English major?

[Edwin Dahlquist <Edwin -dot- Dahlquist -at- asu -dot- edu>]

David Neeley wrote:
"Speaking as one who has a B.A. in English, I can say from long experience that
many English majors *can't write worth a damn!*"

I agree. It is an interesting observation, and related to the perception of 
English majors as "frustrated poets or screenwriters" moonlighting as technical 
writers. However, English is somewhat broader than literature, and is an 
extremely useful field of study.

Consider the "number of contracts going offshore" in technical documentation; 
much of that documentation is poorly written and inappropriate for many 
markets. That is, a basic facility with simple English does not make a writer 
capable of documenting complex subjects; a skill level appropriate for writing 
instructions to assemble a TV stand may be a bit lacking in writing 
instructions for more complex tasks.

In a competitive marketplace it is necessary to focus not just on developing 
your own skills, but on the weaknesses in the skill set of the competition. I 
suggest that one of those weak areas is English, and that the more you know 
about the language. the better you will be able to compete in the marketplace. 

Thanks


 


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