Erica-- It was nice seeing you Friday night! You got a 67 on teh first exam and a 95 on the first paper, which gives you a current grade of 81% or a "B." Yeah, that would be better. Dr. Seth Katz Assistant Professor | Faculty Advisor Department of English | Bradley University Hillel Bradley University | ________________________________ From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of R. Michael Medley (GLS) Sent: Sat 11/4/2006 6:46 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: grammar for self-defense In light of recent discussions of the place of grammar and the kind of grammar instruction that is most appropriate, I share a disagreement that I had this week with colleagues in my department. One of our English majors requested that he be allowed to substitute a "professional and technical writing" course for the required course in "grammar" or "linguistics." According to the approved program of study for English majors, he needed to choose either "Grammars of English" or "Intro to Linguistics." I was appalled that most of my colleagues supported the student's proposal, believing that it is quite all right for an English major to go into the world unequipped with any tools for thinking more abstractly and analytically about his language. This student apparently intends to go into a career involving writing. To me it seems obvious that an English major headed in that direction ought to have a more sophisticated understanding of his language than merely what his ear tells him is elegant or misshapen. A recent posting on Language Log by Mark Liberman demonstrates how explicit knowledge of grammar (and linguistic modes of reasoning generally) can be an effective way of defending "yourself from bad advice about writing." Liberman cites the example of a woman whose writing professor (for "creative nonfiction") criticizes her use of the "passive." As Liberman shows, the professor appears to be ignorant of what the "passive" really is or perhaps is just sloppy in using grammatical terminology. Liberman advised the student writer: "The next time someone tells you to "avoid passive", --apparently meaning that you should use verbs denoting actions with human agents as subjects--why not ask them to define their terms, and to back up their advice with some evidence?....[I]f you want to be able to stand up to [English professors], Elrina, you might invest in such a grammar [book] yourself, and perhaps in a good usage guide while you're at it. What's in those books might even help your writing, but in any case it'll help you keep your writing teachers from wasting your time." Liberman's post can be accessed at http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003722.html#more R. Michael Medley Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA 22802 [log in to unmask] (540) 432-4051 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/