Jan,

For the last 20 years, I've been training/coaching people in the business
world about written and oral grammar.  Watching adults struggle to learn
about semicolons (my participants always ask about them), I believe they DO
require thinking to master.  

I frequently interact with people in HR responsible for making hiring
decisions.  They've told me that if they have resumes from two people who
seem equally qualified for a job with only a limited number of interview
slots, they will contact the person who used a semicolon correctly over
someone who didn't use one at all.  Their theory seems to be that if an
applicant can master a semicolon, the rest of their communication skills
should be equally impressive.

During my workshops, I show the participants how to use a semicolon.  Then,
they practice writing  compound sentence with commas and coordinating
conjunctions to analyze the differences.  We then move to complex sentences,
where they again do a compare/contrast on how to make a similar point
different ways along with audience reactions to them.

I love semicolons; my participants to too.  Only once was I asked not to
teach them.  That was to a group of engineers who were already writing
overly long sentences.  Their manager did not want them to know they could
use a semicolon to link yet another thought to concepts that were already
too complicated.  

The more options writers have to best convey their thoughts, the better in
my opinion.

Linda


 
Linda Comerford
317.786.6404
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www.comerfordconsulting.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jan Kammert
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2011 7:13 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: What do people need to know?

I just got back from a showing of the movie Race to Nowhere.  In the movie
someone asserts that employers do not want employees who know how to use
semicolons.  Employers do want employees who know how the think. 

The implication seemed to me to be that teachers should not teach about
semicolons because that might take away time from thinking skills.  
Maybe I'm overreacting. 

Anyway... my question is what do employers want employees to know about
grammar?  I'm going to guess that the answers from this list will be
different from the people in the movie I just saw. 

I'm also interested in the why behind what employees should know.  For
example, if you think employees should know how to use semicolons, why?
Jan

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