AN INVSSTIGATIOI\ OF Trii LIl\GJISTIC CONT2N'I OF SIX E:LSt':2:NT4RY
ARTS TSXT300K SE~IES
by
YlARCIA A. GEVERS
for
--
S2:NIOR HONORS THESIS
ID
499
BALL STATE UNIVERSITY
ADVISOR: DR. IRMA GALE
The Library
Ball
State Un;versity
Muncie, Indiana
L~NGUAGE
TABlE
o~
C(;r;Ta~TS
iii
iv
INTRODUCTION
CHAPT~R
I.
TEt
SCLF~
~r
in~
1
STJLY
The ProbleITl
Limi ta hons or the Study
Organization of tr:B STudy
II.
U:,;r.:;S?3:'I\ [··l[I:;:j L~'::; H.JL, C;' LIW:;Jl ::'IC: I
u:rjUKjE-ARTS
EDUCATION
••••••
•••• • •
The
~hat
~n;Tlish
8
LaY'.f!u'i:-e in the School CurricublITl
Is Meant
bv
the
Te-~
Linguistics?
21
24
Linguistic Score Card and :£valua tion
Tabulation 01 the Scores
Discussion of the Mesearch Data
Conclusions Larived from the Study
IY'J'clica tio~1s
3IB11OJRAPHY
APPENDIX
SUf!~ested
by the Study
, ,
..... .1.
ACKNO"JLELGM.r::NTS
The Honors thesis is desi,med to allow students to participate
in independent study.
'Ihis Honors project, culrr.inating in the resul-
ting thesis, has not been truly incependent. however, for ".;ithout
tne aic and concern of many reople, this thesis would not have been
complete.
The dissertation of Ann Bunch Lefcourt served as a mOdel for
the desiqn of this project.
''';ith ner kina permissio1'":. a moaified
replication of her doctoral thesis was attempted.
state-adopted lant="uage-arts textbooks.
usin~
current
She extended professional
interest and advice :'hrou;:rh written corresponaence.
Mr. Criarles i":ise. Cur riculum Director of the ii.as t Al.Lerr. County
School
~ysterr..
maQ~
~
vq:J,~lB
contribution to this
~roject
by gen-
erously providing conies of textbooks for trie collection of the research data.
The advice anc suggestlons of iJr. Irma Gale. "TriO served as advisor for the project. are ackr.owlec2'ed.
have
hee~
:ler enthusiasIt: anci counsel
a major source of encoura::.>:ement anc inspiration.
of her nrofessional resource materials facilitated
The use
t~e draftin~
of
the manuscript.
Appreci""tio~
is also expressed to all others who contributed
to this project ;.:ith advice. information. enci
iii
encoura~ement.
IN'IRODUCTION
The sweepin;::- curric'.llu."ll reforms in American education have Drompteri ]:"rents to stuc1y new ceveloDl""en!s
in t'"'.e teachin>'" of the chysical sciences. the modern
foreip-n l':1n2'ua2'Ps. and 11:2 thematics. i~ecent trends in
the teachir.~ of ~n~lisb. will change the ~n~lish curriculum as radically as the "new math" has chang-ed the
~eachin~ of mathemgtics i~ school syste~s acros~ the
Uni ~ ee Sta t e s • 1
Parents are doinG" cri ticg] thinkinc: about the n61"; curric·.llmns,
but many
teac~,ers
an:: orosoective teachers are equall'iT concerned.
Hanv are faced with
c;.
perolexin!! cont!'aciction.
1 nev 3re being
tau""ht and/or are be::'n;; enco'Jra;red to teach new concepts and undershndin"'s in a manner the t conflic';' s with the ways in which they
were taught.
They are challenged to re-evaluate tracitjonA.l method-
oloe-ies !'lne conc8nts associatec witr. tr.eir own D!'Jst
lea'~ninQ'
consider t::e adootion of new expressions. and oatterrs
0:'
Another verv rel11 problem m-;nifests itself wher' tne
mat+er con';'ent and
educatio~.;l
and to
+!'ou,,-ht.
su~ject
philosoDhies of the school texts
fail to cOTl"olv 'I\Tith the newer recomrendations for cUY'ricular offerin"'s arri orocecures.
:using
A~Rin
the teAche- is
confronte~
~ith
a con-
O'l rad ox.
The realization tb.at these conflicts do exist
main influences in the selectio"
~as
one of the
of' this topic foY' stt:dy.
[, desire
It'!ichael Shug!'ue. Hor,; the Key; English i..'lill Helo ,Your Child
York: Association Press. 1 <;;66). p. 5.
iv
(~;ew
to learn more about linr-uistics or the "new i::m-:lish," as well as a
desire to become more aware of t:1A extent, to which these eoncepts
are actuallv being- presented to elel"'entary cr.ildre r
,
with thA hODe
of fincinp' some means to bef!in resolvin,,- t:-_e proble!!: of existinp'
di screDa r:cie s beh-Ieen theo"'y a nr.l ()ractice,
r.... e"'p
prirre moti V!1 tinf!
f=c+0rs for toe research croject.
't,Ti th an awareness of f!eYler, 1 DArson!)l liY'1i tat -; ons, this pro,ipc+ we, s be:;un with SO"1e reserv'ltions.
led"'e about
~n~·lish
A lack of extensive know-
as a COYltent subject and about linf!uistics in
pariicu13r was a serious handicap.
As an elementary education mA-
jor with limited experiences in language-arts trainiYlg, only a minimal amount of back2round knowledge could be assur'1ed.
so~e
Immediately
moaification of tt-:e ()V'oject bec'me necessary.
Ar: exact replication of the Lefcourt study was imposs:i.'::lle since the
current investif!q tor
di~
not blVe the sarre de2'ree of cmr.petence to
complete a study as cO!YIprehensive as the dissertation under+a1.{en by
The Lefcourt study dealt with this Question, "Are school. DrofYra!1"s in
~nC"li.sh,
as evidences hv elementary
F~nC"lish
lenp'uaF1'e text-
books, dea lin2' i:'1adec::ua telv or incorrectly with con+e"rrorary knowledp'e?"l
Basically, tt.e thesis concl'Jcied that the
low between
t~e
correla+io~ was
subject rratter included in the textbooks in use in
the state of Indiana anc: contel11por.qrY linguisiic knm{led'!e.
1 Ann Bunch Lefcou:-+ t "An Exardnation oi' Eive ~leJ:'1entary Enc-lish
Language 'Textbook Series t 3rades Two throu,h ""ie-hr t El"1Dlovin;- a Linquistic Score Card Devised for tr.a t Purpose" (unpublished Ph .D. dissertation, Dept. of :i:duco;t"on, Ball StatR University, 1963), p. 4.
v
Since
1963
many ele~entsrv lqnrua7e-ar"s textboo~ se~ies have
been revised and new ones have apnearea.
Textbook Adoption Committee adopted
for u "e in Inciana 5:!hools.
whetheY' any
sir:rr.ifi~~ant
8.
In
1968
new list of
the Indiana State
tex~book
series
This thesis attemnts to discl3rr:.
chqnr-6s have been tr".de to improve the cor-
re18 tion between tex i 'Jooks ar.c conterr.por8r'{ knowledQ"R ir -:he new
textbook sey-ies durinf'" the fivp-year interirr. period.
vi
CHAPTER I
THE SCOPE
or THE STUDY
The i"1Dor t an+ role of En=lish in .A.mericqn school svsterrs is
!!enerallv assmned.
"In the elementar.v school the child sDencs be-
tween forty and fifty per cent of his time studyinf! the Er:!="lish
1 anp'uag-e s k 1'll_5
01~
l')s.enln",
t'
, ,
spea k'In,,, W'''l+lnr,
anc' d
rea 'In''". ,,1
Obv:'ously, the stucSy of lenguan-e is important.
are
unc.erl~in2:
foundations
Of'
learnin~
in
othe~
The h,ngwtfTe skills
subjeet areas.
The teac~er of ~nalish, then, has a great responsibility to ins+,ill in his students not only an 'lnoerstandin<r of how languBC"e funC'tioY's, but a command of
writ~en and oral discourse, an exposure toC'reat books
and stories and roems and plays, and a sh"re in the cultur~l heritage of ~estern civilization.?
"Admoni tions that instrucho
r
in the Sn:rlish 1'; n:ru;:;.:re be based
upon the methods and discoveries of modern linQ'uistic stuc:y have
been soundec frequently ano widely in
t~e
Dast two decades."J As a
result, .:rrea t reforms in school curricula have occurred in the 1950'5
and 1960's.
Albert R. Kitzhaber exarrined the paC8
o~'
t-ese reforms
in the Enr-lish curriculum and saw that :-roQ'ress has beer, slow and
fi tful in i''''''r;rovin:' t1-,e teachin£' of
En,~lis~
in schools.
