Composition: History & Theory: 1950 - 1959
English Journal, Volume 47, No.3: March 1958
Description
CONTENTS
This volume of English Journal is titled Growing Pains in Grammar. The Teacher and the World of English (Henry Lee Smith): This article was particularly interesting because it seems to echo some of the current ideas about writing instruction. Approaching the topic with both an English and linguistic eye, Henry Lee Smith, Jr. argues that there is a difference between written language and spoken language and that students should not be taught to write as they speak or speak as they write. Instead, “the failure to see and to understand the distinction between standard colloquial speech and the literary language” is what teachers have been failing to impart on their students (183). Due to traditional grammar being imposed in writing and also in speech, Smith argues that it has “inject[ed] into our population a sort of mild schizophrenia which has produced many afraid to talk and totally unable to write” (183). Teachers should therefore attempt to teach both colloquial language and literary language in the classroom to “instill an appreciation and understanding of the language” (184). Smith also argues that effective pedagogy in this area centers on a basic knowledge of linguistic structure. Can Traditional Grammar Be Modernized? (David A. Conlin): David A. Conlin seems to be responding to Smith’s approach by offering the idea that “traditional grammar should be ‘revised,’ rather than supplanted, by application of principles from structural linguistics” (189). Grammar seems to puzzle teachers because traditionally by “teaching grammar he [thought he] was helping his students to write better” (189). However, Conlin suggests taking a look at definitions in grammar that are often subjective and elusive. In bringing grammar up to date, Conlin argues that “we have a major operation to perform, and the patient is already very sick” (194). Words, Meanings, Literacy, and Grammar (Ralph B. Long): Within this article, Ralph B. Long seems to reiterate some of the points that Conlin makes by stating that “English departments of the colleges and the universities have shown little interest in the grammar of the living language” (195). However, after this statement Long seems to attack New Linguists for their approach to the issue of grammar. He states that “the conflict between New Linguists and traditionalist grammarians does not center around matters of divided usage: it centers around analysis” (196). In fact, Long makes a case for traditional grammar—accepting the words as the basic unit, watching meaning at every point, and building a system around aspects of the language which appear in the usual written form are all strengths that traditional grammar has that New Linguists are attacking. Grammar’s Not Terminology (R. Donald Cain): Again, there seems to be a modern approach to grammar teaching in this article by R. Donald Cain. Cain states that “a conscientious English teacher can teach a bit of grammar where he believes it is needed, at any school level” (200). One of the prevalent modes of teaching grammar is “functional” grammar, but Cain argues that students might not be prepared or benefit from rigid grammar instruction. The answer to this is teaching students terms that they must learn. However, these terms do not need to be the official terminology, but instead, terms that students can understand. By doing this a teacher doesn’t ignore grammar teaching, but also does not deny students the right to some of the theory of grammar and usage. Improving Sentence Structure (Kellogg W. Hunt): Here, Kellogg W. Hunt argues that it is only recently that we as teachers have begun to see that “the total meaning of a sentence is the sum of its lexical meaning plus its separate structural meaning” (210). Hunt offers practical teaching methods for improving sentence structure so that when reading a paper there are no awkward sentences that require a second reading. The Natural Method of Language Teaching (William D. Baker): William D. Baker seems to be an early supporter of expressivism. He proposes that the natural method of language teaching will accomplish the purpose of “teaching students to express themselves effectively” (212). To accomplish this purpose, Baker states that the grammatical rule method and the scientific linguistics method must be abandoned and rejected. According to Baker, “the teacher’s job…is to help the student create a climate, so that he is able to immerse himself in a world of wholesome language” (215).
ADDITIONAL TITLES: Comma Il Faut – Jacob C. Solovay – Invariably do I shout/ At him who leaves the comma out;/ But I comport myself depressively/ Whenever it is used excessively. (short poem) The World of English: The Profession.; Narcissus – A. Appleton Packard – (short poem); Current English: Grammar and Usage: The Distinction; NCTE Bulletin Board; The Public Arts: and The Irony of America’s Search for a Unique Culture. A recent books section offers new titles in fiction and drama, nonfiction, paperbacks, and junior books. There is also a section titled teaching materials that includes new textbooks.
CONNECTIONS AND REFLECTIONS (Wendy V.)
It’s strange how this journal was written in 1958, because with some of the issues it seems as if it could have been written in 2009. I found a lot of the articles in this journal to be so fascinating that I just couldn’t stop reading. After all, teachers are still wrestling between colloquial English versus Standard English and how to integrate both into the classroom. Also, how to teach grammar is always an issue that is debated.
Date of Upload
3/14/09