October 3, 2009

Dear Fellow Communicators in English,

Understandably, major natural disasters like Typhoon Ondoy’s killer floods
take their toll in flawed grammar and syntax if not outright cockeyed news
reporting. This was evident in the flood-disaster reporting of one of the
major Metro Manila broadsheets, where a misplaced modifier reared its ugly
head—to use an ugly cliché—right on its front-page headline story, followed
by the paper’s imprudent if not impudent decision to directly quote a
high-ranking government official mangling his English while making a major
announcement. It’s really in the worst of times like this that reporters and
editors could be a little more understanding of other people’s flawed
English and a little more compassionate in their reporting, but sadly, the
propensity of some of them to put the country’s high officials down appears
to seethe unabated come hell or high water.

I discuss this regrettable state of journalistic affairs extensively in this
week’s edition of My Media English Watch in Jose Carillo’s English
Forum<http://josecarilloforum.com/>,
but on a more positive note, I’m happy to report that our special forum on
education and teaching in the Philippines is now on its fifth week of lively
discussions—and its discussants now look forward keenly to feedback from the
country’s education officials on the ideas for educational reform taken up
in the Forum. Of course, there’s a lot more to learn and enjoy from this
week’s Forum, as can be seen from this story lineup:

*THIS WEEK IN THE FORUM (October 3-9, 2009):*
• *Special Education Forum:* *Deafening Silence of Education Officials
Perplexes Discussants* (Here’s hoping we’ll hear it straight from the
horse’s mouth!)
• *My Media English Watch:* *A Newspaper Flubs Its English in Its
Flood-Disaster Reporting* (Foul weather takes its toll in flawed grammar and
syntax)
• *Pour Out Your Mind in English:* *How Much of a Problem is Our English
Proficiency?*(Does good English actually translate to economic success?)
• *Essays by Jose Carillo:* *“Like” and “Such As” are Such Slippery Grammar
Trippers*(Some prescriptions for not taking the tumble when using them)
• *News and Commentary:* *Only the Young Can Engage With Techno-Savvy
Pupils, Says Exper*t (But should young teachers now be appointed to top
teaching posts?)
• *Readings in Language:* *Bumper Crop of Thought-Provoking Readings on the
English Language* (Five writers make separate explorations of the nature and
vagaries of English and of current yardsticks of English proficiency)
• *Time Out from English Grammar:* *Polymaths—A Many-Splendored But Highly
Endangered Species* (Has their loss affected the course of human thought?)
• *You Asked Me This Question:* *What’s the Proper Tense for “Do” in the
Negative of a Statement?* (Remember the rule: It’s the helping verb that
takes the tense!)
• *Media Release:* *Jose Carillo’s “Give Your English The Winning Edge” Now
Available*(You deserve that edge after working long and hard to master
English)

See you at the Forum!

With my best wishes,

Joe Carillo

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