Grammar and the Teaching of Writing: Limits and PossiblilitiesIntended for practitioners, this study has three principal aims: (1) to reduce the breadth of formal grammar instruction by first locating those areas where grammar and writing overlap and then identifying those kinds of writing problems most amenable to treatment with a grammar-based approach; (2) to decrease the classroom hours spent on formal grammar instruction by showing how to capitalize on the already acquired yet unconscious knowledge that all native writers have of their language; and (3) to make this streamlined "writer's grammar" more productive by showing how to integrate it with style, content, and organization. The book is directed toward teachers of writing who, to varying degrees, struggle with the unwieldy partnership of grammar and writing. Chapters 1 and 2 serve to examine some probable reasons why grammar instruction has failed to improve writing quality, to delimit radically the scope of grammar instruction, and to identify specific areas where a knowledge of a minimal set of grammatical categories might be of help. Chapters 3 and 4 focus on the use of native-speaker abilities in place of formal grammar instruction to treat certain kinds of sentence-level writing problems. Chapter 5 suggests a promising way to integrate the diminished focus on grammar with style, content, and organization. Finally, chapter 6 summarizes several pragmatic paradoxes that currently beset grammar instruction in the schools. (MG) |
Contents
The Basics of a Writers Grammar | 59 |
Runons Comma Splices and NativeSpeaker Abilities | 67 |
Fragments and Beyond | 84 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
ability approach area of style auxiliary verb believe the idea boundary errors classroom comma splices Connors and Lunsford content and organization corresponding tag question essay example field hockey formal grammar instruction formal instruction frequently genuine sentences given information given-new concept grammatical categories Hairston's identify improving writing independent clause instruction in grammar junior varsity program kinds of stylistic lack language linguistic Los Angeles Dodgers main verb major forest fire marking sentence boundaries meaning minimal set Minnesota Twins native speakers native writers nonrestrictive nonsentence sequences nonstandard noun phrase Oakland Athletics occur personal pronoun predicate preposition presentence modifiers punctuation relative clauses run-ons and comma semantic sentence fragments sentence or independent speakers of English speech stylistic errors subject-verb agreement syntax tacit knowledge tag and yes-no teachers Tommy to pass underlying knowledge usage errors word writing improvement writing instruction writing problems writing quality written discourse yes-no question formation
References to this book
Language Exploration and Awareness: A Resource Book for Teachers Larry Andrews No preview available - 2006 |