I found this essay to go against how I feel grammar should be taught and its importance in the classroom. First of all, I do not believe that grammar is used for power and opportunity and that 'correct grammar' is used to oppress those who do not use it. That's ridiculous. We have grammar standard so that everyone who speaks English knows how to interpret writing so they can all understand it, not so we can ridicule those who use African American Vernacular English. If I wrote formal papers using country slang and someone else wrote his paper using ebonics, there would be no standard for grading them or pulling any kind of useful meaning out of them. Also, I notice grammar errors in textbooks and novels as well in student work, perhaps even more so because I expect them to be perfect. Idiots.
I was excited to get to the part where they would talk about "improving the world" as they promised on the first page they would do, but it appears to be nowhere in this essay. Liars.
The little 'some might say/ we say' interjections are silly and distracting, as well as being incorrect as far as I have seen. For example, "Some might say: Students who make grammar errors are lazy." Really? Who says this? I am sure most people would say that they make errors because they are not proficient at grammar and usage, but I don't know anyone who would call someone lazy for making a mistake!
I also agree with the point they argue against that students need to know grammar rules before they can break them. Successful authors don't use sentence fragments because they don't know any better, they do it for style and effect, and I seriously doubt they would write the same way for a formal essay. Therefore students must first learn the rules of grammar and usage so they will know how to experiment with them in their own writing.
Why do they seem to be complaining about people debating grammar on the first page and then suggest it as an idea for students in the classroom? Having the class blow up into a fight over commas and apostrophes does not sound fun to me. Hypocrites.
All of the ideas they suggest seem like things students should do after they have learned grammar, rather than do instead of traditional grammar. I would much rather have read a grammar handbook from cover to cover than read this article.
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1 comment:
Woo hoo! You go! I enjoyed reading your opinion and when you added just the one word, cynical epithets after each section. It showed your opinion clearly and made for an interesting--dare I say fun--reading experience. By the way, I had much the same reaction as you did to this article. :)
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