Grammar Wars

Grammar Wars

            Okay, so this is getting just a bit ridiculous – decades ago, we found a more effective way to think about and teach writing; a HUNDRED years ago, we found that teaching grammar (as most of us know it) is wasted time and far more frustrating than need be. YET, we continue to disservice our students and bang our heads off brick walls wondering why they didn’t get it, even though we spent weeks and weeks teaching them the grammatical concepts and writing skills they should have mastered in elementary school. What is the deal? A few weeks ago we compared teaching to medicine. If a doctor continued to prescribe an obsolete drug for a life threatening condition, despite decades, or even a century, of trials and research to the contrary, what would happen to that doctor? Would he/she not be called upon to answer to someone and be expected to get with the program or get out of the practice? So often I gripe and complain about the testing, the standardization, the loss of autonomy currently transforming the field of education. Yet, week after week, reading after reading, I ask myself how we as a profession can be allowed such inaction at such substantial cost to our students and our society.

            I have been fighting the “Grammar War” in my own school since I began teaching. I do not by any means suggest I know the best methods for teaching what our students need to be/come literate, functioning, contributing members of our increasingly global society, but I do know that for many students, in many schools, the disservice being done them boils down to being a matter of teacher choice and teacher preference. Teachers who have done the same thing for umpteen years and who have little or no desire to even try something new or different, are given free rein to continue practicing the same way they did when they entered the profession or ceased professional development. And to boot, their experience often automatically deems them valuable and knowledgeable, so they often end up mentoring and having a profound influence on naïve and inexperienced new members of the profession. It’s a vicious cycle. How do we end it?

            The rant being over, I must say, I enjoyed the readings again this week. The historical background offered by Connors and Hartwell were particularly interesting and informative. Hartwell’s discussion of Francis’ grammars (and more) was an excellent organizer for thinking about and discussing grammar with others. And Hartwell’s piece really left so little to be argued, or at least I think so. I can think of a few members of my department who I am certain could find fault. I was really interested in the notion of metalinguistic awareness and metacognition. I use some strategies (writer’s memo and reflections) to encourage this in my students, but feel as though I need more (in number), and more specific, strategies to use in the classroom. All in all, I would say the readings, and my subsequent thoughts regarding the many issues touched upon (literacy, class, etc.), have added much to my personal arsenal of Grammar Wars weaponry. I now feel much more prepared to engage in this critical dialogue.  (I’ll just have to try to handle my impatience and frustration at the fact that this conversation was, as Hartwell put it, decided over a decade ago!)

I apologize for the late post. I just moved this past week and my internet is not yet up - had to wait until I got to work to access. Thanks!