Words and children and social engineering
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Larry Rice
Dec 10, 2008, 12:27:35 AM12/10/08
to thoughts...@googlegroups.com
Remember, scripture says
Hold fast the form of sound words
and
Do not tear down the landmarks of your
fathers
But school systems work for the world
so our kids get this kind of stuff
Words associated with Christianity and British history taken out of
children's dictionary
Words associated with Christianity, the monarchy and British history have been dropped from a leading dictionary for children.
Julie Henry, Education Correspondent
Last Updated: 12:48PM GMT 08 Dec 2008
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Westminster Abbey may be one of Britain's most famous landmarks, but the word abbey has been removed from the Oxford Junior Dictionary. Photo: PA
Instead, words such as 'MP3 player', 'voicemail' and 'attachment' have been included. Photo: GETTY IMAGES
Oxford University Press has removed words like "aisle", "bishop", "chapel", "empire" and "monarch" from its Junior Dictionary and replaced them with words like "blog", "broadband" and "celebrity". Dozens of words related to the countryside have also been culled.
The publisher claims the changes have been made to reflect the fact that Britain is a modern, multicultural, multifaith society.
But academics and head teachers said that the changes to the 10,000 word Junior Dictionary could mean that children lose touch with Britain's heritage.
"We have a certain Christian narrative which has given meaning to us over the last 2,000 years. To say it is all relative and replaceable is questionable," said Professor Alan Smithers, the director of the centre for education and employment at Buckingham University. "The word selections are a very interesting reflection of the way childhood is going, moving away from our spiritual background and the natural world and towards the world that information technology creates for us."
An analysis of the word choices made by the dictionary lexicographers has revealed that entries from "abbey" to "willow" have been axed. Instead, words such as "MP3 player", "voicemail" and "attachment" have taken their place.
Lisa Saunders, a worried mother who has painstakingly compared entries from the junior dictionaries, aimed at children aged seven or over, dating from 1978, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2007, said she was "horrified" by the vast number of words that have been removed, most since 2003.
"The Christian faith still has a strong following," she said. "To eradicate so many words associated with the Christianity will have a big effect on the numerous primary schools who use it."
Ms Saunders realised words were being removed when she was helping her son with his homework and discovered that "moss" and "fern", which were in editions up until 2003, were no longer listed.
"I decide to take a closer look and compare the new version to the other editions," said the mother of four from Co Down, Northern Ireland. "I was completely horrified by the vast number of words which have been removed. We know that language moves on and we can't be fuddy-duddy about it but you don't cull hundreds of important words in order to get in a different set of ICT words."
Anthony Seldon, the master of Wellington College, a leading private school in Berkshire, said: "I am stunned that words like "saint", "buttercup", "heather" and "sycamore" have all gone and I grieve it.
"I think as well as being descriptive, the Oxford Junior Dictionary, has to be prescriptive too, suggesting not just words that are used but words that should be used. It has a duty to keep these words within usage, not merely pander to an audience. We are looking at the loss of words of great beauty. I would rather have "marzipan" and "mistletoe" then "MP3 player."
Oxford University Press, which produces the junior edition, selects words with the aid of the Children's Corpus, a list of about 50 million words made up of general language, words from children's books and terms related to the school curriculum. Lexicographers consider word frequency when making additions and deletions.
Vineeta Gupta, the head of children's dictionaries at Oxford University Press, said: "We are limited by how big the dictionary can be – little hands must be able to handle it – but we produce 17 children's dictionaries with different selections and numbers of words.
"When you look back at older versions of dictionaries, there were lots of examples of flowers for instance. That was because many children lived in semi-rural environments and saw the seasons. Nowadays, the environment has changed. We are also much more multicultural. People don't go to Church as often as before. Our understanding of religion is within multiculturalism, which is why some words such as "Pentecost" or "Whitsun" would have been in 20 years ago but not now."
