Language Alive In The Classroom

A common concern of teachers in the English-speaking world is that students at all levels often show very little knowledge of grammar. As traditionally taught (if taught at all), grammar is a dry, prescriptive subject and one that students often dislike and therefore do not learn well. In this edited collection, distinguished teachers offer a vibrant alternative by sharing the ways in which they make grammar and writing interesting and exciting to their students.

These contributors show how to bring language alive in the classroom. Concrete, animated articles explain how students (elementary through college) can discover language structure in contemporary classrooms. Examples of imaginative learning techniques include doing fieldwork to explore the language of home, neighborhood, and workplace.

Freed from scowling linguistic admonitions, students develop a careful eye in exploring the patterns of our living language in its myriad manifestations, from speaking, writing, reading literature, and finally, in our language reference works. Review: Whether you are an aspiring, brand new, or well-seasoned teacher of English Language Arts, [this book] should be on your reading list....Clearly and accessibly written, these essays introduce readers to particular projects that bring language to life in the classroom by putting students directly to work at identifying and analyzing language structures and 'rules' across a wide range of varieties of English and in both spoken and written discourse, including the discourse of literature.

This is a book that English teachers have needed for a long time, one whose many lessons can immediately be put to good use in classrooms across the grade levels. -Andrea Abernethy Lunsford Professor of English Ohio State University