NEW COURSE PRESCRIBED FOR ALL MEN USING BAD ENGLISH

Acting on the report submitted by the Committee on the Use of English by Students, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has passed the following resolutions:

"That a course in English composition, not counting for a degree, be arranged for next year, to be given under the auspices of the English Department, especially designed to meet the needs of students reported to the committee;

"That the committee be authorized to publish a leaflet, for distribution to students, which shall contain a statement of the scope of the committee's work, and of the nature of its requirements and methods."

The committee, which is composed of Professors J. D. M. Ford '94 (chairman), J. H. Woods '87, R. DeC. Ward '89, C. B. Gulick '90, K. Lake, C. N. Greenough '98, A. N. Holcombe '06, and Mr. W. C. Greene '11, secretary, has "endeavored to secure, through the co-operation of instructors, a greater attention on the part of students to clear and correct English in written work in all subjects. It has also taken steps, in the case of students whose use of English has been unsatisfactory, to help these students to remedy their deficiencies."

235 Students Reported.

In accordance with the resolutions creating the committee, instructors have been requested to report "all students whose use of English has been unsatisfactory, whether in the matter of clear and orderly thought or in the details of expression." Up to the present date, 235 students have been reported, distributed as follows: Regular undergraduates,  195 Unclassified undergraduates,  33 Students out of course,  2 Special student,  1 Graduate students,  4

Of these, about 60 have been reported more than once, often by instructors in different courses.

The report continues: "At first few students were reported, probably because there may have been sometimes a misunderstanding of the committee's attitude and of the effect of reporting students. Nevertheless, efforts to secure co-operation have produced increasingly good results. By meeting the professors, together with their assistants, in several of the larger courses, and by discussing with them the general problem, the secretary has made reasonably sure that few undergraduates will in the long run escape finding themselves in at least one course in which the use of bad English is likely to be reported. Many instructors, moreover, pay attention to the English of their students without sending them to the committee; if such an attitude were universal, the work of the committee would become to a large extent unnecessary.

"The actual supervision of the students reported to the committee has been delegated to the secretary. He has conferred with almost every student who has been reported, and by examining with the student specimens of his written work has tried to discover the nature of his mistakes and the cause of his difficulties. So many cases have been based on hastily written class-room tests and examinations, rather than on work done at leisure, that a great deal of bad English has been due to mere carelessness and lack of revision. In such cases it has seemed only fair to take the circumstances into consideration.

School Training to Blame.

"Many students, however, write bad English because of sheer ignorance. Errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure abound; students who have been warned several times continue to betray the influence of bad school training and years of indifference. It is significant to note that whereas of all students in the College who take or who have taken English A or English D approximately 8.5 per cent. have been reported to the committee, no less than 24 per cent. have been reported of those students who have been admitted as "unclassified" from other institutions and who have been exempted from English composition at Harvard. So few men who anticipated English A have been reported that it is not worth while to calculate the percentage. These figures seem to indicate that the instruction in English composition at Harvard is more effective than that given at other institutions, and that additional instruction in English is needed by many of the students who come to Harvard from other institutions.

"At present there is no proper arrangement for enforcing the rule of the Faculty that students reported to this committee may be required to receive 'additional prescribed work in English composition, such work not counting for the degree.' Students who are taking English A are already receiving, it may be assumed, the training which they need. For several reasons it is impracticable to send upperclassmen back to English A or English D.

"As a matter of fact, what a student needs, if he is reported after having taken English A, is not further instruction by lectures on rhetorical principles, but further practice and supervision in writing. In the absence of any provision for such training, the secretary of the committee has this year given to about thirty students (a large proportion of whom were unclassified) instruction and criticism in weekly conferences. The committee, however, regards this arrangement as a makeshift; for actual instruction in English naturally should be carried on by the English Department, rather than by the committee. It therefore recommends that a course in English composition be arranged for next year, to be given under the auspices of the English Department, especially designed to meet the needs of students reported to the committee. Such a course would clearly have to be very flexible, and would consist of conferences and prescribed writing. Students would be sent to it at the discretion of the secretary of the committee, and would continue to take it until they could satisfy the instructor with regard to their ability to write English."

Of these, about 60 have been reported more than once, often by instructors in different courses.

The report continues: "At first few students were reported, probably because there may have been sometimes a misunderstanding of the committee's attitude and of the effect of reporting students. Nevertheless, efforts to secure co-operation have produced increasingly good results. By meeting the professors, together with their assistants, in several of the larger courses, and by discussing with them the general problem, the secretary has made reasonably sure that few undergraduates will in the long run escape finding themselves in at least one course in which the use of bad English is likely to be reported. Many instructors, moreover, pay attention to the English of their students without sending them to the committee; if such an attitude were universal, the work of the committee would become to a large extent unnecessary.

"The actual supervision of the students reported to the committee has been delegated to the secretary. He has conferred with almost every student who has been reported, and by examining with the student specimens of his written work has tried to discover the nature of his mistakes and the cause of his difficulties. So many cases have been based on hastily written class-room tests and examinations, rather than on work done at leisure, that a great deal of bad English has been due to mere carelessness and lack of revision. In such cases it has seemed only fair to take the circumstances into consideration.

School Training to Blame.

"Many students, however, write bad English because of sheer ignorance. Errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure abound; students who have been warned several times continue to betray the influence of bad school training and years of indifference. It is significant to note that whereas of all students in the College who take or who have taken English A or English D approximately 8.5 per cent. have been reported to the committee, no less than 24 per cent. have been reported of those students who have been admitted as "unclassified" from other institutions and who have been exempted from English composition at Harvard. So few men who anticipated English A have been reported that it is not worth while to calculate the percentage. These figures seem to indicate that the instruction in English composition at Harvard is more effective than that given at other institutions, and that additional instruction in English is needed by many of the students who come to Harvard from other institutions.

"At present there is no proper arrangement for enforcing the rule of the Faculty that students reported to this committee may be required to receive 'additional prescribed work in English composition, such work not counting for the degree.' Students who are taking English A are already receiving, it may be assumed, the training which they need. For several reasons it is impracticable to send upperclassmen back to English A or English D.

"As a matter of fact, what a student needs, if he is reported after having taken English A, is not further instruction by lectures on rhetorical principles, but further practice and supervision in writing. In the absence of any provision for such training, the secretary of the committee has this year given to about thirty students (a large proportion of whom were unclassified) instruction and criticism in weekly conferences. The committee, however, regards this arrangement as a makeshift; for actual instruction in English naturally should be carried on by the English Department, rather than by the committee. It therefore recommends that a course in English composition be arranged for next year, to be given under the auspices of the English Department, especially designed to meet the needs of students reported to the committee. Such a course would clearly have to be very flexible, and would consist of conferences and prescribed writing. Students would be sent to it at the discretion of the secretary of the committee, and would continue to take it until they could satisfy the instructor with regard to their ability to write English."