Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Correcting Students’ Usage Errors Without Making Errors of Our Own:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_06_28-2009_07_04.shtml#1246299674
A law professor who directs an adjunct-taught legal writing program
e-mailed me this, in response to my [1]article on the subject:
[T]he phenomenon you describe is one of my biggest hurdles. I spend
a significant amount of time warning my adjuncts not to �correct�
anything they can�t demonstrably show, through a reliable source,
to be wrong. I also advise them to do just what you say: mark
sticky usage or spelling as unwise, perhaps, or likely to inflame
passions but not �wrong� unless it truly is, and to look everything
up before marking it even if they�re certain they are correct. I
still see �forgo� �corrected� to �forego� when it means to go
without, and phrases like �have carefully reviewed� edited to put
�carefully� after �reviewed,� for who knows what reason. Sigh. Even
if these were actual mistakes, our students certainly have more
important things to worry about in trying to improve their
writing....
[Also,] I occasionally am hired by big law firms to tutor
associates in legal writing. One downtown firm asked me to put on
lunchtime presentations for the associates, but to begin with a
session for the partners, to train them how to be effective writing
coaches. I thought this was a wonderful idea. Among the things I
included in that presentation was a general admonition along the
lines of what you wrote: don�t mark personal preferences but rather
stick to actual mistakes, for all the reasons you cite as well as
some of my own. A partner objected strenuously. He said, and I kid
you not, �One of the reasons I became a partner was to impose my
personal preferences on others.� I was not asked back.
References
1. http://www.law.ucla.edu/volokh/errors.pdf
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