Dumbed-down education

[Babelfish]

The lass who wrote this (in her 20s, friend of a friend on Facebook) apparently has five A Levels and a degree in psychology (which is why it jumped out at me). Cut & pasted letter for letter as-is:

"Delicious is nice haha sept when I was in school a worker there insulted my makeup and my friends I was like wow a adult insulting a child professional haha. Also can't beat a bit of Geoff's DIY haha xx"

I know that for the past 20-odd years successive UK governments have basically followed a "prizes for all" approach to education, and for some reason feel it's a priority to shoehorn at least 50% of all school-leavers into higher education, many at "pretend" universities studying for Mickey Mouse degrees that aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Just so that no-on feels "left out" or "deprived of opportunity". All very well-meaning of course - but very misguided. And of course bars have been massively lowered as a result.

This kind of gibberish is everywhere these days (a lot of it even worse than this), and it begs the question of how/what kids are being taught in schools these days. Do you seriously get school-leaving certs and degrees now with such a crap command of basic grammar, spelling and punctuation?

Sorry for the rant, but as someone whose bread & butter is the written word, this kind of dumbed-down **** really grates my gears, and I just had to vent my spleen.

Geoff's DIY is a local shop by the way (in case you were wondering).

- Steve

 

[DEL]

It's more a generational thing Steve rather than anything else. I agree that to an extent the term University has been devalued but as far as most courses in the University of Glasgow are concerned grammar is still of paramount importance. My daughter who graduated with MA Joint Hons this summer regularly got dragged over the coals for grammatical mistakes. No bad thing, by her graduation the quality of her written work was unrecognisable by comparison to that of her first year.
I showed her the quote you posted and she just couldn't see the problem. She pointed out that the structure of sentences on social media is not reliant on punctuation but is more to do with the reader being tuned into the language and perhaps having a background knowledge of the subject being discussed.
What she pointed out was that this has to be treated as a face to face conversation that does not involve face to face interaction. She reckons that reading this she can sense the facial expressions of the author and that's what gives 'colour' and context to the words.
I feel very old

 

[Dan Morton]

"I feel very old " Me too, brother! On some days a lot older.
This chart, produced by somebody called the work flow management coalition, is a nice summary.
All the best,
Dan

 

[billyturnip]

On the subject of text/internet language I love it when it's done using local dialect. I've had some great texts from the NE of Scotland using Doric, makes me laugh everytime.
I often use Yorkshire words and expressions in emails and texts, it gives me a lot of pleasure in the knowledge I can legitimately use the word c*** in place of could not.

 

[swralph]

This is a question my son was given as homework when he was younger.As close as I can remember.
Only two of the following vowel's can be used together to make a single word.
A E I O U.
Which two are correct?

I told my son to write that all of them can be used together.
When my son received his marks,he came home and proudly told me that I was wrong.
Very perturbed about this I contacted the school to ask why my son was led to believe that the answer was wrong.
Having had a meeting with the head of the school he tried to explain why I was wrong and they were right.
Getting really annoyed at this point I asked him to get a dictionary,I then showed him five word's where all vowel's can be used together.
The look on his face was pure embarrassment.He said that the problem will be sorted out.
A year later my daughter came home with the same homework and the same question.........

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Yes, being able to read and understand what the words means seems to be a curse today?

Cheers
Janne Nilsson

 

[Nap]

Well Guys


You can't beat today's modern educational system .....at my school you weren't in till to bent ver and received a hot potato ...up yer armpit........

By the way I have a degree in knitting as well as paper folding ...lol ...well actually 2 A levels oh and my firefighting badge from the Cubs !

Nap

 

[billyturnip]

oh and my firefighting badge from the Cubs !

Nap

That's the one you get after the fire lighting badge.

 

[Rich Sculpts]

. Also can't beat a bit of Geoff's DIY haha xx"

Geoff's DIY is a local shop by the way (in case you were wondering).

Thank goodness my imagination was working overtime

-Rich

 

[billyturnip]

Thank goodness my imagination was working overtime

-Rich

I bet Geoff's is as well.

 

[DEL]

Well Guys
oh and my firefighting badge from the Cubs !
Nap

That's the one you get after the fire lighting badge.

...... and before you got your keeping a secret badge ........

 

[Babelfish]

She reckons that reading this she can sense the facial expressions of the author and that's what gives 'colour' and context to the words.

Me too Del. I see in my mind's eye a harebrained, vacuous bimbo with a vacant expression and too much mascara, and who says "OHMYGOD" a lot into a mobile phone that spends so much time next to her ear that it's in danger of taking root. Someone who probably thinks that New York is the capital of the USA and that Churchill is a dog that sells insurance. Possibly unfairly, but that's what I imagine when I read something like what I read this morning.

