My analogy is that correct spelling and punctuation are matters of
etiquette, like knowing which fork to use at a fancy dinner. Any of the
forks will suffice to get the food to your mouth - but using the correct one
will indicate that you're a member of the "in" group, that you know the
rules, that you're one of "us".
(Of course, honesty compels me to point out that my most recent teaching
experience was in China, where the analogy just fell flat . . . :)
Marcy
On Wed, Aug 27, 2008 at 3:05 PM, Jim Gough <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I'm not sure whether this addresses your questions or not. What I tell
> students is that if they intend to get an audience to be sympathetic to
> their view(s), then they should not annoy this audience. Poor spelling is
> annoying and a distraction tending to slow down my reading of a text while
> at the same time opening up critical questions in my mind about the quality
> of the overall work that allows such intrusions into the flow of my reading.
> Hope the show goes well. Cheers, Jim
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: CASLL/Inkshed [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Virginia
> Ryan
> Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 12:56 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: spelling!
>
> Greetings to everyone on this list! I have just been invited to sit in
> as the "visiting expert" on a CBC radio "Cross-talk" show on the topic
> "Does Spelling Matter?" It sounds to me like Pandora's box is once
> again to be opened in the province of Newfoundland. With equal parts
> delight and terror, I said "yes," and now I'm turning to all of you for
> positions, epiphanies, and metaphors. You see, they wanted someone who
> "sees both sides of the issue," and in me they found such a someone. I
> am old enough (and old-fashioned enough???) to feel that yes, it matters
> very much (in many contexts). But I also listen every day to brilliant
> and passionate young tutors who argue for simplicity and accessibility,
> and who point out that deliberate, alternate spellings shouldn't matter
> if they do not interfere with understanding (as Charles Shultz once put
> it in one of his cartoons, "If K-A-T doesn't spell 'cat,' what /does /it
> spell?")
>
> This issue is forcing me to try to resolve a dilemma I've carried around
> for years. For example, I absolutely hate comma splices, but I've never
> quite determined whether my hatred of them stems from some justifiable
> philosophical principle that I haven't yet managed to articulate, or
> rather from simple snobbishness and adherence to
> rules-for-the-sake-of-rules. Similarly, and more to the point, here, I
> hate the sign outside the garden centre that says "Begonia's for sale,"
> but wonder whether my reaction is really justifiable, since any reader
> will understand that all the sign /means/ is that there is more than one
> begonia being sold.
>
> Now, I understand and can readily explain to any call-in guest that in
> the context of a student paper submitted for a grade at a university,
> while misspellings generally (not always! I know!) do not interfere with
> meaning, they are also generally considered unacceptable by the intended
> readership and so should be avoided. But the bigger questions are _why_
> are such spellings unacceptable? Do they matter outside of academia
> (and business)? And if they matter, why do they matter?
>
> I welcome any and all reactions, apologize for my own lengthy silence on
> this list, and hope that despite it you'll be vocal!
>
> Ginny Ryan
> The Writing Centre
> Memorial University of Newfoundland
> St. John's, Newfoundland
>
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