Education Commons^™

Incorporating Effective Grammar Instruction Into The Classroom, Erin Mary Harrity

Honors Program Theses

The debate about the effectiveness of traditional grammar instruction has been ongoing for many decades now. Traditional grammar instruction involves memorization of grammatical rules and practice exercise drills. As early as 1936, the Curriculum Commission of the National Council of Teachers of English stated that “‘all teaching of grammar separate from the manipulation of sentences [should] be discontinued…since every scientific attempt to prove that knowledge of grammar is useful has failed’” (Weaver, Teaching 9). So why is grammar still being taught in the same way-through traditional direct instruction-in many schools? It is because some parents, administrators, politicians, researchers, and teachers …