Why are so many of these questions written with such bad spelling and grammer?

Question

I have read a lot of questions and answers in Yahoo Answers and most, at least 90%, have bad spelling or grammer. Is this an indication of our education system and what can we do about it? Does it have a knock on effect to encourage the dumbing down of almost everything, especially television - I am thinking of reality shows?

For those of you who corrected my spelling, I suggest you seek out the word 'irony' and maybe a trace of sarcasm.
I worry about this as these are the people I may be interviewing for a job in years to come. Accuracy is important in some fields of work, such as nursing; if you mistake a '8' instead of '5', for example, someone could wind up with almost twice as much drug as they need. And if you cannot be bothered with the fundementals in life why bother with anything else?

Answer 1

First of all, I believe that we all have the impulse to submit writing, especially informal writing such as Yahoo questions, without first proofreading it. Spelling cannot check everything, and even if it could, so many of us (myself included) believe that of COURSE we did it right the first time; why check? And then we see our writing, cringe, and realize we cannot edit our questions, only our answers.

Second, as an English teacher, I teach my students that there is a time and a place for Standard English. I teach them as my Applied Grammar professor taught me: "People are shallow: use it." This becomes important in situations like job interviews and the academic arena, and it could be important even in this one. Most internet environs, however, do not require careful attention the the judgment of the person on the other side of the screen. Even I do not concern myself with proper punctuation and capitalization in IM!

Of course it is true that there are non-native English speakers on the board. It is also true that there are careless people asking questions. However, it may also be true that some people do not take into account or concern themselves with the way they may be judged and the efficacy of the questions returned if they are not attentive to their spelling and grammar.

I do not think it is a matter of dumbing down necessarily, so much as a product of the internet environment here. Some of these askers might very well be able to write coherent sentences if forced to.

PS GrammAr

Answer 2

I find the lack of grammar and spelling irritating. Especially when there is a button which will check your spelling for you. It won't check grammar, but you can't have everything. I think a lot of what we see here is just laziness. Some comes from sheer negligence. You will have to decide for yourself.

I also think it's an indication of the lack of education that today's children are receiving. Regardless of how badly a child needs to be held back in school, they are pushed forward because of the need for more space. We aren't doing them any favours. When I was in school, if you failed, you failed. Your friends went ahead and you remained in the same grade for another year. Guess what? Those kids are successful today. They didn't turn out to be axe murderers. They are mature, responsible members of society. We need to go back to that.

I have communicated with people around the world (I live/work in Canada). If there is a spelling mistake or a grammatical error in an e-mail, that e-mail orginated in North America. All (yes 100%) of the e-mails I have received from overseas have NO errors at all. It is a pleasure reading them. Even from people who speak languages other than english as their primary language. Perhaps they have some kind of spell check/grammatical checking program that we aren't aware of.

Answer 3

I think it's just a symptom of the times. My son writes that way because as he says: Did you understand what I meant? Then why do you really care if I write that way? I have come to the conclusion he is correct- except in schoolwork or later on work related. His teachers do lower his grades for poor spelling and grammer. By the way, he is starting high school two years ahead in Math and taking advanced placement classes in three other classes and has passed all proficiency/ achievement tests.

I think in the cases where schools are "dumbing down" the curriculum, it is by demand of the parents. In a nearby city, parents flooded the school board meetings for weeks demanding that their children be allowed to graduate with their classmates even though they had not completed a senior assignment that they had known about all year. The parents knew, the students knew and make a decision not to complete the project. When it came time to graduate, parents were livid. They were on TV, newspapers, calling political leaders, anything they could think of. In the end, the school did not cave in.

Answer 4

Well marc-k I also read a lot of questions on here. And what i would like to know is why you and so many others are so worried about how I spell or my grammar. This ain't school so why do you keep asking the same question over and over. And even if it was school I ain't been in school in over 30 years. Do you and people like you not understand the questions or is it you just like to bich about the way people spell. Man get a life it's just a damn chat room not the end of the world. Who give a rats azz who can spell and who can't. Only people like you and you must be a teacher or a know it all or a NERD. So get over it stupid!!!

Answer 5

The majority of people do not bother to check the quality of their work when entered into a web application or, indeed, an email. I suspect that the problem is not so much a general 'dumbing down', more a reliance on spell check facilities when using PC applications.

BTW I assume your incorrect spelling of 'grammar' was deliberate?

Answer 6

I think it is a combination of the following things:
1. Apathy
2. Laziness
3. They feel they don't need to spell well when people respond anyways

and, for some of them,
4. English is their 2nd or 3rd language. I try to exercise patience if I feel this is the case.

Answer 7

Hi

It's not just questions on yahoo answers! I can think of a hundred reasons, but I think it stems from lack of focus on grammar in language teaching ( in schools) and text messages!
If bad spelling and grammar annoy you , you should read ' Eat, shoots and leaves ' by Lynn Truss. It's a treat of a book!

A

Answer 8

The great thing about the inter-net is that one can do things quickly. It is more an exercise in stream of consciousness writing. I think it. I write it. I send it. In the fast pace world it is very effective. Some of my best student writers love e-mailing and text messaging. Students have to know when formal writing is appropriate and when informal will do.

Answer 9

Whats even worse than the bad spelling and grammar is when they use numbers to spell the words.

Answer 10

People want to answer these questions as quickly as possible, so they cut corners and avoid punctuation or use abbreviations. I don't think this reflects the spelling and grammar habits of these users.

P.S. You spelled "grammar" wrong.