Bob,
Could you clarify this a bit? Are you saying that sophomores do not
understand the concept of same and different, or are you talking about a
particular grammatical thing.
As for your Polish Immigrant, hmmmm. I can't speak specifically about
Polish schools, but I know most European schools sort kids like beans,
putting the top students in one school. But we need to be careful about
making too much of this, or of your Polish student's comment. While
American schools certainly need to be improved, public schools in this
country still produce more scientists, mathmeticians, artists, writers, etc,
than just about anybody else. Part of that is due to our population, of
course, but part of that is also due to the fact that public schools do a
decent job of educating most of the youth of America. I say most because we
continue to discriminate against the poor in this country and poor schools
stay poor.
I sensed something akin to "see how bad we are" in your post. If that
wasn't your point, I apologize.
Nancy
At 02:17 AM 4/7/01 -0500, you wrote:
>Last Friday, after seven high school sophomores in a row had demonstrated
>that they could not utilize the concepts "same" and "different", I noticed
>that one of my Polish immigrant students was looking extremely depressed. I
>asked her why and she came over to my desk and said,
>"The kids in this school are stupid and this school is dumb."
>She has been in the U.S.A. for three years. She told me that Polish schools
>are far more rigorous.
>I mentioned that Polish immigrants have been coming to our area in large
>numbers for about twenty years and asked her if they had been writing to
>Poland explaining that the students are stupid and the schools are dumb.
>She said that such letters were sent to Poland regularly.
>I asked her why Polish people kept coming here with their children. She
>replied, "They never believe our letters."
>
>Cheers,
>Bob Reis
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Carolyn Hartnett" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Friday, April 06, 2001 10:08 PM
>Subject: Re: Verb Tense
>
>
>David Mulroy asked if a linguist would agree with his explanation:
>
>>My explanation is the present perfect is used to characterize an action
>that
>is complete ("perfect") but was completed so recently that it is still
>relevant to one's understanding of the present moment. "The Chinese have
>refused to return our spy plane," but not "Brutus has assassinated
>Caesar." <
>
>I am a linguist (of the Hallidayan functional type) who has spent many
>years
>teaching college composition, including the grammar that such a course
>entails,
>and I have long used a similar explanation. Present perfect refers to past
>
>actions that still have an effect in the present.
>
>Carolyn Hartnett
>[log in to unmask]
>
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>
Nancy G. Patterson
Portland Middle School, English Dept. Chair
Portland, MI 48875
"To educate as the practice of freedom is a way of teaching that anyone can
learn."
--bell hooks
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http://www.msu.edu/user/patter90/opening.htm
http://www.npatterson.net/mid.html
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