PROOFREADING
Why is accuracy
important?
Accuracy is a fundamental
skill required both at
university and in the
workplace.
At Uni…
‘Accuracy is crucial to the conveyance
of Meaning’ (Lloyd Pettiford).
Tutor comment: ‘At times I struggled
to understand the intended meaning of
some paragraphs. This was due to
incorrect spelling, grammar and
punctuation’. (Social Theory essay)
In the workplace….
‘The printed word is often the
first, and sometimes the only,
communication a potential
customer receives. It should
reflect professionalism in all its
aspects, but sadly this is often
not the case’.
(Geoff Barnett, n.d.).
At Uni…
Mistakes jupm
out at tutors.
It’s easy to make
mistakes…
‘while tutor’s usually make allowances for
slips here and there, if you want your
writing to have its full impact you really
cannot afford to omit to read your work
carefully’ Northedge (1990, 129).
So. Accuracy has nothing to do with
intelligence…
What can you do?
1.
2.
Attend Academic Support lectures.
Research the rules of grammar, sentence structure,
punctuation and spelling and PRACTISE,
PRACTISE, PRACTISE!
3.
4.
5.
Find out what to look out for and proofread your
work thoroughly. USE A CHECKLIST.
Start a proofreading club?
Suggest a session? Contact me via form on website
(read your emails). Drop into my office: GEO85.
NB I DO NOT PROOFREAD
WORK!
Checklist

http://www.open.ac.uk/studystrategies/english/pages/assess_1.asp
What should I look out
for?
You need to proofread
for:

THE BIG 3:
PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE; SENTENCE
STRUCTURE; REFERENCING
Paragraph Structure


Task:
Bearing in mind the last few Academic
Support lectures, what questions
might you have on your checklist?
Sentence Structure

Task: What might you look out for
when checking your sentences? To
decide this, ask – what is the function
of a sentence?
Sentence Structure

A sentence contains 1 main idea.

Go ‘idea spotting’.

Avoid running ideas together in the same
sentence.

Look out for long sentences & perhaps
break them up.
Easier said than done…

David was not able to attend school
yesterday seeing as how the problem
he is having with headaches has come
back again.

(Peck and Coyle 1999, 52)
How about?

David was not able to attend school
yesterday. He has been having a
problem with headaches, and it has
come back again.
Sentence Structure

Gray (1999, 39) argues that liberalism is internally
inconsistent, Smith however disagrees with the idea that
liberalism cannot achieve its ideals.

The growth of international institutions does not mean
that liberalism has won, the example of the UN shows
that states do use international institutions to their own
advantage. .
International laws can be seen as rules of behaviour
rather than rules for behaviour, this point is important
because states tend to set rules based on their values.


Although from a realist point of view it could be argued
that it was more to do with each state protecting its own
interests.
What would you change here?


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The family values that I have been
brought up by, is to care for everyone
and for everyone to be treated equally.
So, is Sex and Gender so different?
State and national security is seen as a
highly important factor in…
Verbs has to agree with their subject….
BEWARE THE USE OF ‘OF’ FOR ‘HAVE’ IN
VERB TENSES


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Didn’t you know? I should of told you!
By the end of the month, my health
will of improved as I am eating very
healthily.
I should of known I’d see you in the
pub!
Referents
When using words like: this, these that,
those and pronouns (eg: I, you, s/he,
it, we, you they; his, her, its, their)
STOP!
PROOFREADING IS
REQUIRED!!!!
Spot and analyse the
referents…
‘Liberalism was born after WW1.
It was called the war to end all
wars and no one wanted to be
involved in another war. They
decided that a mutual
agreement between allies
could prevent another war.’
Combating Spelling Errors

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Use a computer ‘spellcheck’ wisely
Keep a special list of key
subject/specific technical terms
Beware of problematic words – those
ending ‘ent’ or ‘ence’/ similar sounding
ones
Make a note of your own typical errors
and use a dictionary as you write them
Start a proofreading club
Spelling
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Major errors (subject specific ones)
According to Gramshi’s theory of hegemony
These authors include Maciavelle and Hobbs.
In the coup against Salvedor Allende
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, more
commonly referred to as AIDs, (…)
For Elizabeth, Sir Walter Ralegh represented a
Romantic ideal.
Should be:
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According to Gramsci’s theory of
hegemony…
Machiavelli and Hobbes
Salvador Allende
AIDS
Sir Walter Raleigh
Common errors:
Words ending in ‘ance/ ant, ate’
Relevent/ Relevant?
Seperate/ Separate?
Developement/ Development?
Grammer/grammar??
Answers

RelevAnt

SepArate

Development

GrammAr
Poor spelling causes
problems with meaning
‘He flounted his degree’.
Does this mean that s/he flaunted it
(showed
it off)? Or that s/he flouted it (treated it
with
contempt)?
Advice on improving spelling
http://dissc.tees.ac.uk/Mistakes/Spelling/Spell6.htm
Learn the word. Look at it until you know it.
Say it slowly to yourself.
Without looking at it, write it out (by hand).
Check that you got it right.
Then write it out several times.
BIG,
Write it in different ways - write it
then small, write it in different colours, in
CAPITALS as well as in small letters.
Finally, check that you've got it right.
Watch out for similar words such
as:
‘THEY DON’T KNOW THEIR THERE
FROM THEIR THEY’RE’
The
Guardian, Sat, March 1, 2002, 7
They’re = they are. ‘They’re good
at sport’
THEIR = POSSESSION
Their bag/ their theory/ their
books / their friends / their house
= not mine!
Their or there? Other
Errors?
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People can now change there/their sex.
There/their have been much heated
discussions raised from Hamlet.
(…) these two central assumptions provide
realists with support for there/their
argument about the need for states to
behave selfishly.
During early nineteenth century there/their
was very few women thriller writers…
Word Choice
 Liberalists
believe that…
 This theory of social learning
fell into distribute.
 The Tsunami has had a
massive affect on Asian
economies.
Word Choice – More
Importantly
Why do you write???
Do you understand what the
authors are saying?

From an essay on Romanticism:
– ‘This new beginning started as a theory to the
extremes of change in which new ways of living
were reflected in new ways of thinking’.

‘The Dispositio of the speech make’s it very
effective on the audience. Queen Elisabeth
skilfully starts and ends the speech with
digresso this eases the situation she’s in and
enables her to deport from the theme of the
monopolies’.
So…
Remember that you write to be
heard
 You write to communicate
 You don’t ‘sound academic’ with
lots of posy words/phrases
 Explain words/phrases which are
‘out of the ordinary’/ambiguous

Apostrophes
 Signal
that words are missed
out – I don’t = I do not. BUT:
 In
general, don’t
abbreviate in academic
work!
 I.e.
= that is
 Can’t cook, won’t cook =
cannot cook, will not cook
APOSTROPHES: TASK
•Can you explain when else an
apostrophe should be used?
• Analyse the following sentences and
draw up a list of rules which details when
and when not to use the apostrophe. All
sentences are correct.
•Give examples to support your decision.
•The blue car's lights were left on so its battery went
flat.
•Kant's works were written in the 1700s.
•Lisa’s office is E014.
•The children’s toys were scattered all over the floor.
•Since the 1960s people’s interest in the environment
has grown.
• Oranges and lemons said the bells of St. Clement’s.
•Did you watch “Jamie’s Kitchen”? ‘Yes, but I prefer
“Hell’s Kitchen”’.
What is the difference?
The student’s essays have
been marked.
The students’ essays have
been marked.
Correct or not?

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The teachers son is called Adam.
Weber’s argument is not
convincing here.
Postmodern feminist thinkers argue that
there is no authentic womens
experience.
Insert the Apostrophe where
necessary

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Womens needs have been
regarded as less important than
mens.
In one crucial respect, Habermas
work represents a major
departure from Marxist analysis.
APOSTROPHES (ET AL…)


Charles Dickens novel Hard Time
highlights a number of issues including
utilitariansim and industrialisation.
Traditionally the assumption of the
sexes portrayed that women were
confined to the home whist men were
the breadwinner’s.
Reminder: USE A
CHECKLIST



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Use professional checklists (See Crème
and Lea 1997, 119)
Analyse tutor comments on your work
Turn these comments into questions
which you can use to check your next
essay.
Group the questions into sections – eg
Paragraphing; Style; Referencing.
Further Reading



Rose, Jean (2001) The Mature
Student's Guide to Writing,
Basingstoke: Palgrave
[Clifton: 808.06637 ROS ]
Peck, John and Martin Coyle (1999)
The Student's Guide to Writing:
Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling,
Basingstoke: Palgrave [Clifton: 428
PEC ]
URLOGRAPHY
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http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/gene
ral/gl_proof.html offers proofreading
strategies.
This is a website which discusses the rules
and conventions of academic writing and
contains a section on accuracy:
http://www.bim.napier.ac.uk/~hazel/gen_ho/
rules_conv.htm
Accuracy and proof-reading (Warwick Uni:
http://www.warwick.ac.uk/EAP/correcting_yo
ur_work/ It includes a test with answers:
http://www.warwick.ac.uk/EAP/correcting_yo
ur_work/proof-reading_exercise_1.htm
URLography: checklists

Check this out!
http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar
/composition/proofing.htm
URLOGRAPHY
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To practise your apostrophes:
http://dissc.tees.ac.uk/Mistakes/apostrophe
s/intro.html
These 2 sites are full of quizzes, exercises
and tests on all aspects of writing and
proofreading:
http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/quiz_
list.htm#marks
http://a4esl.org/q/h/grammar.html
http://www.uefap.co.uk/accuracy/check.htm
http://www.uefap.co.uk/accuracy/pruffram.
htm
URLography
Barnett, Geoff Healthcare Editing Services
[online] http://www.healthcaredit.demon.co.uk/benefits.html (Date
Accessed: 04/03/04)
Woodward, W. (2001) ‘Britain near bottom for
adult literacy’[online]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0
,4273,4161319,00.html (Date Accessed:
08/12/08)