Re: spoken & written usage

[Romay Jean Sitze <rositze -at- NMSU -dot- EDU>]

To add another 2 cents worth:  Since we tend to write what we are used to
hearing, Virginia's comments on the importance of correct speech patterns
becomes even more important.  As a teacher, I have often encountered
students who simply cannot understand why something is incorrect on
paper, because it is written in the pattern they have become used to
hearing.

On Fri, 11 Nov 1994, Virginia L. Krenn wrote:

>      In one of my Educational Psychology classes (required for a Teaching
>      Certificate), we were taught that a child's language pattern is set by
 the
>      age of three and that it is, therefore, extremely important to speak
>      properly to young children (no babytalk, either). So, if people do want
 to
>      use poor grammar in their spoken conversations, I hope that they won't do
>      so around youngsters.

>      Just as bad writing detracts from understanding written communication,
 poor
>      speech patterns detract from understanding oral communication. When I
 hear
>      something that doesn't sound right, I stumble over it and then have to
>      catch up with what the speaker is trying to say.

>      ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________
>      Author:  Ronald Lee Stone <ston0030 -at- gold -dot- tc -dot- umn -dot- edu> at SMTP

>      Vicki Rosenzweig writes about certain usages:

>      > I'll edit them
>      > out in print, but I don't worry
>      > if I hear someone say them.

>      I agree with Vicki here, although when I find myself saying something
 that
>      I would edit in writing, I will sometimes be concerned.

>      For example, I will change

>      < The student _that_ writes the best essay gets <   published in the
>      anthology.

>      to

>      < The student _who_ writes the best essay gets <   published in the
>      anthology.

>      This may not even be as much of a grammatical issue
>      as a stylistic one, because the relative pronoun 'that' _can_ be used for
 a
>      person or persons. Yet the use of 'who' for a person or persons can be
 more
>      informative, and sometimes even grammatically necessary.

>      Anyway, in a recent conversation I found myself say 'that' as a relative
>      pronoun for a person and wondered how that might happen, especially after
>      suggesting the use of 'who' in such a case as a teacher. I chalked it to
 a
>      usage difference between speaking and writing.

>      Until later,

>      Ron


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                RoMay Sitze                 rositze -at- nmsu -dot- edu

                Practice makes perfect--or perfectly awful.
                It depends on what you practice.

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