reflections on grammars demise - mulroy

7/23/2019 Reflections on Grammars Demise - Mulroy

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R e f l e c t i o n s o n G r a m m a r s D e m i s e

avid M ulroy

e n j a m i n F r a n k l in d i s t in g u i s h e d b e t w e e n s c h o o l s u b je c ts t h a t a r e u s e fu l

a n d t h o s e t h a t a r e m e r e l y o r n a m e n t a l . A s a n e d u c a t o r w i th a s p e ci a l i n te r -

e s t i n g r a m m a r , I a m a w a r e t h a t e v e n s o m e o f m y b e s t f r i e n d s a r e i n c l i n e d t o

r e l e g a t e m e t o th e o r n a m e n t a l c a t eg o r y . T o b e c o n s i d e r e d u s e f u l , su b j ec t s

h a v e t o b e d i r e c t ly r e l e v a n t t o e c o n o m i c s o r n a t i o n a l s e c u ri ty . T h e b e s t t h a t

m o s t p e o p l e h a v e to s ay a b o u t g r a m m a r is t h a t c o r r e c t u s a g e i m p r e s s e s p r o -

s p e ct iv e e m p l o y e r s : it is a b o u t a s i m p o r t a n t a s s h i n i n g o n e ' s s h o e s . I n m y o p i n -

i o n , th is a t t i t u d e i s i ts e l f a f u n d a m e n t a l p r o b l e m i n o u r e d u c a t i o n a l s y st e m .

I b e c a m e i n t e r e s t e d i n t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f g r a m m a r i n e d u c a t i o n t h r o u g h

t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f t r y in g to t e a c h L a t in t o c o n t e m p o r a r y c o l le g e s tu d e n t s . I

t h r e w m y s e l f i n t o t h i s j o b w i t h z ea l, c o n f i d e n t t h a t m y lo v e o f t h e s u b j e ct , m y

t h e n y o u t h f u l e n e r gy , a n d m y g o o d w il l t o w a r d m y s t u d e n t s w o u l d o v e r c o m e

t h e i n t r i n s ic d i f f ic u l ty o f t h e m a t e r i a l . T h i s e x p e c t a t i o n p r o v e d t o b e n a iv e . A s

t h e y e a rs pa s s ed , e v e r m o r e s t u d e n t s d r o p p e d o u t o f m y L a t in c la ss d u r i n g its

f ir s t tw o s e m e s t e rs . T h e a t t r i t i o n r a t e f i n al ly s t ab i l i z e d a t a r o u n d 9 0 p e r c e n t .

T h e s o u r c e o f t h e d i f f i c u lt y w a s n o m y s t e r y . W i t h r a r e e x c e p t i o n s , m y s t u d e n t s

h a d n o c o m p r e h e n s i o n o f g r a m m a t i c a l c o n c e p t s t h a t I a s s o ci a te d w i t h g r a d e -

s c h o o l l e a r n i n g : t h e p a r t s o f s p e e c h , v e r b t e n se s , a n d t h e s t r u c t u r e o f a s e n -

t e n c e . F u r t h e r m o r e , m y p a t i e n t e f f o r ts to e x p la i n t h e s e c o n c e p t s p r o d u c e d

o n l y f e a r a n d h o s ti li ty .

I n t h e 1 99 0s , W i s c o n s i n w a s o n e o f m a n y s ta te s a d o p t i n g n e w a c a d e m i c

s t a n d a r d s . M e m b e r s o f t h e g e n e r a l p u b l i c w e r e i n v i te d to s u g g e s t g o a l s t h a t

s h o u l d b e a d o p t e d b y e d u c a t o r s . I a t t e n d e d a n o p e n m e e t i n g a n d s u g g e s t e d

t h a t a g r a m m a r s t a n d a r d b e a d o p t e d , i .e . , h i g h s c h o o l g r a d u a t e s o u g h t t o b e

a b l e t o c la ss if y w o r d s b y p a r t o f s p e e c h , p a r s e v e r b s , a n d d i a g r a m s e n t e n c e s . 1

