ATEG and Dr. Veit's inquirer,

I am not aware of any published research dealing with
this issue (others on the list probably are), but I
would say that the grammatical incompetence of the
inquirer's 6th-graders is the best possible "research"
into the need for direct grammar instruction in the
elementary grades.

Tim Hadley
Texas Tech University



Quoting "Richard Veit, UNCW English Department"
<[log in to unmask]>:

> ATEG members:
>
> I invite others to help in replying to the following
message that I
> received from a grade school teacher (who found my
address on the web site
> of my book Discovering English Grammar)? The
questions asked are certainly
> central for the Assembly. Because the writer is
probably not a subscriber,
> be sure to copy the writer <[log in to unmask]> on
any reply.
>
> Dick Veit
>
> ________________________________
> In your opinion, is it necessary to have
> direct grammar instruction at the
> elementary school level, or are the
> students better served by "writing
> workshop" and editing "daily oral
> language" sentences? Our district
> Language consultant refuses to
> consider a grammar textbook without
> research that demonstrates the
> importance of direct grammar
> instruction. We've been attempting to
> teach writing and grammar skills
> without a textbook for the past 7 years
> and are now faced with 6th graders
> that have no ability to identify a verb or
> a noun, and call apostrophes "that
> floating comma thingy."
> ------------------------------------------------------
---------------------
> (e-mail) [log in to unmask]
>



^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Tim Hadley
Ph.D. student, Technical Communication and Rhetoric
Texas Tech University
806-742-2500, x 281
[log in to unmask]
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

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