Judy Diamondstone wrote:

> In my opinion, knowledge of language structure will not help ANY students to
> write better UNLESS the teacher can SHOW (not tell) the links between
> forms/functions/meanings -- Students don't need grammarians; they need
> rhetoricians who know language (most likely to be ones whose view of
> language is _functional_ (what language DOES) rather than merely formal.

There is a HUGE problem in defining what one means by
better.  If we mean by better eloquently, then I don't know how that is
defined
structurally, let alone formally.

What happens when students understand what they are supposed to do but
do not have the linguistic resources to accomplish that particular
function?  Several years ago Jim Kenkel and I gave a paper at ATEG about
the linguistic structures learners use to integrate written sources into
their writing.  We showed that some developmental writers pass through a
stage where they understand the kinds of information they are supposed
to provide when they cite sources but lack control of the appropriate
linguistic structures to fulfill that obligation.  The result are
student sentences that appear to be ungrammatical. I don't know how any
"rhetorician" would help such students.

Bob Yates, Central Missouri State University