Eduard, I was writing in the context of the Scope and Sequence program, where the goal is to provide developmentally appropriate grammar instruction that build as students are ready to master new concepts, principles, analyses, etc. Whether you want to call this one or several grammars doesn't make a whole lot of difference. As a university-level teacher, not K-12, I see my role as a step or two removed. I can provide content and can assist with the development of content, but I wouldn't pretend to any expertise in K12 curriculum and pedagogy. That I'll gratefully leave to those on the list who are specialized in these areas. Herb ________________________________ From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Eduard C. Hanganu Sent: Sun 8/20/2006 7:35 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Defining Traditional Grammar Herb: I agree with you. There is much more to be said about grammar than I did, but I was referring to basic guiding principles, and not to the details. Still I am getting a little confused: do you want to write a grammar encyclopaedia, or a practical grammar? And if you want to write a practical grammar ( which is my assumption) for which grade(s) are you going to write that grammar? It appears to me that we will necessarily have to write grammarS, not just a grammar, each adjusted to some school level. One thing is to teach grammar to the elementary school students, another to teach grammar to college students. Each such level would require a grammar specifically written for its own purposes. Eduard On Fri, 18 Aug 2006, Herbert F.W. Stahlke wrote... >Eduard, > >Quite a lot, in fact, as I suggested in my posting to Phil. Part of my >problem in this discourse is that I come from a background in which >traditional grammar includes Jespersen, Poutsma, Kruizinga, and others >of the great 19th and 20th c. scholars of English grammar. Traditional >school grammar, like what is found in the Warriner's series, for >example, a series that was used widely in American high schools for >quite a long time, is in part of reduction of this combined with a >variety of stylistic prescriptions and proscriptions. I don't have the >negative reaction Fries had, because I go back to Jespersen on a lot of >matters. However, I agree with Fries as to the sometimes mindless way >in which traditional grammar has been reduced to a few inflexible terms, >concepts, and maxims. > >Herb 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/