Queen's English Society

The Queen's English Society was founded in 1972 by Joe Clifton, an Oxford graduate and schoolteacher. It is registered as a charity, No.272901. The current President is Dr Bernard Lamb, a former Reader in Genetics at Imperial College.

History

A letter Mr. Clifton had sent to his local newspaper (the West Sussex Gazette) deploring the current decline in standards of English had resulted in so many sympathetic letters from readers that he was encouraged to form a group to try to do something about the problem.

Meetings of the newly formed Society were held in Arundel, and members would write to newspapers, and anyone else responsible for producing printed material, pointing out errors or examples of the misuse of English. Concern was also expressed about mispronunciation by broadcasters, and instances of their poorly spoken English were highlighted in the hope that they would not be repeated.

The Society is very concerned about the education of children. It believes that educational standards depend significantly on how well teachers were taught to care about their English. As a result of this belief the Society in 1988 delivered a petition to the then Secretary of State for Education and Science, Kenneth Baker, urging him "to introduce the compulsory study of formal grammar, including parsing and sentence analysis, into the school curriculum". This petition attracted widespread support.

Objects

The objects of the Society, as expressed in its constitution, "are to promote the maintenance, knowledge, understanding, development and appreciation of the English language as used both colloquially and in literature; to educate the public in its correct and elegant usage; and to discourage the intrusion of anything detrimental to clarity or euphony”. There are no formal qualifications for membership beyond sympathy with the Society's aims and a willingness to pay the annual subscription. Contrary to popular belief, members are not required to be experts on the niceties of good English, and are certainly not required to drop their accent in favour of Received Pronunciation.

The QES Academy of the English Language.

Other languages (French and Spanish, for example) have supreme authorities that try, while moving with the times, to define what is good and acceptable usage and what is not. They do not stop the language from changing over the years but they do provide a measure of linguistic discipline and try to retain valid and useful neologisms (new terms) while rejecting passing fads that may be in use today but are not destined to endure. Those “Academies” were founded many centuries ago and have gained in stature and respect with time. English has never had any such “Academy”. To found such an institution in the 21st century would be a mammoth task as English has become a truly universal language, spoken and used as a means of communication amongst people all over the world. But precisely because the language is so widespread – and also because of the dreadful deterioration of and disregard for sound language teaching in the hectic modern, digitalised world – some form of moderating body to set an accepted standard of good English has become essential. So The Queen’s English Society decided to found an Academy with the same objectives as those pursued by Academies of other languages but, unlike them, to use as the vehicle the very medium – the Internet – that is contributing to this linguistic anarchy. Hence, The QES Academy is a 21st century attempt, drawing precisely on the digitalised nature of the world today, to provide an authoritative and respected “Academy of the English Language” that is both strict in its criteria yet open to all the many regional flavours that English has to offer. It contains a mass of material of its own and serves as a portal, through links to other sites, dealing in greater detail with specific aspects of English usage. The Academy first went on line in an experimental form on 9 March 2009. A totally revised and updated version is planned to go on line one year later.

The URL is: http://www.queens-english-society.com/qesacademy.aspx

Journal

The Society’s quarterly journal, Quest, has been sent to members since 1979. It includes articles and letters from members and details of current activities, as well as book reviews, puzzles and poems. A recurring theme throughout Quest has been the serious attempt to assess the changes that are now taking place within the language almost daily. The Society believes that a commitment to standards should not preclude the possibility of grammatical change; nor does it mean, however, that change should be mindlessly celebrated for its own sake.

Publications

The Queen's English Society's Practical Guide to Punctuation, Bernard Lamb, 2008, ISBN 978-0-952-00376-2.

The Opinions and Practices of Teachers of English, A National Survey of Teachers of English to 11-18-year-olds by the Queen's English Society, Bernard C. Lamb, 1997, ISBN 0 9520037 2 4.

A National Survey of Communication Skills of Young Entrants to Industry and Commerce, Bernard C. Lamb, 1994, ISBN 0 9520037 1 6.

A National Survey of UK Undergraduates' Standards of English, Bernard C. Lamb, 1992, ISBN 0 9520037 0 8.

Shakin' the Ketchup Bot'le, a book containing selected articles from Quest issue number 1 up to number 98. The book was published by Buckingham University Press, 2008, ISBN 10-0-9554642-7-7 and ISBN 13 978-0-9554642-7-0.

See also

• Received Pronunciation

External links

• Queen's English Society homepage