0
Sawman Posted 18 years ago
Teaching

She is ( a, the, an ) girl.

I have recently given my students a test that involved article usage.

Here is an example :

She is ( a, the, an ) girl.

I told my students that there are two correct answers and that the test is confusing. Some teachers disagreed with me saying that they should pick the most common answer and the others are incorrect.
Most correct answer. She is a girl.
I think She is the girl is also correct although not as common and it would not be right to mark them incorrect. I read that this is called a principle clause and can be used as a simple sentence. Also I should mention that no context was given. The question was as given above.

I am not experienced at teaching grammar, so I am just curious as to what is the correct way I should deal with this kind of test in the future.
  

Top answer

Hi sawman, Welcome to English Forums. Exercises which direct the student to pick the single best answer are more popular than they used to be. I was always inclined to accept any answer which was reasonably correct.

  • Hi sawman, Welcome to English Forums.
  • Exercises which direct the student to pick the single best answer are more popular than they used to be.
  • I was always inclined to accept any answer which was reasonably correct.
  • Of coures, in you example, only "She is an girl" is incorrect.
  • This issue comes up in all subjects, not just in grammar.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

4 Answers
0
Hi sawman, Welcome to English Forums.

Exercises which direct the student to pick the single best answer are more popular than they used to be. I was always inclined to accept any answer which was reasonably correct.

Of coures, in you example, only "She is an girl" is incorrect. This issue comes up in all subjects, not just in grammar.

The trend is to enc
0
Thank you for the reply.

Also do you think I handled the class situation correctly? I am thinking in the future to write at the top of the test paper ' Choose the most correct answer '
0
.
Avangi said that the and a are equally correct. Neither can be considered 'more correct' without further context. Most tests expect students to choose one correct answer, and in that case such wooly questions should be weeded out or the distractors changed to ones that cannot work in the sentence: She is (a, an, not) girl.

There are also tests that a
0
In my opinion, you did the right thing. Only you know what lesson you're trying to teach your students. (I believe that was Alfred North Whitehead's point of view.) Unfortunately we're now forced to teach to the tests.
I think it's a valuable life lesson to learn that there are these two approaches, and that each has it's place. Students need to learn that we're sometimes in

Related Questions