Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hotpants]

Thinking it was the 'proper' thing to do, I teach all my students in my academic writing classes not to START sentences with And/So/But. I've noticed other posters also saying that they teach this very point, too.

However, what am I to do, when one astute student shows me a page which she has photocopied from the Economist, in which a writer of a serious article has started almost every sentence with And/But/So??????

I tried to give the explanation that this writer is part of the dumbing down of English usage. However, my suggestion that the writer was somehow 'no good' didn't seem to convince this student. She looked at me pretty skeptically and didn't turn up to the following class.

So....what to do when you're presented with this situation????? How can I explain the frequent usage of And/But/So in a formal publication?????

[TheUrbanMyth]

Type in "Non-Errors" into Google.

That should give you some ideas.

[Woland]

TUM's source provides a good, succinct discussion of this.

For teaching, this may be another aspect of grammar that is "so subtle and complex" (as Dave Willis has put it) that it is unteachable (here, because it is a discourse-level phenomenon); students need to be exposed to lots of sample texts and develop a feel for when they can do this and when they can't. I think the thing we need to do is suggest to students that they can't randomly start sentences with conjunctions because in some cases it does produce awkward sounding sentences. We then need to expose students to a variety of selects texts with and without examples, focus their attention on sentence-initial conjunctions, and have them work out a feel for when they can do this and when they can't. I think we should also talk to students about the fact that there are many people who feel this is incorrect and who may judge them negatively for this usage (Not that Hotpants is doing this).

[SuperHero]

I tell them that for English learners it's a good "rule of thumb". Even native speakers who are novice writers should avoid using this until they find their voice and learn when it is acceptable.

[CBP]

If she's an "astute" student who reads the Economist, challenge her to do her own research on this matter. Also, after she's done some research, encourage her to email the author of the article, not accusing him of improper English but in search of feedback from someone who chooses to begin sentences with conjunctions. I can already see the author turning this into a piece for The New Yorker.

[Hotpants]

The 'non-errors' search does come up with some good points.

I would agree that the occasional use of And/So/But to start sentences is okay, but that the article in question started just about every sentence with such words with a total absence of conjunctive adverbs - however, moreover, therefore... Seemed to totally contradict what I was trying to convey to the students, and I had done so much encouraging for the students to try and read formal texts such as newspapers and periodicals to get a feel for formal writing styles. They've no faith in me now!

I did in fact tell the student try to find an email contact for the writer in question and ask about his writing style. However, the student seemed to laugh as if I was joking, and I suspect she won't bother to research such a point. I suppose I'll have to endeavor to do it myself.