To pull someone up on their incorrect use of grammar in the classroom of children?

[biebersLadyLabyrinth]

I'm working with another TA (new to this job) until the term breaks and we're not getting on. I used to be a parent at the school and thought she didn't mind me as I wasn't a fussy parent (she's always had the reputation for being a bit scary-this said by children and parents alike but she was good to mine and our paths rarely crossed)

She's very cool with me which I can handle and furthermore if she doesn't like me no problem as long as we can get the job done.

She keeps criticising my using certain phrases like "splendid" or "Cheese and Crackers" as a child-friendly expletive even "marvellous" bothers her. This said, I've heard her over and over incorrectly speak to children. When one little boy told her his mum doesn't like him to say a phrase in that way-he was chided and told her way is perfectly ok.

I'm tempted to say something to her but worry she'll get a bit nasty.

This might be bollocks, but there's definitely some words that have lost their first consonant.

...there are...

TheClaws

Regional dialect is fascinating and it keeps the English language itself fresh and vibrant. However, the OP gave us examples of incorrect grammar - not dialect. It has no place in a classroom.

Agreed. Too many confuse the two, however, out of some form of inverted snobbery.

What Miss Biebers means is that you done good-silly Miss Bieber

This would infuriate me - how rude! She obviously has no compunction about criticising you in front of the children - and to "correct" your statement with "done good" and call you silly.

I'm afraid I would have felt like saying something to her after class. I think as PP have said that this is the real issue. However, it is probably better to leave it until September and see if it continues.

What Miss Biebers means is that you done good-silly Miss Bieber

Well no, actually Miss Bossy, I meant that his work was splendid - which it is!

I wouldn't have dared really, I would have fumed like you did.

I would correct my DD if she said something like 'I've done good' but I certainly wouldn't correct another adult especially not someone I work with. I'd also be a little I'm my DD came back from school saying 'holy moly guacamole'. I don't understand why she doesn't like 'splendid' though?

i'm with alexkate...i am a teacher but don't correct on informal quick messages like this.

i think the op might have english as their second language. i thought she was asking whether it was ok for ta to correct her in front of the class. the answer is no. as alexkate suggests, the ta can try to repeat stuff in the correct form so the children hear the correct version. the op should suggest to ta that it is not acceptable to correct her in front of others, but that she would be happy to be told 1:1 as this would help her to continue to improve her english. huge apologies to op if english is your first language!

I would raise it in school and correct her. As a parent I would be very annoyed at my children hearing bad grammar like this.

I think you should address the fact she is commenting, in front of the children, on your (perfectly normal and correct) use of language. That is not acceptable.

Then see how the conversation develops. Don't go in trying to address her errors first. This could be seen as 'tit for tat' retaliation for her behaviour towards you.

I'd deal with the 'not in front of the children' aspect first. Then, after it has been confirmed that your phrases are acceptable, you might like to move the discussion on to raise some of her incorrect phrases with the teacher / manager you're talking to. Dealing with it professionally, with the line manager, as two separate issues and not in front of the children, is paramount here I think.

I'd also be a little I'm my DD came back from school saying 'holy moly guacamole'.

But why? I don't understand this - I must be missing something. Please can someone enlighten me as to what's wrong with the phrase?

I'd also accept that she isn't going to change the way she speaks but she can and must change her behaviour.

Children hear all sorts of different speaking styles and vocabularies. So long as they encounter a mixture, it should be quite possible for them to learn correct grammar and to find their own way. Whether they chose to adopt correct grammar in their everyday speech is a different matter. Knowing and doing are not the same thing.

Pengggwn I didn't really understand what you wrote in your last post. I think, though, we're not far off the same opinion. TAs need to be paid more; if they were, the profession would attract a better kind of candidate. And no one should make assumptions about anyone.

There is also the fact that everyone is exhausted and grumpy at this time of year. Guaranteed fireworks!

Pengggwn

Where is the split infinitive in 'I gently try to model it'? Your alternative of 'Gently, I try' sounds completely inappropriate and like it came from a non-native speaker.

The TA in my son's class had a habit of saying I fort and I fink and bovered
She didn't have a speech impediment as far as I know, just too lazy to pronounce th sounds.

It makes you wonder how people through the interview process.

Pengggwn it seems you're the one that needs to look up what an infinitive is.

There isn't anything wrong with a split infinitive. The Oxford Dictionary will tell you it's fine, but as some people hate it, so just don't use in formal writing, basically to avoid a fight! It's a question of style, more than anything. And obviously, sometimes the meaning changes if you don't split the infinitive, making it unclear.

'This might be bollocks, but there's definitely some words that have lost their first consonant.

...there are...'

Quite right, nina! I think I had originally intend to write 'but there's definitely a story like this about a similar word if this one isn't true' but then took a quick break because of hideous morning sickness (strangely this thread didn't relieve my nausea) and came back to finish a completely different sentence.

Maybe the PP who said I should be embarrassed will come back to check if I have an acceptable amount of shame...

I agree with that, Basket. But Pengggwn's examples aren't even infinitives!

'I had originally intend' - get your red pen out, nina!

I hate the attitude of TAs. They are so bloody self entitled and think the school will fall apart without them. They are a massive waste of money. Also any excuse to get out the classroom and they're gone. They love the drama and get involved in every tiny piece of it!

A bit of generalising there @HannahMontannaBeachTowel :)

Pengggwn Thu 13-Jul-17 12:38:49
DixieFlatline

"Look it up: I go, boldly, where no man has gone before..."

The reason this does not work as an example of a split infinitive is that you have misquoted it so that there is no infinitive in the sentence. The correct quotation is:

"These are the voyages of the Starship, Enterprise.
Its 5 year mission:
to explore strange new worlds
to seek out new life and new civilizations
to boldly go where no man has gone before"

The infinitive is in bold. "I boldly go" otoh is not an infinitive at all: it's a finite verb phrase in the first person singular, present tense. And finite verb phrases can be split in totally different ways (I often go home; she never split an infinitive).