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English standards at AUB under question
Tracy Dariane
Contributing Writer
Students and instructors at the American University of Beirut (AUB) question the material given in two required English courses (English 203 and English 204).
Dr. Jad Melki, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Media, is one among the professors at AUB who face problems with the writing of their students. He said, “There are multiple students who have finished their English requirements and can’t put sentences together.”
Students are also suffering due to their weak writing skills. In a poll carried out throughout the week of November 24, 35 out of 105 students reported to still face difficulties despite their completion of the required English courses.
In a poll carried out throughout the weeks of November 8 and November 15, out of 120 students asked, 80, after having taken English 203 and/or 204, have felt no improvement vis-à-vis their abilities in reading, writing, and speaking.
Dr. Melki points out the relevance that should be given to the basics. “Grammar deals with structure, how could someone master the craft of putting words into a paragraph without that?”
Ms. Rula Baalbalki, head of communication skills at the English department of AUB, explains that grammar isn’t the main focus. She adds that writing isn’t “finite” and that even the most advanced writers make grammar mistakes.
Tarek Abu Hussein, a tutor at the English Writing Center at AUB, points out that the main problems students face are their hesitation to take a proper stand. He also adds as recurring mistakes, paragraph inconsistency and obscure clarity and cohesion.
Baalbaki said that students are the ones who should handle their own future. She points out that the outcome of a course is in the hands of the students;“it depends on the students, if they come to learn a tool, then they will.” She also adds that the dynamism in a class is in the hands of both the teachers and the students.
Ms. Sarah Mallat, a tutor at the English Writing Center at AUB explained how the Provost of the University started a new initiative because students were not good enough with English. Twelve writing intensive courses were implemented due to the fact that students who reach their graduate level have weak writing skills.
Dr. Melki is teaching one of the courses (Digital Media Literacy) that the Provost put as a writing intensive course. “The basic skill related to Media is writing, if you can’t write then you can’t be in this field.”
Mallat explained that the issue revolving around students’ intermediate English was also due to the fact that after taking the two English courses, they don’t continue writing. She pointed out that the problem was that most courses do not require “anything critical, nor writing; just multiple choice. They [students] are connected to the world, they deal with multinational people so they must be able to communicate and do so convincingly.”
This article was written for the course SOAN 205 titled “Basic news writing.” |