Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie
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I am a natural supporter of education in a non-pushy way. I'm a believer in people achieving their best with reference to realistic, personally relevant, boundaries. I oppose both the criticism and the over-promotion of limited ability. What matters to me is effort.
I feel though that the grades that are awarded are too soft. There are people getting A grades in English - British people with English as their first, and even only, language - who, with the best will in the world, cannot speak using proper sentences.
I am prepared to make all kinds of allowances - eg people don't tend to speak as they write, nor should they; some use the language of the street to obscure ability; there is a place for dialect; and no one is perfect : certainly I fall a very long way short - but I can tell if someone would be able to write coherently.
It is in the pronunciation, the use of key words, the shape of spoken sentences beyond the slang. And some of the A graders just don't have it. That is happening a lot and it is difficult to applaud.
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