Job Discussion Forums

Cool Teacher · Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 3:13 am Post subject:

Hay guys! Can we calm it down a litte because I think the discussion can be interesting but sometimes people have made some extreme rhetoric one thing I think it is not a good idea to say is things like "If you disagree or don't understand then you have no place in a classroom"-type insults. I think we should accept that there are disagreements.

Pitarou said, "I hope this doesn't degenerate into a flamewar, but I must say that I cannot agree."

I agree, so lets not do the insults too. Wink

But I think one important thing is that language and its use and what is right and wrong is not the same as maths, so this example isn't right:

Cool Teacher · Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 3:16 am Post subject:

Cool Teacher · Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 3:20 am Post subject:

ssjup81 · Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 6:46 am Post subject:

Just thought I'd jump in and give my opinion on some of the conversation that's been going on.

In all honesty, if a student uses some other way to express something, but is technically correct, I would usually say something like...

"This form [what was taught] is more grammatically correct, but if you travel to <insert place> you may hear, <insert phrase> [what the student used], instead, which sounds more natural."

The average person doesn't always use perfect grammar when speaking, and I think students should be introduced to this too, especially if they plan to travel in a general sense, but of course it does entirely depend on the type of students you're working with.

It's no different from those who learn Japanese (or any other language). It's very formal. Yes we learn the grammar and its basics, but hearing natives speak it is a whole different story. Sometimes they don't speak what's actually in the textbooks because of the different dialects and vernacular used throughout the country. It also might sound unnatural, and I'm corrected all the time for the Japanese I use. I know the basic grammar set up and use it in that way, but might get the, "It's not wrong...but it sounds strange" response. "It doesn't sound natural."

It's like when I took Spanish. I was taught vosotros/vosotras form, which is no longer taught now. It's uncommon to hear those forms outside of places like Spain. Other Spanish-speaking countries, don't use it, which is probably why it's not taught as much anymore, and the fact that most of the Spanish immigrants in the US emigrate (or emigrated from places like Mexico, Central America, and Cuba. I can only speak for where I grew up, though, as far as how they teach their Spanish classes now, and can't say for other parts of the US.

I feel that the main time you should be that strict with grammar though, is if it's for academic writing situations or business situations, where formal English is a necessity.