This message was originally submitted by [log in to unmask] to the
ATEG
list at MIAMIU.ACS.MUOHIO.EDU. in response to one written on Thu, 4 Dec
1997 by Martha Kolln who said:
 
-->It seems to me that English is the only subject in the curriculum in
which
-->an organized explanation and terminology are disdained.  In every other
-->subject--from biology to industrial arts--we teach our students
-->terminology...
 
Hmmm. This may be a case where we may not want to keep up with the
Joneses! To whatever extent teachers of other subject areas foreground
terminology and concepts at the expense of experience or as a prerequisite
to experience, I'd say they're exhibiting unproductive pedagocial
approaches. And tha't not to say we need exclude terminology in pursuit of
experience, either. The two are complexly intertwined & ought not be
programmatically separated (IMHO).
 
-->one year--and thus take over the writing class.  I am, however,
suggesting
-->that if we don't let our students in on the description of their
language
-->(as we let them in on those other subjects) we are shortchanging them.
 
Of course, there's no need to *prevent* students from learning how to
describe language. There's also no need to foist that knowledge upon them.
If we're 'letting them in' on something they aren't much interested in,
we're not doing them any favors, really.
 
-->In "The Ethics of Rhetoric" Richard Weaver compares using a  language to
-->riding a horse:  "Much of one's success depends upon an understanding of
-->what it can and will do."
 
Great line. I'd say, however, that understanding of what language can and
will do is not causally related to knowledge of language's description.
That is, it *may* be a rich relationship that students will want to
benefit from exploring, but those who aren't interested in grammatical
concepts aren't necessarily excluded from acquiring some facility with
language.
 
I never met a grammar test I couldn't flunk, but I manage, somehow, to
string together words in a more or less coherent manner. And I doubt I'm
very unusual...
 
--Eric Crump