Why Leroy Can't Write

Abstract

In that twenty-five-year series of books and articles spotlighting poor Johnny's writing and reading problems, educators and laymen have offered dozens of reasons for Johnny's plight. Some blame too much TV watching; some blame progressive education and the drift away from basics, phonics, and grammar usually; some criticize school systems that have switched to new forms of grammar, like transformational, which may have confused the kids. The reason Leroy writes poorly is that he can't hear the sound of his voice on paper. He's the high school kid who says to his English teacher: can tell you about that story, but I can't write it. Hle's not kidding. He has the voice for it, he can even get excited about it, but he doesn't have the training to put that voice on paper. So what's the solution? Well, let's look at Leroy's problem a bit more closely-and maybe the reason our schools produce so few really good writers. If you write well, you will have no difficulty reading the sentences belowaloud. Want to try it?