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Chances are you are taking English because it is required.
Whether you are going to college to major in engineering or
accounting, whether you want to be a choreographer or a corporate
raider, whether you goal is Wall Street or the Peace Corps
-- you will probably be required to complete an English course.
- English is required for valid reasons.
English can be the most important college class you take.
Other courses present information, much of which may be
obsolete before graduation. English teaches skills
you will use for the rest of your life.
- English is required because your professors consider
it important. If college instructors have a common
complaint it is that students can't write. This troubles
business and physics instructors as much as it does professors
of literature and history. Writing is the principal method
students use to demonstrate newly acquired skills. You will
be judged by your term papers, lab reports, market analyses,
essay tests. No matter what your major, writing skills
will be critical.
- English is required because your future employers
know it's essential. A recent survey of 2,000 employers
revealed that reading and writing were among the top skills
companies look for in employees. A fast glance at the want
ads reveals that company after company demands "communication
skills" from applicants. Poorly written letters, awkward
memos, and pretentious reports clog corporate operations
and waste billions each year. Badly written instructions
endanger employees and customers, exposing corporations
to litigation. English skills are so essential that many
firms now require employees to attend writing classes. Marketing
new products or services, informing regulatory agencies,
answering complaints, responding to customers, motivating
employees all require effective writing skills.
- English is required because it may be the only
course that teaches you how to think. In most information
courses data is poured at you through books, lectures, labs,
and videos. Few professors bother to tell students how to
read the text, how to analyze data, how to organize a logical
argument. English may be the only course that will expose
you to the basics of logic and reasoning. Clear writing
requires clear thinking. English will sharpen your reasoning
ability, challenge your customary way of thinking, and help
you see the world in a new light.
- English is required because writing is an essential
skill in the information age. English is now the
international language. Three-fourths of the letters mailed
in the world are written in English. Nearly 80% of the information
in all the computers on earth is processed in English. Half
the business meetings in Europe are conducted in English.
Telephones, FAX machines, telexes, and computers link the
world in English. All of this makes writing in English the
principal communications tool in the global economy.
Writing is an essential vocational skill in any career
your select.
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