13th April 2012, 03:34 PM
I liked the text report – it would be more understandable in low case as that provides shapes for your brain to recognise. This post seems to have moved on from job adverts but the discussion about spelling, grammar, dyslexia and editing really interest me so this is this is my contribution to that element of this thread:
- At its most basic level the purpose of language is communication. If something can be understood it has achieved that ambition. However, this is not always true - there are a small number of academics (you know who they are) out there with good literary skills who purposely select obscure language to limit the range of people who can understand their work to those who understand their language, thus their theory seems to be better than it is – comparable to the function of medieval Latin which was used to separate the educated from the plebs. In the past good grammar and good English has been used to exclude –to separate those who went to university or had a grammar school education from those who did not. Indeed standard spelling and grammar, as we know it today, was only set out in the mid-18th century with the publication of Samuel Johnsons Dictionary and a lexicon of grammatical texts so is very much the product of a modem elitist world with strong institutional divisions that supported the English class system.
This system is still present - in my experience work submitted for editing/review with minor English errors takes much more of a kicking to the rest of the content than a document that is submitted perfectly but contains very little – both commercial and academic manuscripts. So there is still considerable prejudice out there based on the profound connection between the English Language and the English social system.
Interestingly education physiologists have noted there is significantly less dyslexia in China which has a similarly draconian social hierarchy but no letters - http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004...education2
Now on the other had grammar and creativity are not connected in any way, our professor with no content for example. But there are some very talented people who have been identified as dyslexic, and some leading archaeologist almost certainly are. More people now go to university and the world has changed – computational spatial analysis, visual interpretation and presentation, mechanical and abstract reasoning skills are becoming increasingly important and are exactly the strengths of many dyslexic people (see the book – the Dyslexic Advantage by Eide and Eide, two American educational physiologists it’s a real eye-opener). Archaeology as a subject that uses spatial and visual skills thrives on dyslexic people and attracts many more than other essay based degree programs.
Dyslexics are often more original thinkers so next time you see a badly spelt document consider that it might contain a gem of an idea.
P.s for dyslexics and other who also know that generic spell checkers are useless – how can you tell the difference between the different options, they all look the same? – and who don’t have the support of a professional editor, there are some really good contextual spell checkers out there Ginger particularly, and it's free - http://www.gingersoftware.com/
- At its most basic level the purpose of language is communication. If something can be understood it has achieved that ambition. However, this is not always true - there are a small number of academics (you know who they are) out there with good literary skills who purposely select obscure language to limit the range of people who can understand their work to those who understand their language, thus their theory seems to be better than it is – comparable to the function of medieval Latin which was used to separate the educated from the plebs. In the past good grammar and good English has been used to exclude –to separate those who went to university or had a grammar school education from those who did not. Indeed standard spelling and grammar, as we know it today, was only set out in the mid-18th century with the publication of Samuel Johnsons Dictionary and a lexicon of grammatical texts so is very much the product of a modem elitist world with strong institutional divisions that supported the English class system.
This system is still present - in my experience work submitted for editing/review with minor English errors takes much more of a kicking to the rest of the content than a document that is submitted perfectly but contains very little – both commercial and academic manuscripts. So there is still considerable prejudice out there based on the profound connection between the English Language and the English social system.
Interestingly education physiologists have noted there is significantly less dyslexia in China which has a similarly draconian social hierarchy but no letters - http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004...education2
Now on the other had grammar and creativity are not connected in any way, our professor with no content for example. But there are some very talented people who have been identified as dyslexic, and some leading archaeologist almost certainly are. More people now go to university and the world has changed – computational spatial analysis, visual interpretation and presentation, mechanical and abstract reasoning skills are becoming increasingly important and are exactly the strengths of many dyslexic people (see the book – the Dyslexic Advantage by Eide and Eide, two American educational physiologists it’s a real eye-opener). Archaeology as a subject that uses spatial and visual skills thrives on dyslexic people and attracts many more than other essay based degree programs.
Dyslexics are often more original thinkers so next time you see a badly spelt document consider that it might contain a gem of an idea.
P.s for dyslexics and other who also know that generic spell checkers are useless – how can you tell the difference between the different options, they all look the same? – and who don’t have the support of a professional editor, there are some really good contextual spell checkers out there Ginger particularly, and it's free - http://www.gingersoftware.com/