I apologize for tagging along on Nancy's  question, but I hope the information is pertinent. 
    Recently several ATEG  participants have asked for suggestions about  a book  that would be useful for a wide audience, from college freshmen to students just interested in language or planning to major in English and those now teaching English-those who may not have had much background in language and grammar.

Advance copies of  "The New American Language and Grammar Primer: Finding Your Way to Communication Competence" will be ready for distribution in March, and I am looking for English teachers interested in receiving complimentary copies for their review. While the text supports the NCTE position on (basically not) teaching traditional grammar, English teachers actually need to teach grammar as part of language study, for a historical perspective and as a means to improve students' writing style.  

            An important feature of the book is that it offers an overview of the communication process, putting grammar and usage in meaningful contexts. In addition, readers will find definitions of language and its components, something that will help most teachers and students make sense of the thousand and one disparate/desperate rules of most traditional grammar books. 

            Please do not respond to this offer on the ATEG site. Send your request (along with your real mail address) to me at   rbetting@ netzero.com   or   A Skeptical Press, Box 815, Valley City, ND 58072.  For more information about the book, go to  grammartoday.com (not listed on search engines yet, so type the address)  The web site contains a more detailed description of the book, its table of contents, sample quizzes, ordering information and so on.  
    Thank you for the opportunity. Dick Betting, Prof. Emeritus, Valley City State University
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Nancy Tuten 
  To: [log in to unmask] 
  Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 8:22 AM
  Subject: essays & books on the "grammar wars"


  Three questions:

   

  (1) What essays, books, or articles would you recommend to an undergraduate English major who is writing a senior honors project on the history of the grammar wars? She wants to put together a notebook of information that will be helpful to her and other future secondary English teachers. It will include an introductory essay tracing the history of grammar instruction-from "drill and kill" through "teach no grammar" to the present-day acknowledgment that there is, indeed, a connection between an understanding of syntax and better writing. It will also include an annotated bibliography of 8-10 works "for further reading." Finally, she is going to describe our state's grade-level standards for teaching grammar and mention those forces (SAT essay, etc.) that are currently driving an increase in grammar instruction-despite the lack of training that most English teachers now have.

   

  I thought I remembered reading an essay by Rebecca Wheeler called "Exploring the Grammar Wars," but all I can find now is a link to a slide show presentation-not an essay.

   

  (2) In what year did ATEG publish "On the Value of Systematic Grammar Study"?

   

  (3) Who is working on the "scope and sequence" project, and when might it be published? 

   

  Thanks for your help,

  Nancy

   

  Nancy L. Tuten, PhD

  Professor of English

  Director of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Program

  Columbia College

  Columbia, South Carolina

  [log in to unmask]

  803-786-3706

   

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