XIII. HOMEWORK AND PREPARATION

Homework

This is the usual word for work which schoolchildren do at home.

BEE gives the following definition: "... It is the name given to set tasks, planned by the teacher and arising out of a lesson ex­perience or sometimes leading to the next planned lesson, which the pupil is expected to complete outside the classroom."

It corresponds to домашнее задание. Teachers set home­work using such sentences as:

a. Your homework is to learn the vocabulary on page 20.

b. For (your) homework I want you to read chapter 6
in your textbooks.

or one of the others given in unit 267. Pupils can ask, for example:

е. — What's our English homework?
or — What have we got to do for (English) homework?

d. — What did Miss Brown set/give us for homework?

Homework corresponds not only to (домашнее) задание, as in the above examples, but to уроки in such sentences as:

e. — Where's David?

— In the other room, doing his homework.

f. Parents sometimes help their children with their
homework.

Lessons should not be used in such cases, as it is old-fashioned. Homework is sometimes contrasted with classwork.

e.g. g. Brian's homework is often carelessly done, but he answers well in class.

Homework is often abbreviated to hw in writing.

The type of homework can be specified if necessary, as reading homework learning homework written homework

e.g. h. How often do you set written homework?

The use of the word homework is not customary in English universities and colleges, perhaps originally because so many students live away from home. Instead one of the words given in units 305-307 is used.

Task

Task has the same basic meaning as задание. The SOED defines it as, among other things: "a piece of work imposed, exacted, or undertaken as a duty or the like; spec, a portion of study imposed by a teacher, a lesson to be learned or pre­pared." In practice, however, this specific meaning is no longer used. Home task is not given at all; the addition of home appears to be the result of literal translation from Russian. The modern meaning of task given in the SOED is: "any piece of work which has to be done; something one has to do (usually involving labour or difficulty)". Task is some­times used in this sense with reference to teaching and learn­ing, at least in formal style.

e.g. a. Every pupil was given a different task.

b. Mastering the use of tenses is a difficult task,

(See also the quotation from BEE at the beginning of the pre­vious unit.)

In everyday speech task is not often heard. For example, the above two sentences could be rephrased as follows:

е. Every pupil was given something different to do.
d. Mastering the use of tenses is (very) difficult.
or It is (very) difficult to master the use of tenses.

Sometimes exercise is used to denote a set task. Its use is wider than упражнение (see also unit 217).

Assignment

Assignment has come to have the same meaning as task. This is a modern use of the word, not given in the SOED, and classed as American by the more recently revised COD. It is rarely used in English educational establishments, but its meaning is clear enough and Soviet teachers may use it

sometimes in the sense of задание. Ноте assignment is not given in any of the dictionaries consulted, and appears to be a literal translation from Russian.

306. preparation, prepare

Preparation, usually abbreviated to prep, is used instead of homework in some schools, mainly independent boarding schools, where the work is not done at home but at school. Here prep may denote not only the work set, but a period when the pupils do the work under the supervision of a teach­er or prefect (see unit 176), as in the following sentence rom Chapter One of THE SANDCASTLE by Iris Murdoch:

— He's taking junior prep.

This means that he (Donald) is keeping order in the room where the junior boys are doing the work they have been set. Preparation (not abbreviated) and to prepare are used in universities and colleges when the work set is a direct pre­paration for the next class, when each student will be asked to translate, or explain difficult points, or contribute to a discussion. Another example is that of preparing to speak on some pre-arranged topic.

e.g. a. (Teacher to student) — You're very slow. Have you

prepared this chapter? b. (One teacher to another) — Jill Crossman never

do any/much preparation, prepare her work.

e. (Student to teacher) — / т sorry but I m not
prepared today. (See unit 270.)

As mentioned in unit 270, prepared (not ready) corresponds to the Russian (не) готов к уроку.

Prepare and preparation are also widely used of teachers in the sense of "готовиться к урокам/занятиям; подготовка".

e.g. d. (One teacher to another) — / must go. I've got to prepare my lessons/a lecture for tomorrow.

In the case of class/seminar/tutorial, prepare for is generally used.

e.g. е. — I've got to prepare for a/my translation class. Preparation is used in such sentences as:

f. — I've got a lot of preparation to do.

g. — / spend a lot of time on preparation.

h. The staff are allowed... hours a week for prepara­tion.

Set) work

The general word work is widely used in universities and colleges in such sentences as:

a. (One student to another) — Miss Stuart has giv­
en/set us a lot of work this week.

b. — / can't go to the concert. I've got too much
work to do.

