Issues in Pedagogy: The Great Grammar Dilemma – Penny Aguirre

Penny Aguirre earned her M.A. in English from IU East in May 2020. She lives and teaches in Plano, Texas.  This paper is an abridged course plan for pre-service English Language Arts teachers, prepared under the supervision of Professor Kelly Blewett in the spring of 2020. Prof. Blewett notes, “Penny’s energetic and creative syllabus and assignment prompts for her course The Great Grammar Dilemma blend theory and praxis to provide an excellent learning experience for undergraduate students preparing to be teachers.” 

Issues in Pedagogy: The Great Grammar Dilemma

Course description: In this class, students will learn about the neuroscientific basis for language as a foundation for discussing the role of grammar instruction in the English/language arts classroom. They will explore the historical debate about grammar instruction and read current scholarly research about the role of grammar instruction in the reading/writing processes as a means of understanding the ongoing debate about grammar instruction.  They will analyze and evaluate multiple approaches to teaching grammar. They will also design and present lessons that reflect their developing approach to grammar instruction. The class will culminate in an individualized statement of teaching philosophy that articulates the student’s understanding of the role of grammar instruction in a comprehensive English/language arts course.

Module 1 Assignments

Time: 2 weeks

Objective: Students will summarize research about the brain and language and apply this information to their understanding of grammatical aspects of language.

Assignment #1: Close Reading/Notes about Steven Pinker lecture and Discussion #1

Assignment #2: Discussion #2 (Chomsky)

Assignment #3: Microtheme #1 (Kenneally chapters)

Module 2 Assignments

Time: 2 weeks

Objective: Students will trace the great grammar debate from the 1960s to current day in order to understand the rationale for past and current instructional practices.

Assignment #4: Discussion #3 (articles on the debate)

Assignment #5: Microtheme #2

Module 3 Assignments

Time: 4 weeks

Objective: Students will practice rhetorical grammar as an approach to integrating grammar instruction with composition. They will evaluate applications of rhetorical grammar and reflect on effectiveness and applicability in secondary English/language arts curricula.

Module 3 Week 1—complete 3 exercises and the quiz

Assignment #6: p. 36 For Group Discussion and p. 42 For Group Discussion (Verbs)

Assignment #7: p. 51 For Group Discussion (Triplets and Coordination)

Assignment #8: Exercise 15, p. 69 Analyzing your own writing

Assignment #9: p. 70 For Group Discussion (Coordination, Subordination, Parallelism)

Assignment #10: Quiz, Ch. 1-4 over key terms and concepts

Module 3 Week 2—complete 4 of the 6 exercises

Assignment #11: Exercise, 18, pp. 86-7 (Adverbial Clauses)

Assignment #12: Exercise 21, pp. 100-101 (Dangling Participles)

Assignment #13: and Exercise 22, p. 104 (Relative Clauses) and Exercise 23, p. 107 (Participles/Relative Clauses)

Assignment #14: Exercise 24, p. 107-8 (Adverbial and Adjectival Modifiers)

Assignment #15:  Exercise 26, p. 119 (Gerunds and Infinitives)

Assignment #16: Exercise 27, p. 121 (Nominal Clauses)

Module 3 Week 3—complete 3 exercises and the quiz

Assignment #17: Exercise 28, p. 122 (Analyzing your own style)

Assignment #18: p. 127 For Group Discussion and Exercise 29, p. 128 (Absolute Phrases)

Assignment #19: p. 132 For Group Discussion (Anastrophe/Word Order Variation)

Assignment #20: pp. 135-6 For Group Discussion (Stylistic Choices)

Assignment #21: Quiz Ch. 5-8 over key terms and concepts

Assignment #22: Reflective Letter

Compile the exercises you completed from the Kolln book. Then write a letter to me in which you reflect on the following:

1. How would you explain “rhetorical grammar” to someone who has never heard of it?
2. Which exercises did you consider most challenging? Why do you think this was?
3. Which exercises, if any, did you consider most valuable as a pre-service English teacher?
4. Did any of the exercises give you ideas about instructional approaches or lessons?
5. Why do you think I asked you to complete all these assignments?

Your letter should be about 300-500 words.

Assignment #23: Discussion #4

Module 4: Exploring the Relationship Between Grammar and Writing

Time: 2 weeks

Objective: Students will read and evaluate multiple scholarly articles about the relationship between grammar and student writing. They will integrate current pedagogical discussions with historical trends in grammar instruction.

Assignment #24: Microtheme #3

Assignment #25: Reflective Letter

Module 5: Integrating the Science of Learning and Best Practices to Craft Lesson Plans

Time: 2 weeks

Objective: Students will apply knowledge gained from course readings by constructing lesson plans that integrate grammar instruction into the larger English/language arts context.

Module 6: Culminating Project: Situating Grammar Instruction into English/language arts Courses Portfolio

Time: 3 weeks

Objective: Students will articulate an individualized theory of how grammar instruction relates to reading/writing instruction in a comprehensive English/language arts curriculum.

Assignment #28: Culminating Portfolio

This assignment asks you to synthesize what you have learned in this course about the role of grammar instruction in the larger context of English language arts instruction. The hope is that this project will serve as a resource guide for you as you begin your teaching career. This project will constitute 30% of your grade for the semester, and you will have approximately 3 weeks to compile and submit it. I have outlined a series of steps to assist you as you culminate this coursework.

Step 1: Read through the short book Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies by Adler-Kassner and Wardle. This is a very short book, and your purpose in using it is to notice which threshold concepts resonate with you as you approach the end of the semester and prepare for your first teaching assignment. To maximize your time, consider which of the five concepts in the book you are most interested in or which one you feel least prepared to teach. For example, Concept 1 is that writing is a social and rhetorical activity. In this section of the book, you will find 9 short articles (most are two pages) about various threshold concepts of writing. You might select this concept to read about.

Step 2: Write a reflection about how your chosen threshold concepts are related to grammar instruction we have discussed this semester. This reflection should be about two pages long.

Step 3: Compile all required elements of the Portfolio Assignment (listed below) and organize them in a format that is most useful to you as a new teacher.

Step 4: Revise any element you choose to revise before final submission.

Required elements for portfolio:

1. Naming What We Know reflection
2. Learning Journal entries: Rhetorical Grammar Exercises
3. Reflective Letter to me (Assignment #22)
4. Learning Journal entries: Killgallon Grammar Exercises
5. Reflective Letter to me (Assignment #25)