ฉบับภาษาอังกฤษ
As an educator in Thailand focusing mostly on English-language learning (I also teach STEM), I am asked all kinds of questions by my students. Recently, one of my brighter students, a boy we’ll call Poom (not his real name) who is actively writing letters to try and secure a place at university, asked me an interesting question that really made me think about the “bigger picture”. In the process of writing his letters/statements to various universities, he asked whether he should have someone check the structure and grammar in his writing before eventually submitting them. My initial reaction was “of course!” Given that he is applying to many universities, many of which are abroad in English-speaking countries, of course he should have someone check his writing. Not only for the quality of the content he expresses but also for the use of proper written expression in the English language since he hopes to study in an English-speaking environment. Despite the obviousness of the answer, I felt I owed him an explanation for my quick response. I would like to share with you what I explained to Poom in the hopes that more students become informed about the importance of proofreading, whether it’s you proofreading your own work or having someone else check it for you (which is better).
A student, no matter how bright, is not expected to know everything. That is why a student is a student: they are in the process of gaining some form of knowledge or practicing a skill that they do not have yet. In the case of second-language learning, a student is expected to practice and master four distinct skills including listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In my many years of teaching English, I can say with near certainty that writing is the weakest skill for the vast majority of learners, regardless of age. I have had many students with whom I could carry on a conversation about any number of topics. Those same students struggled when asked to write coherent, properly-structured sentences and paragraphs. This issue is not restricted to writing. Any one of us must learn and then practice a skill to master it, whether you’re practicing piano or doing math equations. This is the simple explanation for why you should always have someone check your writing. Even I, as a native-English speaker, like to have someone else check my writing. Why? Because I want another pair of eyes to identify any mistakes I might have made but failed to see when checking it myself. I’m sure the reader understands the significance of this point. For a second-language learner practicing writing in a new or unfamiliar language, the reason he/she is practicing in the first place is that they do not yet have the proficiency to write without making mistakes. If you write but aren’t proficient enough to do so without making mistakes because it is a new/second language for you, of course you need someone to check it for you who IS proficient at the language to help you identify the mistakes. Hopefully, you will be able to remember these mistakes and not make them the next time you write, thus becoming a better writer. However, you can’t learn to be better at anything without someone to help you fix whatever it is that you’re doing wrong. In the context of writing, this is why proofreading/editing services exist.
As for Poom, I also explained that he should submit letters with good writing in order to ‘put his best foot forward”. Imagine he sent letters to universities in English-speaking countries and they were riddled with mistakes…What chance do you think he would have to secure a place in a university where English was the medium of instruction? Exactly.