Date: March 27, 2006
To: Members of ATEG
From: Richard Betting
Valley City, ND [log in to unmask]
Re: questions about teaching grammar today
I'm a retired English teacher and have put some of my thoughts about
teaching language and grammar into a book- The Skeptical Grammarian-designed
for experienced teachers and those becoming. Its premise is that traditional
grammar books continue to present misleading language information.
Traditional grammar teaches glibly, learns poorly. The NCTE statement. Here
are some ways to fix it. Fourteen chapters, about 300 pages. Looking for a
publisher.
So that some need read no further, yes, I have a selfish goal. Would anyone
be interested in seeing the chapter descriptions, reading some and giving me
feedback? If you thought any parts of the book helpful to English teachers,
you might offer to say so in an endorsement.
I belonged to NCTE off and on for years but just joined ATEG and this
listserv group. What fortuitous timing. I followed the
descriptive/prescriptive discussion with great interest. That issue is
essential to understanding what language and grammar are, to choosing what
to teach and how to teach it. So much depends on knowing the definitions,
the Skeptical Grammarian approaches definitions carefully, thinking to avoid
conflict in many cases if we could agree what it is we mean first.
One example from the discussion: Does knowing the grammar of a language mean
that one must be able to explain it? Could we agree on a definition of
grammar first? Is phonology part of grammar? Do we all agree? Then tell me
how many native speakers "know" how sounds are produced, how they are
perceived and how identified? In addition, how many English teachers teach
the International Phonetic Alphabet, can understand and explain the
differences between alveolar and palatal fricatives? And all the rest. How
many ask their students to do phonetic transcription and explain dialects,
idiolects? Some members of this group did that nicely: merry, Mary, marry,
etc.
Conclusions: Most people notice differences in spoken language, but many can't
describe them well, to say nothing of their own. And we tolerate much larger
differences in pronunciation than we do in spelling. Instead of teaching
sounds, though, a few obvious usage items get an inordinate share of our
cultural attention.
I apologize for taking this opportunity and your time for selfish reasons. I
do hope, however, that some in the group will be respond individually. Two
choices: For those who are interested as professionals in seeing and
commenting on the manuscript. For those who are interested in language
information itself, the naming of parts, some of the book might be helpful.
THE SKEPTICAL GRAMMARIAN: EXPLAINS FIFTEEN FALLACIES IN TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR:
1. TG is LIKE CATECHISM: TEACHES WELL, LEARNS POORLY;
2. TG is BASED ON a FALSE PREMISE: KNOWING GRAMMAR WILL MAKE STUDENTS BETTER
WRITERS AND SPEAKERS;
3. TG is BASED ON FALSE PROMISE: LEARN GRAMMAR FIRST; SUCCESS WILL FOLLOW;
4. TG is EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LANGUAGE;
5. TG CLAIMS THERE IS ONLY ONE RIGHT WAY, ONE FORM OF CORRECTNESS;
6. TGs CONTAIN MISTAKEN INFORMATION:
A. English does not have eight parts of speech.
B. English is not derived from Latin.
C. English verbs do not have six tenses.
D. others _____________________ .
7. TG USES DEFECTIVE METHODOLOGY: TOP DOWN, DEDUCTIVE, ABSOLUTES TAUGHT AS
GOSPEL;
8. TG EMPHASIZES ROTE MEMORIZATION, PASSIVE ACCEPTANCE;
9. TG USES LOUSY DEFINITIONS (OR NONE) FOR BASIC CONCEPTS: LANGUAGE,
GRAMMAR, USAGE, PARTS OF SPEECH;
10. TG WASTES TIME AND ENERGY; TOO MUCH TIME ON MINUTIAE;
11. TG FAILS TO PUT LANGUAGE INFORMATION TO USE IN WRITING AND SPEAKING;
12. TG FAILS TO NOTICE THAT LANGUAGE STUDY IS PHILOSOPHY, ELABORATE,
ABSTRACT, MULTI-LEVEL, OPEN-ENDED;
13. TG REINFORCES MONOTHEISTIC SOCIAL VALUES AND STANDARDS
AT THE EXPENSE OF INDIVIDUALS, MINORITIES AND DIFFERENTS.
14. TG lacks structure, having no frame on which to hang detailed
information;
15. TG is all tools, no projects.
The way grammar has been taught for over two centuries makes fools of us
all-teachers, students, the educational system itself, to say nothing of the
general public. It was partly the fault of the eighteenth century British
and American grammarians who described English using Latin rules. It has
also been the fault of teachers ever since, for knowing so little about the
history and description of English that they would follow slavishly a system
so wrong in its facts, so presumptive in its goals and expectations.
Please respond individually as you choose. [log in to unmask]
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