by Lee Shainen

IN THE AUGUST 12th edition of Parade, this headline caught my eye: "Help for Failing English Students." As an English teacher, I was obliged to read on: "The 'Microsoft Encarta College Dictionary' not only features new words, but its publishers also asked college professors nationwide how their students were doing with the words they already had. The answer: Awful." The paragraph-sized blurb ended with the dictionary's editor, Anne Soukharov, calling for a "national conversation" about why students are failing at English.

Confidentially, I am often baffled by what Microsoft's grammar check finds right or wrong, and I am certainly troubled by my students' unquestioning trust in the correctness of their checked papers (especially regarding spelling and usage). When I show them that there are still mistakes, they look at me in an impatient "get with it" way, as if I'm the one with the problem for not agreeing with the software (sigh). Perhaps we do need "help for failing English students."

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