Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Lit era c tested i English H Ma - J 11 '?B^w8I^B ^B88B888BWBBBB8IBM08f8SBE8iflM^HHB8 By JOHNNY LOTT Gamecock Staff Writer A test English 101 studei take next week will det y whether they pass or fi course, according to the din the Freshman English 1 ment. ' Students must pass this they wish to receive credit j , 3 course," said Erica C. Lind< "Hysteria shouldn't result fc the test is not that difficult examination will deal grammatical principles wh students should have deveh the twelth grade. It will spelling, sentence stri mechanics and other elements. Lindemann said the tej 1 j ii iiiiii mm n nnn Hi' nmi mini i iwum imiiiih i given Sum i students had pass. Of the nts will failed the ini ermine second, and ail the Since this ector of undergone depart- substantial n department 1 test if easy. Some for the continues to emann. the faculty ecause revised versi The This type with necessary b< ich the decline in sti iru?H ir? formal Rna' cover Aptitude Tesl icture, this decline i basic mode of at Since 1972, it was scores have V:' '' ") f s H F< Ou a n< dr< ins lie fav t hmhi Tier I session. The three opportunities to K w J^iicipating, 15 itTarre^ul failed the 5 failed the last, summer, the test has revision because a umber of the English faculty felt it was too i minor dissension linger since a few of maintain that the on is also too easy, of test has become scause of a general iidents' ability to use lish. The Scholastic t (SAT) has reflected more than any other cademic evaluation. the median verbal fallen 22 points on a ;> ;'"'V ^ ; N.'-'M . y.-'v'; .; . ' :' . > >v 'y V\-. C\^' elect a gr eritage f< shion Pit r contemporary f. other winner! Th ICC it? r* 1 ? a^|Miqui*U VV pired by our Indian ritage. Fair it orite turtle or bloi winner, no matter 'ty! In cotton brush >er suede trim, ck, Sizes 5-13. lit] national scale. LINDEMANN SAID the blame for the average decline in the SAT should not be ascribed to any one source. Instead, it should be distributed equally between parents, teachers and students. "Let's face the facts," she said, "grammar is a crashing bore to most people, even to some English instructors. Therefore, a lot of teachers fail to present it to the students. In lieu of this, they generally focus on the imagination found in literature." Students often lack the desire to learn partially due to the failure of parents to instill a proper, pleasant attitude toward education. Also, students lack the drive because I NTOWN M CHLAND MALLL. # DUTCH SQUARE t >UALIST! I eat I aryour I 3tform I [irl selects j I c ilimnnx 1 ? U Jt?lBKpCI j ith designs and Aztec with your jse, you're what your denim with I i^OK\ I iney don't see the necessity of learning apparrently irrelevant material, she said. L1NDEMANN RECEIVED an $88,000 grant in July from the National Endowment for the Humanities to assist composition teachers and the USC writing lab. It will take effect December, 1976 and will expire November 31, 1976. "The grant is just a small dent in the actual needs of our programs, but 1 is much better than nothing." She advises students who are having trouble with English to visit the Writing Lab in the Humanities Building. Here, they can receive individual attention and assistance with their writing problems. -JournalismFrom Page 1 "This is not an elitist measure," McElveen said, "but rather a way to determine which students are not suitable for the news-editorial sequence (a series of courses)." Ten years ago, McElveen taught a college preparatory English course to a high school class. "They did better work than some college sophomores and juniors," McElveen said. "Today, a surprising number of students don't know their language well enough to write a basic declarative sentence." "WRITING CANNOT be taught, but must be guided, disciplined and learned," he added. McElveen gave the test to his 301 and 306 journalism sections last year. The results showed increases in scores as the time allowed to take the test was extended. He is presently working on a longer, more thorough version of the test. But, according to McElveen, the intended exam is in a "state of lirnbo" at the present. The two other journalism sequences, broadcasting and public relations-advertising (PRAD) oppose the motion to establish the test as a "uniform school standard". Leonard Lanfraneo. chairman of the Curriculum Committee and of the public relations-advertising sequence, said McElveen's proposal had been voted down by a committee asked to study the subject. The test proposal had then been revived by the faculty in a meeting this summer. Lanfranco rejects the evaluation test because it does not include any provision for math. "The students in the PR-AD sequence need a simple understanding in math. The test is fine for the news-editorial curriculum hut Hru^c r?r?t ? ? nv/t tu?ci 111C other two sequences equally well," said Lanfranco. WHAT WOt LI) happen to the student who decides to change sequences after taking the test? Would he have to start all over to fill the gaps the test didn't evaluate?" Lanfranco asked. Lanfranco feels the SAT would be a safer measure of students' overall abilities. "I applaud the test for news-ed, but as it stands now, i can t accept it. It's too illdefined for PR-AD." Within the next two weeks, the Curriculum Committee is scheduled for an organizational meeting. The committee consists of two faculty representatives from each sequence, four journalism students, one graduate student, the chairman, and the dean of the college in an ex-officio cap . 'v. "1 don't know where the prop*> adopt the test will rank in committee's priorities. But 1 .. know the the more pressir business will come first," sai^ l^anfranco.