The British Education Secretary, Michael Gove, said earlier this week that he believed marks should be allocated for correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation (I believe he meant in all subjects, not just in English).
Michael Gove's views affect us, as we follow the National Curriculum of England and Wales. Do you agree with the Education Secretary?
41 comments:
I absolutely agree with him. In order to attain flawless literacy skills (which is crucial for us as first language english students), we must be able to structure proper grammatical sentences, spell words correctly and use punctuation effectivly.
If we weren't marked for the standards the subjects require, then we would probably show ignorance towards it. General rules and principles that we have been taught from preschool onwards should be commemorated. Rules like 'I' comes before 'E' except after 'C' and 'I' is always a capital letter by its own, an so on.
However, i believe that minor errors must not be deducted marks for. Besides, spelling, grammar and punctuation must not carry a large fraction out of the total exam mark.
And yes, this must be essential for all subjects that involve pieces of writing. Excluding art and PE, ofcourse.
So, unquestionably, i would say: Yes, Michael Goves is utterly right!
Of course we should! Not only is it vital for us students to boost our spelling and grammar skills but at times a small difference in tense may actually change the entire nature of the answer itself.
I believe that it is of utmost importance that students graduate from school accustomed to all the laws of english. How else would they learn? If marks are allocated for grammar and punctuation then students will take them seriously and grasp their influence.
But on the other hand i don't think its is fair to deduct too many marks for punctuation. For what we know, it will be very demanding and more or less impossible for any student to be utterly skilled in grammar and punctuation.
there is two ways of looking at it, it is proven that even if the word is spelled totally wrong. The human mind is able to figure out what the actual word is.
However if there is no correct spelling of a word the spelling structure of the word can over time completely change so in the end it will be hard to comprehend and understand each other
Although when talking about grammar it is essential that it is correct..
I 100% agree that they should count in exams. As a first language studens, you should be able to use the correct grammar and spellings, not just in exams but in classwork aswell.
I dont think marks should be deducted for every small mistake you have done, as you are mostly rushing through the exam to try finish it on time and to proof read it. Although it is vital to know all the proper grammar and so on.
Of course! Undoubtedly I agree with Michael Goves and the above comments. It is indeed crucially important (especially for us as first language students) to learn, understand and know how to impeccably be able to use the correct literacy, and not just in English but it should also be imperative to other subjects too.
However though, I don’t think minor mistakes should always be counted in the exams, like Moza stated, spelling, grammar and punctuation must not carry a large fraction out of the total exam mark.
And I find Heleriin’s point rather interesting, about how the mind is able to figure out what the actual word is regardless of the fact that the word was spelt wrong.
Even though schools dont award MARKS for correct spelling, grammar and punctuation, they do encourage using it!
I'm pretty sure they cut a mark in physics if you spell newton nuten. I think that grammar and punctuation are the basics of english, and if marks must be alloted in an exam to ensure that students are thorough, then so be it.
However, alloting marks for grammar and punctuation in subjects other than english would be wierd, and would just be, depending on the student, an easy way to gain or lose marks.
I agree with him to an extent, you shouldn't cut a students mark for missing out one letter in a word, but if they spell psyche as sycke, then by all means. I suppose it depends on the degree of error. But one should be more lenient with certain words like, "paraskevidekatriaphobia" (Fear of Friday the 13th). As I stated earlier it depends on the degree of the mistake and the word itself.
I disagree with him, because it wouldn't be fair to someone who was good at the subject but poor at english. Maybe for the key words of the subject, for example scientific words in science, wrong spellings shouldn't be accepted. But if the child has mentioned all the important points he shouldn't lose out on marks just because he couldn't put it down in a gramatically accurate sentence.
I completely think that spellings and grammars should count in exams... not only in English but in every other subject as well. Just because you don't get extra marks for spellings doesn't mean, that a person doesn't need to know his/her spellings. whereas if your grammar is incorrect the whole sentence goes incorrect...
& as all of us being in 1st language students, we ought to know our spellings & grammar...
I think that loosing out on marks due to spelling or grammatical errors are pretty much alright but only for the english subject. There are still students who may know how to speak well but who's spellings may not be all that great because nobody is correcting them.
