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Scheme to ban slang in classroom

from Cathy (cathyvpreece@aol.com)

BBC News

Scheme to ban slang in classroom

A school is taking part in a pilot government scheme to ban slang words in the classroom.

If a pupil at Lilian Baylis School in Kennington, south London, uses slang the teacher corrects it on the board and gives the standard English phrase.

They then put a tick next to the slang each time it is repeated to show how often students slip into the habit.

Head Gary Phillips says pupils need to be proficient in both spoken and written forms of English to pass exams.

He does not mind slang used in the playground but not in the classroom.

A spokesman from the Department of Education and Skills (DfES) said: "Schools need to respect the integrity of the languages pupils bring with them.

"They must therefore allow the expression of such languages and use these languages as a tool in their teaching.

"However, in order to pass their exams, pupils need to be proficient in both the spoken and written forms of Standard English and this must be taught."

US comedian Bill Cosby, who has been a critic of black people's use of slang, has backed the campaign.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/london/3871911.stm
Published: 2004/07/07 05:34:59 GMT
© BBC MMIV

(posted 7205 days ago)

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