Nancy,
Martha Kolln and I co-authored an article--"The Story of English Grammar 
in United states Schools" as part of a double issue of _English 
Teaching:Practice and Critique_ (Dec. '05 and May '06) devoted to this 
issue internationally. We were asked to respond to a wonderful article 
by Dick Hudson and John Walmsley--"The English Patient: English Grammar 
and Teaching in the Twentieth Century", which you can find in _Journal 
of Linguistics_ 41 (593-622), 2005. The _English Teaching: Practice and 
Critique_ issues are available online even to non-subscribers. Martha 
and I are revising the article, by invitation of editor Terry Locke, for 
a forthcoming anthology. You can build a very rich bibliography from the 
articles.
I don't think you can characterize the teaching of grammar in the states 
in those three discreet stages, and I don't think there's a current 
consensus in favor of systematic study. NCTE, in fact, tabled our motion 
in support of systematic study in committee at their latest convention.
Scope and Sequence is in mild hiatus. It's hard to get it done under the 
umbrella of ATEG for a number of reasons. Some people at our ATEG 
convention seemed to feel we should work through NCTE (hence our 
proposal to endorse systematic study) and some others seemed to be 
saying that there is no need for a scope and sequence of our own, since 
others already exist. By its very nature, ATEG has to have a wide tent. 
I hope to pick up discussion of the project soon with our New Public 
Grammar group.

Craig

Nancy Tuten wrote:
>
> Three questions:
>
> (1) What essays, books, or articles would you recommend to an 
> /undergraduate/ English major who is writing a senior honors project 
> on the history of the grammar wars? She wants to put together a 
> notebook of information that will be helpful to her and other future 
> secondary English teachers. It will include an introductory essay 
> tracing the history of grammar instruction—from “drill and kill” 
> through “teach no grammar” to the present-day acknowledgment that 
> there is, indeed, a connection between an understanding of syntax and 
> better writing. It will also include an annotated bibliography of 8-10 
> works “for further reading.” Finally, she is going to describe our 
> state’s grade-level standards for teaching grammar and mention those 
> forces (SAT essay, etc.) that are currently driving an increase in 
> grammar instruction—despite the lack of training that most English 
> teachers now have.
>
> I thought I remembered reading an essay by Rebecca Wheeler called 
> “Exploring the Grammar Wars,” but all I can find now is a link to a 
> slide show presentation—not an essay.
>
> (2) In what year did ATEG publish “On the Value of Systematic Grammar 
> Study”?
>
> (3) Who is working on the “scope and sequence” project, and when might 
> it be published?
>
> Thanks for your help,
>
> Nancy
>
> Nancy L. Tuten, PhD
>
> Professor of English
>
> Director of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Program
>
> Columbia College
>
> Columbia, South Carolina
>
> [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
> 803-786-3706
>
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>

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