John,

Oh, now I understand about those test question answers.  Thanks for the explanation.
What you wrote about semicolons makes great sense too.

Linda

"Crow, John T" wrote:

> Linda,
>
> The answers were in a study guide prepared by the State of California to help students study for the exam.  The questions were from old CAHSEE tests; the explanations were added for the study guide.
>
> I also teach the semi-colon.  While students overuse them at first, most of them master the concept without a problem.  I don't think the semi-colon per se is the problem; (I HAD to use one) the problem is in how they are presented in traditional grammar.
>
> John
>
>         -----Original Message-----
>         From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Linda Comerford
>         Sent: Wed 8/18/2004 12:20 PM
>         To: [log in to unmask]
>         Cc:
>         Subject: Re: CAHSEE
>
>
>
>         John and Len,
>
>         Okay, I read my messages out of order when I asked what was wrong with the test questions and can now see that the way the explanations were written is the problem.  I'm wondering where those answers occurred?  If this is a test, surely the students didn't see them, so who did?  Maybe the graders?  Maybe the students did as post-test explanations?  I guess I'm still confused.
>
>         I do stand behind my original point, however, that teaching the correct way to use semicolons is useful for students in school and the business world alike.
>
>         And I still find the nuances of punctuation fascinating!
>
>         Linda
>
>

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