Bingo! (At least it appears like Bingo! to me.). The few students I have who are regular readers are also the better writers. This is not quantitative research, just a small observation. Paul E. Doniger ----- Original Message ----- From: Ed Vavra <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2001 11:55 PM Subject: False Analogy? > Hasn't the discussion of whether or not great writers (ancient or > modern) studied grammar been based on a false analogy? It was, I > believe, Helen who brought up the point that students learn best by > reading and writing. The problem is that many, if not most, of our > students have not read or written much during their previous education, > and they can (or will) not make up for that in our courses. I have > numerous excellent writers (grammatically) in my comp classes, and they > do not really need instruction in grammar to improve their writing > (although it does help). However, the students who have not absorbed the > structures/mechanics of written English from reading can be helped > through instruction in grammar. The problem are that 1) such instruction > needs to be of the right kind [Memorizing definitions, by itself, will > not help.], and 2) the instruction [and the learning] take a long time. > Ed V. > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/