| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
fluffyhamster
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 3292
Location: UK > China > Japan > UK again
|
 Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:39 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
| What makes you think an EFL classroom is "narrow"? It certainly couldn't be any narrower than your mind, which doesn't seem to have room for even one sentence's likely context. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Chancellor
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 1337
Location: Ji'an, China - if you're willing to send me cigars, I accept donations :)
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:57 am Post subject: Re: PLEASE HELP: PUNCTUATION QUESTION |
|
|
| Henry_Cowell wrote: |
| jr1965 wrote: |
Could someone help me out? I've got a question about hyphen usage....
Your input is appreciated! Also, this is for usage in American English. |
Note that this was the context of the OP's question. She/he did not explicitly mention the rather narrow context of the EFL or ESL classroom. |
Agreed. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
fluffyhamster
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 3292
Location: UK > China > Japan > UK again
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 4:40 am Post subject: |
|
|
I'm not quite sure what sort of dichotomy you guys are trying to draw here - there is after all only one world which we (and hyphens) inhabit.
Yours must surely be one of the biggest cop-outs ever seen on Dave's, and you guys should be ashamed if you call yourselves English teachers in any sense of the term (particularly ESL teachers - hardly the easiest branch of English to teach, and where BS doesn't get you very far for long).
Last edited by fluffyhamster on Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:53 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
stillnosheep
Joined: 01 Mar 2004
Posts: 2068
Location: eslcafe
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:52 am Post subject: |
|
|
Any reader unable to understand that the President's speech to small business men, is unlikely to be deliverd to an audience consisting solely of the those of dinimutive stature, and that, in an otherwise unspecified context, the expression "English Language Teacher" refers to anything other than a Teacher of English, has problems with understanding standard English far more profound than can be dealt with by attempts to prescribe hard and fast rules for the use of hyphens.
Mind youl, the OP was referring to American English... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
stillnosheep
Joined: 01 Mar 2004
Posts: 2068
Location: eslcafe
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:53 am Post subject: |
|
|
Double post
Last edited by stillnosheep on Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:55 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
stillnosheep
Joined: 01 Mar 2004
Posts: 2068
Location: eslcafe
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:53 am Post subject: |
|
|
Any reader unable to understand that the President's speech to small business men is unlikely to be delivered to an audience consisting solely of those of diminutive stature, and that, in an otherwise unspecified context, the expression "English Language Teacher" refers to anything other than a Teacher of English, has problems with understanding English far more profound than could be dealt with by any misguided attempt to prescribe hard and fast rules for the use of hyphens.
Mind you, the OP did refer to users of American English... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Henry_Cowell
Joined: 27 May 2005
Posts: 3352
Location: Berkeley
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 8:10 am Post subject: |
|
|
| still sheepish wrote: |
| misguided attempt to prescribe hard and fast rules for the use of hyphens |
Then I guess I prefer the "misguided" company of the AP Stylebook, the Chicago Manual of Style, and the major copyediting books -- all standard in American English. I prefer their company to the fluffy, fuzzy, sheepish thinking around here.
Why not try getting out of the classroom and into the world of real English usage? Azar is probably dumbing you down.
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
fluffyhamster
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 3292
Location: UK > China > Japan > UK again
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 9:18 am Post subject: |
|
|
| No desire to keep up with the Joneses at all, then, Henry? Probably you just aren't able to anymore eh, you poor old doddery s*d. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jr1965
Joined: 09 Jul 2004
Posts: 175
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 9:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Note that this was the context of the OP's question. She/he did not explicitly mention the rather narrow context of the EFL or ESL classroom. |
Right. I wasn't asking the question b/c this was a point I was teaching in a class. I was editing a manuscript and wanted some input because I didn't have a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed) available.
In the end, I did not hyphenate "English" and "language" in the sentence "He's an English language teacher." In the copy I was reviewing, the sentence was contexualized (of course) and because it was clear that the person is a teacher of the English language and not an Englishman who teaches an unspecified language, it didn't seem necessary to use the hyphen. So I didn't!
Thanks especially to Stephen Jones for listing the info from Chicago. I originally posted the question here on this forum b/c I know that there will be people who will read the manuscript and ask me why "English" and "lang" aren't hyphenated.
Thank goodness a copy of Chicago is in the mail and on its way to me here. In the meantime, anyone want to discuss comma usage? JUST KIDDING.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Henry_Cowell
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
