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Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Insanity at Rutgers

Hat tip The College Fix





The English  Department at Rutgers University is taking a double-barreled approach to dumbing down education. The College Fix has a report.

https://www.thecollegefix.com/rutgers-english-department-to-deemphasize-traditional-grammar-in-solidarity-with-black-lives-matter/

I have two immediate reactions. The first reaction is that it is not the task of an English department anywhere to teach social justice-however they choose to define it. It is their job to teach English skills to their students. I was an English (as a second language) teacher at the college level for 20 years. I never tried to teach anything else.  You teach what you are paid to teach, what you are qualified to teach by  your training.

Secondly, to let the rules of English slide in favor of a non-standard vernacular is doing injury to the students. It is a truism in any language that those who are unable to speak the standard form of their native language are at a disadvantage in life. That is true for English in America, French in France, Italian in Italy, Japanese in Japan and everywhere else. In the case of African-Americans, it is a disservice not to teach them to use English correctly. You want to hold black people down? Keep them from mastering the language. It is the vehicle of success. That an English department anywhere would refuse to teach the standard variety of English is an abdication of its professional responsibility.

This is the insanity that reigns supreme on our college campuses. All you have to do is read their own words to realize how crazy this is..

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope these events (in your neck of the woods) all remain peaceful:
https://voiceofoc.org/2020/07/oc-palestinian-students-organize-irvine-protest-against-israeli-plans-for-annexation/

Gary Fouse said...

I hope so too, but it just takes a spark. These pro-Palestinian folks are annoying and in-your-face. Thankfully, UCI is shut down or it would be worse. (Silver lining in the cloud, you might say).