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Originally Posted by X Mode Can you give an example of one or two things you've heard native speakers say that you would find unacceptable coming from one who teaches English? I hope you're not talking about informal-formal usage issues such as using "like" as a conjunction instead of "as". |
Deviations for the Standard are acceptable. I'm a descriptivists: a sentence is "unacceptable" only iff it lacks meaning; that includes informal and formal language. When it comes to the TOEFL, though, Standard Rules all the way.
Deviations from the Standard that I have noticed:
Phonology: e.g., supposu*bly
Morphology: e.g., poor spelling (pick an example), PPs (I *drunk beer).
Syntax: e.g., adverb order (I *sometimes have been known to watch TV.)
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•In spoken English there is a growing tendency to use would have in place of the subjunctive in contrary-to-fact clauses, as in if I would have been the President, but this usage is still widely considered incorrect.
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Ah, yes, but it's "a growing". 
I'd mention that to my students 'cause they're bound to come across it, as did you.