Thank you for sending this post; it is much more than just relevant.

Your information that Arabic schools teach traditional grammar (for
both first and second languages) is valuable.  It is the same
practice that other contributors from outside of North America have
observed.  There are many countries which still teach traditional
grammar.  Most visitors and new Canadians that I have spoken to
are a little surprised at what's going on in our schools.

Like most who comment on this, you consider your own children
fortunate to recieve this kind of education.  This is another positive
testimony on traditional grammar.

As you describe it, your children seem to be receiving a truly rich
and varied education!

Date sent:              Mon, 17 Sep 2001 07:33:03 +0300
Send reply to:          Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar              <[log in to unmask]>
From:                   Johnstone <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:                Re: Is direct grammar instruction needed in grade school?
To:                     [log in to unmask]
>
> Perhaps it isn't directly relevant, but my children, seven and five,
> are Arabic/English bilinguals. They are in an Arabic medium school in
> Riyadh and receive eight hours French instruction per week.
>
> I have noticed that formal grammar rules form an integral part of both
> Arabic and French (native and foreign language) instruction at their
> school and this appears to be the general practice in the Arab world. By
> the third grade children can already distinguish verbs from nouns,
> describe the function and use of adverbs and adjectives, and they know the
> technical vocabulary of grammar in both languages.
>
> I am teaching English grammar at one of Riyadh's universities. This
> task is made considerably easier by students' unfailing knowledge of
> the core concepts of formal grammar and by their familiarity with the
> Arabic terminology used to describe it.
>
> English is, of course, not the same as French or Arabic and it is
> quite impossible to write either of these languages correctly without a
> sound understanding of "traditional rules of grammar". English is,
> nevertheless, very subtle and it seems to me unreasonable to expect anyone
> to use it well who has not been taught how it works.
>
> There are degrees of literacy. One of the cultural problems of the
> English speaking world is that it is cut away from its sources, from
> the common experience of the English speaking peoples spanning some
> seven centuries. That experience is contained, for the most part, in
> books, and most of those books are inaccessible to all but a fortunate
> few. The reason for that is obvious, at least to me.
>
>
> Omar
>
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-----------------------------------------------------
Sincerely, Robert Einarsson
please visit me at
http://www.artsci.gmcc.ab.ca/people/einarssonb

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