Mechanics, Grammar, and Usage: How Much Is Enough?

by Carol Brown Dodson

Parents and employers talk about the issue of grammar and writing as they discuss what they often call bad grammar, usually lumping together punctuation, capitalization, mechanics, and spelling errors.* Researchers and experts in the field attempt to determine the reasons for poor student writing. Universities and community colleges work to find solutions to the problem in order to reduce the number of freshmen enrolled in non-credit-bearing courses such as remedial or basic writing.

If we are to find answers to this seemingly unanswerable question, we must first look at some of the history. In 1940, Charles C. Fries concluded that the teaching of grammar in the schools differs from the way the language is actually spoken and written. In a review of the literature in American English Grammar, Fries reveals some of the arguments surrounding the teaching of grammar that prevailed throughout the eighteenth and much of the nineteenth century.

Based on the complaints of well-known writers such as Jonathan Swift and Thomas Sheridan, Fries identifies two statements that describe the eighteenth-century point of view about the teaching of grammar and its impact on writing.

1. The English used by most English people, even by the learned and the best authors, is deplorable because of its grammatical incorrectness and inaccuracy.
2. The only remedy for this deplorable use of English will be for English people, young and old, to set out to learn correct English by means of a study of grammar rules.

According to Fries, the "coming of the measurement movement in education brought the first really effective challenge of the asserted connection between grammar and good English" (p. 19). In addition, Fries indicates that the test results appeared to demonstrate "the absence of any relation between knowledge of English grammar and the ability either to write or to interpret language" (p. 19). Many of the studies reviewed by Fries were conducted in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Yet the formal study of grammar (parts of speech, parsing of sentences, and structure of language) had become such an accepted part of the English classroom that the practice persisted even in the face of evidence showing that it didn't alleviate the problem of poor writing.

We're now in another measurement movement. High-stakes tests are used to evaluate students' writing. In addition, grammar, usage, and mechanics continue to be emphasized in many of these tests and thus taught more vigorously in language arts classrooms. As a result of the renewed emphasis upon correctness, the debate about whether schools should teach the rules and structure of language (grammar) or teach students to apply the rules to actual writing (usage) has heated up once again. Teachers, whether using mini-lessons to help students apply a particular rule to their writing or teaching parts of speech and rules of punctuation in isolation, are left to wonder if they are doing the right thing for their students.

The bottom line is that students must be able to apply the rules and knowledge of the language to their writing. They do not have to memorize the rules of punctuation, capitalization, and other grammatical concerns, but they must be able to use handbooks and style manuals when necessary to edit their writing for publication.

The multiple-choice and short-answer questions on the OGT assess students' ability to apply the writing process standard. A quick review of the writing process benchmarks for grades 8-10 reminds us that they include such topics as variety of sentence structure, use of effective transitions, sentence fluency, grammar, and usage. Grade-level indicators spell out some of the skills included in the benchmarks, and students dealing with the applications of the rules must demonstrate the ability to apply the rules during the editing or proofreading process.

One question on the March 2006 Ohio Graduation Test seemed particularly difficult, with only 46 percent of the students choosing the correct answer. The test item provides two pieces of information from a grammar handbook followed by a question that includes four sentences for students to choose from. The sentence that they are told to identify contains an error that needs correction. Both rules address the use of a semicolon. In order to select the sentence that needs to be edited, students must eliminate each sentence that uses the semicolon correctly or does not need a semicolon. The application of the rule to each sentence causes students to read carefully and to make connections between the rules themselves and the application of the rules.

A similar question on the March 2005 test requires students to apply three rules of capitalization in order to edit a sentence correctly. Although students often perform well in the area of capitalization when producing a piece of writing, they appear to have difficulty applying the rules to a sentence. Of students responding to this item, 53 percent answered it correctly. Once again, the question is fairly complex, with students expected to apply three separate rules to the same sentence.

When taking the test, students should note carefully what the question is asking them to do. In the question about the uses of semicolons, students are asked to select the sentence that contains errors; whereas in the question about capitalization, students must select the correct sentence.

Students need practice in using handbooks and applying the rules to their own writing or the writing of their peers during the editing process. The Ohio standards do not require students to memorize parts of speech or types of sentences, but they do require teachers to teach students to use handbooks and style manuals and to apply them to their writing. When preparing a mini-lesson to help students address a particular error, it's important to let them find and apply the information to their writing.

The question about grammar, usage, and mechanics persists: How much is enough? Students should be able to write complete sentences and apply rules of capitalization and punctuation to the sentences. They should be able to use transitions and coordinating conjunctions appropriately and to write complex sentences that contain independent and subordinate clauses. Students need to gain experience in using a series of phrases so that they can practice making them parallel and recognize the problem for the reader when the series is not parallel. Research and best practice remind us that students learn to apply rules to their writing most easily by writing frequently and by engaging in the entire writing process, including editing their writing.

An outstanding new book that deals with editing skills within the writing process is The Grammar Plan Book: A Guide to Smart Teaching by Constance Weaver (2007). Chapter 5, aptly entitled "Teaching Editing Skills and (Gasp!) Standardized Tests of Grammar Skills," not only identifies some of the editing skills to teach, but also offers some ways to teach these skills. In addressing the issue of teaching to the test, Weaver recommends that we not abandon best practice in the teaching of writing. But she also suggests that we make use of the "overlap between the revision and editing skills your students really need and the skills tested on the standardized tests" (p. 64).

Weaver's informal analysis of the ACT, used by her state of Michigan as the state test for high school juniors, reveals numerous parallels to the Ohio Graduation Test (pp. 66-68). Perhaps the best advice she gives to teachers is to "keep in mind that we cannot do it all. We really do have to prioritize" (p. 69).

