In light of recent discussions of the place of grammar and the kind of
grammar instruction that is most appropriate, I share a disagreement that
I had this week with colleagues in my department.  One of our English
majors requested that he be allowed to substitute a "professional and
technical writing" course for the required course in "grammar" or
"linguistics." According to the approved program of study for English
majors, he needed to choose either "Grammars of English" or "Intro to
Linguistics."

I was appalled that most of my colleagues supported the student's
proposal, believing that it is quite all right for an English major to go
into the world unequipped with any tools for thinking more abstractly and
analytically about his language.  This student apparently intends to go
into a career involving writing.  To me it seems obvious that an English
major headed in that direction ought to have a more sophisticated
understanding of his language than merely what his ear tells him is
elegant or misshapen.

A recent posting on Language Log by Mark Liberman demonstrates how
explicit knowledge of grammar (and linguistic modes of reasoning
generally) can be an effective way of defending "yourself from bad advice
about writing."  Liberman cites the example of a woman whose writing
professor (for "creative nonfiction") criticizes her use of the "passive."
 As Liberman shows, the professor appears to be ignorant of what the
"passive" really is or perhaps is just sloppy in using grammatical
terminology.

Liberman advised the student writer:
"The next time someone tells you to "avoid passive", --apparently meaning
that you should use verbs denoting actions with human agents as
subjects--why not ask them to define their terms, and to back up their
advice with some evidence?....[I]f you want to be able to stand up to
[English professors], Elrina, you might invest in such a grammar [book]
yourself, and perhaps in a good usage guide while you're at it. What's in
those books might even help your writing, but in any case it'll help you
keep your writing teachers from wasting your time."

Liberman's post can be accessed at
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003722.html#more


R. Michael Medley
Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA 22802
[log in to unmask]  (540) 432-4051

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