Have recent generations forgotten correct spelling and grammar?

[CASTLEGATES]

I've noticed some new professionals with an apparent lack of basic grade-school grammar and spelling skills; have you? This trend is concerning given the respect and perception of intelligence any particular profession retains. :redbeathe Permanent records with misspells, resumes with misspells and grammar errors seem to be on the rise (not to mention our spoken language). :imbar Please disregard our last president, though...maybe it all started then?

I'm not sure if it's a lack of education at the grade school level but my 9 year old son was pointing out spelling errors on this site (my 9 year old)!

Has anyone else seen this trend?

I'm not meaning to offend anyone; with such a tight market, these errors would get a resume discarded/a letter of intent for a nursing school rejected for an Eng 099 class.

What do you think?

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

I would truly have an issue with this memorizing approach to reading. If you do not learn the sequence of letters, how do you learn the rationale behind their usage and the way that they are pronounced? When you learn the actual sounds that a letter makes by relating it to the surrounding letters, you can apply what you learn to new words. It makes me wonder if these teachers would like a nurse to take care of them who only has facts memorized, as oppose to an actual understanding of the disease process.

Both. The memorization first lets you break it down when your father (or teacher) says, "Now, sound it out." First I memorized and then we learned to stick various letters in front of "at" - rat, cat, bat, sat, hat, fat, mat, pat, tat, vat,

[MissBrittanyRN]

Both. The memorization first lets you break it down when your father (or teacher) says, "Now, sound it out." First I memorized and then we learned to stick various letters in front of "at" - rat, cat, bat, sat, hat, fat, mat, pat, tat, vat,

Thanks, I can see what you are saying. I personally do not remember how I learned, but that does make sense. Of course we probably learned why "at" sounded as it did by learning how to sound out "a" and "t". I think I probably just quickly jumped to the conclusion that this teacher never asked the students to sound it out, but just to look at "rat, bat, cat" and memorize what each said. But you know what happens when I assume!

[J9G2008]

I physically wince whenever I see misspellings or when people do not use grammatical English. It drives me insane, and I am a member of the Facebook group "Yes, I do judge you when you make grammatical errors".

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

Thanks, I can see what you are saying. I personally do not remember how I learned, but that does make sense. Of course we probably learned why "at" sounded as it did by learning how to sound out "a" and "t". I think I probably just quickly jumped to the conclusion that this teacher never asked the students to sound it out, but just to look at "rat, bat, cat" and memorize what each said. But you know what happens when I assume!

:)

I remember learning to read very clearly because it was so closely associated with my father reading to me. :)

[tewdles, RN]

Chat forums and social sites do not require proper spelling or grammar, IMO. I am not offended by lack of either skill set in that environment. I rather enjoy when people write more like they speak, rather than in some formal fashion. I am not a texter, but I can usually extrapolate the meaning of the message. Studies have demonstrated that we do not require all of the letters in words in order to accurately read the message. This is "whole language" reading and is represented in the earlier posts describing memorization of sentences. Young children learn by a combination of phonetics and whole language application. What is important is to remember is that there is a percentage of children who cannot learn to read without phonetics, that would include any children with dyslexic type disabilities.

In terms of documenting in the legal chart, accuracy is of upmost importance. As a manager it was incumbent upon me to review records and make sure that the nurses supervised by me were documenting with appropriate and approved language. A simple typo is not as important as an incorrect word as in dysphagia vs. dysphasia, etc. As a nursing professional I have no reservation about asking a colleague about his/her charting. If I can't understand what they have written they might want to consider adding an addendum to clarify their thoughts. As well, I will question a physician or other discipline if their documentation is incomplete or questionable. We have to look out for one another in our line of work. We do not want the plaintiff's attorney to be the only one reading our documentation with an eye for accuracy and error. If you are not comfortable speaking with a co-worker about their charting, mention it to your supervisor. Our expectations for legal documentation should be high while remembering that perfect sentence structure and grammar are not the goals, rather, a clear representation of facts is our objective.

