I use a 16th c. poem in some of my grammar classes, Sir Philip Sydney's "With how sad steps", partly because it contains structures students aren't familiar with and don't know how to interpret.  The grammatical analysis of these structures helps them to work through other unfamiliar and complex structures.
 
Herb 

________________________________

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Johanna Rubba
Sent: Wed 8/23/2006 6:59 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Grammar instruction--how early and what kind?



Paul,

I favor using the "-al" suffix to distinguish class from function. It
is a little subtle, and hard for older students who aren't used to
studying about language, and for people who have internalized
traditional grammar. But I can't think of an alternative, and it should
work well if it is introduced and maintained in a long-term (over
years!) grammar curriculum.

I also believe it's important to go to even-more superordinate levels,
like "head", "modifier", and "complement".  All at the appropriate age,
of course.

Craig raised the issue of the complexity of written texts in an earlier
post. I believe a major reason students have trouble with these texts
is that they don't read enough -- not enough of such texts, and not
enough, period. I think we will find that studying grammar helps with
reading ability, but I believe the main way to become fluent at reading
is by reading, and progressing incrementally from easier to harder
levels (like we used to do in school). (Granted, school readers still
advance incrementally, but too many kids aren't doing enough reading to
become fluent at the higher levels.)

I also remain firmly convinced that reading high-level texts is
necessary to being able to write them. No grammar course can teach the
full range of structures used in high-level writing. Not only is there
variety in grammar, but there is a very large number of fixed
expressions that occur in formal writing (such as "I remain firmly
convinced"). Language learning doesn't stop at age 5. People continue
to learn unconsciously probably all of their lives, but certainly very
actively in childhood and adolescence.

Dr. Johanna Rubba, Associate Professor, Linguistics
Linguistics Minor Advisor
English Department
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Tel.: 805.756.2184
Dept. Ofc. Tel.: 805.756.2596
Dept. Fax: 805.756.6374
URL: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba

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