 Sunset Digital welcomes the proposal by the Australian Federal Government’s National Curriculum Board to introduce a new national curriculum that will restore the teaching of traditional English and grammar in the nation’s schools. The board has stated, correctly in our view, that an emphasis on grammar, spelling and punctuation will permit students ‘to develop a coherent body of knowledge about how the English language works in its significant oral, written and other forms.
‘The development of this body of knowledge should be regarded as a fundamental responsibility of the English curriculum.
‘A focus on grammar, spelling and conventions of punctuation will be necessary across all stages of schooling. Students need to know how to correctly construct a sentence.’
Like many employers, Sunset Digital is painfully aware that these essential skills have not been taught in Australian schools since the 1970s. We must add, however, that while industries of every kind have been affected by the resultant decline in basic literacy standards, none has suffered more than our own. The graphic arts industry of the 1970s and early 1980s—where correct use of the English language was the norm and a matter of pride—has all but disappeared, and has been replaced by design studios and advertising agencies where, in most cases, management and staff alike possess inadequate literacy skills. (See Maintaining standards in printed English . . . an industry gone wrong.)
Given that the printed word (and, more recently, its electronic equivalent) plays a crucial role in reinforcing and developing literacy levels within the general community, we believe that steps should also be taken at government level to ensure that diploma and degree courses in graphic design and multimedia include within them a component devoted to English spelling, punctuation and grammar, as well as those aspects of the language specific to its published form.
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