t h o u g h t t h a t t hi s w a s a m a t t e r o f c o m m o n s e n s e . I n s t e a d , I w a s t o l d b y t h e

e d u c a t i o n a l e x p e r t s s u p e r v i s i n g t h e p r o c e s s t h a t m y i d e a w as r a d i c a l l y m is -

g u i d e d . Y e a rs o f r e s e a r c h h a d p r o v e d , t h e y s ai d, t h a t t h e f o r m a l s t u d y o f g r a m -

m a r w a s c o u n t e r p r o d u c t i v e . T h e y q u o t e d a n a u t h o r i t a t i v e s u m m a r y o f r e s e a r c h

o n t e a c h i n g m e t h o d s p u b l i s h e d b y t h e N a t i o n a l C o u n c i l o f T e a c h e r s o f E n -

g l is h ( N C T E ) i n 19 63 : T h e c o n c l u s i o n c a n b e s t a te d i n s t r o n g a n d u n q u a l i -

f i ed t e rm s : t h e t e a c h i n g o f f o r m a l g r a m m a r h a s a n e g l i g ib l e o r, b e c a u s e i t

D a v i d M u l r o y is p r o f e s s o r i n t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f F o r e i g n L a n g u a g e s a n d L i n g u i st ic s a t

t h e U n i v e rs it y o f W i s c o ns in , M i lw a u k ee . H e i n e m a n n - B o y n t o n / C o o k p u b l i s h e d h is b o o k

The War gainst Grammar in 2003.

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Mulroy 5

u s u a l ly d i s p la c e s s o m e i n s t r u c t i o n a n d p r a c t i c e in c o m p o s i t i o n , e v e n a h a r m -

f u l e f f e c t o n t h e i m p r o v e m e n t o f w r i t in g . T h i s w a s r e i t e r a t e d i n 1 9 85 i n a n

o f fi ci a l r e s o l u t io n i n w h i c h t h e N C T E o f fi c i al ly u r g e d t h e d i s c o n t i n u a n c e o f

t e st in g p r a c t i c e s th a t e n c o u r a g e t h e t e a c h i n g o f g r a m m a r .

T h e N C T E c l a i m s a m e m b e r s h i p o f 8 0 ,0 0 0. I t is the p r o f e s s i o n a l a s s o c i a t i o n

o f E n g l i s h t e a c h e r s , p u b l i s h i n g o v e r a d o z e n s e p a r a t e j o u r n a l s . I t is r e s p o n -

s ib le f o r f o r m u l a t i n g t h e g u i d e l i n e s b y w h i c h i n d i v i d u a l s a r e c e r t i f i e d to t e a c h

E n g l i s h i n m o s t s t at es . Ca ll m e a c o n s p i r a c y b u f f , b u t I c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e r e

w a s a c a u sa l c o n n e c t i o n b e t w e e n i ts o p p o s i t i o n t o t e a c h i n g g r a m m a r a n d m y

s t u d e n t s ' i g n o r a n c e o f t h e s u b j ec t . O f c o u rs e , I a c k n o w l e d g e t h a t m a n y A m e r i -

c a n s t u d e n t s h a v e l e a r n e d E n g l i s h g r a m m a r p e r f e c t l y w e l l s i n c e th e 1 96 0s . I n

o u r g r e a t a n d d i v e r se c o u n t r y , t h e r e c a n b e l i te r a ll y m i l l i o n s o f e x c e p t i o n s t o a

v a li d g e n e ra l i za t i o n . M y p o i n t is t h a t i g n o r a n c e o f g r a m m a r is v e r y w i d e s p r e a d

a m o n g o u r s t u d e n t s a n d c o n s t i t u t e s a s e r i o u s e d u c a t i o n a l p r o b l e m .

