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Grammar and the Teaching of Writing: Limits and Possibilities
For many students, Noguchi believes, formal study of grammar seems far removed from the daily use of language. He believes that grammar can help students but only with style, not with content or organization, and he suggests presenting students with a "writer's grammar" that specifically addresses the problems that crop up most often or those that society deems most serious.
140 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 16, 2010
How's this for irony? -- a book about the teaching of writing that is very poorly written! It's 121 pages, and could have been about 40.
October 7, 2012
Rei Noguchi’s Grammar and the Teaching of Writing was once again my favorite reading selection for the week. I have never considered myself interested in the subject of grammar; however I had no idea the depth of connection grammar has to current social issues. In Noguchi’s second chapter, he answers the question that has been burning on my mind – what about this paradox of teaching grammar that conforms to elitist, White, male, standardized English? Noguchi’s explanation made sense to me, yet I still question certain parts of it. Noguchi reasons that teaching students to utilize Standard English is like teaching students to dress properly for certain occasions. You wouldn’t want to show up to a wedding in a swim suit and beach gear, just like you wouldn’t want to submit writing that uses other forms of English, or contains grammatical errors, to a teacher or employer. I completely agree with this rationalization of Noguchi’s. I want to empower my students by teaching them the conventions of professional, standard, academic English. Noguchi writes that “if people in power unfairly make it difficult for certain social groups to climb the socioeconomic ladder, we should not give these perpetrators an opportunity to hide the more underlying causes by letting them use nonstandard features of writing as the discriminating factor” (29). I agree with Noguchi that teaching our students these “social consequences” of their grammar is absolutely vital to create a fair chance for them to succeed in the business professional world. However, it still seems so unfair that businesses and powerful professionals are able to discriminate in this way, when it seems like there are so many different kinds of Englishes that are currently being spoken in the United States. With overcrowded classrooms, a lack of sufficient resources, and the problem of illiteracy in California schools, teachers are expected to be low-paid miracle workers. It is so unfair that society holds on to one standard, while lawmakers, government, local leaders, community members, and others neglect to provide the support necessary to create the professionals that speak the Standard English they need and are looking for.
Yet Noguchi is ever practical, and reminds his readers that while this is unfair, and while “in an ideal world, all writers would know exactly how readers will perceive their writing, and all readers would know how to judge writing quality fairly … Unfortunately … it is not an ideal world” (30). Noguchi recognizes the “dilemma” that faces teachers, yet he strongly opposes “[risking] making too many of our present students into sacrificial lambs” (30). I have found it helpful to think of Freire in pondering this dilemma. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire writes that “education as the practice of freedom – as opposed to education as the practice of domination – denies that man is abstract, isolated, independent, and unattached to the world; it also denies that the world exists as a reality apart from men. Authentic reflection considers neither abstract man nor the world without men, but men in their relations with the world” (69). Rereading this piece of Freire helped me to realize that I don’t have to look at teaching as creating and perpetuating conformity – I can view “education as the practice of freedom;” I can hopefully unveil for my students these unfair standards and discriminations that exist in our world. This excerpt from Freire explains to me why it is so important to not teach grammar as an abstract concept. Rather, utilizing the concepts presented in Noguchi’s text, I can clarify the conventions of grammar for my students and present these conventions in a way that students will be able to apply them to their writing. In this way, they can see themselves and the work they do in the classroom in “[relation] with the world” (69). Drawing upon Noguchi and Freire, I have a better idea of the purpose behind my goals of teaching, and how I want to go about accomplishing those goals.