So...go easy on one another. Have some fun with your posts.

[BluegrassRN]

Languages are constantly evolving. Spelling and grammar are not fixed; they're fluid. Therefore, every generation has this complaint about the one preceding it; that's how it is. I love to see how new cultures, new technologies, world events, and music/media affect our language.

[sharpeimom]

languages are constantly evolving. spelling and grammar are not fixed; they're fluid. therefore, every generation has this complaint about the one preceding it; that's how it is. i love to see how new cultures, new technologies, world events, and music/media affect our language.

while that statement is certainly true to a point, we must still adhere to the standards of the mla (modern language association) when writing and, most of the time, when speaking. the mla changes with the times but remains the ultimate academic grammar police.

kathy

sharpeimom:paw::paw:

[freefalr]

my odd little brain somehow automatically finds the errors in spelling and grammar. i have to tell it to chill out & move on! i have always loved reading and words, and this "sense" (sensitivity?) is something i can't seem to help. come to think of it, my mom is the same way. i try not be critical (as in critiquing of the writing or speaking, not personal judgment of its author), but it's some kind of built in response i have.

that being said, i don't like using capital letters when typing or writing (i can't stand when outlook auto-corrects my lowercase. if i wanted it capitalized, i would've done it myself, dang it.). i picked up this habit in junior high, when copying the writing style of my friend's older sister, who i thought was just sooo beautiful and cool. i've been doing it so long now, i often have to remind myself to capitalize at the beginning of a sentence!

also: i like to misuse the ampersand, tend to overuse parentheses, & find the evolution of language at once absolutely fascinating and a little unnerving.

as has been said previously, i make sure i p & q it with professional documentation.

i know i just made at least one of y'all cringe out there w/this post...

[fiveofpeep]

I blame nursing school. I used to be editor in chief and now my grammar and spelling is falling to the wayside...much to my dismay.

[Pfiesty]

You're (not your) absolutely correct about the frequency and impact of poor grammar. There (not they're, their) seems to be more of it now. My big pet peeve is the use of an apostrophe when plural, not possessive is indicated. When I see a sign that says "Condo's for Sale," I wonder what possession of the condo is for sale and why they are not selling the entire condo!

[CeilingCat, ASN, RN]

I think students give only what is required of them. Most job applicants give only what is required. And to be fair, some jobs don't reward the articulate workers. Some managers look down on a worker who comes across as too well educated; it makes them feel uncomfortable.

Schools (colleges included) are passing students who cannot write complete sentences. My nursing school dumbs down the program and makes us do lots of busy-work so those who can't do basic math or writing can learn.

The scary thing is that a misspelled word in a patient chart can totally change the meaning of something. IMHO, spelling and somewhat coherent grammar should be as important to Nursing school as the calculations exams.

I'm starting to get the idea that America as a whole has devalued education. People are graduating High School barely able to read. We have parents who parents complain when their kids have homework. Over the semesters, I've watched classmates cheat or drop out when they're challenged. We live in a society that values youth, fun, social interactions, and instant gratification. Wisdom, education, and accuracy are for the nerds and old people, I guess.

[djaychris]

The poor grammar that today's society uses disgusts me. Before I start my rant, I'll admit that I'm guilty of the occasional grammatical error. English and grammar was not my strong point in high school. Despite my shortcomings, even I know that the word "you" is not spelled "u". I refuse to use numbers to replace words (example: "4" instead of "for"). It has become socially acceptable to text message and type like an idiot. Many people today have gotten so used to texting "shorthand", that they will also type emails and papers like this. It amazes me how many people send out work emails that show the spelling and grammatical skills of a first grader. It is hard for me to take these emails seriously, no matter what information they may contain. I think people don't realize that when they send out poorly written letters or emails, they discredit themselves. "end rant"

-Yes, I'm sure I have some grammatical errors in this message.