English Grammar

The Importance of Learning Grammar and Other Writing Skills.

From: Marie Rackham
Retired English Teacher
(Bio and Qualifications)

Believe it or not, poor writing skills are rampant even at the University level and beyond. You don't have to take my word for it; I have supplied a few articles below that bring this to the forefront. Please feel free to read through the articles or even do a search yourself for articles on the lack of grammar or writing skills today.

Why Grammar? By Marie Rackham

"During the late 1960s and the early 1970s, education, influenced by the social changes of the '60s, went through a period where the teaching of grammar was thought to be stifling to creativity."

Papers R.J. Carson, 1998

"An educated person should be able to write well. For more than two decades I have been teaching at Whitman College, where most students are bright, but many are not good writers. Many of the same errors occur over and over, year after year: misspelled words (despite "spell-check"), incomplete sentences, improper citations and referencing, and unintentional plagiarism."

A doggie-dog world by Michael Ackley

"Their vocabularies are limited and grammar is alien to them, as are punctuation and capitalization. Beyond "noun" and "verb," most cannot tell you any of the other parts of speech. Their English is so fractured, they make errors the grammarians have yet to name."

# 1 - Spelling Errors, Typos and Poor Grammar

"For those of you who have waited or emailed me over the last several weeks asking what the Number One complaint among recruiters is about resumes, your wait is no more. Hands down, without a doubt, the NUMBER ONE complaint is Spelling Errors, Typos and Poor Grammar."

The National Commission on Writing

"Recent analyses indicate that more than 50 percent of first-year college students are unable to produce papers relatively free of language errors. Analyzing arguments and synthesizing information are also beyond the scope of most first-year students, according to these accounts."

January 3, 2003, edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education
Why Johnny Can't Write, Even Though He Went To Princeton

"Almost everyone comes in well-trained to gather research in the library," says Judith A. Swan, a lecturer in Princeton's writing program. "But almost none of them are capable of turning that into a real paper with a thesis and an argument."

Public Agenda - Reality Check 2002

This survey indicates that 75% of Professors and 73% of Employers say that the inability of students/employees to write clearly is a major problem.

Irascible Professor December 1, 2003
[Dr. Mark H. Shapiro - California State University, Fullerton]The IP comments that while teaching an introductory physics laboratory to college juniors and seniors, primarily majoring in biology or biochemistry, out of the brief lab reports written in class on a weekly basis, most students grasp the important concepts from the experiment. However, their ability to communicate this understanding is far weaker than one would expect for college juniors and seniors.

Tag. English Course, TOEFL, Grammar, Course, English Language