She said children's dictionaries were trialed in schools and advice taken from teachers. Many words are added to reflect the age-related school curriculum.
Words taken out:
Carol, cracker, holly, ivy, mistletoe
Dwarf, elf, goblin
Abbey, aisle, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, vicar
Coronation, duchess, duke, emperor, empire, monarch, decade
adder, ass, beaver, boar, budgerigar, bullock, cheetah, colt, corgi, cygnet, doe, drake, ferret, gerbil, goldfish, guinea pig, hamster, heron, herring, kingfisher, lark, leopard, lobster, magpie, minnow, mussel, newt, otter, ox, oyster, panther, pelican, piglet, plaice, poodle, porcupine, porpoise, raven, spaniel, starling, stoat, stork, terrapin, thrush, weasel, wren.
Acorn, allotment, almond, apricot, ash, bacon, beech, beetroot, blackberry, blacksmith, bloom, bluebell, bramble, bran, bray, bridle, brook, buttercup, canary, canter, carnation, catkin, cauliflower, chestnut, clover, conker, county, cowslip, crocus, dandelion, diesel, fern, fungus, gooseberry, gorse, hazel, hazelnut, heather, holly, horse chestnut, ivy, lavender, leek, liquorice, manger, marzipan, melon, minnow, mint, nectar, nectarine, oats, pansy, parsnip, pasture, poppy, porridge, poultry, primrose, prune, radish, rhubarb, sheaf, spinach, sycamore, tulip, turnip, vine, violet, walnut, willow
Words put in:
Blog, broadband, MP3 player, voicemail, attachment, database, export, chatroom, bullet point, cut and paste, analogue
Celebrity, tolerant, vandalism, negotiate, interdependent, creep, citizenship, childhood, conflict, common sense, debate, EU, drought, brainy, boisterous, cautionary tale, bilingual, bungee jumping, committee, compulsory, cope, democratic, allergic, biodegradable, emotion, dyslexic, donate, endangered, Euro
Apparatus, food chain, incisor, square number, trapezium, alliteration, colloquial, idiom, curriculum, classify, chronological, block graph
Comments: 327
What a pity! Future generations will not be able to understand Monty Python until they've studied it at university.
Michael Miller
on December 08, 2008
at 04:25 PM
Report this comment
Multicultural are we? That is EXACTLY the reason why such words should be kept in. Instead of taking OUT words relating to the Christian faith add words relating to other faiths, particularly Islam, whose vocabulary may not be so familiar to children (I am Jewish, by the way. What's wrong with sycamore and buttercup anyway? And churches do exist and plenty of people attend them.
Madeleine Lewis
on December 08, 2008
at 11:35 AM
Report this comment
It seems strange to remove words like Elf and Dwarf, given recent widespread interest in great writer J.R.R. Tolkien.
Even popular fantasy games such as 'World of Warcraft' have ensured that these magical words must still be in very regular use among young people.
Fey Allisar
on December 08, 2008
at 11:20 AM
Report this comment
As someone with a lifelong interest in wildlife and the countryside and also a Christian, I don�t know which sets of words omitted to be more offended by!
How is the loss of the names of so many plants and animals from this �excuse for a dictionary� supposed to help children understand the natural world? I had thought that left-wing �educationalists� wanted us to all reduce our impact on the environment. If we don�t teach children the names of such commonplace sights in the countryside AND our towns & cities as �blackberry, holly, magpie, starling(!!), sycamore, fern�, etc. how are they going to get even a basic appreciation of nature? Are they not allowed pets any more as well? No goldfish, hamsters, gerbils, poodles, spaniels or ferrets?
I see that �food chain� is �in�. As someone who studied Ecology I wonder what plants and animals are going to be in the example food chains. Certainly a �heron� catching a �minnow� won�t be in (a sight you can see even in our major cities)!
