When applying to Ontario universities, almost every university program requires a grade 12 university-level English credit. Should grade 12 university-level English be a requirement for entry into all university programs?
As a student who is trying his best to pursue his dreams and hoping to make it into a university program, I believe grade 12 university-level English should be mandatory for entry into all university programs.
The country I live in, Canada, is very diverse in terms of cultures and ethnicity. Every province and territory (except Quebec) prominently speaks and writes in English. Some individuals in the country may know multiple languages other English, but English is the best way to communicate with the rest of the country/world.
Effective communication is key to success, English courses will help me get better at communication through the different mechanisms of writing skills. It allows individuals to effectively convey their thoughts and ideas whether it’s through writing or by conversing.
In university, writing is the key skill to success. I will need to take a lot of notes from lectures, and need to be efficient as to what I write, only noting the most important points. The ability to create detailed and organized notes is essential.
On a more personal choice, I plan on applying for the Health Science program at McMaster University. Since it’s a science program, it will definitely have a lot of written labs, research papers, etc. to submit. This means that taking grade 12 university-level English is vital to get more practice so that I can be better with my writing and communication skills.
As a current student in this English course, writing about this topic has helped me understand the importance of taking this course. However, plenty of students may believe that taking this course (which entails a lot of reading and analyzing a book, poems, literacy, etc.) may be useless in the future.
Which I completely disagree with, in the future when I become an independent adult looking for a job, writing resumes and answering interview questions, for the most part, will be unavoidable. According to a research, it mentions, “The findings indicate that employers value communication skills” which highlights that good communication is one of the top skills that managers look for in employees ( Lim, Lee, Yap, Ling, 2016).
Paul Meyer once brilliantly said, “Communication – the human connection – is the key to personal and career success”, the foundation of success in any area of life is communication (Meyer).
Why not take this English course that will enrich and sets me for the future?
In conclusion, I highly advise that grade 12 University-level English is most definitely a must for entry into all university programs due to the benefits and transferable skills learned in this course.
– Works Cited –
“How English Became the Global Language.” EF English Live, 22 Jan. 2019, englishlive.ef.com/blog/english-in-the-real-world/english-became-global-language/.
Lim, Yet-Mee, et al. “Employability Skills, Personal Qualities, and Early Employment Problems of Entry-Level Auditors: Perspectives from Employers, Lecturers, Auditors, and Students.” Journal of Education for Business, vol. 91, no. 4, 2016, pp. 185–192., doi:10.1080/08832323.2016.1153998.
Oteify, Rania. “Effective Communication Is Key to Success.” Gulf News – No.1 in UAE and Dubai for Breaking News, Opinion and Lifestyle, Gulf News, 1 Nov. 2018, gulfnews.com/how-to/employment/effective-communication-is-key-to-success-1.2105207.
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