Good spelling isn’t elitist - clear language is the great leveller
To say kids from poor backgrounds can t learn grammar is the soft bigotry of low expectations
12 April 2021 • 7:00pm
When I was a critic for the student paper, I met the chief sub-editor at team-building drinks at a pub. He said he knew me by my copy. “You use long words and you spell them wrong.” Twelve years on and my cheeks still burn. So they should.
I learnt two lessons that day: don’t use long words if you can possibly help it and if you really must use a long word, for god’s sake, get it right. (A third: a good sub is worth their weight in hot-metal type).
Thirty years ago, Sir Michael Dummett, who had just retired as the eminent professor of logic at Oxford University, felt the need to write a book that would help students answer their questions. Not the content of their answers, just how to express themselves.
Sir Michael was worried because a survey had shown that nearly half of university vice-chancellors were so concerned about their students’ literacy, they had decided to introduce special lessons to help them express themselves more clearly. These, remember, were supposed to be the brightest and best young people our country has to offer.
Today’s vice-chancellors and professors are worried about the same thing, but their response has been rather different. It has been: if you can’t spell or use punctuation accurately or write basic, simple, reasonably grammatical English, don’t worry about it. You won’t lose any marks in your exams because tutors are being told to adopt a policy called ‘inclusive assessments’.
by Craig Takeuchi on April 4th, 2021 at 7:00 PM 1 of 1 2 of 1
A Vancouver post-secondary institution remains the top art university in Canada.
In the 2021 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, Emily Carr University of Art and Design (ECU) climbed from the 40th spot last year to the 30th position this year among the world’s best universities for art and design.
It was the number one university for Canada, and the sole Canadian institution to be make the top 50.
U.K.–based QS assesses over 5,500 universities around the world and ranks them according to academic and employer reputation.
The top spot went to London’s Royal College of Art, followed by the University of the Arts London, and New York City’s Parsons School of Design.
Fahad bin Naif’s ‘Rakhm’ is winner of Ithra Art Prize at Art Dubai
an hour ago
Muhammad Yusuf,
Features Writer
The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) has announced Fahad bin Naif as the latest winner of the Ithra Art Prize, one of the newest and most substantial prizes globally, in partnership with Art Dubai.
His winning installation, Rakhm, was shown to the public for the first time at Art Dubai (Mar. 29 Apr. 3), before joining Ithra’s permanent collection.
Rakhm, meaning “incubation” in Arabic, was a highlight of 14th Art Dubai, one of the most globally prominent contemporary art fairs.