Nobody ever taught me to capitalize the first letter in a sentence. They taught me what a sentence was and said, by the way, it is consdiered good form to capitalize the first letter. It seems to me that that is a critical difference. On Fri, 16 Feb 2001, Nancy Patterson wrote: > But what on earth makes you think k-12 students haven't been taught to > capitalize the first letter of a sentence? This is a basic convention of > writing. K-12 teachers get practically anal about this kind of thing, which > may be why some students seem so bent on not using such conventions as > capitalization. Ask a first or second grade teacher if he or she doesn't > cover this extensively. We cannot assume that just because students don't > capitalize means they can't. > > And besides, these conventions aren't really issues of grammar. Grammar > deals with structure, doesn't it? Not minding your manners on paper? > > Nancy > > > At 02:10 PM 2/15/01 -0600, you wrote: > >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 > > > >To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface > >at: > > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > >and select "Join or leave the list" > > > >Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > > > >To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: > > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > >and select "Join or leave the list" > > > >Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > > > > > Nancy G. Patterson > Portland Middle School, English Dept. Chair > Portland, MI 48875 > > "The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumberable centers of > culture." > --Roland Barthes > > [log in to unmask] > http://www.msu.edu/user/patter90/opening.htm > http://www.npatterson.net/mid.html > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/