[This message  was originally submitted  by [log in to unmask]  to the ATEG
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Future teachers of English need to know some basic elements that, I'm sorry
to
say, many of them do not know.  For example, please make sure they have the
homonyms straightened out --their, there, they're; its, i'ts; your, you're,
etc.
They also should have some idea about correct punctuation, particularly
commas
and the poor misunderstood apostrophe.  Undrstanding agreement
(verb/subject
and pronoun/antecedent) and correct pronoun use would be helpful.  Truly
many
of the usage problems we see everyday we see in new teachers.  I sometimes
wonder if we're beating a dead horse here.  After all, these new teachers
are
college graduates; maybe their misuse and lack of understanding of the
language is not such a big issue in the "real" world.  Don' t you wonder? I
do
feel like a dinosaur sometimes.
Mary Ann Black