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January 2004

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Subject:
From:
Teresa M Francis <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 4 Jan 2004 03:10:01 -0500
Content-Type:
text/plain
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Dear Mr. Vavra,

This group is helpful to me as a new English teacher and I enjoy the
discussions, "irregardless" of  their length.  (Said that to cause nineteen
more pages.)

Teresa
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Edward Vavra" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, January 02, 2004 5:07 PM
Subject: Thank you for responses to "Clause question"


     I think it was Bruce who wondered if, whenever I ask a question on this
list, it is a trick. The answer to that is no, but my real purpose is to
reconfirm my belief that this group is not very helpful. I'm trying to catch
up on the mail, so I copied and pasted the responses to my question into an
html document. It's printing right now ¯ 19 pages worth. That is, more or
less, what I expected, but then I read Teresa's question about the student
who claims that grammar is "stupid."
      At the risk of being thrown off this list, did anyone consider whom I
had in mind when I named my approach to grammar "KISS"? What is a
non-grammarian going to do with 19 pages of discussion of one relatively
simple sentence? And don't forget that many of the responses are based on
linguistic theories that are totally Greek to most parents and teachers.
They would have to take at least one, if not more courses in that type of
grammar before they could really begin to understand what some of the
responders had to say.
       What I continue to find on this list is endless discussions of
definitions and the explanations of specific, single sentences. It is no
wonder that people such as Theresa's student find grammar to be stupid. The
KISS Approach is probably not the best answer to the fundamental problem,
but at least it addresses what K-college teachers (and parents) want to
know, including the integration of grammar with writing, reading, and
literature. See:
http://home.pct.edu/~evavra/kiss/wb/New.htm
Thanks for the responses,
Ed

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