Letter: English ain't broke, so why try to fix it?

Sir: In his elegantly written, grammatically perfect article (9 July), Tony Fairman shows himself to be a dangerous man to his students. I should like to ask: 1) Would he have attained his status as an English teacher if he had written and spoken in the way he recommends? 2) Would the Independent have accepted his article had it been written in such a way? 3) When he teaches English as a foreign language, does he insist on phrases such as 'They done it'? If the answer to any of these questions is 'yes', then I is gobsmacked.

Yours faithfully,

R. L. PEARSON

Leatherhead, Surrey