Mutnick

The essay on basic writing was interesting in that it seemed to draw on all sorts of people. It seemed like a collection of opinions on basic writing pedagogy. I wasn't sure how to define "basic writing" based on the text. What they described sounded mainly like remedial writing. Basic things like grammar. It also seemed like, underlying the debate over whether or not to teach basic writing, there is a bigger social problem represented. The question arises of just who needs this "basic writing" course. Who are the "low achievers" who need this extra help, who don't understand the basic skills? Generally, it looks like it is the minorities who need help with Standard English. They are the ones who grew up speaking Spanish, AAVE, or some language other than the Standard English that they are expected to write in when they get to college. The way that they write can make it seem like they don't understand the material or that they cannot draw their own conclusions and then write about it. This is why they need to be taught the basic writing skills. I once knew someone whose first language was Indonesian. He had some good ideas in his papers, but he didn't quite get the proper English structure down. I sometimes think it's a shame that one kind of English is better than another. But, it probably is better to have some kind of standard that we all follow.