A few bugs in English writing

By Eri Kurniawan *)

A friend of mine, when I was in college back then, asked me, “What 's your score in Writing class?” I plainly replied “A”. What's yours?” My friend cynically responded, “Don’t ask me about that. It’s lame. I know why, though. I’m poor at grammar while the lecturer, you know, gets crazy about it.”

The above dialog is a mere illustration, it’s just fictitious (rarely did English students speak English at campuses in Indonesia, right?). Students oftentimes feel that what bothers them in writing or speaking English is Grammar, which is felt as ‘a bug’. They often claim that grammar always obstructs their fluency. They argue that what is apparently needed in real-life communication is not grammar. Communication is all about getting across ideas. As long as you manage to communicate in English, grammar is not an issue. 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 some 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 ingrained by most (if not all) English students in Indonesia. I am not making a generalization. Let’s suppose so, truthfully.

What’s more, a linguist in Indonesia once revealed that the errors Indonesian people frequently make when writing or speaking in English 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? This concept of error is a fuzzy one, however. 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 negligent 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 strike my students especially when they are writing a research paper or an academic 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.

I believe that’s not exhaustive, yet that would suffice for now. Though I have yet to conduct particular research on this matter, the above list of errors is worth considering.

So, ponder upon this! Beware of the 'bugs'!

Some new entries:

lame : bad (idiomatic)

mere : only, simply

fictitious : unreal

bug : a type of insect

bother : make the trouble

obstruct : block

apparently : actually

get across : pass

manage to : can

irrespective of : other than

typified : characterized

fossilized : become habits

ingrained : deeply rooted

reveal : say to the public

emerging : come into existence

erroneous : containing errors

fuzzy : confusing

necessitates : requires

linguistics : a scientific study of language

negligent : lack of concern

sophisticated : advanced, modern

exhaustive: complete

suffice : be enough

 

*) He is a faculty member at Indonesia University of Education (or Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, which is formerly known as IKIP Bandung). He is now studying at the University of Iowa.

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