Surprise! College Kids Can't Write

National Review ^ | 2/19/03 | Stanley K. Ridgley

[laurav]

College Students Can’t Write? What a “scoop.”

By Stanley K. Ridgley

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently discovered something that parents have known for at least the past 15 years — America's universities don't teach college kids how to write . . . at least, not how to write very well.

In fact, hundreds of thousands of recent college graduates today cannot express themselves with the written word. Why? Because universities have shortchanged them, offering strange literary theories, Marxism, feminism, deconstruction, and other oddities in the guise of writing courses. They've offered everything, really, but the basics of clear writing.

This higher-education failure has been an open secret among employers and among those of us who have dealt with college writers and their writing over the years. I witnessed this deficiency myself as a college instructor at Duke University. Only now has this gross failure of higher education drawn the attention of the Chronicle.

Although the expose in the Chronicle's (Jan. 3) focuses on the failed undergraduate writing programs at Duke and Princeton and recent efforts to improve or replace them, the Chronicle identifies what has been a nationwide trend for some time.

College students generally can't write well, and the fault lies entirely with the universities...

[laurav]

I found this interesting. I can vouch that most students can't write, but I blame this more on primary and secondary education. Students who are admitted to Duke should not show up unable to write a term paper. Duke certainly failed these students. But they should never have had to learn to write in college in the first place -- someone should have taught these students to express themselves clearly long before they showed up in Stanley Fish's minions' classes.

[Junior]

Considering some of the posts I've seen on FR, the problem is not unique to colleges...

[wimpycat]

At our Patriots' Rally in Raleigh this past weekend, there were a lot of college students from NC State in the "peace" crowd (but we had a few on our side, too, I'm proud to say). I don't know whether or not he was a college student, but there was a guy in the "peace" crowd carrying a sign that read, "Lets chose peace not war". I kid you not.

[dfwgator]

Hugh can't be series.

[Lil'freeper]

You cant be series?

[Lil'freeper]

LOL- Great minds think alike!

[dfwgator]

Man, we are so predictable. ;)

[RoughDobermann]

Your kidding! :-)

[laurav]

True, but there's a difference. Posting is a lot like having a phone conversation. My speech isn't perfect, and I'm sure my spelling and word usage aren't in posts either. But when people submit articles for publication, or turn in essays or academic papers the prose should be polished. Many students don't know how to polish -- that's the shame.

I agree that many adults could use a refresher course too! Strunk & White "Elements of Style" tops the recommended list.

[Norm640]

When I was in graduate school at West Virginia University, I had to teach freshman composition three times a week each semester to two classes. The college course is supposed to be more of a review of writing, ironing out some points, drawing out others, of stuff they were supposed to learn in high school. However, I found out that these students knew nothing of grammar, let alone writing. I ended up turning the comp class into a grammar class. The flunk rate for freshman comp was about 25%.

High schools "prepare" these students for college. The fault is all theirs. I took my public education for granted--I know sixth graders that could write better than some of the students I had.

This is why America is losing--we have no rigid educational standards.

[wimpycat]

I'm totally series.

[GiveEmDubya]

I am proud to say that even at my tender young age that I am quite able to express myself through writing.

I have been writing in some form since a very young age, and I have been able to act since an even younger age (nothing professional, I have good reasons for not wanting to pursue that career--see "liberals in Hollywood").

This did not surprise me.

[RoughDobermann]

Be careful; I mite loose it....

[wimpycat]

Spoken like a true facist.

[laurav]

Yep, "choose" vs. "chose" and "loose" vs. "lose" seem to be especially problematic. The different forms of "lets" and "its" also drive the grammar-challenged batty.

Poor writing is a pet peeve of mine. He mentions Princeton in this article. I know Princeton recently instituted a basic writing requirement because the brightest kids in America showed up at college unable to create a composition. There's no reason these kids couldn't learn to write in high school. They learned math, science and enough to scheme their way into the Ivy League. But not how to write in the active voice, omit needless words and keep sentences short and clear.

[Red Boots]

My experience has been that it's a much bigger problem than not writing well, it's more along the lines of not reasoning well, or even understanding what a logical arguement consists of. If you can't think it logically, you sure aren't going to be able to write it out logically. And I agree, it has to start way before college. Another problem I've seen, perhaps the biggest, is a refusal to even consider the idea that they might need correcting.No amount of teaching is going to work when you've got a bunch of students who reject the basic premise that they've got something to learn. I blame this attitude on the "self-esteem" bs they push in schools.

[Mad Dawg]

America's universities don't teach college kids how to write . . . at least, not how to write very well. In fact, hundreds of thousands of recent college graduates today cannot express themselves with the written word. Why? Because universities have shortchanged them, offering strange literary theories,...

Amen to laurav and wrong-O to the writer.

Kids should be taught to write long before they get into a college or university.

[maxwell]

Well, this phenomenon makes sense in the context of the direction our society is taking. With increasing emphasis on "soundbyte" communication (informational "macros", if you will), good writing skills become less vital to effective communication with the bulk of American people. Why spend time on careful composition if all that's required (and expected) is basic proof of alphabet knowledge, essentially?

This struck me when I was reading through some old research reports written by college seniors 30 years ago. Well-crafted, coherent pieces-- a pleasure to read...

[Lil'freeper]

Man, we are so predictable. ;)

Cheesey, too.

Seriesly, tho. (sic) Back in school when I actually used a pen on paper to write, my writing and spelling were pretty good. However, after the advent of word processing and spell check- that all went down the tubes. I blame electronic crutches like calculators and spell checkers for the greater part of this intellectual decline. Several years ago, I substituted at an elementary school and was shocked to see fourth graders using calculators to do their math. I predict the problem will get much, much worse.

[f.Christian]

My best 'A' was in Literature // composition .. .. .. I was the professors pet ==== protege !

He invited me to his get together and told the group my writing would change the world -- "hear from me" !


Main Entry: pro·té·gé
Pronunciation: 'prO-t&-"zhA, "prO-t&-'
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from past participle of protéger to protect, from Latin protegere
Date: 1787
: one who is protected or trained or whose career is furthered by a person of experience, prominence, or influence