I n The War Against Grammar 1 c al l a t t e n t i o n t o t h e N C T E ' s a n t i - g r a m m a r

c r u s a d e a n d t r y t o p u t t hi s p o l i c y a n d i ts d e l e t e r i o u s e f f e c t s i n t o a n h i s t o r i c a l

p e r sp e c t i v e . I a r g u e t h a t e d u c a t i o n in t h e W e s t e rn w o r l d h a s b e e n c o n s t r u c t e d

o n t h e f o u n d a t i o n o f th e s e v e n li b er a l a r ts , o f w h i c h g r a m m a r h a s t r a d i t i o n a l l y

a n d q u i t e r e a s o n a b l y b e e n v i e w e d a s t h e f i rs t a n d l e as t d i s p e n s a b l e . I t w a s

m a r g i n a l i z e d o n c e b e f o r e , d u r i n g t h e h i g h M i d d l e A g es , w h e n b i g -t im e u n i -

v e rs it ie s f ir st b u r s t o n t h e s c e n e . I t s r e v i ta l iz a t io n i n t h e f i f t e e n t h c e n t u r y h e l p e d

p r e c i p i t a t e t h e R e n a i s s a n c e . I a r g u e t h a t w e in o u r o w n b i g - t im e u n i v e r s i t ie s

a r e i n s e v e r a l w a y s r e l i v in g t h e h i g h M i d d l e A g e s . C e r t a i n ly , e ss ay s i n s o m e o f

o u r a c a d e m i c j o u r n a l s m a k e d e b a t e s o v e r h o w m a n y a n g e l s d a n c e o n a p in

s e e m c o m p a r a t i v e l y a c c e ss ib l e .

M y b o o k h a s b e e n w e ll r e c e i v e d , b u t g r a m m a r is a h a r d s el l i n a s k e p t i c a l

a g e . I n d i s cu s s in g t h e i ss ue s i n v a r i o u s v e n u e s s i n c e t h e a p p e a r a n c e o f

The War

Against Grammar I h a v e b e c o m e a w a r e o f w r i n k le s a n d r a m i f i c a t i o n s t h a t h e l p

p u t t h e m i n t o a b r i g h t e r l i gh t . I n m y b o o k , f o r e x a m p l e , I a r g u e t h a t i g n o -

r a n c e o f g r a m m a r h a s c r e a t e d a n e p i d e m i c a m o n g c o l l e g e s t u d e n t s o f w h a t I

c a l l t h e h i g h e r i ll it er ac y . H e r e I w o u l d li ke t o c a r r y t h a t a r g u m e n t s o m e w h a t

f u r t h e r .

G r a m m a r d e s c r i b e s th e r u l es b y w h i c h s p e e c h is o r g a n i z e d a n d t h u s g a in s

i ts m e a n i n g . S t u d e n t s w h o d o n o t u n d e r s t a n d g r a m m a r l ac k a n y m e t h o d f o r

a n a l y z in g m e a n i n g w h e n i t is n o t i n t u i t i v e ly o b v i o u s. I n m y b o o k , I i l l u s t r a t e

t hi s w i t h t h e r e su l t s o f a n e x p e r i m e n t t h a t I h a v e c o n d u c t e d s e v er a l t i m e s a t

t h e U n i ve r si ty o f W i s c o n s in - M i l w a u k e e . I h a v e g i v en g r o u p s o f s t u d e n t s ( m e m -

b e r s o f m y l e c t u r e c l as se s o n c la ss ic al m y t h o l o g y ) t h e f i rs t s e n t e n c e i n t h e D e c -

l a r a ti o n o f I n d e p e n d e n c e ( W h e n i n t h e c o u r s e o f h u m a n e v e n ts .... ) a n d

a s k e d t h e m t o p a r a p h r a s e i ts m e a n i n g . I a m l o o k i n g f o r t h e i d e a t h a t w h e n a

g r o u p o f p e o p l e s e c e d e f r o m a po l it ic a l u n i o n , r e s p e c t f o r p u b l i c o p i n i o n d e -

m a n d s t h a t t h e y e x p la i n w h y. A b o u t h a l f o f m y s t u d e n t s g e t i t r ig h t . O t h e r s

w r i t e t h i n g s li ke th is : W h e n d e a l i n g w i t h e v e n t s i n l i fe , o n e s h o u l d d r o p p r e -


