OK, so this is not directly related to the teaching circle, but I've been noticing a trend in student papers and I really want to know if I'm the only one. It falls under the tab of "Kids these days don't read anymore"; they learn so much of their language and vocabulary by ear, exclusively by ear, so they spell phonetically with no reference to actual word use or spelling. So, "would've" which is clearly a contraction of "would" and "have" when you see it written down becomes "would of"; the verb "are" and the possessive pronoun "our" are used interchangeably, etc.
So, back to the title of this post. I have begin noticing an increasing number of compound words being uncoupled in student writing. First I thought it was just a strange quirk of my own brain, but with this round of paper grading I started to keep a list. Here is a subset:
before hand
can not
finger tips
eaves dropping
some how
my self
with out
out look
play ground
on going
home sick
And yes, I know that depending on context "home sick" could be appropriately used as "I went home sick and spent the rest of the day in bed." Believe me, the context in which it was found referred to being away from home and missing it, or "homesick."
So . . . am I the only one? Are any of you noticing this trend, too?
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