Grammar is like....

Grammar is like a yellow traffic light. You are initially taught to slow down and stop at yellow lights so you can blast through them later.

I always thought that grammatical accuracy was vitally important for an essay. Reading something that wasn’t written correctly would make me lose interest in whatever I was reading. Some may even lump me with the proverbial grammar Nazis. Although, I suppose I’m not as bad as others because I won’t directly correct somebody if they say something wrong. But I think this perspective is a bit too hard-nosed, and maybe even old-fashioned. It could be the way I was taught. I grew up underlining the subject of a sentence, circling the verbs, and identifying adjectives. I turned in copious amounts of worksheets and often got them back with a depressing amount of red ink. It wasn’t the most fun part of my studies, but I wasn’t deathly opposed to it. It was just a part of school.

I think students need this basic foundation. The focus in school always shifts from grammar to original thought and analysis, but students need to know the proper structure of English. I think the same could be said for poetry or music. I can’t imagine musicians learn how to play an instrument through improv, and I like to think that students start with some form of structured meter or rhyme before studying and writing free verse.

I’m not saying that emphasizing grammar is the solution to all students’ problems but it’s a necessary evil (if some want to call it that). It should, however, be introduced to students early on so they aren’t so afraid of it. How it is taught in class would largely depend on the instructor. It can be done through worksheets and quizzes or more creative ways that involve games or peer work. Regardless of how it’s taught, ideas and organizational skills will inevitably follow once that foundation is cemented.

The priorities change slightly for ESL and developmental writers. Their main goal should focus on how to write their thoughts in an intelligible manner even if their grammar isn’t entirely correct.  Their teachers or tutors can then work on improving common mistakes such as verb tense, possessives, and subject-verb agreement. If their readers can piece together their message, I would label that as success.  

It’s embarrassing when employers say that colleges are graduating students who cannot write a coherent sentence. Students can complain all they want, but they should be in school to learn and not just to receive a piece of paper saying that they just went through the motions. They can deal with it.