Cues and Conventions 2016

Cues and Conventions 2016

The stems for the English Language Arts A30 and B30 departmental examinations “draft” texts (multiple-choice questions 1–10), are taken from the following list.

Cues and Conventions

Pragmatic

Pragmatics is the study of how people choose what and how to communicate from a range of possibilities available in the language and how the receiver will be affected by these choices.

COMPOSE AND CREATE (speaking, writing)

Use language, language register, style, and tone appropriate to the subject, audience, purpose, and situation (English Language Arts [2013] p. 24).

Use appropriate language register including formal; recognize and avoid “abusages” (e.g., nowheres, anyways, hisself, this here, did good); establish a distinctive voice, skillfully modifying language and tone to suit the form, audience, and purpose for communicating (English Language Arts [2013], p. 25).

·  Which of the following sentences could replace the last sentence in paragraph ____ to maintain consistent tone?

·  Which of the following sentences would be the best title for this essay?

·  Which of the following sentences uses language/language register/style/tone appropriate to the subject/audience/purpose/or situation?

·  Which of the following sentences best addresses the writer’s specified/intended audience?

·  Which of the following sentences employs the tone most suitable for the situation?

·  Which of the following sentences establishes a distinctive voice appropriate to audience/purpose?

Textual

Ideas and information are organized in oral, written, and other formats. Textual cues and conventions include the form or structure and elements of a text.

COMPOSE AND CREATE (speaking, writing)

Use the features and conventions of different text types (e.g., informational and literary) to ensure that oral, written, and other texts are unified, coherent, and emphatic. Structure texts so that the progression of ideas is logical and effective (English Language Arts [2013], p. 24).

Organize print texts in a coherent and unified whole that is appropriate to topic, audience, and purpose (English Language Arts [2013], p. 25).

·  Which of the following sentences/choices best states the thesis of this essay? (note the question emphasizes the thesis of the essay, not of a paragraph)

·  Which of the following sentences presents the thesis of this essay most fully and clearly?

·  Which of the following sentences could be added to provide a conclusion appropriate to the overall intent of the composition?

·  Which of the following sentences could be added to paragraph ____ to support the main idea?

·  Which of the following sentences adds specific detail to support the main idea of paragraph ____?

·  Which of the following sentences could be added to paragraph ____ and still ensure unity in the paragraph?

·  Which of the following sentences would help the coherence of paragraph ____?

·  Which of the following sentences flows logically from the last sentence in paragraph ____?

·  Which of the following sentences would most logically introduce/ conclude paragraph ____?

·  Which of the following sentences could be added to paragraph ____ to reinforce the main point/topic sentence?

·  Which of the following sentences, as a conclusion to paragraph . . ., also provides an effective transition into paragraph ____?

·  In paragraph ____, which of the following sentences could be added after sentence ___/between sentences ____and ____ to maintain coherence?

·  Which of the following sentences could be added to paragraph ____ in order to maintain unity and coherence within the paragraph?

·  Which of the following sentences emphasizes the key idea of paragraph ____?

·  Which of the following sentences could be deleted from paragraph ____and still maintain unity in the paragraph?

“Coherence is connection and consistency. A coherent paragraph is one in which all the sentences are related logically and grammatically to make a whole that allows the reader to follow the writer’s train of thought step by step. A paragraph may be unified (all the sentences related to one topic) . . . but it will still fail as a paragraph if it lacks coherence.” (Flick, Jane, and Celia Millward, Handbook for Writers. Toronto: Harcourt, 1998)

Syntactic

Syntax is the predictable structure of a sentence and the ways words are combined to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. Syntax includes classes of words (e.g., verbs) and their functions (e.g., subjects).

COMPOSE AND CREATE (speaking, writing)

Use clear, concise, varied, and forceful (emphatic) sentences and appropriate punctuation in written communication; apply appropriate punctuation to clarify message of print communications (English Language Arts [2013], p. 24).

Use purposeful and satisfying sentence patterns and punctuation for a variety of purposes, including emphasis or other rhetorical effects; recognize and avoid sentence fragments, run-on sentences, misplaced qualifiers, misused pronouns, unnecessary verb tense shifts or point of view shifts, subject-verb disagreement, double negatives, and non-parallelism in formal communication
(English Language Arts [2013], p. 24).

