Surely there are knock-on effects? For undergrad. research projects/lit.
reviews, there is a certain style of language that is needed if students
are going to try and get themselves published. I think I would have
struggled more to learn that style if I had had texts written into plain
English (although I would have had to listen to journal articles fewer
times to get the relevant points).
This puts it into a humorous context, but also applies in a serious context:
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=405
Quoting Gerard Conroy <[log in to unmask]>:
> This issue is a thorny one.
>
> If it is the "greats" of literature we are talking about then they will
> be
> debased by writing them in simple English - the Readers Digest version if
> you will.
>
> However I am firmly convinced that many academic documents are written to
> impress the reader how cultured and clever the author is, rather than get
> a
> point across. Bearing that in mind I must agree with John that many texts
> should be rewritten with the ultimate aim of getting a message across.
>
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