Common Errors Webquest

Creating Opportunity Worldwide
Pro-ELT Teacher Training Materials
Common Errors in the Pro-ELT Writing Test: Webquest

This is a Webquest: a quiz or series of tasks/instructions that require you to use the
internet to find the answers.
This activity is designed to go along with the PowerPoint, Common Errors in the ProELT Writing Test and should address some of the issues discussed there.
Read the instructions below and use the Web to find answers or to complete the task.
1. Find an example of an email or letter which is about a complaint. Try to find one formal and one informal
example. Paste them below.
Complaint letter - informal

I have always allowed my children to watch your station uncensored because of its familycentered programming, but yesterday afternoon I saw your new pilot program "Two." The language
and the material were shocking, and I was saddened that the one station I had trusted had stooped
so low.
Please discontinue that program after its initial contract ends, so we can once again enjoy
watching Springfield's local station.
Complaint letter - formal
56 Disgruntled Street
Somewhere Unhappy
1AM MAD
Customer Service Manager
That Awful Company
Somewhere Awful
UR BAD
June 15, 2008
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing today to complain of the poor service I received from your company on
June 12, 2008. I was visited by a representative of That Awful Company, Mr. Madman, at
my home on that day.
Mr. Madman was one hour late for his appointment and offered nothing by way of
apology when he arrived at noon. Your representative did not remove his muddy shoes
upon entering my house, and consequently left a trail of dirt in the hallway. Mr. Madman
Contributed by: (double click here & enter your name)
The British Council, 2014
The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and education opportunities.
British Council Malaysia is a branch (995232-A) of the British Council, registered as a charity in England and Wales (209131) and Scotland (SC037733)

then proceeded to present a range of products to me that I had specifically told his
assistant by telephone I was not interested in. I repeatedly tried to ask your representative
about the products that were of interest to me, but he refused to deal with my questions.
We ended our meeting after 25 minutes without either of us having accomplished
anything.
I am most annoyed that I wasted a morning (and half a day's vacation) waiting for
Mr. Madman to show up. My impression of That Awful Company has been tarnished, and I
am now concerned about how my existing business is being managed by your firm.
Furthermore, Mr. Madman's inability to remove his muddy shoes has meant that I have
had to engage the services, and incur the expense, of a professional carpet cleaner.
I trust this is not the way That Awful Company wishes to conduct business with
valued customersI have been with you since the company was founded and have never
encountered such treatment before. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss matters
further and to learn of how you propose to prevent a similar situation from recurring. I look
forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully,
V. Angry
V. Angry
2. What is register in language? Write a definition below.

A variety of a language or a level of usage, as determined by degree of formality and choice of
vocabulary, pronunciation, and syntax, according to the communicative purpose, social context, and
social status of the user.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/register
3. What are three features of formal writing? Write answers below
Personal pronouns are usually avoided

Passive voice is often preferred
Tentative there are definite statements
4. What are three features of informal writing? Write answers below
Personal pronouns are common

Active voice is often preferred
Personal feelings and views are expressed


5. Find some good websites that explain rules for the following and paste the url below:
Capitalisation
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/capitals.htm
http://www.towson.edu/ows/capitalization_rules.htm
Plurals
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm
http://www.grammarly.com/handbook/grammar/nouns/3/plural-nouns/
Subject verb agreement

http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/subjectVerbAgree.asp
http://www.towson.edu/ows/sub-verb.htm
6. Find a website that explains punctuation rules and answer the following questions:
How do you use a comma?
1. Use a comma before any coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet) that links two
independent clauses.
Example: "I went running, and I saw a duck."
You may need to learn a few grammatical terms to understand this one.
An independent clause is a unit of grammatical organization that includes both a subject and verb and can stand
on its own as a sentence. In the previous example, "I went running" and "I saw a duck" are both independent
clauses, and "and" is the coordinating conjunction that connects them. Consequently, we insert a comma.
If we were to eliminate the second "I" from that example, the second clause would lack a subject, making it not a
clause at all. In that case, it would no longer need a comma: "I went running and saw a duck."
2. Use a comma after a dependent clause that starts a sentence.
Example: "When I went running, I saw a duck."
A dependent clause is a grammatical unit that contains both subject and verb but cannot stand on its own, like
"When I went running ..."


Commas always follow these clauses at the start of a sentence. If a dependent clause ends the sentence,
however, it no longer requires a comma. Only use a comma to separate a dependent clause at the end of a
sentence for added emphasis, usually when negation occurs.
3. Use commas to offset appositives from the rest of the sentence.
Appositives act as synonyms for a juxtaposed word or phrase. For example, "While running, I saw a mallard, a
kind of duck." "A kind of duck" is the appositive, which gives more information about "a mallard."
If the appositive occurs in the middle of the sentence, both sides of the phrase need a comma. As in, "A mallard,
a kind of duck, attacked me."
Don't let the length of an appositive scare you. As long as the phrase somehow gives more information about its
predecessor, you usually need a comma.
"A mallard, the kind of duck I saw when I went running, attacked me."
There's one exception to this rule. Don't offset a phrase that gives necessary information to the sentence.
Usually, commas surround a non-essential clause or phrase. For example, "The duck that attacked me scared
my friend" doesn't require any commas. Even though the phrase "that attacked me" describes "the duck," it
provides essential information to the sentence. Otherwise, no one would know why the duck scared your friend.
Clauses that begin with "that" are usually essential to the sentence and do not require commas.
4. Use commas to separate items in a series.
For example, "I saw a duck, a magician, and a liquor store when I went running."
That last comma, known as the serial comma, Oxford comma, or Harvard comma, causes serious controversy.
Although many consider it unnecessary, others, including Business Insider, insist on its use to reduce ambiguity.
There's an Internet meme that demonstrates its necessity perfectly. The sentence, "We invited the strippers,
JFK, and Stalin," means the speaker sent three separate invitations: one to some strippers, one to JFK, and one
to Stalin. The version without the Oxford comma, however, takes on an entirely different meaning,
potentially suggesting that only one invitation was sent to two strippers named JFK and Stalin.
Witness: "We invited the strippers, JFK and Stalin."
5. Use a comma after introductory adverbs.
"Finally, I went running."
"Unsurprisingly, I saw a duck when I went running."
Many adverbs end in "ly" and answer the question "how?" How did someone do something? How did something
happen? Adverbs that don't end in "ly," such as "when" or "while," usually introduce a dependent clause, which
rule number two in this post already covered.
Also insert a comma when "however" starts a sentence, too. Phrases like "on the other hand" and "furthermore"
also fall into this category.
Starting a sentence with "however," however, is discouraged by many careful writers. A better method would be
to use "however" within a sentence after the phrase you want to negate, as in the previous sentence.
6. Use a comma when attributing quotes.

The rule for where the comma goes, however, depends on where attribution comes.
If attribution comes before the quote, place the comma outside the quotations marks. The runner said, "I saw
a duck."
If attribution comes after the quote, put the comma inside the quotation marks. "I saw a duck,"
said the runner.
7. Use a comma to separate each element in an address. Also use a comma after a city-state
combination within a sentence.
"I work at 257 Park Ave. South, New York, N.Y. 10010."
"Cleveland, Ohio, is a great city."
8. Also use a comma to separate the elements in a full date (weekday, month and day, and year). Also
separate a combination of those elements from the rest of the sentence with commas.
"March 15, 2013, was a strange day." Even if you add a weekday, keep the comma after "2013."
"Friday, March 15, 2013, was a strange day."
"Friday, March 15, was a strange day."
You don't need to add a comma when the sentence mentions only the month and year. "March 2013 was a
strange month."
9. Use a comma when the first word of the sentence is freestanding "yes" or "no."
"Yes, I saw a duck when I went running."
"No, the duck didn't bite me."
10. Use a comma when directly addressing someone or something in a sentence.
My editor often asks, "Christina, is that article up yet?"
Another clever meme shows the problem with incorrect placement of this comma. "Stop clubbing baby seals"
reads like an order to desist harming infant mammals of the seal variety. The version with a comma, however,
instructs them to stop attending hip dance clubs. "Stop clubbing, baby seals."
11. Use a comma between two adjectives that modify the same noun.
For example: "I saw the big, mean duck when I went running."
Only coordinate adjectives require a comma between them. Two adjectives are coordinate if you can answer
yes to both of these questions: 1. Does the sentence still make sense if you reverse the order of the
words? 2. Does the sentence still make sense if you insert "and" between the words?
Since "I saw the mean, big duck " and "I saw the big and mean duck" both sound fine, you need
the comma.

