I have two friends with very opposing views on grammar and I was wondering what everyone else thought. My one friend is always correcting everyone's grammar. She feels it is important that we speak English the way it was meant to be spoken. Of course English evolves, and we have to allow for that change, but saying things like "a really lot of" is just plain wrong. My other friend says the purpose of language is communication. If you know what I mean, who cares how I say it? On the one hand, I agree with him, that language is a fluid thing, it moves and shifts and it's fine to use it in any way that is understood. On the other, I see the value in having a structured way in which language is used. It certainly gives a better impression, one of intelligence and education, if I speak correctly. What does everyone think?
I also noticed an interesting paradox. Most people, and teachers, won't care if you speak incorrectly, so long as you dont' write it. We have all had teachers explain to us that the problem with our essay is we are writing the way we speak. If it's ok to speak incorrectly, shouldn't it be ok to write that way?
I never understood why we must learn grammar in school. It always seemed to me that we would learn the right way to use language simply by using it. If everyone read and listened enough, they would be so submersed in grammar they would begin to subconciously use it. This is the way babies learn to speak correctly far before they ever know that "bottle" is a noun. What does everyone else think? Is this enough for good grammar? Or do we need to know what a relative pronoun is to use it?
~Becca LaRosa
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I think both friends' arguments have merit. I don't think formal grammar prevents language from being fluid and shifting very much to the point of being significant. Sure, nowadays we sometimes forget to say "whom" rather than "who". I think it's certain social groups that either speak properly or they don't. If there's that person who insists on using "fewer" rather than "less" and imposes their way of speaking on others, the group may adapt. But if that person does not exist in another social group, that group continues the habit of improper grammar. Maybe the use of proper grammar is indicative of the education levels of the individuals, but not a huge factor. Usage of proper grammar is more of a social thing than a learned thing. We all learn it, but it depends on our personalities whether we choose to remember and implement it or not.
ReplyDeleteHowever, some informal grammar does yield new forms of speaking. Most teachers would label those new ways of speaking as bad... Using "if" rather than "whether," saying and writing "could of" rather than "could have." Other forms of informal grammar are used for entertainment. Song lyrics are known to use "ain't" and double negatives to fit the right number of syllables to make the song sound right. In poetry, the same thing happens to fit certain meter (Shakespeare's iambic pentameter). Even in entertaining books such as novels, informal grammar is written. The authors write how TC Mits would write.
Because of the discrepancies between speaking and writing, the people who care tend to have that part of the brain for speaking with friends--using socially acceptable colloqualisms, not sounding uptight and uncomfortable--and that other part of the brain for writing--removing prepositions from the end of the sentence.
I feel that while taking among friends or other close knit groups, the use of informal language with the occasional grammatical error is completely fine as long as the speaker is able to communicate his/her message. In intellectual contexts, however, one definitely wants to use correct grammar so as not to seem uneducated (I think one of the most common incidences of this is in writing).
ReplyDelete-Bryce Cody
I agree that as long as we are able to get our point across, incorrect grammar is acceptable when talking socially. However, I disagree with you, Becca, when you said that just speaking the language and being exposed to it is enough to learn the grammar. Last year in Mr. Thompson's English class we got a sheet of commonly made grammar errors, and I was shocked. I made most of the errors on that page on a daily basis, thinking they were entirely correct. While some grammar seems unnecessary to learn, it probably affects the way we speak and write whether we know it or not.
ReplyDelete-Alexa Kaczmarski
I think that it's important to attempt to preserve the current grammar that we use when writing. Although I agree that it's unrealistic to expect everyone to use perfect grammar when they speak, if we continuously allow grammar to slip in writing, we might see a significant deterioration of our language overtime. I also agree with Alexa, that growing up around a language is not enough to perfect one's grammar. While extensive reading and growing up around the language may give one an advantage, it's the rules that are learned in school that allow one to become a better writer and speaker in the long run.
ReplyDelete-Tara Burns
Everyone should always use correct grammar. Grammar does, after all, form the backbone of language. Even if we can still roughly communicate, poor grammar will significantly limit our ability to use language effectively. There is no instance when we should not strive to speak/write as correctly as possible. "How are you?" "I am WELL (not good)."
ReplyDeleteThat being said, we can still get nearly any point across even if the grammar is unatrocious. Anyone who has ever spoken with a foreigner, or been a foreigner for that matter, has seen this phenomenon in action. Because we can use words to mean practically anything we want, I would think we have certain liberties with the rules of grammar. Of course we want to be as correct as possible, but sometimes the message we wish to convey is more important than the means by which we deliver it. "How did your day go?" When one answers, "It went bad," they probably care less about their grammar than the sympathy they probably want.
Sorry. That was Colin Groundwater that wrote that.
ReplyDeleteI think grammar needs to be considered when writing and speaking. For consistency sake it should probably be followed to the letter in formal situations. In more informal situations, however, I think it is probably fine to use accepted bad grammar (e. g. slang, and the incorrect use of some words, like good instead of well). These are so common that they do not immediately jump out at people. The bad grammar that is problematic is the kind that everyone recognizes. It draws attention away from what's being said. If our grammar is atrocious, people will pay less attention the point of our statements.
ReplyDeleteThat being said it is probably best to strive for as much grammatical correctness as possible. If we don't the mistakes we make could eventually effect language as a whole and make things more confusing in the long run.
-Melissa C.
I agree. I think that grammar is important, but its more like guidelines than set rules. If we never used improper grammar, language wouldn't evolve. But if we are in a formal situation, we should use formal language, which includes proper grammar. If we are in an informal situation, it is okay to use informal language in which the grammar isn't always correct.
ReplyDelete~Elizabeth Campbell