More on the prof. who quit

Mike Adams says he would protect at all costs recently resigned professor John Daly's right to free speech -- and his right to poor speech. Besides dissecting Daly's bad grammar in his hateful letter to college student Rebecca Beach, he discovers why Daly is so lame at his own supposed specialty:

The answer can be found in Daly’s biography/teaching philosophy, which is posted on the WCCC (Warren County Community College) website:

“Often linguists do not use their skills to teach grammar and writing, but Professor Daly finds that linguists have a special view on language that may help students—particularly students who have had trouble in these areas in the past. English courses generally are taught from a rule-based perspective. Students become overwhelmed with these rules and often find the exceptions make them impossible to manage. Linguistics [sic] view language from a descriptive point of view—that is they understand language in the same way you might organize a sock draw [sic] — by dumping the contents on the ground and seeing what goes together until finally ending up with a super-efficient drawer (or deeper understand [sic] of grammar and writing). Students often respond to this approach.” (Emphasis mine.)

Un-frickin' real, man. This guy is an English professor!! At any rate, Adams thankfully translates the above [poorly written] drivel:

“English is a really hard language with a lot of confusing rules. So when you take my class, you don’t have to follow rules at all. I do not try to bring you up to a higher standard. Instead, I am committed to lowering myself to your standards – even to semi-literacy, if necessary. That way, we can all avoid judgments and keep everyone’s self-esteem intact. And, best of all, when I am not teaching English I have plenty of time to talk about my political views. ”

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up, I'd say. Just yet another doofus edu-babblist who's way too concerned with "empowering" his students and worrying their self-esteem instead of friggin' teaching them. Check it, Mr. Daly: people are fed up with this garbage. Keep the ridiculous unproven theories (and your politics) outta the classroom and teach. The basics and their derivatives. And, while you're at it, sign up for a refresher course yourself, huh?

Posted by Felix at November 28, 2005 03:50 PM | TrackBack