Are teachers doing their jobs?

　　The speaker，a teacher from a college in California，addressed a supportive audience．Heads nodded in agreement when he said，“High school English teachers are not doing their jobs．” He described the inability of his students，all high school graduates who can use language only at a grade 9 level．I was unable to determine from his answers to my questions how this grade 9 level had been set up．

　　In my view，what the speaker was really saying is that he is no longer young；he has been teaching for sixteen years，and is able to think and speak in a sensible and reasonable way．

　　My point is that the frequent complaint (指责) of one generation about the one immediately following it is unavoidable．It is also human nature to look for the reasons for our dissatisfaction．Before English became a school subject in the late nineteenth century，it was difficult to find the focus of the blame for language imperfection．But since then，English teachers have been under continuous attack．

　　The complainers think they have hit upon an original idea．As their own ability to use the language improves，they notice that young people do not have this same ability．Unaware that their own ability has developed through the years，they assume the new generation of young people must be hopeless in this case．To the eyes and ears of sensitive adults，the language of the young always seems not good enough．

　　Since this concern about the decline and fall of the English language is not seen as something happens to a generational but rather as something new and strange to today’s young people，t naturally follows that today’s English teachers cannot be doing their jobs．Otherwise，young people would not have such poor language abilities．

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