In academic writing, formal structure and prescriptive grammar are utilized for a variety of reasons: to convey ideas clearly, to seem professional, to demonstrate our level of education and vocabulary, to allow a benchmark for grading, and because it is simply the way people are taught in school. However, do these current measures truly have a place in academia? Do these standards harm more than they help? And is the way we teach writing truly the optimal way? There are many reasons why the current standards for academic writing should become more flexible. Current academic writing standards hinder creativity, limit students from underfunded schools and communities, and cater to the able-bodied (both mentally and physically). Because of these …show more content…
A big contender in this argument is that prescriptive grammar is too strict, and that because most people communicate using descriptive grammar, students should be allowed to write academically the way they would speak. Descriptive grammar refers to the “set of grammatical rules based on what we say, not on what we should say according to some language authority” while prescriptive grammar refers to the “set of grammatical rules prescribed by a language authority” (Denham and Lobeck 10). Given these definitions, prescriptive grammar seems too strict to allow the natural flow of speech and therefore allow students to clearly write what they are thinking. Denham and Lobeck say in our textbook that “many prescriptive rules are simply unnatural; they don’t conform to rules of natural language and can be learned only consciously” …show more content…
The fact that a student cannot grasp the strict rules is no fault of their own, but rather seems to be attributed to the ones teaching them. Let the record show that this paper is in no way devaluating teachers, but instead showing the flaws in the education system in general. Prescriptive language’s role in education is ableist. Learning disabilities in regards to learning written language are often treated as a failure of the student due to their laziness or ineptitude, rather than acknowledging their struggles with strict rules such as the ones set in place for academic and formal writing. This phenomena has been cataloged by many researchers, including one thorough project done by the University of Iowa. In that study, researchers discovered that Learning disability (LD) has come to be seen as poor achievement in key aspects of learning having to do with spoken language, written language, and/or mathematics that occur in the context of normal opportunities to learn and in the absence of developmental (autism or mental retardation) or sensory disorders. (Tomblin
..., K., Milczarski, E., & Raby, C. (2011). The Assessment of English Language Learners with Learning Disabilities: Issues, Concerns, and Implications. Education, 131(4), 732-739.
Will, M. (1986, November). Educating students with learning problems-a shared responsibility. Washington, DC: Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
The classroom is a diverse place where learners from all different genres of life meet. Included in these learners are those that display learning disabilities. According to the British Columbia School Superintendent’s Association, ‘learning disabilities refer to a number of conditions that might affect the acquisition, organization, retention, understanding or use of verbal or nonverbal information. These disorders affect learning in individuals who otherwise demonstrate at least average abilities essential for thinking and/or reasoning’. They also posit that ‘learning disabilities result from impairments in one or more processes related to perceiving, thinking, remembering or learning. These include, but are not limited to language processing,
The term “learning disability” applies to a multitude of different disabilities. This term can refer to a specific disorder, specific disability, or a specific weakness within a student. Using the term learning disability is similar to grouping all people living in the United States as Americans. An important point of learning disabilities is they can occur with other disorders such as ADD or ADHD. This does not mean they occur with every disability, but can be present or contribute to a learning disability (Horowitz, Ed. D and Golembeski, Ed. M. par 9).
Each school, because of government mandate, has to provide services for exceptional students. The textbook Human Diversity in Education defines exceptional students as “those eligible for special educational services” (Cushner, McClelland & Safford, 2011). There are several categories for exceptional student but they all fall under the Ability/Disability continuum. Some of the categories for exceptional students are the: intellectually gifted, specific learning disability, emotionally handicapped, hearing impaired, visually impaired, mentally handicapped, and physically handicapped. In this paper the specific type of students that will be discussed, fall under the disabled side of the continuum. As one can see from the list above there are various types of disabilities that can affect students. One of the disabilities that affect many students in schools today is known as the Learning Disability (LD). Students with learning disabilities, also known as specific learning disabilities, tend to be of at least average intelligence. Of at least average intelligence is the key phrase. A learning disability is defined as “a neurological disorder that affects the brain’s ability to receive, process, store, and respond to information” (National Center for Learning Disabilities,). Learning disabilities can affect students in the areas of listening, speaking, reading, writing and spelling, reasoning, and mathematics. A student that has a learning disability can at times suffer for a social anxiety. Though social anxiety can be something minor, for students with this disability 2011it can cause major problems. Their social anxiety is caused by fearing that they will not fit in because they are unable to understand or process the information a...