But for other subjets such as science and geography, excluding the key words, marks shouldn't be cut for grammatical errors. In these subjects it is the content that matters and not the language.
personally i agree with what Michael Goves says, to some degre
As it shows that we're aware of the correct grammar and punctuation.
yet it marks shouldn't be deducted for every mistake we make, as were humans no one is perfect at anything. I think marks should only be deducted for major errors, not just for getting letters mixed up and for not using the correct grammar.
As pointed out in the comments below the article, alot of schools already award and deduct marks for grammar, punctuation and spelling. But from what I know, actual exam papers have nothign of the sort.
And that's what he pointed out, the government lifted the 'rule' that there have to be marks awarded in this category, they didn't ban it, so alot of schools still hold the same marking schemes, including spelling and grammar.
But I do agree with the man, I've seen in the science cirriculum especially, if the teacher gets a 'general idea' of what the student has said, marks will be awarded regardless. When in truth it's nowhere near the language acceptable in a real study.
What the Education Secretary doesn't realize is that changing the cirriculum there means that it affects us here, and alot of people where English is a second language. I think the grades of students would be affected tremendously, hindering the education of the student.
Of course spelling and grammar counts. If it didn't, then what are they marking us on? Handwriting, paper quality and the pen used? When it comes to exams, especially English, these come on top with the Success Criteria.
However, I think it should only be done for long writintg exams;essays, reports etc.
This has to be looked at from a student's point of view as well as a teacher's and examiner's.
Also, we learn from our mistakes, so yes grammar and spelling should count.
hmmmm depending...because sometimes we mite jus miss out a letter of a word,or miss placed a punctuation or what ever the case might be...but like i said it depends on how far from the right spelling it is....however he is right
Isn't that the whole point of English? English differs from other subjects because you do not have a direct answer and is usually clarified in paragraph forms. English without spelling and grammar wont be like English at all. English does not contain anything complicated like formulas, etc. Therefore, in order to enhance our English skills we need Spelling and Grammar checking to come into effect ... how else would we learn? Otherwise we would be writing English in the same way Sarisha spelled "might" and "just" in her comment ... Messenger style :P
Well, when it comes to subjects such as English or Literature, I believe it is very important that grammar and spelling are correct. However, the weightage of marks allocated should not be much for few grammatical errors as a child can form an intellectual sentence using good vocabulary regardless of his/her spelling.
For all subjects, marks should be allocated; but the WEIGHTAGE of these marks should be taken into consideration. Students should be taught and corrected, but when an exam is being written, a couple of spelling or punctuation errors should be overlooked due to the hurry and pressure a student is under when writing the exam.
Depending on the context, yes, grammar should definitely be taken into consideration. However, this should only be strictly enforced upon first language students. Second language actually has grammar-based activity so it'd be pretty mean to take points off for anything that isn't a grammar-based question. Seriously, dude. Gotta have some love.
But, I mean, the examiner would use his discretion and that varies greatly. What might look like a horribly misspelled letter could be a poor student's rushed handwriting as ze tries to complete the exam before time runs out.
I adore grammar, even though I admit, mine is not the most perfect. It irks me when I see grammatical errors from people who should know better. But, well, in an exam environments...
Hm, I'm not sure on this one.
So let's go with this - Punctuation, YES. Minor spelling errors, no.
Yes, I do agree that spelling and grammar should count in exams. If it wasn't counted, people would forget and ignore their grammatical errors. Yet, I do not agree that completely negligible grammatical errors should have marks cut from them because as already mentioned, students are always in a rush as well as nervous during an examination.
Overall, I do believe that there should be a strong emphasis on discouraging spelling and grammar errors.
Aisha Bashir
11g2
I think it is necessary to count correct spelling and grammar in exams.
A lot of people may say that as long as the point is brought across, then it won't matter.
Okay, let me try.
What is the process by which plants make food?
potoshyntheseez
Over a few years, ^ that spelling mistake would somehow warp the word 'photosynthesis' to this:
powtwosintheyzez
Hey, at least you 'got the point across'.
Yhep, I cringed too.
