Hello- I'm a first year graduate student, so pardon my ignorance. I am reading this thread regarding hostility toward grammar with interest. My goal is to become an adjunct professor in English after attaining my Master's Degree, which does mean I will be teaching a lot of composition classes. I am currently taking a class in English grammar systems, which led me to this list as a way to educate myself about the current issues in grammar and English today. My personal reason for re-learning grammar (I was taught in the 'classical' method all through elementary school: rote, repetition, memorization, etc.) has been so that I, as a future composition teacher, will be better able to serve my students by bringing them an understanding of Standard Written English. So, to my question: if we are not to spend hours of class on grammar and usage, how then can we as professors *improve* our student's composition skills through the use of our grammatical knowledge? Does that make sense? I'm happy to clarify - sometimes my fingers move faster than my thoughts these days. Looking forward to hearing points of view on this- -patty 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/