Tuesday, January 1, 2013

CPR Needed for the English Language (IIA)


Part 11A begins the discussion about the English language connection to some of the core competencies in Library Sciences and examines Klausner’s English skills.  Communication, both written and verbal, is crucial to the degree.  Literacy, storytelling, and writing skills are basic to passing the course and they have to be demonstrated before moving on to a masters’ course of work.  To write coherently, communicate well, and convey understandable information, proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar are necessities.

Does Harriet demonstrate the requisite communication skills and writing skills?  In fact, does Harriet have the skills required to graduate from middle school English classes? 

A slice of 600 reviews over about a three-month period of time gives us searing insight into her English language abilities.  They show pervasive grammar and punctuation problems with:

1.
The proper use of commas
2.
The proper use of semicolons
3.
The proper use of colons
4.
Proper use of hyphens
5.
6.
7.
Relationships of dependent clauses
8.
Relationships of introductory clauses
9.
10.
How a series is punctuated
11.
How series within series are punctuated
12.
13.
Capitalization
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
Run-on sentences
19.
Unrelated compound sentences
20.
Unrelated compound thoughts
21.
22.
23.
Relationship of descriptive phrases
24.
25.
26.
Oxymorons
27.
28.
Conjunctions and connectors
29.

This is basic English.   Proper punctuation, adjectives, adverbs, dependent clauses and how they are placed in the order of a sentence, run-on   sentences, descriptive clauses, improper capitalization, unrelated compound thoughts, conjunctions, and connectors are so common that you  see them in every one of Harriet’s reviews.  For those categories that are not linked above, you can look at any of Harriet’s reviews and see the problems.

There are others, though that are not quite as prevalent, although they are common.  They're linked to the reviews where these incidences occur.

As I read through about 30 pages of reviews, proper word selection really began to stick out.  Every word identified below was used incorrectly many, many times in reviews, showing a clear pattern .  I didn’t select words where Klausner made the mistake only once or twice because I was looking for habitual errors that show a consistent pattern:

Klausner’s Word

Correct Word

obsessive compulsive

noirish

heroine

impoverished

festivity

including

hijinks or high jinks

no such word

compromising

vicious

relationship

propagate

past

endearing

patricide

has lain

impending

climactic

commingle

site

effect

vice versa

capital

relating

precedence

enthusiastic

metaphoric

Related to wrong words, misspellings, and incorrect grammar are compound words.  Many of the mistakes are common, everyday words; many are a little more difficult; and some are not easy.  Keep in mind that there are instances where Klausner’s word(s) may appear to be correct, such as “anyway” “backyard” “nightshift”, but whether or not they are compounded depends on the context in which it was used.  For example, Klausner may have said “I wanted to see if there was anyway that the protagonists could overcome their fears.”  In that case, “anyway” was incorrect and it should have been “I wanted to see if there was any way  the protagonists could overcome their fears”.

Klausner’s Word

Correct Word

giant killer

back story

back yard

deathbed

back door

wrongdoing

 breakthrough

homemade

taxpayer-funded

back room

front lines

firsthand

cannot

hellhounds

shoplifters

bloodsucking

bodyguard

showstopper

triplecrosses

any way

fishbowl

These aren’t advanced or difficult words.

Part IIB continues the discussion of Harriet's English language skills and addresses problems related to plurals and singulars, verb tenses, and redundancies.  To proceed, click here.

Click here to return to Main Page for “A Reviewer with a Masters Degree in Library Science”.

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