Grammar revolution: reflections

By Sandra Mikalsen

This blog entry is based on the documentary film “Grammar Revolution”. First I will explain the difference between descriptivism and prescriptivism before taking a look at why grammar instructions faded away in the US schools. Then I will convey the arguments against grammar and for grammar teaching, before finally share some of my personal opinion about grammar teaching.

To linguists, grammar is referred to as the rules that makes up our subconscious systems, which they want to describe – thus the term descriptivism. For other people, grammar is about following prescribed rules of a certain way of speaking and writing, called Standard English – thus the term prescriptivism. In the US schools, grammar instructions started to fade away after the progressive education movement began back in the early 20^th century. It became more common to have a practical view on the use of education, where the practical use of a particular topic decided whether it was worth teaching to the children. Also, the role of the teacher and the students changed from the teacher being an authority person, to the teacher being equal with the students and allowing them space to grow and make decisions for themselves. 6-year-olds designed their own curriculum and decided what they should study. 

Some of the arguments against grammar instruction that was mentioned in the film, was that it makes the children confused and frustrated, and is a waste of time. Some even feared that it would inhibit the self-expression of kids, and that the use of the dreaded “red pen” could damage children’s self-esteem. Others claimed that the creation and use of Standard English is only about maintaining power structures. 

On the other hand, some of the arguments for grammar teaching were about universal understanding and that grammar could actually be inspiring for children who are found of logical thinking. This is because grammar has a logical structure and can be seen as a logical pattern - just like in mathematics. A teacher in the film also claimed that grammar could empower students to feel enable to articulate and communicate themselves more clearly, and that it gives them a vocabulary for talking about language. The same teacher also believed that there are no contradiction between giving students correction and guidance, and allowing them self-expression. Students would actually feel more confident in expressing themselves, and felt proud to know how to structure a sentence.  

In my opinion, grammar instructions are necessary for enabling universal understanding and to be able to convey our (public) opinion properly without misunderstanding. Yet I think it is important to give children the necessary space to make them comfortable in expressing themselves whenever they feel like it, but also being comfortable in receiving correction from time to time.