The problem is not so much with spoken English, but with written English,
and it seems to me there is a big difference between mastering speaking and
mastering writing.  High school students often have not even mastered the
art of beginning sentences with capital letters and ending them with periods
(the conventions of English), much less the finer points of the language.
You DO have to be taught how to write in your own and in second languages.
It does not come naturally.

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Veit, UNCW English Department [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2001 3:10 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Deep thoughts


At 01:29 PM 02/15/2001 -0600, David D Mulroy wrote:
>...Is there any other field where you can supposedly excel while referring
>to the tools of your trade as whatchamacallits?

Professional athletes do pretty well without knowing the names of the
muscles they use, nor without a conscious understanding of how they
coordinate various muscles to do what they do. Language is one of many
skills that rely on unconscious knowledge, like running or jumping. An
athlete may gain some advantage by studying physiology, and a speaker may
gain some advantage by studying grammar, but many others do just fine
without that conscious knowledge.

Dick Veit

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