> Oh yes thank-you!! I 1000% agree with you! It drives me mad,
> especially 'gotten'. Half our textbooks have sentences like:
> "He's got a skateboard". Ggrrrrr! I always make my students
> re-write these. In this case: "He has a skateboard".
> If you are going to teach English, teach good English.

> Mmmm, before people start on "that's how people use
> English", yes I know. I actually do have a lesson to cover these
> things, and I go over points as they come up. I started doing this
> after students asked me what words like : "Gotcha" meant,
> which they had heard in films. However, I don't accept this in their
> speech. My theory is that if they want to go for an interview, (and
> many do for colleges etc), then they need to know the formal way of
> talking. They can pick up the bad habits by themselves!

> DoS
> "Do as I say, not as I do"

I agree we should teach good English. But the word 'gotten' is not bad English. Yes, he's got a skateboard is not good English, but they should have gotten a teacher is not bad English - even though a better word could have been chosen. Just need to be careful that we distinguish between correct English, "better" English, and incorrect English.