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Well, in this case, I'd say they had done nothing wrong and all their expressions were appropriate. Get Outlook for Android ________________________________ From: European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing - discussions <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Mahvesh Khan <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2019 1:17:52 PM To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Grammatically confused [External Email] Thank you so much for your kind and comprehensive reply, Mary Ellen. The students were asked to interview their parents and grandparents or four people from these generations. They submitted a report on their findings. The purposes were language learning (comprehension, notes, summaries and written expression) along with an introduction to primary research. The ability to translate their first language into English was another necessary skill for this assignment. The students are in their first year at business school. Best regards, Mahveshy On Thursday, October 31, 2019, Mary Ellen Kerans <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: You don't mention the genres, the text types you see this writing in. I'm assuming in my replies that they're in student assignments, essays meant to practice expressive, personal, semi-academic writing for language learning purposes. - "I got to know" might be appropriate (I got to know my grandparents during summers spent in...). In other words, it depends on the complement. From your own choice of "learnt" I'm guessing the complement was something academic? Look (or have the student look) in an appropriate online corpus to see possible complements for "got to know" or "get to know". (I use the Brigham Young University collection because I like its interface and it's free for a limited number of queries per day. Or more streamlined for very reasonable for a subscription. But there are others.) - "Back then" will depend on the voice, the tone. It would sound fine to me in an essay meant to be like the reflections one sees in les formal "Op Ed" newspaper articles. Rather than, say, a formal essay for a history class. (Op Ed pieces are opinions often found, in Western newspapers, on the page facing the editorials or on the back page.) But everything is voice, tone, context. Again, a corpus would help you (or your students) decide what to do. - The third phrases sound fine to my ear, here, though I don't know anything about the context. Perhaps I'd wonder about alternatives to "dominated" if I knew more about the whole situation. (Maybe "filled with restrictions"? Maybe using something other than "life" as the subject? "He lived in an environment dominated by..." would sound right. Perhaps, if that's what the student means.) The issue isn't with "dominated" per se or correctness. It's with what the student might or might not be expressing. Hope that helps, Mary Ellen, in Barcelona On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 9:40 AM Mahvesh Khan <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: Hi, I'm a Pakistani lecturer teaching Academic and Technical Writing to Pakistani students. English is a second, third or fourth language for Pakistanis but is widely spoken here. My problem is that students write certain commonly spoken words and phrases and I become confused about their acceptability. Online grammar checkers don't help - they simply state, "no problems were found." Examples are: I "got to know" (this/that or the other). I'm substituting "learnt". Life was easier "back then". I'm removing the word "back". Here's a tough one: my father "saw the stern side of his parents". His early life was "dominated by restrictions". I have more but these will do at the moment. I would be grateful for suggestions of softwares or books that might help tackle phrases like these? Best regards, Mahvesh _________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe login to https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=EATAW You find the 'Unsubscribe' button in the blue 'Options bar' -- Mary Ellen Kerans Barcelona, SPAIN _________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe login to https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=EATAW You find the 'Unsubscribe' button in the blue 'Options bar' This email contains links to content or websites. Always be cautious when clicking on external links or attachments. If in doubt, please forward suspicious emails to [log in to unmask] -----End of Disclaimer----- _________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe login to https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=EATAW You find the 'Unsubscribe' button in the blue 'Options bar'