Should lecturers be responsible for improving their students' grammar? That was one question for academics gathered at Anglia Polytechnic University last week for a key skills debate.
Cordelia Bryan, director of the Speak Write project at APU, said many undergraduates needed help with English. Some do not know how to use an apostrophe or how to construct a good sentence, and some have never mastered the art of constructing an argument. But even those academics who are willing to help are not always properly equipped. "They lack the confidence to help their students improve their grammar," Dr Bryan said. The only way of tackling the problem lay with the disciplines.