Dr.
Johanna Rubba
English Department
(Linguistics)
Cal Poly State
University San Luis Obispo
Last updated
8/16/99
© 1999 Johanna
Rubba
Usage
matters: A comparative study of judgments of English usage errors
A survey undertaken by Dr. Johanna
Rubba and the students of English 390: Modern English Grammar, of Cal Poly
State Univ., San Luis Obispo, in April, May and June 1999
-
Research
Report prepared by Katharine Murphy and Johanna
Rubba (a prose summary of the study, its purpose, and its results)
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Results
of the general survey (results presented in tables, with
links to more tables and bar graphs)
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Results
of the English 390 class response to the survey (check
this out to see how our class compared with the respondents to the general
survey)
-
Five
of the best student essays written in response to the survey(all
students enrolled in English 390 were required to write an essay of 4-6
pages summarizing the results and responding to them in the context of
class readings, with special attention to the implications of the results
for language arts education K-12. I am posting four of the best essays
in the grade A and grade B categories for the public to read. There
were more than four papers in both categories; I have chosen papers to
post based on diversity of approach as well as excellence of reasoning
and presentation. The papers are presented exactly as they came to me;
they have not been edited further.)
Acknowledgments
are due to everyone who participated in the survey. Our thanks to our many
respondents, as well as to the members of the class who collected responses
and to the members of the class who took crucial 'consultant' roles: Sarah
Best, who sorted and processed incoming documents;Aaron Burhoe, our statistician;
Katharine Murphy, who compiled the research report; and Shawn Stafford,
who went above and beyond the call of duty in inputting and processinthe
data, and preparing graphic depictions of the results. Our survey collectors
were:
Angela Ague
Dave Airaudi Sarah Becker Monica Benson SarahBest Robert
Brown Matt Castillo Heather Craig Kelly Cutshaw Jeff Domis Dena
Donovan Renee Figura Giselle Ganes Christian Gardner Julie Langenheim
Heather McIntosh Erica Miller Chris Montalbano Kari Montaño
Katharine Murphy Autumn Peebles Andrew Scott Shawn Stafford Candace
Stocks Ryan Vernazza Rebecca Weems Lynda Zahn