Simple English on the Web

There are many educational websites that instruct users in correct English.  The simplest, most user-friendly site I know is the updated one at

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

All too many English websites are written in the wordy, pompously humorous style that has afflicted us (English educators) for generations.  The OWL site cuts through the clever rhetoric and goes right to the essentials.  It includes a section for learners of English as a foreign language.  It even covers the social aspects of academic writing, including e-mail etiquette for professors and students. 

The Whodunit Rule?

People who sign up for my writing classes often expect English Composition. But my classes (except those with Grammar in their titles) present principles that come from modern linguistic research. One such principle (the DAD Rule) will remain in my repertoire, but with a slight tweak that arises from a 2008 study at the University of Chicago.

If you have taken my class titled The Clear Sentence, you know that humans best understand sentences (out of context) when the sentences present a Doer before its Action, and then, if applicable, a Done-To. (I replace "Assessments were done" with "Dr. Jones assessed the patient.") However, a study will soon appear in the journal of the National Academy of Sciences and suggest that, while people preferred Doers first, most of them chose the Done-To next, and then the Action.  They chose this information order to arrange situations whether they believed their arrangement would affect the final presentation order or not. 

The researchers, a team that involves veteran psycholinguist Susan Goldin-Meadow, wanted to see whether the word order in the participant's native language governed the participant's preference for arranging concepts. So their study included participants from English and Chinese, languages that arrange words usually in SVO or subject, verb, and object order.  But the study also included native speakers of Turkish, which follows an SOV order.  

I have long taught this principle of sentence clarity as the DAD Rule: Doer, Action, Done-To. What stands the test of research is this principle: 

When you seek clarity within a sentence, name the Doer in the grammatical subject.  And do so often.   

Perhaps I should call it the Whodunit Rule.  

Taking Minutes of Meetings - distance learning

Rosemary Camilleri offers a distance-learning course (coaching style) in Taking Minutes of Meetings.

You tell me what kind of meeting you wish to record. I tailor a short manual to your needs, and we use telephone and Internet to interact. I share tips and techniques with you, answer your questions, and go over your draft minutes with you until your first two meetings are successfully recorded.

Minute taking is a skill in high demand. It is not taught at U. S. schools and colleges. I've been doing it for decades, and I will share my skills with you.