The more things change

How often do we hear the complaint that year by year there are more errors in student writing? Perhaps it is not as bad as we might think. Bean (1996) cites Connors and Lunsford who compared the types and frequency of errors in student writing over a 70-year period. The error frequency rate per 100 words was 2.11 in 1917, 2.24 in 1930 and 2.26 in 1986. The types of errors have changed from confusion about the rules of will and shall to spelling mistakes and confusion about homonyms (their, there; two, to, too). Bean concludes that the hypothesis put forward by Connors and Lunsford suggests that "poor spelling … reflects a decline in the amount of time spent reading” (p. 60).

• Bean, J. C (1996). Engaging ideas: The professors' guide to integrating writing, critical thinking and active learning in the classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.