3/7

5 4 A c a d e m i c Q u e s t io n s S u m m e r 2 0 0 4

c o n c e i v e d k n o w i n g s a n d a s s u m e t h a t e v e r y t h i n g t h a t h a p p e n s , h a p p e n s f o r a

r e a s o n , a n d b a s ic a ll y l if e g o e s o n . T h e i r p r o b l e m s d o n o t s t e m f r o m v o c a b u -

la ry . M r . J e f f e rs o n u s e d c o m m o n w o r d s. T h e d i f f i c u l ty s te m s f r o m h is c o m p l e x

o r g a n i z a t i o n o f t h e w or ds . Y o u n e e d to u n d e r s t a n d g r a m m a r t o s ee h o w t h e y

a ll f i t t o g e t h e r . A b s e n t t h a t u n d e r s t a n d i n g , o n e is j u s t g u e s s i n g . T h e r e s u l t is

i n t e r p r e t a t i o n b y f r e e as so c ia t i o n , a n d a n y t h i n g c a n h a p p e n .

A l l o f t h a t is d i s c u s s e d in m y b o o k . S i n c e i ts p u b l i c a t i o n , I h a v e b e c o m e

a w a r e o f a s e c o n d c r it ic a l e l e m e n t i n t h e h i g h e r il li te r ac y . I t d a w n e d o n m e

i n c o n s i d e r i n g a n o t h e r s t u d e n t p a r a p h r a s e o f t h e D e c l a r a t i o n ' s fi rs t s e n t e n c e .

A h i g h - sp i r i t e d y o u n g m a n w r o t e , A s l i fe p r o c e e d s , d o w n t o t h e v e ry m o m e n t

t h r o u g h w h i c h w e p e r c e iv e o u r e x i s t e n c e as , i n d e e d , s e p a r a t e e n t i t i e s o f p e r -

c e p t i o n , t r a n s f o r m a t i o n is t h e k e y t o o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f th e n e c e s s i t y o f

c h a n g e a n d i ts l iv i n g r o l e , w i t h i n a ll o f us , in r e l a t i o n t o t i m e .

I n o r d e r t o g u a r a n t e e t h a t s t u d e n t s d i d t h e i r b e s t in w o r k i n g o n t h e s e p a ra -

p h r a se s , I h a d a n n o u n c e d t h a t I w o u l d g i ve e x t r a c r e d i t p o i n t s t o t h e s t u d e n t s

h a n d i n g i n t h e m o s t a c c u r a t e o n e s . S ev e ra l w e e k s a f t e r t h e e x p e r i m e n t , t h e

a u t h o r o f t h a t p a r a p h r a s e i n q u i r e d a b o u t h is g r a d e in m y t h o l o g y a n d , l e a r n -

i n g t h a t i t w as n o t a n A , a s k e d w h e t h e r I h a d r e m e m b e r e d t o i n c l u d e t h e

e x t r a c r e d i t p o i n ts t h a t ( h e a s s u m e d ) h e e a r n e d f o r h is o u t s t a n d i n g p a r a p h r a s e .

N o w a c c o r d i n g t o P l a to , s e l f - k n o w l e d g e is t h e k e y to l e a d i n g a g o o d l i fe .

F u r t h e r m o r e , d e f i c i e n t s e lf - k n o w l e d g e ty p ic a ll y t a k e s t h r e e f o r m s . W e a r e m o s t

l ik e ly t o h av e a n e x a g g e r a t e d n o t i o n o f o u r w e a l th , o f o u r g o o d l oo k s, o r o f

o u r v i rt u es . A m o n g t h e v i rt u es , w e a r e m o s t l ik e ly t o o v e r e s t i m a t e o u r w i s d o m .

