Linguistics
Linguistics, Business Communication, Functional English and TEFL.
Tuesday, 5 April 2016
Saturday, 2 April 2016
Thursday, 10 March 2016
Tuesday, 8 March 2016
The Most Common Punctuation Errors
Most
common Punctuation Errors made by students of English as another Language
Punctuation errors are very subtle mistakes that users of
English as a Second Language often make.
While English as a Second Language students use up much time
checking for mistakes in grammar and vocabulary when writing, they often
overlook punctuation due to certain
reasons.
Yet punctuation errors can dent their reputation as much as
grammatical and vocabulary lapses could.
Below
is a list of common punctuation errors :
1. Comma Splice
Many users of English as a Second Language try to use comma
to link two independent clauses, making them commit the common punctuation
error called comma splice.
An independent clause can stand as a sentence because its
idea is complete. It can be punctuated with an end-stop punctuation like
period, exclamation mark, question mark, or even a semi-colon.
To connect two independent clauses in one sentence, do this:
Use any of the correlative conjunctions called the FANBOYS:
f = for, a = and, n = nor, b = but, y = yet,
so = so.
To separate the two independent clauses into two separate
sentences, simply use the appropriate end-stop punctuation.
Example:
Wrong:
Saleem
had planned to confess that he ate all the chocolates, he ate more to feel
brave.
Right:
Saleem had planned to confess that he ate all the
chocolates, so he ate more to feel brave.
Saleem had planned to confess that he ate all the
chocolates. He ate more to feel brave.
Saleem
had planned to confess that he ate all the chocolates; he ate more to feel
brave.
2. No Comma after Introductory
Element
Learners of English as a Second Language repeatedly forget
to use a comma after the introductory element that brings in the
main part of their sentence, pushing them to commit yet another punctuation
error.
To fix this problem, it is important to always use a comma
after the introductory element and before the main part of the sentence.
For Example:
Wrong:
Honestly her chicken curry is the spiciest in the whole
continent.
Right:
Honestly,
her chicken curry is the spiciest in the whole continent.
3. Comma in Restrictive Element
Still another punctuation error that English as a Second
Language learners frequently make is the use of comma with a restrictive
element in a sentence.
A restrictive element can be a clause, phrase, or word that
modifies a word in a sentence and alters the meaning of a sentence when
deleted.
A quick fix to this mistake is to simply avoid using a comma
in restrictive elements.
For Example:
Wrong:
Aslam bought the engagement ring, that she badly wanted, at
the black market.
Right:
Aslam bought the engagement ring that she badly wanted at
the black market.
Aslam
bought the engagement ring, which she badly wanted, at the black market.
4. Apostrophe to Form Plurals
Learners of English as a Second Language make the grave
mistake of using apostrophes to form the plural form of a word, making them
commit a very common punctuation error.
Apostrophes are used to show possession (Arham’s bike)
or contraction (Arham’s coming up with a new book about the history of
bicycles). They are not used to form plurals.
To form plurals, simply add –s, –es, or words that show
plural form.
Example:
Wrong:
Its going to be a fun day! The dog’s are going to the beach.
Right:
It’s
going to be a fun day! The dogs are going to the beach.
5. Too Many Punctuation Marks and
Ellipsis
To express strong emotions like surprise, shock or
disbelief, people who are learning English as a Second Language use several
punctuation marks at the end of their sentence.
It requires an expertise to use punctuation marks that
causes them to make a mistake in punctuations.
To avoid this error, limit punctuation marks to only one or
use them to minimum extent.
Moreover, avoid using exclamation marks in formal writing or
writing for business, academe, or other professions.
Example:
Wrong:
When are you going to deliver the box of vinegar I
ordered?!#!!??
Right:
When are you going to deliver the box of vinegar I ordered?
Please let me know when I can expect the box of vinegar I
ordered.
The same rule applies with ellipsis, which should only have three dots.
Example:
Wrong:
Chintu, our monkey, is sleeping … … …
Right:
Chintu,
our monkey, is sleeping.
6. Quoting for Stress
Just like native
English speakers, English as a Second Language learners would like to stress
certain important words in their sentence.
Unfortunately, they do
this by using quotation marks, which is not exactly the correct thing to do.
