Arts & Humanities

English Grammar and Spelling

Arts & Humanities

Posted by: Ingi

22nd Jan 2014 05:30pm

Most people can't spell or put commas etc. in right spots. Why?


Comments 39

scoulj
  • 8th May 2014 04:45pm

My cousin started a TAFE course recently and she was told it was alright to submit essays with TXT abbreviation as it was not an English class. I think we need to look to lax education standards. People are lazy if you let them be.

Alyssa
  • 7th May 2014 09:14pm

English is such a ridiculous language where there seem to be more exceptions to the rules than ones that conform to them (due to the many languages that went into forming it), that it is no wonder that people can't spell. In addition with the advent of spell checking we have become lazy and are not practicing how to spell or using things like dictionaries to help. As for punctuation I don't think that people think about how they talk when they write or they would see where the pauses are.

jess312
  • 27th Apr 2014 07:18pm

I think when we naturally pause we're inclined to put a comma. The way I learned it at school was based on the natural speech patterns. We don't have grammar classes any more, especially not in high school. It's just taken for granted that we established a foundation during primary school.

Octavia
  • 25th Apr 2014 01:18pm

I used to volunteer in my son's classroom up until grade 4 (he is now in grade 6). I can't count the number of times that I saw teachers write incorrect spellings and punctuation on the whiteboard for the children to copy down. Sometimes I would have a quiet word with the teacher who would go and correct it (they must have hated having me in the class!) but I was truly shocked by the extent of it. If the teachers can't even get it right, what hope do the children have?! The irony is that they give spelling tests each week featuring lists of quite complex (but useless) words and these tests go towards their overall term mark. These tests are not even marked by the teacher, they are marked by fellow students who often mark incorrectly. As for punctuation, I think punctuation in general is a lost art, particularly since the advent of texting, tweeting and even emailing.

Sil sil
  • 22nd Apr 2014 09:45am

You can thank technology, soon kids won't learn to hand write. It's all abbreviated too, often people even speak like they are texting saying "lol "

silversoul
  • 14th Apr 2014 01:33pm

Coming from a younger prospective I believe it is because writing is no longer a formal thing and it is used in such a way, that for convince it needs to be shortened and if it is shortened why then use punctuation?

vichic
  • 12th Apr 2014 11:56am

i dont think this is taught in school as much these days . everything is done on computer which does it all for them . Very disappointing that many young people are unable to write ,spell or speak correctly .

Anonymous
  • 7th Apr 2014 06:50pm

Even though they do not put correct commas and spell, others can understand that sentence

marn
  • 7th Apr 2014 11:14am

there are different circumstances like english barriers as the English language is after all the hardest of all to learn.

marn
  • 7th Apr 2014 11:10am

pure laziness that's all it is 'just plain laziness. & for those who don't know how at some point were actually taught, these people fall under the same category as when our brains are not interested in a topic it takes a lot more work for the information to stick, when that extra work does not get put in they can't learn therefor brings me back to my point of 'just plain laziness'.

REDNECKBEC
  • 6th Apr 2014 12:32pm

i'm one of those people, for me it is more a spelling issue i type/spell what it sounds like more than paying attention to what i was tort at school. other people didn't get the luxury of of learning at school. the English language is very complex and there are many reasons on why a lot of people cant understand it. all i have to say to this is thank god for spell check :)

ralph48
  • 6th Apr 2014 09:00am

Most people can't spell or put commas etc. in right spots, because, my theory is we do not have enough practice in writing. Gone are the days where we wrote, telephones were invented instead of writing letters. Even emails, are informal too when it is personal. thats my theory anyway.

Anonymous
  • 5th Apr 2014 04:38pm

these days school education isnt as strict as it used to be. i find that children grow up with too much technology in front of them rather than a book. for this reason its easy for them to not need to know hpow to spell when they have a smart phone, ipad, etc

jess312
  • 4th Apr 2014 07:49pm

I think that we are taught to place commas in where natural pauses are intended. For example, that natural pause just then was where I inserted that comma. Without prior knowledge of commas, I can make silly mistakes like this one just based on the natural pauses in speech.

kristen
  • 28th Mar 2014 10:55pm

Many people struggle with grammar and spelling partly because of the lack of formal training in schools. With the development of "functional grammar'" teaching children grammar as they encountered it, gaps emerged and are evident today. Likewise with the vast spread of the English language around the world variations and inconsistencies have arisen, which further deteriorate the foundations of the English language.

Anonymous
  • 7th Apr 2014 06:23am
Boys in particular have got the message that reading is uncool. Spell check on internet documents makes it easy to correct words instead of learning them. There's not the seriousness around good...