And aren't the socialist �health police� going to be a bit disappointed if the daily �five portions� of fruit�n�veg� can�t include cauliflower, nectarines, rhubarb or even turnips? They can�t have mint sauce on their lamb anymore. Oh, I forgot it will be halal lamb keema with naan bread now (bet you that �halal� �keema� and �naan� are in this �book�.
Maybe this Scots-dominated government isn�t that involved: no more tramping through the �heather� or eating a bowlful of �porridge� made with �oats�.
Alan E.
on December 08, 2008
at 11:17 AM
Report this comment
"Our children are our future", someone once said in an attempt to break the Olympic record for stating the bleeding obvious. Bleak future methinks, with the widespread and concerted efforts at dumbing down perpetrated by the current government and most of the education establishment, including the OUP. Older people who have spent any time with the youth of today will know that they are an over-confident, perky bunch, but it is a confidence that fails to hide vast gaps in their basic knowledge of how the world works. Dumb as dirt compared to their "elders and betters", but then we know it all and our children and grandchildren should be well-placed to pick out the shards of our cracking credit crunch and the forthcoming depression from the rubbish bin of history, once they have paid off their student loan that is.
Simon Wells
on December 08, 2008
at 11:16 AM
Report this comment
Why not just add new words...? The excuse for not doing this on the grounds the dictionary would be too big for small hands, is of course, utter bull.
These are 'academics' who have their own hidden agenda, so hidden in fact that they are unaware of it themselves (maybe). They are 'brainwashed' through their own distorted perception of reality, which comes up with this sort of bland characterless reasoning. The sad thing is they actually believe what they say, as evidenced by the 'gobbledegook' they give when asked "why?"
"The 'intelligence' of the 'intelligent' I will frustrate... " ....no matter how much they fiddle around with the dictionary....mmmm... I wonder where I got that quote from...
Oh yes... lets not buy it!
Chris
on December 08, 2008
at 11:12 AM
Report this comment
As an English person living abroad my initial reaction was to encourage everyone to totally reject the new dictionary. In this day and age no-one can enforce stuff like this. Britain has sustained onslaughts on her culture in the past but always rises victorious. If all parents refused to buy the book they'd have to rethink it.
Words associated with Christianity, the monarchy and British history have been dropped from a leading dictionary for children.
Julie Henry, Education Correspondent
Last Updated: 12:48PM GMT 08 Dec 2008
Previous
1 of 2 Images
Next
Westminster Abbey may be one of Britain's most famous landmarks, but the word abbey has been removed from the Oxford Junior Dictionary. Photo: PA
Instead, words such as 'MP3 player', 'voicemail' and 'attachment' have been included. Photo: GETTY IMAGES
Oxford University Press has removed words like "aisle", "bishop", "chapel", "empire" and "monarch" from its Junior Dictionary and replaced them with words like "blog", "broadband" and "celebrity". Dozens of words related to the countryside have also been culled.
The publisher claims the changes have been made to reflect the fact that Britain is a modern, multicultural, multifaith society.
But academics and head teachers said that the changes to the 10,000 word Junior Dictionary could mean that children lose touch with Britain's heritage.
"We have a certain Christian narrative which has given meaning to us over the last 2,000 years. To say it is all relative and replaceable is questionable," said Professor Alan Smithers, the director of the centre for education and employment at Buckingham University. "The word selections are a very interesting reflection of the way childhood is going, moving away from our spiritual background and the natural world and towards the world that information technology creates for us."
An analysis of the word choices made by the dictionary lexicographers has revealed that entries from "abbey" to "willow" have been axed. Instead, words such as "MP3 player", "voicemail" and "attachment" have taken their place.
Lisa Saunders, a worried mother who has painstakingly compared entries from the junior dictionaries, aimed at children aged seven or over, dating from 1978, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2007, said she was "horrified" by the vast number of words that have been removed, most since 2003.
"The Christian faith still has a strong following," she said. "To eradicate so many words associated with the Christianity will have a big effect on the numerous primary schools who use it."
