Formal Grammar For A Good Writer

William Strunk Jr., an English professor at Cornell University in 1919 required his students to have the textbook The Elements of Style, written by William Strunk Jr. himself. It was referred to as the “little” book and was a forty-three-page summary of the case for cleanliness, accuracy and brevity in the use of English (Strunk & White, 2000). These rules are in the form of sharp commands, shining light on Sergeant Strunk’s personality and approach to teaching. E.B. White, a former student of Strunk, revised the book he was given, years after his professor passed away. White does not soften the direct orders of the original book, but “preserves the flavor of his discontent while enlarging the scope of the discussion” (Strunk & White, 2000 xiv). The Elements of Style provides the readers with a convenient reference for grammar, while emphasizing the importance of omitting needless words, using concrete language and active voice all in a suitable design.

This is the second required general core course in college­level writing. Observing the conventions of

On the evening of Thursday July 23, 2015 I conducted an interview of Alex Benavides- a senior mechanical engineering major at Oklahoma State University. Benavides describes his experiences in his english courses as enjoyable, and notes that it helped him become a better writer. Benavides also states, that from personal experience during summer internships, that there are ineffective writers in positions where clean, flowing, and proper writing is a necessity. Proper grammar is essential in professional writing situations, according to Benavides, and is also often the first area critiqued by professors and teaching assistants. “You only get out what you put in when you write”, says Benavides, “be serious and grind, it makes the difference”.

Chin, Beverly Ann (2000). The role of grammar in improving student’s writing. Retrieved from http://www.uwplatt.edu/~ciesield/graminwriting.htm

Growing up we’re told repeatedly that, “grammar is important, and you will need it in college.” As I sit in these lectures, however, I see that claim hasn’t fazed anybody. I sit in an English class expecting to read these great, well put together papers, and I get the same writing level I saw my senior year in high school. I should expect this, I mean, no kid is going to magically learn the rules of writing over the summer. I didn’t. It took nine grueling months of an English class that, quite frankly, was hell on earth to learn most of them. The class was the toughest class I have ever sat through, and yet, I’m blessed. I’m in my second semester as a college student, and Sandra Stebbin’s English class has saved me more times than I care to count. It’s time for the United States education system to start taking grammar seriously. This is a huge concern, because our future leaders can’t afford to have writing skills equivalent to a 7th grade middle school kid.

English in the past has been greatly influenced by Latin grammar. Principles, facts and rules of Latin grammar contained a larger body than that of English grammar. In other words, Latin grammar is more standardized and precise, so as formal grammar. People who teach formal grammar hoped that this large impact of Latinized Material could be retained (McLaughlin,

The necessity of entering Class 307, for me specifically, was to improve upon my basic understanding of grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and textual features, in order to improve my ability to maximise the impact that I could create within my writing. EDU307 would then cause a complete re-evaluation of my under-standing of the English Language, and learn to properly apply the knowledge absorbed from the lectures, tutorials, readings and MyWritingLab Global included. As my primary interest

This year writing will be a major focus. It’s important to understand grammar rules; without them your writing is difficult to understand.

(1) Many if not most people grow up speaking a form of regional or social dialect. If you raise your comfort level with grammar, you’ll have more confidence that your speaking and writing won’t betray you among your more literate peers. (2) Many people who are confident that they know grammatical

Grammar is a huge part when applying for colleges, jobs, and etc. Not only is it a set of rules and component parts that combine to form sentences, but it’s a criteria needed to succeed in life. We’re living in an era where every word is being shortened, abbreviated, or simply misused in a sentence, which isn’t good writing in the business or social world. Good grammar includes of great ideas with clarity, precision, and professionalism.

Throughout the semester, I have gained skills necessary for understanding and utilizing logic while writing. I am now aware that for any writing to be scholarly, it must possess an introductory section, a body and a conclusion section. Further, I am now able to understand as well as utilize most of the basic techniques useful in pre-writing, revision and editing. Through writing the “downloading from torrents” paper, I acquired skills in word processing, sentence elements, and punctuation. Further, I developed some special skills in writing a website analysis which is a critical aspect in contemporary learning as argued by Flateby (p 182). As the semester folds, I believe that I have gained the prerequisite skills in writing and critical thinking. However, I need to improve much on some of the common problems in writing that seems to disturb me especially grammar.

It is not uncommon to say that grammar instruction plays an important role in language teaching. Regarding the status and importance of grammar teaching, a variety of opinions have been made. Batstone (1994) states that “language without grammar would be chaotic: countless words without the indispensable guidelines for how they can be ordered and modified” (p. 4). More vividly, Wang (2010) makes two similes. She compares grammar to the frame of a house, which is a decisive factor to ensure the solidness of it. Additionally, she regards grammar as a walking stick, whose function is to help and support students to learn English. Thus, the nature of grammar instruction manifests its own significance as it helps students

The study of grammar all by itself would not necessarily make the learner a better writer or speaker. However, by gaining a clearer understanding of how the language works, the learner should be able to gain greater control over the way he shapes words into sentences and sentences into paragraphs. In short, studying grammar may help learners to perceive the structures of the language effectively.

The pursuit of grammatical perfection is necessary for all English majors. Frivolous mistakes, such as incorrect verb tenses or sentence fragments, can easily make an English major appear unprofessional and unskilled. It is therefore vital to learn and relearn the rules of the English language to save oneself from embarrassment in a professional environment. A simple grammatical mistake, for example, may turn into habit. I identify with this group that requires a refreshment of the rules of grammar on occasion. Ultimately, throughout the duration of this eight-week course, I have become more conscious of my writing and the errors I had been making and my handle of grammatical elements in the English language has decidedly improved.

Grammar has always been an important issue in second and foreign language learning and teaching. Some hold the view that grammar is not essential for second/foreign language learning and therefore have a ‘zero position’ regarding grammar teaching. On the other hand, some view that grammar is necessary for second/foreign language learning.