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BLOGS by Julia White

KIDS WON'T SPEAK PROPER IF THEY FOLLOW TV STARS

Monday November 2,2009

Have your say(1)

By Julia White

Kids won't speak proper if they follow TV stars

WRONG: Alesha's language is riddled with errors

STANDARDS of literacy in schools are falling all the time.

And with characters like Alesha Dixon on our television screens there's little wonder why.

The Strictly Come Dancing judge - who is watched by millions each week - speaks in English littered with grammatical mistakes.

Only this weekend the former singer told one of the dancers "they was great", instead of "were great".

And she said to another of the competitors their performance "was magic", rather than "was magical".

Alesha is a young, pretty woman who can not only dance, but has also come out fighting with dignity after a very public heartbreak.

It's only a shame that she can't be as good a role model when it comes to language.

By following her our kids ain't got a chance.

YEAH, THEY PROBABLY WILL

03.11.2009, 1:37pm

I hardly think the occaisional non-standard linguisitc feature of a TV personality will make the slightest bit of difference to a child's language as family and friends are proven to be the biggest influencers.

Secondly, would it really matter if it did? For as long as there has been an English language there have been non-standard varieties which have helped create the richness of the world's most widely spoken language.

I would be more concerned about my children copying the writing style of a journalist who breaks up their opening sentence into two paragraphs causing the second beginning with 'And'...

• Posted by: Rich_tea • Report Comment