John,
I like the distinction between the grammar in the language (an
absolutely necessary system for any language to be a language,
significantly rule- based, but largely unconscious) and the various
theories or descriptions of that grammar. (Halliday uses the term
"grammatics" for the theory part of it, in part because it's so easy to
misunderstand how the term "grammar" is being used.) >
When people say we don't need grammar or that grammar is harmful, they
are obviously not talking about the grammar in the language. Imagine
the confusion if the word "life" meant both "life" and the study of
life. It may make sense to say we don't need biology, but to say we
don't need life is nonsense. (A prescriptive grammar is about as
useful as a prescriptive biology, but that's another line of thought.)
The day we don't need grammar (in the language itself) is the day we
don't need words.
If we love language, how can we not want to nurture an awareness of it?
The "debate" about grammar can't happen in any kind of meaningful way
without the kinds of clarifications (and open questions)you are
presenting to your students. I get the sense that your enthusiasm is
infectious. It comes across in the posts.
Will you be with us in July, at the conference?
Craig
Thank you to Martha, Craig, Herb, and all the rest who have been
> discussing linguistic grammar!
> I always enjoy hearing conversations about grammar that remind us
> that, at the end of the day, "grammar" is a perspective. There are no
> Grammar Gods, only opinions, preferences, and arguments steeped in a
> particular view of how language works. Some teachers cringe and yell,
> "Don't tell me that!" But the grammarians and linguists of ATEG prove
> that this is NOT a scary concept -- it's more precise, more honest,
> and more practical to demystify (and de-sanctify) grammar before
> presenting it to students for study.
> I'm glad to know that we are working on a Scope and Sequence Project,
> a continued response to NCTE's position statement on grammar teaching,
> etc., but I'm even more glad to know that this work is being done with
> "grammars" and not just "grammar" -- traditional/prescriptive,
> structural/descriptive, functional, case, (a mercifully small amount
> of) generative, performance, cognitive, etc.
> I recently finished an introductory unit on "Grammar and Grammars"
> with my undergraduate students in a teacher education program,
> exploring the history, nature, and diversity of grammar perspectives
> (they'll begin studying more in depth on Tuesday with Martha's article
> on linguistic grammar from Grammar Alive! actually!). One of the
> students wrote in an informal writing assignment the following:
>
> "Realizing that there are so many different ways of looking at grammar
> is liberating, not depressing! I can finally stop pretending that I know
> all the rules or that there really is a single set of rules that work.
> It's kind of like everyone letting their bellies out, and finally just
> being real. Why are we clinging to such a puny system of teaching this
> stuff, when there's so much out there to use? I'm finally ready to sit
> down with my students, be honest, and get to work on understanding how
> language works!"
>
> I rather like it! Thanks for the conversation!
>
>
>
>
> *****************************************************************
> John E. Dews
> Instructor, Undergraduate Linguistics
> MA-TESOL/Applied Linguistics Program
> Educator, Secondary English Language Arts
> English Department, 208 Rowand-Johnson Hall (Office)
> University of Alabama
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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