Clearly, we use brackets for in-text citations and for abbreviations, but apart from that, they are better removed. These ( ) are called parentheses in the USA or brackets in the UK.
Using brackets is usually a bad habit some people have. Lawyers love them. I once had a human rights lawyer who was completely aware of this bad habit and she let herself go in the drafts and filled pages with brackets. Then, when doing the final edit, she removed them all.
What is wrong with them? writers often ask me.
Well, for starters, it looks like you are including unnecessary detail or that you are undecided about what to include. They also break up the text, appearing like you have two distinct narratives going.
How can we fix them?
Let’s look at some examples from a journal I have been proofreading recently. Think how you would remove them. I have given suggested fixes but many fixes can work.
- While the model may seem similar to traditional assessments (which typically involve only stages 1 and 3), the introduction of stage 2 fundamentally shifts how students interact with source material.
- Learning can then be reinforced by giving the student a certain amount of autonomy in their choice of what or how they want to learn, by taking away (time) pressure so that they can develop their ideas and be creative.
- Many valued the digital setting as “comfortable” while acknowledging the high demands (even one native speaker noted that the level of difficulty remained substantial).
- Peer and self-correction is a classroom technique where students identify and correct their own errors (self-correction) or work with peers to correct mistakes (peer correction).
- This paper supports the idea that one assessment act (e.g. a test) can be used for many different purposes. It is a teacher’s ethical responsibility to understand what constitutes a good representation of A1 or A2 proficiency levels (or whatever standards are being used) and to recognize when learners demonstrate having reached these levels.
Suggested fixes
- Simply change the brackets to commas:
… traditional assessments, which typically involve only stages 1 and 3, the introduction of stage 2 …
- Simply remove the brackets:
… by taking away time pressure … - Use an “em-dash”:
Many valued the digital setting as “comfortable” while acknowledging the high demands—even one native speaker noted that the level of difficulty remained substantial. - Highlight the term with inverted commas:
Peer and self-correction is a classroom technique where students identify and correct their own errors, known as “self-correction”, or work with peers to correct mistakes, known as “peer correction”. - Change the brackets to commas and put the full form of e.g.:
… one assessment act, for example a test, can be used for many different purposes. … a good representation of A1 or A2 proficiency levels, or whatever standards are being used, and to recognize …
Thanks to Ash Charlton for the suggestion. Ash is an editor who finds them as annoying as I do.
Author: Carol Waites
Presentation/editing by Christina O’Shaughnessy
https://worldwidewriting.org/
________________________________________________
Carol Waites (PhD)
Email: carolswritingtips@gmail.com
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