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diver
Joined: 16 Jun 2003
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 Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 3:21 am Post subject: Re: Grammar question. |
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| diver wrote: |
| Some of the Mothers Said wrote: |
Is this sentence grammatically correct?
"Why don't you alternate your method of teaching."
Thanks. |
"Why don't you alternate your methods of teaching." |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 4:14 am Post subject: Re: Grammar question. |
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| Some of the Mothers Said wrote: |
Is this sentence grammatically correct?
"Why don't you alternate your method of teaching."
Thanks. |
I'll side with this being wrong. You cant alternate without alternatives & this sentence doesnt provide any. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 4:19 am Post subject: Re: Grammar question. |
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| schwa wrote: |
| Some of the Mothers Said wrote: |
Is this sentence grammatically correct?
"Why don't you alternate your method of teaching."
Thanks. |
I'll side with this being wrong. You cant alternate without alternatives & this sentence doesnt provide any. |
That's how I was feeling. nathanrutledge poo poo'd the plural being important, but it seems so to me. |
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Some of the Mothers Said
Joined: 01 Jul 2008
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| Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 4:46 am Post subject: |
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Thank you all for your feedback on this question. I really appreciate it.
I have asked for help from some Universities abroad, and will post the answers they give me.
I'm really not sure. I thought about the difference between method, approach, and technique.
If "method" performs a task in a routine, wouldn't it be possible to alternate the method as it contains one or many techniques or approaches?
I also found this:
"Unlike a function declared outside a class, a method cannot be used apart from the instance to which it is attached." Which in my problem would be teaching, therefore both method, and methods are correct?
| crisdean wrote: |
| Some of the Mothers Said wrote: |
| The students were presented with five completely different sentences. |
Out of curiousity, what are the other 4 sentences? |
I'll post them tomorrow. I actually didn't know it was an exam question to begin with. I thought it was another curly question from one of my over achieving students. |
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The Cosmic Hum
Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Sonic Space
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| Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:50 am Post subject: Re: Grammar question. |
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Grammatically...it is correct.
Semantically...illogical/nonsensical.
The infamous..."Colorless green ideas sleeping furiously."
Grammatically correct.
Nonsensical yes...but grammatically correct.
Without context...it is really hard to say, one way or the other, how semantically correct it is.
I would bet that given the right context...that sentence could go either way.
I agree that as it stands...it seems quite ungrammatical and either needs a plural(methods)...or as Schwa states...it needs alternatives.
Also...as Bekinseki noted....needs a question mark...just figured that was a typo by SMS |
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Some of the Mothers Said
Joined: 01 Jul 2008
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| Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 5:20 pm Post subject: Re: Grammar question. |
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| The Cosmic Hum wrote: |
Grammatically...it is correct.
Semantically...illogical/nonsensical.
The infamous..."Colorless green ideas sleeping furiously."
Grammatically correct.
Nonsensical yes...but grammatically correct.
Without context...it is really hard to say, one way or the other, how semantically correct it is.
I would bet that given the right context...that sentence could go either way.
I agree that as it stands...it seems quite ungrammatical and either needs a plural(methods)...or as Schwa states...it needs alternatives.
Also...as Bekinseki noted....needs a question mark...just figured that was a typo by SMS |
Thanks. I'm firming towards what you have written, although I will wait a little longer for replies.
Yes, it was a typo. Thanks for that.
Here are the five questions, and possible answers. Students were asked to choose the incorrect sentence.
1) She has _________ health.
2) My house is __________ to the bus stop.
3) Her parents made efforts to ___________ her talent.
4) Why don't you ______________ your method of teaching?
5) My mother is still an ___________ from her late illness.
A) fragile
B) convenient
C) cultivate
D) alternate
E) invalid |
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Setaro
Joined: 08 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 1:35 am Post subject: Re: Grammar question. |
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| Some of the Mothers Said wrote: |
| The Cosmic Hum wrote: |
Grammatically...it is correct.
Semantically...illogical/nonsensical.
The infamous..."Colorless green ideas sleeping furiously."
Grammatically correct.
Nonsensical yes...but grammatically correct.
Without context...it is really hard to say, one way or the other, how semantically correct it is.
I would bet that given the right context...that sentence could go either way.
I agree that as it stands...it seems quite ungrammatical and either needs a plural(methods)...or as Schwa states...it needs alternatives.
Also...as Bekinseki noted....needs a question mark...just figured that was a typo by SMS |
Thanks. I'm firming towards what you have written, although I will wait a little longer for replies.
Yes, it was a typo. Thanks for that.
Here are the five questions, and possible answers. Students were asked to choose the incorrect sentence.
1) She has _________ health.
2) My house is __________ to the bus stop.
3) Her parents made efforts to ___________ her talent.
4) Why don't you ______________ your method of teaching?
5) My mother is still an ___________ from her late illness.
A) fragile
B) convenient
C) cultivate
D) alternate
E) invalid |
To me, "My house is convenient to the bus stop." sounds far more wrong than the "Why don't you alternate your method of teaching" line, which feels natural in my head.
Sentence 2 is by far the most unnatural sentence out of the lot of them. |
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denverdeath
Joined: 21 May 2005
Location: Boo-sahn
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 5:43 am Post subject: Re: Grammar question. |
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| Setaro wrote: |
| Some of the Mothers Said wrote: |
| The Cosmic Hum wrote: |
Grammatically...it is correct.
