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 #17 (permalink) Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:53 am U.S. classroom English is a kind of dead language |
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| It is probably a dead language because it no longer exists in American classrooms, particularly with regards to British literary traditions. |
Isn't the point in the quote that the language of the American classroom of that time was said to be a dead language because it differed greatly from the language outside the classroom?
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| Professor Porter G. Perrin also found a discrepancy between classroom English and the way most people talk. |
I was wondering if the same or a similar discrepancy exists today in the USA. Taking focus away from the USA - in order to calm the natives, how about in Ireland, Ralf? Is there a discrepancy between Irish-classroom English and the way most people talk? |
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Molly
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| #18 (permalink) Tue Oct 21, 2008 12:16 pm U.S. classroom English is a kind of dead language |
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| Molly wrote: |
| Isn't the point in the quote that the language of the American classroom of that time was said to be a dead language because it differed greatly from the language outside the classroom? |
At the time this was probably true for any country.
| Molly wrote: |
| I was wondering if the same or a similar discrepancy exists today in the USA. Taking focus away from the USA - in order to calm the natives, how about in Ireland, Ralf? Is there a discrepancy between Irish-classroom English and the way most people talk? |
It's hard to imagine that this discrepancy does exist in Ireland, America or South Ossetia today. How about Nigeria?
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 Ralf
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| #19 (permalink) Tue Oct 21, 2008 13:48 pm U.S. classroom English is a kind of dead language |
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| At the time this was probably true for any country. |
Probably, but which countries is it still true for? Nigeria, is one, IMO. |
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Molly
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| #20 (permalink) Wed Oct 22, 2008 0:44 am U.S. classroom English is a kind of dead language |
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Of course, things are quite different in Nigeria, where English is a second language for almost everyone. That doesn't apply in Ireland or America.
Moreover, most English teachers in Nigeria do not have English as their native language, and have mostly been taught by other non-native speakers.
A truer comparison would be between the first languages as studied and spoken in Nigerian classrooms; or, since it's now a requirement to learn Hausa, etc. at school, between e.g. Hausa as spoken and studied.
(It would be interesting to hear the thoughts of a Nigerian on these recent educational developments, by the way.)
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MrPedantic
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| #21 (permalink) Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:32 am U.S. classroom English is a kind of dead language |
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| Of course, things are quite different in Nigeria, where English is a second language for almost everyone. That doesn't apply in Ireland or America. |
So do you imagine that the English taught and used in those Nigerian ESL classrooms matches that spoken by most people in Nigeria? It seems you do.
BTW, in the context of Nigeria, what does "English as a Second Language" mean for you? Do you think, for example, that most of the English taught in Nigerian secondary schools is similar to that taught in ESL academies world wide? Have you, for example, compared tests from Cambridge ESL exams and those set by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC)?
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| A truer comparison would be between the first languages as studied and spoken in Nigerian classrooms; or, since it's now a requirement to learn Hausa, etc. at school, between e.g. Hausa as spoken and studied. |
I think you'll find that it is standard Hausa which is taught in schools, and there's a lot of people who don't use that form outside the classroom. |
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Molly
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