I am almost upset with the fact that we place first year writing under the English discipline. I would almost rather it be labeled something along the lines of General Education 100. Please, keep in mind that I said "almost" in the above sentence. I do understand that this course fits into English because the mode in which it is taught, but to have it strictly be taught by English professors/TA's and kept within in the English department, does a disservice. But, that is not the question so I will move on.
First year writing should be taught for the simple reason that it NEEDS to be taught. With the amount of freshman that enter into a four year university, one cannot possibly believe that they will all be on the same level of writing efficiency. As their professors/graders, we have no clue as to what they were taught in high school about writing, grammar, analysis, etc. To have EVERY student take this class, it gives the students a level playing field because they are all taught the basics of writing and critical thinking. Yes, some students may be beyond the basic level, but that is when you can challenge them to hone the skills and produce high level papers even if they are in an introductory class.
To say that a freshman writing course is not needed within a university would be similar to me saying I don't need air...ok, a little much I know, but you get the point. FYC gives the tools to continue writing in any discipline. It gives the students that opportunity to structure a lab write up, to analyze a work of art, to form a proposal and the list can go on and on. Just because the class is listed as an English course does not mean that we are only teaching them how to write for an English seminar. Communication in any discipline contains the written word. If, as a student, you don't know the fundamentals of writing then any type of communication you try to start will be disregarded. Exemplary writing skills can give you credibility in who you are as a scholar. Not offering freshman writing would be doing a disservice to the students as a whole.
2 comments:
Great post and great talking about with you! As a former TA, students with poor writing skills can be the smartest people in their class, but no one will believe that about them unless they can prove it on paper. What you will be teaching is inredibly important! :)
I would agree, Rachel, that some kind of writing course is necessary for incoming students. Most people would agree. Where you will find disagreement is whether it must be the same course for all students, or whether it could vary according to major, student background, etc.
Of course, the problem would be how to ensure some kind of uniform writing instruction if it were left up to each department. Furthermore, students change majors frequently, so it may make more sense to have writing instruction stand outside of the area of specialization.
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