Semantically...illogical/nonsensical.
The infamous..."Colorless green ideas sleeping furiously."
Grammatically correct.
Nonsensical yes...but grammatically correct.
Without context...it is really hard to say, one way or the other, how semantically correct it is.
I would bet that given the right context...that sentence could go either way.
I agree that as it stands...it seems quite ungrammatical and either needs a plural(methods)...or as Schwa states...it needs alternatives.
Also...as Bekinseki noted....needs a question mark...just figured that was a typo by SMS |
Thanks. I'm firming towards what you have written, although I will wait a little longer for replies.
Yes, it was a typo. Thanks for that.
Here are the five questions, and possible answers. Students were asked to choose the incorrect sentence.
1) She has _________ health.
2) My house is __________ to the bus stop.
3) Her parents made efforts to ___________ her talent.
4) Why don't you ______________ your method of teaching?
5) My mother is still an ___________ from her late illness.
A) fragile
B) convenient
C) cultivate
D) alternate
E) invalid |
To me, "My house is convenient to the bus stop." sounds far more wrong than the "Why don't you alternate your method of teaching" line, which feels natural in my head.
Sentence 2 is by far the most unnatural sentence out of the lot of them. |
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/convenient <----although that (#2) may very well b colloquial... definitely NOT used where I'm from either. |
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The Cosmic Hum
Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Sonic Space
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:56 am Post subject: Re: Grammar question. |
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| Setaro wrote: |
| Some of the Mothers Said wrote: |
| The Cosmic Hum wrote: |
Grammatically...it is correct.
Semantically...illogical/nonsensical.
The infamous..."Colorless green ideas sleeping furiously."
Grammatically correct.
Nonsensical yes...but grammatically correct.
Without context...it is really hard to say, one way or the other, how semantically correct it is.
I would bet that given the right context...that sentence could go either way.
I agree that as it stands...it seems quite ungrammatical and either needs a plural(methods)...or as Schwa states...it needs alternatives.
Also...as Bekinseki noted....needs a question mark...just figured that was a typo by SMS |
Thanks. I'm firming towards what you have written, although I will wait a little longer for replies.
Yes, it was a typo. Thanks for that.
Here are the five questions, and possible answers. Students were asked to choose the incorrect sentence.
1) She has _________ health.
2) My house is __________ to the bus stop.
3) Her parents made efforts to ___________ her talent.
4) Why don't you ______________ your method of teaching?
5) My mother is still an ___________ from her late illness.
A) fragile
B) convenient
C) cultivate
D) alternate
E) invalid |
To me, "My house is convenient to the bus stop." sounds far more wrong than the "Why don't you alternate your method of teaching" line, which feels natural in my head.
Sentence 2 is by far the most unnatural sentence out of the lot of them. |
Yes...you are quite right.
In fact, I am sure that #2 is the correct answer for which one is incorrect.
The point of the OP was that #4 also seemed incorrect to some students, and they were angry about it.
If the original question on the test had said...which of these answers is the most incorrect...then #2 would have been the easy out.
As it stands...#4 is causing some upheaval at the school in question.
SMS just recently posted the full question to give the rest of us some perspective on #4.
Good call Setaro and Denverdeath. |
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Some of the Mothers Said
Joined: 01 Jul 2008
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you all for your excellent replies.
I included the responses given here in my "statement" to the English facility on the correctness, or lack of correctness in reference to this question.
(I felt like a witness in a trial)
Anyhow, they were very impressed. I heard later many commented on how professional the ESL teachers in this thread were. Nice to know.
The outcome.
I wasn't involved in the final decision. The final decision was made by the facility heads and Vice Principal
1) Number four remains as the correct (incorrect) answer.
2) The answer was deemed to be unclear. Therefore it was not in accordance with the exam criteria.
3) The teacher was reprimanded. (I don't know how)
That's it. As far as sentence #2 is concerned. Well, I ain't going no wheres near that baby.
Again. Thank you all for your help. I hope Santa brings you all a nice gift.
SMS. |
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The Cosmic Hum
Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Sonic Space
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| Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Some of the Mothers Said wrote: |
Thank you all for your excellent replies.
I included the responses given here in my "statement" to the English facility on the correctness, or lack of correctness in reference to this question.
(I felt like a witness in a trial)
Anyhow, they were very impressed. I heard later many commented on how professional the ESL teachers in this thread were. Nice to know.
The outcome.
I wasn't involved in the final decision. The final decision was made by the facility heads and Vice Principal
1) Number four remains as the correct (incorrect) answer.
2) The answer was deemed to be unclear. Therefore it was not in accordance with the exam criteria.
3) The teacher was reprimanded. (I don't know how)
That's it. As far as sentence #2 is concerned. Well, I ain't going no wheres near that baby.
Again. Thank you all for your help. I hope Santa brings you all a nice gift.
SMS. |
So just to get this straight...number 4 was supposed to be the correct answer...as in...it was the incorrect answer?
That is good to hear...only in that it was certainly an odd construction.
(meaning...it is good to know that the tester knew they were using it incorrectly.)
Unfortunately, it has opened a new can of worms.
As now that you have posted the alternative answers...I agree with Setero and dd that #2 would be equally, if not even more, incorrect.
No worries...the joys of grammar.
Last year, around this time, we had other similar discussions as to the questions on some of the final exams....they were lively then, too.
Cheers. |
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