This is an extract from "Politics, Reading and Knowledge about Language", the author's address to the 1991 annual conference of the National Association for the Teaching of English. It describes the moment in 1988 when Kenneth Baker, then Secretary of State for Education and Science, received the report of the Committee of Inquiry into…

Grammar is "a system of rules governing the conventional arrangement and relationship of words in a sentence" (Brown 1994) which can facilitate the acquisition of a foreign language and is conducive for cultivating comprehensive language competence. Most teachers regard grammar as a frame of English learning. The grammar teaching beliefs…

Examines the roots of traditional grammar in ancient Greek philosophy, particularly philosophy of language. (AM)

Contains comment on and Hartwell's response to Patrick Hartwell's "Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar" (CE, February l985) and comment on Mikhail Bakhtin's "Rhetorical Theorist" (CE, October l985). (EL)

Text reordering, text rewording, text recording, and text researching offer students who must use prescriptive grammar books the opportunity to observe, analyze, manipulate, and enjoy language. (Author/RL)

Provides a history of the development of the theory of the "circumstantial" in grammar, presents its chief concepts, and discusses its implications for a theory of semantics. (AM)

Traces the development of French "grammatical analysis" and "logical analysis," from the 16th century concept of syntax, to 19th century pedagogy. (AM)

Examines the traditionally prestigious status of the sentence in grammatical analysis, and traces the history of the word "phrase" as a part of French grammatical language. (AM)

Shows that traditional grammar teaching grew out of nineteenth-century beliefs about language learning and the nature of knowledge that are profoundly different from those that direct the language arts curriculum today. Bases the account on approved textbooks, Alberta Department of Education reports, public examinations, and anecdotal records. (EL)

Suggests that the current "return" to grammar will fail unless educators can come to terms with definitions of fundamental grammatical concepts. Considers how educators cannot go back to teaching the traditional, because the traditional no longer exists. Argues that pedagogical grammar currently has too many cooks, all trying to prepare the same…

Discusses an analysis of grammar that systematizes knowledge about language according to new parameters but continues to view traditional grammar as the backbone of language structure. (NCR)

Presents an overview of the treatment of linguistic principles in recent French grammar books. (AM)

Argues that the use of specific grammar texts, along with the books themselves, has remained essentially unchanged for over 200 years. Examines how grammar texts were established and used historically. Claims that pedagogical uses of grammar textbooks mirrors instructors' perceptions of their students. (HB)

Finds serious flaws in the research asserting the uselessness of teaching grammar to composition classes. Proposes that writing teachers acknowledge the presence and importance of grammar in the writing class. (RL)

Outlines three senses of the term grammar, why some type of grammar should be taught, the three types of grammatical description that can be taught, and four procedures and four conditions for teaching any type of grammar. (Author/JM)