Language Alive in the Classroom

243 Pages·1999·1.76 MB·English

by  Rebecca S. Wheeler

cover next page >
Cover
title: Language Alive in the Classroom
author: Wheeler, Rebecca S.
publisher: Greenwood Publishing Group
isbn10 | asin: 0275960552
print isbn13: 9780275960551
ebook isbn13: 9780585386393
language: English
subject Language and languages--Study and teaching.
publication date: 1999
lcc: P51.L338 1999eb
ddc: 410/.71
subject: Language and languages--Study and teaching.
cover next page >
< previous page page_i next page >
Page i
This page intentionally left blank.
< previous page page_i next page >
< previous page page_ii next page >
Page ii
This page intentionally left blank.
< previous page page_ii next page >
< previous page page_iii next page >
Page iii
LANGUAGE ALIVE IN THE CLASSROOM
EDITED BY
REBECCA S. WHEELER
< previous page page_iii next page >
< previous page page_iv next page >
Page iv
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Language alive in the classroom / edited by Rebecca S. Wheeler.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–275–96055–2 (alk. paper).—ISBN 0–275–96056–0 (pbk.
: alk. paper)
1. Language and languages—Study and teaching. I. Wheeler,
Rebecca S., 1952– .
P51.L338 1999
410′.71—dc21 98–53391
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright © 1999 by Rebecca S. Wheeler
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express
written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98–53391
ISBN: 0–275–96055–2
0–275–96056–0 (pbk.)
First published in 1999
Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.praeger.com
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information
Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
< previous page page_iv next page >
< previous page page_v next page >
Page v
CONTENTS
Introduction ix
Rebecca S. Wheeler
I. Beyond Grammar of the Traditional Kind
1 Grammar, Tradition, and the Living Language 3
David B. Umbach
2 The Persistence of Traditional Grammar 13
Edwin Battistella
3 Prestige English Is Not a Natural Language 23
Nicholas Sobin
4 Rethinking Prescriptivism 37
John Myhill
II. New Ways in the Classroom
5 Dialect Awareness Programs in the School and Community 47
Walt Wolfram
6 Linguistics Is for Kids 67
Jeannine M. Donna
< previous page page_v next page >
< previous page page_vi next page >
Page vi
7Looking at Life through Language 81
Patricia L. MacGregor-Mendoza
8In Front of Our Eyes: Undergraduates Reflecting on Language Change 89
Anca M. Nemoianu
9Grammar Teaching Is Dead—NOT! 101
Richard Hudson
III. Language and Writing
10Writing Standard English IS Acquiring a Second Language 115
Susan K. Heck
11Reading, Writing, and Linguistics: Principles from the Little Red Schoolhouse 121
Gail Brendel Viechnicki
12Copious Reasoning: The Student Writer as an Astute Observer of Language 129
Todd Oakley
13Writing Well in an Unknown Language: Linguistics and Composition in an English Department 139
Victor Raskin
IV. Language and Literature
14Waterships All the Way Down: Using Science Fiction to Teach Linguistics 157
Suzette Haden Elgin
15In Fiction, Whose Speech, Whose Vision? 167
Elizabeth Closs Traugott
16The Poetics of Everyday Conversation 179
Deborah Tannen
< previous page page_vi next page >
< previous page page_vii next page >
Page vii
V. On Dictionaries and Grammars
17Who Wrote Your Dictionary? Demystifying the Contents and Construction of Dictionaries 189
Sylvia Shaw
18Online Resources for Grammar Teaching and Learning: The Internet Grammar of English 199
Bas Aarts, Gerald Nelson, and Justin Buckley
Index 213
About the Editor and Contributors 223
< previous page page_vii next page >
< previous page page_viii next page >
Page viii
This page intentionally left blank.
< previous page page_viii next page >
< previous page page_ix next page >
Page ix
INTRODUCTION
This volume is directed to teachers—teachers in preparation and teachers already in practice. It speaks to students
in teacher education pursuing certification to teach English in primary or secondary schools as well as seasoned
teachers who might appreciate a new, animated vantage on teaching grammar and language structure. The chapters
offer material relevant to grades one through twelve and beyond into the college classroom. However, even the
higher-gauged materials could be readily reworked for elementary and secondary schools.
This volume assumes that as an English or language arts teacher, you will need to deal with grammar and language
in the classroom. It also assumes that you may well feel trepidation at the thought of teaching grammar. Even if you
yourself do not view the subject as boring, it is certain that some or even many of your students will. Accordingly,
you may be groping for how to engage with grammar so it feels like language structure belongs to you, like it’s
alive, like it has to do with the world you know. Language Alive in the Classroom speaks to these concerns.
With Part I, ‘‘Beyond Grammar of the Traditional Kind,” we begin at our common ground, acknowledging and
exploring why we have hard feelings toward traditional grammar. The authors then pull back the curtain on the
traditional grammar wizard, showing that the traditional approach doesn’t even work as a description of our
language.
David B. Umbach, in “Grammar, Tradition, and the Living Language,” argues that when we talk about language,
what we say can easily be overshadowed by how we say it. He discusses the effects of traditional ways of talking
about language on his students’ ability and willingness to learn linguistics and finds that the problem is a bit more
complicated than the
< previous page page_ix next page >