I n P l a t o ' s vie w , t h e l a st d e f i c i t is t h e m o s t d e a d l y . L i te r a ll y , th e w o r s t t h i n g t h a t

y o u c a n d o t o a p e r s o n , t h e s u r e s t w a y t o d o o m a n i n d i v i d u a l t o f a i lu r e a n d

m i se r y , is to i n f e c t h i m o r h e r w i t h a n e x a g g e r a t e d n o t i o n o f hi s o r h e r o w n

i n t e l l e c tu a l a t ta i n m e n t s . T h a t is p r e c i se l y t h e u n f o r t u n a t e c o n d i t i o n t h a t h a s

t a k e n r o o t a m o n g m a n y o f o u r s t u d e n t s b e c a u s e o f t h e N C T E ' s w a r a g a i n s t

g r a m m a r . G r a m m a r h a s n o t j u s t b e e n n e g l e c t e d n eg a ti ve ly . S t u d e n t s h a v e b e e n

p o s it iv e ly t a u g h t t h a t t h e y d o n o t n e e d it . T h e y c o m e t o c o l le g e w i th t h e b e l i e f

t h a t t h e i r u n i n s t r u c t e d , i n tu i ti v e i n t e r p r e t a t io n s o f c o m p l e x s t a t e m e n t s a r e

m o r e o r le ss i n f a ll ib l e . H e r e t h e n is a s e c o n d e l e m e n t in h i g h e r i l li te r a cy . I ts

v ic t i m s a r e n o t o n l y i g n o r a n t o f h o w t o an a ly z e c o m p l e x m e a n i n g ; t h e y a re

i g n o r a n t o f t h e i r i g n o r a n c e . T h e y f i r m l y b e l ie v e t h a t t h e y a r e c o m p e t e n t o r

e v e n e x c e l l e n t re a d e r s . T h i s f a l se b e l i e f i n c i d e n t a l l y h e l p s e x p l a i n t h e h o s t il i t y

t h a t a l a n g u a g e t e a c h e r l ik e m e e n c o u n t e r s w h e n h e t r ie s t o e x p l a i n f u n d a -

m e n t a l g r a m m a r .

T h i s h i g h e r i l li te ra c y is o b v io u s ly m o r e t h a n a n o r n a m e n t a l p r o b l e m , s i n ce

a ll in t e l l e c tu a l d i sc ip l in e s d e m a n d t h e c o r r e c t i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f c o m p l e x t ex t s ,

b u t I w o u l d l ik e to p u r s u e t h e i s su e in t o a n e v e n m o r e o b v i o u s l y p r a c t i c a l

r e a lm . T h e w a r ag a i n s t g r a m m a r h a s h a d a n a d v e r s e e f f e c t, to p u t i t m i ld ly , o n

f o r e i g n l a n g u a g e i n s t r u c t io n .

T h e N C T E d o c t r in e t h a t f o r m a l g r a m m a r is u n i m p o r t a n t h a s b e e n w i d e ly


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adop ted by elemen tary foreign language teachers. To teach a foreign languag e

withou t empha sizing grammar, one uses what is called a communic ativ e sylla-

bus. Rather than teaching conjugations and declensions, the teache r's goal is

to immerse students in meaningful activities in the target language. The as-

sumption is that students will pick up the target language naturally, sink or

swim, in the same way that we all learned our mother tongues. Such is the

do mi nan t philosoph y of language instruction in U.S. schools.

In fact, the the ory that you can learn a langu age well without k nowing its

gr amm ar has been tested in recent years in language i mmers ion schools that

were started in Quebec in 1967 and 1968 and have spread from there to the

United Sates. The essential characteristic of a language immersion school is

that the language to be lea rned , a.k.a., the target langua ge, is tau gh t by be-

ing used as the language of instruction in all of the school's subjects (except

for classes on the students' native language). There is little or no explicit in-

struction in the target language: it is the vehicle of instruction, not the topic.

Students are ex pect ed to pick it up because the ir classes are co nd uc te d in it.

Given this strategy, it is obviously importan t that immers ion students start young.

Typically, the immersion programs begin in kindergarten and run through

middle school.

Imme rsio n schools are a relatively rec ent p he no me no n. I have not seen any

genuinely comprehensive study of their efficacy. The nearest a pproxi mation

to such a study that I have found is Margo Kinberg's,

P e r s p e c t i v e s o n F o r e i g n

L a n g u a g e I m m e r s i o n P r o g r a m s ~ As is clear from her thumbnail sketch of the

history of theories of foreign l anguage instruction, Kinberg is generall y sym-

pathetic to the imm ersio n enterprise. Nevertheless, she acknowledges that t he

effects of immer sion have no t b een as good as its advocates would have wished.

