Grammar Is The Foundation Of The Majority Of Our Literary Works Throughout The Years.

In Dan Berrett’s article, “Students Come to College Thinking They’ve Mastered Writing,” the idea of freshman thinking they are or must be a refined writer is discussed. Students may think this way coming into college, but their teachers do not. While students might feel satisfied and think that they are prepared with their writing skills, professors found that these students did not necessarily meet the expected level (Berrett 1). Many students reported that they would normally write around 25 hours every week. They said that most of those hours of writing was for more formal purposes like passages to make changes in society (Berrett 1). It was found that one reason the new students might feel this way is that their assumptions about writing differed greatly from those of faculty members and their expectations. One big thing that students will not get for a while, is that good writing is not just listed as a bunch of steps one is to follow that automatically make one’s writing good. Good writing requires one to be in different mental states; it requires the understanding of how to write for different audiences and different reasons (Berrett 2). Berrett includes in the article that writing is not just universal and that in order to do very well, writers must use different forms of writing specifically for their purpose (2). It seems as though students think that, before they even take a class, they are supposed to know everything about writing; in reality, they are supposed to learn new skills and enhance others (Berrett 2). Berrett says that many believe the schools these students previously attended with their test focus might cause these feelings about writing (2). Berrett ends his article by saying that students these days do not think that informal writing actually counts as writing, and that students should practice writing for informal purposes because it can help them (2). Even if they feel like it, students are not fully prepared to write in all contexts when they arrive at college.

The Importance of Writing Badly was written by Bruce Ballenger. His intended audience are students who are victims of strict English teachers as well as the strict English teachers, themselves. In his essay, Ballenger portrays that students are more focused on being grammatically correct than the message in their essays. This is because of teachers who grade strictly on grammar errors and punctuation. Ballenger says, “A colleague of mine, an Ivy League graduate, is among the self-appointed grammar police, complaining often about the dumb mistakes his students make in their papers. I don’t remember him ever talking about what his students are trying to say in those papers.” (Page 74). Bruce Ballenger has effectively argued and persuaded his intended audience with his use of ethos, pathos, and logos.

Grammar is and has been a big deal in American society. It’s so big that we are require to take English classes all four years of high school. What’s the point of grammar if things are always changing and developing in English? The point is to not look illiterate and when a person goes college or decides to join the work force. In the book “I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar”, the author Kyle Wiens states, “After all, grammar has nothing to do with job performance… right? Wrong. If it takes someone more than 20 years to notice how to properly use “it’s” then that’s not a learning curve I’m comfortable with.” (Wiens, 500) I personally agree with Mr. Wiens when he stated that comment. When you have a business and your trying to be successful and every aspect then its right to also be grammar savvy as well. The only thing I think is to extreme is the

I am a storyteller. I derive great pleasure from gathering people and telling them a funny story from my past. I love to entertain my nephew with stories I make up on spot. The best times of my life were sitting around with my friends and playing roleplaying games (games where the players utilize their imagination and interact as a fictions character). Creating fiction is an area of composition I am fortunate to enjoy and be strong in. With all of this being said, my skills in grammar were always lacking. Being a millennial, I grew up thinking grammar was a task technology could handle. During my years in high school, my sentence structure was very basic and I did not feel a need to improve on it. During my time in ENC1101, I was subjected

A piece of writing is much more than just words on a page. Just as a potter carefully molds and carves every detail and shape into a piece of art, so does a writer. Each comma, dash, antecedent, and fragment is picked cautiously. Each grammatical choice brings to pass a different rhetorical effect creating an irreplaceable and unique piece of art filled with fine detail. Rhetorical grammar is the clay of a potter. One must have it to begin and it has a variety of options to choose from. A person’s ability to understand and use grammar is as the technique owned by the craftsmen. Just as clay can be brittle and weak, so can grammar if used incorrectly or not to its best ability. The most amazing work is not made simply by chance but because 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

Junior year High School English was a major moment in developing my literacy competencies. It was the year that Mrs. Beulah Harper assigned the semester long research paper on an American author, complete with a grammar rubric that would make almost any editor cry. On the first day of my junior year, upon receipt of that piece of paper, I decided to use one of my limited elective choices and signed up to take a Grammar class. It was the best decision I ever made in high school.

Writing not only reflects on one’s credibility in literacy, but also how America’s school system has failed students at writing in English courses. As a student, I would describe my writing as “honest, but complex”. For as long as I can remember, writing was always a tool that allowed a person to eloquently express his or her opinions, and analyze writing prompts given by teachers at school. Today, most students in English class solely attempt at getting a good grade rather than thoroughly understanding grammar and writing. Moreover, a solution for this would be allowing more English teachers at school to come together to improve the emphasis on proper language learning as well as the value of writing.

The meta-analysis of these studies found that method yielded negative results (Anderson, 1997). This proposes that traditional methods of teaching grammar did not improve the abilities of the students. Sentence combining by contrast provides a more effective substitute to traditional grammar and punctuation instruction as it not only develops students’ written work but also improve their syntactic abilities. Furthermore, a recent study establish that instructing students to pay attention to the purpose and real-world application of grammar and punctuation in the framework of writing created stronger and more positive impacts on students’ written work (Fearn & Farnan, 2005). Largely, the studies on teaching grammar and punctuation suggest that, unconventional methods like sentence combining, have a far more significant impact than those of traditional means to develop the quality of students’ grammar and punctuation and subsequently their

Even though my grammar has improved during the progression of this class, I still have a lot to learn before my knowledge of grammar can contribute to my writing. I have never had an aptitude for

Ever wonder how good grammar can lead to success? Think about it like this, say you just sent an essay to the college of your dreams, and you’ve worked on that essay for weeks fixing it, making sure the grammar is perfect. Finally the letter you been waiting for is here, and you’re so nervous and scared to see what it says. Once you open it you see that you’ve gotten accepted, and they’re amazed with the grammar used in your essay, and that they’ll love having someone with that good of a grammar at their college. Good grammar doesn’t only lead to good success, but great opportunities in life which is better for our future.

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

Larsen-Freeman (2001) as cited in Mart (2013), describes grammar as a system of meaningful structures and patterns that are governed by particular pragmatic constraints. This clearly indicates that grammar plays a crucial role in learning the target language. Grammar instruction is one of the most difficult issues that people have encountered in language learning and teaching. Therefore, the best way to overcome this issue is by

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.