Judging from many of the questions and answers on this forum, I would say not! The general standard of spelling & grammar is appalling! What do people from other countries think (I am in Australia)
2007-12-24 14:10:47 · 11 answers · asked by Poodlemum99 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Yes, it is taught, and taught, and taught. I am a former teacher, and many of the answers you've had already give you a good idea of what is going on. Especially Guitarpick! So many kids just do not care! Since they live on their cellphones, text spelling is all they need to know, it seems. Grammar and a good vocabulary are meaningless. We have a lot of students who do not speak standard English at home, so they often vigorously oppose any suggestion that they need to learn how to speak "better". Their parents are not supporting their educations by helping them or encouraging them to improve. Teachers work very hard to give them a good education, but it takes a village as the saying goes. I chuckled over the quote about leading the horse to water. Dorothy Parker, a quick-witted writer in the 1920s, was once asked to use the word "horticulture" in a sentence. She quipped, "You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think." I felt that way in the classroom!
To the person above who wrote that standards for teaching are hours in the classroom, that is not true. We were under such pressure from the school district and state to demonstrate very high standards and have our students perform very well on state and district exams. We were frequently observed by supervisors and graded very strictly on dozens of performance standards throughout each lesson. We were graded mainly by the results in our students. We had to go to training sessions all through the school year, covering old ground again and again, so that the district could cover itself before the state, that it was doing all it could to improve teaching. I finally decided to quit the profession I had loved when I realised that I was now a factory, producing faulty products, and being blamed for it.
2007-12-24 16:02:55 · answer #1 · answered by Snow Globe 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm an American, and as of Dec 25, 2007, I am in the 11th grade. IIRC, up until the end of 6th grade, we would have a spelling test about once a week, with pretests and homework activities relating to the words in between. That's how things were done at my school; practices may vary from school to school, perhaps even within the same school district. I don't remember learning much grammar during all the time I spent in school. My 10th grade English teacher told my class that American schools do a crappy job teaching students grammar.
2007-12-25 04:38:20 · answer #2 · answered by Proud Ho 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They are supposed to but I have to wonder what teachers are doing in the classrooms these days. I know there are some good teachers out there but they have such a time trying to control the students that all their time is taken up trying to maintain order in the classroom. Parents these days are too busy to be bothered by the teacher/parent conference that they never get on the same page about the child learning what they should be learning. If the cost of living would go down to where both parents didn't have to work to make ends meet the kids would probably learn more because the parents wouldn't be too stressed out to help their kids.
2007-12-24 22:26:38 · answer #3 · answered by Medicine Woman 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Spelling and grammar are definitely taught in schools, however, with the extent of texting these days, there is an expressed need for abbreviating everything--hence the horrific spelling and grammar.
I'm sure you've heard the saying "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."
You can teach kids spelling and grammar all that you want, however, it doesn't ensure that they will use it.
2007-12-24 22:20:51 · answer #4 · answered by Witchy_Woman 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
It bugs me to no end, too. Students here are taught. Sadly, students tend to be apathetic and the teachers horrible. Standards for teaching are number of hours, not quality of teaching. I'm just glad I was raised by my mother, who is quite the spelling and grammar Nazi. :D
2007-12-24 23:35:18 · answer #5 · answered by 雅威的烤面包机 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
spelling and grammar are taught in America. however, the standards keep getting lower and lower. more time is spent worrying about the student's feelings toward their grades than is spent trying to fix the problem.
2007-12-25 14:03:31 · answer #6 · answered by silver d 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They used to. They still try but, obviously, not too well. It's all that self esteem. No one gets held back anymore. Just passed on to the next grade. Then, high school graduation day comes and if the kids don't have the credits, they just don't graduate. Unless they come up with extenuating circumstances, of course.
2007-12-24 22:36:40 · answer #7 · answered by murigenii 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Me, I was only taught grammar in elementary school. I learned most of the grammar I know now by reading.
2007-12-25 19:32:52 · answer #8 · answered by Herzeleid 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is not a situation that is unique to Americans, have you seen some of the garbage our Australian kids write. You have to have a degree in code breaking to read it.
2007-12-25 01:10:59 · answer #9 · answered by colin b 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm sure the topics are taught, but the students are playing with their iPods and cell phones--or flirting with one another too much.
2007-12-24 22:18:03 · answer #10 · answered by Guitarpicker 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