Across the United States it has ultimately been decided that English Composition is a course that should be required for all freshmen. According to the reading Present State of Freshman Composition, “a standard English program may enroll anywhere from 55-97% of the freshman class.” What other department/program does that?!
Amazingly, English Composition is one of the few courses that bring all students (with various majors) together with a common goal in mind…..to teach them how to write. Everett says “we try to habituate the student to writing to give him practice in thinking over his material and putting it into good form to give him exercise in the different modes of presentation.”
The English Composition course could be used to accomplish so much, and it really can make a difference. However, in most English Composition classes you have a ratio of about 1:40 (teacher/students). So, it seems easiest for the professors to choose a piece of literature or pick a topic, then have their students write about it. For English Composition to have an impact, the classes need to be smaller and more interactive, with a structured plan of what needs to be covered. Also, students need to be provided detailed feedback (identifying strengths/weaknesses) from the professor, so they can perfect the art of writing.
My undergraduate major was chemistry. So, I took the required English courses, which I enjoyed, but my time was predominately spent in science and math classes. The importance of writing and communicating was integral all the while; whether I was writing lab reports, or discussing techniques and procedures. The truth is scientist and engineers need to have good writing/communication skills to share their research. If English Composition is that gateway (in college), then when students leave the class after a full semester, they should be able to write more than a generic essay.
Dear Regina,
ReplyDeleteI agree that students need to be able to write more than a generic essay after taking composition classes. The problem, I think, comes from what is taught in the composition class and how relevant it is to the students. Coming up with a universal English instruction curriculum that does not take into account technical communication is very challenging....but from our readings and my own experience, that is just what English departments seem to be doing.
I agree with you that class size seems to be a big problem if freshman comp classes are to actually accomplish anything. The main problem I see is that, given the low prestige associated with these courses (and with teaching these courses), the universities are unlikely to want to devote enough money to hire as many instructors as would be necessary to reduce the class size significantly. In addition, it is unlikely that they would be willing to devote the money to hire high-quality instructors, assuming they could even find enough high-quality instructors willing to teach freshman comp.
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure what the correct answer is here, but it is definitely a significant problem. The ability to communicate properly is an important skill for all majors, but the fact that all majors are enrolled seems to contribute significantly to the problems associated with freshman comp – large class sizes, disinterested students, lack of prestige…