Why are so many questions on here so badly written?

Question

I have noticed that many questions on here are littered with spelling and grammatical errors, is this because many are too lazy to check the text before publishing their question, or does it prove my thought that education is dumbed down nowadays and standards are not what they used to be?
Does the English language GCSE not bother to mark down for spelling? When I was at school many of the teachers would refuse to mark work if it was not presented correctly and if it had too many spelling errors, and before anyone goes off on one, I am not 100 years old, just someone who firmly believes standards have dropped far too low! Are young people too reliant on spell checkers on PC's when they complete homework tasks?

While I appreciate this is on the WWW and english may not be the first spoken/written language for many, and appreciate the efforts many will make to practice their english, however looking at some questions, it is often fairly logical to assume english is the first language.

Answer 1

Why is it so? Well, a marked drop in educational standards is certainly noticeable but one will notice it in other English-speaking countries, too. English is not the first language of many WWW users and there are people out there who do it deliberately to make their sorry little selves stand out a bit more. Add to this those people who do not realise that text-speak on a forum is bad form and you should be well on your way to having your question answered.

Finally, it is not easy for even the better-educated to get it right all the time. Your own post contained four instances of missed capital letters, two of commas before a conjunction and one unnecessary comma. The spelling checker found two mis-spelled words in this post and was confused by one other!

Answer 2

The quick version: People from many different nationalities post here, many adolescents are used to talking like a text message (fewest letters possible), people are in a hurry to post, or they realize that their grade or job marketability does not depend upon how grammatically correct their post is.

The long version:
Ever since education has become a public issue, people have thought that it has been going downhill. (Look at Dewey's 1930s writings.) My personal view on the problem is that "no, education is not going 'downhill.'"
There is a great deal of merit to the argument of people becoming too reliant on technology and not being able to preform simple tasks (such as spelling or multiplication). I believe that both should be taught and mastered, however, one must also take into consideration that there is a great deal more to learn because of the era in which we live. More and more history happens every day and technology is ever progressing. Computer education alone takes quite a bite out of overall instruction time. On a side note, my HS Algebra teacher's stance on doing basic multiplication by hand was: If you're ever going to need to do this in real life, you'll have a calculator for the simple stuff. So use your calculator, and learn to use it well.

I would also beg to differ about standards being dumbed down "nowadays." When I was in school, a mere four years ago, I watched my younger sister (who is four years younger than I) battle with assignments two or more years prior to the time I had been given them (and by the way, I, with my less accelerated education, managed over 1400 on my SATs). The first time I ever had "regular" homework was in the fifth grade. She started getting nightly homework in kindergarten. Kids are being tested more frequently, the teachers being held more accountable (financing held over their heads), and unfortunately, it seems parents are taking less active action in students' education.
There are a culmination of factors that influence education and communication today. There are precious few of these factors that we can really control. Language changes too, we can't stop it. Albeit the French certainly try.

Also, I believe you meant "Why are so many questions on here so poorly written?"

Answer 3

Actually, there is a huge different in formal writing and language over the internet. The different and errors could be the way people talk over the interent. I don't know if education is dumbed down as much as left out. For example, grammar is rarely taught in schools today. It is a subject that no one like (not even I like it and I am an English major) also how to teach grammar is pretty ambiguous. I mean how do you make a horrible subject interesting to all students. The big problem with education is the fact that it seems everyone who is not a straight A student has some sort of learning disability. It can't be that they just don't like school. Most students who are proficient enough with Microsoft Word know that spell check is a big crock. It does not accurately crrect spelling or grammatical errors. In fact most of the time in makes a paper worse.

Answer 4

Someone asked a similar question on here recently, but I can't seem to find it at the moment. I think they were asking about English in Uganda, because they'd also got an email from someone whose English looked a bit strange. I think the gist of the replies was that English either isn't the first language there, or English has evolved so much there that it has a different grammar and spelling. Personally, I'd say it wasn't their first language.

Answer 5

Don't knock it too much as lots of people use the internet to communicate and learn. They may not have done well at school, but sites like this let them gain knowledge without feeling that they are asking silly questions or even have to be precise. I am an educated person but I make terrible typing errors which would never occur when I am handwriting something. I am also hopeless at proof reading, so that's why this answer isn't absolutely perfect.

Answer 6

Did it ever cross your mind that English isn't everyone's primary language? Look at the bottom of your screen. You see all those flags? People from all over the world are on here and they do their best to write their questions in English. As long as you can figure out what they are asking, it doesn't really matter.

Answer 7

You are assuming that all the questions asked are asked by British people, quite a few aren't for some reason. I do agree with you that spelling has gotten very bad these days. and we have SMS to thank for that, trying to fit long messages into 160 characters meant using acronyms and shorthand that have found their way into just about every other walk of life.

Answer 8

Man, you DO sound like a hundred. Haha. People are just less bothered about typos these days I guess. I mean this IS cyberspace for goodness sake. Nobody wants to be reminded of school 24/7 do they? But not me. I go by the book, stick with the rules, whatever you call it. There's nothinj weong witj my typinh is there? Good. I knew it.

Answer 9

A lot of people visit Q.+A.s to whom English is a second language, I think that we should be tolerant of their mistakes and give credit for them trying,I must admit that Ifind some of the mistakes amusing,so,be a little tolerant, try not to be so self righteous an ave a gud day

Answer 10

well it isnt that they dont know no better but if u think about it some ppl just dont care how look or spell some isnt just go with the grammer or spelling . and if u cant under stand what they wrote dont u write back ask why .and why dont u help some body out with there write spell and not complain about it .or worry about it . there alot ppl out in the world that didnt get help when they were lil and yes