Students in immersion programs outpace their peers in more traditional language

learning programs in terms of communicative and sociolinguistic competence.

However, where accuracy is concerned, immersion program students tend to lag

behind their peers in more traditional programs (Kinberg, 91).

Communi cative and sociolinguistic comp et en ce refers to the practical abil-

ity to get one' s message across. If you go into a Fre nch res taur ant wan ting to

order a ham sandwich and end up with a ham sandwich, instead of (say) an

anti-American demonstration, you have demonstrated communicative and

sociolinguistic competence, even though your utterances may have i nclu ded

any nu mb er of solecisms. The goo d news, in ot he r words, is that i mme rsi on

students learn to get their point across using the lexeme s of their t arget lan-

guage.

Ano the r area in which immersi on students excel is in the positive attitudes

they develop toward themselves as language learners (40). In other words,

even though they make more mistakes than their traditional counterparts,

they hol d themselves in hig her e steem. Kinb erg qu otes answers of typical im-


5/7

5 6 A c a d e m i c Q u e s t i o n s S u m m e r 2 0 0 4

m e r s i o n s t u d e n t s o f S p a n i sh t o t h e q u e s t io n o f w h e t h e r t h e y s p o k e S p a n i s h

p r e t t y w e l l o r r e a ll y w e ll . O n e o f t h e r e s p o n s e s c a u g h t m y ey e : I h a t e t o b r ag ,

t h e s t u d e n t sa id , b u t I t h i n k t h a t I a m r e a l l y w e l l ( 5 9 ).

K i n b e r g d o e s n o t c o n c e a l t h e f ac t t h a t t h e re la t i ve ly p o o r p e r f o r m a n c e o f

i m m e r s i o n s t u d e n t s w h e r e a c c u r a c y is c o n c e r n e d d i s c o n c e r t s a d v o c a t es o f

t h e a p p r o a c h .

W h y s h o u l d i t b e t h a t l e a r n e r s w h o h a v e b e e n e x p o s e d t o a la n g u a g e f r o m a n e a r ly

a g e h a v e n o t m a s t e r e d t h a t l a n g u a g e ? O n e w o u l d h a v e e x p e c t e d t h a t, g i v en e x p o -

s u re t o a l a n g u a g e fo r s e v e ra l h o u r s d a i l y , n o n -d i s a b l e d i m m e rs i o n p ro g ra m s t u -

d e n t s w o u l d b e c o m e h i g h l y p ro f i c i e n t . S e v era l r e s e a r c h e r s h a v e s u g g e s t e d p o s s ib l e

e x p l a n a t i o n s f o r t h i s p h e n o m e n o n ( 4 3 ) .

W i th d i f f e r e n t e m p h a s e s , t h r e e o f t h e f o u r r e s e a r c h e r s K i n b e r g c it es b l a m e

t h e f a i lu r e o f i m m e r s i o n o n t h e l a c k e x p l i c i t in s t r u c t i o n i n t h e r u l e s o f t h e

l a n g u a g e , i .e ., g r a m m a r . T h e f o u r t h f o c u s e s o n t h e l a c k o f a p p r o p r i a t e l e a r n -

i n g m a t e r i a l s .

T h e a c k n o w l e d g e d s h o r t c o m i n g s o f i m m e r s i o n s c h o o ls s e e m t o e p i to m i z e

t h e d e f e c t iv e t h e o r y a n d b a d e f f e c t s o f th e w a r a g a in s t g r a m m a r a n d f o r t h a t

r e a s o n t o w a r r a n t m o r e a t t e n t i o n f r o m a d v o c a t e s o f t e a c h i n g g r a m m a r . I m y -

s e lf h o p e t o l e a r n m o r e a b o u t t h e s u b j e c t i n t h e f u t u r e . F o r t h e t i m e b e i n g , I

c a n o f f e r j u s t o n e m o r e p i e c e o f a n e c d o t a l e v i d e n c e .

