Well, if it were not for the institute of Standard Written English, I do not think many people would know how to communicate the way we need to in this modern world. I mean, how silly would it seem if a sentence were phrased like, "I seen them walking, and I ain't sure, but thinks I seen him murderize her life." Some of the preceding sentence is used in common lingo, either to just be playful and silly, or because we do not always talk as we write, and we cannot be anal with our word-usage at all times. Then we would be teachers. Oops! I kid, I kid, because even teachers do not necessarily talk as they would have us write.
The question now is: if SWE is a good idea, then how do we go about teaching it? I say that there should be an equal mix of theory and practice, live and let learn. Perhaps the instruction would begin at a young age, and the pupil would be guided firmly yet kindly, not dashing the hopes of the child, nor coddling them, because both of those alternatives do not lead to anything fruitful. As the instruction progressed, and the child got older and more learned in the ways of SWE, they would be guided to put their knowledge to practical use, such as tutoring the younger ages in the ways. Kinda like Jedis and their Padawans.
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6 comments:
Kuddos on the Star Wars analogy.
I agree that SWE is necessary and at the same time it can be over done and used for mental torture. Learning SWE is like Presidential elections; you feel obligated to vote just so you can have a say in what idiot is the next leader of our country while at the same time you're having to endure mudslinging. Sifting through bad political campaigns is torture, but it can help you make good choices in the long run.
I agree wholeheartedly. The way in which certain things are handled can make or break a situation. And thanks for the kudos.
That sounds like a great idea. is there a practical application that you could give in realtion to your thoughts
I do not know if there is a practical application I can think of that would work differently than what we have now. I am not a teacher, so I could not presume to know how to fix the system, just that it needs to be fixed.
The answer is out there... somewheres. Think about it for a minute, if we know what bad grammar is when reading it, and we can point it out, but not label it, than don't you think the answer could be in reading with the support of grammar, or vice versa? WE all know bad grammar in some depth; it's just the labeling of the grammar mis-cues; thats what we are having trouble with.
I must insist on pointing out that there is an important difference between saying "bad grammar" and "grammar that does not conform to the conventions of Standard Written English."
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