Why are standards of English falling so dramatically?

Question

I'm 25 years old and work in a job that sees me handling all sorts of correspondence from members of the public and I am genuinely terrified at the dire standards of English displayed by all sorts of people including, worryingly, parents, teachers and professionals.

Now before you pick holes in the finer points of my grammar, I don't hold myself up as some sort of bastion of perfect English. But I can write and spell and generally construct proper sentences.

What genuinely worries me is when I receive a letter from a concerned parent (I deal with complaints about....adverts), and he or she just cannot write or spell or anything.

Why are standards falling so badly, and should I just get a life and stop being so snobbish about it?

I just wanted to add that I actually appreciate the evolution of language and, being a hip hop fan, I'm not adverse to dropping the odd bit of rap parlance into my words. Fo' real. But there's a difference between speaking in colloquialisms with my friends, and writing crap English. Y'all know what I'm sayin'?

Answer 1

Mobile phones - or to be more precise- text messaging. It 's bad enough in kids but when it comes to teachers - my God! I was reading my niece's school report and was horrified at the spelling mistakes made by her teachers. Her PE teacher had actually written "apon" instead of "upon". What really gets me is spelling errors in notices/adverts. Drives me nuts. If something is going to be on public display - get it bloody right! I used to be an instructor in Business Administration and I taught, among other things, typing, WP, etc. One of my jobs was scanning my students' work for ANY errors and I'm afraid I still do it automatically when I get a letter or am reading a menu, etc.

Edit: Forgot to say - no you're quite right and you're not being snobbish. I feel exactly the same and like you, although I may not always be grammatically correct, I can construct a sentence and I can spell. Speaking of spelling someone should do something about the spell-checker on here - it's abysmal - and it can't bloody spell! 99% of the time I check my own spelling - just as well.

Answer 2

I can tell you that this is not going on only with the English language. I am a native Spanish speaker and it happens here too.
In the past, someone tried to sell us the idea this was a problem of the poor. Now I see many people with degrees whose level of English (or Spanish, for that matter) is so poor that you have to wonder whether the degree is fake or not.
It is not about money. All those had access to education. It is aproblem of self esteem, maybe. Or simply they don't care. They can't understand that the way you write shows the way you think, to some extent. If you are not able to state your opinion in written form, you will probably not be able to communicate efficently an idea. Then where is communication going to? Even people who is supposed to have some ability with the language is poorly performing at it (http://www.phrasebase.com/blog/stop-sign-travesties.html )
People in the US is crying for all immigrants to learn perfect English. Afther the immigrants do that (if they ever do) then what? Will those immigrants will have to teach English to Americans?
It is sad when someone who studied your language as a second or third language knows more of it than you. I've seen it with some people who learn ed Spanish vs people I work with.
It is a sad thing. If you learned who to write, then SHOW IT! Don't be ashamed of letting the rest know you actually went to school. Many in poor countries never had that chance.

Answer 3

I don't think you're being snobbish at all. I completely agree that people should be able to use proper english. I can't stand spelling mistakes or the strange ways people enjoy typing on the internet.
There could be many reasons as to why standards are falling so badly, I would think IM and text messages would be the cause.

Answer 4

Exams have been made easier so that pupils reach their exam pass quotas the school needs to make it appear a high standard school. Our government is more interested in window dressing than substance. Statistics can always be made to sound good. There is a vacuum at the heart of New Failed Labour and the trouble is that they cannot see where they have gone wrong. The newcomers in the Labour ranks spout trendy new ideas which are harming this country irrevocably.

Answer 5

I agree with you entirely. I am only 13, but I've wanted to major in English for most of my life. At a very young age, I familiarized myself with all of the grammar rules. I can spell, punctuate correctly, and I don't say things like, "She's done good" when it should be "She's done well".
All of my friends use Internet abbreviations, such as the word 'people' becoming 'ppl'. It's just teaching them to spell poorly. They also write everything in lower case letters, which infuriates me 'cuz we need proper nouns in English!
I don't think very many people my age can even define what an adverb is, which really makes me nervous.
If people like Noah Webster and Samuel Johnson (masters of the English language) can use correct grammar, normal people like teenage Americans should be able to, too! : P

Answer 6

I think there are many reasons. But the increased multi-cultural nature of society means people of other languages have to be accommodated. There is no requirement for immigrants to speak and write English. Perhaps standards have to be droped as a result of accommodating pupils and employees who have English as a second language. Just a thought.

Answer 7

A while back teachers were 'ordered' not to correct all the pupils' spelling/ grammar mistakes for fear that it would traumatise them (diddums).The result is some of the semi-literate first language English people on here who can't spell or tell the difference between simple words like 'there' and 'their, 'to' and 'too' and 'lose' and 'loose'.
You reap what you sow.

Answer 8

What you are witnessing is the continuing evolution of the English language. Compare English today with that of 100 years ago and then 100 years before that etc.

The rate of change is greater now than ever before because of:

* Increased population
* Increased mixing of cultures - a good thing in my book
* New technology like the keyboard and SMS etc
* Creativity
* Loads of other stuff

There are more literate people today than ever before.

Answer 9

Unfortunately with a lot of young people it appears as if their spelling is learnt by using text language and their speech from modern songs which have words that include a corrupt form of English.
Their vocabulary does not seem to extend much further than 'Oh my God' and 'Wow', 'Yeah', 'gonna', 'wanna' and other similar words.
They probably tend to copy one another in this respect so as not to fall out with their peers who think its cool.

Answer 10

I know. I've asked this question before and it still pains me to see such terrible English used in the written word.
And no, I am not a snob, a purist or a fascist. I just like to be able to read what I see.