I'll second what Johanna has to say. And that's what I tried to
address in the curriculum that I hope you all are looking at.

However, we still need to address how the teachers themselves are
going to learn all that they need to know. When I taught a
grammar-for-teachers course, I tried to cover all three levels of
grammar--syntax, morphology, and phonology (but with an emphasis on
syntax, of course). But that made for such a crowded course that I
asked for another course--one on syntax and the other on morphology
and phonology. That was approved by the department, but the dean
didn't want to hire anyone to teach a second course.

And even adding a second course omits semantics and the language
aspects of pragmatics, except as they come up in close connection to
grammar.

How can teachers do a good job of teaching vocabulary, dictionary
skills, phonics, and spelling without a broader background in
language? Most can't and don't--is the answer to that rhetorical
question.

Bill

>Hello all,
>
>The list has been unusually quiet! I guess the spring term is just
>starting for many of you. We are already approaching mid-quarter!
>
>Just wanted to share an observation that grew out of an assignment I
>made to my graduate intro linguistics class (degree of MA in
>English). The assignment was a set of questions designed to gauge
>what "lay" people know/think about language. It touched on the areas
>in which the usual myths abound: how children acquire their native
>language, whether one kind of English is better than another, and so
>on. The students were to brainstorm with a few other people to come
>up with answers.
>
>The answers to most of the questions verified the usual myths, but
>the answers to one question struck me above all others: I asked the
>question "What is language made up of?"
>
>The answers to these questions revealed a virtual vacuum. The answer
>in every case was very short, whereas others elicited lists of
>multiple items or short paragraphs. Most listed only words and in
>some cases also sounds; some also mentioned writing (not consider an
>essential part of language by  linguists). A few added "rules", but
>did not attempt to describe what kind of rules or how many.
>
>Yet awareness of the vast knowledge base each human possesses about
>language is the main fundament to debunking most of the myths: (a)
>knowing how complex language is allows us to recognize what a huge
>feat young children of all backgrounds have accomplished; (b)
>knowing this provides the main argument against qualitative
>superiority/inferiority of languages/dialects with respect to each
>other; (c) knowing this enriches one's understanding of varying
>discourse styles for varying situations; (d) knowing this enables
>people to realize that "grammar" is more than just 20 or so rules
>for "getting it right when you write" plus mechanics, that it is
>rather a gigantic resource for shaping meaning in communcation.
>
>Keep in mind that most of these students have an undergraduate
>degree in  "English" and are studying English literature (which is
>made of English language) for their degree.
>
>This, I believe, is a strong argument for restoring teaching about
>language in school, but via a method that does more than deal with
>the rules for "correctness". Over the course of a (good) K-12
>education, children learn about the great complexity of life on
>earth; about the vastness of human history; they learn complex
>mathematics; many learn chemistry and physics. They do not even get
>the equivalent of arithmetic as far as language is concerned. The
>lack of correct information about language leaves them with only the
>flat-earth stock of public "wisdom" about language.
>
>Reading those answers was a very sad moment for me. How much can I
>teach these folks in ten weeks?
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Johanna Rubba   Associate Professor, Linguistics
>English Department, California Polytechnic State University
>One Grand Avenue  * San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
>Tel. (805)-756-2184  *  Fax: (805)-756-6374 * Dept. Phone.  756-2596
>* E-mail: [log in to unmask] *      Home page:
>http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
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