Do they no longer teach English in schools any more?

Question

Or i's (sic) it a new fashion to be putting an inverted comma before every "s" these days? Do people not know the differnce in meaning between, for example, "Schools" (means more than one school) and "School's" (means belongs to the school, as in "That school's record is poor")?

I even saw a recruitment advert the other day asking for "Chef's... with skills" - i.e. they pluralised "chef" with ('s) but not "skill". Do people no longer bother to proof-read things?

I accept I may be turning into a grumpy old man, but surely I'm not the only one who finds this poor?

Oops - accept the criticism about using "no longer" and "any more" in the same question - quite right!

Spelling & use of words:
I had to sign my son's "Homework Diary" the other day, to say that I had "recIEved it" - this written by the school's KS3 Science Coordinator! As well as the spelling error, it is my son's book not mine, so how was I receiving it?

I've just asked my son to suggest a best answer, and his vote is for Hex's Dublin Airport "Taxi's", but I'm quite keen on waste having to suffer a mind!

Answer 1

No, they rarely teach language skills any more. Certainly not grammar beyond identifying simple parts of speech. Everything I know about English grammar (which sadly isn't that much) I've figured out from learning other languages and cross applying the principles.

Answer 2

They do try to teach it. The problem is, that most of the children , think because they speak the language, that they don't need to learn anything else about it. As far as they are concerned, they are able to communicate and be understood by each other, so what's the fuss?

I am not perfect when it comes to grammar, and especially on Yahoo. I do get lazy about using capital letters at the beginning of sentences and for the word "I" . Sometimes , I am so busy getting my thoughts down , that I am slack at adhering to the basic principles. Regardless of that , I find it very difficult to purposefully use incorrect or nonsense words. Though I do occassionally ; for fun ,use them when answering a question which is not meant to be serious. Admittably ,it feels like adultery.

I know about children's attitudes, as I am having a fine time trying to convince my own 2 , that they need to perfect their language skills. I have been reading a book from the Library called " Improving Your Written English" by Marion Field. It is very simply laid out and I am going to try and buy a copy from Amazon, so that I can drill the little buggers. As I have said on a previous question, I think the importance of communication skills are not explained enough to children . They need to understand why it is necessary to write correctly ,and I am sure that the teachers do try to convey this to them, but it may be too late by Keystage 3 onwards. Perhaps if parents were involved more in education they could help. I am not saying that they lack interest , but that schools do not allways communicate with parents. Their attitude is ,leave the teaching to us. I am convinced that from when children attend school , the teachers need to have an introduction evening where they explain how parents can help and what they are trying to achieve. Some notes, when appropriate ,such as those from the abovementioned book, will guide parents ,whilst they are supervising their children's homework. Another major factor ,which I have noticed when comparing my schoold days to those of our children , is that we had to correct our work ,which would have been underlined, if incorrect. We had to find the correct spellings in a dictionary and write out the word 3-4 times. I believe that encouraged us to look up words when unsure, as we did not want to have too many corrections. My 11 year old daughter does not want to use a dictionary ,as she says that the other children will think she is a nerd.

Answer 3

I think you may find that schools are trying to teach your child English and not a set of rules that don't help the child express themselves. The beauty of the English is not in the position of the multitude of little marks around the letters but the words and sentences. I teach English as a foreign language to students in China and most of them know the grammar better than I do but cannot write a reasoned argument because they don't know how to structure the words they need into sentences. Is that what you want for your child? Grammar and punctuation are merely tools not the ultimate goal of teaching English.
Rseercah has sowhn taht leettr oderr is not imprtnaot (if you can read this then need I say more?)

Answer 4

I think it's pathetic. Even in Dublin airport there used to be a sign "Taxi's".
But that's not the worst, in my opinion. Quite a lot of youngsters see orthography as redundant, too; "There are spell checkers, you know", and even many older people can't spell properly. In one shopping centre I found 6 spelling mistakes and 3 wrong apostrophes in different shops within 10 metres. Weird and wonderful things like "calandars", "fleeses" "parsel string" and "complamentary coffie" were on offer.
There has to be a reason...

Answer 5

Even spell checks will not find those errors.
If the word is spelled correctly, spell check will not recognize a misuse, such as you describe.
As one may use "no" and "know", spell check cannot determine a misuse of one or the other.

When educators misuse correct grammar, how can we expect them to correct a student?

I have read news reports, heard and read speeches, and sometimes have to read it twice to understand the writer's meaning, or in listening, say to myself, almost aloud, "HUH?"

What think you of this advertisement for "College Education"?

"A mind is a terrible thing to waste".

Who in hell came up with that?

I had a chat with an "English Teacher" who found nothing erroneous in that statement.

EOM

Answer 6

I Totally agree I also object to starting a sentence with a conjunctive, it is unnecessary. I am all for a language changing with the times but it is possible to keep the foundations or rules of the language so that people can understand it and limit the misunderstandings drawn from the written word

Answer 7

I don't think there is an absence of English teachings in our school. Rather, there's a lack of proper training and acceptance of using proper grammar.
I recall a business writing professor who told the class that you'll never be taken seriously or even communicate clearly if your writing skills are that of a five year-old.
I agree with you. I've seen a lot of letters,memos and reports in the workplace that make me wonder how the individuals ever got out of college.

Answer 8

I have to confess, I am intolerant of grammatical errors. I take great pleasure in correcting mistakes with my trusty red pen wherever and whenever I see them (once upon a time I was an English teacher and I guess it shows!). Blackboards outside restaurants are my favourites as it's so easy to simply wipe away the abomination of excess apostrophes, but wine lists are simply a joy: superfluous commas, nouns masquerading as adjectives, the whole gambit of errors can be found in one place. A true delight.

Answer 9

Canada ranks #3 interior the international in examining. (OECD, 2010). it rather is the utmost English speaking us of a surveyed, above New Zealand #4, Australia #6, united states of america #14, eire #17, and the united kingdom #20. Canadian colleges are frequently magnificent in coaching English. US college, approximately many times used for industrialized countries. and that i'm uncertain what "spiritually speaking" has to do with the coaching of English. in spite of the fact that, you're loose to devise non secular worship vs. those scores in case you like.

Answer 10

Oooh, improper punctuation is one of my biggest pet peeves. Check out the Apostrophe Protection Society. It's kind of comical, but we're not the only ones bothered by punctuation abuse.

I don't think you're a grumpy old man, nor is it snobby to expect folks to write well. English mastery does not require much effort or brains. When people are too lazy to observe simple punctuation rules, it's disrespectful to our language! Don't use English if you cannot be intelligible.