Ms Saunders realised words were being removed when she was helping her son with his homework and discovered that "moss" and "fern", which were in editions up until 2003, were no longer listed.
"I decide to take a closer look and compare the new version to the other editions," said the mother of four from Co Down, Northern Ireland. "I was completely horrified by the vast number of words which have been removed. We know that language moves on and we can't be fuddy-duddy about it but you don't cull hundreds of important words in order to get in a different set of ICT words."
Anthony Seldon, the master of Wellington College, a leading private school in Berkshire, said: "I am stunned that words like "saint", "buttercup", "heather" and "sycamore" have all gone and I grieve it.
"I think as well as being descriptive, the Oxford Junior Dictionary, has to be prescriptive too, suggesting not just words that are used but words that should be used. It has a duty to keep these words within usage, not merely pander to an audience. We are looking at the loss of words of great beauty. I would rather have "marzipan" and "mistletoe" then "MP3 player."
Oxford University Press, which produces the junior edition, selects words with the aid of the Children's Corpus, a list of about 50 million words made up of general language, words from children's books and terms related to the school curriculum. Lexicographers consider word frequency when making additions and deletions.
Vineeta Gupta, the head of children's dictionaries at Oxford University Press, said: "We are limited by how big the dictionary can be – little hands must be able to handle it – but we produce 17 children's dictionaries with different selections and numbers of words.
"When you look back at older versions of dictionaries, there were lots of examples of flowers for instance. That was because many children lived in semi-rural environments and saw the seasons. Nowadays, the environment has changed. We are also much more multicultural. People don't go to Church as often as before. Our understanding of religion is within multiculturalism, which is why some words such as "Pentecost" or "Whitsun" would have been in 20 years ago but not now."
She said children's dictionaries were trialed in schools and advice taken from teachers. Many words are added to reflect the age-related school curriculum.
Words taken out:
Carol, cracker, holly, ivy, mistletoe
Dwarf, elf, goblin
Abbey, aisle, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, vicar
Coronation, duchess, duke, emperor, empire, monarch, decade
adder, ass, beaver, boar, budgerigar, bullock, cheetah, colt, corgi, cygnet, doe, drake, ferret, gerbil, goldfish, guinea pig, hamster, heron, herring, kingfisher, lark, leopard, lobster, magpie, minnow, mussel, newt, otter, ox, oyster, panther, pelican, piglet, plaice, poodle, porcupine, porpoise, raven, spaniel, starling, stoat, stork, terrapin, thrush, weasel, wren.
Acorn, allotment, almond, apricot, ash, bacon, beech, beetroot, blackberry, blacksmith, bloom, bluebell, bramble, bran, bray, bridle, brook, buttercup, canary, canter, carnation, catkin, cauliflower, chestnut, clover, conker, county, cowslip, crocus, dandelion, diesel, fern, fungus, gooseberry, gorse, hazel, hazelnut, heather, holly, horse chestnut, ivy, lavender, leek, liquorice, manger, marzipan, melon, minnow, mint, nectar, nectarine, oats, pansy, parsnip, pasture, poppy, porridge, poultry, primrose, prune, radish, rhubarb, sheaf, spinach, sycamore, tulip, turnip, vine, violet, walnut, willow
Words put in:
Blog, broadband, MP3 player, voicemail, attachment, database, export, chatroom, bullet point, cut and paste, analogue
Celebrity, tolerant, vandalism, negotiate, interdependent, creep, citizenship, childhood, conflict, common sense, debate, EU, drought, brainy, boisterous, cautionary tale, bilingual, bungee jumping, committee, compulsory, cope, democratic, allergic, biodegradable, emotion, dyslexic, donate, endangered, Euro
Apparatus, food chain, incisor, square number, trapezium, alliteration, colloquial, idiom, curriculum, classify, chronological, block graph
Comments: 327
What a pity! Future generations will not be able to understand Monty Python until they've studied it at university.
