More than 50 percent of San José State's incoming students are not prepared to write at the college level. Much more than incorrect spelling, comma splices and run-on sentences, the problem is that these students lack a critical life skill.
Writing skills have a deeper function and purpose than simply getting through a test. They help us communicate ideas and participate as citizens in a democratic society. Still, poor writing skills pervade all levels of education in every corner of the United States. San José State is certainly not alone.
Wanting to pinpoint exactly why many college students cannot write well is only natural, and is a necessary step toward change. But experts point to a plethora of factors that contribute to an epidemic that is as deep as it is wide.
Among the obstacles: a declining culture of reading, budgetary constraints at all educational levels, and increasing numbers of English language learners, according to some San José State administrators and faculty members.
Granted, most people couldn't spot a gerund if it were blinking smack-dab in the center of an iPhone screen. Being able to name and define the parts of speech is a skill often limited to zealous English majors and a waning population of bookworms. Yet, students who do not read have little chance of telling an adjective from an adverb, let alone using them correctly, because they rarely see correctly written sentences.
"Instead of reading a book, young people watch celebrities and computer-enhanced scenery on television, or videos on YouTube.com," says Alice Ting, director of the Learning Assistance Resource Center (LARC), which provides tutoring in writing, math and other subjects to the university's undergraduate students. "Many of our under-prepared students come to college without ever having finished one book on their own."
These students have traded dusty, dog-eared pages at the public library for crisp, high definition and clickable entertainment. Couple their dislike of reading with crowded classrooms, and improving writing skills slows even further, says Jonathan Lovell, professor of English and director of the San José Area Writing Project.
"Working conditions that K-12 teachers face, particularly in California, make effective teaching of writing extremely difficult," says Lovell, who laments the ever-shrinking state education budget. "Why can't we make a more effective argument against the extremely deleterious effects of Prop 13?"
Lovell explains that because of insufficient funding caused in part by the Prop 13 cap on property taxes, California classrooms can have as many as 28 to 35 students—meaning that California ranks 49th in terms of class size in the United States. The growing population of students just learning English compounds the difficulties teachers face. There simply are not enough resources to give all students what they need. And this gigantic snowball of problems rolls uphill to the California State University (CSU) system, the education destination for many of the state's public high school graduates.
Braced for students of all writing abilities, San José State has placement tests, remedial courses, a highly structured writing curriculum, peer tutoring, one of the most stringent Writing Skills Tests in the CSU system -- and most important, a small army of people that demands student success.
"San José State has an organized set of support services to take students from weak writing skills to strong ones," says Robert Cooper, associate vice president for undergraduate studies. "In what have not been good budget times, the university has invested resources to try to increase opportunities for students to get help with their writing."
Despite all the attempts to improve student writing, and even with committed administrators and faculty members, making up for skills not acquired in K-12 in just four years of college is beyond challenging. In fact, 40 percent of San José State students fail the required Writing Skills Test (WST) at least once. This is roughly the average fail rate across CSU campuses, according to Lecturer Gloria Collins, who has taught in the English Department for 30 years and coordinates the WST.
"Students take the WST when they're juniors, so it's a little late to tell them we've finally determined they can't write very well," says Collins. "For some of them, it's the first time anyone has ever told them that every sentence they write is a fragment."
How is this possible? SJSU business management senior Eric Soloman says most of his professors grade mainly on content, often encouraging him to get additional writing help from a peer tutor. Soloman failed the WST five times, which kept him from moving on to his last required writing course and upper-division major requirements. Understandably frustrated, he says he is not convinced he'll need the type of writing included on the WST to succeed in business.
"I passed every English class I took at West Valley College and did the work efficiently enough, but when I transferred here I was kind of surprised about the WST," says Soloman, who sees his full-time job at Fry's Electronics as a starting point for a career in business. "I didn't know what an impact it would have on finishing school."
Both students and professors struggle with writing expectations. Students want to get through college on time, but have to work twice as hard to make up for shortcomings in writing skills. And without an official university rubric for grading writing, professors must focus on grading content alone or use their own rubric to correct writing, says Marjorie Freedman, assistant professor of nutrition and food science.
"Students who write poorly think I'm an unfair grader," says Freedman, whose rubric for scoring papers includes points for grammar, mechanics and formatting. "But I don't want a student who writes poorly going out into the world."
Freedman says her "tough love" approach is necessary to prepare students for life after graduation. According to Cheryl Allmen-Vinnedge, director of the Career Center, wherever San José State graduates go, they will find that written and oral communication are among the top 10 skills employers are looking for.
"Communication skills are critical to success in any field," says Allmen-Vinnedge. "If you can nail those down, you'll be better postured to take advantage of advancement opportunities."
San José State recently introduced its newest resource for student writing. Open for just two years, the Writing Center is helping to raise the level of student writing on campus and after graduation. Writing Center Director Linda C. Mitchell and eight student writing specialists are conquering dangling modifiers and pronoun-antecedent disagreement one student at a time.
"There used to be the concept that writing centers are for people who need remedial help," says Mitchell. "But I'm finding that's not true with ours. Students come in because they want to get an A instead of a B in a class. They're really motivated."
Although the Writing Center focuses on upperdivision and graduate students, it offers one-on-one tutoring, workshops, and classroom "house calls" for everyone on campus. With nearly 2,000 tutoring appointments in fall 2008 alone, Mitchell's high standards translate into measurable student success -- for the writing specialists and tutees alike.
"I like to see students grow and reach their potential," says Mitchell, who has taught for 43 years. "I encourage them to dream and reach for new things."
Writing specialist Emily Clark, a senior English major who hopes one day to be a writer, likens getting hired at the Writing Center to winning American Idol -- thousands of people on campus and only eight slots.
"I'm just lucky to be a part of it," says Clark. "The Writing Center is helping students improve grades all across the board. And everyone can benefit from improved writing skills."
Everyone, including Eric Soloman. With Clark's help, Soloman has moved beyond the WST and is just four courses from graduating. And Clark is better prepared for a career in writing because of Mitchell's mentoring and the professional experience gained at the Writing Center. But the Writing Center does not work alone. Dialogue between the writing specialists and professors about student writing has expanded, making the Writing Center a strong instructional ally.
"We're a less scary place for students to go, a safe place to be wrong," says Crystle Bruno, another writing specialist and senior in English. "A lot of students don't want to talk to their professors because they're intimidated, and they don't want to appear stupid."
Students won't get scolded for grammar indiscretions at the Writing Center. What they will get from fellow students is help that may impact more than just their graduation date. Akiko Sugihara, who received a multi-subject teaching credential in December 2008, got the tools she needed to help her students and to continue to develop her own skills.
"At the Writing Center, I learned a lot of strategies that I can apply to all of my writing," says Sugihara, who is now a reading intervention teacher for elementary school students. "And it's not like finishing my credential program is the end. I will continue to improve my writing."
Developing writing skills is a lifelong effort. With early assessment in high schools, an extensive writing curriculum, a Campus Reading Program and resources like LARC and the Writing Center, San José State is in the business of preparing graduates for a life of writing after college.
"We still have a ways to go," says LARC's Ting. "But our students are bright and our campus is willing to devote resources to improving student writing skills."
Students, faculty and staff are working to bring about real change -- not just to help students improve their writing to pass a test, but to help them succeed long after they hear "Pomp and Circumstance." Although there's still much to be done, students who want to improve will find the words to communicate, to participate fully in society, and to succeed in life.
-- Jody Ulate, '05
We want to hear from you.
Comment on this article on Facebook.
Read more articles from Washington Square Spring 2009.
Read articles, watch videos and tell us what you think. Join us on Facebook.
print
email