[bianca]

Ingliscarabao said:

"I also heard in the news that American students now have difficulty learning correct English. Why is this so?"

Hi

It's partly due to the students' dwindling school motivation.
I had the opportunity to teach English in a public high school in Prince Edward County, Virginia. I know what you're saying, I've been there. American teachers are awesome, hard working and creative, but I have seen, from my own position as an outsider, that many students either worked right after school or did the night shift, or they had family members to take care of ( these were the so-called "sleepers" in the classroom, they were falling asleep during the block, and sometimes got detention because of it - but they didn't mind, they could sleep during detention, too.) Plus, mom had two jobs and dad was probably out of the picture. There could have been other issues at stake, as well. Many students simply lacked the motivation, unless they were in the honoured-student program. Overall, they were all great kids, but their family background was very important to help boost their own self-esteem and school motivation. In these circumstances, coping with all that and doing well in school was not on the cards.

But there is of course a difference between public and private schools, as it is among the public school themselves, depending on the county they're in, the school climate, the neighborhood,...you name it.