2008 Woodie Awards
Freshmen Too Fresh When It Comes to College English
Thomas Sheehy ; MC 121 Student
Issue date: 4/19/06 Section: News
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A lot of ISU students are not ready to handle college level English, say the chair and some faculty of the English department.
"They're not as prepared as we would hope," English Department Chair Terry Engebretson, said.
Some English instructors see student problems rooted in earlier courses.
"Many, I have found, are terrified of English or had miserable English experiences and no success in that area," Marjanna Hulet, ISU English instructor, said.
Students' problems range from grammar, punctuation, usage, mechanics, fears, focus and critical thinking skills when writing.
"One of the biggest problems, that I see in students is a lack of experience with written literacy and lack of familiarity with differences between oral and written language, " Cathy Peppers, ISU English instructor, said.
One English instructor, Penelope Reedy, said, that computers and television may be the source of the problem.
"I don't know how well English, reading and writing, will come out in the end, because of technology," Reedy said. "The joys and pleasures of the written word are diminishing, and I think it's sad."
Some faculty point to poor student skills and say students sometimes go to class unprepared, don't study and skip class.
ISU deals with the students' poor preparation in the three levels of freshmen English.
English 90 is a basic writing course, addressing the fundamentals at sentence, paragraph and essay levels, for students who do not meet English 101 requirements. English 101 is a composition course in which students read, analyze and write expository essays. English 102 is a critical reading and writing course in which students write essays based on readings, as well as, learn how to do research and documentation.
If students don't get good scores on the SAT's, ACT's or COMPASS (English and math placement), tests, they take the pre-college English 90 course.
English 90 is designed to bring the writing skill of students up to the 101 college level English class. Students in 90 work on basic grammar, punctuation, spelling skills and the mechanics of writing English.
"They're not as prepared as we would hope," English Department Chair Terry Engebretson, said.
Some English instructors see student problems rooted in earlier courses.
"Many, I have found, are terrified of English or had miserable English experiences and no success in that area," Marjanna Hulet, ISU English instructor, said.
Students' problems range from grammar, punctuation, usage, mechanics, fears, focus and critical thinking skills when writing.
"One of the biggest problems, that I see in students is a lack of experience with written literacy and lack of familiarity with differences between oral and written language, " Cathy Peppers, ISU English instructor, said.
One English instructor, Penelope Reedy, said, that computers and television may be the source of the problem.
"I don't know how well English, reading and writing, will come out in the end, because of technology," Reedy said. "The joys and pleasures of the written word are diminishing, and I think it's sad."
Some faculty point to poor student skills and say students sometimes go to class unprepared, don't study and skip class.
ISU deals with the students' poor preparation in the three levels of freshmen English.
English 90 is a basic writing course, addressing the fundamentals at sentence, paragraph and essay levels, for students who do not meet English 101 requirements. English 101 is a composition course in which students read, analyze and write expository essays. English 102 is a critical reading and writing course in which students write essays based on readings, as well as, learn how to do research and documentation.
If students don't get good scores on the SAT's, ACT's or COMPASS (English and math placement), tests, they take the pre-college English 90 course.
English 90 is designed to bring the writing skill of students up to the 101 college level English class. Students in 90 work on basic grammar, punctuation, spelling skills and the mechanics of writing English.
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