It’s the internet, and texting. It’s not that we can’t write anymore, the language is changing into a kind of english shorthand.
It's because students don't learn to read, and they aren't taught to write.
/johnny
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.
No, the rot started before texting. College writing programs are hotbeds of political correctness and leftist sentimentality. They actively teach bad writing in the name of having an “authentic voice”, and spend more time on writing autobiographical anecdotes and opinion pieces (the latter graded mostly on how politically correct they opinions expressed are, and how “authentic” the “voice” is, rather than on things valued by the oppressive whitemale heteronormative society like grammar, pronunciation or sound rhetoric) than on writing scholarly essays with proper formal style and textual apparatus.
That could be worsening the situation. But the underlying problem lies in the public education curriculum. Children aren't taught to write anymore (or spell, or proper grammar).
As an adjunct professor at a major North Texas university, I discussed an opening to teach Business Writing 101 with the department head. This was around 1997.
He warned me that it would be a frustrating job and that most of the students couldn't spell, didn't have any idea of proper grammar and had difficulty composing a coherent sentence.
"Good heavens, why?", I asked.
He responded with "Because they were never taught to do any of these things in grade school or high school."
Next, I asked, "What would be a reasonable objective to accomplish over the course of the semester?"
His answer: "If you could get one coherent paragraph out of them, you will have done your job."
I might add that, from that same time as an adjunct, I discovered that the majority of my Junior and Senior level students were absolutely stymied by long division.
My impression was that the kids were generally bright and eager to learn --yet, they had never been taught the basics of reading, writing and 'rithmatic.