He sUQ'P'ested
a series of steps for improving the '::)";:-lish curriculum and increasing
1 Lefcourt, p. If).
2
Lefcourt, D. 19.
JRobert V. Danby, "Lin"'ui sties Instruc' ion in 31errer:.tary School
.... t (T l3. 11 a h a ssee,. "a
f"t'lona 1 Cat.n.
,~'l
Cl as ,c:.. roo]'!'1s , It An ..\.:~'1'~'/:·';I"
\.... '-' "~, " repo_,
l
or .
Teachers of En~lish, 1969), p. 29 .
.
-
1
2
the rate of reform:
1.
A carp-ful definition of
ter~s.
Is Enp:lish only readinp", w"itine-, sreakino- ant litO~ should other thir~s also be included such as
teleDhone techniques, and the Dewey Decimal System?
erat~re,
2.
An evaluation of the effectiveness of current curricular of-
ferinp"s within
En~lish
DrOgrams.
The present curriculurr permits om aimless edcyin~
arounci the same ite!"s year after year--apostrophes, topic
sentences, subject-verb ap"reeJ"'ent --wi th t!':·- result th-3 t
the curriculurn is often stultifyirg to studert aYlC te~,cher
alike; we must ask ourselves whether sorre rrore rational
anc efficient plan 0: orf',1niz-3tion is not possible.
3.
A corr.parison of the content that is aC"'ually taus'ht with
"the current st;:;te of knowledge in relevant d-isciplines."
~.
A critical analysis of textbooks.
with relevance
JUdgments should be made
+0
• . • Conclusions about the proper airrs anc subjec-'
mat"'er of Encrlish, the Dossibili ty of a !rore cle!irly sequential curriculu!1I am r:.reser:t krowledp'e of 1.~nrTuaget
li+er-;ture, rhetoric, anc the Dsycho~oe-v of learninG".
5. An evaluation of the te2.chers of
~ncrlish.
A great many o~· the people who tea ch Ene-lisn in the
schools • . • are not well prerarec to teach even the
exis-:-ini! curriculum; r.early all would be unprepared to
teach a curriculu:!>1 that dif'erec so much fro1"l the ~resent
one. 1.
These steps inaicate tnat Kitzhaber delineates three areas that
require attentior. if sirrr.ificant cheng-es are to be Made in the
teaching of E.:nc-lish--curriculum, textbooks, ana teachers.
This
lAlbert :L Kitzh'lber, "itethinkin'!: a Prerequisite to .ieform."
Issues ano Proble!".s ir. the E.le!!leDtary Lanp'uage i~rts. ec. '{';alter 1'.
?eUv (:'loston: Allyn and Dacon, Inc., 1968), D. i).
3
thesis is
5recificall~ concerne~
altr:o;-C"h refeY'ences
+~
with the second area,
tr,e other tW8 are ",ener?lly
textboo~s,
inc~uced.
Present
knowlecCTe end current beljefs about ecucation in 2'eneral, as r,.;ell as
about snecifjc su':::>ject matter, influence curriculum; this, in turn,
becomes the basis for the
:cu~lication
of textbook se-"'ies .1'eachin2'
is, in a fYreat m'lny ways, influenced by curriculurr anc textbooks.
The Problem
'This study was r:lannec to utilize a lini!uis+ic seers card devised
by Ann 3unch 1efcourt [ihubert/ and authent ic o• tej for her study by
" t s. 1
many no t ee'1"ln~U1S
The purlCose was to reveal the influence, if
any, of lin=-uistics a:!'1c the results of li:!'1f"uis+ic
rese~,rch
on the
content of ele"!"f1entary lanfYuarre-ar-ts text"'Jooks used in Ine:t.ana schools
since their adoption in 1~68.
The questions
w~ich
thi~
researc~
~-"'oject
at+emnts to examine
and answer are the followinp":
1.
10
what extent is linC"uistic content incorlCoratec in e'lch
of the ne;.! textbook series?
2.
Is tte"'e sorre
cor~ela tior.
am on,. t:-.8 content of all the
series?
3.
since
t~e
4.
Eave there been si2nificant
last
sta~e
c:-:'~onfYes
in textboo'-( content
adoption?
Are lin'·uis+ic conc,c;pts incorporated in
t~_e
text for stu-
dents or8ontained ,!:r'''imarilv in +,he teacher I s menual?
5.
Does the research dAta sup-crest any possible imnlications
for the future incornorat"on
c~
linC"uistics in
Ale~Ant~rv
textbooks?
11'lnf2"U15
" t,s w.o
h co"!""!"o'Jor"
+
' t'he 1 e~f' c0ur t score c~r2' inc 1 uded:
v P 2
Harole :;. Al~en, Geo"g-8 ? liaust, ."~. Nelson !'rencis, ~lbert H. 1··1arckwarcit, Paul ?o·8erts, and James ri. Sledd.
4
'::'he Need for the Study
The past quarter-century has p~oduced an evolutionary shift in the stU(~y o~' t.,nn-lish graml""'l.r.--,s shift
;:rrowin?" out of t,he ea rlier '..JOr-k of such """rea t traditional
lin:7uists as Jesperson ar.c Sweet and contir.uing tbrou:'"h
the recent advances of suc~ ~en as C. C. ~ries, GeorFe L.
'Ira.J"er. and Eenry Ls- :3!"':ith. Jr •• and Noarr Chomsky. Essentiallv a shi~t in ~~e way in which we view lan~uape-­
fro:n a :crescriptive to a c:escriptive view--from a deductive to an inc'Jctive approach--the new C-ramm"3r at its
heart presents a methon and an attitude • • • • Freed from
tradi tional attitudes '';'lic:: conceive Of' sente>;ce relationships as based or. rr:e2 "ina alone. e.:; •• "a noun is
the name of a person. place. o~ thin~; if i~ is not a
nal"le. it is not a noun." our 'TralT'rrarians develop mew insi:-:,ts anr: new defini tionc; based on t:-:e fa!'!': and str'lcture
of t~e sentence. 1
Content. more content. is t~e crv of t~.e moment.
It is necessary. s·av leaders in t~:e fi"'ld. '88C8.USe
teachers don't know enou:-h . . . • 1~e elementary teacher
is thouC'ht least properly equipped t~ teach about lan"'U8.::"e. liteC's.tu"'e, ana corr:position--insofar as countinp'
credits incic~tes this lRck. In any event. the assertion
is that tbe-e is a content in Enp'lish that is not being
taUf:::ht. and t!-:.a + it l"lust:Je learned cefore anvthine-, .
2
rif"htlv called lI~nglish" can ')e o"'ganized for te9chlng.
,~
These are some 0:.' the issues ar:d nro',lems tha t tea.cters 0:.' 6n'!lish face tod2V.
The new textbooks are an initial attem1=t to update
lamnlage-arts prograMs.
~ew
directions in subject :rIatter content
and new ideas far tea.chers to use in their presentations af IRnf"uage
lessons may be a bee-innin'T in tte ltnguistic approach to languagearts
lea~ninF'.
'I'hrou""h the ve::;rs 1 text'::laoks h'lve bpcorr:e
the
gener~l
s~;c
an integr.gl part of
education svste ....... that teac,:ers arc: school curriculums
1 J on,.
h R S
'
,,~."e ....' .lJlrectlons
r,'
. .
.•
qUlre,
ln
Lani"uaae Lea rn:i r:.i! , " I s sue s
and Problerrs in the t;le:rlentarv L n'Tuage Arts, ed. 'I'ial ter T. Fetty
(Boston: Ally;-ano Bacon, Ir:c .• 1968), DP."17-18.
2 John MaX'Nell. "Inle2'ratin,:r t:-.8 Lanauarre .Arts." Issues and
Froblerr.s in the ~lementar:v Lanp'ua :o-e Arts. ed. '<".alter T. Petty
(Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Inc •• 1968~. 57.
5
not guided to a great extent by the content of textbooks a.re
re.rely found.
"The most reacily accessible instructicnsl aid for
a teacher is the textbook.
For most tea chers it is a.n
il"l~)orta nt
guide to the content, the methods of teaching, and the eva.luation
needed in the program. " 1
An important function of tl:e t.extbook anci relatE~d
instructi::mal materials in ele:rr.entary la.nQ'uage arts is
to r:rovide a basic source of lanf'"uage knowled?'e convenient for the pupil. The textbook- usually serves as
the single CCI1'1J'l"on reference avaihble to all children
in the class. In many schools the adoptee textbook
series serves as the course of study. . . . The textbook
is, in all probability,!. the most important tea chino- aid
the teacher will have.~
Currently, most
au~ho"s
of the lanp'uage-arts textboo!·(s reviewed
by this report acknmdedge the importar:ce
0:·
new linr-uist:lc
and attempt to
incorpor'~te
the content
ele:"1entary l'in2'uage-arts textbooks.
