Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education
Date of this Version
Summer 1979
Document Type
Article
Abstract
College English departments generally teach classes in literature, composition, and language. The latter two have suffered because of preoccupation with the former, but have recently been more heavily emphasized in classrooms. Supposed declines in the communication skills of students earned notoriety through press releases about low SAT scores in the mid-1970's, raising a popular consciousness about basic skills; since the appearance of Newsweek's "Why Johnny Can't Write" in 1976, English teachers in the public schools and their teachers in the universities have-along with television, elective courses, a permissive society, etc.-been held accountable for the "communication crises." Unresolved debate continues about SAT data and inferences drawn from it. However, a tangible result of the furor has been increased attention by English professors to the processes of teaching and learning composition. It is the purpose of this article to survey briefly current resources on composition for POD personnel working with English faculties.
Comments
Published in the POD Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Summer 1979)