Robert Yates wrote: >Yvonne, > >The formatting of your post with examples confused me. > >I would very much like to read your analysis of why you consider these >examples of a language deficit. > > I expect the problem is with the term "language deficit". I understood that Yvonne meant some deviation from the standardized usage and grammar reflected in most of teaching material currently used. Teachers, and especially English teachers, are the primary models students have for correct English, and if teachers don't present reliable models for students then the English that they teach must been seen as an abstract academic language. Some students will master it but most will regard it as useless and irrelevant. I live in the Arab world. The problem here is more visible, perhaps because of the legendary "diglossia" of the Arabs. Most K-12 Arabic instructors, and also many at university level, are not skilled speakers of the standard Arabic dialect that they teach, so written Arabic has in most places become an exclusively literary language. This obviously gets in the way of reading and is probably one of the major factors behind the rise in functional illiteracy among otherwise well-educated people.The difficulties begin in primary school where pupils who are only just learning to read and write are confronted with words and structures that are, for them, completely foreign and incomprehensible. Highly negative attitudes toward local dialects as "corrupt" prevent any attempt at translation. These are the kinds of problems that English speaking people probably want to avoid, and if the Arabs could not avoid them simply by teaching "grammar" to children, you will not succeed in this way either. The fossilized grammar of Arabic does not reflect the way people speak, or indeed think. Academic Arabic is elitist and incomprehensible to most people, who, being set adrift with no literary life of their own, must themelves suffer from a certain "language deficit", being now unable to express their thoughts or feelings effectively. They do not understand one another and cannot communicate with others, and this effects every sphere of public life, causing great problems in politics in particular. Yvonne's term, "language deficit" is probably an unfortunate choice, but this failure to understand what she means is illustrative of what will happen if people fail to get a grip on their language and how it is taught and used. Omar 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/