·  Which of the following sentences could be used in paragraph ____ to state the point clearly and completely?

·  Which of the following sentences could be used in paragraph ____ to state the point concisely and accurately?

·  Which of the following sentences in paragraph ____ contains qualifiers that are placed next to the words they modify/qualify?

·  Which of the following sentences in paragraph ____ best expresses agreement between sentence parts?

·  Which of the following sentences in paragraph ____ expresses ideas in parallel construction?

·  Which of the following sentences in paragraph ____ ensures correct balance in the sentence? (addresses issues with correlative conjunctions: either/or, neither/nor, whether/or, both/and, not/but, not only/but also)

·  Which of the following sentences would you recommend to the writer to avoid the run-on sentence in paragraph _____?

·  Which of the following sentences would you recommend to the writer to avoid the sentence fragment in paragraph ____?

·  Which of the following sentences would help the writer avoid a shift in time/person/verb form in paragraph ____?

·  Which of the following sentences could be used to add variety to paragraph_____?

·  Which of the following sentences could be used to help the writer eliminate some of the repetition in paragraph ____?

·  Which of the following sentences could be used in paragraph ____ to help the writer achieve clarity?

·  In paragraph ____, which of the following sentences ensures correct word order?

·  Which of the following sentences would help the writer avoid a shift in agreement between paragraphs?

·  Which of the following sentences in paragraph ____ ensures the writer uses proper co-ordination to relate ideas of equal importance?

·  Which of the following sentences in paragraph ____ ensures that all words are placed correctly in paragraph _____?

·  Which of the following sentences in paragraph ____ ensures that the writer employs correct punctuation?

·  Which of the following sentences ensures correct use of the apostrophe in paragraph _____?

·  Which of the following sentences ensures correct punctuation of titles?

·  Why would the writer be allowed to use a sentence fragment? OR As an editor, why would you allow the deliberate inclusion of the sentence fragment in paragraph _____?

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Cues and Conventions 2016

Semantic/Lexical/Morphological

The lexicon of a language includes all the words or vocabulary of that language that are used to be understood by a particular person or groups.

COMPOSE AND CREATE (speaking, writing)

Use appropriate words to achieve particular purpose and effect in visual, oral, multimedia, and written communication; avoid euphemisms, inappropriate and overtaxed metaphors, jargon, wordiness, redundancy, triteness, clichés, and overused words. Recognize that Canadian English is marked by certain word choices (English Language Arts [2013], p. 24).

Choose and use correctly “proper words in proper places” (e.g., affect/effect, allusion/illusion, canvas/canvass, cast/caste/) to achieve the intended tone and style for both subject matter and audience (English Language Arts [2013], p. 24).

·  In paragraph ____, which of the following transition words/phrases is an effective replacement for “____”?

·  Which of the following sentences in paragraph ____ is free of clichés/jargon?

·  Which of the following sentences in paragraph ____ ensures the writer uses all the words accurately/correctly?

·  Which of the following sentences could replace the last sentence in paragraph ____ to eliminate the informal tone?

·  Which of the following sentences in paragraph ____ ensures inclusive language?

·  In paragraph _____, which of the following is an effective replacement for ____?

·  Which of the following words could be used in paragraph ____ best to achieve the tone the writer is trying to maintain?

·  Which of the following words could be used in paragraph ____ to suit the level of formality the writer is trying to achieve?

·  Which of the following words in paragraph ____ eliminates the jargon?

·  Which of the following words in paragraph ____ avoids the clichés?

·  Which of the following sentences in paragraph ____ would you suggest the writer revise because it has a cliché?

Graphophonic

Graphophonics is the study of the relationships between the symbols and sounds of a language and includes letter or sound relationships and patterns.

COMPOSE AND CREATE (speaking, writing)

Use Canadian English and spelling; apply Canadian spelling conventions for familiar and new vocabulary; enunciate clearly; pronounce, carefully and correctly, words with proper emphasis; apply capitalization to clarify intended meaning (English Language Arts [2013], p. 24).

Respect and use the spelling preferences of different audiences and organization; recognize that letters are usually the reasons for errors—through inversion, omission, doubling, addition or substitution—of frequently misspelled words (e.g, abhor, all right, arctic, census, coherence, discernible) (English Language Arts [2013], p. 24).

·  Which of the following sentences in paragraph ____ ensures that the writer employs correct capitalization?

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