Review-of-“The-Decline-and-Fall-of-the-British-Uni

Reviewof“TheDeclineandFalloftheBritishUniversity”TheBook,AdvancedEnglishWriting,iscompiledforthird-yearcollegecompositionclass.Itinstructsacademicwritingskillsandoffersoutstandingessays,whichinducestudentstofullyunderstandthoseskillsandutterlyapplythem.Thearticle,“TheDeclineandFalloftheBritishUniversity”,writtenbyDr.MarkTarver,isoneofthemodelessaysinthebook.Inthisessay,Dr.MarkTarverflashbackspersonalexperienceinhisuniversity’sandworkingasatenuredprofession’stime,presentingussomethought-provokingunderstandingovertheexpansionandshowingusthecomparisonsandanalysestoindicatethedesolationofthis“CulturalRevolution”ofnewcentury.Judgedbythelackingrigorofitsanalysesandnegativeeffectitcauses,theessay,“TheDeclineandFalloftheBritishUniversity”,shouldnotincludedinthenextedition.Dr.TarvertellshispersonalstoriesindicatingthedeclineandfalloftheBritishuniversityandthecorruptionofacademicideal,summingupthreefactorsofit.First,withoutconsideringuniversitiescurrentcircumstances,thegovernmentwidensaccesstoeducationandcarriesoutegalitarianismtoeducation,whichtorturedbothstudentsandlecturers.Second,comparisonwiththeincreasedpercentageofentrants,students’abilityofstudyingisdeclining,therefore,studentshavetocriboffothersourcestofinishthepapers,yet,theyhavelessstudyingtasksthanbefore.Third,thelecturershavetosimplifycoursesandwaterdowntherequirementsofaqualifiedstudenttoreducethenumberoffailingstudents.Thus,Dr.MarkTarverthinksadoptingforeignimmigrantacademicstodelaythegapcausedbyBritisheducationisnotfeasibleandeffective.Theinformationandanalysesintheessayarenotreliableandrigorous.First,whenDr.MarkTarverdemonstrateshispointthatsomestudentsfailtofinishtheirfinalpapers,hewrites‘Bypre-1990standardsabout20%ofthestudentsshouldhavebeenfailed’(99)astheevidencetosupporthisidea,buthedoesn’tshowwherehefindthisstatisticsandwhetherornotitiscredible.Soitisuselessforsustaininghisstandpoint.Second,Dr.MarkTarverconsidersthat,withthedeclineofrequirementstostudentsandlesshardcoursesgivenbylecturers,students’studyingabilityiscrippling.Hegivesanexamplethatsomestudentsevendon’tknowhowtodotheirfinalprojectsandcriboffothersourcestofinishpapers,buthedoesn’tshowustheexactdetails,instead,hementionsvaguelythatthenumberofthiskindofstudents,asitisoriginallywritteninthearticle‘morethanIcanrememberorevenwanttoremember’(99).He’ssupposedtoholdmoreexactandeffectivestatistics,forexample,whatpercentofthiskindofstudentsareandthesourceitcomesfrom,sothatthereaderscouldbeconvincedassoonastheyseethedata.Theessaywillmisleadtheintendedreadersofthisbook,AdvancedEnglishWriting,whichismadeforstudents.InfluencedbyDr.Tarver’sargumentsthattheBritishuniversityhasbeendeclinedandfallenandacademicidealhasbeencorrupted(96),thestudentswilldoubtthevalueoffurthereducationandquerythatitisworthytogoongettinghighschooldiplomaornot.Besides,Dr.Tarveralsoholdstheviewthattheimmigrants,whoarenotexcellentinlanguageskills,fillthevacancyoflecturers(102).Itseemsthattheauthorprejudicestheimmigrantlecturersbecausetheywaterdownthequalityoflecturers.Thus,theimmigrantstudentsandlecturerswillregarditasracialdiscrimination,whichwillleaddisputes.Still,theessayaddsmuchbackgroundabouteducationandpolicy,whichmakeitmorelogicalandimpressive.Atthebeginningoftheessay,consideringtherearesomestudentsdon’tknowclearlyaboutthecurrentsystemofeducationandthepolicyundertakenbygovernment,Dr.Tarverintroducesthebackgroundofeducationclearly,sothatthewholeessayismorelogicalandeasiertounderstand.Overall,theessay,“TheDeclineandFalloftheBritishUniversity”,islackofseriousresearchandaccuratedatatoupholdtheauthor’sargumentsthattheBritishuniversityhasbeendeclinedandfallenandacademicidealhasbeencorrupted.Andithasnegativeeffectontheintendedreaders,thestudents,fortheywilldoubtthecurrenteducationisuseless.Soitshouldnotbeincludedinthenextedition.WorkCitedDr.MarkTarver.“TheDeclineandFalloftheBritishUniversity.”AdvancedEnglishWriting.Ed.YuqinHei.Xi’an.Xi’anJiaotongUniversityPress,2011.96-102.Print.