1 r e c en t ly h e a r d t h a t a c o ll e a g u e w h o t e a c h e s G e r m a n h a d e n r o l l e d h e r

d a u g h t e r i n a l oc a l G e r m a n i m m e r s i o n s c h o o l . I s o u g h t h e r o u t , b e c a u s e o f

m y n ew l y f o u n d i n t e r e s t in i m m e r s i o n , e x p e c t i n g t o h e a r a p os it iv e e v a l u a t i o n

o f t h e i m m e r s i o n e x p e r i e n c e f r o m a m o d e r n l a n g u a g e i n s t ru c t o r f o r w h o m I

h a p p e n e d t o h a v e t h e u t m o s t r e s p ec t . S h e i n f o r m e d m e , h o w e v e r , th a t i t w a s

h e r f o r m e r h u s b a n d w h o h a s in s is te d o n e n r o l l i n g t h e i r d a u g h t e r i n t h e im -

m e r s i o n s c h o o l. S h e h e r s e l f v i g o r o u s ly o p p o s e d t h e d e c i s i o n a n d w a s t a k i n g

l eg a l a c t i o n t o r e m o v e h e r d a u g h t e r f r o m t h e s c h o o l a s s o o n a s p o s s i b le . H e r

r e a so n s w e re b a se d o n h e r o w n r a t h e r e x t e n s iv e e x p e r i e n c e w i th G e r m a n im -

m e r s i o n s t u d e n t s w h o h a d m a d e t h e i r w a y t o h e r c o l l e g e cla ss es .

W i th r a r e e x c e p t i o n s , s he f o u n d t h e m t o be i n f e r i o r s tu d e n t s f o r r e a s o n s

t h a t a r e c o n s i s t e n t w i th K i n b e r g 's f i n d i n g s - - b u t s h e p u t a f i n e r e d g e o n t h e m .

I n m y c o l le a g u e 's e x p e r i e n c e , i m m e r s i o n s t u d e n t s e n d u p s p e a k in g a G e r m a n

p a to i s f u l l o f s o le c is m s a n d c l u m s y c i r c u m l o c u t i o n s w h e r e i d i o m a t i c G e r m a n

c al ls f o r g r a m m a t i c a l s o p h i s t i c a ti o n . A r o u n d t h e f i ft h g r a d e , w h e n t h e y g e t to

t h e p o i n t t h a t t h e y c a n n e g o t i a t e t h e c h a l l e n g e s o f t h e s c h o o l d a y in t h e i r

p i d g i n G e r m a n , t h e i r k n o w l e d g e o f t h e l a n g u a g e f o ss il iz es . T h e p r o c e s s i s a c-

c e l e r a t e d b y t e a c h e r s w h o a r e t r a i n e d to t e ll t h e m h o w w e l l t h e y a re d o i n g

d e s p i t e t h e i r g r a m m a t i c a l b l u n d e r s . W h e n t h e y g e t t o c o ll e ge , t h e y a r e h i g h l y

r e s is t a n t t o f u r t h e r i n s t r u c t i o n i n G e r m a n b e c a u s e t h e y t h i n k t h a t t h e y al-

r e a d y u n d e r s t a n d i t p e r f e c t l y w e ll . P l a t o c o u l d n o t a s k f o r b e t t e r e x h i b i t s i n a

g a l l e ry o f i n d i v id u a l s s u f f e r i n g f r o m d e f e c t i v e s e l f- k n o w l e d g e .


6/7

Mulroy 7

During the time that communicati ve approa ches to language instruction

have beco me do min ant in our schools, enro llments in foreign language courses

have declined sharply as a perce ntag e of courses taken. T her e is muc h specu-

lation a bout the cause of the decline, but there is surely no culprit m ore likely

than the deliberate policy of not giving children the fou nda tion that they need

to und ers tan d any language: grammar. In any event, in 1965, 16 perc ent of

college credits were ear ne d in foreign la nguage courses. Th e figure fell to 7

per cen t in 1977 and has fluctuat ed between 7 and 8 percen t since. The most

rec ent figures, those for 2002, have just been published by the Mod er n Lan-

guage Association in a generally upbe at repo rt hailing the growth of interest

in foreign language study. 2 One reads that the perc enta ge o f credits ear ne d in

foreign language study has achieved of new, recent high of 8.6 percent. Th e

fine print, however, contains the in for mat ion that par t of the statistical grow th

reflects the new practice of includ ing Americ an Sign Langua ge in the totals.

