February 16, 1995
Dear Editor:
Renita Sandosham wrote about the need for remedial classes for students at SF State (Gater, Feb. 7). She rightly drew attention to the fact that students admitted to SF State are often in need of remedial instruction in English composition and math.
But the headline read, "Remedial classes crucial to education of ESL students." Such a headline suggests to the uninformed reader that most of the students in remedial classes are ESL students. The fact is, only a minority of students in remedial classes learned English as a second language; most of the students in those classes are native or nearly native speakers of English. Let's not pretend that remediation is "just" for ESL students. Remedial classes are crucial to the education of many SF State students, native and non-native speakers alike.
The fact is, there is a large program of composition classes in the English department designed just for ESL students. These classes -- English 201, 202, 204, 207, 208, 209, 310, 410, 411 --are NOT remedial. Students may enter these classes only via a placement test. Some of the classes -- English 208, 209, 310, 410, 411 -- satisfy SF State's literacy and general education requirements, and are no more remedial than English 114 or 214.
Renita Sandosham may know all this, but evidently your headline writer didn't. For further information, your reporters might like to talk to some teachers of ESL in the English department. The acting coordinator for this program is Professor May Shih.