Thing is, if people continue to disregard proper spelling and grammar, not only the language, but the subject (whether it's science or business or whatever) itself would lose its essence. They would deteriorate and warp, together with the minds of the people.
However, the point of the exam is to test the student's knowledge on the subject, so spelling and grammar aren't the super stars of the exam. The awarding and cutting of marks should be sensible.
So yes, cut marks for misspelling keywords or common words ( No, it is not okay to spell Arms with a Q). But don't cut off marks just because I forgot to put in an extra o in pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. 8-)
I take it that we all agree that marks should be allocated for correct spelling, grammar and punctuation in English, particularly First Language English. So the only real question is whether, or not, the same should be done regarding all other subjects. The fact of the matter is that if Micheal Gove's views are put into effect and marks are henceforth deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar and punctuation in all subjects, then this will most unfairly affect the grades of bilingual students of our curriculm all over the world. You see, within the brains of all biligual children, two or more languages are constantly working at almost the same time. Hence, bilingual students who follow our curriculm are not able to focus all their brainpower on English, whereas students of our curriculm who only speak English are easily able to focus all their brainpower entirely on English, giving them an unfair advantage. I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt if Mr.Gove has taken the above into consideration.
Spelling, grammar and punctuation.
These are the bases of the English Language. Without them, a word could lose its gist, a sentence can have unclear or double meaning, and there is no emphasis or poetry in words.
Without any of these language aspects, an essay would consist of simple sentences and homophonic substitutes, casting doubt on the sentence itself, and lack of any breaks or tone variation. The essay itself would be a poor one, defining the need of these pillars of effective communication.
Spelling could be the only slight exception, depending on the level of the error.
In simple language no spelling, grammar or punctuation = fourth graders’ paragraph on their trip to the museum. :P
I don't think that spelling and grammar should matter in subjects other than ENGLISH.
If a student was going to go study in the UK and wanted to do Literature, then obviously he/she would need to take the necessary Literary courses to ensure he/she had full knowledge of spelling and grammer. However, if a student was studying Mechanics (for example) and wanted to go study in their hometown (where English was not their first language) then no, spelling and grammar shouldn't matter if he had the full knowledge of the particular subject anyway.
For the other exams, it also depends on the type of error made.
Honestly, I feel the content of an answer is more important than the grammatical correctness of it.
Obviously, spelling and grammar should be given importance in a subject like English, but is it really fair to cut marks for an absolutely correct answer (for example) in a Sociology exam just because a student made a few grammatical errors? Just like the article said, it is not fair especially to those who come from societies where English is NOT their first language.
Ofcourse, for literacy rates to shoot up, grammar should be paid more heed, but to a certain extent. If a key-word of an answer has been drastically mis-spelt, then it is only fair for the student to lose a mark. But, under the duress and stress of examinations, is it right to cut marks when a student accidentally writes 'they' instead of 'then'?
Yes, it definitely should. Grammatical and spelling errors can change the entire context, and therefore meaning, of the sentence. From the education system I come from, we would lose marks for things like no indentation, leaving lines after every paragraph, starting questions on a new page and so on! :P So really, asking for a right spelling and proper grammar is not that big of a deal, but is in fact rather important!
When speaking in terms of the subject English or Litrature, needless to say spelling and grammar should count in exams. No in depth analysis is needed to answer that.
Also in the case of a subject like Moral Science or Business Studies you do a farely good amount of writing, so there would be some form of acknowledgement for your spelling and grammar expected.
Though on behalf of other subjects, such as math, it should not neccesarily add or take away from your final marks. This is because in a subjects like math you will not be taught about commas and punctualities. Therefore you should not be expected to show recognition of it whatsoever. If something wasn't taught to you in class, or even developed upon, is it ok to throw it on the exam.
Yes, you will find that absent mindedly teachers may deduct some points from your exam papers because of grammar as compared to someone else's. Though both papers may have the same concept behind it, proper grammar will always stimulate the reader more to a certain extent which can as I said absent mindedly contribute to their marks.
So in cocnlusion I would have to disagree with Mr. Gove.Grammar and spelling should not be apart of the grading scale for all subject exams.
