Granted, Charrow's piece is very short. Nonetheless, the only service
she renders her readers is a brief history of the interaction of
linguists and schoolteachers in the early years of generative grammar.
The rest is a distinct disservice to public knowledge of language.

She does nothing to elucidate differences between different types of
error.  She doesn't mention any decrease in reading. She doesn't
criticize the content or methods of grammar pedagogy. She doesn't
question whether explicit grammar teaching actually works; she assumes
it does. She misrepresents the position of her stated profession.
Linguists have a special responsibility to be accurate when they
communicate with the public.

I agree with her that teaching about language should feature in the
school curriculum; but, as any regular on this list knows, and as Craig
Hancock has said, we need a new curriculum. I don't pretend that this is
going to do the whole job of teaching fluent use of standard English,
however. Immersion in reading and writing is required for that.

***************************************************
Johanna Rubba, Associate Professor, Linguistics
English Department, Cal Poly State University
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Tel. 805-756-2184 ~ Dept. phone 805-756-2596
Dept. fax: 805-756-6374 ~  E-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
***************************************************

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