<p>Appalling. The whole idea.</p>
<p>But I understand how at least one group (the foreign students) escape detection. It is possible to have very good written communication skills and very poor mastery of the spoken language. With time to edit, (and possibly outside editing), the written paper may not seem to be a product of the barely understandable student, but is assumed to be, nevertheless. A professor may be surprised, but not necessarily suspicious.</p>
<p>This may explain how some “educators” got their degrees. I have seen principals with poor grammar and lousy letter-writing skills, and wondered how they managed to get their Master’s or PhD.</p>