Correcting a School Notice: Standard Forms vs. Local Dialect
A Tulu teacher has prepared a nine-sentence notice for the school anniversary and given it to 36 students for correction. The answer key lists seven errors: a locative case marker, an honorific verb ending, a tense ending, a plural marker, a word-order problem, a spelling error, and an over-formal register. In sentence 2, the key expects 'ಶಾಲೆಡ್' ('in the school') instead of 'ಶಾಲೆಗ್' ('to the school'). In sentence 5, a respected guest is the subject, so the key expects the honorific 'ಬತ್ತೆರ್' rather than 'ಬತ್ತೆ'. One student corrected sentence 2 properly but changed 'ಬತ್ತೆರ್' to 'ಬತ್ತೆ', saying 'that is how we say it at home'. Another student left 'ಮಕ್ಕಳು' unchanged and wrote a note that 'everyone understands it'. The teacher must return the papers tomorrow and wants a marking policy that is fair to dialect speakers without lowering the standard for a formal notice.
1. Classify the seven errors in the key by type, and identify which two are most likely to change meaning rather than only polish style.
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The seven errors fall into these types: case marking (locative vs. directional), honorific agreement, tense, number/plural marking, word order, spelling, and register. The two most meaning-changing are the case marker and the honorific ending. 'ಶಾಲೆಗ್' means 'to the school', while 'ಶಾಲೆಡ್' means 'in the school'; the notice would send people to the wrong place or describe the wrong location. The honorific 'ಬತ್ತೆರ್' signals respect toward the guest; 'ಬತ್ತೆ' can read as ordinary or disrespectful in a formal notice. Tense also changes meaning, but in this notice the time is repeated elsewhere, so the context limits confusion. Spelling and register are real errors, but they are less likely to mislead a reader about what happened.
2. A student wrote 'ಬತ್ತೆ' where the key has 'ಬತ್ತೆರ್'. Should this receive full, partial, or zero credit? Explain how you would mark it and what you would say to the student.
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I would give zero for that item but explain the reason clearly, because the notice is formal and the subject is a respected guest. The student's form is not 'wrong Tulu' in every context; it is a non-honorific form that does not fit this register. Marking should separate grammaticality from appropriateness. I would write: 'Your sentence is understandable, but the notice is honouring a guest, so the verb needs the respectful ending. Keep your home form for conversation; use the honorific here.' If the paper has a separate register mark, the student could still earn part of it for other correct choices. This avoids telling the student that their dialect is bad while still holding the formal notice to a clear standard.
3. How should you treat a correct local dialect form that is not in the answer key?
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Accept it if it is grammatical, understandable, and appropriate to the audience, then add it to the key as an acceptable alternative. The key should not turn one regional form into the only correct Tulu. For a formal notice, however, the school's standard written form should be preferred when both forms are correct, because the notice represents the institution. The practical rule is: meaning and grammar first, register second. If a student writes a local form that is grammatical but too informal for the notice, award the grammar mark and explain the register issue. If the form changes the meaning, do not accept it. Recording alternatives in the key protects the next teacher from marking the same form inconsistently.