I firmly believe regular and consistent reading is the key to correct spelling. The more one sees and mentally processes a word, the more likely he/she is to remember its correct spelling and context usage.
Punctuation has become a "can of worms" in Australia. Rarely does one see what was considered "correct" thirty years ago.
I welcome the "back to basics" mentality of the National Curriculum. Trouble is, many of the younger teachers have missed years of literacy education due to the "near enough is good enough" system. What a dilemma!

Sidonie
  • 3rd Apr 2014 12:59am
Many people struggle with grammar and spelling partly because of the lack of formal training in schools. With the development of "functional grammar'" teaching children grammar as they encountered...

Boys in particular have got the message that reading is uncool. Spell check on internet documents makes it easy to correct words instead of learning them. There's not the seriousness around good grammar, spelling and reading, as the internet has it all in front of them.

Anonymous
  • 28th Mar 2014 02:58pm

i think this is a just a tendency of the times wherein quality and attention are often superseded by herd instinct and consumerist quantity.

holdteus
  • 21st Mar 2014 03:52pm

The goal of writing stuff down is for the reader/s to understand what you mean, so as long as it works for the reader/s I cannot see a problem ...

annie
  • 19th Mar 2014 09:17am

I think because in schools the students do not learn grammar.When I went to school we learnt about nouns,verbs and adjectives.

gan
  • 18th Mar 2014 09:15pm

I'll admit it, I'm not a good speller and rely on the spell checker to get things right. My punctuation isn't the best either. Why? Because when it comes to English I've always been a bit lazy. It wasn't the teachers fault, I just never quite got it right as a kid and it has never been fully fixed.

Anonymous
  • 18th Mar 2014 01:43pm

A lot of the older generation were never lucky enough to get a full education, a lot had to go to work, battle or take over the family land at a young age. And then on the flipside, the younger generation have been brought up by technology, where grammar doesnt seem to be high on the priority list. Nowadays, too many people use the net lingo in all they do....I have seen proof of that in high school exams.

rosco55
  • 15th Mar 2014 11:43am

Many haven't learnt what is acceptable grammar - haven't been taught it because teacher doesn't know it either; see that it doesn't matter in practice unless formal report-writing; grammar and language conventions are constantly evolving so really anything is acceptable as long as communication is still achieved.

Anonymous
  • 14th Mar 2014 05:22pm

This may generally be due to the fact that at a younger age especially students, are not interested in English and grammar thus they are less inclined to listen to the teacher, if teachers could make lessons more interactive children and students could learn allot more and generally in many areas of their academic involvement. with today technology and the rising=g use of mobile phones, computers and electronics there is allot more frequent communication, thus people are less inclined to use grammatical terms and signings such as commas.

victory
  • 13th Mar 2014 03:43pm

Maybe they were not listening at school or was it the Education system, I don't know, everybody has their own individual way of learning. I was taught to learn, learn, learn, practise, practise ,practise. I can't spell every word in the dictionary, I sometimes forget to place a comma, it is a mistake that was not corrected properly at the time of learning. Hope my contribution has given some help.
MH

Ingi
  • 13th Mar 2014 04:14pm
Maybe they were not listening at school or was it the Education system, I don't know, everybody has their own individual way of learning. I was taught to learn, learn, learn, practise, practise...

Dear Victory, I cannot spell every word in the dictionary as well, have to stop, think and write the word out several times, but to say that the content of an item was more important than the spelling is a lot of rubbish in my eyes. I am not a genius at spelling but at my time of life am pretty good I think. I was retired nearly 3 years ago at the age of 69, not my choice, I loved working, especially for 37 years with the same company. Am on my laptop every day, laugh at some people's spelling and try to enjoy what time I have left.

Anonymous
  • 22nd Feb 2014 12:01pm

I guess, the way a person speaks can influence the way they write.

Anonymous
  • 23rd Apr 2014 03:16pm
Agree totally Ingi. I remember when my grandchildren were in primary school and, when I looking at their essay homework, noticed that spelling errors were never corrected. When I queried this I...

Totally agree Violetpatricia! And kudos to you Ingi! The teaching standards these days are horrifyingly low as more and more educational institutions rely on technology rather than teaching script ( handwriting) and grammar. Spellcheck has caused major disturbances in children's ability to comprehend grammatical errors, spelling errors and the like. I homeschooled my three children for 2.5 years and am frequently astounded now they're at school what is let slip through. I mean my fifth grader had texting lessons the other day in English with the view of learning abbreviation!!!

Anonymous
  • 14th Apr 2014 03:29pm
I came to Australia when I was 7 in 1949, did not go to kindergarten or pre-school, knew 5 languages, learned English on "Nelly'' the Italian migrant troop carrier that we came out on, my parents...

That is very true. I can't understand people anymore especially the younger generation. But i'm trying to teach them to use proper English around me and when they text me. they think its like a game.

summer
  • 7th Apr 2014 05:00pm
Agree totally Ingi. I remember when my grandchildren were in primary school and, when I looking at their essay homework, noticed that spelling errors were never corrected. When I queried this I...

