{"id":481,"date":"2010-02-03T09:20:15","date_gmt":"2010-02-03T15:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/?p=481"},"modified":"2014-09-12T12:02:10","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T18:02:10","slug":"students-fail-at-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2010\/02\/03\/students-fail-at-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Students fail at writing."},"content":{"rendered":"Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Students failing because of Twitter, texting – Canada – Canoe.ca<\/h2>\n

“Thirty per cent of students who are admitted are not able to pass at a minimum level,” says Ann Barrett, managing director of the English language proficiency exam at Waterloo University.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“What has happened in high school that they cannot pass our simple test of written English, at a minimum?” she asks.<\/p>\n

Even those with good marks out of Grade 12, so-called elite students, “still can’t pass our simple test,” she says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

via Students failing because of Twitter, texting – Canada – Canoe.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’m not really surprised. I’ve been teaching a technical writing course to 1st year engineers and many of them have poorer writing skills than my son did when he was 10. To be fair, some are quite good, but many (more than half, I’d say) are careless with their writing and proofreading.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I do take exception to the “conclusion” that it is the fault of texting, FaceBook and Twitter. Here’s evidence to support that these things are not necessarily the enemy:<\/p>\n

The New Literacy: Stanford study finds richness and complexity in students’ writing<\/a><\/p>\n

And:<\/p>\n

Research finds that chatspeak has no impact on children’s spelling ability<\/a><\/p>\n

(I think this part is funny: “What was surprising, though, was how chatspeak use and spelling played in the battle of the sexes. Girls used more chatspeak than boys, who preferred to express themselves through repeated use of punctuation.”)<\/p>\n

There is no question in my mind that many university students have terrible writing skills. As to WHY – that isn’t clear, although after watching 2 of my kids go through school, I have my suspicions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Many of their teachers are themselves poor writers.<\/li>\n
  2. Students can get through high school without really learning anything.<\/li>\n
  3. High school English focuses on the soft & fuzzy, rather than the more difficult, unpleasant, but USEFUL skills of communication.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Here’s how one school responds to the fact that students can’t pass writing tests: THEY GET RID OF THE TEST<\/h2>\n

    The U of Calgary<\/a> has just eliminated its Effective Writing requirement:<\/p>\n

    IMPORTANT UPDATE:\u00a0 Effective immediately, the Effective Writing Requirement has been lifted. Students are no longer required to complete Effective Writing as part of their degree program. Effective Writing will be removed from students’ hold and\/or to do lists as soon as possible.<\/h3>\n

    http:\/\/efwr.ucalgary.ca\/<\/p>\n

    I also hear that they are changing their engineering communication courses – from 2 courses to 1, and in the first semester no less (before they can possibly understand why writing is important).<\/p>\n

    This is being done at the same they are trying to increase their tuition by as much as 47%. Hmmmm – I guess when you drive away all the good students who don’t happen to be rich, you need to lower your standards so the rich can all get in – even the clueless ones. Lord knows the school would never fail them, at least not once they make it to grad school. There are some units that are actually proud of the fact that all their students get degrees (which, if you let in anyone who can provide a transcript – honestly or otherwise – means you have to let crap pass).<\/p>\n

    At those prices, forget the U of Calgary – go to a GOOD school!!!<\/p>\n