TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR

The term traditional grammar refers to the collection of prescriptive rules and concepts about the structure of language that is commonly taught in schools. Traditional English grammar, also referred to as school grammar, is largely based on the principles of Latin grammar, not on modern linguistic research in English.

Traditional grammar defines what is and is not correct in the English language, not accounting for culture or modernizing in favor of maintaining tradition. Because it is fairly rigid and rooted in the ways of the past, traditional grammar is often considered outdated and regularly criticized by experts. Even so, many children learn this proper, historical form of grammar today.

A Prescriptive Approach

Prescriptive forms of grammar like traditional grammar are governed by strict rules. In the case of traditional grammar, most of these were determined a long time ago. While some professionals uphold prescriptivism and the goals of traditional grammar, others deride them.

Author of The Teacher's Grammar Book James D. Williams summarizes the creeds of traditional grammar: "We say that traditional grammar is prescriptive because it focuses on the distinction between what some people do with language and what they ought to do with it, according to a pre-established standard. ... The chief goal of traditional grammar, therefore, is perpetuating a historical model of what supposedly constitutes proper language," (Williams 2005).

Others, like David Crystal, are passionately opposed to school grammar and find it too restrictive. "[G]rammarians of the 2000s are the inheritors of the distortions and limitations imposed on English by two centuries of a Latinate perspective,"(Crystal 2003).

Characteristics of Traditional Grammar

Grammar enables the language to function by commanding universality and predictability of the rules of structure. Languages across geographies and cultural traditions share many of the same basic rules of grammar, which is why some linguists like Noam Chomsky, for instance, argue that rules of grammar are innate and that all human minds are naturally equipped with a universal grammar. The main characteristics of traditional grammar relate to usage, diction, style and punctuation.

Usage: Parts of Speech

Traditional grammar organizes words based on eight different parts of speech. The parts of speech are verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections. Individual words can function as different parts of speech, so they are identified by their use in a particular instance. The parts of speech are important to identify because they determine how sentences are organized and punctuated.

Diction

Diction is the proper use of words. In language, there are different words and phrases for different contexts, so there is no such thing as a universally correct word or phrase. Problematically, words are arbitrary and cultural-specific, having different meanings for different people. However, words must convey or transmit meaning to function, and diction ensures that words work to communicate and express meaning by enforcing their rational and appropriate use.

Style: Sentence Structure

Conventional grammatical rules mandate that a sentence contain both a subject and a predicate. A subject is a person, place, thing or idea that acts in the sentence. A predicate is the verb in the sentence that can appear in the active or passive voice. Subjects and predicates may be complex, in which case the contain several words, and they may be supplemented with clauses, introductory phrases, prepositional phrases or other sentence parts. However, a sentence is incomplete without a subject and predicate.

Style: Spelling

Grammar also requires correct spelling. Generally, words must be spelled correctly according the language used. Sometimes, no equivalent of the word is available in which case the word must be italicized or quoted, depending on the formatting style used by the writer. Homonyms, which are words that share pronunciation but not spelling, must be spelled correctly. Also, correct spelling includes proper use of uppercase and lowercase letters. For instance, proper nouns require the first letter to be capitalized.

Proper Punctuation

Traditional grammar is characterized by proper punctuation. The basic rule of punctuation requires that each sentence conclude with a punctuation mark, whether a period, a question mark or an exclamation point. Beyond ending punctuation marks, sentences should use punctuation marks when appropriate to make the written sentence readable. Common internal punctuation marks include the comma, colon, semicolon, dash, quotations and parentheses. Rules govern the appropriate use of each of these marks.

From Traditional Grammar to Sentence Grammar

David Crystal wasn't the first person to call attention to the age of traditional grammar foundations, using this fact to argue against its implementation. Linguist John Algeo coined the second major development in grammar teaching, brought on by growing opposition to traditional grammar, sentence grammar. "The first English grammars were translations of Latin grammars that had been translations of Greek grammars in a tradition that was already some two-thousand years old.

Furthermore, from the seventeenth century through the first half of the nineteenth century, there were no substantial changes made in the form of English grammar books or in the way English grammar was taught. When people talk about 'traditional' grammar,' this is the tradition they mean, or ought to mean. ... Traditional grammar began to be challenged around the middle of the [nineteenth] century, when the second major development in grammar teaching appeared.

There is no very good name for this second development but we might call it 'sentence grammar.' Whereas traditional grammar focused primarily on the word (hence its preoccupation with parts of speech), the 'new' grammar of the 1850s focused on the sentence. ... It began to emphasize the grammatical importance of word order and function words ... in addition to the few inflexional endings in English," (Algeo 1969).

The Negative Effects of Teaching Traditional Grammar

It is clear that traditional grammar is a polarizing subject for experts, but how does it really affect students? George Hillocks explains some of the drawbacks of school grammar in practice: "The study of traditional school grammar (i.e., the definition of parts of speech, the parsing of sentences, etc.) has no effect on raising the quality of student writing. Every other focus of instruction examined in this review is stronger. Taught in certain ways, grammar and mechanics instruction has a deleterious effect on student writing. In some studies a heavy emphasis on mechanics and usage (e.g., marking every error) resulted in significant losses in overall quality.

School boards, administrators, and teachers who impose the systematic study of traditional school grammar on their students over lengthy periods of time in the name of teaching writing do them a gross disservice that should not be tolerated by anyone concerned with the effective teaching of good writing. We need to learn how to teach standard usage and mechanics after careful analysis and with minimal grammar," (Hillocks 1986).

The Persistence of Traditional Grammar

Of course, traditional grammar persists despite many opponents and questionable benefits. Why? This excerpt from Working With Words explains why traditional grammar is perpetuated. "Why do the media cling to traditional grammar and its sometimes outdated rules? Mainly because they like the prescriptive approach of traditional grammar rather than the descriptive approach of structural and transformational grammar ... Why? Inconsistencies in the style of a newspaper, online news site, magazine or book draw attention to themselves when readers should instead be concentrating on the content. ...

Besides, consistencies save time and money. ... If we agree on conventions, we can avoid wasting each other's time ... But the prescriptive rules have to be amended occasionally to reflect not only changes in the language but also research that proves traditional advice may have been inaccurate. The work of linguists is essential for making such calls on the best evidence available," (Brooks et al. 2005).