To highlight certain
words in a sentence, use boldface type, capitalize all the letters, or even
change the font’s color.
Better yet, use
adjectives or adverbs to draw attention to certain words.
Using quotation marks
to highlight words can result in confusion or even doubt.
Yes, this is because
quotation marks are often used to denote irony.
Quotation marks are
also used for quoting words, sentences, or reported speech.
Example:
Wrong:
This is the “best”
wedding of the year!
Right:
This is the best wedding of the year!
Misplaced modifiers
Self Teaching Unit:
Avoiding
Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
©t
2000, 1999, 1998, 1998 Margaret L. Benner
The
link is acknowledged below
Misplaced
Modifiers
A misplaced
modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the
word it modifies / describes.
Because of the
separation, sentences with this error often sound awkward, ridiculous, or
confusing. Furthermore, they can be downright illogical.
For example: On her way home, Shazia found a gold man's watch.
The example above suggests that
a gold man owns a watch.
Misplaced
modifiers can usually be corrected by moving the
modifier to a more sensible place in the sentence, generally next to the word
it modifies.
For example: On her way home, Shazia found a man's gold watch.
Now it is the watch that
is gold.
There are several kinds of misplaced
modifiers:
1. Misplaced adjectives are incorrectly separated from the nouns they modify and
almost always distort the intended meaning.
Example 1: The child ate a cold dish of cereal for breakfast this morning.
Correct the error by placing
the adjective next to the noun it modifies.
Corrected
The child ate a dish of cold cereal for breakfast this morning.
Example 2: The torn student's book lay on the desk.
Corrected: The student's torn book lay on the desk.
Sentences like
these are common in everyday speech and ordinarily cause their listeners no
trouble. However, they are quite imprecise and, therefore, should
have NO place in your writing.
2. Placement
of adverbs can also
change meaning in sentences.
For example, the sentences below illustrate how the placement of just can
change the sentence's meaning.
Just means only John was picked, no one else:
Just John was picked to host the program.
Just means that John was
picked now:
John was just picked to host the program.
Just means
that John hosted only the program, nothing else:
John was picked to host Just the program.
Each of these
sentences says something logical but quite different, and
its correctness depends upon what the writer has in mind.
Often, misplacing an adverb not
only alters the intended meaning, but also creates a sentence whose meaning is
highly unlikely or completely ridiculous.
This sentence, for example, suggests that we brought a
lunch slowly:
We ate the lunch that we had brought slowly.
To repair the meaning, move the adverb slowly so that it is near ate.
We slowly ate the lunch that we had brought.
3. Misplaced phrases may
cause a sentence to sound awkward and may create a meaning that does not make
sense.
The problem
sentences below contain misplaced phrases that modify
the wrong nouns.
To fix the
errors and clarify the meaning, put the phrases next to the
noun they are supposed to modify.
Example (a corner
smoking pipes?)
The three bankers talked quietly in the corner smoking pipes.
Corrected: The three bankers smoking pipes talked quietly in the corner.
Example (a house made of barbed wire?)
They saw a fence behind the house made of barbed wire.
Corrected: They saw a fence made of barbed wire behind the house.
4. Misplaced clauses may cause a sentence to sound awkward and
may create a meaning that does not make sense.
The problem
sentences below contain misplaced clauses that modify
the wrong nouns.
To fix the
errors and clarify the meaning, put the clauses next to the
noun they are supposed to modify.
Example 1 ( a buttered woman?)
The waiter served a dinner roll to the woman that was well buttered.
Corrected: The waiter served a dinner roll that was well buttered to the woman.
Be careful! In correcting a misplaced
modifier, don't create a sentence with two possible meanings.
Example: The teacher said on Monday she would return our essays.
Problem: Did the
teacher say this on Monday or will she return the
essays on Monday?)
Correction
#1 (meaning the essays will be returned on Monday)
The teacher said she would return our essays on Monday.
Correction
#2 (meaning that the teacher spoke on Monday)
On Monday the teacher said she would return our essays.
Reference: https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/moduledangling.htm
Tuesday, 1 March 2016
DESCRIPTIVE WRITING
Descriptive Writing
·
A
description is a picture in words that helps the reader see, hear, taste,
smell, or feel something that the writer has experienced.
