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 sent to his local newspaper (the West Sussex Gazette) complaining about the perceived decline in respect for the standards of English resulted in sympathetic letters from readers, which encouraged him to form a group to attempt to redress any problems that could be found.

Meetings of the newly formed Society were held in Arundel, and members wrote to newspapers, and anyone else responsible for producing printed material, pointing out perceived errors or examples of potential misuse of English. The society expressed concern about the pronunciation of broadcasters, and instances of ambiguous spoken English were highlighted in the hope that they would be made more clear.

The Society claims to be concerned about the education of children. It believes that educational standards depend significantly on how well teachers are trained to spot potential errors in English usage. In 1988, the Society 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".

Objectives

The objectives 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[http://www.queens-english-society.com/academy.html

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. The success of these Academies in influencing the spoken language in the modern era is debatable.

English has never had any such “Academy”. To found such an institution in the 21st century would be a futile task as English has become a truly universal language, spoken and used as a means of communication amongst people all over the world. Despite this, the Queen’s English Society have decided to found an Academy to serve as a reference, using the Internet as the main vehicle for communication.

The QES Academy is a 21st century attempt, drawing precisely on the digital nature of communication in the world today, to provide an authoritative and respected “Academy of the English Language” that, while strict in its criteria, remains 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 went on line about one year later.

The stated purpose of the QES English Academy is to:

1. - record Best Practice in the use of English by those who use it well;
2. - provide a reference for good English usage;
3. - point out common errors committed by those who do not use it well;
4. - campaign for more effective teaching of English;
5. - campaign for the use of correct error-free English by the media.

"Queen's English" is the term applied to define the standard form of either written or spoken British English, regarded as correct.[2]

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 celebrated for its own sake.

Publications

The Queen's English: And How To Use It, Bernard C. Lamb, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84317-482-0.

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
• Charity Commission page for the Queen's English Society