Without this wrinkle, the perc enta ge would stand at 8.2 percent, the same as

in 1990.

Since the 1960s, general enrollments in college have grown dramatically,

and this has led to an increase in the absolute numbers of students studying

some foreign languages, but n ot all. Total college enro llme nts have mor e than

quadrupled, going form four million in 1960 to sixteen million in 2002. De-

spite this growth, there are fewer students studying French, German, I,atin,

and Russian today than there were in the mid-1960s. In other words, teachers

of those languages have twelve million mo re potential customers t han we did

in the 1960s and substantially fewer buyers. If that is no t an indi catio n o f some

under lying problem in the langua ge arts curriculum, what would be?

Improvements in absolute figures in some other languages have occurred

mostly at the lowest levels, especially in junior colleges. Incredibly, the abso-

lute num be r of students studying any foreign language on the grad uate level

has dec lin ed since 1974 from forty-two tho usa nd to thirty-six thou san d in 2002

AD FL B ulletin,

5). Despite the n ation s d esperate ne ed for expertise in Ara-

bic, there were only 531 students taking graduate courses in that language in

the entir e nation in 2002 (4). The dama ge d on e by the war against gr am ma r is

clear and pressing.

To repeat, we have approximately sixteen million citizens in colleges and

universities, surely the largest investment in hig her educ atio n in the history of

the world. If this vast apparatus included a robust language arts curriculum

that paid due attention in its early stages to the fundamental discipline of

grammar, we would not have to worry about shortages of translators an d inter-

preters in crucially impo rtan t languages. Not to put too fine a point on mat-

ters, this means that, far from being an ornamental concern, the restoration

of gr amm ar is a matte r of life and death.


7/7

5 8 A c a d e m i c Q u e s t i o n s S u m m e r 2 0 0 4

N o t e s

1. Margo Kinberg,

Perspectiveson Foreign Language Immersion Programs

(Lewiston, NY: Edwin

Mellen Press, 2001). Further references to this volume will be cited in the text.

2. Association of Departments of Foreign Languages--ADFL Bulletin, Volume 35, Number

2, Winter 2004, 1-20. The ADFL is a subsidiary of the MLA. Furthe r references to this

bulletin will be cited in the text.

A m e m b e r o f t h e N a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t io n o f S c h o la r s w a s as a m u s e d

b y th e c o n t e n t s a s h e w a s b y t h e s o u r c e s o f i n s p ir a t io n a l q u o t a t i o n s

t ha t h e e n c o u n t e r e d o n t h e w al ls o f H o r t e n s e P o w d e r m a k e r Hall,

t h e n e w l y rebuilt social s c i e n c e s b u i l d in g a t Q u e e n s College,

CUNY.

9 Main Entra nce, left: "The aca dem y is not paradise. But lea rni ng is

a place where paradise can be created."---bell hooks

9 Main Entr ance , right: "Edu catio n is

inherently

an ethical and politi-

cal act. "--Mic hael Apple

Main Lobby, left: "Education for domestication is an act of trans-

ferring 'knowledge,' whereas education for freedom is an act of

knowledge and a process of transforming action that should be

exercised on realit y."-- Paulo Freire

Main Lobby, right: " Tho ugh t is no longer theoretical. As soon as it

breaks, dissociates, unites, or reunites; it cannot help but liberate

and enslave."---Michel Foucau lt

Southwest Entrance : N o t enco urag ing students to question knowl-

edge, society, and exper ienc e tacitly endor ses and suppo rts the sta-

tus quo." -- Ir a Shor

9 Northwest Entrance: "The world is before you and you need no t

take it or leave it as it was when you came in." --James Baldwin

East Entrance : "Political educati on p repar es citizens to participate

in consciously re pro duc ing their society, and conscious social re-

producti on is the ideal no t only of democrat ic edu cation but also

of democratic politics." Amy Gutm ann

reflections on grammars demise - mulroy

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