Why Can’t College Students Write Anymore?

Psychology Today ^ | February 21, 2014 | Azadeh Aalai, Ph.D

[Blood of Tyrants]

P.S. Since before I started college in 1991 (well after high school) the largest number of classes offered were remedial English and remedial math.

[G Larry]

The leftists teaching our kids only care that they’ve been properly indoctrinated.

There is no desire to impart critical thinking or communications skills.

[Oberon]

Why Can’t College Students Write Anymore?

Because most of them aren't classically educated homeschoolers like my two kids currently in college.

Mind if I gloat a little?

:D

[WeatherGuy]

Because the education bureaucracy in this country is only useful as a money laundering operation for Democrats. Actual education is much farther down on their list of priorities.

[Celtic Conservative]

k thxbai!

CC

[winodog]

A PHD actually wrote that title?

[Defiant]

I was about a sentence in to the article, when I noticed problems with this author’s own ability to write. Ironic, eh?

[Organic Panic]

ROFLMAO. I txt u gud. What the prblm?

Schools are indoctrination centers and don’t teach writing or thinking. Why should they? They get the money regardless of the outcome of students. Thinking writing students won’t be easy to control.

In college, modern writing is in 140 characters or less.

[Cyber Liberty]

The idea, the issue is what can be done about it ?

Start by reading to your kids when they are too young to read for themselves. It teaches them how to visualize the words and makes them want to read for themselves later. Worked for me (when I was a kid). It starts with reading, because, as another already put it, how can you teach someone music if they've never heard music?

[humblegunner]

Why Can’t College Students Write Anymore?

Blogs.

[Windflier]

It’s not that we can’t write anymore, the language is changing into a kind of english shorthand.

No, the author's right. I can't believe how degraded written English has become over the last decade or so. This website is a prime example. It's actually becoming hard to find two consecutive posts with no spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors in them.

The language isn't changing, but the quality of instruction and standards are.

[smalltownslick]

“our standards in literacy is similarly on the decline”

I guess the is, isn’t they?

[smalltownslick]

they

[NewHampshireDuo]

Ping for later

[cripplecreek]

My great grandfather's declaration of intent to become a citizen. He had a spotty education at best due to spending his childhood in a tumultuous world, yet still had passable penmanship and spelling. In his world, the signature took on a whole different level of importance and it was something to be practiced and perfected.

[Windflier]

I can be drunk as a lord, and post grammatically correct drivel on the internet all weekend long. It's because students don't learn to read, and they aren't taught to write.

Spot-on, Johnny. Thank God I went to school during an era when people still demanded excellence from students, and went the distance to make sure every kid was firmly grounded in the basics.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

TELEVISION

[Windflier]

Mind if I gloat a little?

Not at all. I'm a home school dad myself :-)

[sjmjax]

It is because proper grammar, spelling, and pronunciation as well as basic math skills are now regarded as “racist”!

[Zeneta]

Please understand.

This is NOT some liberal/progressive/communist/statist conspiracy.

They are on auto pilot.

They are true believers and don’t have any grand plan for remaking our culture.

The issue is wholly different.

The issue is “how” did this thought process gain soo much traction ?

How have we allowed the teaching of “uncertainty”, the embrace of “Uncertainty” to gain dominance ?

What can we do about it ?

I’m open to ideas.