Abstract
Not long ago I listened to a speech by the mayor of one of the. large cities of America. He gave a thoroughly interesting talk, one that hehi the rapt attention of an audience of six or eight hundred people. He was vigorous, fluent, concrete. But his language was marked by the syntax of a semi-literate person, though he is a college man. Such expressions as "he who I was the guest of" and "I was setting across the table from him" made one wince who was sensitive to correct English.
So far as I know, the mayor had never been trained in debating; but when I listen to the garbled English used by many of our intercollegiate debaters, and too often, I am afraid, allowed to go uncorrected by coaches and judges, I wonder if we teachers of speech are doing what we tan to induce the use of correct and effective English.
Recommended Citation
Diem, W. Roy
(1949)
"Do We Teach English?,"
The Gavel of Delta Sigma Rho: Vol. 31:
Iss.
3, Article 7.
Available at:
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/gavel/vol31/iss3/7