Noguchi's book is the best there is at winnowing down aspects of writing to
those that respond to grammatical input.  I find, however, that students
need to have a conversational knowledge of grammatical structure before his
approach works very well.  That is, they must be able to identify major
sentence constituents and provide some sort of nomenclature for them in
order for the teacher and student to have a common language with which to
apply the principles of Noguchi's minimalist grammar.

That is why I recommend a simplified phrase-structure grammar as a partner
to the Noguchi grammar.  With careful planning, such a grammar can be taught
using little classroom time.  (I recommend a cap of 10 minutes per school
day.)  It works well in a whole language classroom environment.  The key is
that it needs to be started early, as early as first grade (subject,
predicate, noun phrase, verb), and cycled regularly at increasing levels of
sophistication through elementary and secondary school.

With just a thumbnail sketch of systematic grammar in students' minds,
minimalist grammar (Noguchi, Weaver) are marvelous tools for use in the
writing classroom.

Jeff Glauner
Park University

----- Original Message -----
From: "Marcy Nicholas" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2000 10:19 AM
Subject: Re: Putting grammar back into the curriculum


> In one of these posts about putting grammar back in the curriculum,
someone mentioned the problem of how to teach grammar in a writing course
without taking up "gobs of time." And this was one of my concerns in my
first post to list: how do I fit in grammar in a 15-week freshman
composition course, when I have so many other things to cover? After my
first post to this list, Johanna Rubba mentioned Rei Noguchi's Grammar and
The Teaching of Writing. I've read through it, and I'm wondering if anyone
on the list has applied Noguchi's concepts, how he/she has implented them,
and how well the method worked. You can respond to me personally, if you
wish.
>
>
>
> And by the way, I apologize for not including my signature in my first
post. I thought I had attached it....
> Marcy H. Nicholas
> Penn State York
> Instructor of English
> 1031 Edgecomb Avenue
> York Pa 17403
>
> Phone: 717-771-4162
> Fax: 717-771-8404
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> WWW: http://www.yk.psu.edu/~mhn1/home.htm