When was the last time you actually dissected a sentence and did the complete diagram of each word? Me? Sophomore year of High School. Aside from that, my only other opportunities have been in helping struggling high school students as a tutor. Other than a brief explanation of sentence structure in late elementary school and again sometime in highschool, I assert that it has no place in the teaching of basic to mid-level reading and writing.
At this point, most academics have probably turned the channel or are now reading in a hyper-sensitive defensive posture, but hear out my point.
Let's face facts, most American students are poor writers and mediocre readers. They will not become teachers, journalists, or novelists. So, when faced with the finer points of linguist grammar, they are forced against an insurmountable wall. Consequently, they begin to see writing as an abstract process and give up on improving on the knowledge and skills they already have.
American schools have been putting the cart before the horse for some time. We need to focus on producing functionally literate readers and then writers. What's the point of making them graph sentences and dissect participles, if they are dysfunctional in basic phonics and language. All of the sciences, with the possible exception of basic math, are based on the reading and comprehension of other's writing of ideas. How then, can we expect our students to excel if they don't understand how to read those ideas?
Further, people learn by imitation. Doesn't is then stand to reason that students learn to write by reading others' writings? Perhaps, the current dysfunction we see in students is not so much a comment on their abilities, but rather a damning conviction of their scholarly upbringing.
At this point, most academics have probably turned the channel or are now reading in a hyper-sensitive defensive posture, but hear out my point.
Let's face facts, most American students are poor writers and mediocre readers. They will not become teachers, journalists, or novelists. So, when faced with the finer points of linguist grammar, they are forced against an insurmountable wall. Consequently, they begin to see writing as an abstract process and give up on improving on the knowledge and skills they already have.
American schools have been putting the cart before the horse for some time. We need to focus on producing functionally literate readers and then writers. What's the point of making them graph sentences and dissect participles, if they are dysfunctional in basic phonics and language. All of the sciences, with the possible exception of basic math, are based on the reading and comprehension of other's writing of ideas. How then, can we expect our students to excel if they don't understand how to read those ideas?
Further, people learn by imitation. Doesn't is then stand to reason that students learn to write by reading others' writings? Perhaps, the current dysfunction we see in students is not so much a comment on their abilities, but rather a damning conviction of their scholarly upbringing.
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