Although many high school students think that English can be a waste of time or an irritant, I believe it should be mandatory for any post-secondary education. Currently, all programs require that English must be taken at the grade 12 level and I support that. Personally, I am looking into applying into the Medical Sciences program at Western and although I will not be encountering William Shakespeare or Maya Angelou on campus, I should still be able to communicate and comprehend at a high level. There is no better course to help enhance my skills than grade 12 English.
Although English is commonly referred to as a boring or useless course, it helps with various skills such as critical thinking, reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and cultural literacy. These skills can be used in countless real-life scenarios ranging from work, school, and at home. On top of these skills, English class also teaches proper formatting which is a universal skill as nearly all post-secondary pathways require an individual to know the basics of formatting.
One last skill which English helps strengthen would be communication. In the future, we will all deal with interviews to get a job or making first impressions on people, all of this is communication-based. Besides this, communication plays a major role in nearly everything. Some actors make loads of money reading a script, why can’t we all do that? The secret lies in communication, their skills are simply better than ours. Everyone has to build their own personality and how effectively one can communicate greatly impacts how people view them.
Now to switch gears, although ENG 4U definitely has its upside, it is not perfect.
I personally have one gripe about English, it contains a couple of extra topics. One specific topic which students have a near unanimous disdain for is Shakespeare. Shakespeare is a trivial topic because although some students may love it, many hate it. Reading Shakespearean literature does not help very many individuals post-secondary because it can be described as outdated. In university, students are writing many essays and reading various studies and textbooks. For the most part, having an understanding of Shakespeare will not help in this. For the Medical Sciences program I wish to attend, it would certainly not benefit me. I believe we should cater the course to the majorities needs and move the Shakespearean aspect to a separate course. This would increase the amount of time students can spend on more relevant skills such as reading comprehension and essay writing.
Overall, English should absolutely be mandatory for university admissions. Despite the fact that there are components which are not as relevant as others, English helps students in a multitude of ways ranging from critical thinking to communication. The skills learned from the course are very prevalent in society.
This is why English should be mandatory for any student pursuing post-secondary education.
I would love to extend this discussion in the comments! See you there!
Works Cited
2011-2019, (c) Copyright skillsyouneed.com. “Communication Skills.” SkillsYouNeed, http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/communication-skills.html.
Battaglia, Soheila. “What Are the Most Important Skills in 12th Grade English?” Synonym, 21 Nov. 2017, http://www.classroom.synonym.com/important-skills-12th-grade-english-2173.html.
Himeles, Darla. “Why Is English Class Important?” The Classroom | Empowering Students in Their College Journey, 10 Jan. 2019, http://www.theclassroom.com/english-class-important-6088548.html.
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