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last.updated 6.19.11

Teaching Grammar(s)

Purpose

As Micciche reminds us, you can anticipate sitting on a plane with a stranger who asks what you do for a living, and after you explain that you are an English teacher, the person will inevitably respond, "I guess I better watch my grammar." This situation demonstrates the public perception that the teaching of English, especially writing, is conflated with the teaching of grammar–a perception that has roots in Current Traditional Rhetoric pedagogy. But what exactly do we mean when we evoke the term "grammar"? innate grammatical knowledge? grammatical etiquette? stylistics? And what should we–or better yet, can we–teach in the composition classroom? Today we will define grammar and discuss what can do, cannot do, and should do as writing instructors.

Before Class

• Read Hartwell, "Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar" [College English, 47.2]
• Read Micciche, "Making a Case for Rhetorical Grammar" [BB]
• Read Matsuda, "Let's Face It" [BB]
• Read Troutman, "Whose Voice is it Anyway?" [BB]
• Submit Sample Assignment with rationale to the instructor as a hard copy at the beginning of class

Activity: Evaluating Student Writing

You will be given a sample of student writing with the assignment. Each of you will be given specific context about how you should perceive the piece of writing.

• This writing sample is a rough draft.
• This writing sample is a final draft for the first paper of the semester.
• This writing sample is a final draft for the last paper of the semester.

Consider your assigned context and evaluate the paper accordingly. Then using the readings develop a teaching strategy that you will use to teach this student, and students like this student, how to revise their papers. You will have thirty minutes. Be prepared to discuss the decisions you made and why you made them.

Discussion: What to do

The discussion today will address the following questions:

• How is the way we address oral grammar different than how we address written grammar?
• What are the five grammars that Hartwell describes?
• Which of the five grammars does Micciche's rhetorical grammar respond to?
• How does issues of grammar correspond with the rhetorical appeals?
• Hartwell, in 1985, argues that the grammar debate is over? What is your opinion? Justify your response.
• Why are non-standard productions of English a problem for the academy?
• What is Matsuda's argument? What is Troutman's argument? How are they approaching the issue of language diversity similarly and differently?
• How do the issues that Matsuda and Troutman describe speak to the discussion of teaching grammar rhetorically (Miccichi) and the different definitions of grammar (Hartwell)?
• How have you decided to address grammar in the writing course you designed? How might Hartwell, Micciche, Matsuda and/or Troutman talk about your pedagogy?
• What questions or comments do you have about these articles?