0:'
it into their books.
knowled~e
This stuc:'.y examines
It is cOY1cerned
with authorship, philosophy, the natUl"e of lanl!Uaf1e, :he strt,cture
ot i::nglish, dictionaries, method of linQ'ui stic inquiry, ar.d the history of the Znglish language.
It does nOT deal wiTh methods of
teaching:.
Since so much attention
h~s
been p'iven
~o
linp'uistics in recent
years, evi:::ence of linp-uistic orientation and of related linguistic
at ti tudes t01l,ard };>.n'·ua ge anc linaui.stic content wa s soufl"ht in the
elementary textbooks.
Ttis served as a basis for the inves+igation.
1
Harry P.. G:-eene a~j ·walter T. Fetty, Developinc:- LanO"ua7e Skills
in the Elementarv .::ichool" (30ston: Allyn anc Bacon, Inc., 19(,8),
p. 505·
2Paul C. 3urns anc Alberta L. Lowe, The Lsn~u~fl"e Arts in Childhood ~ uca ti on (Chi CHO: Rand jVct~ally & COl'T'pany, 1966) ~ 343.
6
Limi ta tions of Le Study
One of the major limitations of this study concerned the qualifications of the investi£'ator', sir.ce she h.cks the sonhistication of
a trained stuaent
0:
linp:uistics.
The investigation was lTIotivated
en:ph~1
bv a course in lan2"uage arts tea ching' methods which
linf!uistic aprroach.
sized the
As a future ele"entarv teacher who will be
usin::r linguistically-oriented books anc teachimr the lin>mistic
nrincinles included in them, the
investif!ato~
felt
justi!~ied
in
Dursuing- her interest in this nroblem.
The
utilizatio~
of a score card that had already been validated
by noted lin2"uists simt:lified t:!e study
~ 0
some exte!lt; however. a
simnlified scorin;:::- technique requi !'inC" less nrecise lin2"uistic background anc acute abili:v to judQ"e was use::.
cation was oermittec bv
This rroceS:3
0:'
moc:ifj-
t~e orip-inal author of the score card. 1
Organization of the Study
3efore the reacer can understand the significance o! a score
determined bv the score card, some knowledge about
general is necessary.
Chaeter II inclu('es revipws
1in9"uistics
o~'
in
selectee lit-
erature which provide some insi,ht and b;j,ckgrounc kno',dede-e for an
understanriin,y
explains the
0'
linp'uistic concer;ts and eY'inciples.
p~ocedure
of
the scale used in scoring.
t·~.e
A
Ch,apter III
resect "'ch i!l determinin,;! the score and
listin~
of the
text~ook
spries examined
is also included.
Cha pter IV summariz e s tr.e inve s ti q a ti on.
'[ be findi ng: s of the
study are D:!."8sentec ir, tabular fO!'Ir .... i "-h expLnatory cio::c'J.ssions.
lA copy 0 f' th e 1 e t 'te!' In
'
'"
~
wh'lC h permlsslon
lS p'r,;nteJ~ lor
rep l'l ca tion of t}:e Lefcourt study anc for a modified use .oi' the score card
she devised is inclUded in the Ap1enc!.ix.
7
Conclusions which evolved from
the
plications of' the study 8.re no+ec.
data are enll..merated, and the im-
CHAPT::<';R II
UNL'ERSTA~iDING
TtiE ROLB
O~
LINGUISTICS
I~ L:;~GUAG.S-AR'1
S ZDUCATION
Interest in lin~uistics among En~lish teachers has
risen phenomenally in the last few years. The subject
is in t!:e air at every professional meetinp"--sometimes
earnestly aevocatec, sometimes bi tt.erly com'~atte~i, often
Dorvoking c:uestions, almost alwavs so~ewhere in the back9:rounc 01 anv debate on the lar.2'ua.!!e section 01 the curriculum. ir;i th increa sin:,- frequency Iin;:uistics :is now
int '''udini': even into discussions of the tea chini! oi comDosi tion or litera ture. Staunchl,' old-fashioned textbook series have had to give it so~e reco9:nition, and
others claim mocerni'y in its espousal. It is no lone:er
res:oonsible beh,<vior merely ":.0 ie:nore it, yet no clear
picture emerges from most of the debate . . . • The most
pressin2' questions bear on t:-le relations o~ lin;:::uistics
:'0 the more traditional formulations of the subj~ct
matter of .2:r.p'li<'h--to literature, to cOln::osition, an:::
especi:ollv to f':rammar. 1
Attentior. focused on ling:uistics tends to be controversial and
confusing- to rranv peoDle concerned ;,:i th mgintainin, and/or improving
hig:h educational standards.
In order t:)
understa~d
the role oi' lin-
;ruistics, i-:- seems necessary to examine its role in relation to the
entire school curriculum as well as its rela tion to tne larwuai!e-arts
program.
The Zn;:-lish Lan"ua2'e in be ':-chool Curriculum
Of- en the .:':neli"'h lanc-u!J.,re is taken
EnC'lish
~evelocs
i'o~
grantee.
Tne use of
",nc is incorporated into r:esrlv every aspect of
an American child's life.
r]oweve~,
until he enters school an::; be-
comes enrolled ir: an :£r:cclish class, the incividual u,:,ua11v coes not
lH . A• u~l eason, J r., L'In,,,ulst1CS
"
~ l'1S,h iJrammar
~
ar.c.::!.r.
(:\e1o:' ork:
r
Holt, Rinehart an , ;t;inston, Inc., lSltS-)-,-c. v.
8
'j
have his attention directed to',!ard the nature of t be
::~n;:rlisj"
~o;nf"uaf1e
for the pu!'pose or develonin;.' an appreci'l tion for and a genuine understandin'2'
01'
-:
his uniquely hUl'llan phenomenon.
Gleason :3u:rmr.arizes:
Language is an important feature of human life, the
major means of communic",tior, an~ hense a basic esser:""ial
in our cornmunica ting soc:i e ty. . • • If a man is to ur.cerstand
hiIl:self, he mus'" underst'iL.i ho;·.. he cOl'mT:unica tes. SO'''1e fund!)mental insi~ht into lan~uaae s~ould he a basic qualification
for an educated m3n. 1
Paul Anderson attaches sucr. iIl:nortance to lanO'u,5)"e-arts education
that he
sta~es,
"A
s~:,ude~it
who fails to achieve competence in lan-
guage faces life ,,1itt: an unfair handicap foY' whinh th,'l school must
., '1'l~Y. .. 2
accept responslbl
'Iradi tionally,
+
h'
stuay 0: 2:n c'lish has beer,
tance in elerrentary schools.
0:'
''<Teat impoy'-
Iris and Sic..ney Tiedt explain:
~lerrentary scnools fro~ tr.eir humDIGst heqi:rmin,:cs
were oa s .ica 11y lanp'ua ,=-e schools. In our ea.r ly c oloni a 1
days tne scflool.s navel ::;x,d prim&rily as readin:- ana
wri:ing sc::ools . . • • Not only nisio:-ically [laS ':':nqlisL
bee:", p:-ominen-, Lo..;eve." .J.'cr i 1,- c:'·:.tir-u.es 1:1 " " t't ",Lce
in .3:pi tEO:" ~.t e rise 01' newer curricular areas saCL as
science arlO m&t!",ematlCS . . . • lr, Cs.lifo;'nia t...-.e irrportancs of ~n~lish i~ codifiea in st~te la~ which rSRds:
"Instructior. is reo';.li!'ed (in tr:e areas 0:' i1.rwlis:~) for a
minimu~ 0:' 50{- or ~ac:~ week iT, ssrades 1 to h. 3
L~e
err:phasis on L;nf"ua;:e st.udv seeFS juc-+if'i;;,;)le as content in
and of itself since t:re a';:)i1it,,:0 use lanp'uap'e is a characteristic
which helps to distin;-uish man from other forms
0:
life.
Another
factor v:hich underscores t:-:e need for studying :!:nQ'lis,!1 is tl--.e trerr,enaou5 Ilrowth of corJl'!unication i:- tns modern
1~1
J
easor: t
wo-~ld
in ter-ITs of tirr.e
p. 4.
2Paul S. And erson, LanC"uac-e:lki11s in Element a rv 2:duca tion (I\ew
York: !':acmillan Co., 1967), p. 1-
3Iris ~.• 'hed tend Siuney o/oJ. hed t, C0r'ltemporarv t;n:<lish in .!-he
C;lerr:entarv School (t,n;:;-lewcoo Cli ffs: Prentice-Hall, 1 ';167), pc. 1-2.
