Criticism Of Polytech Student Letters Unfair

I WANTED to provide a background context for ‘the spate of letters from Polytech students’.

In retrospect, I should have written this letter as a professional courtesy before the students sent their letters to the editor. However, I did not think of it until after reading the student letters and editor’s comment on Friday June 4, 2004.Please forgive this late explanation.I am an exchange lecturer from the US.During an assignment for Module 2 English Computer Practical, I asked the students to read letters to the Editor in The Namibian on-line and compose their own letter – either in response to something they read, to discuss a problem, or to offer praise in relation to Namibian current events.Being the conscientious and diligent students that they are, the students completed the assignment during a 50-minute class.This means after listening to a brief lecture on the importance of free speech and civic action, PLUS reading letters, the students had only fifteen minutes or so left in class to compose and spell-check their letters on the computer.Like most Namibians (and Africans in general), English is not these students’ mother tongue.Although many students can speak and write at least three languages, many Module 2 students still struggle with English.The Polytechnic uses a modular system and any English class below Module 4, is in essence what US Americans term ‘refresher’ or ‘remedial’ English.Added to this, is the fact that a majority of the students in the Computer Practical had never used computers before.The class only meets one day per week, and as anyone who has learned to type can tell you, it can be a slow process.Many of these same students write beautiful letters on paper, but make simple spelling mistakes on computer due to lack of typing proficiency.I hope this provides the necessary background information to everyone who read the student letters.It would be unfair and untrue for the Namibian public to believe that Polytechnic students don’t know how to spell or compose letters to the editor.Although I have only been here 10 months, I have been impressed by the dedication and hard work of Polytechnic students.Some students walk to school from Katatura because they cannot afford the $5 taxi fare.They do it because they value their education and will make the sacrifice without complaint.Please believe me when I say that Polytechnic students are kind, intelligent, appreciative, thoughtful, forgiving and most importantly hard working.I hope this letter has helped to clear up any misunderstanding caused when I failed to inform The Namibian of the class assignment.For this, I am truly sorry and feel embarrassed that my lack of foresight reflected poorly on the Polytechnic and the Module 2 students.Sara Thornton English Language Fellow Polytechnic of NamibiaHowever, I did not think of it until after reading the student letters and editor’s comment on Friday June 4, 2004.Please forgive this late explanation.I am an exchange lecturer from the US.During an assignment for Module 2 English Computer Practical, I asked the students to read letters to the Editor in The Namibian on-line and compose their own letter – either in response to something they read, to discuss a problem, or to offer praise in relation to Namibian current events.Being the conscientious and diligent students that they are, the students completed the assignment during a 50-minute class.This means after listening to a brief lecture on the importance of free speech and civic action, PLUS reading letters, the students had only fifteen minutes or so left in class to compose and spell-check their letters on the computer.Like most Namibians (and Africans in general), English is not these students’ mother tongue.Although many students can speak and write at least three languages, many Module 2 students still struggle with English.The Polytechnic uses a modular system and any English class below Module 4, is in essence what US Americans term ‘refresher’ or ‘remedial’ English.Added to this, is the fact that a majority of the students in the Computer Practical had never used computers before.The class only meets one day per week, and as anyone who has learned to type can tell you, it can be a slow process.Many of these same students write beautiful letters on paper, but make simple spelling mistakes on computer due to lack of typing proficiency.I hope this provides the necessary background information to everyone who read the student letters.It would be unfair and untrue for the Namibian public to believe that Polytechnic students don’t know how to spell or compose letters to the editor.Although I have only been here 10 months, I have been impressed by the dedication and hard work of Polytechnic students.Some students walk to school from Katatura because they cannot afford the $5 taxi fare.They do it because they value their education and will make the sacrifice without complaint.Please believe me when I say that Polytechnic students are kind, intelligent, appreciative, thoughtful, forgiving and most importantly hard working.I hope this letter has helped to clear up any misunderstanding caused when I failed to inform The Namibian of the class assignment.For this, I am truly sorry and feel embarrassed that my lack of foresight reflected poorly on the Polytechnic and the Module 2 students.Sara Thornton English Language Fellow Polytechnic of Namibia