What is so wrong with speaking well?
I HAVE a three-and-a-half year-old little boy who is very inquisitive. I have spent so much time with him reading, pointing out words and correcting his grammar when he gets words wrong. I haven’t made it a mission so to speak, just a knee-jerk reaction when I hear an incorrect word.
I see absolutely nothing wrong with teaching your child to use the correct words in the correct context.
But some schools are being branded ‘racist’ for trying to improve pupils’ vocabulary (Mail). Ian Cushing, lecturer in English and Education at Edge Hill University, claims helping children to learn standard English ‘perpetuates racial and class hierarchies’.
The thought of my son going to school and hearing words which I have corrected him on and not being progressed horrifies and upsets me.
Children are like little sponges and absorb so much at this age, hence my trying to make sure he uses the correct grammar. It is completely unfair that he should be held back because he does speak correctly.
I have stopped him watching Bing on CBeebies as the character often uses incorrect words. I feel strongly that this is something that should be addressed. I imagine the writers do this because they think that is how some children speak (for example, ‘it hurted me’). But it makes it twice as hard for parents who are trying to get the correct words to sink in with their own children.
At schools, grammar should not be ‘dumbed down’. The emphasis should be on bringing up every child to follow the correct way of speaking, not holding back those who already do. I hope and pray that when my son starts school in September, staff will encourage speaking properly.