Dear Nancy,

I must admit I am puzzled at how difficult teaching grammar is thought to
be. Wheeler and Swords success suggest that a contrastive approach really
helps break one huge barrier to grammar learning,

I think  another problem is that some teachers don't know grammar and are
afraid to look stupid. You hear about math anxiety. It's about time we
recognize grammar anxiety. My students understand what I teach fairly
easily, but they don't invest in doing what it takes to store it in their
brains. They lack confidence and they buy into the idea that's it takes too
much effort.   I think this is similar to math anxiety.

I also teach developmental math. One of my math students has been fighting
the lessons all semester. I let her rant and rave and tell me how much she
hates math and how useless it is. And then I teach her math. She learns.
She's getting it. She nods and answers before the others now.

The same thing happens in my writing classes. I keep repeating grammar
concepts. The students stare at me and groan, but then they get it, or some
of them do. When a student gives an example that doesn't fit the rule, I use
it to explain why teaching and learning grammar is challenging. Teachers who
are unsure of their own skills don't like examples that don't fit the rules.
It's not that I'm so great at grammar, but I know it's not cut and dried and
I tell the students up front.

Why isn't there a standardized test for teachers on grammar. This would not
be to weed out teachers or embarrass them, but to identify who would benefit
from more training and support. I think testing the students when we don't
really know how much (or how little) teachers know is putting the cart
before the horse.

Christine Martin



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Christine Reintjes Martin
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----Original Message Follows----
From: Nancy Tuten <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar

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