PrintAugust 8, 2008
Defining literacy down
The war on standards accelerates in the English speaking world. Who needs to agree on spelling anymore? It is tough for students to learn to spell, so let's just let the little darlings slide. If we have a hard time understanding what a person is writing, apparently that's a small price to pay, according to a British academic. Luke Baker of Reuters reports:
Rather than grammarians getting in a huff about "argument" being spelled "arguement" or "opportunity" as "opertunity," why not accept anything that's phonetically (fonetickly?) correct as long as it can be understood?"Teaching a large first-year course at a British university, I am fed up with correcting my students' atrocious spelling," Ken Smith, a criminology lecturer at Bucks New University, wrote in the Times Higher Education Supplement.
The barbarians are not only within the gates, they are in charge of the defenses against barbarism, at least on far too many campuses.
Hat tip: Susan L.
