Not every country provides universal education, but those that do should be able to produce graduates who have mastered the basic rules of the local language.
The fact that so many US high school graduates make such errors as writing it’s for its, past for passed, and you’re for your indicates that something is lacking in the way that English has been presented to them in the classroom.
A few fortunate souls are able to master a concept the first time that it is presented. Most, however, require repeated instruction, lots of practice, and numerous corrections of errors by the teacher, followed by numerous corrections of the fault–in writing–by the student.
In the typical US English classroom, teachers present the same concepts grade after grade, but students do very little extended writing. Most of the grammar is taught by means of isolated “exercises,” just as vocabulary is taught with isolated word lists instead of with meaningful reading passages.
Test results offer little real information about whether or not students have mastered a particular grammar concept. Students are often able to choose the correct form when presented with two to four choices for a multiple-choice question, but when it comes to their own writing, they continue to write the incorrect form. Even when teachers conscientiously mark papers for errors, students merely look at the marked faults and throw the paper into the trash. Rarely are they required to complete the learning process by writing out corrections of the faults–again and again, until they get them right.
Parents can supplement the work of the English classroom by monitoring all graded work and requiring the student to write out the correct form of the errors that have been marked by a teacher.
Mastering standard written English is like getting to Carnegie Hall: It takes practice, practice, practice.
NOTE: I’ve written a guide called 100 Writing Mistakes to Avoid. It’s a useful reference for copywriters and small business owners who would like to avoid at least 100 errors that could ruin their credibility with potential customers or clients. For more information–or to order–click here.
Read Charles A. Ray’s review of 100 Writing Mistakes to Avoid at Red Room.
