International Writing Perspective Essay

An International Writing Perspective

Introduction:

“Writing has become one of the most neglected skills in the business world, yet one of the most important to productivity,” states Lin Grensing of the Associated Press; Mrs. Gensing based these findings on surveys with US executives (Hansen). If this conclusion is valid, then a key question follows -- Why are so many universities producing mediocre writers, considering that an individual who writes effectively will stand out in the work force? This question has been the subject of a long debate focusing not only on the importance of writing but the method needed to implement a solution. There are numerous concerns about student writing, and therefore many people have turned to different

It wasn’t until the middle of the 1900’s that this idea went international, and although there is currently no strong commitment to mandatory writing courses in other countries, as compared to the United States, there is awareness about the advantages to increasing student writing abilities. In 1960, the United Kingdom, developed an idea entitled, “language across the curriculum movement,” trying to incorporate writing into other courses and majors. This idea was then brought over to the United States in the 1970’s and reevaluated to incorporate specific required writing courses, general to all students. This project was then renamed, “Writing Across the Curriculum Project (WAC).” Research in Britain and the United states has continued since that time. There are currently schools across the United States that are involved in this initiative by integrating writing into other classes, requiring specific writing courses, and establishing writing centers. The three main goals of the program include: 1) Improving the ability of students to solve problems, 2) Improving students’ ability to examine ideas carefully and support them with evidence, and 3) Improving students’ ability to incorporate and synthesize

Thus, Canada has attempted to implement steps to improve writing skills in their education system. According to a survey from the University of Victoria, only 20% of Canadian universities have some form of writing requirement; in addition, a few other universities have a combined humanities requirement, allowing students to take an optional writing course. In this same survey, writing departments were asked if they believed their curriculums were well established; only 5 out of 35 schools indicated there was a significant number of programs requiring writing courses in their university. Writing courses are designed to ensure students attain a high level of writing skills before graduation; however, it was concluded in this study that universities were not taking writing as a priority and therefore, because of budgeting, were increasing class sizes and decreasing the quality of the instructors (Survey). In a question posted on Canadian Exchange Newspaper website and edited by Robert Graves, Cathy Schryer asked whether there are writing practices in Canadian Universities, which are not available in the United States, or vice versa. Numerous professors and writing instructors answered her question and explained Canada’s predicament. Rob Irish stated