Clear English for IndiaSeeking an End to "Indlish"DO INDIANS equate "impressive" English with incomprehensible English? Many unfortunately do, according to Jyoti Sanyal, author of Indlish—The Book for Every English-Speaking Indian. Promoted as the first plain-English style guide for Indian writers, it is now available from Viva Books in New Delhi, price 295 rupees. 394 pages, paperback. ISBN: 81-309-0281-8.
Martin Cutts of the Plain Language Commission, who edited the book and wrote the foreword, says this about the author: After 30 years with The Statesman, where even his friends thought him hot-headed, choleric and impatient, Jyoti Sanyal became Dean at Asian College of Journalism in Bangalore in 1997. Remembered as a hound in class and a lamb outside it by the trainees he inspired with his love of both story-telling and expressive language, Sanyal now devotes himself to Clear English India, which encourages people to use good contemporary English instead of Raj-day commercialese. The book is filled with abundant examples of Indian officialese, which Sanyal gleefully rips apart. It is based on articles first published in the "Language" column of The Statesman, in Calcutta, from 1999 to 2000. For another review of the book, see "A Language in Disguise?" A Nation's CrisisThe Problem of High School DropoutsAT FIRST SIGHT, the United States does well in education. Fourth-grade students do better than their international counterparts, and 37 percent of its 18-to-20-year-olds go through higher education—one of the highest percentages in industrialized countries. Universities in the U.S. are recognized as the best in the world, and they should be. The country spends 1.4 percent of its GPD on higher education, twice that of Britain and 40% more than the 1.0 percent spent by France and Germany. One-Third of a Nation
The report issued by the ETS, entitled One-Third of a Nation: Rising Dropout Rates and Declining Opportunities, tracks dwindling high school completion rates throughout the 1990s, which persist today.
The report also found clear evidence that more students are dropping out earlier, between ninth and 10th grades. The finding of too few counselors and a steep decline in federal investment (from about $15 billion in the late 1970s to about $3 billion today) combine to create a dark outlook.
"This is a story of losing ground," writes author Paul Barton. "At the same time that the dropout rate is increasing and out-of-school education and training opportunities are dwindling, the economic status of young dropouts has been in a free fall since the late 1970s. Employment and earnings prospects have declined and even for those who work full time, earnings have dropped steadily to averages around the poverty line for a family with children."
Findings from the study include:
In an effort to help address the problem, Barton identifies successful programs that have a proven record of increasing student retention. They include the Talent Development High School, the Communities In Schools program, Maryland's Tomorrow, and The Quantum Opportunities Program. Each is detailed in the report, along with the growing use of alternative schools.
And, while second-chance opportunities have diminished, Barton notes that such programs as the Job Corps, YouthBuild USA, the Center for Employment Training, and the Youth Corps, have all been effective at addressing the problem. Dropouts: A Family Literacy Problem
Universal PreschoolExperts and teachers also agree that a preschool experience or its first cousin—high quality, educationally-oriented child care—is another effective strategy for improving later school performance. The best studies strongly suggest that children benefit greatly from an early learning experience. High-quality programs have produced short-term gains in cognitive functioning and longer-term gains in school achievement and social adjustment. The most effective programs create savings to the government of $13,000 to $19,000 per child above the cost of the pre-school programs themselves. The best results come from programs that begin early, include children from the most disadvantaged homes, and provide intensive education and other services over a lengthy period. Economist Elizabeth V. Sawhill of the Brookings Institution writes: The keys to academic success for disadvantaged children may not be smaller class sizes, better-prepared teachers, tougher standards, more accountability, or greater choice—laudable as these goals may be. They may instead hinge on a single factor: preschool. Most support for universal preschool currently comes from the state and local level. Governor Schwarzenegger, for example, recently signed into law a $100 million program expanding preschool in California. All such efforts are expected to have a positive effect on high school success. Thomas PaineAmerica's Rhetorical GeniusA NEW BOOK by Craig Nelson, Thomas Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Birth of Modern Nations, shows why Paine's role as one of America's Founding Fathers is often neglected. He was not only a radical, he was a working-class radical. His blunt attacks on the rich and powerful and organized religion made many Americans feel uncomfortable. There is no question, however, about the critical role he played in the American Revolution. Before the war, everyone read his pamphlet entitled Common Sense. It turned the loyalty of American merchants and farmers against the British monarchy and towards independence. During the war, in plain, 9th-grade English he uplifted the spirits of citizens and soldiers in a series of 13 tracts called The Crisis. The first of these was published at the war's lowest point, in December 1776. General Washington had this article read to his troops at Valley Forge (See below). At every new development, The Crisis would re-define the issues for his compatriots and renew their energies. After the War of Independence, Paine returned to his native England, where he was tried and convicted for attacking the monarchy in The Rights of Man. In this work, he claimed that English law held few liberties for the ordinary person. He campaigned not only against slavery but also for an international peace organization, health insurance, old-age pensions, and a graduated income tax. In The Age of Reason, written in 1796, he came out against organized religion. This caused many of his compatriots in America to brand him as an atheist. In fact, he was a deist, a religion he shared with nearly all the Founding Fathers. Whatever one thinks about Paine as a prophet of democracy, he was a rhetorical genius. His mastery of plain language moved a nation to action—and to victory.
Plain Language in the NewsProgram
to study medical jargon: We
are suffering acronym overload:
Frustrated
by legal jargon? Firms
blinded by technical jargon: New
style checker for UNIX-based systems: How
American business is losing the war of words: Plain
language for public-safety responders: Course
for bilingual medical interpreters: Literacy
program helps patients: Family
literacy program a boon to parents:
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