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Education

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29 May, 2014

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The Importance of the

Understanding of Grammar
By James

Sutton

f you research the past 200

years of language instruction, you will see some major changes throughout the years.
Most of those changes you will find
occurred over the last 50 years.
From amongst those changes is
the emphasis placed on the understanding of grammar. The modern
day schooling system has all but
done away with grammar instruction in its entirety. The only thing
that remains of grammar instruction in America is a skeletal figure
displayed for people to remember
some ancient time in the past. Now
many might believe that we are better off without this tedium of grammar instruction; however, some
will definitely choose to differ.
Throughout the 18th, 19th, and
20th centuries, grammar was a
main stay in public education. In
fact, the original schools started in
the 1700s in Britain were referred
to as Grammar Schools. These
were the original places where
public education took place. Their
focus was not on simply teaching
the English language on its own
(as English was not originally considered the language of education),
but to further instruct students in
the languages of Latin and Greek,
which were considered the scientific
languages of the time. Students in
these schools were taken through a
rigorous curriculum which pushed
them to the very limits of their understanding. This, in turn, aided
in the building of a nation that was
founded on principles derived from
education and expression. A man
in those days was measured by his
abilities to articulate his ideas in
a way that captivated audiences.
And none would ever find an audience dedicated to their words who

lacked the skills of speech that are

made up of correct grammatical
structures.
This age continued on until the
paradigm shift that started with
the invention of the TV. This new
technological age gave birth to
the importance of communication through visual means and
caused the regression of expression
through words as the yard stick
to measure a mans intelligence.
This in turn caused a complete reduction in the peoples attention
to the betterment of their education. Educational standards began
to enter a phase of deterioration,
and the first ability the people lost
in this new age of technology was
their ability to articulate their ideas
in a correct and logical manner.
This regression continued moving
along until the 1970s when the Humanistic Movement started to get
an eagles grip on the curriculum
in the western world. In America,
during this period, grammar was
completely taken out of the curriculum. Britain also fell right behind their western allies and chose
to give up grammar instruction in
their public education. The results
of the exclusion of grammar in the
curriculum were disastrous.
Mortimer Adler mentioned in
his famous book, How to Read a
Book, that the reading level of the
average student entering the university was at an abysmal 6th grade
level. Of course one has to understand that Mortimers book was
first published in 1940. Now could
you imagine if he were teaching in
the universities in the 1990s! Both
Mortimer Adler and another university professor named Neil Postman (famous for his book Amusing
Ourselves to Death) shared similar
observations in the complete downward spiral of students ability to
implement the correct usage of ba-

sic language skills in their speaking

and writing. This was mainly due
in part to the students lack of understanding of even the very basics
of grammar. Since the focus of this
period in education was mainly on
reading comprehension, students
began a new trend of parakeet
learning. This learning simply had
the students memorize phrases and
then repeat them in their speaking
and writing where they saw fit to
repeat them. A whole generation
of people was raised speaking a
language that they did not truly understand.
When grammar instruction is
taken out of language education,
it is similar to removing the vertebral column from the human body.
There is no possible way that a person can function linguistically in
any language if that person does
not have the rudiments of grammar
needed to function in that language.
This can be seen in the people who
are raised in a language and do not
understand the foundations of that
language. If you took the average

American and asked him if the

statement, I have been to that restaurant before, were correct, they
would surely answer you in the
affirmative. However, if you took
that same person and asked them
why that statement was correct,
you would find them looking for an
answer like a fish out water trying
to breath correctly. And please do
not expect the average American or
Brit to know that the previous statement was in the Present Perfect.
Therefore, one can conclude, based
on the level of education today, that
there is absolutely no benefit for a
person to speak in a language that
they do not truly understand.
Next to the fact that people nowadays speak and write yet do not
comprehend the true meanings of
what they say and write is another
ailment that is caused by the lack of
grammar understanding amongst
the people. This ailment is an ailment I will just simply call the Blind
Following Ailment. As human beings, our nature has always been to
search for what is sound and cor-

By Khalid

Zilberg

t is natural for two languages to come into contact with one another.
When this occurs, it is inevitable that one of the languages overpowers and influences the other. This is precisely what occurred when
Arabic and English were introduced to each other. Linguists use two
terms when discussing the outcome between two languages that changed
each other for the better or worse. The terms are as follows; language
transfer is when common words, grammar, or syntax transfers between
the languages. The second term is known as borrowing; it is when one
language borrows words from the other. Both of these attributes can affect the learner negatively or positively.
The best example of phonetic or a phonological mistake is when a student uses language transferring between Arabic and English. The first

Making Questions with the Present Simple

Chavis

very verb in the English language has a Modal Verb that

aids the verb in many of its functions. From amongst those
functions is the ability of the Modal Verbs to aid the formation of questions. The Modal Verb that assists the Present Simple
in this function is the verb do. The verb do takes on two different
forms according to the pronoun that it is preceded by or the pronoun
that follow it in its question form. For example, if the Modal Verb do
is coupled with one of the following pronouns: I, we, you, they, or a
plural noun, it simply remains in its basic form of do.
Eg; They go to the store every day. Do they go to the store every
day?
Aminah and Samah go to the institute at 4 PM. Do Aminah and Samah
go to the institute at 4 PM?
Moreover, it the Modal Verb do is coupled with one of the following:
he, she, it, or singular noun, it takes on a different form which is
does.
Eg; He eats at the restaurant every day for lunch. Does he eat at the
restaurant every day for lunch?
Sayf plays in the park every weekend. Does Sayf play in the park every
weekend?

