Teaching Grammar Understanding and Implementing Classroom Teaching Strategies

Teaching Grammar Understanding and Implementing Classroom Teaching Strategies Diana Calhoun Bell Tutor Training Friday, January 7, 2011 University of Alabama in Huntsville

Definitions of Grammar 1. 2. 3. 4. Language acquisition Linguistic School-based Usage Patrick Hartwell

Language Acquisition: Grammar in our Heads n Language as an internalized set of language rules that enable us to create and utter spoken language.

Example: n French the young girls four

Linguistic n Grammar as a field of inquiry or branch of the social science of linguistics that investigates the way languages work.

Common School Grammar n Isolated “formal” grammar as presented in school textbooks, through worksheets and “DOL’s. ”

Usage n Grammar as a set of usage conventions that govern written and/or spoken discourse.

Grammar “Problem” 1 n Those who complain about grammar in student writing typically believe that students have inadequate or defective grammar as in definition 1. But, all humans have full control of the grammar they use everyday.

Grammar “Problem” 2 n Those who complain about grammar sometimes have in mind correctness of form or observation of rules. However, usage conventions vary with the writing situation. What “counts” as appropriate style or correct grammar is different based on the context.

Myth of Transience n “The ‘crisis’ in writing is a temporary aberration caused by the collapse of academic values, usually blamed on societal downfall (television, overcrowded schools, break-up of the family, etc)” Mike Rose

Misinformed Solutions n Hire specialists to train students so that teachers and scholars can teach content without the “distraction” of writing problems. n Force mastery of writing skills through proficiency exams or skills worksheets, then move on to the real business of education.

Dispelling the Myth n Usage conventions have little to do with logic or linguistic meaning. n Writing conventions are essentially arbitrary and have more to do with class distinction, ethnic difference, education level and professional field than they do with effective communication.

Formal Instruction n It is important to remember that formal grammar instruction, whether scientific or rule-based, has little to do with students’ ability to control of features.

Research in Teaching Grammar 1. Grammar develops as a learned behavior, not a performance skill 2. Grammar acquisition is part of the whole learning process, not a skill to be developed prior to learning

Research in Teaching Grammar (cont) 3. Writing conventions are learned the same way speech is acquired, by practice over time. 4. The place to teach grammar is in the context of usage.

Research in Teaching Grammar (cont) 5. Every student can learn grammar usage by writing for an audience who can discuss disciplinary convention issues during the writing process. 6. No one ever “masters” grammar usage once and for all.

Teaching Strategy: Step 1 Isolate a usage issue n Significance n Frequency n Student concern

Teaching Strategy: Step 2 Explain standard usage convention n Terminology n Context

Teaching Strategy: Step 3 Identify usage issue n Examples of issue n Teacher identification n Student identification

Teaching Strategy: Step 4 Suggest revision possibilities n Student example n Multiple strategies for revision n Student directed revision

Teaching Strategy: Step 5 Continue student directed usage revision n Student identification n Student revision decisions

Teaching Strategy: Step 6 Identify resources for future questions n Handbooks n Online resources

“We need teachers who will respect and respond to [their] students, not for what they have done, but for what they may do; not for what they have produced, but for what they may produce, if they are given an opportunity to see writing as a process, not a product. ” Donald Murray

Feedback Rubric: Student Essay n GLOBAL n LOCAL n EDITING AND PROOFREADING

Importance of Feedback n Discuss how grammar plays a role in the larger goal of rhetorical communication. n Have students understand the PURPOSE of the writing assignment. n Engage in dialogue with students about writing.

References Hartwell, Patrick. “Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar. ” College English 47. 2 (February 1895): 105 -27. Murray, Donald. Teach Writing as a Process, not a Product. New England Association of Teachers of English Convention. November 1972. Rose, Mike. “The Language of Exclusion: Writing Instruction at the University. ” College English 47. 4 (April 1985): 341 -59. Shaughnessy, Mina P. “Diving In: An Introduction to Basic Writing. ” College Composition and Communication 27. 3 (October 1976): 234 -39. Sommers, Nancy. Across the Drafts: Students and Teachers Talk about Feedback. Produced by the Harvard University, 2005.