Geoffrey, ESL student? Where did you get THAT from, mate? I guess you haven't been on this forum for too long. Eduard On Thu, 24 Aug 2006, Geoffrey Layton wrote... >I may be the guilty party who has disturbed Eduard with my post about the >futility of conducting >"parts of speech" hunts ["Find the (PART OF SPEECH HERE) in the following >sentences."] To summarize, I have found it worse than useless to try to >teach this type of "grammar," so if this is what Eduard is referring to, I >plead guilty. > >However, he is dead wrong believing that those of us who dislike teaching >the ESL grammar that Eduard is apparently referring to are "grammar haters." > I consider myself a lover of grammar almost beyond measure. > >In fact, my contention is that if sentence construction is what is meant by >grammar, then grammar should not be taught in the context of writing (is >this still the current cliche?), but that grammar is so important that >writing should be taught in the context of grammar. It is grammar that >allows the construction of meaning; meaning is produced by the way sentences >are constructed; and sentences are constructed through the use of grammar. > >What seems difficult for Eduard to grasp is that elegant, graceful sentences >are not constructed by learning, for example, that the word "running" can be >used as a noun, an adjective, and a verb. As an ESL student, it may be >helpful to learn this information. Native speakers, however, already know >that "I bought a pair of run shoes" is incorrect, as is "I am run to the >store" as is "Run is fun" and would never write a sentence such as these. >In addition, such parts of speech knowledge is never required on any >standardized test. > >So the question is not whether we are grammar lovers or haters, but rather >what kind of grammar do we love? > >Geoff Layton > > >>From: Craig Hancock I think recent posts have been very much pro grammar, >>so I'm curious >>about what you are referring to. > >From: Eduard C. Hanganu >> > This is supposed to be a "grammar lovers" forum, right? But why are >> > so many post on this list from people who atack grammar and state >> > that teaching grammar does not make sense, and makes no difference in >> > writing? > >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/