2008 Woodie Awards
English needed as a professor requirement
Mike Guyer
Issue date: 9/26/02 Section: opinion
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How many of you have had a professor at this university who you could not understand? This is probably the number one complaint from students in their first week of their classes besides, STINF not working when they need it to. It just doesn't make any sense why we, as paying customers for our education, have to go through day after day asking the person next to us, "What did he/she just say?"
I pay between seven and eight thousand dollars a year to go to this university and I think that I am entitled to get my money's worth. When I walk into my first class and can't even understand what the professor is trying to say, I feel cheated out of my money.
I actually want a variety of different cultured background professors teaching me, but when the students can not understand what the professor is saying, then something has to be said.
Any one of us know that down the line we are going to encounter a situation in our job that we will have to deal with a person who does not speak the English language very well — or even at all. I can accept that fact, but I still believe that if a professor is getting paid from our tuition money, then they should speak clearly enough to be understood. Especially when a professor is lecturing about American economics, American business, or more than ever American culture. It ought to be obvious that someone should speak proper English.
I have had some terrific multicultural professors over the past years. However, I have had some that I just couldn't understand. It has gotten so bad at times where I have had to drop a class because I could not understand the lectures that were being taught to me.
The bottom line is that the students' education should be the first priority when choosing a candidate for a new professor position. A professor who speaks clear, well-spoken English should be one of the requirements for the applicant professors. The lectures and the courses should be taught clearly and without students wondering what the professor is saying.
Mike Guyer is a weekly columnist for The Voice. He is a senior Business Management major.
I pay between seven and eight thousand dollars a year to go to this university and I think that I am entitled to get my money's worth. When I walk into my first class and can't even understand what the professor is trying to say, I feel cheated out of my money.
I actually want a variety of different cultured background professors teaching me, but when the students can not understand what the professor is saying, then something has to be said.
Any one of us know that down the line we are going to encounter a situation in our job that we will have to deal with a person who does not speak the English language very well — or even at all. I can accept that fact, but I still believe that if a professor is getting paid from our tuition money, then they should speak clearly enough to be understood. Especially when a professor is lecturing about American economics, American business, or more than ever American culture. It ought to be obvious that someone should speak proper English.
I have had some terrific multicultural professors over the past years. However, I have had some that I just couldn't understand. It has gotten so bad at times where I have had to drop a class because I could not understand the lectures that were being taught to me.
The bottom line is that the students' education should be the first priority when choosing a candidate for a new professor position. A professor who speaks clear, well-spoken English should be one of the requirements for the applicant professors. The lectures and the courses should be taught clearly and without students wondering what the professor is saying.
Mike Guyer is a weekly columnist for The Voice. He is a senior Business Management major.