Monthly Archives: December 2006

I don’t suppose that surfing onto here will be your first thought on Christmas Day, but just in case, may I wish you a very Happy and Holy Christmas.

I don’t suppose that surfing onto here will be your first thought on Christmas Day, but just in case, may I wish you a very Happy and Holy Christmas.

No, I’m not suggesting he’s a suspect. Just pointing out that issues concerning language have cropped up in the news today in relation to these. The Guardian‘s  readers’ editor has an interesting discussion, here,  of  the choice of language in … Continue reading →

The grade expectations here are: D – uses clear paragraphs C – paragraphs make meaning clear B – uses paragraphs to aid meanings You can focus on paragraph use in the light of: paragraph starts to provide discourse markers in … Continue reading →

The focus here is on patterns and inconsistencies within a text and between texts, in terms of language, purpose, feeling, genre, value or relevance. Notice that ‘patterns and inconsistencies’ is not far from ‘similarities and differences’, but reflects the more … Continue reading →

A challenge to you: “The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself” — Henry Miller, 1891-1980 “If something is boring after two minutes, try it … Continue reading →

Has received its first comment: http://david-crystal.blogspot.com/2006/12/why-blog.html#comment-4873837291558232503 It took a few days to appear, during which I waited with bated breath (eggcorn= baited breath), but now it’s been approved and is up there and has got a reply.

The marking criteria for English include the following statements: At Grade ‘D’ you need to use some variety of sentence structures to achieve effects. At Grade ‘C’ you must use a range of sentence structures to create effects. The mark … Continue reading →