I wonder if there is now a feeling that the majority of secondary students today won’t need the types of writing skills that were taught in the past. Perhaps it is felt that the ability to dash off a quick email, or even a quick text, will replace the types of writing that were once more focused on in schools.
These days I write more emails than business letters although as a lot of my emails are written for professional reasons, I still set them out in terms of the conventions I was once taught at school for writing business letters. I also write a lot of letters of recommendation, which have strong generic requirements and a formal register.
However, I receive a lot of emails which are extremely friendly (in some cases too friendly) given that they are business communications. I also receive a lot of texts when it would have been more appropriate (in my mind) to send something more formal – such as an email.
If writing is not explicitly taught, maybe people feel uncertain how to go about structuring and writing a formal type of communication. It might well be that over-familiar emails and texts will replace a lot of the types of communications we once were taught to put into a letter, however, I feel the ability to clearly and purposefully express yourself through writing will remain an important skill. It is clear to me that it should be taught.
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