research on students common errors

7/31/2019 Research on Students Common Errors

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Resul ts analys is of 120+ com posi t ionsComm on er rors

Top ic : Why did you choose Shar i f Univers i ty of Technol ogy?Rule # 1 : Stop t h ink ing in Farsi language and w r i te in Engl ish. This k indof menta l t rans la t ion does not f i t in t o Eng l ish wr i t ing s s t ruc t ure , s ty leand ru les .As a Pers ian student fo l low the g iven gu ide l ines be low in order to bean e f fec t ive Eng l ish w r i t e r .A) AVOID USING THE GENERIC (applying generally) "MAN" or MEN or MANKIND or HUMAN BEING or Human i ty . Do not use them .Th is is Th ink ing in Fars i . Ins tead, the fo l lowing words can besubst i t u ted as Th ink ing in Eng l ish .Let s ident i fy w ho are these hum an be ings in a g iven top ic ?General publ ic / c i t i zens / c iv i l ians / res ident s / inhabi t ant s / ind iv idua ls/ s tudents / employees / managers / wr i ters / workers / neighbors /tour is ts / immigrants /I ran ian peop le/ general populat ion / wor ld spopu la t ionEveryone / anyone / one / som eone / some body / anybodyNOT: The new c omputer desk is const ruc t ed of man-made

mater ia ls .

USE: The new com puter desk is const ruc ted o f syn the t i c mater ia ls .

NOT : Man (o r mank ind ) has made great leaps in com putertec hno logy over the past ten years .

USE: Great leaps in com puter technology have been made over t he

past t en years.


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Let s review few Think ing in Fars i t ype o f wr i t i ng

E.g.: Every human needs to dec ide a good dec is ion in the im por tant

s i t uat ion of h is / her l i fe .

Every s tudent encounters a c r i t i c a l dec is ion regard ing h is / her major

in a univers i ty .

Stop using and too many t imes in a sentence or in a compound

sentence. Th is is aga in Th ink ing in Fars i . This is an error .

Look a t th is sentence w r i t t en by one of your c lassmat e:

Since I w as go ing to h igh schoo l and w e know that th is f ie ld o fs tudy ing is very goodand impor tant and need to be very good in Math

and Physics . (pay at t ent ion to the Cho ice o f Words )

We previously real ized that th is f ie ld o f s tudy is very benef ic ia l,

impor tant andone needs to be exce l len t in sub jec t o f Math and

phys ics .

OR:

Wr i te a s im ple sentence, cont inue your sentence by an and thenf in ish your thought by put t ing a per iod at t he end o f your sentenc e.

See the fo l low ing example :

They are in teres ted in v is i t ing the new indust r ia l fac i l i ty and tak ing

few p ic tu res f rom t he s ite .

OR: l is t your i tem s then use an and to end your sentence.

E.g.: The reasons I have chosen Shar i f Univers i t y of t echnology are as

fo l lows: In te l l igent s t udents , know ledgeable pro fessors, non-pol i t ica l

a tmosphere and high-tech laborator ies that are prov ided for the

students .


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Stop us ing But t oo many t imes af ter s ta t ing a sentence fo l low ed by

an and .

See the ex ample o f Th ink ing in fa rs i :I.an d.and., b ut I.an d

bu t . .

As a general ru le, BUT is an in formal c ont ras t . Ins tead, use:

However w hich is a fo rmal con junct ion or look t he l i s t g iven in CW.

Do not s t ar t a sentenc e by BUT or So . This is an error .

Ins tead o f but , use On the o t her handInst ead of So, use Thus or Henc e or There fore

Do not s tar t a sentence by and o r because . This is an error .

Ins tead o f and , use In add i t ion or Further .

Usebec ause a f te r an independent phrase.

I cou ldn t pass the exam , because there w asn t enough t im e.

The fo llow ing con junct ions and w ords are INFORMAL. Please use

them in conversat ion ,not in FORMAL w r i t ing .

Also, So, But, because, and also, Act ual ly , before, af ter , af ter t hat ,

thing(s), people.

Do no t use the w ord th ing i n fo rma l wr i t i ng .

Ins tead o f th ing (s ) , be very spec i f ic , s ta te w hat t h ing is .

Thing (s): Fact or , Cr i t er ia, Reason

Do not usepeop le or person in a forma l w r i t i ng when the top ic i s

spec i f ic .


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Ins tead o f peop le , use s tudents or a spec i f ic group o f ind iv idua ls .

Do not use & , i ns tead o f & use and .

Do not use 2 , i nstead use tw o .

Do not useA f te r tha t , ins tead use Nex t o r Then or Second .

Do not usep lace , ins tead use env i ronment .

Do not use in t he Wor ld , ins tead use overseas or abroad or

fo re ign count ry

Do not useBe fo re t o s ta r t a sen tence, ins tead use before a f t e r an

independent phrase.

I cou ldn t f in ish the pro jec t before leaving the Lab.

Do not usebe tw een fo r many ind iv idua ls , ins tead use among .

Be tw een i s used for tw o cho ices .

Do not use l i ke , ins tead use such as .

Do not use so on , use e tc . General ly avoid e tc .

Use a comma (,) a fte r every con junct ion .

Do not s t ar t a sentenc e by : In I ran or At Shar i f , they are used a t the

end o f a sentence.

Do not s t ar t a sentenc e by : Maybe , ins tead use perhaps .

Do not s t ar t a sentenc e by : Of course ins tead use Cer ta in ly .


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Learn proper col loc at ions by using the Cambridge or Longmans

d ic t ionary .

See the ex ample o f your c lassmates: About SUT

And amount o f sc ience ac t ions var ies much in th is cent er o f

educat ion .

I t i s not a out o f thought th ing to c hoose here .

There are a var ie ty o f sc ience pro jec ts t hat are be ing done a t SUT.

Obviously, i t is logical t o choose SUT.

Learn the co l locat ions for the fo l low ing words:

Choice, abi l i ty , know ledge, issue, educat ion, reason, pow er, purpose,

benef i t , ac t iv i t y , be l ief , l imi t , in te l l igence, theory

The word Research can be used as s ingular or p lura l .

Do not use Researches . A l though both form are cor rec t .

Do not use Ten mi l l ions do l la rs , ins tead use Ten mi l l ion do l la rs .

Use Mi l l ions o f peop le .

Rewr i te

Rephrase / Paraphr ase

research on students common errors

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