Very long sentence help: ○×に関して...

Hi, can anyone help me with this long and complicated sentence?

○×に関して学生の意見が分かれた時や、内容について 質問が出た場合などは、クラスでもう一度CDを聞かせて もよいが、それが癖になると、学生は当然のことながら 、宿題をやってこなくなってしまうので、学生を信頼し て、クラスでは原則として答え合わせだけにするのがい いだろう。


This is what I get:

"As far as the '○'s and '×'s [i.e. the students' marking of statements as true or false] are concerned, if the students' opinions differ, and questions arise about the contents [of the CD], then you can have the class listen to the CD once again. However, if this becomes a habit ... ???"

At this point I'm stuck, though I'm guessing the last part may be saying something about its being OK to trust the students and accept a joint answer from the whole class? Unfortunately I have no clue what the intervening stuff about homework is saying...

eeky said:

Hi, can anyone help me with this long and complicated sentence?
○×に関して学生の意見が分かれた時や、内容について質問が出た場合などは、クラスでもう一度CDを聞かせてもよいが、それが癖になると、学生は当然のことながら、宿題をやってこなくなってしまうので、学生を信頼して、クラスでは原則として答え合わせだけにするのがいいだろう。
This is what I get:
"As far as the '○'s and '×'s [i.e. the students' marking of statements as true or false] are concerned, if the students' opinions differ, and questions arise about the contents [of the CD], then you can have the class listen to the CD once again. However, if this becomes a habit ... ???"
At this point I'm stuck, though I'm guessing the last part may be saying something about its being OK to trust the students and accept a joint answer from the whole class? Unfortunately I have no clue what the intervening stuff about homework is saying...

Click to expand...

You have the general idea of the sentence structure, but no. This long sentence can be split into two for greater clarity (although Japanese sentences can commonly ramble on like this.)

First part (or first full sentence when broken down:
○×に関して学生の意見が分かれた時や、内容について質問が出た場合などは、クラスでもう一度CDを聞かせてもよい。
Two conditionals:
(1) When the opinion regarding OX is split among the students
(2) When a question on the OX content is asked (presumably in the classroom)
THEN, you can play the CD once during class.

だが、それが癖になると、学生は当然のことながら、宿題をやってこなくなってしまうので、学生を信頼して、クラスでは原則として答え合わせだけにするのがいいだろう。

The underlined segment explains the reason:
However, this can grow into a habit & students naturally will stop doing their homework (turning in their assignments).

(Hence)... it is preferable as a general rule to trust the students and check the answers during class.

原則として meaning "as a general rule" is a frequently used phrase in Japanese to suggest that there may be exceptions to the rule.

答え合わせ literally means cross-checking each other whether the answers match. So, I think it means the students either look at each other's answers and find which one they got wrong OR the teacher gives them the correct answers.

Thanks epigene ... I see it now.

(At least, I see it as much as I ever will, given that I scarcely understand the logic even in English!)

eeky said:

Thanks epigene ... I see it now.
(At least, I see it as much as I ever will, given that I scarcely understand the logic even in English!)

Click to expand...

So true. There are many things that are given/implicit in this sentence that only the people within this circle (a class unit and its teachers, etc.) understand.
This happens a lot in Japanese.