You might also get them to look at how *so* is used in a corpus (or on the web). Peter On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 9:08 PM, Turner, Tildon L. <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi Nathalia, > > There is no mystery. The students were misinformed. It is always > stressful as a teacher to have students who have received inadequate or > erroneous instruction of any kind. The mnemonic is FANBOYS not FANBOY. > The "S" makes all the difference. "So" is the only coordinating > conjunction that indicates material implicature, effectively carrying the > meaning of "therefore". In the college setting in which I teach, I can be > forceful about blaming poor previous instruction for difficulties some > students have and can dissuade them from continuing to use incorrect > grammar. I appreciate the fact that you may not have such a luxury with > younger students. However, they need to be weaned of the misunderstanding > regarding "so". > Perhaps the students only think of "so" in its adverbial usage such as: "I > went to bed early so I could get a good night's sleep", which of course > does not require a comma. They need to become comfortable with a compound > like "It is very hot outside today, so I'm not going to wear a jacket", > which typically does take a comma. > > > All the best, > > Til > > > Til Turner > Languages and Literature > Northern Virginia Community College > www.englishiskillingme.com > Ph: 703.323.3269 > > > ________________________________________ > From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [ > [log in to unmask]] on behalf of Nathalia Hardy [ > [log in to unmask]] > Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2015 8:17 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Compound Sentences and Coordinating Conjunctions > > I am hoping you could help me solve a bit of a mystery. Some of my > students have been taught that "so" is not a coordinating conjunction and > should not be used to join two independent clauses. Unfortunately, none of > them can explain this other than to say "their teacher said so." These are > seventh and eighth grade students. They have been taught the mnemonic > device FANBOY to remember the coordinating conjunctions and are holding > firm in their "understanding." Am I missing something? > > Best, > > Nathalia Hardy > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface > at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface > at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > -- Peter H. Fries Until December 12 2014 Box 310 Mount Pleasant MI 48804 Phone: 989-644-3384 Cell: 989-400-3764 December 25 - May 1, 2015 5751 N. Kolb Rd, Unit 28102 Tucson AZ 85750 Phone: 520-329-8420 Cell: 989-400-3764 Email: [log in to unmask] Web page: <http://cmich.edu/chsbs/x23516.xml <http://cmich.edu/chsbs/x23516.xml>> [among 'emeritus faculty'] To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/