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Reading Guide for Children can’t speak or write properly any more

Milroy, J. 1998. Children can’t speak or write properly any more. Language Myths. L. Bauer &

P. Trudgill (eds). London: Penguin.

1. True or false?

a. There is a widespread public opinion that youth aren’t learning proper English due to a

failure in the school system.

b. Today’s youth are less competent at speaking and writing their native language than

older generations of children were.

c. Complaint literature about the way people speak is a relatively new phenomenon.

2. Explain two faults with the myth that children can’t speak or write properly any more.

3. What tends to drive this myth?

4. True or false? Systematic drills and tests are effective in the teaching of literacy.

5. Why is it a myth that schools are responsible for the way children speak?

6. Do people speak the same way that they write? Why or why not?

7. How does social class influence the ‘standard’ dialect?

8. How might teaching children how they should speak continue to perpetuate overt social

discrimination?