Letter: Success and failure in the teaching of English

Sir: Gather round. Angela Lambert ('Spare the semi-colon and spoil the child', 19 April) has something crucial, wise and profound to say . . .

After taking into consideration the social and ethnic backgrounds of pupils, class sizes and the advent and phenomenal influence of television, videos, gameboys and action-packed Super Nintendo packages, it would be encouraging if Ms Lambert would step in to a state school and see for herself that the nature and demands of English lessons have changed.

English no longer simply means writing, spelling and the reading of British or Colonial literature. In the two hours and 20 minutes allotted the subject each week English lessons must deliver media studies; information technology; worldwide literature from several centuries; drama; punctuation; a more than passing familiarity with the works of Shakespeare - together with tediously traditional comprehensions; group, pair and solo work; speechmaking, and the planning, drafting and editing of a far wider range of material in a far wider range of registers than anything I was ever asked to produce at school. All of which must conform to set attainment targets, then be assessed and graded by now somewhat perplexed and jaded English teachers.

Would that pundits who put into print their incredulous mockeries first watched how, by the age of 13, a child perhaps already fluent in two other languages, has been able to master the use of apostrophes and speech marks in English as well, or answer questions on characterisation and plot in Shakespearean tragedy by the time she's 14.

Instead of censuring and harping on the tragic demise of parsing, it would be refreshing were the many wonderful, exciting and original fruits of English lessons to enjoy the limelight of praise for a while.

Yours faithfully,

ROZ SYMON

London, SE3

19 April