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Church & State...
...at least you died trying! ;-)
CM "Marc" wrote in message ... | I didn't say that was the only word I missed. It was the 4th incorrect | out of 10, giving me an F. What is even worse, I brought the detergent | box to school as proof that I was correct. Learned how to spell a new | word that day, HUMILIATION | | | On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 18:06:05 -0300, "Capt. Mooron" | wrote: | | What kind of test is it that you only have to miss one word to fail?? | | CM | | "Marc" wrote in message | .. . | | Case in Point. I failed a sixth grade spelling test because I | | misspelled "does". My mother, at the time, used a laundry detergent | | brand named DUZ. | | | | | | On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 14:16:34 -0400, "Scout" | | wrote: | | | | Frank, | | Even with all the outrageous expectations placed on schools, they still | find | | time to do some serious and legitimate research. Take it or leave it, | here | | is some insight that the English teacher may have left out. | | There is overwhelming evidence (formal educational research) which | strongly | | suggests that teaching the conventions of English (spelling, grammar, | etc.) | | does not work, simply because it is taken out of context. Translation, | | students (people) learn the rules of a language much more effectively by | | exposure to others who use it correctly (i.e., via reading). | | Memorizing rules does not make significantly better writers. Reading well | | written literature does. Reading well written anything increases language | | skills. Well written work is focused, organized, has style, displays | | content, and obeys all the rules of the language. These things are nearly | | impossible to teach with memorization techniques. Reading teaches | language | | skills by example, the same way most of us learned to speak in the first | | place. At 3 years old, most of us could form sentences without the | benefit | | of grammar lessons. Why? Because we were imitating what we took in. We | hear | | before we can speak. We read before we can write (effectively). | | The catch, as I see it, is that many people don't like to read, for a | | variety of reasons. It's no wonder then, that they don't write well | either. | | Kids need to be read to from an early age, to have pleasant memories | | associated with reading, and to be encouraged and rewarded (initially at | | least) for focusing long enough to read an assignment. Good parenting | here | | is critical and irreplaceable. Like so many other things, if you can get | | them started early, they will enjoy much greater success later. | | One bit of evidence seems irrefutable: those who won't or can't read, | can't | | write very well either. | | The billboards you mention make a good point. The people who create them, | | I'm sure, know the rules of language well. Their casual (mis)usage | promotes | | and instructs others, albeit informally, to follow suit. They're selling | a | | product other than language, and have no direct stake in the educational | | outcome of their work. People see them, read them, and proceed to write | | using similar syntax. One way or another, we're all learning something. | | | | |
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