The English language is anything but static. It is always adapting and changing to the needs of society. Like the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) I agree that literacy is not something you learn and have that knowledge stay the same throughout your life. Literacy is not the same as learning basic addition for example, 2+2 will always equal four. Literacy is something that constantly requires attention and thought. Our language changes so frequently that it is hard to keep up with (think about micro-trends of slang). Currently, the US is definitely dealing with a literacy crisis. Many Americans read at a fifth-grade level and punctuation and grammar are completely shattered concepts. I feel technology and social media play a major role in the downfall of literacy. We text in abbreviations and acronyms to keep our messages short and to the point. Writing and language are one of the strongest ways to build connection and relationships. It is so important in an academic setting to share the differences in language amongst different communities. It is also important that teachers and administration educate themselves on the changes in language and diversity amongst different cultures in order to keep a classroom inclusive and enrich our culture overall as human beings. While it is important to acknowledge that literacy is not a one-size fits all concept, I do feel as though it is important to be literate in a traditional sense.
With that said, the Council of Writing Program Administrators (CWPA) highlights the expected outcomes of postsecondary education of composition. After reviewing the outcomes of first-year composition expectations, I feel the mark is being missed in many cases. I can confidently say that rhetorical knowledge was not emphasized to me in my undergraduate experience. I also do not believe proper researching techniques are taught nor are revision strategies. I have mentioned in class before that I was always led to find research that supported my ideas and never realized I could use a counter argument to my advantage. I also feel cheated in the world of revision. I think that all of these outcomes are great and should be the outcome of postsecondary writing composition courses, but I do not see them being executed well. The National Council of Teachers of English says that assessment should “provide useful information to inform and enable reflection”. I agree that it should but I don’t feel that I was always given helpful feedback or assessments to help me reflect on making my writing better.
The NCTE‘s take on language was very well put. I love the idea of language being a “living organism”. Since it is always changing and needs constant attention to keep up with, it makes sense that it would be almost alive in a sense. They also bring up how a lot of learning language comes from outside of a classroom. For example, I come from an Italian family from Brooklyn. We use terminology or phrases that are probably not used by many others outside of my family or culture. I know this because my boyfriend tells me my family makes up words which always makes me laugh. I never considered that someone may not know what the words mean since I grew up with them.
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