are learning, thus giving themselves chances to flex their linguistic muscles - and check their own progress and abilities.

Babies and children get endless exposure to their first language coupled with emotional support. Adults living in a foreign country get continual exposure to the language at various different levels and can get help from the surrounding language speakers.

All these features of natural language acquisition can be difficult to replicate in the classroom, but there are elements which we should try to imitate.

What elements are necessary for successful language learning in classroom?

Classroom students don't usually get the same kind of exposure or encouragement as those who - at whatever age - are 'picking up' the language. But that does not mean they cannot learn a language if the right conditions apply. Like language learners outside schools, they will need to be motivated, be exposed to language, and given chances to use it. We can therefore say what elements need to be present in a language classroom to help students learn effectively. We will call these elements 'ESA,' three elements which will be present in all - or almost all - classes. They are:

Engage: this is the point in a teaching sequence where teachers try to arouse the students' interest, thus involving their emotions.

Study: Study activities are those where the students are asked to focus in on language (or information) and how it is constructed. They range from the study and practice of a single sound to an investigation of how a writer achieves a particular effect in a long text; from an examination and practice of a verb tense to the study of a transcript of informal speech to discuss spoken style.

Students can study in a variety of different styles: the teacher can explain grammar, they can study language evidence to discover grammar for themselves, they can work in groups studying a reading text or vocabulary.

Activate: this element describes exercises and activities which are designed to get students using language as freely and communicatively as they can. The objective for the students is not to focus on language construction and/or practice specific bits of language (grammar patterns, particular vocabulary items or functions) but for them to use all and any language which may be appropriate for a given situation or topic. Thus, Activate exercises offer students a chance to try out real language use with little or no restriction - a kind of rehearsal for real world.

These ESA elements need to be present in most lessons or teaching sequences. Whether the main focus of the lesson is a piece of grammar (in which case there will be opportunities for Study and Activation), or whether the focus is on reading (where there may be a lot of Activation of language knowledge in the processing of the text, but where, at some stage, the students will also Study the construction of that text or the use of some language within it), students always need to be Engaged, if possible, so that they can get the maximum out of the learning experience. Most students will want to have Studied some aspect of language, however small or of short duration, during a lesson period.

Negative Effects of TV

Besides positive effects, television has negative effects. According to a 2005 study by an association of pediatricians, the overall negative effects of television on children overweigh the positive effects. This comes as no surprise to those of us in the field of juvenile psychology who have seen the effects on children of more and more television watching.

The researchers analyzed standardized test results and television viewing habits of 1.700 children. Chindren aged 6 to 7 who watch more than three hours of TV a day score significantly lower on reading and short-term memory (STM)* tests than children who watch little or no television.

Another study showed us that, on the average, children spend more time watching television than doing any other activity except sleeping. They spend more time watching television than at school! All television shows, even educational shows, replace activities in children's lives that parents value more, such as studying, reading, and playing sports.

Another problem is that kids who watch television are physically inactive. Not only are they inactive, but they tend to snack a lot. Advertisements for inappropriate foods encourage them. This leads to children being overwight and out of shape.

Studies such as  this one simply conform what most psychologists already know. As far as children are concerned, television viewing is harmful and should be severely limited or altogether eliminated from their lives. Altogether eliminated from children's lives, do you agree? How about your children?






















* The content of the STM is short-lived, and is easily displaced by new information. Our STM stores what we are thinking at the time, along with information that has come from eyes, ears, etc. After storing and processing this information for a few seconds, the STM promptly forgets nearly all of it.


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