Meet the Authors

In Tools, Not Rules, authors Tommy Thomason and Geoff Ward take the middle-ground position that grammar should be taught as part of the writing process. Tommy Thomason is a veteran journalist and university journalism professor at TCU. Geoff Ward is a well-known Australian professor and associate dean from James Cook University in Townsville. Both have written several books and work extensively with American teachers.

 

What’s the Best Way to Teach Grammar?

There are several “schools” of thought on how grammar should be taught. If you want to start an argument in a teachers’ lounge, just bring up the topic!

Traditionalists believe that drilling the basics by diagramming sentences is the only way to truly learn the fundamentals. They frequently replace actual writing with grammar drills, reasoning that the drills are necessary to prepare students to write eventually.

At the opposite end of the debate are teachers who claim that grammar is learned by writing and doesn’t have to be taught. Teachers on the write-to-learn-grammar side believe that students who are only taught the rules might pass tests, but can’t apply the rules when they write.

Tools not Rules advocates a different approach – a complete integration of grammar instruction and writing – so young writers see grammar as a tool that writers use, not a set of rules to be memorized.

 

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