Paul,

I have another idea on the 'fun' problem. Have students write two short
pieces about an event at which they enjoyed themselves: an informal one,
such as they might e-mail or instant-message to a friend, and another,
more formal one that they might write for a class essay. Have them do
the informal one first, and accept any instances of 'fun' as adj., since
this is extremely widespread usage among younger people. Then have them
revise and restate the same ideas in more formal terms, finding other
ways to express the same ideas.

They can brainstorm together on words and expressions to use in place of
'fun' adjectives.

You could also do this with individual sentences on a transparency or
blackboard as a class exercise. That could be a very quick, taking only
a few minutes of class time.

This can be both a vocabulary exercise--finding more-formal synonyms for
'fun'--and a grammar exercise, finding adjectives that express the same
idea but are accepted as adjectives by all judges.
--
***************************************************
Johanna Rubba, Associate Professor, Linguistics
English Department, Cal Poly State University
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Tel. 805-756-2184 ~ Dept. phone 805-756-2596
Dept. fax: 805-756-6374 ~  E-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
***************************************************

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