Re: Welcome back Will!
Camille Scaysbrook (c_scaysbrook@yahoo.com)
Wed, 18 Aug 1999 17:10:10 +1000
Paul Kennedy wrote:
> The big buzz words were something really stupid called "Whole
Language"....
> According to this crock of shit, it was tantamount to abusive behaviour
for
> me to even suggest changes to her bad spelling or atrocious grammar. The
> first problem came when I asked my daughter to read me one of the
wonderful
> stories she had written. She was unable to decipher the ill-ordered
letters
> and words that polluted the page. I explained that if SHE couldn't read
it,
> who the hell could be expected to read it....
I'm afraid I agree with Paul on this one. Despite all my radical ideas, I'm
quite conventional at heart. Language and words are our tools, to mis-shape
them or mis-use them is to me like trying to a sew up a seam using a piece
of dental floss wrapped round a sharp knife. It's slow and pointless and
besides, tools have already been designed specifically to sew seams ...
which is a pretty hard job anyway. We'll never get very much closer to
expressing the desired 100% of what we mean, keeping the rules of language
fairly secure we ensure that we get as much out of it as possible. I accept
that the rules of language sometimes can and should be broken to get us
closer to this golden 100% - but this is not something a six year old kid
should be expected to know or care about. I've always been a big fan of `ya
gotta know the rules before you can break em'.
In Australia someone finally realised that all us kids grew up not knowing
how the hell to actually write so they've taken the radical step of
reintroducing grammar into the curriculum. Good for them.
Camille
verona_beach@geocities.com
_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com