10
co~~unication
spent in the
si~nificance.
process, expense, volume. and economic
"We live in a verbal world, onp. in which l"nruafTe
plays an essential role. tt
In this modern "verbal \o70rld," proper
concern is bf,ina' sho'"rn in thp schools fer students to learn of
thAir "lin;:-uistic heritap"e and be able to use l!:nglish to the fullness
of its potential according tJ each stucent's
The liedts propose these !!eneral
ai~s
ability. ,,1
for the
ele~entary
school
pro~ra~:
English
underst~nc.
the
~nf<lish
1.
To
lan2'uar:e and ho',: it 'l-:orks.
2.
To communicate fluently ana clearly in written and oral
forms.
3.
To decode ana encode En;:rlish easily.
4.
To know anc aporeciate our literary heritap:e of crose and
pOetry.
2
Wi th the importance of the lan?wiil"e curriculull' a:'1d tnese objectives in mind, deterr:iration
taU2'ht can be
Two of
are loose
.' scecific
0;
En~lish
objectives
~o
be
att~Fptec.
t~e ~ost
c"!')s :)icuous fea tures of the En,rlish curriculum
orga~~ization
and 2'reat diversity".
"l!:nf!lish is Drobably the
least uniform and the least cohArent major sep'men t in the A!"',erican
public school curriculum. "J
questioYl, ""what is E.n:Ylish?"
There is even confusio!; eoncl:!rr;in::- the
.ine so-c<::lled "laYlP'ua!!e-arts" cur-
riculum often is really a series of s<'or-arate subjects.
1 1 lea
, . t S, o. 2.
2Tjedts, o. 5.
3Gleason, p. 11.
Lan;:ua"e.
11
or in,:rlish, usually ref8rs to grar'Jr:ar, usa;;8, anci punctuation
and is often sepc.rated from readin;,!, spellin;;, anci handwritinl!'
Nany schools offer curricular guides, texts, anc: TNorkbooks for
each area.
1
Curren+ly, attempts are being made to or?"anize and to unify
the areas of lancua?e stucy.
Several proposals and various ideas
have been suggestsc.
In the first place, the ~n~lish curriculurr has lon~
been the dumpin-,. fSround for numerous sma II, often ill-assorted mat+eY's that sorreone thOUCTht ou£"ht to be in the
school pro~rarr sorrewhere. In sorre instances these have
bulked so large that the central c';ncerns were obscured.
In the secor:' pbce, SO"'1e 0:' the major corrponents have
had less internA.l uni'tv anc. coherence tha"'" mi;:-ht be dp. . 1 e. 2
'
Slrao
th~
Promoters of
tripartite structure identify three main com-
ponents--li7eY'ature, composition, an::: lan,yua:)'e.
Alle'! sug:-ests
that
the structure shouln not De diai<ramed as an equilateral triangle.
Ingua~e
stead, he recommends
I~-
should becorre the underlying base upon
which literature anc corrposition arp built, as depicted in the following diagram.]
Literature
Lam:ruag-e
o~'
Some cri tics
native.
osition
the tripartite structure have proposed an al'ter-
Thev suggest a dichotomy of lan?'uaqe and literature.
The Droponents of this position cite the fact that
corrposition is actually Dart o' lanp'u8"'8 study and that
the true content in ;::n::rlish lies ir: 1-:; np'ua.::-e and li teraL
ture, whereas compositior. is a skill. ).
1,,~,.
.t
lleC s,
p.
5.
2~1
" eason, p. 1""'.
]harold 3. Allen, "The rtolG of Lan2'uage in the Curriculum," The
Lani!ua ;,'e in the .:.:lchool Curriculur:, ed. by ~iobert ;<'. HOf!an
(CharrndQ"n: ;'iatio-;:;;l Council of' Teachers of ~nC'lish, 1966), D'O. 265-
~nC'lish
266. -
4 Tlea
" t s, D.
6•
12
The cornrnunic'3tions approach is another sugF"estior..
The Tiedts
describe this appro::>ch as an atte1"':pt
. to focus attention as much on the processes of
English as on the content. This accroach dichoto~izes
co~unication into sendin~ and receivinr.
Sendin~ encorrpass(~-s sceakinf! ond wri tincr whereas receivir.f! includes
listening and readini! as illustratec in t:-:e followinr: diagram.
//
/~\0i)
k
/Se
~-
Actually the cOrn1'1unic'3tio~s approach divides Enp"lish inLo a quartet--speakin2:, writinf!, listerin,'!, ~mc
readinq--the skills or tJrocesses involved in communication. To a f!rea ter extent than the b;o previous IT!oClels
this definition relates to the elementarv school crogram. 1
Compromise is probablv tta key to solvin", the rroblel'1' 01' orf!anization.
wha t Is
~eant
by the Term Limruistics?
As a synthesized anc sirrplified concept of lincruistics, this
defini bon is offered: Linf'uistics is the science oj' lanfruage.
It
is the careful, exact f analytical stuciy of the Em-lish hn.C"uafJ"e accordinf! to the scientific method.
A great deal of e!'1nhasis is
placed on observation of what is--the lanf!uage people use, not on
what ouo-ht to be--correctness advocated by precise 2:rammar rules.
Lingui sts are concerned wi th the structure of
1'Iied ts, p. r:
lanf!ua~re.
13
Lin~uistics . • • will provide verifiable facts instead of mere notions and 'Orejudices; it will lead to an
understandinp: of the his': or-y and st.ruct·.lre of our l'l.ngua,.-e.
One who has studied the historical devsloprr.en+ of 2:n"lish is not likely to re~~ra c~anqe in usa~e as "corruption" or "deaeneration:" he sees tr.at English, like
ali other na tural lcn!!ua,:res (those actua 11 v used by
peoDle in tree ccnc.uct of tneir daily lives), hO) 5 always
been chan<O"inc-. One 1-1:'10 gets aD unc1e:--s t andin,," of tr'e orig-in anc diversi':-r or the ll'sny rer.ional and socia:L varieties of tte 1;:; nC"uare, t,na t is, F'.e dialect s of the
lanp'1.:a~e is ':)et~er prepareCi to rr:aster "good EnFl:Lsh,"
which rr.eans stanoard Present-Day El1i'"lish, written or
spoken, the kine of ~n~lish used by edc:cated, cultivated
rrembe:~s of F:e comrr,unity.
One v:ho has stucied the relations between tr,e souno s of Enr"lish and its wri' in..: system is '::letter a':Jle to spell ana pnnctu.'3te. One ,;,rho l<nO'.,,·s
tr-~e nev..! approa.ches -;0 q:rammar can do a. better .io~J 0':'
,
1
analyzin~ sentence structure.~
Friend further c escribes the function of linr.ui s'~ ics ana its
characteristics,
Like other diciplines, lin::uis tics has various subdivisions. Historica 1, or diachronic, lin:yuistics is concernee ·"i th 1'3 n<':U8 re developrne!1t throu;"'~, till'e. Corrp"rative linquistics deals with t e relations between l~npua~es.
Descriptive or svnchronic. lin;:-uistics aims at analv'Zinf'
and desc:"ibin a ~:'e sts. t.e o~' a lanc'uaQ'e at a ",iven ti:'l'le in
its evolution. 1~ese are ~~e three ~ain branches. rtere
are also specialized divisions, such as dialectolo~y, the
study of :J'eo;o:raphic and social varieties, and lexicofSraphy,
the branch of auulied l~n,,"uis:ics that deals with diction•
;;>
" ary-maklne;.-
A research study conducted by ""alter Loban concluded that Itchilcren who are rated a s most proficient in lan;c"ua "e are
;3.150
those who
manifest the most sensitivity to the conventions of 19,n!Zuage.")
~uistic
science reses.rch has drawn attention to new,
lJoseph H. Friend, An In'reduction to En"'lish
land: 'horld Publishing C;:, 1967), c. 2.
2 F,·
rlend ,
'0.
9mer~ent
Lin~:ruistics
Lin-
concepts
(Cleve-
2
3'1alter D. L:)ban, The LanR:ua::re of Elerrenta':'v School Children
(Champai:rn; National Co~il of Teachers of En r·lish.1963). D. 94.
14
concerning: these "conventions oi' lani!uage. 1t
~~n~~lish,
an inte:-rral mrt of
bocy 0:' facts ',.,hich is
b(,in'~
new
appro,c~es
In the area of graIl'l.mar,
have developed from the
amas"ed by p'odern flrarr:rr.;:;rians.
Four
basic kinas of grarr.rr:2.r are vyincr for inclusion TNi thin the En,,-lish
textbooks--tracition~l,
histori~ str~ct~ral,
and gEnerative trans-
formational.
