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Re: Need Your Opinions re Simplified English (Can I quote you?)
Subject:Re: Need Your Opinions re Simplified English (Can I quote you?) From:"Gary Clark" <Gary -at- wtw -dot- org> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 31 May 2002 08:22:20 -0700
In response to Keith Cronin, and others who hold his viewpoint:
You are free to call these uneducated products of a failed education system
anything you like.
So am I.
By downgrading your writing to 'cater' to the uneducated you corrupt and
downgrade the language itself over time. By buying into the concept that,
since the un and under educated must be 'catered to' you become part of
the problem and a contributor to further degrading of the language.
Gary Clark
Las Vegas, Nevada
>
> In response to Gary "ALL CAPS" Clark's posts-
>
> I think you're missing an important point: The level of literacy of native
> English speakers is not uniform. One of the tenets of plain or simplified
> English is to tailor the language used to match that of the expected user.
>
> Thus, the instructions you write for a MCSE systems administrator might
> not reflect the same sort of language you might use in telling a forklift
> operator how to stack a pallet.
>
> We do not all read at the same level. Many productive members of society
> find the act of reading difficult, unpleasant, and daunting. You might
> call them simpletons; I'll stick with calling them users.
>
>
> -keith cronin
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