Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A lack of practice, poor grammar, penmanship and lazy.
They write poorly because no one teaches them to write. No one teaches them basic grammar, advanced grammar, and composition. It's the curriculum that's lacking and the teachers who are lazy.
They write poorly because no one teaches them to write. No one teaches them basic grammar, advanced grammar, and composition. It's the curriculum that's lacking and the teachers who are lazy.
This. I cannot tell you how much I was not taught grammar. Grammar wasn't drilled into me until my junior year in college during a business writing course. I repeat JUNIOR YEAR OF COLLEGE. Shouldn't a red flag or two be waving with that comment? The fact is we are not teaching grammar until it is too late and many students have it locked in that their writing is good and does not require any help and a pair of another eyes looking at it. My ex and I would always bounce ideas off each other's heads when it came to papers. Just because one person may frame things that their way is best even even while editing.
This. I cannot tell you how much I was not taught grammar. Grammar wasn't drilled into me until my junior year in college during a business writing course. I repeat JUNIOR YEAR OF COLLEGE. Shouldn't a red flag or two be waving with that comment? The fact is we are not teaching grammar until it is too late and many students have it locked in that their writing is good and does not require any help and a pair of another eyes looking at it. My ex and I would always bounce ideas off each other's heads when it came to papers. Just because one person may frame things that their way is best even even while editing.
You're lucky the professor bothered. By college you're supposed to already know that stuff. I'll tell you where grammar is taught; college foreign language courses. It's pathetic. The language teachers in most cases can't just teach the language, they have to spend weeks bringing the students up to speed on English grammar first. Students don't even know basic grammar terminology. If you already know English grammar, you have to skip a lot of classes to keep from climbing the walls out of boredom.
Here it's pronounced "fidna", as in, "I'm fidna start writing."
Ah, thank you. I was in Georgia once as a teenager with my family, on our way to Florida. My father pulled the car into the gas station and the man standing there came up to the car and said something we couldn't understand. He repeated it twice more, and I tried very hard to hear what he was saying, and all of a sudden the light bulb went off: "Weezafixinfotoclosenow". I told my father "They are closing. We can't get gas here." So I do know what "fixin'" is, just never heard it pronounced "finna" or "fidna".
They write poorly because no one teaches them to write. No one teaches them basic grammar, advanced grammar, and composition. It's the curriculum that's lacking and the teachers who are lazy.
The teachers are not necessarily lazy. These days lots of teachers are told precisely what to teach and even how (sometimes even with step by step instructions they must follow), and if grammar is not on the list... oh well. Basically if its not being tested for the powers that be don't add it to the curriculum. People can and do get fired for not doing things exactly how they are supposed to do them. Plus many have way too many kids per class and there is no way they can offer quality feedback on everyone's paper. Not every public school is like this but lots are.
I can tell you on the college level the drop in writing quality among freshmen has been a bone of contention for years now.
Ah, thank you. I was in Georgia once as a teenager with my family, on our way to Florida. My father pulled the car into the gas station and the man standing there came up to the car and said something we couldn't understand. He repeated it twice more, and I tried very hard to hear what he was saying, and all of a sudden the light bulb went off: "Weezafixinfotoclosenow". I told my father "They are closing. We can't get gas here." So I do know what "fixin'" is, just never heard it pronounced "finna" or "fidna".
Thanks.
I grew up understanding that some ways of speaking might be okay in a casual context and that there was a different way of speaking required depending on the audience.
My older son will say things like "Fixin' to". In fact, as a joke I bought him a little wooden sign that he has hanging in his room that says "I'm fixin' to" because he uses the phrase often. His speech has been influenced by older relatives that grew up more "country", but he can still differentiate and understand that he should never write that way or speak that way in a professional environment.
I have always been Grammar Nazi mom and even though my own mother has some quirks in her speech and lacks formal education, she also, within the best of her ability, stayed on us as kids to speak "correctly".
I think that this kind of parental nagging, along with the previously mentioned early reading and encouragement with regard to reading, is a big part of why writing has never been much of a struggle for me or my brother or my children.
I have always taken it upon myself to help make sure my kids were exposed to books and writing experiences and knowledge of the correct way things should be said or written, outside of what they learn in school. We have always had political discussions, discussed cultural issues and differences, philosophical concepts, lots of "why do you think that is" or "what if" kinds of conversations at home.
I am absolutely useless to them when it comes to helping them be better at math, that's for sure, but I have always tried to enrich their education in other areas in everyday ways. Through experiences, discussions, and exposure to a variety of interesting and educated people, I think they have gained some small advantages in this regard, at least in comparison to some of their peers and based on what I read from teachers and professors sharing what they are faced with.
I worried about the disadvantages they might have due to socioeconomic status, being born to a young mom with no formal education or money, and I attempted, in what ways I could, to fill in those gaps as a parent.
I'm not saying it is always the case, but in working with children, the ones that don't have parents that talk to them and encourage discussion are the kids that have deficits in vocabulary, the ones who aren't read to or encouraged to read struggle with reading and writing, the ones who are always told to just accept things are the ones that stop asking questions and lose their natural inquisitiveness. I'm not saying that I've been mother of the century or that it's all about that but it must play a part. I have had people comment, when my kids were younger, on how I always had running conversations with my kids, and people were genuinely surprised at this, like it is a rarity.
I've read online that students do write poorly because they aren't connected topics their teachers want to write on. They will only be interested to write if they see their self on it -according to the writer of that blog post. I'll try to look for and share it here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by VGravitas
Many educators (high school teachers and college instructors) complain about their students' lackluster writing ability?
Indeed, last year, less than 1/4 of high school seniors proficiently passed a National Assessment of Educational Progress writing test.
Why do you think that so many American students write poorly? Are they not getting sufficient feedback on their writing? Do they not read enough? Do they not know how to do proper research? Are they not writing enough?
And how can we (from a grassroots level) help them improve such skills?
Last edited by toobusytoday; 06-25-2013 at 08:01 AM..
I've read online that students do write poorly because they aren't connected topics their teachers want to write on. They will only be interested to write if they see their self on it -according to the writer of that blog post. I'll try to look for and share it here.
Moderator - Lehigh Valley, NEPA, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Education and Colleges and Universities.
When I post in bold red, that is Moderator action and per the TOS can be discussed only via Direct Message.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why Do Students Write So Poorly?
