Do you correct other children's improper language? - Page 3

[octobermom]

I jsut repeat back there words but "correctly'
Child: Her has cute feet
Me: yes she has cute feet and she had cute hands and she has a cute little nose....
Kids learn what they hear so I have no issues with them hearing words correctly.. At the same time if ones always correcting by saying no or do it again it can cause them to just not bother.


Deanna

[junipermuse]

Originally Posted by kriket

Yep.

I babysit a 6 year old, and when he mispronounces a word I will correct him. Like he says Skeleton, skel-ken. But I babysit him 20 hours a week, so I feel like he should learn something from me!

It sounds like you're a great sitter and really involved, but honestly if you we're my sitter, I would not want you correcting my child's pronunciation of words. I love to hear the way my child mis-pronounces words and it breaks my heart everytime she drops another mis-pronunciation. She has already self-corrected so many words. I have no doubt that she will learn to say them all correctly in time.

[octobermom]

I want my child to hear words right, and while it melts my heart when she pronounces things not quite right in the end correct is our goal.. However I can not stand when someone tries to make my LO say it "better" or correctly. My DD is apraxic and she gets very overwhelmed with that. It doesn't help if anything it makes things worse and she just shuts down and refuses to talk.

Deanna

[loraxc]

Goodness, no. By the way, I'm an editor. I correct people for a living. (But only when they ask, and pay me for it.)

I recast for my own children, but only sometimes, because I've read the research about how it doesn't help much anyway. If my own son started saying "Her has cute feets" due to exposure to another kid, I'd correct him, but if it was a phase he was in, I might leave it alone.

As for people freaking out about the improper grammar and usage of others, it's come to strike me as something people do to feel intellectually superior to others, a lot of the time. Unless I am asked, I keep my mouth shut. Also, there is a lot more to being a good, clear communicator than knowing the difference between "fewer" and "less."

[EVC]

I recast for my own children, but only sometimes, because I've read the research about how it doesn't help much anyway.

You know, I was actually just about to ask that very question. Does correction even work? I know I can tell dd something until I'm blue in the face, but often it just doesn't stick, especially if she is excited or worked up for some reason. Habits of various kinds seem to be formed in a different manner, and I wonder if it is the same thing with language correction.

If you correct your child, do the corrections "stick"? (I'm not planning on correcting my child regardless, I was just curious about this mechanism of language acquisition )

[mommy2maya]

I will correct in my response back, but not lecture- I certainly don't see that as 'correcting' someone else's child. I mean, the alternative would be to use the incorrect grammar back or just avoid it altogether, right? I think modelling correct grammar is the best option, even if it won't 'stick' right then and there. The long term effects of hearing the correct pronoun usage is what will eventually have the desired affect of the child using correct grammar.

[LittleBattleAxe]

I'm another English teacher.

I don't correct grammar unless I'm on the clock

I don't correct my children unless there is a language concept that they don't seem to be understanding (my oldest had trouble with prepositions at four and five, and I did work with him on that).

My four year old often says "her" or "her's" for "she." "Her's so cute!" I think it's really endearing, actually. Maybe that's why I don't correct LOs -- soon enough they will learn the correct way and that phase of cuteness is forever gone. I may cry when my youngest finally learns all the pronouns -- the mishaps are sweet.

I might reflect back as PPs have said, using the correct formation: "Yes, she is cute!" I would not out-and-out correct, though. I think it's rude. And fwiw my children hear correct grammar all day long, but they all went through stages of misuse as they acquired language skills.

I also don't correct my older children when they are hanging out with their friends and speaking slang -- even though it is like nails on a chalkboard. I think it's fine for them to have one way of speaking with their peers provided they know how to speak and present themselves effectively in other situations.

[bluebunny]

I'm another English teacher.

I don't correct grammar unless I'm on the clock

I don't correct my children unless there is a language concept that they don't seem to be understanding (my oldest had trouble with prepositions at four and five, and I did work with him on that).

My four year old often says "her" or "her's" for "she." "Her's so cute!" I think it's really endearing, actually. Maybe that's why I don't correct LOs -- soon enough they will learn the correct way and that phase of cuteness is forever gone. I may cry when my youngest finally learns all the pronouns -- the mishaps are sweet.

I might reflect back as PPs have said, using the correct formation: "Yes, she is cute!" I would not out-and-out correct, though. I think it's rude. And fwiw my children hear correct grammar all day long, but they all went through stages of misuse as they acquired language skills.

I could have written this, except my child is three, not four.

[EdnaMarie]

No. I never correct other kids' grammar. At most, I will correct if the gender is wrong (but that is less grammar than fact) or possibly if I don't understand, I would clarify. I might repeat back to my own child (she's doing the past tense now... so like, "I maked a sandwich!" "Oh, you made a sandwich, you're getting awfully big!") but not to other kids unless it seemed really appropriate to repeat what they said and then I wouldn't repeat the mistake, of course.

And yes, as everyone said, it's a phase. My DD didn't go through it for some reason, not the pronoun thing. Verb tense is another matter entirely.

[EdnaMarie]

No. I never correct other kids' grammar. At most, I will correct if the gender of a child is wrong (but that is less grammar than fact) or possibly if I don't understand, I would clarify. I might repeat back to my own child (she's doing the past tense now... so like, "I maked a sandwich!" "Oh, you made a sandwich, you're getting awfully big!") but not to other kids unless it seemed really appropriate to repeat what they said and then I wouldn't repeat the mistake, of course.

And yes, as everyone said, it's a phase. My DD didn't go through it for some reason, not the pronoun thing. Verb tense is another matter entirely.

[loraxc]

I mean, the alternative would be to use the incorrect grammar back or just avoid it altogether, right?

I think it's easy to avoid the self-conscious, intentional recasting.

"Her has cute foots!" "Yes, let's eat them up!"

I mean, you might of course refer to the baby as "she" in the next sentence, but I don't think that it's hard to avoid saying "Yes, SHE does have cute FEET!"