I think the man is right. Basic grammatical errors such as not knowing for when to use "its" or "it's" and other elementary mistakes should be allocated. But if a letter in a word is simply missed out, it shouldn't be that much of a deal.
But yet again as Yoan stated, it depends on the degree of the error and the word itself.
I agree with him but not completely. In my opinion I think marks should be taken away from us if we have a major mistake but only in the subject of ENGLISH. Marks shouldn’t be deducted if it is a minor mistake, as long as the examiner can understand what you are trying to say. I say again only in the subject of ENGLISH. As for other subjects then marks should be deducted only for the key words of the subject. In conclusion examiners of all subjects except English shouldn’t be picky.
For every exam? I don't exactly agree, I think as long as the word is still understandable to the teachers thats grading then why should you cut marks? So many students would lose marks because of silly spelling mistakes especially those who later on do the 3 sciences :P
I do agree with him, but I also think it mostly depends on the word or phrase that the examiner finds wrong.
Any student should be able to know the basic punctuation, grammar and spelling rules of course, but a long misspelled uncommon word shouldn't get in the way in case the student made a good point.
Plus the examiner wouldn't really know if the student has never been able to spell the word correctly or if he just accidentally left out a letter.
Really depends on the word/phrase.
That's great in my opinion :)
It's about time we had people spelling things right and developing flawless writing skills.
Also, what the article says about the Tesco workers having deteriorating standards in spelling, makes complete sense for Mr. Gove to implement this idea.
Yes, I definitely agree. Students should also focus on their punctuations, grammar and spelling as well as how they write. Punctuation makes a big difference.
With the technology and the ways that we use 'shortcuts' in today's society it's important to know the proper spellings and correct grammar.
(For example, I cringe every time
someone spells out GRAMMAR as 'GRAMMER' -_-)
I personally think that spelling and grammar should be checked only in an English exam, because it is very important to have the correct punctuation, spellings in your eassay’s.
But I wouldn’t agree to the fact the history paper would have points for spelling and grammar. When we are writing the exam, we are in so much hurry to write the paper well and etc. So do you think any of us would have the time to actually sit and correct a missing letter? I mean, if the beasic idea of the sentence was clear and it was understandable, then I think that would be right. During the exam none of us have ample amount of time to actually plan and write a well formatted sentence. That would take up too much time, way too much time.
Ofcourse it should count in Exams, after all it is the language we speak and we need to know as much as we can. If the spelling didn't count the exams wouldnt make sense because the words would be speltwrong.
I feel that spelling and grammar skills are extremely important inorder to learn a language in its best possible way. Marks being deducted for grammatical and spellings errors are alright I guess but only for languages (english, french, arabic etc.) and not for subjects where content matters.
I personally feel that spelling and grammar is a very important aspect when learning English. Proper punctuation and spelling can have a major impact on a piece of writing and enables us to display a suitable piece of writing. As Leah pointed out earlier that, spelling and grammar doesn’t play a major role in terms with other subjects such as science and commerce but when it comes to submitting an article or any piece of writing then I feel that grammar and spelling plays a very crucial part in English.
Yes, it should. It is an important and extremely useful skill that will help us in the future and we need it. Missing punctuation could change the whole meaning of a sentence.
However, I don't think marks should be deducted for incorrect spelling/grammar in non-language subjects.
Yes I definitely agree with him. Children should be able to have the knowledge of using proper punctuations and also should be able to at least spell correctly. The only way that they would take it seriously would be if the teachers did deduct marks on the examinations. This means that the children would then think that if he/she doesn't spell right or doesn't use proper grammar or punctuation then marks would be lost and the desired grade wouldn't be attained.
Since english is a universal language, the learning of how to use it would also benefit outside the school world. Take for example jobs, travelling, college etc. English goes a long way. It wouldn't hurt to learn the correct way of using it.
Challenging! Although, the solution is simple! Allocating marks for spelling, grammar and punctuation, will create awareness of how important they are.
I believe if this rule wasn't set, students won't care if their spellings or grammar is right or wrong, and they will keep making those mistakes over and over, and will not bother to correct themselves. ;)
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