CHAPTER 18
The Secret To Good English Writing
Years ago, I was teaching an advanced writing class in San Francisco.
My students were foreign learners who hoped to enter an American
university. They had just finished writing an essay about why they wanted
to study in the USA.
Each student handed me their paper and then walked out of class. I sat
down, grabbed the first one, and began to read. I read the first paragraph
and was completely confused. The introduction was a mess. The sentences
were extremely long and complex and were written in the passive voice.
The vocabulary was complex and was used incorrectly.
As I continued to read, I was horrified. The student’s essay was
unintelligible. I couldn’t even understand his main idea. Frustrated, I put the
paper aside and grabbed another. I began to read the second essay and
encountered the exact same problems. Once again there were long complex
sentences that were impossible to follow or understand. Once again the
student used complex vocabulary that was inappropriate and used
incorrectly. Once again I had no idea what she was trying to say.
Bewildered, I went through every essay and found the same problems in
each of them: convoluted sentences, overly complex vocabulary, overuse of
the passive voice, and no clear message or point. The essays were
unreadable.
“What a mess,” I said to myself as I put down the last paper.
The Problem of Academic Writing
Why were these essays so bad, and why were they bad in such similar
ways? The answer lies, again, with the hidden curriculum of schools. Each