The students with this type of disability exhibits hyperactivity, fine and gross motor coordination, low self-concept, and language delays (Friend & Bursuck, 2006). The type of assessment accommodations commonly prescribed for students with a speech or language impairment are allowing to substitute oral exams with written exams, providing a vocabulary list, allowing the use of calculator, private location for testing, modify the length of the test, substitute oral project presentations with written presentations, and allowing extra time for assessments. According to Friend and Bursuck (2006), one critical element in testing students with disabilities is ensuring that the test results reflect their knowledge and skills, not their
The writing process is always taught as a set way of doing things when, in fact, it is a process that requires personal methods that work for each individual person. It is a necessary lesson to teach in school but there should not be so much emphasis on following the exact way that is taught. It is a contrived process that was probably created by a group of scholars who didn’t even follow these exact rules. If anything, they all did variations of the ideas and then met in the middle with what should be taught. I am in no way saying that the guidelines are wrong but they need to be exactly that, guidelines, instead of a rut that students get stuck in.
There are many different types of learning disabilities; the most common ones are dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. (Jerome Rosner. –third ed. 1)
Students with learning disabilities can learn; each student has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Educators must continue to focus on the strengths of each student and building on them, creating a stronger student and person. Identifying the weakness is at the core of getting a student help with their learning disability, but after this initial identification and placement, the focus should shift to the strengths and adjusting the student’s schoolwork to reflect these strengths. For instance, if a student is weak in reading but has wonderful group interaction skills and is good with his or her hands, the students' reading tasks should then be shifted to reflect these st...
The impact of having a learning disability are lifelong. A student with a learning disability may always need extra help to get through certain aspects of life after they graduate high school. If the student is going to college accommodations and specific learning strategies will need to be used to help them through their courses. Their personal lives may also be affected due to a learning disability. “For example, Johnson and Blalock found that, of the 93 adults studied in an LD clinic sample, 36% continued to receive counseling or psychotherapy for low self-esteem, social isolation, anxiety, depression, and frustration.” (1987) The difficulties associated with learning disabilities can affect them daily and their past experiences with it can follow them into adulthood and bring up unhappy memories of struggling with learning disabilities as a child.
specific learning disabilities in the United States of America. The Journal of International Association of Special Education, 10(1), 21-26.
Many students struggle with learning disabilities. Two common disabilities are Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. “According to the latest dyslexia research from the National Institutes of Health, Dyslexia affects 20 percent of Americans” (“What is Dyslexia?”) Dysgraphia is difficulty with writing that sometimes accompanies Dyslexia. Students that have Dyslexia and Dysgraphia will struggle with vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation, but there is help.
Education is a profession which requires a teacher to be able to communicate with a multitude of students on a variety of levels. There is not a class, or student for that matter, that is identical. Therefore, teachers must be able to identify and help educate students from all different types of backgrounds and at different levels. Teaching a singular subject presents difficulties, but teaching students with disabilities should not be one. There are three main teaching areas that need to be focused on when teaching a student with a learning disability. Teachers need to focus on the strategies that will assist students with reading comprehension skills, writing skills, and maintaining appropriate behaviors in a classroom setting.
It is not uncommon to say that grammar instruction plays an important role in language teaching. Regarding the status and importance of grammar teaching, a variety of opinions have been made. Batstone (1994) states that “language without grammar would be chaotic: countless words without the indispensable guidelines for how they can be ordered and modified” (p. 4). More vividly, Wang (2010) makes two similes. She compares grammar to the frame of a house, which is a decisive factor to ensure the solidness of it. Additionally, she regards grammar as a walking stick, whose function is to help and support students to learn English. Thus, the nature of grammar instruction manifests its own significance as it helps students enhance their overall language proficiency by integrating grammar into other aspects of learning, like listening, speaking, reading and writing.
When grammar is put to use in a society, people will often have different beliefs at what is the "right" or "proper" usage. This had led to the formation of two widely accepted forms of grammar, Prescriptivism and Descriptivism. These forms will often separate those who believe their form of grammar is the only correct way from those who use many forms they find to be acceptable. Descriptive grammar is formed by analyzing how speakers use a language, and deducing the rules they follow. Linguists create descriptive grammars in order to understand language more deeply. They understand that a single language can have multiple dialects, and that each dialect will have its own grammatical rules--internally