If, as a teacher of writing, you can afford (or can get your school to purchase) only one professional book about grammar, Weaver's book would be an excellent choice. Of course, it certainly isn't the only good grammar book; and, in fact, several others are referenced in the "For Your Bookshelf" column and the "More Resources" section in this issue of Adolescent Literacy In Perspective. A good professional library should contain at least most of these recommended books.

The ORC website includes some outstanding resources for teaching the conventions of English, including several professional articles or excerpts from professional books. One such resource is The Power of Grammar [excerpt]: Putting Conventions in Our In-Tray: Planning Grammar Curriculum, chapter 2.

Chapter Two, "Putting Conventions in Our In-Tray: Planning Grammar Curriculum," is readable here in PDF format as the full-chapter excerpt from the book, The Power of Grammar: Unconventional Approaches to the Conventions of Language. The authors, Mary Ehrenworth and Vicki Vinton, introduce direct instruction, inquiry, and apprenticeship in order to facilitate teachers in their planning of both grammar lessons and grammar curriculum. The authors look both at individual lessons that model direct instruction and at case studies in inquiry and apprenticeship, considering all the while how grammar instruction fits into writing process and writing workshop. Additionally, some yearlong plans, broken down into school-calendar months, are offered. The authors discuss teaching fluency and teaching writing as well as where reading and writing research (including research by Nancie Atwell, Lucy Calkins, Katie Wood Ray, Heather Lattimer, and Donald Murray) fit into the whole grammar picture. (author/bebrown)

Additional information about the book is given in the review by Sheila Cantlebary in this month's "For Your Bookshelf."

This useful resource for teaching about passive and active voice includes practice exercises for students.

Choosing the Best Verb: An Active and Passive Voice Mini-lesson
For most students, speech and informal writing flow naturally. Yet students often struggle with formal or academic writing. This mini-lesson explores verb choice in a variety of online resources, and then encourages students to draw conclusions about verb use which they can apply to their own writing. Students begin by identifying verbs in a variety of contexts, determining whether constructions rely on active or passive voice. Following classroom discussions about verbs, students apply the strategies they have learned to their own writing by revising verb choice to match audience and purpose. (author/ncl)

The following resource is particularly applicable to this column both because of the examples of varied sentence structures from such notable writers as F. Scott Fitzgerald and because of the detailed suggestions for proofreading. Both features support the application of grammar and mechanics studies to writing.

Writing for Publication
This resource offers strategies for teaching creative writing. This instructional unit, maintained by the New Zealand Ministry of Education, allows students to write and publish an original story. Students are encouraged to experiment with a variety of plot structures. Sample plot structures are available at the site. Content support, assessment guidelines, and links to other internet resources are also provided. (author/ncl)

The article described below will also shed light on the issue of when and how to teach grammar.

To Grammar or Not to Grammar: That Is Not the Question!
The focus of this article is the importance of grammar instruction in the language arts classroom. The authors point out that the question should not be "To grammar or not to grammar," but rather "What aspects of grammar can we teach to enhance and improve students' writing, and when and how can we best teach them?" Research indicates most students do not benefit from grammar study in isolation from writing. Instead, the skills transfer more easily when students are provided with models from literature as teachers teach skills in the context of student writing. This instruction takes its form in mini-lessons and individual writing conferences rather than as analyzing sentences and labeling parts of speech. The authors share mini-lessons, writing activities, samples of student work, and other useful information about how they have accomplished this in their own teaching experiences. (authors/aec)

The next ORC resource is notable because it not only shows the most frequent errors marked on the papers of college freshmen, but also points out the changes that have occurred in student writing since the advent of the computer and word processing programs and the resulting widespread dependence on them.

The Top Twenty
This content resource is taken from the pre-publication version of the Bedford/St. Martin's Handbook (sixth edition). The excerpt presents the revision by Lunsford of her 1986 findings concerning the twenty most common errors in writing. The new study of first-year college composition essays, conducted by Andrea Lunsford and Karen Lunsford, reveals a revised list that differs somewhat from the 1986 list of errors. The original list is presented along with notations about changes. In addition, Lunsford points out that today's students are "writing longer, more complex work for their college courses (more than twice as long, on average, as essays written in 1986)― without a significant increase in the rate of error." (author/cbd)

Additional resources for the teaching of grammar and conventions may be accessed by going to the OhioWINS section of the ORC website.

By becoming familiar with the research and advice shared by the authors of the professional resources listed above and by using some of the ORC resources for teaching the skills in the context of writing, Ohio teachers will be able, once and for all, to answer the question, "How much [mechanics, usage, and grammar] should we teach?"
 

* The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines grammar as "the study of the classes of words, their inflections, and their functions and relations in the sentence," or as "a system of rules that defines the grammatical structure of a language" (Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/grammar, May 4, 2007). The same dictionary defines usage as the "way in which words and phrases are actually used (as in a particular form or sense) in a language community" (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/usage). Grammar, then, is the system of rules for the structure of our language; usage, the way the language is actually used.

References

Fries, Charles C. (1940). American English grammar. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.

Weaver, Constance C. (2007). The grammar plan book: A guide to smart teaching. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Note: The links for each resource take you to the ORC page that displays a brief commentary describing the resource and lists Ohio and national academic content standards. You can click the URL at the top of the commentary to go directly to the resource. To find out more about ORC's records, go to Frequently Asked Questions.

Carol Brown Dodson is the outreach specialist for the Ohio Resource Center. Dodson was an English language arts consultant for the Ohio Department of Education and is past president of OCTELA (Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts). Dodson, formerly a high school English teacher, department chair, and supervisor of English language arts in Columbus Public Schools, serves on the Ohio Graduation Test Reading Content Committee.

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