Blog Post #4: Teaching Language As An Antibias Art

 

The Trouble with Traditional Grammar Instruction

Not many people have pleasant memories of grammar instruction from their school days. And who can blame them? Even as a self-confessed grammar nerd, I have to admit there’s not much to fondly remember. Who can find joy in endless red pen corrections with the sole purpose of highlighting exactly what you did wrong? 

One common classroom practice that is slowly (and rightfully) being moved away from is Daily Oral Language (DOL). If that name isn’t familiar, the concept almost certainly will be. DOL exercises typically consist of a teacher projecting an erroneous sentence on the board and requesting that students mark up the sentence for mistakes, editing it until it is correct. DOL sounds like a good idea in theory, right? It seems like it would be quick, repetitive practice in an easy practice that forces students to engage in actively thinking about grammar. It sounds like it would build up their writing over time. In reality, although it sounds helpful, DOL only teaches students to view grammar with an overly critical eye. And by pulling students away from authentic examples of writing and taking away time to practice applying those skills in their own work, “DOL may actually slow students’ growth as writers” (Pezzetti 25). 

In short, one of the main issues with DOL is that teaching grammar out of context doesn’t help students apply their learning. Also, and this is perhaps the biggest issue with traditional grammar instruction as a whole, editing exercises have a tendency to be racist. At best, they are inconsiderate of ELL and other student minorities. These types of practices teach students “that there is one single correct answer for all contexts and that all other variations are wrong” (Pezzetti 28). This is particularly harmful for minority students, who may speak a different language at home or just a different dialect than the problematically named “Standard” English. If the goal of ELA classes is to teach students to communicate, and to communicate with empathy and humility, who are we to tell these students who use language to communicate every day that that language is wrong? 

Teaching Grammar as an Art

Instead of breaking down grammar like an important scientific formula to be followed exactly, with catastrophic results if strayed from, many modern scholars suggest that we introduce grammar in our classrooms as a type of art. If we teach that any piece of writing can be considered a work of art, then maybe students be more interested in approaching the subject.  After all, “just as the painter combines a wide repertoire of brush stroke techniques to create an image, the writer chooses from a repertoire of sentence structure” (Noden 4). This approach is much more friendly for all involved. Instead of being the “grammar police” to our students, we can encourage our students like Bob Ross, and encourage the “happy accidents” in their writing. Instead of condemning experimentation and mistakes, be a guide as your students begin to explore the effects different grammatical choices might make on the final canvas of their essays and shorter writings.

Instead of teaching students what to look for that is wrong, we should find exercises in our classrooms and ways to highlight ways grammar is used exceptionally well, uniquely, or even in ways that are just fun. Instead of focusing on specific words and definitions that students don’t really care about (who really needs to know exactly what makes a word a preposition, anyway?), focus on the context in which grammar is used. Constantly praise student work and make them feel comfortable with writing. Eileen Shanahan suggests we lean into the diverse and digital era and ask students “ to keep their eyes peeled for interesting or awful ways of using words. They start bringing texts in, often from social media posts that they follow. I love and encourage that they are paying attention to word use in the daily minutia of scrolling feeds” (17-18). Shanahan also suggests that we teachers bring in diverse texts in our classroom, not only for inclusion, but because they often showcase less-traditional or even “incorrect” examples of grammar that are woven together beautifully. If we use techniques like this, grammar becomes an accessible art form instead of a minefield for students, and that is how we will create skilled writers. 

Traditional grammar instruction doesn’t work. Full stop. And on top of that, it doesn’t motivate students to keep trying. So, if they won’t learn from the instruction, and they stop trying to get there through trial and error, how will students flourish when it comes to writing? Practice makes perfect, and we have to give students safe places to practice playing with grammar and writing. Instead of finding ways to tear apart student writing, we educators need to find ways to uplift and encourage it. Maybe then, students will start to find joy in writing again.

Works Cited

Noden, Harry R. Image Grammar: Teaching Grammar as Part of the Writing Process. Heinemann, 2011. 

Pezzetti, Karen. “Daily oral language, the bell tolls for thee: A critique of daily sentence-editing exercises.” Language Arts Journal of Michigan, vol. 34, no. 1, 1 Aug. 2018, https://doi.org/10.9707/2168-149x.2182. 

Shanahan, Eileen. “From finding error to finding wonder: A shift in grammar instruction.” Voices from the Middle, vol. 28, no. 3, 1 Mar. 2021, pp. 14–19, https://doi.org/10.58680/vm202131174.