Sentences with non-coordinate adjectives, however, don't require a comma. For example, "I lay
under the powerful summer sun." "Powerful" describes "summer sun" as a whole phrase. This
often occurs with adjunct nouns, a phrase where a noun acts as an adjective describing another
noun like "chicken soup" or "dance club."
12. Use a comma to offset negation in a sentence.
For example: "I saw a duck, not a baby seal, when I went running."
In this case, you still need the comma if the negation occurs at the end of the sentence. "I saw a baby seal, not
a duck."
Also use commas when any distinct shift occurs in the sentence or thought process. "The cloud looked like an
animal, perhaps a baby seal."
13. Use commas before every sequence of three numbers when writing a number larger than 999. (Two
exceptions are writing years and house numbers.)
For example, 10,000 or 1,304,687.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/a-guide-to-proper-comma-use-2013-9#ixzz3E6go38Jo
What are semi-colons for?
The main task of the semicolon is to mark a break that is stronger than a comma but not as final as a full stop.
Its used between two main clauses that balance each other and are too closely linked to be made into
separate sentences, as in these two examples:
The road runs through a beautiful wooded valley; the railway line follows it.
An art director searched North Africa; I went to the Canary Islands.
You can also use a semicolon as a stronger division in a sentence that already contains commas:
The study showed the following: 76% of surveyed firms monitor employee Web-surfing activities, with 65%
blocking access to unauthorized Internet locations; over one-third of the firms monitor employee computer
keystrokes; half reported storing and reviewing employee emails; 57% monitor employee telephone behaviour,
including the inappropriate use of voicemail.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/semicolon
What are colons for?
There are three main uses of the colon:
between two main clauses in cases where the second clause explains or follows from the first:


That is the secret of my extraordinary life: always do the unexpected.

It wasnt easy: to begin with, I had to find the right house.
to introduce a list:
The price includes the following: travel to London, flight to Venice, hotel accommodation, and
excursions.
The job calls for skills in the following areas: proofing, editing, and database administration.
before a quotation, and sometimes before direct speech:
The headline read: Taxi Driver Battles Gangsters.

They shouted: Our families are starving! We need land!
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/colon
How do you use an exclamation mark?
Are exclamation marks used in formal writing?
7. Imagine you were going to teach some students how to use recommend, what would your explanation
be? You can use the link on the Power Point to look it up if you like.
8. Do the quiz on word forms from this website:

http://www.eslcafe.com/quiz/wordf1.html
What mark did you get?
9. Go to the website from the link below and look at the information about Idioms. Answer the following
questions:
What is an idiom?
Why should you learn idioms?


Can you change the words/form in an idiom?
When can using an idiom sound strange?
How can you learn to use idioms correctly?
10. Are we likely to use idioms in formal writing?

You use this website to find an answer:
http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-writing/10-wayswriting-more-academic/


Common Errors Webquest

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Creating Opportunity Worldwide

Pro-ELT Teacher Training Materials

Common Errors in the Pro-ELT Writing Test: Webquest

Complaint letter - informal

Creating Opportunity Worldwide

2. What is register in language? Write a definition below.

Personal pronouns are usually avoided

4. What are three features of informal writing? Write answers below

Personal pronouns are common

Contributed by: (double click here & enter your name)

Creating Opportunity Worldwide

Subject verb agreement

How do you use a comma?

Contributed by: (double click here & enter your name)

Creating Opportunity Worldwide

Creating Opportunity Worldwide

Creating Opportunity Worldwide

What are semi-colons for?

What are colons for?

There are three main uses of the colon:

Contributed by: (double click here & enter your name)

Creating Opportunity Worldwide

That is the secret of my extraordinary life: always do the unexpected.

before a quotation, and sometimes before direct speech:

The headline read: Taxi Driver Battles Gangsters.

How do you use an exclamation mark?

Are exclamation marks used in formal writing?

8. Do the quiz on word forms from this website:

Why should you learn idioms?

Contributed by: (double click here & enter your name)

Creating Opportunity Worldwide

Can you change the words/form in an idiom?

When can using an idiom sound strange?

How can you learn to use idioms correctly?

10. Are we likely to use idioms in formal writing?

Contributed by: (double click here & enter your name)

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