CAMPUS AND AREA
University Daily Kansan, April 4. 1985
Page 10
Educators disagree on usefulness of learning grammar
By RICK ZAPOROWSKI Staff Reporter
A pronoun agrees with its antecedent in person, number and gender, but it takes its case from the clause in which it stands.
Some people question the importance of understanding grammatical principles such as this. Educators agree that teaching students to write well is a priority, but they disagree on whether the knowledge of grammar is helpful.
John Bushman, associate professor of curriculum and instruction, said ample research conducted during the past several years found that students trained in formal English grammar generally did not write better than students without the training.
the training. "The studies show no relationship between the knowledge of formal English grammar and the ability to write and speak more effectively." Bushman said yesterday.
BUT EDWYNA GILBERT, associate professor of curriculum and
instruction and English, said students who wanted to refine their speech and writing needed to be aware of how the language was put together.
together.
"I see grammar as a part of learning the language," she said.
"You have to understand what you're working with. I don't think we can eliminate grammar."
eliminate grammar.
So while children and adults bungle the language with inappropriate word usage, English educators search for the best methods to teach people to speak and write effectively.
One argument, traditionally made by English teachers, is that grammar plays a fundamental part in learning the language, and to ignore it would make one's knowledge of English incomplete.
grammar has virtually no use by itself because people speak and write with ever analyzing the parts of that. That is, they construct proper sentences without referring to particular rules.
English
The group says students must be taught formal grammar. A student must know an adverb from an adjective so he can understand why "write really well" is correct and why "write real good" is incorrect according to grammatical principles.
pies.
AN OPPOSING VIEW argues that
The School of Education has no formal policy on English instruction, Bushman said, leaving the decision to the professors. He said he was the only education instructor now teaching a course in the instruction of English.
"I don't have any confidence in any study that shows there is no connection," she said. "My experience doesn't show that at all. I see a very strong connection between writing ability and grammar."
Det Fambrough, chairman of the Lawrence High School English department, disagreed with the conclusions of the studies.
amity and manliness
BUSHMAN SAID THAT children learned the language by mimicking and that they could speak well without knowing grammar. Children hear appropriate English and form their sentence patterns by listening to it, he said.
He said babies began to communicate using sounds and gurgles, replaced those sounds with familiar words and eventually pieced the words together into sentences.
By the time children enter kindergarten, he said, they know about 90 percent of the language structure, although they never have heard a grammatical term.
"All we have to do when a kid gets to school is help refine what he already knows," he said. "We have to help them hear the alternative. Simply to know what a noun is, or what some grammatical concept is, doesn't matter. When we write, we will not use that information."
BOTH SIDE AGREE that writing and communicating well is the goal, Gilbert said, but she thinks the way to get there is through a large amount of writing supported by grammatical principles.
"What grammar becomes is a means to an end," she said. "The end is effective communication. When grammar becomes the end, then we have a problem."
Fambrough said that ideally, an
incoming sophomore should be able to identify the parts of speech and be able to write a three- to five-paragraph theme. All sophomores at Lawrence High are placed in an English class in which grammar is taught for an entire semester.
"We teach all the formal grammar that would let a student account for every word in a sentence," Fambrough said. "We think the knowledge of one's own language is a pretty basic thing to know."
FAMBROUGH SAID THE grammar taught to sophomores was reinforced through writing and revising during their junior- and senior-year English classes. The students must understand the grammatical reasons for their mistakes, she said, so that teachers can communicate with the students about their writing.
"when they run into difficulties, that's when they need explanations," she said. "And you can't give explanations without the vocabulary."
Teaching grammar might be useful when it is combined with writing. Bushman said, but the knowledge isn't necessary for good writing.
ON CAMPUS
TODAY
GAY AND LESBIAN Services of Kansas will conduct a general membership meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the International Room of the Kansas
CHOOl:
YOUNG AMERICANS FOR Freedom will meet at 7 p.m. in Parlor C of the Union.
LATIN AMERICAN Solidarity's
Put your best face forward with retouched resume & job application photos by.
Herbs
MALLS SHOPPING CENTER
842-8822
A PHOTO EXHIBITION by Costa Rican photographer Roy Quesada, "Costa Rica" A Tropical Paradise; will be on display until April 12 on the first and second floors of Lippincott Hall.
weekly rice and beans dinner will be at 6 p.m. at Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave.
DOUBLE FEATURE
VENR VCR & Movies
Overnight
8-10pm / 9-12pm / 10-12pm / 10-12pm
M5 30 to 4 p.m. $15
M4 25 to 3 p.m. $15
kinko's copies
TAX TIME
COME TO KINKO'S
FOR OUR UNCLE SAM
SPECIAL
ALL TAX RETURNS
COPIED ON THE SELF
SERVE MACHINES
ARE 3º
HURRY OFFER EXPIRES
APRIL 15, 1985
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843-8019 749-5392 841-6177
comprehensive health associates
• free pregnancy care
• excellent abortion services
• alternative counseling
• gynecology
• contracection
THE CASTLE
TEA ROOM
2307 Mass. phone: 843-1151
The AUTO MEDIC Inc.
Overland Park, KS/913-345-1400
an all- time favorite
Taco Salad—a crisp tortilla shell filled with lettuce, tomatoes, beans, and seasoned beef.
Topped with shredded cheese and sour cream.
Served daily $3.10 or try our no-meat taco salad $2.90
THE KANSAS UNION
PRAIRIE ROOM
Level 2 of the Kansas Union
843-6050 Ext. 6456
Let's Do Lunch at House of Hupe!
11:30-2:30 p.m. M-F
Noon-2:30 p.m. Sat.
2907 W. 6th
"We make house calls"
719 MASSACHUSETTS
SAME NICE PEOPLE * SAME MANAGEMENT * FORMERLY OLD CARPENTER HALL SMOKEHOUSE
719 MASSACHUSETTS
An Invitation from
The Energy Research/Development Center
William J. Silvey Director of Policy, Planning and Analysis United States Department of Energy
will speak on
ECONOMICS OF THE ELECTRIC UTILITY INDUSTRY
- - FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
Tuesday, April 9
Space Technology Center
2:30 P.M.
Apollo Auditorium
West Campus
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