Reflections on documentary film "Grammar Revolution" by David & Elizabeth O'Brien (2014)

In this blog entry, I will reflect on the documentary “Grammar Revolution”, and some of the issues that the film highlights.

Descriptive grammar is a term used to describe what grammar is through a linguist’s perspective, namely to describe the rules and underlying systems that make up human languages, without a normative mission. Prescriptive grammar is what grammar is when seen from a popular perspective. There is a standard form of a language, seen as the correct way of speaking or writing. In this colloquial sense of the term, one may speak of good and bad grammar.

Explicit grammar instruction in US schools has declined, according to “Grammar Revolution”, since the progressive educational movement gained strength in the early 20^th century. In contrast to the traditional teaching situation, the progressive teacher would not function as an omniscient instructor, but rather be a guide in the students’ more self-directed and collaborative path to education and development. Telling students that what they wrote were right or wrong was not discouraged, and the importance of grammatical comprehension was seen as a less significant area on which to focus, as well as a too complicated subject. Teachers were rather encouraged to nourish the students’ creativity.

Being able to express oneself in a clear and eloquent matter, and write correctly and correct one’s grammatical mistakes in accordance to a standard English form, is something that students often will find gratifying. Students who enjoy systems they might get a greater enjoyment out of English and languages in general, if they are taught that all languages can be systematized and explained in accordance to a set of underlying rules and systems. To understand that all words in a sentence, have a grammatical function, and is related to the other words in a specific way, can give the students a better understanding of one’s own language. It can also be a great help when learning a foreign language. Furthermore, one simply cannot correct a student’s paper in accordance to the Standard English rules, if the student lacks metalinguistic awareness. They need to know why, not just what, something is grammatically incorrect.

In my opinion, the students need, at the very least, to acquire a certain degree of metalinguistic understanding, and be able to talk about language and its functions. To know the “eight parts of speech”, meaning to be able to categorize all words in one of eight word classes, is something that I think is important for the students to learn. When it comes to acquisition of a second language, explicit grammar instruction is, I would say, unavoidable, based on the lack of a natural connection to the language.