>> This student needs training in proofreading, not a grammar lesson.
>>
>>         --Bill Murdick
 
 
>This is a fascinating and persuasive analysis, but >now I'm afraid to
>write to this group!
 
>Mieke
 
 
Me too.
 
        I'm American.I live in Spain and teach English as a second language. I do
not share many of the problems voiced by teachers in some of the last
posts. I am obligated to teach an extremely standard grammatically correct
British version of English, however I can relate very well to these
American educational problems, believe me. I also am the language cop for
many kids.
        The Spanish language is funny in having an "Academia" that sets rules and
allows or disallows the entrance of new words into the language. Therefore
the language has little evolutionary tug from the top. However, there do
exist other what you'd have to call dialects, just like in American
English. However, these words and innovative uses of language can almost
never enter into the mainstream literary formal language. They are isolated
more effectively.
        Better-Shmetter: American English appears to be in an evolutionary state
of flux.  Is it true that contractions only entered the language from
below, so to speak, about a century ago? Could someone inform me about this
please? In the same way, I guarantee that "she don't" will be the common
fare in a century's time.
         English, and American English in particular, has been on a
"simplification trip" for centuries. Whether this is desirable is debatable
as well as completely academic because language is alive and apparently
not under anyone's control.
 
>Which of these paradigms is easier to
learn and, thus, "better"?
 
  Paradigm 1                      Paradigm 2
   I don't like                    I   don't like
   You don't like                  You don't like
   She doesn't like                She don't like
   We don't like                   We  don't like
   They don't like                 They don't like