On Tue, 21 Oct 1997 15:33:52 -0700 Johanna Rubba said: >I have a question for Bob: What's the rationale for children being able to >_identify_ (that is, label) constructions that they use? Is it an aid to >help them in talking about their writing, or is such knowledge supposed to >help them use a wider variety of constructions? These guidelines are meant for teachers and I was really suggesting that teachers need to be relatively proficient in labelling forms and functions in a sentence. Among other reasons, teachers need to have a language to talk about what is and isn't standard and for assessing student writing. If we take process writing seriously, then I think the ability to talk about the grammatical choices a writer has in expressing ideas is important. This ability requires some metalinguistic knowledge. I have no idea how students learn to use a variety of constructions. My guess is that such ability comes from reading a great deal of different kinds of materials and practicing. Bob Yates, [log in to unmask], Central Missouri State University >English Department, California Polytechnic State University ~ >San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 ~ >Tel. (805)-756-2184 E-mail: [log in to unmask] ~ >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~