Reactions and follow up to College English Majors Can't Read
a year ago
- #viral
- #education
- #literacy
- The article 'College English majors can't read' went viral with 120,000 views and 535 comments, sparking widespread discussion across platforms like Twitter, Reddit, and Hacker News.
- The author reflects on the addictive nature of viral attention and its impact on productivity, noting the overwhelming response and the challenge of managing notifications.
- Key objections to the article included claims that the title was sensational, the study methodology was flawed, and that students might not have been motivated to perform well.
- The study's participants had an average ACT Reading score of 22.4, slightly above the national average, but were still found to have poor reading comprehension, described as 'low-intermediate level.'
- Critics argued that the passages used in the study were unfair or too difficult, while others blamed modern distractions like phones and TikTok for declining literacy, though the data predates TikTok's popularity.
- The author acknowledges the possibility of selection bias in the study but emphasizes the ethnographic value of documenting such cases of poor reading comprehension.
- A comparison to a 1920s study by Richards suggests that past students exhibited higher levels of engagement and erudition than contemporary students, challenging the notion that each generation simply laments the next's decline.
- The article concludes with a call to reconsider the purpose of university education, questioning whether it should serve as remedial high school given the current standards and student abilities.