Alright, so I do care about grammar – just not enough to be so frickin’ picky – Lay vs. Lie - is just too picky for me. I don’t even use the words correctly – should I expect my students to? I found this article after class last week and really began to cement my (current) view about the teaching of grammar. There are some things that are just so commonly misused that they are now the norm. If this is how language is used today, why should students be penalized?
I guess, for me, making sure that they are getting the big picture and are able to put that big picture into words is the main battle I want to undertake. Grammar is important, just not important enough for me to penalize students who are getting the concepts of a lesson because they make grammatical errors that are found throughout today’s literature, advertising, newspapers, magazines, and speech. If these “errors” are made so often, doesn’t it seem more reasonable to begin to consider them to be acceptable grammar? Yes, this is a very descriptivist point of view – but for me, at least, it makes so much more sense.
I agree and disagree with your argument. I agree with the fact that it is more important for students to understand the material than to be punished for use of poor grammar. I think that you at least owe it to your students to demonstrate to them proper grammar. By this I don’t mean you need to be a stickler about every thing but the students deserve to know. I might be a bit old fashioned in this sense but when I first meet a person I judge them quite significantly on how they speak. If they speak well it helps my impression. If they speak poorly I often think lower of them. Just a thought.
By: kylehill on November 30, 2008
at 10:15 pm
I can see both sides of the coin Brandy. I have to agree with you in the importance of getting the lesson learned, but because I teach a communications class, my students are often judged by their grammar. When we’re doing classroom assignments, I allow them to write and speak as they would normally do; however, when we’re ready for production (on-air) work, my students know that they have to switch up verbage and use standard English. The real question is…what’s considered standard English? Who decides what’s proper and what’s not? Unfortunately, if I knew that my students could get away with misusing a few words, I would allow it, but the reality of the situation is that they cannot.
By: dana on December 1, 2008
at 1:07 am