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

1Reviewof“TheDeclineandFalloftheBritishUniversity”IntroductionAfterWWII,theuniversitysystemofBritishhaschangedalot.Animportantmeasurethatthegovernmenthadtakeniswideningtheaccesstouniversitytoletmorestudentsattendcolleges.Besides,schoolshadtakensomeinternalreformslikethe“modularization”system.Thismeasuregivesstudentsfreedominchoosingtheirsubjects.Arethesereformsgoodornot?Dr.MarkTarver,M.Sc.andPhDofComputerScience,whoworkedinSchoolofComputingatLeeds,hadgivenushisunderstandings.Inhisessay“TheDeclineandFalloftheBritishUniversity”,TarversaidthattheBritishUniversityisdecliningandfallinginseveralaspects.Fromtheessay,Tarverdoespresentsussomeconsiderableproblemssuchasthedeclinationofteachingquality,butmanyofhisviewsarelackofadequateevidencesandappropriateanalysis.What’smore,someofhisopinionsaretooextremetosomeextent.SummaryTarverquittedfromhisjobbecausehethinksthequalityofBritishuniversityhaddeclined.Hestatesthatthewideningaccesstouniversityhasloweredtheeducationalqualityandthe“modularization”systemmadefewstudentschoosinghardsubjects.Healsopointsoutthatuniversitieshavebecomeprofitpursuers.Inordertomakemoney,theypassstudentsby“scaling”theirmarks.Teacherswillgivesomeeasytitlesothatstudentscan“waffleorcriboffothersources”.Tarvergoesonto2claimthatteachersbecamemoreandmoreconcentratingonthequantitiesratherthanqualitiesoftheessays.Intheend,hesaysthattherewillbefewandfewnativelecturerssothatuniversitieshavetohirethoseimmigrantswhoselanguageskillsareworsethannativespeakers.SoheconcludesthattheteachingqualityofBritishuniversitieswillgetworse.EvaluationIntheessay,Dr.MarkTarverpointsoutseveralproblemsofthecurrentBritishuniversitysystem.Someoftheseproblems,suchasthecopyingpapersamongstudents,reallyexistandneedspecialattentionofBritisheducationofficials.Otherproblems,likethescalingofmarks,thecommonplaceofteachers’papers,andthewideningaccesstouniversity,moreorless,spoilstheeducationalatmospheresofschools.Besides,Tarverisfullofhumoroussense;heemploysalotofmetaphorswhicharefunnyandironictosupporthisviews.Forinstance,whenhewantstoexpressthatteachersmakealotofvaluelessthesis,hewrites“solecturersbeganscribblingwiththefreneticintensityofbatteryhensonovertime,producingpaperafterpaper,challengingincreasinglyharassedlibrarianstofindspaceforthem”.However,therearesomeviewsthatTarverholdsarelackofconsideration.Failingtoobservethegoodeffects,hesaysthatthewideningaccesstouniversitywhichmadeschoolsacceptmanyincapablestudentshas“watereddown”theeducationquality.Actually,thewideningaccesstouniversityisnotasbadasTarverthinks.Onthewhole,itcanimprovethequalityandeducationallevelofthewholenation.Universitiesarenotfoundedonlyforthoseelitesortalents,theyarefoundedforallthepeoplewhowanttoacquireknowledgeandimprovethemselves,andtheyarefoundedtobenefitthewholenation.3Secondly,Tarverinsiststhatmanystudentsrefusingtoelectsomehardsubjectsisduetothe“modularization”systemwhichgivesstudentschancetochoosetheirfavoritesubjects.Hesaysthatinordertogetbettermarks,studentswillchoosethoseeasysubjects.Andhealsothinksthatschoolswillcancelthoseunattractive“hardcore”subjects.Weshouldadmitthatmany“hardcore”subjectsaresocomplicatedandunintelligiblethatnotallthestudentscanmasterthem,sosomestudentshavenointerestinthem.Moreover,studentswillperformbetterintheirinterestedsubjectsthanothersubjects.Nicely,the“modularization”systemmakesconvenienceforthemtostudywithinterests.Andreferringtothecancellationofthesesubjects,itisnotaneasyjob,becauseschoolswillnotcancelacoursejustaccordingtotheamountofpeoplewhoelectit.Thirdly,Tarveristooextremeaboutsomeproblems.Therearesomecopiedortrashessays,butitdoesnotmeanthatallthestudentsarecopyingwhilefinishingtheirtasks.Similartostudents,notalltheteachersjustputtheirfocusonpublishing.Inthisissue,Tarverdidnotseethegoodaspectsofuniversities.Finally,intheconclusionpart,Tarverrevealsaprejudiceagainstimmigrantsbysayingthat“thoughsomeofthesepeoplearequiteable,thelanguageskillsofanimmigrantareonthewholeworsethanthoseofanativespeaker”.Infact,racehasnomuchinfluenceonlanguageskills.Itcanbegainedbyperseveringefforts.ThoseexamplesthatanimmigrantorevenaforeignermastersEnglishverywelloftencanbeseenindailylife.Languageisnottheeternalobstaclebetweenteachingandstudying.ConclusionThereformmeasuresofBritishuniversityhavebeenimplementedforsomanyyearsandtheeffectsitbringsareobvious.Althoughtherearesomedefects,the4popularizationofhighereducationitgeneratedhasimprovedthequalityofthewholenation.Inhisessay,Mr.MarkTarverdoespointsoutsomeproblemsthatexistinBritishuniversities,butmanyofhisviewsareone-sidedandnotfaithful.(860words)