Thoughts About Teaching Of Language And The Place of Grammar

Balance is a useful thing to have

Lots of experience with good speakers and writing is another

Do you want to discuss this article? Please visit Chat11 to comment on this article.

The designers of the SAT are changing how their test works. One of the core issues to the change is the fact that in recent years grammar is not being taught in the schools. This is at the core of the debate about many of the changes they want to make. Some schools are going back to grammar just in case the new questions in 2005, (which aren't even finished), rely too much on terms of art. The new SAT threatens to introduce lots of terms of art in mathematics and language. There is also an intense debate about questions that depend on cultural knowledge.

How many of the grammar advocates have children and demanded their 1 year old learn grammar rules before allowing them to speak? You don't teach a child crazy rules, you teach them through example. Later, someday maybe, connect the rules with what has become second nature.... It is for this reason I've always been against doing "baby talk" to babies. I believe it is a leading cause of speech impediments later in life. The need to hear good normal correct speech from day one.

When I was in eigth grade, I already tested as having a university graduate level of reading. When I took Latin in 9th grade, the course was entirely based on grammar. I flunked it miserably. The Latin class was taught entirely based on grammar terms that I didn't know. I received very high grades in English, especially in composition and spelling, but teaching Latin solely by focus on grammar made it nearly impossible for me. Of course Latin is also a very different language than English. Whereas English depends a lot on word order to determine the meaning of words and their function in a sentence, Latin uses word endings almost exclusively to do the same function. As long as the endings are right, word order in Latin is much more fluid, or at least that is how we think. There aren't many native Latin speakers around anymore to set us straight.

Also it seems to me we spent all our time learning how to say useless things like "The slaves are marching to Rome over the roads that the chariots drive on." Or, as an Urdu course taught, "The farmer is in the fields with the sick bulls." I don't think we ever learned how to say something like "Hello!", or "Thank You."

The latest techniques for teaching foreign language seem to have thrown out starting with the old hard bound book with 50 chapters of grammar, in favor of a listening approach focused more on useful phrases, more like Berlitz. The military's Defense Language Institute here in Monterrey uses an immersion approach based on intense exposure to the language. I enjoy the old War Department language guides, when I can find them, my favorite was a 1940's Russian/English phrasing dictionary that has disappeared from my collection in the past few years. I still have some of their advanced Russian readers that teach Russian through Russian media stories, along with questions to measure comprehension. But I do also have a large collection of the old style 50-chapter grammar books for the languages that I want to learn, they will help me fill in some literacy gaps once I am experienced with the languages. I enjoy looking for new language books, and I buy many more of them than I will ever actually read. I recently bought a Russian Bible just for fun and to compare with my Bulgarian Bible.

Probably the best way to learn grammar is the same way children automatically learn it: Through lots and lots of exposure to actual use of the language by people who know the language well. Translation: Do lots of reading of good material. Focus too much on poetry, and you'll sound like a poet. Focus too much on scientific literature, and you'll probably write giant run on sentences. Following this, there should be exposure to a minimal number of concepts to teach clear meaning. Exposure to simpler authors such as Assimov, or Mims, will cure a bad case of run-on technospeak. A few rules like how to use commas, will supply needed essentials for writing.

I've learned a small amount of everyday Russian and Bulgarian, (more than I ever learned in Latin or Spanish classes) and can speak about the differences between them. I did this mostly by listening to native speakers, and spending lots of time figuring out how to use a dictionary to word by word translate things that I had an interest in. I've actually been able to make corrections to the translations of experienced translators. Another side note: I didn't have much chance to learn those languages from the natives, the ones who knew enough English were much too intent on taking advantage of a chance to practice their English with a native speaker. Much more so than many of the bilingual advocates and immigrants seem to be in this country, but I digress too far into politics with that remark...

I'm sure the older schooled people here will swear by phonics as well as grammar. A friend of mine did her masters thesis on the dangers of phonics. Fortunately she's been a teacher for 20 years, and does know how to use the phonics in her teaching. She does have a point though when she uses as an example of phonics not working for children, those who try to read "Fah-ah-are-muh", and never make the connection with a place where crops and cattle are raised.

Then there is whole language approach, which is the opposite end of the spectrum, and was once summed up for me by another teacher as "Just get the kids to write, anything, anything at all, worry about spelling and grammar later after they learn to not fear the pencil, and learn to scribble anything they think up whether they know how to write it or not." I took a short look at what kids were doing with this, and decided that it was a cesspool in general.

The proper way to teach language is somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. A grammar book will not a writer make.

More practical language, grammar, and writing tips from my experience

Do you want to discuss this article? Please visit Chat11 to comment on this article.

Quote of the day:

Voice on the phone: "Hello you've reach the Navy's automated phone service..."
SpongeBob: "AAAAAAH! Squidward! The robots have taken over the Navy!!!!"