The art of English writing (also applies to writing in Kannada or Hindi ....or .... )
Gurumurthy K
Please read article for importance of teaching students to write well .... this is important both for them to write their exams ... and generally to write well in life ...
Source http://www.deccanherald.com/content/561426/art-english-writing.html
The art of English writing
Sharmila Narayana, August 01, 2016
Urgent intervention of teachers, at school and college/university
levels, is needed to inculcate good writing skills.
Only a few schools and colleges in the country actually teach
their students the art of writing the English language. Yet, these
educational institutions expect their students to write ‘good’
descriptive answers, especially in the humanities and social
sciences. Today, college and university students suffer from poor
writing skills because schools choose to ignore their
responsibility to train students in the art of writing.
Writing often becomes a traumatic experience for students due to
lack of practice. True, everyone is not a born writer, but this is
a skill that can be acquired through writing. Any skill, over
time, erodes if not put to use, which applies equally to writing
too. Moreover, computers are yet to replace final assessment
exams, which are still handwritten. The fact that students are
more comfortable with typing into computers, than writing in long
hand, makes the three-hour exam an ordeal as they have to
over-exert their hand muscles to write.
Unlike in Western countries, where reading and writing go hand in
hand and are equally important, our education system tolerates all
sorts of ‘violations’ to the written format. With the advent of
mobiles, the use of SMS language has prolifically crept into
academic writings. Besides inappropriate vocabulary, several
students liberally use abbreviations that do not necessarily
convey their thoughts, adequately or correctly.
In today’s ‘gizmo-obsessed’ age, everything is available in
‘compact’ form which makes our lives easier and simpler. The click
of a button provides immense information, makes global
transactions possible, helps connect with people from different
geographies and what not, all seated inside our home.
Unfortunately, this online information overload also breeds a
‘copy-paste’ generation. In the process, good writing skills get
butchered brutally amongst the student community. This makes
teaching English language, specifically writing skills, that much
more of a challenge. Only a structured and organised piece of
writing reflects clarity of thought that the writer has developed,
to ensure coherence and logical flow.
The 20th century Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein aptly
stated that “the limits of your language are the limits of your
world.” Language is a means to express ones’ thoughts and ideas
clearly and effectively. The ‘compact generation’ cannot afford to
reduce the art of writing to a ‘capsule format’.
The dependence on power point style of presentations lead to its
overuse and wean students away from effective note-taking. In
fact, writing most often gets reduced to bullet points and all
etiquette of writing – to maintain a margin or a proper paragraph
format – are blatantly flouted. What is even more appalling is
that most often, students are not even conscious about these
oversights.
Another shocking fact is that students who are weak in writing
skills would have actually scored over 80% in their high school
Board exams. The requirement to read, research and expand the
horizon of knowledge gets drowned in the whirlpool of ‘instant’
information available. As reading habits deteriorate, it
inevitably impacts writing skills too.
Today, English has proved to be a global language and a medium
that connects all academic and professional disciplines. It is
necessary to inculcate good writing skills in students and it is
the responsibility of all subject teachers and not English
teachers alone.
Any error in the use of language, even in history, geography,
economics or science assignments cannot be ignored by these
subject teachers. It has to be a shared responsibility. The need
to develop sharp and strong writing skills has to be emphasised
and practiced at the school level itself. The habit of ‘generous’
marking for shoddy writing, should cease.
‘Ethical’ writing
Stress has to be laid on the importance of ‘ethical’ writing which
is integral to research and independent writing. This implies the
need to refrain from mindless acceptance of the printed word and
the tendency to articulate it as one’s own thoughts. Good academic
writing should be incorporated into the curriculum and be made one
of the criteria for students’ evaluation, irrespective of their
discipline.
Writing is an art that needs to be nurtured through use, and
maintained in all its purity. To mess with this art, amounts to a
‘criminal offence’. According to the renowned 16th century
essayist Francis Bacon, “Reading maketh a full man; Conference a
ready man; and writing an exact man”. In this technology driven
‘compact’ world, there are no short cuts devised yet, to master
the art of writing.
If words have to spontaneously overflow in a lucid and an
effective manner, it is necessary to constantly dabble with them.
In turn, this makes it imperative, to develop a strong reading
habit too. While reading by itself may not make one a good writer,
it certainly would be the first step to doing so.
It is indeed a daunting task to ensure that the English language
is free from corruption as we live in an age driven by media and
technology. Urgent intervention of teachers, both at the school
and college/university levels, is necessary to inculcate good
writing skills in the student community. The American writer, Bill
Wheeler rightly points out “good writing is clear thinking made
visible.”
(The writer is an Associate Professor who teaches English at
School of Law, Christ University, Bengaluru
Gurumurthy Kasinathan | Director
IT for Change
(In special consultative status with the
United Nations ECOSOC)
91-80-26654134
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91-9845437730
Email:gu...@itforchange.net