Sir, - Why is there such a marked decline in the standard of English, and in the overall ability of students to express themselves on the written page? ("Leaving Cert English examiners complains of heavy sentences", Irish Times, August 9th.)
Space doesn't permit me to refer in detail to all the possible factors, but I have noted six elements, each of which has contributed to a greater or lesser extent to the fall off in standards.
1. Decades add more ago, the teacher of English taught history and geography, with the result that punctuation, spelling, etc. in all three subjects were kept to a high standard. An exercise in history or geography was, from the point of view of writing practice and the mechanics of writing, not unlike English, and was corrected as such by the teacher.
2. The number of letters written between family members or friends has fallen dramatically in recent decades, largely due to the telephone.
3. Computers, which use phonetic, Americanised spelling, are used in school and in the home.
4. The syllabus in English has too much literature and poetry on it, with the result that there is not enough time for the mechanics of writing or composition.
5. The curriculum contains too many subjects, with the result that English is being edged out.
6. The English teacher (like other teachers) rarely encourages students to read over work he/she has corrected, so as to enable the students to avoid making the same mistakes continuously. - Yours, etc.,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.