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    Controversy of Teaching Grammar

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    Ganesh Shangkar
    There has been an ongoing controversy since the 1960s over whether grammar should be taught traditionally through prescriptive rules and drills or descriptively through immersion in reading and writing. Prescriptive grammar was the norm until theories of descriptive grammar gained popularity in the 1980s, emphasizing acquiring grammar naturally. However, declining test scores led to arguments that prescriptive grammar better prepares students. Both approaches have benefits and drawbacks, and the debate continues over the most effective way to teach grammar.

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    Controversy of Teaching Grammar

    Uploaded by

    Ganesh Shangkar
    170 views3 pages
    There has been an ongoing controversy since the 1960s over whether grammar should be taught traditionally through prescriptive rules and drills or descriptively through immersion in reading and writing. Prescriptive grammar was the norm until theories of descriptive grammar gained popularity in the 1980s, emphasizing acquiring grammar naturally. However, declining test scores led to arguments that prescriptive grammar better prepares students. Both approaches have benefits and drawbacks, and the debate continues over the most effective way to teach grammar.

    Original Description:

    Problems faced by teaching grammer

    Original Title

    Article 1 (Issues)

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    There has been an ongoing controversy since the 1960s over whether grammar should be taught traditionally through prescriptive rules and drills or descriptively through immersion in reading and writing. Prescriptive grammar was the norm until theories of descriptive grammar gained popularity in the 1980s, emphasizing acquiring grammar naturally. However, declining test scores led to arguments that prescriptive grammar better prepares students. Both approaches have benefits and drawbacks, and the debate continues over the most effective way to teach grammar.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    170 views3 pages

    Controversy of Teaching Grammar

    Uploaded by

    Ganesh Shangkar
    There has been an ongoing controversy since the 1960s over whether grammar should be taught traditionally through prescriptive rules and drills or descriptively through immersion in reading and writing. Prescriptive grammar was the norm until theories of descriptive grammar gained popularity in the 1980s, emphasizing acquiring grammar naturally. However, declining test scores led to arguments that prescriptive grammar better prepares students. Both approaches have benefits and drawbacks, and the debate continues over the most effective way to teach grammar.

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    http://education.yourdictionary.com/for-teachers/Controversy-of-Teaching-Grammar.

    html

    (THIS ONE IS FOR THE ISSUE)

    Controversy of Teaching
    Grammar
    Since the 1960’s, controversy has raged among English language
    arts teachers over the advantages and disadvantages of teaching
    grammar. The controversy of teaching grammar continues to this
    day, with one side holding a ‘back to basics’ approach and favoring
    a return to learning grammar the traditional way and those who
    favor the idea that students acquire grammar by reading and
    writing. Is one side right, and the other side wrong? Or do both sides
    each contain a little bit of the truth?

    The Origin of the Controversy


    Prescriptive, or traditional school grammar, was the norm in
    classrooms up in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Students who attended
    school before the 1960’s may recall endless hours of memorizing
    grammatical terms, completing worksheets, and diagramming
    sentences. Prescriptive grammar emphasizes learning the proper
    terms for grammatical elements, such as nouns, verbs, adverbs, and
    adjectives. Prescriptive grammar also emphasizes learning the many
    rules of English grammar. Students learn the right and wrong ways
    to write sentences and are encourages to write and rewrite.
    Some educators began wondering if grammar could be taught
    another way. The theories and research of linguist Noam Chomsky
    propelled English language arts instruction in new directions as
    educators assumed that students were born with an innate feel for
    the grammar rules of their native tongue. A form of grammar
    instruction called descriptive or transformational grammar took
    shape and by the 1980’s and 1990’s, most schools taught a form of
    descriptive grammar. To accommodate the growing interest in
    descriptive grammar, textbook publishers focused their books on
    this new method of learning grammar. It dovetailed nicely with the
    whole language movement too, also popular in the 1980’s, which
    theorized that students could learn spelling and pronunciation in
    context. Both the whole language method and descriptive grammar
    instruction focused on encouraging students to read and write freely
    ‘naturally’ to acquire and demonstrate linguistic skills. Students are
    encouraged to read privately during class or read along with the
    teacher during group instruction. Free writing periods or portions of
    class time encourage free expression and creativity. The underlying
    philosophy is that students have already acquired grammatical skills
    by acquiring language skills, that is, by learning their native tongue
    they have also absorbed the appropriate grammatical structure and
    can express it through free writing. Drills, worksheets and grammar
    tests are discouraged.

    The Pros and Cons of Teaching Grammar


    As whole language reading instruction and concepts such as
    descriptive grammar became more the norm, researchers noted a
    correlation between the decline in teaching traditional grammar and
    a decline in standardized test scores. Many assumed a direct link
    between the two, and attributed students’ lax approach to grammar
    and poor writing skills to the newfangled theories now entrenched in
    the classroom. Strong negative reaction from parents, alarmed at
    their children’s poor writing skills, as well as calls from government
    for a ‘back to basics’ approach to education are creating a strong
    push back towards prescriptive grammar. Teachers, however, insist
    that some points of descriptive grammar are beneficial. Many
    concepts from the descriptive grammar approach, such as plenty of
    reading time and read-aloud time with an instructor, encourage a
    love of learning and literature that doesn’t happen with prescriptive
    grammar instruction.

    Whether you believe in the traditional, prescriptive approach or


    favor the descriptive approach, teaching grammar continues to be
    controversial.

    Prescriptive Grammar Teaching: Pros


     Grammar is the language used to describe language. Just as
    we ask biology students to learn anatomy and anatomical terms so
    that they can describe biological processes, so we must ask
    students to learn the proper terms to describe language.
     Knowledge of one’s native grammar facilitates learning other
    languages.
     Traditional grammar instruction creates better writers.
    Prescriptive Grammar Teaching: Cons
     Teaching grammar divorced from reading and writing creates a
    fractured, disjointed approach that does not improve reading and
    writing.
     Grammar is boring and students rebel against learning it.
     Many techniques used to teach grammar create an artificial
    sense that students are learning. Practice drills, for example, are
    often too easy. Diagramming sentences has little relevance to using
    grammar effectively.
    Descriptive Grammar: Pros
     Engages students
     Can be easily incorporated into the teaching day
     Prepares students by using real-world texts and writing
    practices
    Descriptive Grammar: Cons
     Students test scores and writing skills have dramatically
    declined since the introduction of descriptive grammar
     Does not provide students with the language they need to
    describe writing
     Makes it more difficult for students to understand why a
    sentence should be written, or even recognize the necessity of
    revision.

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