Yet Noguchi is ever practical, and reminds his readers that while this is unfair, and while “in an ideal world, all writers would know exactly how readers will perceive their writing, and all readers would know how to judge writing quality fairly … Unfortunately … it is not an ideal world” (30). Noguchi recognizes the “dilemma” that faces teachers, yet he strongly opposes “[risking] making too many of our present students into sacrificial lambs” (30). I have found it helpful to think of Freire in pondering this dilemma. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire writes that “education as the practice of freedom – as opposed to education as the practice of domination – denies that man is abstract, isolated, independent, and unattached to the world; it also denies that the world exists as a reality apart from men. Authentic reflection considers neither abstract man nor the world without men, but men in their relations with the world” (69). Rereading this piece of Freire helped me to realize that I don’t have to look at teaching as creating and perpetuating conformity – I can view “education as the practice of freedom;” I can hopefully unveil for my students these unfair standards and discriminations that exist in our world. This excerpt from Freire explains to me why it is so important to not teach grammar as an abstract concept. Rather, utilizing the concepts presented in Noguchi’s text, I can clarify the conventions of grammar for my students and present these conventions in a way that students will be able to apply them to their writing. In this way, they can see themselves and the work they do in the classroom in “[relation] with the world” (69). Drawing upon Noguchi and Freire, I have a better idea of the purpose behind my goals of teaching, and how I want to go about accomplishing those goals.
March 19, 2011
Let me be clear: Noguchi is writing to rhetoric and writing teachers whose classroom practices are grounded in research and best practices. This means that his primary audience are those who are skeptical of the value of grammar in the writing classroom or in the writing center session.
Noguchi first identifies some of the characteristics of good writing, e.g., organization, focus, and style, and then asks an appropriate question: which of these can a focused attention to grammar impact? In other words, he begins by limiting the sphere of what grammar can impact rather than making specious and erroneous claims about what grammar can accomplish.
This book is marvelous precisely because Noguchi is relentless in analyzing when and where attending to grammar might matter. For instance, if a student's writing is weak in terms of organization and structure--two highly important qualities of strong writing--then attending to grammar would be a waste of time. But if an otherwise strong writer is making errors in usage that weaken her/his status in the eyes of the reader, then attending to grammar issues is imperative.
Grounding his argument in the best that linguistics has to offer writing teachers, Noguchi reveals why native speakers sometimes create run ons, sentence fragments, and comma splices and then suggests using latent knowledge of complete sentences that all native speakers possess to identify and remedy these issues. As it turns out, there's a linguistic rigor to student error (Mina Shaughnessy, anyone?). Students, therefore, aren't dumb or lazy; they're merely applying rules of oral discourse to their written prose. Their errors are not errors of competence but of performance.
If you're a writing teacher who suspects that the complete avoidance of grammar is overkill, but wants to avoid conjuring the "comma coma" in your writing classroom, in other words, if you're looking for a middle path--then this slim volume should be your next read.
Noguchi first identifies some of the characteristics of good writing, e.g., organization, focus, and style, and then asks an appropriate question: which of these can a focused attention to grammar impact? In other words, he begins by limiting the sphere of what grammar can impact rather than making specious and erroneous claims about what grammar can accomplish.
This book is marvelous precisely because Noguchi is relentless in analyzing when and where attending to grammar might matter. For instance, if a student's writing is weak in terms of organization and structure--two highly important qualities of strong writing--then attending to grammar would be a waste of time. But if an otherwise strong writer is making errors in usage that weaken her/his status in the eyes of the reader, then attending to grammar issues is imperative.
Grounding his argument in the best that linguistics has to offer writing teachers, Noguchi reveals why native speakers sometimes create run ons, sentence fragments, and comma splices and then suggests using latent knowledge of complete sentences that all native speakers possess to identify and remedy these issues. As it turns out, there's a linguistic rigor to student error (Mina Shaughnessy, anyone?). Students, therefore, aren't dumb or lazy; they're merely applying rules of oral discourse to their written prose. Their errors are not errors of competence but of performance.
If you're a writing teacher who suspects that the complete avoidance of grammar is overkill, but wants to avoid conjuring the "comma coma" in your writing classroom, in other words, if you're looking for a middle path--then this slim volume should be your next read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews