This piece explores how moving from grammar instruction to language study empowers students and their writing. To shift perspective and re-envision how language discussion can begin in the classroom, suggestions are offered with power dynamics and contextual needs of real communication situations. The authors detail activities that draw on…

This article raises the reality of English as a naturally variant and fluid language inseparable from culture. The author addresses the tensions teachers face in the classroom when they make decisions about how African American students should use their language.

The idea of joining a conversation through reading and writing is not new; in his 1941 book "The Philosophy of Literary Form: Studies in Symbolic Action," Kenneth Burke suggests that the acts of reading and writing are like entering a parlor where others are already conversing. The author explores the place of professional debate within NCTE and…

The author has always had an appreciation of language--its rhythms, sounds, wordplay, dialects, usage variations, and powers to manipulate. Reflecting on how she came to this appreciation, she remembers her father reciting poems to her when she was a little girl. She was enthralled by the rhythm, the rhyme, and the sounds of the words--both…

Being up front with students about Standard English as "the language of power" allows them to learn valuable lessons about Standard and non-Standard English dialects. In this article, the author describes an eighth-grade language unit that helps students understand the value of dialects and standardized English. The author concludes that the…

How a person teaches grammar depends on what he or she believes it does. Some see grammar as a set of rules, inherited from wise forefathers. For them, teaching grammar means making students aware of, and then holding them to, these rules. Others see grammar as an expression of style, an invitation to the writer to explore how to create a…

This article discusses how amusing mistakes can make for serious language instruction. The notion that close analysis of language errors can yield insight into how one thinks and learns seems fundamentally obvious. Yet until relatively recently, language errors were primarily treated as indicators of learner deficiency rather than opportunities to…

Because digital language represents such a large part of the primary discourse of today's adolescents, it is not surprising that the style of electronic communication is "seeping into their schoolwork." According to a recent study published by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, in partnership with the College Board's National Commission…

In this article, the author laments the way students abuse the term "like" in their common language. She feels that the word has become a pervasive parasite in the speech of many unwitting American teenagers, and discusses the many purposes "like" serves in conversation. "Like" can be a verb that stands for "said." It is a shortcut that allows the…

Offers middle and secondary teachers a conceptual framework to guide their explorations into language with their students. Notes that many methods have risen and fallen. Concludes that, if students learn to generalize about language, they will be more successful in their usage of rules. (RS)

Argues that the ongoing debate about grammatical instruction in schools is a product of a reductivist, reactionary ideology that mistakes mechanics for grammar and proceeds from a deficit model, constantly punishing students for their lack of "grammatical" precision and general ignorance in matters of construction. Suggests that grammar…

Spoofs grammar instruction using characters from William Faulkner's novel "As I Lay Dying." (RS)

Provides a whimsical look at issues of language and grammar usage. (RS)

Discusses the vocabulary of English punctuation terms, largely unchanged since the Norman conquest in 1066. Discusses the meaning of the period, colon, comma, question mark, exclamation point, slash, parenthesis, brackets, asterisk, hyphen, and ampersand. (RS)

Asks pointed questions about English teachers' motives for teaching grammar and usage. Discusses what "usage" is; what "grammar" is; what "standard English" is; and what teachers of grammar and usage hope to accomplish by their teaching. Discusses the consequences of these realities for teachers. (RS)