Traci tional R'rap'rr.ar, which ha s been the ba sis of 2;n;:-lish education for m'lY'v veal'S and contir.ues eve,} todav, beQ'8n in the
T~e
ei::rhteenth century.
perscriptive atti tuces +ov,ia-rd
lan~ua;:,e
of
m"'n like Joseph Priestly. :tobert Lowth, ar.d George Campbell. emphasized correct us.<>:rear.d r:recise ciefi1'";i tions of p1rts of speech.
Tr,ey vie'.\'ed La tin as a nr,rfect lanf!u'l (J"e e r.d tried to rr;ake En;:rlish
confoY'm to como ,!'8ble rules. ~
c
OYle probleY'l Dresented8Y -raci tion-
ally-oriented 8nalysis of str'1:c t .ure is that the crraY'lmerians
. rely heavily on t~.e mos' subjec-ive elements
in langu'! ,:re--meaninFC--3nc this fact rules out, to a very
larg:e extent. any attempts to stud,' 1 np:U2 :"e in an objective ~ay. The 8ro~leY'l this creat~s for t~e student is
not so much that he must. mel"'o"ize rules supplied by his
teacher or textoook, but that he h,s no method, no will.
anc little opoo"+'.mity to verify the valicity 0:' these
rules. 2
A Danish
lin~uist.
Jes~erson.
developed a histcrical
ar,pro~eh
to grammar in the 19te nineteenth ar.d early t'.;entietr: cp.r+:uries.
Historiesl
gU.9 r e.
~rammar
destro7ed the concept of Latin as an iceal l.<>n-
It also expbinec mgnv irreo:ul'lri ties of spelling- and dis-
crepancies between spellinq anc Dronuneia tion. 3
1 Ti ed t s, P • 18
2Neil Postm8!'l. IICrea tive Inqllirv ar:d tr.e Te,chinO' of Gral""Jrar,"
Issues and Problems in the Elementary Lanf!uag-e Arts, "c.:,alter T.
Petty (:~oston: Allyr.~nc Bacon. Inc., 19f:b), r.~
3'r 1· eo'.t s, r • 1 uc. •
15
Structural framrrar, a Droduct of
developec_ oy Leonar': Bloorrfield.
C. 1<ries, Jarr.es
Sled,~:,
t~e
twentieth
cE~ntu:rv,
was
Such men as 3100mfie1d, Charles
::. A. Gleason, Jr., anc Archibald .:1ill el"!-
ployed a descriptive apDroach to the g:ral"lrrar which was deplored
bv the traditiomlis-s.
':5tructuralists at+-rrpt,,"c to dist:ir.guish
between the structure of lancrua""e (syntax) and tte !"Jeanin:;- of
lan~ua~e
(serranties).
Stw:iies made by the structural sts lee to new concepts of phonemes (tie 44 sounds oj' .:!.n---;lis'~), "'Corpherres (;r1eanir.'~f'~l uni+s ui
languaqe), and phrsse structures.
tion was also ceviseci.
rather
A new s'tsterr of ;,,-.o~d classifica-
Defini :ions .... ere hs.sed or: syntax anc for!C
t~an on meanin~ as tne traditionalists proposed. 2
Str:ctural
limruists work to ciiscover and diserioe cOFp1icated lan7u'l cr e patterrs wtic:'-: cor.vev gramrr.atic81 me:;nin'-.
structurs.l c'3fini tior. of
RRlph Alb3.uch offers this
f"r~r::nr:
L:e study of t~.e W"lY a lar.::-ua"e oper'i tes. I t is
concerned with tI-.e fur.ctions OI words in a ser:t~r.ce
(parts of speech), t.'le ch8n2"e of word s to indica te
function (infleetion), and the relatlon OJ ,.;ords tc
eac~ o!her in a sente ce (sv~tax).
3asically there are t:-:ree kinds 01' f"rar':rar: historical, descriptive, anc p~escriDtive.3
Linrmists such as
~';oarr
Chomsky anc
~obert
Lees w:-:o founded gener-
ative or tr,,;,nsforrna t~onal gral"1rr:ar
build or. the work, especislly in phonolopy, cf the
structuralists, but ~o fu~t~er and atte:rot to establish
rules for rrener,',tin;-:: every possibl.e senter:ce ir: t-,n:-lish.
Phr'lse structure rules exp12in how various phrases in
1 1"led t,s, P.
19.
2Tiedts, r;. 19.
3Ralph ~:. AlbpuD"h, ~n:::-lish; a Dictionarv 0:' ;';ram-rar anc Structure (3an· l'r' ~cisco: Cn,':::1dler Fu~lishinf'" Co.", 1'164), p. 8~ - - -
16
English develop and transf'orrr:ational rules cescC":Lbe the
several Arranfrerr:ents anc re.s.rrangemen-rs of these phrases
wnich take nlace in . he developmen': 01' more ccmll:1ex sentences. i
.
Paul Roberts simplifies tr.e defini ticn 01' g'rammar as "something
that -croduces the sentences of a langua?e."
2
These objectives of
transforma tional ",rammar ccncernini" tr.e proauction or transformations
of
sente~ces
were ou+linec by Iris and Sidney Tiedt:
1.
Identify kernel sentences.
2.
Supply rules for transforMin;:; kernel sentences.
3.
Identify obligatory transi'orrr:ations and optional transformations.
Genera ti ve transforrra tlonal gram!'nar has developed very exact rules
for trar.sforrr.in£" sen"'.ences.
~;e'i
1,,8se rules are usually s ta ted in a forrrula. J
methods are accor:panied by new terminoloqies.
are new concents
in~roauced
1he following
by lln;:cuists.
1. PtiONOLOCY. The science 0:' sreech sound s. including
especially; he history aDO tneory 01 sauna chan?'es.
2. MOR?HO:'CX:i-::. A stucy anc: cescription of \\,orc.-f'o,rr:ation in a la~l:;:::ua,-e. incluCJin inflectior.. ce ... iva lion, and
com poun.. in,.r •
.;'::.:.~IAX •
.:>er.~.er.(;8 structure; the arrang:err:ent 0: word
to sho'"" 1neir mutu21 relations irl the senterce.
j •
1or~s
4. J:.~·•.rLEC1IONAL .r:JRf" A mOt'pLeme aaded +0 a. ',·orc. ',,;hich
cn"nfTes the base word's grammatical meaninE without chanting
its part of speecn classification.
5.
cnanp,:es
DErtIVA'i.ICNAL r UHJ1. A r:orpherne added: 0 a word T,.;hich
part 01 speecr, classification of the base ..;ord.
t~,e
6. j:RA1\Sl'\)i;0"ATI0N. A cnanf!e in a phrase or sen:ence
pattern which alters vQcabul,rv items or ,o:r;:;rnmaric;:;l struc1S·nugrue. p. cli.
L·,
2T'l edt
S t p. 20.
31iec ts. ~. 20.
1'1
tures whil;=, keepin::- the SA-me (or as nearly as possible
the same) total meanin~.
'1. EXPA.l~SI(jJ.\. lLe adriTien of optional
to a basic nhrase or sentence patrern. L
Cri tics sP-Y these and similar terrrs cp.use
clarification.
Walter
T. fet+v respones to
mo~e
elell"e~t"
confusion than
c~i:ics i~
t~i~
manner:
The new -:-erminolo~-v must ':;e consic.ered in J:"oper
nerspective; much of its rise has fo110'..ec: the rise Gi
newer wa VS to look at I::m "ua '-e and at vram!'1ar • .
While t~e exact bearinF linauistic stu~v will have on
the lanr-ua e'e arts cu"..r:i culuIT' is s rill ur:clea r, trlere
can be no doubt that ',o![.at is beinC' said about lanr;uat;e
and the new p;ro::rrmars comini' :::'orth is more th"n ll"Hrely
the rise of a kinr, of p'imrrickerv to "2'et at" usar'e and
corrposi tien teacr.in,,,..2
Emphatically lir,C'uists answer "yes" to tte
quest~ons.
"Does
mooern grc:.Il".mar offal' semet hinC' more effec' i ve than treici t tonal
students.
It uses
linf':ui~tic"
+0
enQ'age stuaents in n',s ,.;ark of
linQ:uists, that is, an examina'ior: of tne lanC'u2,re itself.
Ac-
cordinv to t:,e 'liee t 5, morerr. graml'nar he; s the fcllo;drlP' advantag-,es:
1. Descrir:,tion of :.e structu"'e o~' :~nO'lif"h is
based on a study o{ +hif" unique l"lnp'uRf"e as it is actually
used.
2.
GraIl"urnar is c,ifrerer.tiatec f:-o]1" us:pe.
3. The stu ent acquires a !'llore realistic a ~ti tude
to..Jarc langua;:-e and lar:Fua f2'e stucy.
