English word usage difficulties
Teach students to reduce hasty errors

The number of English word usage errors in college students' writing soared between 1988 and 2008, according to researchers.

English usage is a catchall phrase for a mishmash of grammar and spelling problems that may include anything from failure to use the subjunctive properly to using there when the spelling their was needed.

The spike appears to be caused by the way students are going about the editing part of the writing process. Students appear to be using their computer spell-check programs diligently, but failing to verify that suggested substitutions are correct.

To help students eliminate or at least reduce English words usage errors, writing teachers need to focus on teaching editing strategies.

4 types of English word usage errors

There are four types of word usage errors that are common in English writing.

1. Homophone errors result from choosing the wrong word of a pair of words that are pronounced the same way but spelled differently because they have different meanings, like bare and bear.

2. Homograph errors are caused by using the wrong word of a pair of words that spelled the same way but that are pronounced differently and have different meanings, such as bow, as in bow and arrow and bow, as in take a bow.

3. Confused words are neither homophones or homographs, although some of them when sloppily pronounced can sound similar. The list of confused words includes pairs such as affect and effect, conscience and conscious, desert and dessert.

4. Wrong words are often inserted in writing when a spell checker's interprets a typo or misspelling as the writer's intention. Thus students often write such things as: "I barley had time to finish."

Haste is usually the culprit

Most English word usage errors in students' writing are caused by haste rather than ignorance. Students finish writing, do a quick spell check, and call their work done. (You and I do the same thing.)

Tips for teaching correct usage

To encourage your students in correct English word usage, you should:

1. Make sure students see the difference between often-confused terms.

Students are presented with so much text information that they may not notice more than the general shapes of words. Use class activities that encourage them to stop and look at words letter by letter.

For example, have students find pictures (or take photos) that represent the concepts conveyed by confused word pairs. The pair below contrasts desert with dessert.

You could also have groups of students develop visuals that link the meaning of one certain correct English word usage and its spelling.

For example, the word weather contains the word eat. A photograph or student-created cartoon that shows people eating outside in good weather could cement the connection between the word's meaning and the word's spelling.

Another possibility is to have students create miniature stories using homographs, which they could illustrate. For example:

Cupid strung his bow, then let his arrow fly. It missed Annette, but struck her beau as he was taking a bow.

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2. Make improper usage a joke.

Nobody likes to be laughed at, yet muddled word choices are often downright funny. If you can get students to see that poor usage could embarrass them before their peers, you give them a reason to edit their writing.

Give teams of students a challenge to find and document funny examples of poor English word usage in print and digital media in a stated length of time. You could have teams share their results in oral presentations or allow the class to vote for the funniest collection.

3. Teach students to use one-thing-at-a-time editing throughout the writing process.

Students who habitually make specific usage errors such as picking the wrong one of homonym pair can often get rid of the errors simply by going through the editing stage of the writing process several times, looking for a different specific error each time.

4. Teach students to use a dictionary.

Because they can spell words bear, students often think they know how to use the word. In reality, they may not even be aware that the word has more than one meaning.

If you cannot get Joshua to remember the difference between bare and bear, you should at least impress him with the fact that there is a difference and he should check a dictionary when he uses one of the terms that always stump him.