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	Vol.7, No 7, September 9, 1999
	Student voices opinion of new test I'll level with you. I don't always read the Daily Forty-Niner.  In fact, sometimes I go as much as a week or two without picking one up. Frankly, I don’t always see the relevance to Cal State Long Beach  students of much of the material.   Chris Glover The article lauding the merits of the porn industry in California, which ran Sept. 2, is a perfect example of this. But across from that particularly insightful bit of information, on that particular day, ran a story that caught my eye.    The format of the WPE (Writing Proficiency Examination), which all students must pass before they leave CSULB, has been tweaked. The objective part of the test, which tests a student’s grammatical abilities, has been eliminated. In its stead, the essay portion has been lengthened. This didn't really grab my attention. After all, placement and assessment exams change all the time. And what better way to assess a student’s writing aptitude than to have him sit down and write something?  It makes sense.  What appalled me about the article was this. Dr. Edward Borowiec, chairman of the WPE Test Development Committee, was quoted as saying that the primary reason for the change is that “we believe that knowing grammar has no bearings on one’s writing proficiency."     When I’m not overloading myself with classes at CSULB, I tutor English at the Writing and Reading Center at Long Beach City College.     I see students from all ethnic backgrounds with all manner of compositional problems. But the problems that turn up almost invariably, from the lowest of ESL classes to the highest of critical and argumentative writing classes, are grammatical in nature.    This is because clear thinking does not necessarily translate into clear writing. Comma splices, infinitive phrases, pronoun cases -- you don’t have to be able to define these things or spot inaccuracies in them from a hundred yards away to know how to use them correctly.     Unfortunately, too many students can’t use them correctly. Reading, comprehension, and composition skills are the only ones applicable across the curriculum.     English is not like algebra or political science. You can’t just memorize it for one semester, pass a class, then forget it again. Good students are always writing, always fine-tuning their skills.     Ever wonder why some students seem to be good at almost everything? It’s because they can comprehend material and write coherently. Good grammar is essential to both of these. Without it, phrases get misconstrued, meaning gets muddled, and sentences become fragments. Oh yeah: did I mention that grades get lower?    I'm not quite advocating a compulsory grammar class (Although, I must admit, it isn’t a bad idea.), but Dr. Borowiec’s flippantly tossing grammar’s importance aside was downright horrifying.    Chris Glover is a liberal studies major at Cal State Long Beach.		Faculty get extra time for reports Odyssey to educate, entertain CSULB Beloved CSULB employee dies CSU, UC budget sparks debate Coed fraternity mixes business, pleasure Counseling program eases faculty, staff stress Life on campus USU reorganization takes place within Senior citizens stay back for more college WPE needs grammar Student voices opinion of new test Eliminating grammar on WPE not so funny Porn has problems L.A. doesn’t need NFL Freakdaddy funks U.S.U. Pop group worse than New Kids Women's volleyball streaking to the all time win record Ohio State next stop for Bruins LBSU offers student body free admission to games Season begins today on campus Fall 99 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications, Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach ©1999 All rights reserved.