Have you heard students complaining that they will never use what they are learning in class? Regardless of the subject matter, it seems that the future engineers and pastry chefs of America think that they do not need a well-rounded education. Would students be better off restricting their studies to subjects directly related to their future careers? If you teach English, here are three reasons why your curriculum should be a part of every student’s plan of study.
What Would Human Resources Say?
Often, professionals responsible for hiring evaluate grammar to narrow down the pool of applicants. If they have several candidates that seem equally qualified, they will eliminate the candidates who have glaring grammar mistakes in their cover letters or applications. In a Harvard Business Review article, Kyle Wiens states this about applicants who use bad grammar: “I just think they deserve to be passed over for a job — even if they are otherwise qualified for the position.” If you apply for a sales or operations position at one of his two companies, you will take a mandatory grammar test. If you fail, your application will be discarded.
Grammarly’s Research on Elance Profiles
Do you remember learning about indirect object pronouns and subordinate clauses? Did you take notes in English class? If so, you may earn more than your peers! In a recent poll, a writing software company named Grammarly discovered that good grammar significantly influences the likelihood that you will be hired, as well as how much you earn and how highly you are ranked on Elance. Elance is a staffing platform for online freelance work. Contractors are rated using a system of stars. Grammarly examined the profiles of about 450 professional freelancers working in various categories and found that the highest scorers also had the fewest errors in their profiles.
More Time for Lunch
According to the article, “The Advantages of Good Grammar in the Workplace”, writing accurately is practical for a number of reasons. First, it saves time. If you communicate well, you will spend less time answering questions from your colleagues. You also avoid giving misleading information that could result in costly mistakes. People perceive you as caring and professional if you communicate well. This may translate to promotions and positive evaluations later in your career. The research speaks volumes about the importance of communication and writing. Students belong in English class so they can learn how to express themselves to others. Even after graduating from high school or university, they need to continue to develop their writing skills. Applicants for jobs or professionals in their careers should make it a regular practice to use an automated grammar checker on their emails, memos, reports, and other communication. Doing so will save you time and effort. It may also affect how much you earn and how people view you. With this information in mind, is it not a good time to thank your English teacher for introducing you to commas?
By Nikolas Baron------------------------------------------------------//------------------------------------------------------------- Bio: Nikolas discovered his love for the written word in elementary school, where he started spending his afternoons sprawled across the living room floor devouring one Marc Brown children’s novel after the other and writing short stories about daring pirate adventures. After acquiring some experience in various marketing, business development, and hiring roles at Internet startups in a few different countries, he decided to re-unite his professional life with his childhood passions by joining Grammarly’s marketing team in San Francisco. He has the pleasure of being tasked with talking to writers, bloggers, teachers, and others about how they use Grammarly’s online proofreading application to improve their writing. His free time is spent biking, traveling, and reading.