"at" at the end of a where phrase

[Scott Sadowsky]

On 12/7/2003 09:07 PM, Baker, John wrote the following:

>I see some difficulties with this approach.  First, I question whether it
>is at all practical.  I take it as axiomatic that some writing is better
>than others [...]; that it is advantageous to be able to write well; and
>that education can, at least potentially, improve writing skills....

I don't think what we could call the union of the set of "good" writing and
the set of "non-standard" English features is all that big.  I have the
distinct impression that 90% of "good writing" is providing your
information in an easy-to-digest order, dividing it up into
easily-assimilable units, making explicit information your audience doesn't
necessarily have or won't necessarily access when reading your writing, and
so on.

The other 10% (yes, I'm making these numbers up as I go along) is about
using the right vocabulary, and that has more to do with register and
technolect than dialect -- it rarely matters if your dialect uses "bucket"
or "pail", but it may matter very much if you call an "oil sump" an "oil
pail" or an "oil bucket".


>Second, the implications are by no means clear.  I suppose that the
>hoped-for result is that the powerful will become aware of the
>discriminatory effects of their views and will moderate them.

Not even I am so utopian.  The main result I would hope for would be the
disappearance of lect-based inferiority complexes and self-esteem problems.


>Conversely, if Scott's approach is widely accepted, the effect could be
>the opposite:  All might seek to use standard English, the language of the
>powerful, and would therefore denigrate nonstandard dialects.

Does that happen with things other than language, where people are aware of
the coercion that they're subject to?  Does the existence of high school
dress codes get kids all enthusiastic about dressing like the powerful tell
them to, or do they grit their teeth and dress that way because they know
they'll be punished for not doing so?

Cheers,
Scott


__________________________________________________________________
Scott Sadowsky · sadowsky at spanishtranslator.org
http://www.spanishtranslator.org
__________________________________________________________________
"Linguistics is arguably the most hotly contested property in the academic
realm. It is soaked with the blood of poets, theologians, philosophers,
philologists, psychologists, biologists, and neurologists, along with
whatever blood can be got out of grammarians."
   -- Russ Rymer