a lesson in english for teachers

This letter should really light a fire under those churlish teachers who consider the teaching of 'proper' English too difficult and should be left to universities. Teachers will do their utmost to shield the public from the truth, but their sheer incompetence (laziness perhaps?) in the teaching of English can not be disguised any longer.

From the Australian 19/06/08.

IN a rather churlish letter (17/6), Garry Collins, president of the English Teachers Association of Queensland, thinks it’s our fault that students who aren’t taught English literacy in Queensland schools are still being admitted to university.


And I thought academics are the ones who are supposed to live in ivory towers!

Let me be clear. A large proportion, if not a majority, of my students cannot write a clear, concise and grammatically correct paragraph to save their lives. Those of us who care about the quality of the students we send out into the world are therefore compelled to correct their English so that they have a last chance to learn to communicate well.

This is not something we should be doing at university. Students are supposed to graduate from high school with a basic knowledge of maths, English, science and social studies. Our completely justified question, therefore, is why isn’t it happening? Instead of a reasoned response, we get the leader of Queensland’s English teachers telling us to quit picking on him - and if we’re so smart to do it ourselves. Fix the problem and we’ll stop complaining.
Dwight Lemke
Lecturer in management,
School of Business
James Cook University,
Cairns, Qld