4. f·;ooern gramp:ar ::)l'fers a IT!ore positi·,.'e aDpro:3ch
to stuc.y 0': ~:-.e ~n:rlj sh lamma D'e w:-.ich apceals :- () students.
5. Erephasjs on creatin2 ori~inal sen"pnces af:er a
stUCty oJ' sentence structure patterns sugp"ests a beneficial
rela tior.shiD behoJeen r-rr:orrr'lr' stuev an:: ~'orrDosi tion. 3
1A Curriculum for 3:nElish: Langua~e Explorations for the
Elerrenh rv Gr!3des (Lincoln: University of Ilebraska Pre~ 1966) t
pP. ?_4.
2.,
t"
I s<;'~es anc' .t'robl ems in the Elerr:en+"ory
,'(a.,.l t er 'T. Fely,
Lanp"ua::-e Arts (Boston: Allyn and 3acon Inc.-,-19(8):-;. 66-:-r
3,]"~lects,
..
pD. 23 - 2'U
18
Ideclly, students induc+ively le;;rn their hn,~uage through inductive processes advocated by 3runer.
convic:~ion
Stricklan=,
ad09tin~
the
of Bruner "... ho states, "Any siqnificant coneept which
childrer in our societv neee to le::;rn can be tau,,-ht in sOfl'.e honest
fo~
to all are levels,"
p":"'0Toses +h!J.t
7~ese
lin:::-uis'ic eon8epts be
developed in the eleFentarv school:
1.
Lan;;:uaf"e is a systerr
0:' SOU!iOS.
2. lr-.e sounds convey meanin,. only
in natterns of wo::-ds and sAntences.
3. Tne pa t:-erns of seuno conve',r
tia ted--those \,,;ho know the lam:uaP-B.
i·.. hen
IlF::;
ninp'
'Out together
~o
t:-:.", ini-
4. Pitch, stress, ana juncture are a n~rt of tne
soune s'ister: o~ the lanfTuafTe and hplp to convey meanin'!.
5. The saunas and their connection wi t h the thin::rs
they renresent is purelv arbitrarv.
f.
'ine sounes ,'ire 'Out to;::e+'ner in chRr;cte"'is'ic dethese desirns can be co~nosed of a Erea~ varietv of
appropria te fiL.e::-s.
si~ns;
7. A lanf'u·q f"e ch';nges; Old
mpanin::r ana new uses.
WO::-G
s
!>;
V
be ·-ivan ne'"
8. Likewise, 0.1-; ',,;o>'ds ;:ire drnppec and new 'Iwrds
are coined or old pdr·s +0 renresen< Yley.; meaninocs or modifica tions 0:. 01(1 one s • 1.
Tne chief aims of t~e school Drogr~m in in~lish are
• to develop in all chiloren • . . compe-:-erlce jn
listeninp", sceakin·', rea:::in c' , aYld 1,;ri'incr t.n,'lisr" anC1 '1S
much appreciation anc: ',lncerstandin cr as Dossio1e of the
liter;ture of Americ,'i, ;~r:,'lanc, anc the Korld.
All merr:bers of school faculties . . • have an oblifration to help
all stucen t s toward :-:--.is "oa.l • •
Durin:,O" t::e 1--.ours
of t':.e school day actually designatea for t>-:e study of
Enl'lish, teache~s have a seecigl oblirration t8 see that
this ultimate airr is Let::ered as effec·ively as cossible. 2
1RU! h 0
r
~+' kl a~,
~ "T::e Contri:::uti:m of3T~uciural Lin"uistics
.
~,rlC
to the:'e"lc!--.in::r oi' Readin;--,'hlri'in ,T , ani 'ramrr,ar in -I-:-1e Elerr:ent::;.,.,y
School," =)'-111etin of the 3c:-:oo1 of 3duc tion, Indi"na University
. t
,',
~.
t·
-, St UCles
..
~LJ)
(Bl oomln-.on:
:,ureau ot . .::.C!UC~.,lOr:clJ
ana",ies +-.lnp", 1 --iu
, D• 1•
2Calif:)rnia Advisorv CmTJr:i Uee fo~ aY; :in::-lish L;mYu~C"e rrame....·ork. Sne-lisn Lane-UB -'e Frame',...ork for C'] lifo::-nia PUblic Schools
(California State Le"Jar+-men+ of :::duc"tion, 1968), p. 3 . - - - -
19
Another aspect oi' linO'ui",tic" is -:-hus distir.p'uished.
is
?
methoc
0: teA.c~:in::,
'lS
well as a body of
sutljec~
Lin""uistics
Jn3t t er content •
• • • 2n21ish should not be pe1"rlitted to beco""'e l"'!erelv
ancilh.r.v to, 0:- • • • renl~ced by other subjects that rr.ay
reselr.'::lle. but do no~ adeauatelv su'::lsti tute :f'or, tnr~ s rucy
01 ;~np'lish i+se2.: . . • . ;:nd since i:!'vlish is ;{ unity. it
is cioubt.ful th3' it can be well tauaht in c'iscom:ect,ec se:-ments desiO'::.ed 10 give studer: t s proficiency' in some lirr.i ted
area . • • • Ir.s+ructional time 1'0:- ~nglish shoulG be devoted pri!'larilv to su'C)Ject matter tna t clearly bt::llom:s to
the m:ojor corr.ponen~s 01 ':::!Flish anc to exercises that enhance the students' c:)PTetence ie, u".in'! +.he l',nS"uaae and
co:n.pi'eher.dinf! and enjoyinp: liter:;tc.re.
Good instruction in Enql~s~ requi:-es constant awareness that at every level of t p school cur'~iculUl'" an::
every stage 0::" incividugl pupil develocmen', instruction
in 1.snguage, lite~at!,re, anc co"'cosition s!loulc :-;e Ir.'l.de
to interact. 1
'
" t;ffective 1-3nfua;:::e varies -"i +h circumstances; appropriateness
deDencs on such fact ors as su-,iect, con:ex ... , r::urpose, anc anticipated
lister.ers or readers."
stand
t~e
2
si~r.i~icance
thin'" :0 them, and
Since
of
~ha+
"chil::;~pr: le~rn ~
they are
leArrin~,
s+ wher. they underw~e~
it
~eans
so~e-
t':ev car": abou" itt" t<.ut:; S+rickhn, suggests
,:"~_en
children to leArY:, no: t :--_rou--:,h cOr!t!'ived lessons anc drills but in
t::e process of" dealin'" wi'" lanrrua "9 in m:, n'l different ways under
many diff'e!"ent CirC'-Lll;shnces."
a,bouncs tr. oc:po!"tuni' ies
concepts
~s
t~ey
"c~ll
fo~
'l~,e
da.y-ov-day work in any clas -roo"':
teA chers :0 in'roduce and reinforce these
attention to such
of points, so t!1at c;,ildre:. five
~:--,err
~eneralizations
at a variety
conscious a:tention a!'1c test
bei r applicabili tv in da'l-by-ciay school living.3
1Californifl Advisorv Corr;mittee, pp.
Fociern prof'rams
3-4.
2":(oy CO'">
]1 , "'1"
'
•
lJonne,
'."'l ..Llflm J•"crl·ff·
__ ln, anc .Raymond'C • ~\o!"rls,
§yntax of r~indergarten and E-I emer!t ar'" Sch~ol Chile ren: a l'ransforma ...
tional A;alysis (Charrpdp'r!: 1ational Council of Teachers ::J:.' 3nS"lish,
1967), p. (j1-.-.
3Ru +h ;. Stricl,lanc, "\Ajha t Chilc:ren ;\eec to Kno>; abo':lt Lan!!ua;re, "
NeT" Direct" ons in ~lerrenTn!':v' ~n-lish, ad. by Alexa!lder :rnier (Charr.psif!n: ,atioml Councilor Teac>:e!"s 0:' 3n~lis:-:t F;~7), Dp. 82-25.
20
inst~
strive for a spiral curricullL"'r. '.,i: h
cti on '.·rhiC'h utilizes the
induct-ive methoG. in ;'ihich studenT s m'<ke CL'i -+:ice.l 08servations of
new or famili:::.r c'l.ta, analyze
the~
to find comrr.on
ele~ents.
m3ke
generalizations, and verifv ann refine old ones throu:c-h further
analysis of
st~uctures
all three of its
i~
lear~ing
the
p8rts--litera~'_)re,
This cha.pter has
the broad scope of
b~rel:.,
lan~uaqe
arts content in
corq:osi'tio:1. an(;
touched on a fey;' asrec:s inc"1..ucec in
linguis1ic~.
