This is / has been a terrific thread!  It's great to see this Assembly
of Teachers of English Grammar earnestly discussing Teaching English
Grammar.  And what a wealth of information is pouring forth.

Johanna, thanks for some terrific posts!  You both sing my song and
augment it.  Language can be, and should be FUN for kids.  They are
naturally curious about it and love to play with it.  Traditional
grammar pedagogy absolutely strangles it to death.  I would also like
to add my name to Martha's list:  I am vitally interested in the LSA
project and would very much appreciate info, links, results, etc.

Recognition is an important first skill when dealing with chunks of
language.  One problem I face is that most of my freshman comp
students cannot recognize clauses--an absolutely crucial ability if
one is to learn to avoid the trinity of mortal sins in academic
writing (comma splices, run-ons, and fragments).  I have them examine
sentences and hold up fingers to indicate the number of clauses.  I
then hold up the number of fingers to show the answer and discuss
differences as necessary.  They get better at it very quickly.  It's
also a great way to work on prepositional phrases.  It doesn't require
a great deal of explanation and, God forbid, no memorization!  They
just begin to develop a feel for them.  I've also divided the class
into small groups, each having a leader.  Everybody can discuss, but
only the leaders can vote.  Keep score, and suddenly it's a lot of
fun!

Voting with fingers also works in areas such as
restrictive/non-restrictive.  I write on the board that 1 = Yes
commas, 2 = No commas, and 3 = N/A.  The N/A option is important:  if
ALL of the sentences contain relative clauses or appositives, then the
exercise is one more level removed from reality.  It's a good place to
start, but, in real life, students have to be able to first recognize
that the restrictive / non-restrictive decision pertains.  Using
paragraphs with a mixture of sentence types is closer to the task they
face when they write:  recognizing where there might be a problem.

Also I thank those of you who helped me to understand the complexities
and difficulties of dealing with state educational bureaucracies.
It's been a real eye-opener.

John

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