Was the "war cry" of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in the run-up to the 1997 General Eection.
Talk to the average English speaking person today, and most over the age of 40 will tell you that standards of written and spoken English have declined drastically since the end of the 1960s. I have seen university papers written by English students that are so full of elementary errors that a 1950s Eleven Plus failure could write better
With increasing demands being placed upon teachers by almost all schools it is noticeable that they are not picking up as many mistakes in the pupils' work as once was the case.
Working very recently with a group of junior school students (ages 8 to 10), I noticed immediately that all the same elements of enthusiasm and imagination were as much there as they'd been back in the '50s. I also noticed that little attention had been given to correct spelling and punctuation.
For someone who has spent many of his working years as a professional writer and editor, I feel that there is a great need for support in the teaching of English. By this I don't mean better textbooks particularly, but more of the type of worshop that I did. Delivered in an informal setting, with the accent on individual attention and getting the students to give me as many good reasons as they could think for writing, the initial four workshops that I did gave me much food for thought.
