Teaching
Grammar: Why It's Important!
By:David S Dye
To
Teach or Not To Teach?
While working on my master's degree, I was involved in a
conversation about the importance of teaching grammar with the head of the
English department at a prestigious middle school in the Long Beach Unified
School District. His attitude was that he didn't like to spend a lot of time
teaching grammar because "...grammar wasn't that important in the
communication process." He preferred asking his students to allow their
ideas to flow naturally without the worry of all those pesky grammatical rules.
My sarcastic nature got the better of me, and I decided to
illustrate the absurd by being absurd. My reply to him was, "Grammar don't
got nothin' to do with communicatin' good?" He got my point.
We both agreed that there is a time and place for everything. It
may not be the best idea for a student to worry about good grammar while
writing a rough draft. However, the ability to recognize and use good grammar
certainly has its place in the writing process.
Real World Application
I am reminded of this incident quit often. When teachers underestimate
the importance of good grammar, it can have serious consequences. I've learned
this fact very clearly as I encounter adult after adult who lacks even the most
basic of grammar skills. Here's a good illustration:
I have spent more than a year putting together a website to help
put out the newsletter you are reading right now. It was amazing how many
companies wanted me to use their products. Data base companies, web site hosts,
merchant account providers, marketing consultants, and more all wanted me to
use their services. Most of these companies providing Internet services are
small businesses run by people who have terrific technological skills, but have
somehow graduated from school with hideous grammatical skills.
Trying to read the sales literature from many of these companies
was painful. Haven't any of these people ever heard of a comma? How about
capitalizing proper nouns? These grammatical rules are in place for a reason.
They help the communication process along.
Even the company that hosts my webpage makes me work hard just to
understand basic ideas. While putting together the website, their technicians
offer help through on-line chat. Fragment sentences, run-on sentences, not
indenting new main ideas have turned problems with quick solutions into
marathon projects. Just trying to decode what they're saying is a challenge in
itself.
In fairness to these many wonderful people who have helped me with
my website, they do offer terrific products and services. How much better would
they be if they just had a better grasp of the English language? I wonder how
much business they lose just because of the poor image their bad grammar sends.
"Grammar don't got nothin' to do with communicatin'
good." I said these words as a joke, but they've come back to haunt me.
While I teach, I see my students in their future occupations. Some will be
doctors, police officers, truck drivers, etc... It's a sad fact that many
people will judge their intelligence based on how well they communicate. Which
of my students will be held back in their jobs because of this? Which of my
students will lose confidence in high school because of bad grades and not go
to college?
I am well aware that there are thousands of rules that will fade
from our students' memories. This is why it is even more important to teach
grammar and punctuation rules and force our students to internalize them
immediately. Failure to do this will put too many students at a great
disadvantage in life.
I could spend a few paragraphs here giving a shameless plug to
Standards Based Grammar, but I won't. If you would like information about a
strong grammar program for grades three through eight, go to
CreateBetterWriters.com for more information. These grammar books give teachers
the worksheets and assessments to make sure that every grammar standard
required for their grade level is thoroughly covered.
Whatever grammar program you use, please don't underestimate the
importance of teaching good grammar. It will be a valuable skill throughout the
rest of our students' lives.
David Dye is a classroom teacher with more than 20 years of
experience. He has his Master's Degree in Education, and his writing curriculum
is in use all over the world. He currently has 16 books in publication with
three different publishers. Free writing tips, worksheets, and curriculum can
be found at his website: http://createbetterwriters.com. His most popular books are How To
Teach the Five Paragraph Essay, Standards Based Grammar (Available for grades
3-8, The Complete Writing Program, and Writing Tricks Plus.
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