I make extensive use of tree diagrams in my college course in grammar. For about 90% of my students, the diagrams work well in enabling them to visualize and gain insight into the structure of the language. The other 10% struggle to get beyond seeing a bunch of lines and words on the page. They might do better in a different kind of class, although most of them do pass the course.

 

The class I teach is a course in grammar per se, designed to help students discover (with their conscious minds) the structure of the grammar that they have internalized (with their unconscious minds). I don’t claim for it any goal or benefit other than for them to gain insights about their language and about how their minds work. A few students have told me that the course has helped them in their writing, but I make no claims that it will improve writing skills, and when students tell me that is their goal, I suggest they take a writing course instead, which will have more immediate benefits.

 

I love grammar and believe it is important for its own sake. I support its being taught at all levels. I am also a writing teacher and know that writing is not the same thing as grammar. I’d be very wary about spending much if any time on diagrams in a course intended to teach composition. It might have some benefit for a few students whose minds work in a certain way, but most composition students gain far more from instruction and practice in writing.

 

Dick Veit

UNCW English Department