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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? For
the next two class sessions you will work on establishing your position
on the "grammar issue."
Before Class
- Read Hartwell, "Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar" NBCS [563-585]
- Read Micciche, "Making a Case for Rhetorical Grammar" [BB]
- Submit Semester Syllabus with Rationale to the instructor as a hard copy at the beginning of class.
FreeWrite
Answer the following questions in "Week 12" thread of the Blackboard Discussion Board. You have the first ten minutes of class.
How important is the teaching grammar to the teaching of writing? Explain.
Discussion: Just a Piece of the Larger Puzzle
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.
- How have you decided to address grammar in the writing course you designed? How might Hartwell and/or Micciche talk about your pedagogy?
- What questions or comments do you have about these articles?
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. You will have twenty minutes. Be prepared to discuss the decisions you made and why you made them.