Michael Miller
on December 08, 2008
at 04:25 PM
Report this comment
Multicultural are we? That is EXACTLY the reason why such words should be kept in. Instead of taking OUT words relating to the Christian faith add words relating to other faiths, particularly Islam, whose vocabulary may not be so familiar to children (I am Jewish, by the way. What's wrong with sycamore and buttercup anyway? And churches do exist and plenty of people attend them.
Madeleine Lewis
on December 08, 2008
at 11:35 AM
Report this comment
It seems strange to remove words like Elf and Dwarf, given recent widespread interest in great writer J.R.R. Tolkien.
Even popular fantasy games such as 'World of Warcraft' have ensured that these magical words must still be in very regular use among young people.
Fey Allisar
on December 08, 2008
at 11:20 AM
Report this comment
As someone with a lifelong interest in wildlife and the countryside and also a Christian, I don�t know which sets of words omitted to be more offended by!
How is the loss of the names of so many plants and animals from this �excuse for a dictionary� supposed to help children understand the natural world? I had thought that left-wing �educationalists� wanted us to all reduce our impact on the environment. If we don�t teach children the names of such commonplace sights in the countryside AND our towns & cities as �blackberry, holly, magpie, starling(!!), sycamore, fern�, etc. how are they going to get even a basic appreciation of nature? Are they not allowed pets any more as well? No goldfish, hamsters, gerbils, poodles, spaniels or ferrets?
I see that �food chain� is �in�. As someone who studied Ecology I wonder what plants and animals are going to be in the example food chains. Certainly a �heron� catching a �minnow� won�t be in (a sight you can see even in our major cities)!
And aren't the socialist �health police� going to be a bit disappointed if the daily �five portions� of fruit�n�veg� can�t include cauliflower, nectarines, rhubarb or even turnips? They can�t have mint sauce on their lamb anymore. Oh, I forgot it will be halal lamb keema with naan bread now (bet you that �halal� �keema� and �naan� are in this �book�.
Maybe this Scots-dominated government isn�t that involved: no more tramping through the �heather� or eating a bowlful of �porridge� made with �oats�.
Alan E.
on December 08, 2008
at 11:17 AM
Report this comment
"Our children are our future", someone once said in an attempt to break the Olympic record for stating the bleeding obvious. Bleak future methinks, with the widespread and concerted efforts at dumbing down perpetrated by the current government and most of the education establishment, including the OUP. Older people who have spent any time with the youth of today will know that they are an over-confident, perky bunch, but it is a confidence that fails to hide vast gaps in their basic knowledge of how the world works. Dumb as dirt compared to their "elders and betters", but then we know it all and our children and grandchildren should be well-placed to pick out the shards of our cracking credit crunch and the forthcoming depression from the rubbish bin of history, once they have paid off their student loan that is.
Simon Wells
on December 08, 2008
at 11:16 AM
Report this comment
Why not just add new words...? The excuse for not doing this on the grounds the dictionary would be too big for small hands, is of course, utter bull.
These are 'academics' who have their own hidden agenda, so hidden in fact that they are unaware of it themselves (maybe). They are 'brainwashed' through their own distorted perception of reality, which comes up with this sort of bland characterless reasoning. The sad thing is they actually believe what they say, as evidenced by the 'gobbledegook' they give when asked "why?"
"The 'intelligence' of the 'intelligent' I will frustrate... " ....no matter how much they fiddle around with the dictionary....mmmm... I wonder where I got that quote from...
Oh yes... lets not buy it!
Chris
on December 08, 2008
at 11:12 AM
Report this comment
As an English person living abroad my initial reaction was to encourage everyone to totally reject the new dictionary. In this day and age no-one can enforce stuff like this. Britain has sustained onslaughts on her culture in the past but always rises victorious. If all parents refused to buy the book they'd have to rethink it.
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