One of the perks of attending community college is having the choice of taking electives that aren’t necessarily offered at 4-year universities. Ranging from ESL to keyboarding class, these courses teach general purpose skills that are essential to society. They can also be just a “fun” class or a break from the heavy loaded prerequisite classes. Looking over the various classes, it occurred to me that a grammar class is needed, a class that specifically focuses on grammatical skills.
Grammar is something that schools expect their students to master, or at least know the basics of, in elementary school. However, by the time students begin to prepare for standardized tests like the SAT and ACT in high school, they have to completely relearn the process, especially for the writing portion that tests grammatical skills. Regardless of a student’s major, grammar is a skill that is always relevant and expected, even beyond academics.
Students today struggle with identifying and correcting basic grammatical errors and seem to rely on technology to highlight their grammatical errors instead of relying on basic knowledge. For instance, the majority of word processors like Microsoft Word and Google Docs already have a “corrector,” and apps like Grammarly are popular tools for revising and editing. However, while these tools may be a great source for double checking and identifying mistakes, relying too much on technology makes us lazy and decreases a skill set that must be constantly rehearsed in order to maintain decent grammatical skills.
It seems appropriate for a community college to have a class that focuses more specifically on this area. It would further help students who are transferring to four-year universities because being able to build on a steady foundation of grammar will not only make transitions easier, but it will increase the success of students in their writing. Taking these classes at a community college will not only save money, but it will also help to balance out a heavy load of prerequisite classes and the automatic expectation for “grammar perfection” at 4-year schools.
A grammar class would highlight the most basic, yet essential skill for a student and could be the determining factor between an A or a B grade for other classes.
-Jerry Choi