Mina P. Shaughnessy

I am going to be doing a lot, I mean a lot of rambling on in this blog...so be prepared.
The presence of remedial courses at most colleges today is evidence of the failure of elementary and secondary schools to consistently turn out students with adequate language skills. In an Introduction to Errors and Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing, by Mina P. Shaughnessy, “There is the reality of academia, the fact that most college teachers have little tolerance for the kinds of errors BW students make, that they perceive certain types of errors as indicators of ineducability, and that they have the power of the F” (392). There can be a huge difference between English written by native speakers and the English written by people who use it as a second language. I have nothing but admiration for people who master a second language. It takes years of dedication. But no matter how much effort one puts into learning English, it is the rare person indeed who can write it like someone born to the task.Text that is difficult to understand, or that contains distracting mistakes, will fail to connect an audience. They’ll notice the flaws, such as misspellings and improperly used idioms, and their attention will be shifted away from the message.Language, skillfully used, has the power to make a connection between writer and reader. As Mina P. Shaughnessy puts it, “So absloute is the importance of error in the minds of many writers that ‘good writing’ to them means ‘correct writing,’ nothing more” (392).
High standards of grammar, spelling, and punctuation should be expected in schools; but these mean nothing if the content itself doesn’t express the writer’s ideas accurately. I’ve had people say to me that perfection in writing is not important enough to spend time on. As long as the reader gets the drift, that’s good enough for them. That kind of thinking is dead wrong, and here’s why: errors in writing are not benign things that readers gloss over and ignore. Errors do damage! Errors will result in failure to effectively convey thoughts or information, and worse, can create serious misunderstandings. Even small mistakes draw the reader’s attention away from the subject matter and focus it on the errors themselves. Even if they are not severe enough to cause a misunderstanding about what is being said (and all too often, they are), errors still obscure the message and detract from the writer’s image. Early schooling doesn’t necessarily demand adherence to high standards, and concentrates instead on ideals like “self expression” (without any regard to the content) or “self-esteem” (without any regard to achievement). “Error is more than a mishap; it is a barrier that keeps someone not only from writing something in formal English but from having something to write” (394). I have my own issues with that kind of educational focus, which I believe leaves many bright students without the necessary tools and discipline to succeed. I think there are two separate parts to learning to be a good English writer. First you need to master the foundations of the language (grammar and vocabulary) and then you need to develop style. So what’s the problem? The problem is reflected in the growing numbers of students’ who can no longer write in the formal, professional style that academia demands.
I know that I rattled on, but this issue is very near and dear to my heart. My grandmother can write and read probably at an 8th grade level...creating many obstacles in her life that could have been avoided had she had one teacher take the time and instill basic writing and reading concepts to her. It’s a vicious cycle in the education system when there are many who graduate highschool to start their collegiate years not even having an understanding of Basic English. BOO to those educators! You should be ashamed of yourselves!