Grammatical errors, wrong verbs, punctuation, and many more problems arise when trying to write a paper. How many times has someone wondered in class if their teacher is not making this stuff up? Well, that question and many more questions have arised in the article, Watch Your Language: Teaching Standard Usage to Reistant and Reluctant Learners. The author, Mark Larson like many others had difficultly learning the basic rules and regulations of grammer when he was a student. Eventually, these struggles landed him into a remedial English class entitled "Hurdles"; here he was able to do countless hours of paper work which would remind him of the rules used in our everyday language. Now, a teacher himself, he has started to investigate the "rules" that have been dictated to not only himself but countless others.
In his search he questions why "Its a crime to end a sentence with a preposition?" Early on we read that these rules were forced upon us when England became the center of power. So language became a tool to lord over everyone. Bad grammar was a device to show someone's rank on the social scale. Using good grammar only enforced that, that person was well educated, distinguised and an upright citizen.
Later on in the article, we find that the reasons students are so inept to learn the "right way" to use grammar comes from an inability to cross a certain line. For some students, language is something that is cultural and passed down. Some students won't step up and try to speak correctly because its not "cool." Language is a social identity and to some students its a trap for being a social outcast. "Without a rational examination of what a standard language is, how it develops, and the ways in which it can be misapplied, we end up with the problem Jenny Cook-Gumperz and John Gumperz have identified: that "theories of educatability'- the basis for judgements about who can or should learn what-' are often built around small linguistic features." What Mr. Larson is trying to point out is, the inablity to learn language can come from something as small as our background. Language identifys our differences in society and culture.
However, he is not trying to say that anything goes, each of us should understand grammar and language in order to use our ablities to their very best. Once we can get students to "watch their language" this could open up doors for them to learn these skills without the humiliation of being in other classrooms trying to jump over "hurdles" that are long forgotten when they are older. The students ability to read articles and books while observing language and grammar patterns will only further their own ability to write and speak well.
There are a few tools that need to be used in the classroom that should help in understanding grammar. The first rule: Support the language each student brings to school. Students who bring their own slang and cultural language will only further help other students by explaning to them what they are saying. They know the rules already, why not help other students in understanding? This could create a class discussion and interest in the uses of grammar throughout any slang. Also, creating questions in the minds of the students; "Why do I make the choices I make when I speak, when I write?" These questions will lead to other significant changes in their writing and speaking styles. Because they will only change with the group of people they are around. Students will be able to modify their language in any situation that is presented.
The second rule: Provide them with input from an additional code. This means providing them with editorials, short fiction, or segments of books. This will only hlep them to see more examples of writing done well. Providing them with a basis of which to start their own writing process. The third and final rule: Give them opportunities to use the new code in a non-threatening way, real communicative context. This meaning, using their grammatical tools to be effective. Making correct chocies when speaking or writing for a varitey of audiences or people. Mr. Larson speaks of the Rodney King verdict; in his class many students used colorful language in which to express their feelings. However, once they realized that these letters would go to Corretta Scott King, each student was more than will to re-write a version of their paper in which it showed off their writing skills.
In conclusion, as teachers all we really want is a student to communicate to you what they want you to see. "Ultimately, writing is not about commas carefully placed or infinitives unsplit; rather, it is as Anne Lamott (1994) says, 'About our need to be visible, to be heard, our need to make senest of our lives, to wake up and grow and belong."
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3 comments:
While I agree with the idea of allowing students to write how they speak, this article raises concerns of losing the fundamentals of English, the rules on which our language was built.
I've often found myself wondering the same things as the author of the article: Why can't a sentence end in a preposition? What's wrong with a contraction? And why can't I begin a sentence with a conjunction?
I've decided that as a teacher, it is ok to bend the rules of English under one condition: students must first KNOW the rules before they can bend them. This will help ease some of the stress of twriting by allowing students to write in the same manner they speak, but it also reinforces the traditional rules of English by sending up a red flag each time they knowingly break a rule. (ie: And then we went to sleep. RED FLAG: don't start a sentence with a conjunction; what is a conjunction? a word that...etc.)
In utilizing this teaching style, one could hope to achieve linguistic equality throughout the classroom, regardless of what dialect or language style is spoken among students. However, it also builds students' repertoirs of traditional English grammar rules.
I definitely agree with that comment. As I was reading the article I was able to see how the language changes so much and how easy it is to change it yourself, and most changes are acceptable. However, the language has a basis from which it was created, and in order to make the changes the feel necessary and acceptable, one needs to learn the language themselves. The English language is very complicated and is difficult to learn, but if we don't keep teaching the original language, then eventually it will evolve into something else...could be jibberish.
Yes I also agree with the first comment, but we also should write the english langauge as it was supsose to be spoken and writen. Many people that I know do not write like they speak because it is just natural to them and also natural to me to write correclty instead of writing the way people speak. If I did that I would not have made in english classes at all. So I think we should know the language if we dont speak it right atleast write it the right way.
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