London school bans slang terms such as ‘like’ and ‘bare’ to raise literacy standards
Oh my days… School bans slang terms such as ‘like’ and ‘bare’ in the classroom to raise literacy standards
Terms such as ‘like’ and ‘oh my days’ are banned at Ark All Saints in south LondonOther terms include ‘long’, meaning boring or tiresome and ‘bare’, meaning veryPrincipal Lucy Frame said banned list only applies in ‘formal learning settings’
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Slang terms including ‘like’ and ‘oh my days’ have been banned by a school to raise literacy standards.
Ark All Saints academy in south London has drawn up a list of phrases that pupils must avoid in class and in written work.
One is ‘he cut his eyes at me’, which the Collins dictionary says is Caribbean and means to turn away sharply while closing one’s eyes.
Other words include ‘long’, meaning boring, or ‘bare’, meaning very.
Terms such as ‘like’ and ‘oh my days’ are banned at Ark All Saints in south London (file photo)
‘Fillers’ – punctuating conversation with ‘like’ and ‘you see’ – is also forbidden as well as words including ‘basically’, ‘that’s long’, ‘that’s a neck’, ‘wow’, ‘cuss’ and ‘oh my god’.
Lucy Frame, the principal at the school in Camberwell, told the Guardian: ‘None of the words or phrases listed is banned from general use in our school or when our students are interacting socially.
‘But this list is used in some formal learning settings to help students understand the importance of expressing themselves clearly and accurately, not least through written language in examinations.’
A 2019 survey found slang was the most common reason for English GCSE failures.
However, Dr Marcello Giovanelli, senior lecturer in English at Aston University, warned: ‘Dismissing students’ home or own use of language may have negative effects on identity and confidence.’
Tony Thorne, a language consultant at King’s College London and the director of the Slang and New Language Archive, said it wasn’t about ‘good or bad’ language but rather ‘appropriate language’ for the learning environment.
Dr Natalie Sharpling, who teaches applied linguistics at Warwick University, said language use should be celebrated. She said teachers should not worry about specific words but focus on the ‘content’.
The south London school isn’t the only educator to try to curb the rise in GCSE failures because of use of slang.
Birmingham, St Thomas Aquinas Catholic school asks its pupils to achieve ‘eloquence’ by avoiding colloquialisms.
Students are asked not to use works including ‘like’ or ‘so’ in their academic speech and writing.
