Grammar is something that is taught to us early on in education that we continue to improve upon and use throughout the course of our lives. It is heavily harped on in our highschool years, but seems to become less important over time. But of course, this all depends on your professor or the employer who is looking to hire you. By the time you reach college, the use of to, too, their, there, they’re, it’s, its, its’, and so on should be common knowledge. Yet there are individuals who still lack these concepts.
It is frightening, to say the least, that there are individuals past their teenage years that are incapable of using proper grammar. Kyle Wiens discusses his approach to hiring individuals based on their grammar in his article “I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why.” Here he explains why individuals who have poor grammar are not qualified for a position at his company. While many people may disagree with his beliefs, I think that his explanations are perfectly reasonable. Grammar can be complicated to learn as there are numerous rules to follow, but something as simple as using the correct “to” or “too” is not a difficult concept.
With this being said, there are exceptions to these beliefs. Wiens himself states that individuals with dyslexia or English language learners are exempt from his grammar test. In addition to Wiens opinions, Lavenda Oluoch believes that immigrants should not have to lose their identity and their native language abilities in order to succeed in America which she discusses in her article “Official American English is a Choice.” There is often a stigma behind individuals who do not speak English natively, properly, or well, and that is that they are not as intelligent as those who do. This belief is extremely harmful. There was a point in time where I was working to help resettle Afghans who had come to the United States seeking refuge. Many of these individuals had PhDs from their home country and were doctors or pharmacists of significantly high levels. However, the education and qualifications that these individuals had were seen as nonexistent in America, often because of their broken English. It was heartbreaking to see them struggle and feel as though they were not worthy enough to succeed. It is important to recognize the backgrounds of individuals who may struggle with the English language and provide support, rather than ostracize them.
Most importantly, however, I believe that there are times where the rules of the English language must be broken. In poetry, for example, it is very common not to follow proper grammatical and English rules in order to help with the flow of the piece. There are many other times where the rules must be broken in order for a piece of writing to be successful. Then again, in order to break the rules, you must know them first.
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