I agree with what TMG is saying. Back in the day, a student in my field ( foreign language) had to study 8 novels( in-class discussions on interpretations) and meet with a two different tutors for an oral exam during which one had to be able to translate straight off the page from random page chosen by tutor. Finally, we had to write a shorter academic essay in order to show that we had learnt the ropes of narrowing down a topic, finding sources, reading up on them, writing using one of the referencing systems and so on. Now, all this has been replaced by a major paper. Where did language learning go? Proficiency levels are dropping and I am shocked by the poor level of younger colleagues' proficiency.