A Few Bugs in English Writing

A few bugs in English writing
By Eri Kurniawan
A friend of mine, when I was student at this university, asked me, “What is your score
in Writing?” I plainly replied “A”. What about yours?” My friend cynically
responded, “Don’t ask me about that. It’s terrible. I know the major reason, though.
I’m poor at grammar while the lecturer, you know, gets crazy about it.”
The above illustration, though it’s just a fictitious one (rarely did English students
speak English at campus in such a situation, right?), is more likely to happen in our
academic setting. Students oftentimes feel what bothers them in either writing or
speaking English is Grammar, which is considered ‘a bug’. They often claim that
grammar always bugs their fluency. They argue that what is apparently needed in
real-life communication is not grammar. Instead, communication is all about getting
across ideas. Is it true?
Well, irrespective of whether or not grammar is a necessity in communication, what

strikes the students when writing or speaking in English is a few (not to mention some
or in fact many) seemingly unavoidable errors. Like the earthquake in Jogjakarta or
Tsunami in Aceh, those errors can be typified as a national emergency because they
seem to have been fossilized or internalized by most English students in Indonesia. I
am not making a generalization. Let’s suppose so truthfully. What’s more, a linguist in
Indonesia once reveals that the errors are becoming typical characteristics of a
possibly new emerging English variety i.e. IndoEnglish. A variety that is
characterized by ‘commonly accepted errors’. Erroneous, right?
Anyhow, the concept of error is a fuzzy one. It most probably necessitates a more
technical explanation from linguistics point of view. Too delicate. Forget it. What
concerns me at present is any deviations from the internationally accepted standard
use of English particularly in English writing. You indeed have the rights to express
yourself in any way you wish, not necessarily stick to the Standard use. But, if you
don’t want to be said ignorant or even less educated by sophisticated English users
such as professional writers, teachers, editors, and the like, you’d better not fall into
the non Standard use (the errors) because you don’t know the better one.
Let me list a few identifiable errors that frequently bug my students especially when
they write a research paper.
1. Combining singular and plural forms in the same sentence.
e.g. Each respondent was asked about their opinions.
Right: Each respondent was asked about his and her opinions.
2. Using an unnecessary comma.
e.g. The data are collected, and then analyzed.
Right: The data are collected and then analyzed.’
3. Writing fragmented sentence.
e.g. For days interviewed the subjects.
Right: For days I interviewed the subjects.
4. Confusing the use of “its” and “it’s”.
e.g. It’s aim is to describe the classroom interaction.
Right: Its aim is to describe the classroom interaction.
5. Using an apostrophe to indicate a plural form of a word.
e.g. The subject’s of the research were observed for several days.
Right: The subjects of the research were observed for several days.
6. Using “he” or “she” when referring to both sexes (men and women)
e.g. Before interviewing the subject, the researcher asked him to complete a
questionnaire.
Right: Before interviewing the subject, the researcher asked him or her to complete
a questionnaire.
Right: Before interviewing the subject, the researcher administered a questionnaire.
Ups. I hope that’s not exhaustive. Though I have yet to conduct particular research on
this matter, the above list of errors is worth considering. Note that you are teachers to
be. You are going to be a flawless model in front of your students. It means your
students will bluntly accept whatever you say or write in the class no matter if it is
right or wrong. So, ponder upon this! Beware of the errors!

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A few bugs in English writing

Well, irrespective of whether or not grammar is a necessity in communication, what

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