Amy,

Mr. McCleary has been shooting down all responders who challenge his notion
that "writing" and "grammar" are not connected. I am 56 years old. I come
from a generation that was taught grammar from the first grade on. We
diagrammed sentences, wrote essays, and broke those essays down into their
parts of speech. This taught us the basic mechanics of language that clear
away questions relating to proper part of speech usage and variation.

Today it seems, anything that comes out of the mind of a student is termed
"writing," or so it seems that McCleary wants it that way. He is entirely in
another territory here, and that place is called expository or creative
writing, something completely different from the mechanics of writing, of
which grammar is an important part.

My wife is from Russia. She speaks and writes English so fluently that I am
amazed she wasn't born here. How is it, you might ask, that someone from
Russia who can speak and write English so well, outperforms many people
here?  In Russia, when students learn English, they learn grammar right next
to the speaking part. And they learn it cold. She explained to me that
without the grammar rules, she would not be able to speak and write so
effectively.

Does Mr. McCleary actually think that any great writer, like Lawrence or
Conrad,  did not know their English grammar? That everyone is a born savant
who instinctively writes? This is irresponsible claptrap and the product of
university insulation from what is needed as opposed to the theory of what
is needed. Stick to your guns and keep the grammar in. Try to bring
diagramming back in, it works and students will remember what it teaches.

Pete Lunde
Technical Publications  RSM
BMC Software  2100 City West  Houston TX  77042
(713) 918-7321