I agree 100% with violetpatricia, when my children were at school and we received a news letter or similar, my husband used to go thru, correct the spelling errors, grammar, and punctuation, then send it back, suffice to say, we never heard back from the person it was directed at :)

summer
  • 7th Apr 2014 05:00pm
Agree totally Ingi. I remember when my grandchildren were in primary school and, when I looking at their essay homework, noticed that spelling errors were never corrected. When I queried this I...

I agree 100% with violetpatricia, when my children were at school and we received a news letter or similar, my husband used to go thru, correct the spelling errors, grammar, and punctuation, then send it back, suffice to say, we never heard back from the person it was directed at :)

summer
  • 7th Apr 2014 04:55pm
Agree totally Ingi. I remember when my grandchildren were in primary school and, when I looking at their essay homework, noticed that spelling errors were never corrected. When I queried this I...

jjdrer
  • 3rd Apr 2014 08:52am
Agree totally Ingi. I remember when my grandchildren were in primary school and, when I looking at their essay homework, noticed that spelling errors were never corrected. When I queried this I...

A "little" relative of mine is in Year 2. Her parents check her homework every night, especially since they discovered that the teachers don't mark or point out incorrect spelling. I wonder at what stage the teachers are going to start correcting spelling. They teach spelling !!! At least they don't actually call it spelling at the school she attends, they call them "sight words". Seems a silly way to me but that is the label on her book - written on it by the teacher.
Worse still I man I know personally was reprimanded for "incorrect"spelling when he was at High School. I can't remember the number of times but the teacher insisted he write the word the way she thought it should be. After doing his other homework he started writing the word the same as the teacher had written for him.
Being concerned that he should have long been asleep, his parents checked what he was doing. They checked the Dictionary and discovered that the teacher's spelling was incorrect.. His parents took him to school next morning instead of him catching the bus early enough to approach the teacher about it.
The teacher denied that the spelling she had biven their son was wrong so they went to the Principal. He was not impressed. Not only had the lad written out the word for over 2 hours, but he had to re-learn to spell it correctly

Anonymous
  • 26th Mar 2014 07:06pm
Agree totally Ingi. I remember when my grandchildren were in primary school and, when I looking at their essay homework, noticed that spelling errors were never corrected. When I queried this I...

I came across the same problem when my kids went to school (depending on how old the teacher was) the older teachers seemed to pay attention to the spelling where the younger ones thought we as parents were being too pedantic. I am 46 years old am the oldest amongst my peers and am constantly asked how to spell things on simple every day words which any one who knows English should know

Ingi
  • 13th Mar 2014 04:26pm
Agree totally Ingi. I remember when my grandchildren were in primary school and, when I looking at their essay homework, noticed that spelling errors were never corrected. When I queried this I...

Dear Violet Patricia, I totally agree with you as well, early corrections are the way to go, I think. Makes you remember the correct spelling for the rest of your life. Maybe the Teacher could not spell as well?

Ingi
  • 13th Mar 2014 04:16pm
Very well said.

Thank you Kathleen Rae.

Violetpatricia
  • 13th Mar 2014 12:39pm
I came to Australia when I was 7 in 1949, did not go to kindergarten or pre-school, knew 5 languages, learned English on "Nelly'' the Italian migrant troop carrier that we came out on, my parents...

Agree totally Ingi. I remember when my grandchildren were in primary school and, when I looking at their essay homework, noticed that spelling errors were never corrected. When I queried this I was informed that the content was more important than the spelling. They should have been corrected the first time and given a chance to spell it right the next time.

kathleenrae
  • 8th Mar 2014 10:15pm
I came to Australia when I was 7 in 1949, did not go to kindergarten or pre-school, knew 5 languages, learned English on "Nelly'' the Italian migrant troop carrier that we came out on, my parents...

Very well said.

Ingi
  • 22nd Feb 2014 02:27pm
I came to Australia when I was 7 in 1949, did not go to kindergarten or pre-school, knew 5 languages, learned English on "Nelly'' the Italian migrant troop carrier that we came out on, my parents...

I came to Australia when I was 7 in 1949, did not go to kindergarten or pre-school, knew 5 languages, learned English on "Nelly'' the Italian migrant troop carrier that we came out on, my parents paid their 10 pounds to come over here as Migrants under the Displaced Persons Act, I learned English on the ship and my typing skills. I loved school and was an average student. We were taught English grammar and the usual e.g. Arithmetic, Science, Geography, French and history etc. I tried to do my best, did 5 years of High School. Nowadays there is a lack of proper teaching, get back to Basics and concentrate on your spelling and grammar. Stop this "texting'' type of English.

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