Hartz: University shouldn’t be diverse in grammar
Please learn to speak English properly.
By Jenny Hartz (Contact)
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
We acquire many valuable skills in college: procrastination skills, bargain hunting skills, napping skills, alcohol skills, Guitar Hero skills, etc.
As competent as everyone assumes college kids are, it still befuddles me how many students still do not have good grammar skills. We are all from different high schools with varying curriculums, but grammar is as basic and essential of a skill as addition.
Although it is hard to learn on your own when you don’t have solid, basic knowledge of grammar.
In math, we have nifty calculators to check if we’re wrong; however, a computer will not catch every grammar mistake. It won’t catch the difference between “there” and “their.” People cannot rely on technology as a substitute for knowledge.
Of course, exceptions are made to every rule when it comes to English, making it one of the most fun languages in the world to learn (and by “fun” I mean “incredibly frustrating”). I do not expect people to have perfect grammar every time.
But I do expect people to know clear-cut rules, such as separating two complete sentences with a conjunction and comma. At the KU Writing Center, I see many people who do not understand this rule.
“How can this be?!” is my first reaction.
Maybe English isn’t the student’s first language.
I took French and would repeatedly forget to make adjectives agree with the gender of the noun. In French, every noun is either masculine or feminine. How you are supposed to know the chair is feminine is beyond me. Maybe you are supposed to ask it or take a peak underneath it.
What if English is the student’s first language? Because he doesn’t know proper grammar, can we assume he is lazy and dumb? Or does he not know the rules because he is an engineering major and grammar is only for English majors?
I don’t think students consciously choose to not learn proper grammar. We all understand the value of grammar to effectively communicate our ideas with each other.
After all, no one wants to be rejected for a job because her cover letter read, “I would love to work hear. I is a good leader and I has got some experience. I work good with others and do other things good two.”
Part of the problem is the education system has failed us. Too many of us have gotten off easy from teachers who do not penalize us for using bad grammar. Teachers across all disciplines should hold proper grammar as a standard.
It is not fair for the University to assume everyone has the same skills if we are as diverse as the University claims.
If the education system would continue to teach and emphasize grammar throughout every grade level, the rules would be fresh in their minds.
I can be competent at math, but I always need a refresher of the rules because my mind works in such a way that I am better at writing word problems than solving them. There is nothing wrong with reviewing the basics before forging ahead to more complex work.
Without a solid foundation, a building will fall apart. Without basic grammar, academic work will not be able to stand on its own.
The other part of the problem is that students have not taken the time to learn the skills on their own if their educators have failed to do so, or they have been too lazy to review the rules when their minds get rusty.
Just because your parents don’t teach you how to balance a checkbook doesn’t mean you will never learn how. You know you need the skill so you take up the incentive to find out on your own.
Although it is hard to learn on your own when you don’t have solid, basic knowledge of grammar.
If both students and teachers would work together on the grammar issue, we could all learn to write good and do other things good too. And then we can live goodly ever after.
Hartz is a Stilwell junior in creative writing.
Discussion
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Please, please, please will you people take a linguistic class before spouting out about peoples use of language. Everyone who writes about this always makes the assumption that people who don't speak the way you do are somehow 'lazy'. There is a difference between spoken and written forms of language. Yes, academic writing should follow standardized rules; spoken language doesn't have to. People speak the way the learned to speak.
Please, please, please will you proof read your comment to ensure you didn’t make a grammatical mistake when commenting on an article about grammar! It is just embarrassing.
After all, "People speak the way the learned to speak."
I suppose I would be embarrassed if it was actually a grammatical mistake rather than a typo. But then again, I probably wouldn't be.
Linguo, the story is about written language. She is not frustrated with the way people speak, she is frustrated with the way people seem to lack knowledge of some basic grammar rules.
I am pretty sure that your particular typo also renders that sentence grammatically incorrect.
I can haz cheezeburger.
Agreed. I cannot stand when someone doesn't know the basic rules of grammar. I have read many cover letters with ridiculous errors, and quite frankly, it is difficult for me to take someone seriously when they don't know the difference between "there" and "they're." In my opinion, students should have to take basic skills tests before getting a diploma. The KU School of Journalism is starting that, aren't they?
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