Queen's English Society: Difference between revisions
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In June 2010 the QES announced that it had formed an Academy of English, "because there has been a dreadful devaluation and deterioration of education in our hectic, modern, digitalised world." <ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article7145147.ece</ref> |
In June 2010 the QES announced that it had formed an Academy of English, "because there has been a dreadful devaluation and deterioration of education in our hectic, modern, digitalised world." <ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article7145147.ece</ref> |
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The Academy, originally founded in 2008, has developed over two years and has matured, undergoing many changes in content, presentation and approach and by September 2010 was ready to start interacting directly with the public. At the same time, the Society acquired a new Chairman - Mrs. Rhea Williams - who, in an interview with The Times<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article7145148.ece</ref>, had said "An academy is needed because the correct information is not something that people can find easily. I suspect that many people in this country have easier access to a computer than to a reference book. They will be able to search without embarrassment." However, she realised that the aims of the Society and those of the Academy, while overlapping, were not the same. The Society campaigns for the use of good English whereas the Academy had become a reference portal and advisory service for members of the public who wish to verify or improve the English they use. As a consequence, she decided to separate those two functions and the Academy now exists, independently of - but not in opposition to - the Queen's English Society, as a site under the name |
The Academy, originally founded in 2008, has developed over two years and has matured, undergoing many changes in content, presentation and approach and by September 2010 was ready to start interacting directly with the public. At the same time, the Society acquired a new Chairman - Mrs. Rhea Williams - who, in an interview with The Times<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article7145148.ece</ref>, had said "An academy is needed because the correct information is not something that people can find easily. I suspect that many people in this country have easier access to a computer than to a reference book. They will be able to search without embarrassment." However, she realised that the aims of the Society and those of the Academy, while overlapping, were not the same. The Society campaigns for the use of good English whereas the Academy had become a reference portal and advisory service for members of the public who wish to verify or improve the English they use. As a consequence, she decided to separate those two functions and the Academy now exists, independently of - but not in opposition to - the Queen's English Society, as a site under the name The Academy of Contemporary English.<ref>http://www.academy-contemporary-english.org.uk.</ref> |
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==Journal== |
==Journal== |
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Revision as of 17:12, 22 December 2010
The Queen's English Society is a charity that aims to keep the English language safe from perceived declining standards [1]. The current President is Dr Bernard Lamb, a former Reader in Genetics at Imperial College.
History
The Queen's English Society was founded in 1972 by Joe Clifton, an Oxford graduate and schoolteacher.
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”.
The QES Academy of the English Language
In June 2010 the QES announced that it had formed an Academy of English, "because there has been a dreadful devaluation and deterioration of education in our hectic, modern, digitalised world." [2]
The Academy, originally founded in 2008, has developed over two years and has matured, undergoing many changes in content, presentation and approach and by September 2010 was ready to start interacting directly with the public. At the same time, the Society acquired a new Chairman - Mrs. Rhea Williams - who, in an interview with The Times[3], had said "An academy is needed because the correct information is not something that people can find easily. I suspect that many people in this country have easier access to a computer than to a reference book. They will be able to search without embarrassment." However, she realised that the aims of the Society and those of the Academy, while overlapping, were not the same. The Society campaigns for the use of good English whereas the Academy had become a reference portal and advisory service for members of the public who wish to verify or improve the English they use. As a consequence, she decided to separate those two functions and the Academy now exists, independently of - but not in opposition to - the Queen's English Society, as a site under the name The Academy of Contemporary English.[4]
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.
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 13-978-0-9554642-7-0.
See also
References
- ^ The Queen's English Society. "Cover Page - The Queen's English Society". Retrieved 3 October 2010.
- ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article7145147.ece
- ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article7145148.ece
- ^ http://www.academy-contemporary-english.org.uk.