Re: spoken & written usage

[Rose Wilcox <RWILC -at- FAST -dot- DOT -dot- STATE -dot- AZ -dot- US>]

>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.

Although this is probably not on-topic for the list, I want to
point out that there are several opinions on babytalk among
child development people.  Some folks think that babytalk
is important in the learning of language.

For example, when my daughter was one year old, she used
to babble nonsense syllables - but in patterns mimicking the
flow and rhythm of adult speech.  She was learning the intonations
of our language.  Having had child development and linguistics
courses, I had a lot of fun with my daughter during these first
three years of learning.  At the babble stage for instance, I sat
down with her and proceeded to babble right back at her, with
similarly adult intonations.  She was delighted!  We had a great time!

But I did make it a point to be exact in language in other ways.  For
instance, the baby-sitter taught the children to point up to the ceiling
and say "sky" because they could not pronounce "ceiling".  But I
made a distinction with my daughter between "sky" and "ceiling".

I agree that when a child is learning grammar patterns speaking mostly
correct grammar is important.  However, a small bout of hearing an
adult speak incorrect grammar will probably not hurt a child, as long
as the majority of what they hear is correct.  It may give them a
more intuitive understanding of language to hear the same thing
said two different ways.

I was drilled in correct grammar throughout my childhood.  Maybe
some don't realize it, but there is an element of classism to our
grammar patterns.  My parents were working class people working
up to middle class, and my mother particularly wanted us to
speak properly so that we would fit in.

It has been helpful for me to be aware of this, and having heard
other patterns of speech besides the "correct" way, I can
set my grammar levels to the appropriate level for communication.
For instance, in my current job I have to interview construction
field engineers.  I don't want to come across as a college-educated
snob, because I already have the cross to bear of being a different
gender.  I don't want to sound like I don't understand language
either, since I am a writer.  I usually throw in some bad grammar
along with good grammar -- I show a range of speaking ability.

Of course, the most important thing is to be human. :-)

Sorry for my digression.
Rosie the Roving Tech Writer
rwilc -at- fast -dot- dot -dot- state -dot- az -dot- us

"Show yourself more human than critical and your pleasure will increase."
Domenico Scarletti