Ben, It's quite possible to have someone who places a very high importance on grammar (or anything else) but is still unable to connect it to teaching practice in ways beneficial to students. I think you might get a good idea of the candidate's grasp of the subject and how s/he can put that knowledge into practice by starting with a realistic example or two and asking how s/he would deal with it in a classroom setting, especially if it's an example that lets you link whatever grammatical issue is involved to a larger rhetorical issue. For example, asking a candidate how s/he goes about discussing passive sentences with students (or even better, starting with a piece of actual writing with clumsy passives in it) could let you gauge not only whether s/he knows what they are, but whether s/he knows that whether they're "good" or not is tied to the context and purpose of writing. Of course, this is all supposing that you have the time to pose that kind of question and get a considered response. Just from what personal experience I've had (as a candidate and as a member of search committees) candidates show up already tense, and a question like, "What do you think the role of grammar is in the composition classroom?" is likely to trigger an "Ack! That's a loaded question! They want some kind of code phrase! What do I do??!!" response. Bill Spruiell Dept. of English Central Michigan University -----Original Message----- From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ben Varner Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 4:25 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Interview Questions? We are going to hire a compositionist for the 2008-2009 academic year and will conduct interviews of finalists within the next few weeks. I am on the search committee and want to be sure that the candidate I recommend places a high value on the importance of grammar and punctuation in the writing process. The WPA Outcomes statement for first-year composition puts a knowledge of such conventions rather low on the list: http://members.cox.net/ipeckham/outcomes.htm Any suggestions for questions for the interviews? Ben Varner 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/