Recent mention of this department in The Northern Star seems to call for some clarification.

Our mission as a department is, I believe, to increase understanding of English—its history, nature, variety, etc.—and to enhance effectiveness in the use of it.

As recipients of English, that is, as listeners and readers, we try to understand as exactly and fully as possible; as transmitters, that is, as speakers and writers, we try to be understood in English—to get the words right, as we might say—run the risk of producing effects that are unintended reactions.

For this reason, in our efforts as faculty members to help our students enhance their effectiveness in the use of English, we regularly recommend one usage over another as more likely to produce an intended effect.

In these efforts we seek to help our students achieve clarity, avoid misunderstanding, and anticipate as exactly and fully as possible the effect on their audience of the English they use. These efforts are, and cannot help but be, unending, and in them we need all the help we can get.

I therefore applaud the on-going efforts of our Freshman English Committee to explore and recommend in the area of English usage.

Since English belongs to all its users, I also welcome suggestions from outside this department: for example, for the NIU Women’s Studies Program, with which this department has long had and continues to have a highly constructive association.

Ultimately, of course, we must all rely on our students to exercise their best judgment in the use of English, just as they must rely on us as faculty members to use our best judgment in evaluation of the English they use. Good judgment, after all, no matter how hard it is to come by, is surely a goal shared by the entire community.

J.I. Miller

Department chairman

English