andrel <a_l### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> Apparently the society wants technicians and computer 
> science experts that are unable to write. But I don't.

  Quite amazingly, this seems to be so even in academic circles. Well,
at least here.

  One could assume that a person who graduates as MSc, which requires,
among other things, writing an academic paper (the MSc thesis) on some
subject, would know how to write. It's an academic grade, after all, and
academic reseach is all about writing papers and publications.

  But no. Each year hundreds of people get their MSc grade here without
knowing even the basics of proper Finnish or English grammar. Their works
(which have not been spell-checked and beautified by third-parties) are
full of grammatical mistakes and poor language.

  Knowing how to write properly (in any language) is not a requisite for
admission in universities of technology, there are no mandatory courses
on academic writing (or any kind of writing), there aren't even optional
courses on writing, and bad grammar and poor writing can never be used
to penalize when grading exams or other types of written work. Basically
you are allowed to write however you want, and you are in no way expected
to be able to write properly.
  The only piece of work where some grammar is necessary is the MSc thesis,
but given that there are no requisites nor courses on the subject, they are
very lenient, and they don't mind at all if third-parties spell-check and
beautify MSc theses. In fact, it's a very common practice.

  I have always STRONGLY disagreed with this policy, and I have never heard
one single rational reason why this is done, but what can I do? It just is
the way it is.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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