The
volu~inous
anc! literature dealing wi:h -t.:.he tonic of
great to be included in t_ri" thesis.
a~ount
li~[J'uistic=;
of research
is tAr too
In "lP:reem8:1: '.dth Rohnc
Harris, t:-,e imnorta:1:. issue :10·: is "-+::--,8 ra 1"io:1al use ot' resea rct in
the teachinv
~;ngli sh
."
_'.emainin::>" pages oi' thic-; pGner deal with
an investigation of now linC'uistic research ar.n KYlo,·;]ed:-e is incorporated in :extbooks for ,1se in the elementarv schoo=s ir_ Inciana.
1R
.
" ~ome
"
-I~ou~h- t s on Researc h ana',h e l' eac h lng
.
o I
and "narrlS,
OJ~'
English," Research in the '~eachin;, Oi' 3::n2:1ish, Official Bulletin of
I"; a Uona 1 Council of---;:;eacr,ers 01 :~r.lish (Cha:-np:ei&m: Lat· onal Council
of leac~ers of ~~~lish, Sprin~ 1~68), D. 7.
Cfu:..PTI1:R III
The decision to replicate the study of the Lefcourt dissertation
included the opportunity to utilize the score card as a foundation
for the research.
The questions and topics chose!1. had been vali-
dated by noted linguists.
An extensive discussion of the validation
t:rocess is incluced in Le:::'court' s dnct oral thesis. 1
;3y sampling the
content of the textbooks. the ouestions or. the score card help determine the
ex+en~.
to
whi~h
textbook series
incorpo~'ate
moder!1.
grammar--the concept:" to be learned and the approaches to teaching.
The method of
res~arch
for this
p~oject be~an
tion of the series 01' Elementary lrine-u'lge arts
studied.
with tne selec-
tex~books
to be
From a list provided by the Curriculum Laboratory at
3all State Universitv library, the following- series were selected
for study: Our Lanp'ua;:re Today,
fo~
p'rades 1-8: The Macmill.qn English
Series. for grades 3-8; Ginn Elementarv English
1-8; The Hoberts English SeC'ies;
!
Lin~uistic
Serie:~,
foC' Q'rades
Prog-ram, for grades
3-6; ana EnQ'lish Is Ou", La!1.Q'uaQe, for ?TadeS :)-f.
All were incluaed
on the lnaiana State Adoptee lJ.st fo::, 19fb am were classLied by
i
the publishers catalo!2's as textbook series "based on .Lin2'uistic
princi pIes."
Ano:her series, the Ena1ish for r"eaning Series, for grades 1-f,
was unavailable for examination at the time this research was done,
1Le 11 cour~,
+
pp. 76-110.
21
22
.-
al+hou?h it was also included on the State Adopted list.
It
was classified as one 01 the "graJ'l"J"lars '"T:-,ich contain some linguistic elen:er.ts."
Another series, in trle sar'1e classification is the
Using Good i1.n c lish Series, for grades 1-6.
This seriE~s was also
inclueee in the study since it 8npearec or. the state ,tdopted list.
1
Copies were made of tr,e score card taken from the Lei'court
thesis.
Each book of each series was evaluated in terms of the
, 2
eighty-eight ques"ion score card.
evaluated
:J'.'
The series, as a whole, was
mear.s of a mocified scoring procecure.
notes for each book
01
T:-:e data and
one series were evaluated ane :he information
categorized 8!lC transferred tc another score card which rep-
WqS
resented a summarv st.eet of t:-:e total series.
able infor:",:;:. t.ion sne. ',Ii tIl tne limited lin.2'uistic abil:L ~y
investigator seemed
1.
t 0
~e
01
the
tne tollm.;ing:
A linc'uistic concept listed on t'.e score card. but developed
or mentioned only in the teacflers' manuals or
~he
series rated one
point.
2.
A linguistic concep" not clearly stated or :'ullv developed
in t.he text s bu t
w~,ich
coule nevert heless be implied rated one point.
For example, the concep"
m·3'l
he.ve :;een inrluaed
mi!'1il'Yl;~ll~T
in
onl~r
one book oi the series.
3.
A clearly stated lin;.:'uis+ic concept fully developed '",i thin
the texts rated two points.
lCurriculurr Laboratorv, F BibliograDhv of 'lextbooks '3ased on
Lin'!uisT:Lc Frincir::les Uluncie: Ball State 'Universil " 196'6).
-
2
\I
A copy of trle score c".rc is included in this th'9sis in Chapter
0': the SlUd.y."
IV, iinoings
23
4.
A score of zero indj.c"lteo ei+her the absence or' t.:-:e speci-
fic lin2uistic
conceD~
tify the presence
0:
in a series or the
ra~erts
inability to iden-
the concep:.
In many cases, :r:.e lan"uii;ze-art s series included :radi t ional
concepts 'together wi'r:.
lin~uistic
concepts.
In tnis research project,
t:1e text':::Jooks ',:ere cIiecked for lin::-uis tic cant ent.
tradl:ional material was not
to nor c.:etracted
fro~~
L,E;
~iven
sco:'e.
consideration; it
the presence of
neit:1e~
added
F~~
eaSe
~n rec.)~
inv
~ne
data, the textbook series were
.listed in a.lpnabet,ical oroer accordinr: tc t"ne nallie c' the senior
author.
ThF tabul;;.tec data for each series lS listec in cocified
form; the followin a
aSSiq!le~
let: ers represen"': +rie corresponding
series.
Conlin, l.avic il., ei. 1i1., GU!' Lan;;:u'~:re Ioeay. Teachers ed.
C\ew :ork: A:rr;erican :3ookC-;;:, 1 ':166-1 }t'(), t volumes. • • • .
A
Maxwell, John, et al., Glnn Sl.emeni3r,V i::nslish ~erie~.
Ieacners ed. (Boston: Ginn ana Co., 1967), c volumes. .
2
Follock, Thomas Clark, et al., l~e Macmillan En~li5~ Series.
iescr,ers ed. (£lew ':'ork: ~:acmill:;; Co-.-,-1767), 6 volumes. ••
C
,tober's, Faul, l:-,e Roberts Encclish Series:-.! J:,inguistic Pro
eci. (lJew "oC'\{: l1arcourt", ?race andlfjorlo, 1:/>::7),
volumes . • • . . . • . .
• • • • D
gram.~eachers
6
Sartain, Harrv ~., et al., Enrrlish Is Cur Languaf!e.
ed. (30ston: D. C. HeaTr.-;nT""co., 1968),5 v~lumes •
ieacners
• E
Shane, Harold Grev, et al., L'sinf! Good cn2'lish. 'Ie,qchers ed.
(rliver i'm'est, Illinois: Laidlaw 3ros., 19f7), (: volumes • • • • F
T!:e numerals which occur in the ratinc- columns represent:
0,
Absence oi' t!;e concept or obscurely included
1,
Concept included in the teachers rr;:,nus.l o"lv anc/or Yninimally incluaed .vi thin :ne textbooks
2,
Concent fullv aeveloDed '...d thin t::e textbooks
24
25
Linp:uistic Score Card anc Svaluation
E
f
A
B
C
D
1
1
1
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
<•
.-/
:3
4
4
:3
2
2
2
2
2
2
Authorship
1.
Does the authorshin
outs+andin~
2.
lin~uistic
~roup inc1uoe any
scholers?
Eave these authors nublished any 1in-
~uistica11V-0riented
profession~l mate~ial~
outlininp: their philosonhv or 13rp:usp:e OJ
of lanp:uAp:~ teacninqi
:3
I
PhilosophY
I
3.
Is there a stated philosoDhy
teachin~ for tne series?
o~ lan~ua~e
2
2
I
'>
~-
--
_.
'~
j
,i
~
1
Loes The shtec chilosophy include any
reference tOiin~uistic science or research?
2
5. Does the content provided correspond
with this statemen~ or acknowlet~e~en- of
linp:uis+ic reseA~ch?
2
2
1
2
1
1
6
6
5
I 6
i
5
5
6. Is 'here a linccuistically-oriented
defini:i ::m of 18 r""U2r'e anv·"rhere jn the
series?
2
2
1
I,
2
1
2
7.
2
2
1
:
2
1
2
1
1
1
2
1
2
0
1
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
4.
')
2
~-
<
:
I
"
The Nature of L"np'uar:e
r
I
Is a distinction made be+v:een 0:"a1 and
,,;1'i,ten lsn'!u:F'e?
,
1
8.
Is it made clear t~at all people bave
sooken ~~nJua'e; no' all haye a wri~ten
la n;!lia:' e ?
I
i
I:
1
Ii
2
It-
1
!
",.
9.
Is s'ceeC!1 acknm\T~!':dFBd t() fiB much oloer
than vlritten LHj(;Ual~e?
~
2
~
Is :.he point made that c'.ildren
speech fi:-st7
10.
