Thursday, Nov. 19, 1964 University Daily Kansau
Page 5
English Pro Strikeouts May Brush Up in Clinic
For 227 of the 1.133 students who took the English Proficiency Test, "there is no joy in Mudville."
But there is little reason why those students who failed the test must "strike out" again.
Under the auspices of the English department, two sections of a writing clinic are being held to assist students to prepare for the next proficiency test.
FIGURES RELEASED by James E. Seaver, director of Western Civilization and of the English Proficiency Test, indicate that the 20 per cent of those who failed the test represented a low point in failures over the past two semesters.
Last fall, 24 per cent failed the test, and last spring, 26 per cent failed.
"Anyone is welcome to come to the writing clinic," Carpenter said, "there are no requirements and the student may come only when he wants to."
Now that the results are final, students who must take the test again and those who will be taking it for the first time next spring can get a helping hand, said William Carpenter, assistant instructor of English.
Carpenter directs one section of the clinic which meets on Wednesdays and Fridays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. The other section, held from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays, is taught by John R. Wilson, assistant instructor of English. Both sections meet in Lindley Annex.
THESE SESSIONS have been going on all fall, Carpenter said, but to date this fall, attendance has been slight. "Now that the results are in, I expect the attendance to jump," he said. Based on last year, the sections may jump to between 25 and 30 students, he said.
The clinic instructors and the student who has failed to pass the examination, review the mistakes made on the test, Carpenter said. Those students who have not taken the test, usually give the clinic instructor an example of their writing, and the "therapy" starts from there.
THE CLINIC has served some students who have commuted from Kansas City for that one purpose. Some of these students had fulfilled all graduation requirements except for the English Proficiency Test, Carpenter said.
Based upon last year's tests, Carpenter gave the following reasons why most fail:
"Many of them fail to follow instructions," he said, "directions may call for a 400 word writing assignment, but the student may only write 300 words," he said.
Students fail to narrow down the general topics far enough. By not doing this, he said, their writing is too general and this hurts the grade.
Others fail because they have not mastered, or have forgotten the basic writing techniques. Much of the tutoring done in the clinic centers around these technique faults, such as sentence structure, spelling, and comma errors.
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