Korean Job Discussion Forums

[xCustomx]

My co-teacher made a question on the students' midterm asking about the time. She put a picture of a clock which shows the time as 3:30. Instead of being multiple choice, the students must write their answer down in words, such as 'half after three' or 'half past three'

But now she's worried that some students might write 'thirty past three' or 'thirty after three.' I told her that those answers would be ok, but that they're not typically used. She thinks that some students are going to argue that their answers are grammatically correct and thus should not be marked wrong.

Is 30 after/past three wrong?

[Goku]

The parents of my school have called in on one of my test questions because a wrong answer was also grammatically correct, however, oddly bizzare and completely unheard of as a normal English response.

So I'd be on the same ship with your co-teacher on this. Make sure all wrong answers are, both, strange sounding and grammatically incorrect.

Remember, we are native speakers. It's extremely easy to hear what sounds wrong. But students have learned the language completley deductively. They choose answers based on what makes logical sense by the definition of the word.

And to me Half past 3 and thirty after 3 sound like VERY logical interpretations if I were a second language learner.

The parents of my school actually READ the exam, got a hagwon teacher, or some kind of English teacher to read their child's exam and call the school (aka. me) and demand their student get an extra point. It's more trouble than it's worth. The co-teachers were all laughing with me saying "it happens all the time". So it's not uncommon for parents to go over exams and squabble over their kids 1 or 2 points.

Everything should be clear- crystal clear.