In his short essay, Yagoda explains clearly, with plenty of good examples, some common problems that native English speakers have with commas; as you will notice, many of these are exactly the same problems that AEP students have with commas: where do sentences begin and end, how can clauses be connected, when is information defining and non-defining (or essential v. non-essential as Yagoda describes it), and so on.
You might find it both entertaining and useful reading practice, and I hope encouraging since Yagoda is writing not for students learning English as a second language, but for native users in the US and elsewhere.
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References
This article makes me to recall Aj.Peter's AEP class, in where examples helped his students to have a better understanding when their ideas were blocked. Although the article's author provides readers with a lot of examples, comma usage become another bitter drug for ESL students. They are helpful examples, however, it is not easy to recognize and apply these rules correctly. Learning the use of comma by rote will not be workable for ESL students. How about using a notice in reading sources? The following examples quoted from Hutchinson, T.(2009), may need the clarification that which one is correct:-
ReplyDeletep.1 Unit 1 - Introductions and personal info.
"...My husband, Rudolf, works in a hospital as a radiologist..."
p.4 Unit 4 - That's Life!
"...My husband Ryan and I own this Internet cafe - The Coffee Shop..."
References
Hutchinson, T.(2009). English for Life. New York: Oxford University Press.