When
English teachers talk about correct grammar
and usage, they really mean "the way we talk here."
The unstated message is, "If you want to fit in to the school
world, these are grammar rules and usage you must follow."
The problem for English teachers, of course, is that most students
don't want to fit into an environment that includes English teachers.
The importance of usage
If we care about kids, we must make them see how correct English
usage could be important to them outside school.
Scenario 1. Suppose two teens
are stopped by police at 2 a.m. One teen speaks the idiom of the
drug culture, the other's speech sounds more like an English text
book. Which do you think the police are more likely to suspect of
using drugs?
Scenario 2. Suppose
two students are interviewing for a waiter's job in an upscale restaurant
where a single night's tips could be more than a week's pay at McDonald's.
Who do you suppose is more likely to get the job: the one who speaks
like a rap artist or the one who talks more like an English teacher?
Fairly or not, people stereotype others by
their grammar
and usage at least as much as by their appearance.
Students can influence how others view them by changing the way
they speak and write.
Talk trips up writers
For people whose native language is English, usage problems often
stem from the difficulties of translating oral language into written
language.
Increasingly
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Students do little reading.
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The little reading they do is not sustained reading.
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Students read while other media compete for their attention.
As a result, students may be unfamiliar with
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The spelling of words and phrases they hear in conversation.
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Standard English usages that are clear from the context
of conversation but must be specified in writing.
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The specific situations in which certain usages are
appropriate.
Use multiple approaches
Since grammar-usage
problems have multiple causes, a solution requires multiple approaches.
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Give writing prompts
about the impact of substandard English usage.
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Give writing prompts about appropriate and inappropriate
English usage.
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Encourage students to do more sustained reading.
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Teach reading literacy
along with writing literacy.
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Draw attention to the difference between the sound
of words in conversation and the sound of words in isolation.
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Have students track their personal usage errors.
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Focus on issues that hamper communication or that stereotype
students as ignorant; ignore issues that matter only to
pedants.
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Restrict grammar-usage study to a few problems a year.
Helping students see value in expanding their knowledge of grammar
and usage is mainly a matter of being alert to opportunities
for drawing students' attention to the effects of different types
of usage.
