Please, could anybody help me with my dissertation?

[TWINKYGIRL76]

Dear Sepf members, I am a third year student at University, and I am currently in the process of collecting sources for my dissertation. The title of my work is 'With statistic showing that high numbers of children are leaving education without first having gained a basic understanding of English, could teaching grammar as a separate subject in schools be the answer?'
The reason that I am contacting you is that I thought it might be worth asking anybody if they have any old text books on grammar, or memories about how they were taught grammar at school, or opinions about whether they feel grammar should be taught in schools today.
I appreciate that you are all probably very busy people, but I would be very grateful for any help/advice/resources that anybody could give me.
Many thanks in advance,
Amanda

[Lakitu]

Is this a letter sent to you or is this your dissertation? (Who are the Sepf members?)

To answer anyway, I think that separate grammar lessons would be a brilliant idea. I don't have any recollections of being taught grammar at school (though I have no doubt I was taught it).

Since I could read, I've always had a book on the go, so I have mostly picked up my grammatical skills through that. Also, I remember my parents used to buy me 'workbooks' from John Menzies, that taught me grammar and maths etc. I think they would be beneficial if they were introduced into the education system, if they haven't already.

[TWINKYGIRL76]

Sorry about the sfep members thing, I have posted a copy of this to the Society for Editors and Proof-readers, and I ment to change it before posting on here.
Yes, this is my dissertation title, and any help would be very much appreciated.

[MrBounty]

I would do a dissertation titled "Why Are Dissertation Titles So Long?"

[Schutzengel]

Grammar school pupils in the late 1940s had separate lessons, on English Grammar, and English Literature. Strong emphasis was also placed on Spelling. Correct spelling is a necessity in the work environment. As you are intending to point out the lack of basic education in school leavers, it might be as well to include comment on this aspect. It's very sad when youngsters have great ambitions of being a doctor, lawyer, or other professional, or even a secretary, and fail to understand that they don't have the required skills. Speaking from experience, applications for employment, and C.V's with spelling mistakes usually end up in the bin. The employers will sometimes overlook minor grammatical errors, but not spelling errors, as they have neither wish nor time to check employees work. Also such errors in communication with clients, gives a very bad impression of the company. In the past I have had to turn away job applicants for this very reason, from otherwise likeable and presentable youngsters. It's a very sad situation and one that urgently needs rectifying. Good Luck with your dissertation.

[mont6660]

I was at school from 1965 - 1972 and I don't ever remember formal grammar lessons in English. I learned most of my grammar studying Latin at secondary school (to OLevel) and from study of French and German. I teach nowadays and we do do some grammar at Primary school but mostly at the basic punctuation level. The Phonics programme we use has a lot of grammar included (nouns, verbs,adverbs etc) from day 1 so even our 5/6 year olds are learning the correct terms but I'm not sure how meaningful it is for them. Have a look at Jolly Grammar - it's widely used today.

[Scylax]

During the war years, 1940-1945, I was taught basic grammar at 'Elementary School' - about 4 hours tuition per week. This included the writing of 'compositions' and
frequent 'spelling Bs.'
At secondary Technical School, 1946 - 1949, English grammar lessons were continued at a more advanced level, perforce. In those days the cane was a constant incentive to learning. albeit in some cases, by rote.
The finer points of grammar and English usage, eg.
metaphore, metonomy, simile, personification, etc.
were hammered home, with lasting effect.
I left school, still aged only 14, literate to the point of
being able to produce freelance work for publication.
Do I advocate similar treatment for today's youngsters ?
You bet.....

[adrenochrome]

schutzengel seems to believe the English Grammar schools have moved with the times. They still teach English Language and Literature seperately, and Latin, and Divinity.
Focusing on the language skills as an entity in it's own right is beneficial to understanding thhe literature. Many English texts contain humour and subtexts that can only be appreciated if you can understand why certain words/phrases/clauses are written as they have been.
However, many rules of grammar are learnt instinctively, and via practice/usage.
If you visit the BBC website, they have links to educational sites and resources that you could explore.
Good luck

[jopaca]

I don't know if this is too late for your dissertation, but it might be worth mentioning that at KS3 all pupils should be taught a 10 minute literacy starter at the beginning of eachlesson. These are generally grammar based and at word or sentence level. I think (speaking as an English teacher at a traditional Grammar school) that hese are worthwhile, but that there is also a place for the discussion of 'new' grammar rules. Surveys of KS2 pupils show that regular use of text languageactually improves standard spelling and grammar later on. Weird. I also think that the apostrophe is soon to become extinct!