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Date: | Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:09:51 -0800 |
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I can say for certain that many, if not most, of my students don't
use semicolons correctly most of the time. I don't think it is
because teachers think they can't, and they therefore feel insecure;
I think it is because they were never taught. When I query my classes
about whether or not they had grammar training, only 3 or 4 raise
their hands.
My students use semicolons to introduce a list, and they often put it
after "however" instead of before it. To my recollection, they don't
often use it to separate main clauses. I haven't studied this
formally, but I do have an item on my Editing Tips web page on
semicolons -- this is how persistent the problem is. I do often
advise that my students simply not use them until they learn the rules.
Dr. Johanna Rubba, Ph. D.
Associate Professor, Linguistics
Linguistics Minor Advisor
English Dept.
Cal Poly State University San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Ofc. tel. : 805-756-2184
Dept. tel.: 805-756-2596
Dept. fax: 805-756-6374
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
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