Why can’t my son use apostrophes properly – is grammar still taught in English classes, a parent in Hong Kong asks
Few would deny that conventional spelling and grammar are being eroded with ‘text speak’ and short cuts used in social media, but good schools and teachers can still impart grammar lessons without sacrificing creativity
A Hong Kong parent writes: it really frustrates me that my Year Six son cannot use apostrophes correctly. The teaching of the English language appears very arbitrary these days, and it seems that instruction in the basic skills is being forgotten in the name of “creativity”.
It has been shown that even university students, not just schoolchildren like your son, are struggling to use apostrophes correctly these days. In fact, some linguistics researchers believe that the apostrophe may soon become redundant because its misuse has become so prevalent, particularly in electronic communications such as texting.
For the sake of speed and efficiency, many people consider it no longer important to use correct grammar or punctuation. Traditional standards are falling victim to the modern imperative of communicating a message as quickly and succinctly as possible.
However, the problem is that in using abbreviations and skipping punctuation, accuracy can be lost; and this can leave written communication open to misinterpretation, sometimes with unfortunate consequences.
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But is all this laxity merely the result of the acceleration of technology? The emphasis on teaching formal, key language skills in education does move in cycles. Periods where there is a rigorous focus on punctuation and grammar are quickly replaced by a new orthodoxy using a less direct approach considered by some to be careless and sloppy.