Set work is sometimes used, mainly in formal style.

e.g. Students sometimes complain that they have too much set work (or that they are set too much work).

308. "For" and "by" with time expressions

Teachers and students often avoid the necessity for home­work, preparation or an equivalent noun by using for followed by the day or date by which the work has to be done.

e.g. a. (Teacher to students) — For Monday I want you

to do the translation on page 27. b. — For next week I'd like you to write an essay on

е. (One student to another) — What have we got to do for tomorrow?

By is also used in some cases.

e.g. d. — You are to read all Shakespeare's histories ( = historical plays) by the beginning of next term.

Setting Out Written Work

309. Soviet teachers are sometimes in doubt about various
practical points relating to the way in which written work
in English should be done. Practice in England varies con­
siderably, but most schoolteachers expect their pupils to set
their work out in more or less the following way. These rules
are not enforced in universities and colleges, but students
are expected to present their written work neatly and in
accordance with certain basic standards, for the sake of clar­
ity and out of respect for the teacher who has to read and
mark it. If this is not done, the teacher may refuse to accept
the work.

Margin

Exercise books in England do not usually have printed margins. Pupils draw a margin on the left-hand side of each page, about an inch wide (the same width as those in Soviet exercise books) usually in pencil. They do not write anything in the margin, except, for example, the numbers of questions/ sentences in an exercise. It is left free for marking. Note the singular use of margin in such sentences as Draw/Leave a mar­gin, Don't write in the margin.

Date

There are several correct ways of writing the date. The traditional way is:

1st. March, 1980 —read (the) first of March, nineteen eighty or Manh 1st., 1980 —read March the first, nineteen eighty.

Note that the definite article and of are not written, except sometimes in continuous prose.

During recent years simplified forms have become more and more common, mainly owing to the desire to save time and space:

/ March, 1980 —more common in Britain

March 1 (,) 1980 —more common in the USA These are read in the same way as the traditional forms. They are particularly common in typewritten and printed matter, but are being increasingly used in handwritten matter too.

There are also abbreviated forms using figures only:

1.3.80 or 1.111.80— less common

3.1.80 —only in the USA, where the month is generally put first.

These may be read as they are written, that is: one, three, eighty, or in full, like the other forms. Originally these ab­breviated forms were used only on forms, lists, etc. to save space, but they are now used by some people in letters, and by some schoolchildren and students in written work. Most teachers accept these forms, although some insist on one of the fuller forms.

Note that if the day of the week is included, it is always put at the beginning.

e.g. (Today is) Monday, 15th. September.

This is read: (Today is) Monday the fifteenth of September without a pause after Monday. The date is usually written in the top right-hand corner, and often underlined.

Headings

The heading, for example, the title of the composition, the page and number of the exercise, is usually written in the middle of the page, often on the line below the date, and underlined. Sometimes it is put on the left, against the mar­gin.

The first word of a heading and all the following words except articles and prepositions should be written with a capital letter.

e.g. A Visit to the Theatre

Page numbers and exercise numbers are often abbreviat­ed in headings as follows: Р. 10, Ex. 4.

Handwriting

Writing must be neat and legible. When children learn to write in the primary school they start by printing and later begin to join the letters together. In some schools pupils are taught a particular style of handwriting; in others they are simply allowed to develop their own style, legibility and neatness being the only criteria.

P.14. Paragraphs

Each paragraph ("абзац") should be indented, which means that it should begin a little way in from the margin, not right against the margin. 'The word indent is rather a technical one, and teachers usually express the idea in some other way, particularly in schools, where pupils may not know the word.

— You must begin each paragraph a little way (in) from the margin.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations are widely used in headings, lists, and so on, but they are not on the whole encouraged in complete sentences. They generally give a slipshod impression and show a lack of respect for the teacher who is to mark the work. Thus in compositions, essays and translations, abbreviations such as etc. and e.g. should be avoided, and low numbers (up to about a hundred) should be written in words. The ab­breviated and (&), called "ampersand", should also be avoided in continuous prose.

What has been said above does not apply to notes, where

abbreviations are encouraged, and which in any case are usually for the writer himself to read.

Corrections

When the teacher has marked the work and given it back, he usually expects the pupils to correct the mistakes they have made. He may say, for example:

— (Will you) please do your corrections now. or Please remember to do your corrections at home.

He may ask: — Are there any questions about corrections? The usual way of doing corrections is to write out mis­spelt words three times, and to correct other mistakes by writing out the whole sentence once. The pupils put the head­ing Corrections. The forms Mistakes Corrected and Correction of Mistakes are not usual, although their meaning is clear, and they are grammatically correct.

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