prescriptive grammar

[sonik]

Do you believe that teaching prescriptive grammar could lead to negative effects on the students?

[Casiopea]

Well, I'd like to hear what you think.

[sonik]

I'm doing some research on this topic and I'm interested on the opinions of teachers. Could you help me out? What do you think about teaching only one of these philosophies? Or should both be taught?

[Casiopea]

I'm doing some research on this topic and I'm interested on the opinions of teachers. Could you help me out? What do you think about teaching only one of these philosophies? Or should both be taught?

Cool. So, what are your views?

[Tdol]

Do you believe that teaching prescriptive grammar could lead to negative effects on the students?

Not necessarily-it depends how the grammar is taught. There are rights and wrongs, and students should know this- they cannot just do what they want. Prescriptivism does not have to be synonymous with pedantry, though it often is. Also, I have never come across a trued descriptivist- they always display prescriptivist tendencies. Many teachers are prescriptivists because exams are, so how would being taught the skills to pass an exam impact negatively?

I teach 'If I were' & 'If I was' as valid forms, which is descriptivist, though I encourage the use of 'were' in formal writing, which is prescriptivist. At the chalkface, I think the issues are blurred and most teachers I know mix the two.