Here is how people viewed grammar prior to the start of the
anti-grammar movement.
"When education was a private good, available to only a small elite in the United States, grammar, rhetoric,
and logic were considered to be the foundation on which real learning and self-knowledge were built. That is
to say, policy and pedagogy united around the proposition that how to say things correctly, how to say them
well, and how to make sure that what one said made sense were important educational values."
(This statement appears in The Neglected "R" - The Need for a Writing Revolution, a report by The National
Commission on Writing published in
April 2003.)
| 1950s |
- |
People in the academic world started attacking grammar. |
- Too much time is being spent on teaching grammar.
- Diagramming sentences teaches nothing beyond the ability to diagram.
- The teaching of formal grammar has a negligible and even a harmful effect on the improvement of writing.
| 1960s |
- |
Schools began to deemphasize the importance of learning grammar. |
- Teachers stopped teaching diagramming.
- Less time was allotted to learning grammar concepts.
- More time was devoted to teaching creative writing and studying literature.
| 1970s |
- |
The anti-grammar movement continued to grow. |
- Many school districts stopped teaching grammar beyond elementary school.
- College instructors stopped teaching grammar concepts in their freshman English classes.
- English education departments stopped offering grammar courses to their education majors.
| 1980s |
- |
Grammar receives its final crushing blow. |
In 1985 the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) published a position statement opposing the
teaching of isolated grammar classes. Since then, most schools have stopped offering grammar classes. In
some school districts, teachers were forbidden to teach grammar.
(View this report.)
| 1990s |
- |
A concern that students graduate with a proficient understanding of grammar concepts became
a thing of the past. |
This is evident when you review Robert Connors and Andrea Lunsford's research in their report entitled
Frequency of Formal Errors in Current College Writing, or Ma and Pa Kettle Do Research. These researchers
reviewed 3,000 graded papers from college instructors across the country and checked for the 20 most common
writing errors. In reviewing these previously graded papers, the researchers discovered that there were 28,538
errors of which the instructors only marked 11,607 or just 40.6 percent of the errors. From this failure to
identify almost 60 percent of the errors, one can possibly conclude that either the instructors were not aware
of the errors themselves or that the instructors did not feel it was important to point out these errors to
their students.
(View this report.)
| 2002 |
- |
The College Board established the National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges.
This action occurred "because of the growing concern within the education, business, and policy-making
communities that the level of writing in the United States is not what it should be." |
| 2003 |
- |
The College Board published a report completed by the National Commission on Writing in America's
Schools and Colleges entitled The Neglected "R" - The Need for a Writing Revolution.
This report states that all teachers need to improve their writing skills and recommends that state and local
educational agencies provide professional development. |
(View this report.)
| 2003 |
- |
Nearly 20,000 public high schools in the United States received a report entitled Understanding
University Success, a project of the Association of American Universities and the PEW Charitable Trusts.
In this report the 26 participating research universities (which included such schools as Harvard, Indiana, MIT,
NYU, Penn State, Rice, Rutgers, Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan) stressed the importance of knowing basic
grammatical terminology and the parts of speech. This report states, "Students in college are expected to know
how to diagram a sentence and recognize how this process helps them understand words and their functions within
a sentence." |
(View this report.)
| 2004 |
- |
The College Board published a report completed by the National Commission on Writing for America's
Families, Schools, and Colleges entitled Writing: A Ticket to Work…Or a Ticket Out - A Survey of Business
Leaders.
This report states that companies are spending more than $3.1 billion a year to send their employees
for training to improve their writing skills. |
(View this report.)
| 2005 |
- |
The College Board revised the SAT. The new Writing Section of the standardized test includes 49
multiple choice questions on grammar and usage.
This new inclusion of grammar and usage is now forcing school
districts to rethink their positions on grammar. |
| 2006 |
- |
State Departments of Education across the country are revising their statewide tests and including
more grammar questions.
This new inclusion of grammar and usage is also forcing school districts to rethink
their positions on grammar. |
| 2007 |
- |
Safran Publishing Company releases a highly interactive computer program called EGUMPP.
EGUMPP is an acronym for Electronic Grammar Usage Mechanics Proficiency Program. |
The grammar revolution has begun! Bring back Grammar! Grammar is as important to communication as
arithmetic is to mathematics!
EGUMPP, Don't Leave School Without It!
|
Electronic Grammar Usage Mechanics Proficiency Program