Lesson 7: Why is Grammar an Essential Element of Education?
-we use our minds and we think about things–through language
-if you don’t understand language, then we’re not going to be able to understand concepts and ideas and principles in other areas of study, not just language but mathematics and history and art, and all other areas of study
-if you don’t understand language and we don’t have the ability to communicate using that language then we are going to be limited in our ability to understand the world around us
History (when, why, and how)
-from antiquity to the late 1800s
-representations of learning and teaching and learning and schooling
-certain subjects that were important in the academy
-one of the liberal arts, going back all the way to antiquity, was grammar
Garden of Delights: it was a text compiled by a lady named Herrad of Landsberg
-she was a nun in a convent in the 1100s
-her job was to compile information of the day in order to teach the young ladies who were coming into the convent
-the outside of the wheel of learning are the seven liberal arts
-Noon = grammar
-all classical seven liberal arts are represented as human characters, as they are holding and using the tools of their art
-Noon = grammar
-Clockwise = rhetoric, logic, music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy
-students had to acquire all seven to move up to higher education
The Liberal Arts, compiled or painted by Francesco Pesellino
-this is a hallway with the seven liberal arts listed at the top
-the humans are sitting holding their tools of the trade
-from left to right: arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy, logic, and then grammar
-they are all holding these tools and practicing their art
-in front of them, there students who are being taught by the arts and practicing the art being taught
-notice that under all the arts are older bearded men, but the last one on the right has a youth practicing the art and what looks like curious children peering in
-notice the posture of the rest of the liberal arts, they’re staring off or staring at their tools
-notice grammar and the direction of her head which is leaning right and she is also looking right where two small characters are standing in the doorway/archway
-the archway is the entrance to the hall of learning
-one child is stepping in and looking up at grammar
-grammar is turned towards the young students
-unlike the other arts, grammar is making eye contact with the child
-in the painting, the first person the child would encounter is grammar
-it highlights that grammar is first in education, the first thing a student must master before being able to move on to the other arts: rhetoric, logic, etc…..
The seal of the University of Pennsylvania from 1984
-Name of University
-Sine Moribus Vane
-stack of texts (textbooks)
-on those textbooks are the names of the studies (subject areas)
-the widest text is the foundation of the stack is grammar and then each book builds up
-the foundation of education begins with grammar
-History of grammar in the United States going back to antiquity:
-prior to the end of 1800s, students needed a classical, a traditional education, where students would study things because they were worth being studied
-the progressive movement being inserted in educational practices
-John Dewey was writing his text that had great influence
When should English grammar be taught on people at Teachers College
-progressive movement: this idea of making education as practical and as useful as it could possibly be
-as a result, modifications were made to the curriculum and particular subjects were pushed out of the curriculum
-grammar today is not seen as being practical
-higher mathematics, Latin, and even some arithmetic because it wasn’t seen as useful
***leaders in the education movement removing subjects and redefining practical education were not those same people teaching in the classroom
-teachers tried to hold on to the grammatical instruction for decades
-pressure from the top worked its way down and grammar lost its prominent role within an American education
-the study of grammar began to lose its place in terms of quality education
-Molroy states in his book that we need to recover this in American education
***not having the grammar instruction will be at a real disadvantage because understanding of our language is critical for us to understand any kind of subject, whether it be math, history, art, etc…
When should we teach English grammar:
-grammar should be taught at the beginning of schooling
-grammar is an introductory art
-grammar should be taught as soon as children learn how to read
-students need to acquire and understanding of grammar, but after reading instruction
-prior to kindergarten students should be spending lots of time experiencing language, hearing the sounds of language, encountering and naming letters and to read text
***Priority of kindergarten-2nd grade: they need to focus on being able to decode text
3rd grade +: should be fluent in reading and continue to develop higher level reading and comprehension skills
Critical Age:
Grades 3-6: introduce English grammar (language arts instruction)
-children’s minds are still receptive to language
***Puberty: kids lose some ability to acquire language like they could have a young children
How we should teach English grammar
Why should students learn about the structure of language:
-because it is foundational to everything else
-because we think and learn through language
-understanding of how words work with each other within the language
The War Against Grammar by David Mulroy
-college professor asking the question of why kids were coming into college not knowing grammar, specifically of their native language, of English grammar
-he studied the role grammar has played in education and answer the question of what happened to grammar instruction in the United States
-the purpose for studying and learning and understanding grammar is to preservice, revive an appreciation of literary classics
-if we have an understanding of our language then it connects us back to our heritage
-to connect to the great tradition of learning
-ability in language gives us access to those ideas in the past but also pointing ahead
-it creates future eloquence so we learn grammar because of the past
“From antiquity to the [late 1800s], grammar was introduced to children in the beginning of their schooling, as soon as they learned how to read, and it remained a central concern for several years. It was a foundation….that was built carefully and gradually in the still-receptive minds of relatively young pupils.”
How should we teach students to understand how grammar world:
-we should teach students grammar carefully
-we must be intentional when teaching students
-in schools today, grammar is often taught implicity
-it is important to teach students how to write, but if we need to teach grammar we will just add it on top of a composition (almost like an add-on)
-or we give students enough grammar so they can improve their writing and do not address it any more
-we need to slow down and give grammar the attention that it needs
-teach kids grammar so it will apply to student’s ability to read and write
-teach kids grammar gradually
-problem when grammar is taught too quickly
-it is a central concern that grammar is only taught 1 semester but should be taught over several years
-understanding of grammar to seep into the student’s mind and be able to have a legitimate understanding of actually how the language works
Methods of teaching English grammar (curriculum and teaching techniques)
4 essential to a quality English grammar curriculum
1-terms: the definitions should be accurate and easy to memorize
Ex. elementary: create rhymes or songs
-we use vocabulary almost as a shortcut so we don’t have to explain the concept, so we can name things and label things
2-analysis: look at language as a whole-what words are doing in the statements and how the words are interconnected to each other (relationships)
Ex. Marks technique (diagram the sentence)
Ex. Reed & Kellogg Diagram: late 1800s two linguists developed way to represent the language without doing the marking (diagraming the sentence)
Ex. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Ex. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Amendment II, U.S. Constitution
3-editing: taking language and moving the parts of the language around or taking existing language and trying to find errors in it
Ex. give students with statements with errors and see if they can find them
I held the trunk tightly in my hands (tightly is an adverb so is correct)
I held the trunk tight in my hangs (tight is an adjective so this one is incorrect)
Ex. students can transform sentences (meaning is same, but sentence structure changes, but is missing punctuation
In my hands I held the trunk tightly (needs comma between hand, I incorrect)
In my hands, I held the trunk tightly (has a comma, pause/breathe between thoughts, correct)
**when students play with language then their sentences are not always the same structure.
4-exposure to rich language
-give kids examples of quality language (this is much more implicit approach)
-reading aloud to students from great literature
-not analyzing it but allowing them to experience the language
-understanding of language grows by memorizing language
Ex. great speeches, great poetry,
-having that language in their minds
-to be able to memorize, recite, and review
-patterns of language in both explicit and implicit ways