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Show May 14, 1976 Signpost Page 7 'Renaissance Weber State Colleges Constructive Living Organization is presenting a Renaissance Fair in the lower quad, tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Various booths will be set up, said a representative of the English skills drop? WSC linguists react Despite an overall increase in the average grade point average of high school graduates applying for admission, Weber State is encountering students who cannot score as high on the ACT and SAT tests as previous years' applicants did, particularly in the verbal or communications abilities. Admissions Office officials report that the average GPA for entering freshmen this year was 2.99 compared with the 1966 average of 2.57. Yet scores on the 800 point SAT exam have dropped an average of 37 points since 1963, and Weber' has had to offer high school level English and other preparatory classes to many of its freshmen to help bring them up to college level performance standards. Linguist elucidates English Professor Elray Pedersen explained that this is a national problem and offered three suggestions for the phenomenon. The changing culture in the United States has replaced a "print-based" society with the "electronic age," in which most of our information is received through the radio and now, especially, the television. Professor Pedersen says, "We've become a spectator population, no longer participating; our mothers are leaving the home more and children are left with the television for their primary language acquisition tool." Books replaced The second factor cited by Pedersen was that children age not getting adequate language expansion through books, because they've either been replaced by electronic media or A Member 83- re. i v 3 9, V Intramural Supervisors and Officers Needed for 1976-77 Some Paid Positions QUALIFICATIONS - A strong interest in Intramural Sports and Time to assist in conducting YOUR program Applications and job descriptions are available in the Intramural Off ice, Gym. 1 08, Ext. 327. Fair' at WSC organization, and artists will be displaying and selling their works. Live Plants, flower arrangement, portraits, caricatures, wood engravings, woodcarvings, and glassblowing are a few of the highlighting features of the fair. are written on an increasingly less challenging level. Finally, the WSC linguist explained that we are retaining more students in the educational system for a longer time. This leads to the appearance in higher education of many different types of "American dialects" and other cultural backgrounds besides the white middle class norms. Melting pot effect Professor Pedersen feels that this linguistic diversity is not only healthy but necessary, and pointed out that Weber State is reacting positively to it. Linguistics classes offered are designed to inform the white middle class about the differences in grammars, and teach Weber's students from all backgrounds how to communicate effectively. As an example he described a WSC project to develop modules to teach realistic communication skills to students in the building trades. "These guys will never have to write another essay once they leave Weber, but they will have to read and write shop manuals, correspond with suppliers and customers, and their success will depend, in part, on their ability to handle these communication skills," said Mr. Pedersen. As members of the various minorities expand their participation in all aspects of the American society, while refusing more and more to give up their cultural identities, it becomes increasingly necessary for the white middle class to expand its communication skills, and in doing so many are finding cultural roots of their own. of NIRSA Or, l 1 j 5 C B Radios Deluxe 23-Channel 5W C.B. Mobile Transceiver with New LED Digital Channel Readout. $139.95 Also complete line of "CB" books and magazines f . 1 anl Dhna aeuh Ihknli "te- iee t&; anl P4uut Q$Uii& hday anl Q$a1jilay, cMaiJ Wiil Onl fcjtetntfi j:Btm iWW' until ten- in. tfZ tLtmnq 3643 SBtofcv iimuz lMvA QtrnMil anl lm-ald |