Words that Students Don't Know

[Larimar]

Protagonist.

[Langue_doc]

Short story. I had a student bitterly complain that I was making Stu read long and difficult novels, not realizing that novels are longer than 10-12 pages.

[Parasaurolophus]

Suggested.

As in: "suggested deadline".

[marshwiggle]

Suggested.

As in: "suggested deadline".

I have to admit; in that context, I don't know what it means. (Or did the student come up with "suggested deadline"?)

[AmLitHist]

Suggested.

As in: "suggested deadline".

Deadline.  Either they don't know what it means, or they don't know that I'm serious when I say it applies to ALL students.

[Parasaurolophus]

Suggested.

As in: "suggested deadline".

I have to admit; in that context, I don't know what it means. (Or did the student come up with "suggested deadline"?)

Well, I haven't given you the context, which is on both the syllabus and the essay assignment, and which I've explained in several live class sessions and on the discussion board.

The papers are due on the last day of class, which is December 09. That's the deadline. Students in my class can resubmit their essay assignments any number of times to try to earn a better mark. If they want to take advantage of that perk, then I suggest that they hand their papers in by November 5, which will guarantee them a chance to do so a couple of times before the deadline.

So: the deadline is Dec. 9. The deadline which I suggest they give themselves instead is Nov. 5.

[Vkw10]

Suggested.

As in: "suggested deadline".

I have to admit; in that context, I don't know what it means. (Or did the student come up with "suggested deadline"?)

Well, I haven't given you the context, which is on both the syllabus and the essay assignment, and which I've explained in several live class sessions and on the discussion board.

The papers are due on the last day of class, which is December 09. That's the deadline. Students in my class can resubmit their essay assignments any number of times to try to earn a better mark. If they want to take advantage of that perk, then I suggest that they hand their papers in by November 5, which will guarantee them a chance to do so a couple of times before the deadline.

So: the deadline is Dec. 9. The deadline which I suggest they give themselves instead is Nov. 5.

I use "deadline if you want a opportunity to revise to improve your grade." My students didn't understand suggested deadline.

[Parasaurolophus]

Yeah, well. Now I know that 'suggested' is not part of the accepted vocabulary. Duly noted.

[Anon1787]

Several.

Many students think it means more than one rather than more than two. Is the common understanding of the word changing to the former?

[mamselle]

I think it's been replaced by "bazillion."

M.

[dr_evil]

"too"

We have questions that frequently ask if such-and-such error would lead to answers that are too high, too low, or no different. Students always  answer "to high" or "to low." The correct word is right there in the question, people! But these are the same people who don't understand that extra credit is not something I'm obligated to provide.

"Composed" as in "(blank) is composed of...." So many people have asked me to define that.

[mamselle]

As opposed to 'comprised,' which is what it usually is mixed up with, misused for, etc...

M.

[ergative]

Several.

Many students think it means more than one rather than more than two. Is the common understanding of the word changing to the former?

I once had a very long conversation about this with my college roommates and also with Absolutive. I share the intuition that 'several' starts at three, but other people thought it started higher--like, seven or eight. And then we hit on a related question which I think is more helpful than trying to define ranges of numbers: What's the difference between 'several' and 'a few'? It was really hard to narrow it down! I think what we arrived on had to do with the quantity observed relative to the quantity expected. If you've got more than you expected, then you've got 'several'; if you've got something consistent with what you expected, then you've got 'a few'.

Example: Suppose you turn in a homework assignment with, say, four errors, but otherwise fine. If the assignment was intended to be difficult, you might give feedback like, 'There were a few errors, but otherwise well done!' But if the assignment was intended to be completely clean, you might give feedback like, 'There were several errors, so be sure to proofread more carefully next time.'

In both cases, the indefinite amount means 'four', but depending on what the amount is being compared to, 'four' is consistent with either 'several' (too many) or 'a few' (not too many). It would be a bit of a stretch to use these feedbacks for cases where there were exactly two errors, but I could see it happening if you weren't counting very hard. Two errors in a very short assignment might have the same kind of vibe as four errors in a longer assignment and thus merit either 'a few' or 'several', as appropriate.

In later life, I've thought back on this conversation whenever I've been thinking about the meaning/usage of 'several' and the 'slightly more than expected' meaning has never failed me.

As opposed to 'comprised,' which is what it usually is mixed up with, misused for, etc...

M.

I've given up the fight on this one.

[apl68]

My favorite example of the use of "several" was a story I once read in which a boy's father told him to do some hoeing in the garden.  How many rows did Dad want him to hoe?  "Several" came the reply.

The boy looked up the dictionary definition of "several," which proved to be "More than one or two, but not very many."  He hoed exactly three rows and considered the job done.  He later realized that his father probably had a figure of more like five or six in mind.

[ergative]

My favorite example of the use of "several" was a story I once read in which a boy's father told him to do some hoeing in the garden.  How many rows did Dad want him to hoe?  "Several" came the reply.

The boy looked up the dictionary definition of "several," which proved to be "More than one or two, but not very many."  He hoed exactly three rows and considered the job done.  He later realized that his father probably had a figure of more like five or six in mind.

Right--whereas my roommate and I would probably have concluded 'more than you'd like' as closer to the intended amount.