Letter: Testing English at seven is too early
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.YOUR correspondents last week who wrote about spoken Standard English fail to address the problem that faces teachers. The present 1989 English curriculum, for which my Working Group was responsible, states clearly that 'all pupils should learn, and if necessary be explicitly taught, Standard English'.
The problem is when and how. In a letter to the Independent (20 April) Professor Gillian Brown, an international authority, says that age five is much too early: 'Only after a child can read and write confidently, at least at reading age eight, is it reasonable to begin working from the relatively stable forms of the written language to point out grammatical differences between the standard language and the dialect.' The new 1993 National Curriculum proposals for English insist that pupils should be tested as early as seven. This is sensibly rejected by the Welsh Curriculum Council. Testing of children for whom English is a second language or who speak dialect at home will label little children as failures.
Testing will be very time-
consuming. It's not too difficult to test effective communication, but assessment of grammatical accuracy must involve taping and transcription. I strongly support Sir Randolph Quirk when he argues that spoken Standard English is a road to freedom. The problem is how to teach it successfully.
Professor Brian Cox
University of Manchester
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments