TEACHING STUDENTS TO RECOGNIZE AND CORRECT SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
A method is provided for teaching students to recognize and correct incomplete sentences (also referred to herein as “sentence fragments”). A user is presented with one or more user interfaces that teach a user to determine whether a sentence is a complete sentence or an incomplete sentence. The interface may present an explanation as to why the sentence is a complete sentence or an incomplete sentence. To help a user deduce whether a sentence is a complete sentence or an incomplete sentence, one or more interfaces may present a user with one or more detailed questions about the sentence. The one or more detailed questions may ask the user to identify one or more particular features and/or words in the sentence. A user may be presented with one or more user interfaces that teach the user how to produce a complete sentence from a sentence fragment.
1 . A method comprising:
presenting a sequence of words to a user;
providing a first control that enables the user to indicate whether the sequence of words is a complete sentence or a sentence fragment;
providing a second control that enables the user to answer a sequence of questions, which, when answered correctly, indicate whether the sequence of words is a complete sentence or a sentence fragment;
wherein the sequence of questions comprises two or more questions;
enabling the user to answer the sequence of questions without having first used the first control to indicate whether the sequence of words is a complete sentence or a sentence fragment; and
wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.
2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising, in response to receiving, through the first control, an incorrect indication that the sequence of words is a complete sentence, presenting the user with the sequence of questions.
3 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving, through the second control, answers to the sequence of questions; and
highlighting a portion of the sequence of words that corresponds to the question after the user answers each question in the sequence of questions.
4 . The method of claim 3 further comprising:
in response to the user correctly answering a first question in the sequence of questions, highlighting a first portion of the sequence of words in a first manner;
in response to the user correctly answering a second question in the sequence of questions, highlighting a second portion of the sequence of words in a second manner while the first portion continues to be highlighted in the first manner;
wherein the first manner is different than the second manner.
5 . The method of claim 4 wherein highlighting the first portion in the first manner includes highlighting using a first color and highlighting in the second manner includes highlighting in a second color that is different than the first color.
6 . The method of claim 1 further comprising, in response to the user using the first control to correctly indicate whether the sequence of words is a complete sentence or a sentence fragment without having answered the sequence of questions, displaying correct answers to each question in the sequence of questions.
7 . The method of claim 1 comprising:
classifying each word sequence of a plurality word sequences in one or more classes;
for each class, determining a proficiency of the user based, at least in part, on one or more inputs indicating whether the user correctly identified one or more word sequences in the class;
selecting the sequence of words to present to the user based, at least in part, on the proficiency of the user in the class.
8 . A method comprising:
presenting, to a user, a first sequence of words that constitute a complete sentence;
wherein the first sequence of words includes:
a second sequence of words that represent a sentence fragment; and
one or more additional words that turn the sentence fragment into the complete sentence;
presenting a control that allows the user to select a particular fragment-fixing technique, from a plurality of possible fragment-fixing techniques; and
in response to the user selecting the particular fragment-fixing technique, displaying an indication as to whether the particular fragment-fixing technique was a fragment-fixing technique used to turn the sentence fragment into the complete sentence.
9 . The method of claim 8 comprising emphasizing one or more words in the first sequence of words indicating that a change was made to produce the first sequence of words.
10 . The method of claim 8 comprising:
classifying each fragment-fixing technique in one or more classes;
for each class, determining a proficiency of the user based, at least in part, on one or more inputs indicating whether the user correctly identified the fragment-fixing technique in the class;
wherein the first sequence of words is associated with the particular fragment-fixing technique, which is associated with a particular class;
selecting the first sequence of words to present to the user based, at least in part, on the proficiency of the user to correctly identify fragment-fixing techniques in the particular class.
11 . A system comprising:
a processor;
a memory; and
a grammar module configured to:
present a sequence of words to a user;
provide a first control that enables the user to indicate whether the sequence of words is a complete sentence or a sentence fragment;
provide a second control that enables the user to answer a sequence of questions, which, when answered correctly, indicate whether the sequence of words is a complete sentence or a sentence fragment;
wherein the sequence of questions comprises two or more questions;
enable the user to answer the sequence of questions without having first used the first control to indicate whether the sequence of words is a complete sentence or a sentence fragment.
12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the grammar module is further configured to, in response to receiving, through the first control, an incorrect indication that the sequence of words is a complete sentence, present the user with the sequence of questions.
13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the grammar module is further configured to
receive, through the second control, answers to the sequence of questions; and
highlight a portion of the sequence of words that corresponds to the question after the user answers each question in the sequence of questions.
14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the grammar module is further configured to:
in response to the user correctly answering a first question in the sequence of questions, highlight a first portion of the sequence of words in a first manner;
in response to the user correctly answering a second question in the sequence of questions, highlight a second portion of the sequence of words in a second manner while the first portion continues to be highlighted in the first manner;
wherein the first manner is different than the second manner.
15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein highlighting the first portion in the first manner includes highlighting using a first color and highlighting in the second manner includes highlighting in a second color that is different than the first color.
16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the grammar module is further configured to, in response to the user using the first control to correctly indicate whether the sequence of words is a complete sentence or a sentence fragment without having answered the sequence of questions, display correct answers to each question in the sequence of questions.
17 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the grammar module is further configured to:
classify each word sequence of a plurality word sequences in one or more classes;
for each class, determine a proficiency of the user based, at least in part, on one or more inputs indicating whether the user correctly identified one or more word sequences in the class;
select the sequence of words to present to the user based, at least in part, on the proficiency of the user in the class.
18 . A system comprising:
a processor;
a memory; and
a grammar module configured to:
present, to a user, a first sequence of words that constitute a complete sentence;
wherein the first sequence of words includes:
a second sequence of words that represent a sentence fragment; and
one or more additional words that turn the sentence fragment into the complete sentence;
present a control that allows the user to select a particular fragment-fixing technique, from a plurality of possible fragment-fixing techniques; and
in response to the user selecting the particular fragment-fixing technique, display an indication as to whether the particular fragment-fixing technique was a fragment-fixing technique used to turn the sentence fragment into the complete sentence.
19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the grammar module is further configured to emphasize one or more words in the first sequence of words indicating that a change was made to produce the first sequence of words.
20 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the grammar module is further configured to:
classify each fragment-fixing technique in one or more classes;
for each class, determine a proficiency of the user based, at least in part, on one or more inputs indicating whether the user correctly identified the fragment-fixing technique in the class;
wherein the first sequence of words is associated with the particular fragment-fixing technique, which is associated with a particular class;
select the first sequence of words to present to the user based, at least in part, on the proficiency of the user to correctly identify fragment-fixing techniques in the particular class.