C. Munzenmaier • Hamilton College • Urbandale, IA

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Grammar Diagnostic

Does anybody besides English teachers care about grammar and punctuation?

According to Maxine Hairston's research, employers notice these common errors:

* I seen him come in.
* My grammar is fine, I don't need any review.
* Although other people might.

Employers assume people who make these errors have poor communication skills. Judge for yourself. Who would you hire?

Cover Letter 1	Cover Letter 2
Dear Joe, I saw. Your ad in the payper. I got all the credenshuls your gonna need. Including eggsellent communication skills. If you higher me you wont be sorry. I have a strong work ethnic, and did i mention my great communicashun skills.	Dear Mr. Green, You advertised for a Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician with excellent communication skills. I hope you will consider me a strong candidate for the position. In addition to Microsoft certification, I have a solid work ethic, and I can express myself clearly in speech and writing.

The first letter makes readers have to work too hard to get the message. Its many basic errors in spelling and grammar might make employers judge the writer as lazy, stupid, or uneducated.

How are your written communication skills? To find out, take the Grammar Diagnostic test. This counts for 100 points. You may retake this diagnostic once. After that, if you wish to raise your score, take one of the other diagnostics.

To complete this CM220 assignment:

1. Start with Grammar Diagnostic B

• This is a 40-item test. After you take it, you will be asked to enter your name, your email address, and your instructor's address (cmunzenmaier_dm@hamiltonia.edu). Your scores will be mailed to you, along with suggestions for areas you need to review.

2. If you want to raise your score, you may take Grammar Diagnostic C. Email your scores to yourself and to your instructor.

3. Still not happy with your score? You have two choices:

• Do review exercises to correct your weaknesses. Print them and hand them in.
• Take this 42-item Grammar Diagnostic. When you follow the link to the 42-item Grammar Diagnostic for Successful College Writing, you will be asked to log in, but you can simply give your initials. You do not need to enter an instructor's email address, but if you want me to see the scores, send them to cmunzenmaier_dm@hamiltonia.edu. After finishing, print your test.

4. Looking for a challenge? Take the Hartford Courant's challenge, intended to sort the true grammar gurus from the wannabes.