Teacherswho guide theirstudents through these chapters are surely"teachinggrammaras a means of improvingcomposition skills"(to use Hillocks'words)-and doing so in a "functional"ratherthana "formal"way.
I wonder if turning it into a game would be helpful. I feel like it would work better for me that way.
grammar"hasvirtuallyno influ-ence on the language growth of typicalsecondary school students"
How is that possible? Without grammar, the meaning of what's being said can be lost. How could this not help with language growth?
1993, out of some340 sessions on the NCTE programand, Iwould estimate,well over 1,000 individualpapers,not a single one was devoted to lan-guage structure or linguistics. In fact, theword grammarappeared only once in theprogram-and that was in a negative way
The year I was born. No wonder why I struggle with grammar.
worseyet,theprocessoflearninggrammarinterfereswith writing. . . . For mostpeople,nothinghelpstheirwritingsomuchaslearningto ignoregrammarastheywrite.(169
I never thought about this, but it's definitely true. It can also get in the way of enjoying a good story. Many books I've read by well known authors have some grammar issues here and there and I find that I don't really care so long as I can still lose myself in the story. However, bad grammar can also get in the way, especially if it's excessive and/or gets in the way of you understanding the text.