9/13/09

In these wonderfully grammatically correct two weeks past, I have learned the technical aspects of why many of the more difficult grammar rules are the way they are. I have always had a good intrinsic understanding of grammar and how it functions in language but most of what I understood was: “It is the way it is.” I found it particularly interesting to discuss the plural and possessive rules in words that end with “s.” The Joneses’ dilemma was one of the first grammatical questions that I initially felt as out of my grasp. I didn’t understand the subtler meanings of that particular grammar issue without spending time considering it and discussing it in class. But that led to a much better understanding of that rule and why it works in English language.
Thinking about house styles and the malleability of our language was also new and interesting to me. I found it reinforcing to see up-scale publications with their own sense of language and how grammar isn’t perfectly right or wrong in every situation. It showed me that people have a sense of grammar that is complex and subtle beyond our ability to define in every aspect.
I’ve also learned that this class will be much more enjoyable and beneficial to my learning than I had initially suspected from the course title. I have never minded grammar but because I feel I have always had a solid grasp on it, I was worried that this would be, as Barbara put it, an exercise in rote memorization of grammar rules with no practical benefit transferring over to our writing and, in turn, our future students’ writing. Of course there are always grammar rules to learn but it is presented within context which definitely reinforces my belief in how grammar should be taught in secondary schools.
So yes, I have learned some intricacies of grammar over the past two weeks that will apply to my writing, editing and any other works I do with the English language but I have also started to see the whole process of learning grammar form which, to me, is the aim of this course and in a broader sense of our education for teaching.

Question!: Is there another word for synonym?