abstact
in this essay, we were expected to choose and critically analyze a single example/practice for how that example/practice is driven by language ideologies.
Should we judge people based on their grammar?
Grammar is the whole system and structure of a language, usually taken as consisting of syntax and morphology. Every language has specific grammar rules which have guided the structure of speech and writing over the years. These grammar rules are taught in schools and are expected to be followed by the general public. Grammar rules are made because it makes language more discipline and precise, however there are a lot of myths that come with the idea of grammar and its usage, such as, people with good grammar are better communicators, people with good grammar are more intelligent and people with good grammar are all-round just better employees. I will be addressing all these beliefs and stating why they are myths.
The first myth is that people with good grammar are better communicators. Linguistic professor and writer, Nic Subtileru, in his article, “On table manners and spelling errors: How we use grammar to discriminate” asserts that “Notice I didn’t say anything about semi-colons. Misusing a semi-colon will not lead to people not understanding the information you intend to convey to them” (Subtileru,1). In this scenario, Subtileru was talking about how grammar and good communication aren’t related, he did so by bringing forth the idea of misusing a semi-colon and states that whether it is used correctly or not, the information given would still be understood, which is most important. Subtileru elucidates the fact that good or bad grammar does not affect the understanding of the information that is given. This is proof that good grammar doesn’t have much to do with good communication, because a good communicator is someone who can listen actively and pass across information effectively and one doesn’t have to grammatically correct to do so.
Another misconception about grammar and its usage is that people with good grammar are more intelligent. Subtileru states in his article that “suggestion that knowledge and application of grammar rules is connected to intelligence is like suggesting that knowledge and application of the rules for how to “properly” hold a tea cup is an issue of inherent intelligence” (Subtileru,1). Here, Subtileru compares grammar rules to the rules of properly holding a teacup. From this quote he claims that just like the rules for holding a teacup, grammar rules are not compulsory to follow and doesn’t make you more intelligent if you do. Subtileru exemplifies how good grammar and intelligence are completely unrelated by asserting that good grammar is just following a set of rules given. I fully agree with his example of how to hold a teacup properly, because just like grammar, it highly depends on where you are and who you’re with. American-Canadian novelist, Robert Macneil, in his article “English belongs to everybody” asserts that “it fascinates me how differently we speak in certain circumstances” (Macneil, 37). Macneil implies that in different situations, there are certain ways of speaking and writing that are seen as acceptable. I agree with this because one should not feel pressured to have perfect grammar when speaking around friends or family.
The last myth about grammar usage that I will talk about is that people with good grammar are all-around just better employees. American writer, Kyle Wiens, in his article “I won’t hire people with poor grammar here’s why” asserts that “Grammar signifies more than just a person’s ability to remember high school English. I’ve found that people who make fewer mistakes on a grammar test also make fewer mistakes when they are doing something completely unrelated to writing” (Wiens,1). This is completely false, as English is not the first language of everybody and not everyone was taught English in high school. Perfectly capable workers are being denied jobs because of grammar mistakes on their Résumé, regardless of if their jobs require public speaking or not. Subtileru states that “They’re using their power to try to influence employers to make employment decisions based upon a narrow idea of what makes “good writing” or “good grammar””, he also asserts that “They are actively advocating that employers ignore job applications from applicants who commit “errors””. Subtileru argues that people like Wien are influencing other employers to make employment decisions based on grammar, which doesn’t make sense to him. I believe Subtileru is making a valid point, as there are so many more categories to consider a good employee rather than correct grammar, like work ethics and so on.
This is a meme of a woman judging people solely on the way they speak. She states that she only judges’ people based on their grammar. This is very wrong, and there are a lot of social consequences that come with having this mentality. Having this mentality can prevent one from seeing the importance of messages being conveyed, because if a grammatical error is made in the message it is seen to them as insignificant, which can hinder them from paying attention. Judging people based on their grammar could also make those that are being judged feel isolated and anxious with the fear of being mocked because of “bad” grammar.
In conclusion judging someone solely based on their grammar isn’t right and should not be done. This is a form of discrimination and has a negative impact on those who judge and those who are judged. There are so many more factors to consider in a person than his/her grammar. We should learn to respect people for who they are, grammatically correct or not, and by doing this, we can make our society less discriminative and more tolerative.
work cited
Macneil, Robert. “English belongs to everyone”. Wordstruck ,1989, pg. 34-38
Subtirelu, Nic. “On table manners and spelling errors: How we use grammar to discriminate”. Linguistic pulse, 2013, pg. 1-5
Wiens, Kyle. “I won’t hire people who use poor grammar. Here’s why”. Harvard business review, 2012, pg1
Cover letter
In this essay, I talked mainly about certain myths and misconceptions about grammar and its usage. During the course of writing this essay I explained certain concepts to help my audience understand my point of view.
In this critical analysis essay, I used a lot evidence from articles to support my claims. My main audience in mind were people who believe certain myths about grammar usage. My purpose of writing this essay is to identify certain myths about grammar usage and state why they are not true.
When writing this essay, I looked at certain articles from class and also searched for some online to support and argue against my claims. One of the class readings that stood out to me was “English belongs to everybody” by Robert Macneil because it talked about grammar and how it has changed over the years, which was related to my essay. My stance through out the essay was in support of the facts that certain conceptions are actually myths. I chose this topic because it was something that I thought a lot of people would relate to. I used my last essay (which was the exploratory essay) to guide me steps
In conclusion, in the course of writing this essay, I used a lot of evidence to back up my claims. Because of this research my knowledge on the topic increased and I was more aware of certain grammar misconceptions.
