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1、2005Text4Americansnolongerexpectpublicfigures,whetherinspeechorinwriting,tocommandtheEnglishlanguagewithskillandgift.Nordotheyaspiretosuchcommandthemselves.Inhislatestbook,DoingOurOwnThing:TheDegradationofLanguageandMusicandWhyWeShould,Like,Care,JohnMcWhorter,alinguistandcontroversialistofmi
2、xedliberalandconservativeviews,seesthetriumphof1960scounter-cultureasresponsibleforthedeclineofformalEnglish.Blamingthepermissive1960sisnothingnew,butthisisnotyetanothercriticismagainstthedeclineineducation.Mr.McWhorter’sacademicspecialityislanguagehistoryandchange,andheseesthegradualdisappe
3、aranceof“whom,”forexample,tobenaturalandnomoreregrettablethanthelossofthecase-endingsofOldEnglish.Butthecultoftheauthenticandthepersonal,“doingourownthing,”hasspeltthedeathofformalspeech,writing,poetryandmusic.Whileeventhemodestlyeducatedsoughtanelevatedtonewhentheyputpentopaperbeforethe1960
4、s,eventhemostwellregardedwritingsincethenhassoughttocapturespokenEnglishonthepage.Equally,inpoetry,thehighlypersonal,performativegenreistheonlyformthatcouldclaimrealliveliness.InbothoralandwrittenEnglish,talkingistriumphingoverspeaking,spontaneityovercraft.Illustratedwithanentertainingarrayo
5、fexamplesfrombothhighandlowculture,thetrendthatMr.McWhorterdocumentsisunmistakable.Butitislessclear,totakethequestionofhissubtitle,whyweshould,like,care.Asalinguist,heacknowledgesthatallvarietiesofhumanlanguage,includingnon-standardoneslikeBlackEnglish,canbepowerfullyexpressive--thereexistsn
6、olanguageordialectintheworldthatcannotconveycomplexideas.Heisnotarguing,asmanydo,thatwecannolongerthinkstraightbecausewedonottalkproper.Russianshaveadeeplovefortheirownlanguageandcarrylargechunksofmemorizedpoetryintheirheads,whileItalianpoliticianstendtoelaboratespeechthatwouldseemold-fashio
7、nedtomostEnglish-speakers.Mr.McWhorteracknowledgesthatformallanguageisnotstrictlynecessary,andproposesnoradicaleducationreforms--heisreallygrievingoverthelossofsomethingbeautifulmorethanuseful.WenowtakeourEnglish“onpaperplatesinsteadofchina.”Ashame
