[Gllug] Monthly GLLUG grammar report

[John Winters]

On Tue, 2002-11-26 at 11:23, Rev Simon Rumble wrote:
> On Tue 26 Nov, Adam Bower bloviated thus:
> 
> > You left school quite some time ago, or at least didn't go to any as bad 
> > as I did. After asking about things like this I realised that teachers 
> > didn't have a clue about how to explain these things to us. Some 
> > teachers would contradict what other teachers had told us and vice 
> > versa.
> 
> We've been trying to recruit technical writers here at my work.  They
> all do a short grammar test and you'd be amazed.  One guy came in with
> ten years' experience as a tech writer and he got the worst score on
> the grammar test!  It's incredible.

I've recently been reviewing on-line payment solutions and had to read
the manual provided by one (very big name) provider for their shopping
cart.  You could use it in a technical writing course as a concentrated
example of how not to do it.  Both the content and the presentation are
lamentable.

> Of course I learnt all my English grammar in classes supposedly
> teaching me French.  They don't (didn't?) teach grammar in Australian
> schools.  Seems that way here too.
> 
> The sad thing is, we've ended up employing an Oxford graduate and
> public school boy and I hate giving chances to people who already had
> all the advantages in life, but public (i.e., private -- what's with
> that?)

The name comes from the days when you would have first gone to a small
private school, then on to a public (i.e. open to anyone with the money)
school.
 
> schools and Oxbridge teach grammar, which is very important for
> technical writing.

Speaking as an Oxford graduate, I think your viewpoint is a little
deluded.  It's a privilege to go there but it's one which has to be
earned (and they don't teach grammar - they expect you to already know
it).  I didn't go to public school and got to Oxford purely on merit.

Just because Gordon Brown made a complete idiot of himself about the
Oxford admissions process doesn't mean we all have to.

John

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