AIBU to feedback to school about teachers use of glottal stops

[TalomaPaith]

Children at Dcs school are split into different groups for phonics.

Parents are sometimes invited to watch lessons. I observed a lesson by a teacher using glottal stops I.e Let'er instead of letter.

Would IBU to mention this?

@queenmeadhbh don't you think it makes a difference given the context of teaching children phonics? Many of those children also have English as a second language. When you are explicitly aware of phonemes and your role in teaching them but you choose not to use them it's lazy! If she was in the pub I wouldn't care

@GarlicBreadStan and pp and you seem so lovely. Degrading an internet strangers grammar on a forum. You seem so well rounded and secure

What is the end game here OP? Do you hope the teacher will lose her job because she speaks with a glottal stop and do you hope she moves away and teaches elsewhere? (Make sure someone proof reads your email BTW. I observed you don’t know the difference between effect and affect, among other issues)

I do know the difference. Stop bullying strangers on the internet.

I'm not degrading your grammar. I've never mentioned your grammar. I said that I hope you're no longer a teacher because you seem like an insecure, nasty piece of work who is extremely classist and who seems to look down your nose at anyone who is "below" you

@Baanaanaas do you not understand that people use language in a different way to you?

@GarlicBreadStan do you think that's a kind judgement to make and say to a stranger?

As opposed to bullying a teacher who probably works a 60 hour week?

i presume you are explicitly aware of the phoneme that makes the R sound at the start of words. But in an RP accent this phoneme is not pronounced at the end of words. Do you think that is “lazy” and “choosing not to use” that phoneme in that position?

Yes, if I believe that my assessment is true based on the things they've been saying. You asked how long someone was claiming benefits for, ffs, just because they dared to disagree with you!

The irony of this statement!!!

Ahahaha!!! Hahahahaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!! This is too good. News just in - people speak differently! Oh but not differently like with glottal stops in the middle of words - that’s bad different. The way I use language is good different. The way other people use language is an excuse to make revolting comments about social welfare and class. Goddit? Right.

@queenmeadhbh yes again context is key here

1. Teaching phonics in a diverse school to young children many of whom have English as a second language
2. On an app at home sitting on sofa or in the bathroom

How does one use a glottal stop on an app in the bathroom???

@queenmeadhbh dense people are boring

You're losing the plot now. I think you should go to bed.

@BigAnne night biggy x

I'm just back from an event at our local secondary school. Not only did the HT say, "So much work has went into this event" but also "There is so much yous should be proud of"

I will of course be sending a strongly worded email to the Director of Education in the morning.

I complained that my DC were being taught to say Haitch

Head agreed with me 😆

Just to be clear @TalomaPaith - I haven’t once ‘degraded’ your spelling and grammar.

You started a Mumsnet thread asking if it would be unreasonable to feedback to a teacher about the use of a glottal stop. A large number of posters said you would be unreasonable, and it started an interesting debate about language and speech and their relationship to class and social mobility, via a discussion about what was ‘correct’.

You doubled down, as is your right, but you must be aware that on any discussion on Mumsnet about ‘correct’ use of language and speech, any hint of hypocrisy will be picked up. Someone did that to you, I think unfairly, and instead of engaging with them fairly, you made an absolutely abhorrent ad hominem attack about benefits, and tbh at that moment I lost any sympathy I had for you. You demonstrated that your first reaction when under pressure is to punch down, and that made me re-evaluate the whole thread. It’s not in good faith.

When you came back on, you again started calling people dense and boring when they disagreed with you. I fully expect you to have a go at me, and you might be right. I’m sitting on my sofa arguing with someone who is clearly not engaging in good faith, so that makes me complicit.

To paraphrase Wendy Cope, the earth will go on being round.

We owe it to the children to give them the best chance to succeed

Just say what you mean, which is that you think estuary accents make you sound poor, thick and common.

Unfortunately, when all your teachers and peers speak that way, no one cares. It's only when you leave Essex you realise everyone thinks you're thick.

I've tried to iron mine out but it slips when I'm getting enthusiastic or thinking about something. Fortunately my colleagues don't care because I'm really fucking clever 😀

Your sarcastic remark about improper pronunciation was snobby

When I taught in secondary, I made sure the children knew which words and phrases they needed to use for interviews etc. Regional accents are of course very important, but so is learning to spell and speak correctly in many situations. It's the school's job to teach that.

The fact people in the "estuary" can't distinguish between sounds is enough of a reason for teachers to speak properly. It matters in the big wide world.

If you’re teaching phonics you really have to make the effort to anúnciate the sounds correctly.