Jean,

I agree that our job as teachers is to engage students in the process  
of analysis.

If syntax is an ex post facto phenomenon resulting from how words  
relate to each other in a particular sentence, the answers given by  
students or, even, the teacher may be less important than the  
implicit question being addressed:  What meaning is captured by this  
arrangement of words?  Students willing to explore and consider  
different interpretations should be rewarded for their efforts, not  
for their "right" answers.

Gregg


On Aug 27, 2014, at 8:33 AM, Jean Waldman wrote:

> The trouble with articles like this is they never mention phrase  
> structure trees.  They talk as if there is only one way to make a  
> geometric diagram of a sentence.  It might be an enlightening  
> exercise to have students invent new ways to show the relationships  
> between the words in a sentence.  Having them use Reed-Kellog or  
> phrase structure diagrams and then grading them on right or wrong  
> is discouraging for the students.
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 26, 2014 at 7:26 PM, Geoffrey Layton  
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> NCTE just posted this link on its Facebook page - watcha'll think?
>
> http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/08/22/341898975/a-picture-of- 
> language-the-fading-art-of-diagramming-sentences
>
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