If pupils don't use apostrophes correctly in their GCSE English exams then they'll have marks knocked off. This is to ensure that when the children become adults, they'll know how to use apostrophes correctly.
The Times March 04, 2006
Keeping apostrophe in its proper place is the educator's quest
By Tony Halpin, Education Editor
ABERRANT apostrophes could cost pupils a good pass at GCSE under plans to toughen the marking of punctuation. Teenagers would be required to punctuate accurately as part of new “functional” literacy tests.
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), the Government’s standards watchdog, intends to use the tests in a trial this year and to extend them nationally by 2009. Under guidelines out for consultation, no pupil would achieve a grade C in GCSE English without showing the ability to punctuate accurately.
The move could spell the beginning of the end for the so-called “greengrocer’s apostrophe” — with shop signs displaying the prices of “carrot’s” and “pear’s”.
Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, has ordered the introduction of tests in “functional” English and mathematics for all pupils as part of reforms to raise basic literacy and numeracy skills. Employers have complained repeatedly that too many school-leavers lack acceptable standards. The crackdown on sloppy writing was welcomed by Lynne Truss, author of the bestselling book Eats, Shoots and Leaves. She told The Times Educational Supplement that she was “very happy” with the QCA’s reforms. “Correct punctuation and spelling does have a bearing on people’s success in life. So in a way it is not fair to tell pupils it is OK to make mistakes in exams,” she said.
But Bethan Marshall, a lecturer in English education at King’s College London, said it would be “absurd” to deny able pupils the results they deserved because of errors in punctuation. Ms Marshall, a spokeswoman for the London Association of Teachers of English, said: “People do make careless mistakes with the apostrophe. Are we saying that they should not pass these tests?”
The QCA conducted research in 1999 into the characteristics of students who achieved different grades in GCSE English. It found that the possessive apostrophe caused “universal difficulty”, with even students awarded A grades misusing it 50 per cent of the time. The report concluded that schools should devote “more systematic and regular attention over a period of time” to punctuation to iron out pupils’ mistakes.
WHAT'S WRONG HERE?
1 We sell the finest banana's
2 Its a jolly holiday with Mary
3 The womens' ability is extraordinary
4 Were only here for the beer
5 The train has reached it's destination
(Scroll down for answers.)
----------------------
ANSWERS
1 We sell the finest bananas No need for the so-called greengrocer’s apostrophe as bananas is a plural, not a singular possessive (“of the banana”)
2 It’s a jolly holiday with Mary The apostrophe indicates the contraction of “it is”
3 The women’s ability is extraordinary The plural women adds ’s for the possessive (“of the women”)
4 We’re only here for the beer The apostrophe indicates the contraction of “we are”
5 The train has reached its destination Although a possessive, its takes no apostrophe. This is allegedly to avoid confusion — ah, the irony — with “it’s” meaning “it is”
thetimesonline.co.uk
The Times March 04, 2006
Keeping apostrophe in its proper place is the educator's quest
By Tony Halpin, Education Editor
ABERRANT apostrophes could cost pupils a good pass at GCSE under plans to toughen the marking of punctuation. Teenagers would be required to punctuate accurately as part of new “functional” literacy tests.
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), the Government’s standards watchdog, intends to use the tests in a trial this year and to extend them nationally by 2009. Under guidelines out for consultation, no pupil would achieve a grade C in GCSE English without showing the ability to punctuate accurately.
The move could spell the beginning of the end for the so-called “greengrocer’s apostrophe” — with shop signs displaying the prices of “carrot’s” and “pear’s”.
Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, has ordered the introduction of tests in “functional” English and mathematics for all pupils as part of reforms to raise basic literacy and numeracy skills. Employers have complained repeatedly that too many school-leavers lack acceptable standards. The crackdown on sloppy writing was welcomed by Lynne Truss, author of the bestselling book Eats, Shoots and Leaves. She told The Times Educational Supplement that she was “very happy” with the QCA’s reforms. “Correct punctuation and spelling does have a bearing on people’s success in life. So in a way it is not fair to tell pupils it is OK to make mistakes in exams,” she said.
But Bethan Marshall, a lecturer in English education at King’s College London, said it would be “absurd” to deny able pupils the results they deserved because of errors in punctuation. Ms Marshall, a spokeswoman for the London Association of Teachers of English, said: “People do make careless mistakes with the apostrophe. Are we saying that they should not pass these tests?”
The QCA conducted research in 1999 into the characteristics of students who achieved different grades in GCSE English. It found that the possessive apostrophe caused “universal difficulty”, with even students awarded A grades misusing it 50 per cent of the time. The report concluded that schools should devote “more systematic and regular attention over a period of time” to punctuation to iron out pupils’ mistakes.
WHAT'S WRONG HERE?
1 We sell the finest banana's
2 Its a jolly holiday with Mary
3 The womens' ability is extraordinary
4 Were only here for the beer
5 The train has reached it's destination
(Scroll down for answers.)
----------------------
ANSWERS
1 We sell the finest bananas No need for the so-called greengrocer’s apostrophe as bananas is a plural, not a singular possessive (“of the banana”)
2 It’s a jolly holiday with Mary The apostrophe indicates the contraction of “it is”
3 The women’s ability is extraordinary The plural women adds ’s for the possessive (“of the women”)
4 We’re only here for the beer The apostrophe indicates the contraction of “we are”
5 The train has reached its destination Although a possessive, its takes no apostrophe. This is allegedly to avoid confusion — ah, the irony — with “it’s” meaning “it is”
thetimesonline.co.uk