pendence and then move onto the

more important level of interdependence in anything in life if the
very foundations of what we are
about are shaky and not built on
sturdy ground.
We have to view the importance
of grammar in a new light. We
have to take the under -standing of
our language seriously, whatever
language it is that we speak. We
cannot accept giving up our lives
to play a game of follow the leader. Instead, we ourselves should
begin to assume the role of leadership. And once we have assumed
that role, we should begin by raising generations of leaders who are
able to truly articulate their ideas.
By taking grammar instruction out
of our language syllabus, we are
in turn giving our children up to
the throes of rejection. They will
live their lives just simply repeating phrases that they feel are the
correct phrases for that situation
rather than exploring the vastness
of what a true understanding of
language can bring them.

Confucius: The Arabic Native

A bit of grammar

By Michael

rect based on our understanding.

From the day that we are released
from the womb into this vast land
of opportunity, we begin our quest
for truth that will take us to the day
that we breathe our last breath and
are put in the ground to await an
eternity of consequence for what
we applied or failed to apply on
our journey. I think Steven Covey
summed it up best in his book The
Seven Habits of Highly Effective
People, in which he clarified the
stages of human development as
thus: First, complete dependence.
Second, complete independence.
Third, that stage of interdependence. Now being that language is
the foundation of every science, the
first thing is that we should at least
reach a stage of independence in
the language. However, if we live
our lives speaking and writing, yet
we do not understand or grasp the
full meaning of what we are saying and writing, how can we ever
reach the stage of independence
in our language skills? Moreover,
how can we reach a level of inde-

Change the following statements into questions:

1. Saleh and Halimah study every evening to do well in school.
____________________________________________
2. Muslih works on his computer all the time.
____________________________________________
3. Hassan and Hussein love to study in the Masjid.
____________________________________________
4. Mujahid likes to build new houses with his toys.
____________________________________________
5. Fatimah reads her books every evening.
____________________________________________
6. Sandy thinks about her son all the time.
____________________________________________
7. Hakimah and her mother cook lunch every day.
____________________________________________
Answers
1. Do Saleh and Halimah study every evening to do well in school?
2. Does Muslih work on his computer all the time?
3. Do Hassan and Hussein love to study in the Masjid?
4. Does Mujahid love to build new houses with his toys?
5. Does Fatimah read her books every evening?
6. Does Sandy think about her son all the time?
7. Do Hakimah and her mother cook lunch every day?

example is of Arab students who confuse the English /p/ and /b/ since
Arabic has one bilabial letter. A second example of confusion between the
Arabic student and English would be the verb wish. This verb expresses
the speakers wants and his or hers reality. The speakers wants and reality are different. When we speak of unreal expressions or wishes, the past
or past perfect tense of the verb shows the situation is never going to happen. The Arabic student faces difficulties when dealing with tenses.
We see these difficulties when there is a difference between time and
the verb. We will use the verb wish as an example. In regards to this verb,
we are not told the difference between the time reference and the form of
the verb. It is a disadvantage to the student because they face confusion
when they are not given time references and the form of the verb. The
verb wish states that the past is used to perform improbable acts in the
present or future. While the past perfect is used to summarize acts that
never happened in the past.
In Arabic there are two words that are equivalent to the English word
wish. They are layta and atamanna, in Arabic; both verbs can be used
without any difference in meaning. Yet, if we look at the structure and usage there is a difference.
a -

laytanii
usaferu
gadan
wish pres - I travel - pres - I tomorrow
*(I wish I travel (leave) tomorrow)

b-

laytanii
addrosu
fi aljamiati
allaana
wish -pres - I
study-pres - I at the university now
*(I wish I study (am studying) at the university now)

c-
laytanii
darastu
fii aljamiati
qabla sanawat
wish -past - I
study-past - I at the university many years
ago

*(I wish I studied at the university many years ago)
As we look at the Arabic examples, layta (wish) is followed by the present
form of the verb usaferu (travel or leave). The second example we see the
present form addrosu (study) to describe wish. In the third example we
see the past form of the verb darastu (studied) is used to express a past
wish. In two of these sentences unrealistic goals are expressed. The other
verb which was used was atamanna (wish or hope). In English we use
what is called the infinitive or would when discussing a wish or wishes.
An example, I wish he would stop talking. Realistically, this means I want
him not to talk.
Language transfer is a linguistic miracle. Both teachers and students
cannot ignore the similar features between the language of the learner
and the language the learner is learning. Arabic native speakers find it
very difficult to understand the verb wish. One of the reasons is because
of the structural differences between the two languages. In order for us to
make this transition easier, as teachers, we must be educated in both the
language being taught and the language of the student.