I've heard the argument that "punctuation is not important" before, but I would have to respectfully disagree with your lass. Most of the time it's just an excuse for sloppy and lazy writing. The odd slip or typo here & there isn't the end of the world. We all do that. But as far as I'm concerned there's no excuse for the festivals of bad grammar, ****** punctuation and "txt spk" that seem to be everywhere these days on social media and online forums (not here though thankfully!). Especially when it's just as easy to get it right. We learned all this stuff in primary school, for gawd's sake! Do they not teach it any more?? A missing or misplaced comma or full stop can (although granted doesn't always) alter the whole meaning of a written statement.

Social media of course is one thing, but it's a LOT worse when you see it in official documents, letters etc. I've seen some proper grammatical horrors from banks, insurance companies etc. and on printed flyers pushed through the door. It doesn't do much to instill confidence in the organisation in question - especially if they're hoping to flog me something, or want me to vote for them (I've even seen it on political party leaflets for council elections).

Another pet hate of mine that you see a LOT these days is apostrophised plurals. As in "We took the dog's for a walk". To which my response would be "took the dog's what?"

Like you say, a lot of it is generational. The stuff that mattered to us just doesn't seem to matter as much these days. Still matters to me though!

- Steve

 

[Babelfish]

Thank goodness my imagination was working overtime

Exactly why I thought I'd better clarify it!!

And I'd wager that what you really meant was "Thank goodness. My imagination was working overtime". Not that you were relieved that your imagination was working overtime (which is what you actually wrote!)

Seewhaddahmean?!!

- Steve

 

[Blind Pew]

And I thought I was an uneducated slob from Salford! Maybe I am, but the standard of my written English blows this lot away.
To be honest, I use it a great deal to my advantage in work. I am more than capable of writing an intelligent, cogent and forceful rationale on paper. I often use it as a fait accompli when I want reports into things to get binned. I make things very difficult to argue with on paper. I generally win, as most people don't fancy taking it on intellectually.
So I run rings around the whipper-snappers at every opportunity.

 

[DEL]

Me too Del. but that's what I imagine when I read something like what I read this morning.
I've heard the argument that "punctuation is not important" before, but I would have to respectfully disagree with your lass.
Still matters to me though!
- Steve

That's the point...... you're not the other half of the 'conversation' so you have no investment in the discussion.
She didn't say punctuation wasn't important what she said was that this form of communication wasn't reliant on punctuation.
Her generation text at a speed that beggars belief so they have simply developed a 'shorthand' that meets their needs..... it's simply a form of communication that has evolved to make use of phone technology. It's also much cheaper than a call.
Ah! the good old anarchy of the apostrophe

 

[John Bowery]

In The States they no longer teach Cursive handwriting So I don't know how they are going to sign legal papers????? like a driving license. They are also teaching what is called "New Math" This means that you can get the wrong answer and it is right??????????????
Cheers
John

 

[peedee]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh my brain hurts with all this aggrievement from misuse and context of language.

I kno tha wen kids txt they don need to spk in full sentences.
Cos it all still makes sens to them yeah?.....

There have been many articles and discussions on this idiosyncracy as a modern curse reflecting our educational system and declining standards. Their independant conclusion is, as I suspected, that it is a visual and textual explanation akin to the continual evolution of slang in speech.
We have used the equivalent of txt spk for hundreds of years.
it has always been so, even by the most feted and illustrious writers.
In every period of history there have been bemoaners of shorthanded methods of idiomatic speech and phrase.
It's part of the human condition of the need for demonstrating belonging to a group.

I don't think it's anything to be upset about, you understood
both the direct meaning and the nuance of that which you read perfectly, otherwise you wouldn't be 'upset'
Some wonderful phrases have resulted from all of this over
the years and taken into everyday use.
So.....in conclusion....

**** not given

Miss your face.

Paul.

 

[sd0324]

You dudes are true wordsmiths.

 

[Chrisr]

I have just read a chapter, which is a contribution to a collection of chapters by several American historians on the Chattanooga Campaign edited by Steven Woodworth and Charles Grear. Written by an assistant professor at Blue Mountain College, it reads like something produced by a first year high school student. Repetitive and immature in its presentation, so what can we expect from his students?

 

[Blind Pew]

Yes, this language of ours is constantly evolving. I think I read somewhere that text expressions like 'LOL' & 'FUBAR' were in common usage amongst the Morse code and telegraph operators especially in WWII.
Although somehow, I look at all that crap and think it's regressing.
Thing is, texting a mate is one thing. Writing properly is another and I would have thought these 'graduates' ought to be able to tell the difference.