[no subject]

[Guy McDonald <guym -at- DAKA -dot- COM>]

Please, let's knock this stuff off.  Arguing about spelling is like my kid
 fighting over his toys in the sandlot.  Thank you.

Richard is on the right track by focusing on the Certification issue.

Guy McDonald
guym -at- daka -dot- com

----------
From:   Richard Mateosian[SMTP:srm -at- C2 -dot- ORG]
Sent:   Thursday, December 28, 1995 12:35 AM
To:     Multiple recipients of list TECHWR-L
Subject:        Re: Vital Skills, Spell Checkers :-)

>I think it reinforces Sue's point, that spelling is not among the vital
>components in tech writing.

That's the crux of the problem, isn't it?  Who decides what's vital?

You're no good at spelling, and you say it's not important. I'm an excellent
speller, and if I were dictating certification policies, good spelling would
be a requirement.

I'm also proficient at standard English. I'd make that a requirement.
Someone else might find Japanese or French more appropriate.

Fluent speakers of Black English Vernacular might be a lot better at
communicating with some audiences than I am, even if they lack proficiency
in standard English.

How about American Sign Language?

Do we design a certification program that accommodates all of these options,
or do we leave language proficiency out of the requirements entirely? Or do
we say standard English only and let all those other folks fend for themselves?

One reason that many of us feel uneasy about certification is that there
isn't an agreed upon body of core material. If we can't settle on something
as clear cut as language proficiency, what can we agree on?  ...RM

Richard Mateosian        http://www.c2.org/~srm/   President, Berkeley STC
Freelance Technical Writer     srm -at- c2 -dot- org        Review Editor, IEEE Micro



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