Letter: Standard English is common sense

I FIND the arguments from teachers, and others, against the National Curriculum Council's proposal for revising the teaching of English, with emphasis on Standard English, quite amazing. The extraordinary ability of young children to absorb with ease different languages is consistently ignored in UK schools.

That resistance should be shown to them learning to express themselves in their own language is ludicrous. My step-grandson is Norwegian. After six years in Spain he is fluent in Valencian, Castilian and English. He is 11 years old. For foreign children in this area this is not unusual, but the norm.

Could it be that teachers in the UK doubt their own ability to teach standard English?

Sheila Young

Alicante, Spain