·
Description
is giving details about a person, place, thing etc. that allows the reader to
experience what you have.
·
In
order to create a good description you must appeal the five senses and create
pictures in the readers mind.
- What
senses are being used in the following sentences?
- The
puppy was black with three white paws and one white ear. It had a long tail with a white tip.
- As we walked into the room, the floor boards creaked. We knocked into a table and the glass vase hit the floor. Crash!
- The chocolate cake was so delicious. It had peanut butter frosting which melted in your mouth.
- The
cool rain was hitting us in the face as we ran to the bus.
- When
we write a description, we must remember to:
- begin
with interesting opening sentences that tell what the description is about
- use
exact, vivid words to create a picture in the reader’s mind
- include
important details about what you are describing
- put
details in time order, spatial order, or in order of importance
- use
sense words that help your reader picture what you are describing
- As I sat on the beach, I felt the gentle breeze coming from the water. The warm sun was shining on the water making it sparkle. It was so peaceful. We enjoyed eating chocolate along with feeling gentle breeze. The waves crashing against the shore were soothing.
Monday, 29 February 2016
CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS: MAJOR TYPES OF COMPLAINTS
Customer Complaints
Five Major Types That
You Must Know!
Five Solid Reasons Why Customers Complaints
Should Be Taken Seriously
Complaints are most important in the growth of
any of the organization, specifically there are so many kinds of complaints but
generally they are categorized under five major types which are as under:
Five Major
Types of Customer Complaints
1. Performance/Operations related complaints
2. Customer Touch Point related complaints
3. Marketing related complaints
4. Business/Firm/Company service related complaints
5. Illegitimate/False Complaints
Now
let’s talk about each type one by one
Performance/Operations related
complaints
Customer complaints related to
product/service defects/shortcomings comes under this type, basically all
product/service related complaints, issues are due to some operational or
performance related malfunction, shortcoming that results in an
uneven or defective value creation.
Customer Touch Point related
complaints
A customer touch point complaint
here specifically means complaints related to front line staff, administration
that deals with your customers. These complaints mainly focus on behavior,
attitude, performance (making errors in billing, charges, misbehaving, to be
intolerant etc) of the front line employees and administration.
Remember in case you are a service
provider, customer touch point complaints are far more important for your
business than those who deal in tangible items. According to a study customer
perception of a brand depends on front line employees/administration behavior,
attitude.
Similarly other studies have
confirmed that employees performance can increase not only brand value but also
regains/improves customer trust in the brand.
So if you want your customers to
take your brand positively, to love your brand, to advocate about it then you
need to improve your front line/administration behavior, attitude and
performance.
Marketing Related Complaints
Means when
customers complaints that your brand didn’t deliver on the commercial promises
it made, like the promises (discounts, BOGO offers, sale etc) you made through
your promotional, advertising campaigns with your target market.
So in case of
any such complaints, you need to check with your marketing department, team and
make sure that a promise made is a promise kept.
Business/Firm/Company Service
Related Complaints
Service complaints that implicitly
report issues, problems not with your product/service but with your business,
firm or company for instance your business doesn’t provide adequate human
resource, training, equipment, tools, facilities, financial support etc to one
or other department which is resulting in poor business performance that is
affecting overall value delivery and thus resulting in customer complaints.
Such complaints aren’t related to
any of the complaints types mentioned above but are still genuine, legitimate
as they indirectly points to certain flaws, deficiencies, negligence in your
business/firm/company standard operating procedures, policies and practices,
protocols, overall strategy, tactics so on and so forth and thus demands
careful analysis, evaluation of your business big picture.
Illegitimate/False Complaints
Any complaint that doesn’t come
under any of these four types is clearly an illegitimate/false complaint and
thus needs no attention but still you got to make sure that your customer who
is making an illegitimate complaint get it, get that he/she is making an
illegitimate complaint and therefore he/she can’t be entertained as he/she
desires.
Remember an illegitimate complaint maker
is still your customer thus you need to take utmost care when dealing with such
customer after all it costs five to eight times more to acquire new customer
than to retain an old one.
ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD REPORT
Essentials of a Good Report
Business
Management
A report is a statement or form, which presents facts relating to
an event, progress of action, State of business affairs in a comprehensive and
systematic manner. The essentials of a good report are:
(a) The report should be addressed to definite person or body of
persons and it should be started with a salutation "Dear Sir" or
"Dear Sirs".
(b) The report should be accompanied with a brief title,
(c) The report should contain a table, which states page number in
which a particular point is available.
(d) The object of the report must be clear in the opening
paragraph.
(e) The facts available in the report should be complete and
reliable. (/) Repetition of writing should be avoided.
(f) The report should be free from clumsy and it should be
submitted at its proper time.
Essential stages of report writing:
All reports need to be clear, concise and well structured. The key
to writing an effective report is to allocate time for planning and
preparation. With careful planning, the writing of a report will be made much
easier. The essential stages of successful report writing are described below.
Consider how long each stage is likely to take and divide the time before the
deadline between the different stages. Be sure to leave time for final proof
reading and checking.
Stage One: Understanding the report
brief
This first stage is the most important. You need to be confident
that you understand the purpose of your report as described in your report
brief or instructions. Consider who the report is for and why it is being
written. Check that you understand all the instructions or requirements, and
ask your tutor if anything is unclear.
Stage Two: Gathering and selecting
information
Once you are clear about the purpose of your report, you need to
begin to gather relevant information. Your information may come from a variety
of sources, but how much information you need, will depend on how much detail
is required in the report. You may want to begin by reading relevant literature
to widen your understanding of the topic or issue before you go on to look at
other forms of information such as questionnaires, surveys etc. As you read and
gather information you need to assess its relevance to your report and select
accordingly. Keep referring to your report brief to help you decide what is
relevant information?
Stage Three: Organising your
material
Once you have gathered information you need to decide what will be
included and in what sequence it should be presented. Begin by grouping
together points that are related. These may form sections or chapters. Remember
to keep referring to the report brief and be prepared to cut any information
that is not directly relevant to the report. Choose an order for your material
that is logical and easy to follow.
Stage Four: Analysing your material
Before you begin to write your first draft of the report, take
time to consider and make notes on the points you will make using the facts and
evidence you have gathered. What conclusions can be drawn from the material?
What are the limitations or flaws in the evidence? Do certain pieces of
evidence conflict with one another? It is not enough to simply present the
information you have gathered; you must relate it to the problem or issue
described in the report brief.
Stage Five: Writing the report
Having organised your material into appropriate sections and
headings you can begin to write the first draft of your report. You may find it
easier to write the summary and contents page at the end when you know exactly
what will be included. Aim for a writing style that is direct and precise.
Chapters, sections and even individual paragraphs should be written with a
clear structure. The structure described below can be adapted and applied to
chapters, sections and even paragraphs.
- Introduce the
main idea of the chapter/section/paragraph
- Explain and
expand the idea, defining any key terms.
- Present relevant
evidence to support your point(s).
- Comment on
each piece of evidence showing how it relates to your point(s).
- Conclude your
chapter/section/paragraph by either showing its
significance to the report as a whole or making a link to the next chapter/section/paragraph.
Stage Six: Reviewing and redrafting
Ideally, you should leave time to take a break before you review
your first draft. Be prepared to rearrange or rewrite sections in the light of
your review. Try to read the draft from the perspective of the reader. Is it
easy to follow with a clear structure that makes sense? Are the points
concisely but clearly explained and supported by relevant evidence? Writing on
a word processor makes it easier to rewrite and rearrange sections or
paragraphs in your first draft. If you write your first draft by hand, try
writing each section on a separate piece of paper to make redrafting easier.
Stage Seven: Presentation
Once you are satisfied with the content and structure of your
redrafted report, you can turn your attention to the presentation. Check that
the wording of each chapter/section/subheading is clear and accurate. Check
that you are brief regarding format and presentation. Check for consistency in
numbering of chapters, sections and appendices. Make sure that all your sources
are acknowledged and correctly referenced. You will need to proof read your
report for errors of spelling or grammar. If time allows, proof read more than
once. Errors in presentation or expression create a poor impression and can
make the report difficult to read.
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