THE PEDAGOGY BEHIND THE GRAMMAR GUIDES

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Finding an effective method of grammar instruction for native speaker college students represents one of the perennial difficulties faced by all writing instructors. Given Patrick Hartwell's convincing argument in "Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar" that direct instruction on abstract grammatical points is of limited use, we sought another method to help students bring the "grammar in their heads" more in line with the expectations of academic English.

Towards this end, we developed the "Grammar Guide" assignment. Students in our Writing Lab sections were asked to choose a grammatical or rhetorical error that consistently appeared in their own writing and research the error using both The Bedford Handbook and the Internet as sources. They were then to develop their own handout on this type of error, ostensibly to help others understand the problem and avoid the error. While the public presentation of these guides through this web site makes the student guides a legitimate contribution to the study of grammar, our primary goal was to have the students learn how to correct their errors by teaching others. By having students identify their own grammatical concerns in the context of their own writing and then develop explanations to help others avoid the same kind of mistakes, our hope is that they will teach themselves how to unlearn a pattern of error that permeates their work.

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