Endi
290 post s
2-Feb-2008
7:07 AM
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When marking the work of lower level ESOL students, when I see a mistake which is not to do with the language being tested, I like to give a mark but write the word "Oops" in parentheses next to the mark so that they are aware that there was a mistake. Does anyone else do this?
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CeeBee
1518 post s
2-Feb-2008
8:36 PM
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Do you mean you do this if there's a punctuation error on a test of irregular verbs? Please give an example.
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Endi
291 post s
3-Feb-2008
7:05 AM
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Yes, that would be an example.
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CeeBee
1519 post s
3-Feb-2008
10:58 AM
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I can't think of a test I've ever given on which this could happen. If it were an irregular verb test, for instance, there would be fill-in-the-blank spaces or matching or some kind of short-answer thing. The student wouldn't have written sentences that involved using correct punctuation. If students wrote stories or essays using what they had learned, misplaced commas, etc. would have been checked as incorrect.
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Endi
292 post s
3-Feb-2008
11:12 AM
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OK, the example of punctuation I have in mind is of the type:
"Rearrange the words to make a question."Inevitably, some students will use lower case letters at the beginning and leave off the question mark. If this happens, I highlight this and write "(Oops)" but still give the full marks.
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TheMudge
The Real Mudge
2543 post s
3-Feb-2008
11:05 PM
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This is not a situation I often encounter. However, I sometimes give my students exercises such as those that require them to take two ideas that I've given as simple sentences and create a compound or complex sentence. (In the instructions, I also tell them to provide the proper punctuation.) Students sometimes create new errors or misspell words, even though they are copying. If the sentence created is what it's supposed to be and has the proper punctuation, they get full credit. However, I do mark any new errors or misspellings that are introduced, but I don't just write, "Oops!" I write a brief note, telling them to pay more attention to what they are copying. Leaving other errors completely unmarked is not a good policy; students may think they are correct. Many of my students are unaware that some things are wrong because teachers have, in the past, let these mistakes go unnoted.
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Rich Turner (The Curmudgeon Himself)
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CeeBee
1522 post s
4-Feb-2008
10:30 AM
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Thanks for the example, Endi. I would not write "Oops." You have asked the students to rearrange the words to make a question. A question demands a question mark. The question mark is implicit, thus no "oops." Certainly you have already taught that the first word in a sentence is capitalized. I would not "oops" that either. My conclusion is that I would mark wrong any mistake that shouldn't have occurred and not give full marks even if the instruction had been followed. If a student rearranged the words to make a question, but did not capitalize the first word and did not put a question mark at the end, the student has not done what he was supposed to do.
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Endi
293 post s
4-Feb-2008
11:13 AM
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I agree up to a point, Ceebee, but many of my students are illiterate in their own first language and it would not be appropriate to write reams of comments. Most of the know that they should use capital letters at the start of a sentence but not all of them do.
Last Edited on 4-Feb-2008 11:13 AM
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CeeBee
1526 post s
4-Feb-2008
9:12 PM
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I didn't suggest you write "reams of comments." The more you write, the less they will read and understand. Certainly, Endi, if your students are at the point of rewriting sentences to make them questions, they have been told that a question mark follows a question. As for not capitalizing the first word in the sentence, if you don't count that as incorrect, at least circle it in another color--purple perhaps--and mention it in class and ask for corrections, either verbal or written. The "oops" to my way of thinking doesn't encourage anyone to think about the mistake or to make corrections.
Last Edited on 4-Feb-2008 9:14 PM
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Endi
294 post s
5-Feb-2008
1:24 AM
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Oh yes, I do follow up.
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TheMudge
The Real Mudge
2547 post s
5-Feb-2008
8:53 PM
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". . .many of my students are illiterate in their own first language." I don't doubt it, but that's very scary. How do you teach a second language to students who aren't literate in their native language? I don't envy you the task, Endi. It sounds a bit like trying to build the second floor on a house when there's no first floor.
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Rich Turner (The Curmudgeon Himself)
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CeeBee
1531 post s
6-Feb-2008
11:14 AM
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Endi, is conversational English a big part of your classes? Mudge, I didn't understand the finer points of English grammar until I took Latin in high school. The first floor had been built, but the walls were made of cardboard. Now the house is made of Lannon stone with oak flooring, beams, and woodwork. I'm carefully selecting furniture.
Last Edited on 6-Feb-2008 8:48 PM
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