2008 Woodie Awards
Language Lab Unnecessary
Maria Baccaro
Issue date: 10/15/07 Section: Op-Eds
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Mandatory is such a horrible word. It sounds so clinical, so institutional, so… boring. The example sentence for mandatory on dictionary.com actually says, "It is mandatory for all students to take two years of math."
Speaking of which, that math requirement always raised some curiosity... Will two years of math help formulate educated sentences? It's amazing how many students cannot create a grammatically correct sentence that makes sense from beginning to end. Maybe two plus two should be put on hold until everyone can compose a literate statement.
Secondly, the last circulating memo indicated that this was, in fact, college and that no one would be holding our hands to do homework and projects. So why is it mandatory to attend the language lab for 12 hours a semester? Isn't it enough that it is mandatory to attend class, mandatory to complete the assigned homework and mandatory to keep up with the class by completing a workbook in your personal time? Let's add an entirely different workbook, AKA the lab manual, into the equation for use during mandatory language lab time. Anything else?
On a realistic level, the language lab is a great resource to have for additional help. So are the tutors that are included in the cost of tuition. But time or lack there of, seems to be the biggest issue working against attendance at the lab. The average college student has a job, is involved in extra curricular activities and generally has to juggle a schedule of research papers and library visits as well as other miscellaneous daily tasks. And frankly, the word mandatory is a major turn off from the get-go.
However, countless generations before us have survived the evil gauntlet of the language lab; no reason it can't be accomplished now. But, time and lifestyles have evolved since the genesis of the language lab, so why can't the requirement?
Anthony Busacca, a student studying Italian, said he feels that the language lab isn't exactly convenient for the modern day working student.
Speaking of which, that math requirement always raised some curiosity... Will two years of math help formulate educated sentences? It's amazing how many students cannot create a grammatically correct sentence that makes sense from beginning to end. Maybe two plus two should be put on hold until everyone can compose a literate statement.
Secondly, the last circulating memo indicated that this was, in fact, college and that no one would be holding our hands to do homework and projects. So why is it mandatory to attend the language lab for 12 hours a semester? Isn't it enough that it is mandatory to attend class, mandatory to complete the assigned homework and mandatory to keep up with the class by completing a workbook in your personal time? Let's add an entirely different workbook, AKA the lab manual, into the equation for use during mandatory language lab time. Anything else?
On a realistic level, the language lab is a great resource to have for additional help. So are the tutors that are included in the cost of tuition. But time or lack there of, seems to be the biggest issue working against attendance at the lab. The average college student has a job, is involved in extra curricular activities and generally has to juggle a schedule of research papers and library visits as well as other miscellaneous daily tasks. And frankly, the word mandatory is a major turn off from the get-go.
However, countless generations before us have survived the evil gauntlet of the language lab; no reason it can't be accomplished now. But, time and lifestyles have evolved since the genesis of the language lab, so why can't the requirement?
Anthony Busacca, a student studying Italian, said he feels that the language lab isn't exactly convenient for the modern day working student.
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