11.
i
',\
Is
c~an""e
le~rn
made clear that most lan-uae
ta~es nlace throuzh soeect?
i~
1
U
1
2
i
"
"
i
1
II
,I
1
0
1
I
r2
I
i
I,
,
:
:
I
I'
12.
Are wri~in~ svstsrs descriDed as representations nf ~Deech rathe~ than represent c tier:s o~· o8.:iect s ir. . he real 1~·crlc?
I'
2
2
I
:
i
i
I
I
26
A
13.
Are
lan~ua~es
co~traved
as systems?
14. Do children learn that o~e l~n~~e~e is
no' better U:an anot:'ler, ,lust ciifferen t ?
15.
Do
chil~ren
lear~
th~+
e~c~
3Tc
2
2
1
I
1
1
I!
I,
E
}i'
t
,
0
2
2
0
r;
2
i 0
0
i
I
2
II
1
lan~ua~e
its l.~sers a ~ear~s ot expressin~' a!1c
comrrunica.ting their react-ions to all phases
01 their culture1
af~ords
1t.
Are chilciren L2.uf!h-:- tha
social convention?
~
lanrll've is &.
17.
t
They arp thE
;,rR chilcre:-: tug-fd th,
only ani;nals WhO talk?
II
2
D
I 1
2
0
1
!
I
1
1
2
0
,
1
2
I
1
0
!
0
1
0
2
18.
Is it made clea.r that cu~ off from
people cnildren woul' never lear:-: "0 SDe&.k
at al17
1
0
II
1
1
2
2
,
I
I
19. Is it made clear that childre!1 learn
the L:.n;J'u" f"e 0:' ~h.e (~omJT!uni tv to '",Li('h they
are expo'sed, reQ'~,r(jIE'ss 0- their r'ocial or
national ori,::-i!1?
!
2
1
2
1
,i
!
Are chil~rFn Q'iven some sense of t'e
extraordinary nature of their acco~clish­
rre:-:t in lea'!"ninp' Sn,,-lish?
20.
:
21.
Are chil~ren t~uJh: that new words are
constantly bein~ ~dded to 1:-:~u3~e?
1
1
2
2
2
0
2
2
0
I
2
2
I
2
i
,
22. Ar' chil~ren t:l.U"ht t':-:at '~Jords becorre
ohsolfte as thei!' usefulness er:ds?
i
2
1
2
1
2
2
I
i
23. Is iT made clear that standards 01'
usaQ'e cr,am:e?
2
1
2
1
2
I
2
I
24. Is the iIT'port;mce
amon2 'he resources of
'Ine Structu.re of
purposeful cnoice
l~n~uaf"e stressed?
0:'
!
2
2
1
1
2
30
30
20
19
25
2
0
2
!
,
i
2
34
~nf!lish
25.
Is~. disrinctio~, made oetween a soune:
or II phoneme" (uni t Of sneecl-;) anc a lett er
or IIchar'lcter" (uniT 0: wri+inl!)?
2~.
the
Is
~he ~honemic
s~ructural
concec:
t~ea+rren+?
i~Dlicit
in
2
2
2
_.
2
2
0
2
2
1
j
27
A
27.
Is it made clear that there are
phonemes than let~ers in tne ~n~list
lanqu"?"e '?
C
3
"
0
1
29. Is it made clear ~hat the~e are more
vOTN'el phone:""8c: "hal" J ett.er vClwels?
2
1
2
1
8
Are dir:ht:,onJ,c: de"'ined '<s C'()nS}2 ... ~np'
vowel plus A Jboe?
2
1
2
1
1
1
2
1
2
0
1
0
1
2
1
1
2
Is it made clear that there are more
conson",c:, phoneP1es than letter cor.sonant s?
of
F
E
~ore
28.
30.
D
1
I
I
l
2
1.
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
2
2
2
tauP'h~?
a~d t~e
2
2
2
2
2
2
34. Is a distinc'io- made be-ween iso1s+ed
words an6 T..... ords in, t. ~,e strear a: speech?
2
1
1
1.
1.
1
35.
2
2
')
L
2
1
1
1.
1
0
2
0
0
2
2
')
,-
2
1
1
2
2
')
,-
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
:2
2
2
2
2
:2
2
1
1
2
:2
1
1
1
1.
""
2
1
1
2
2
2
31.
Are infleeti'/A !'1orohel"'es identi:':j ed?
32.
Are derivative 1""or'Chel1"!-"s iden'i fied?
33.
Are t1:.e functions 0::' ·~e ar-ostroche
(the oossessive, ·he contr"ction,
plurals 0" si~ns).
Ii
I!
Are examples
Of
shift :iven?
funetion~l
36. Ar·, words classified as eiei,er open or
closed clAsses!
37.
Are t[:e parts of srese,! de7"ined ':Jy 1 he
Q'rarn1"ar it sell,
)2.
Are oor's 01
of f0rm!
39.
sce~ch def~ned
in terms
ArC" nouns de:'inec by form ann ]::OS} tion
sentence r;;t+erns?
wi~hin
40. Are verbs defined ':Jy
wi+hin sentence 'Cat+erns?
t'o~rr
a::ci 1:'.o"i -ior
41. Are adjectivps ~e~ined ~y for~ ard
posi-ion wi'~i~ sen+eree natte-ns?
42.
Are adverbs defined
posi~i0n wifhin sen"ence
~r
:'8rrr arc
pa~~erns?
~
I
I
44. Are dete~Finers
wi th !lOUr:.s '{
de~ined
as
p~ttBrrin~
•
2
2
2
2
2
28
A
3
C
D
E
F
2
2
t-
')
2
2
2
O
2
')
1
2
0
Is a prenosition defined as a word
pat+erninf! like "wi .r." £:ollm"ec: 'Jy a noun
or noun equivalen~?
2
1
')
2
2
1
48. Are auxilli'Ories definej as words p3.rterning with verbs as in the construction
flmay singll?
2
2
')
2
1
1
2
2
')
2
1
2
1
;;
<-
')
1
2
0
2
2
0
2
0
0
2
2
')
2
2
2
1
1
2
2
45 Are
p~OYlouns
funct~onin~
iden' i fied as comr-.only
as noun substitutes
46. Is :~e overlappin~ o·
determiners pointed out?
p~onouns
with
<-
47.
4~.
Is it made clear that sorre
also occur as full verbs?
auxili~ries
50. Are intensifiers defined as ~ords that
pattern like "veryll TNi th ad,~ectives and adverbs?
51. Are conjunctions, sentence connectors,
ay:::: subordinato~s distin"uished "8y differences in patterning?
52.
Are simDle interrogators c efined as
signals o~ questions?
<-
<-
<-
'-.
i
i
I
i:
..
53.
Are interrogative pronouns defined not
only as siC-llals of cuestiors but also as
function:in"" uni'"s withir t:,e sentence?
1
54.
2
2
C
1
2
2
",
2
2
2
2
2
i
2
1
1
1
2
0
2
1
1
2
2
,~
')
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
5~.
Is a spntence defined a~d cl~ssified
frorr a lin,~ui:"t ically-oriented. point 0:
view?
Is "sentence in =:;nFlish" sP6cifiec by
the gramrr,ar?
59.
2
I
i
I
57. Are sentences classir'ied rrirra-ily as
kernels anc transforp'.s?
58.
')
,-
!
Are rriscellaneous structure w '~ds identii"ied?
56.
2
Are sentence patTerns taugnt?
I
Is i : made clear that rratters of junc- I
ture, stress, a,,;c pi teh are an. ir.te;:ral part ,Ii
of t~e ~~~lisr. lan~ua~e?
I
')
,~
I
29
A
a
c
D
r:.
F
fOe Is it !l1::;cie clear that punctu,'ltion is
used in cart tJ) take t~e cI'cca or' in+-onation in spe,,<ch?
2
I2
1
1
2
! 2
(1.
Are rr.arks ot punctu'ltion taucrht?
2
2
2
2
2
2
62.
Is the use
2
2
2
2
2
63.
Is the use or
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
0
1
0
1
0
0
2
2
2
2
2
2
2\ 2
I
2
2
2
2
o~
cacital letters tau u ht1
t~e
hyphen taught?
Is ,~ra!l1rrar de:~ir.ed in terrrs ":.' the
forms and arrangerr.enT of linguistic units?
64.
j
2
I
65.
Is ~crammar :'ei'ineo as a ::::evice tnat
fenerates or scecifies all ana onlv :he
sentences of a lan~ua~e?
Are rhe
desc !:'.Lp;~.l.ve?
{/J.
stat~"~·.E;;'
5
&.)v~·
.,'In:::UB,'e
I
I
67.
Is t,he a tti tude toward correctness
lin~uis:tcallv-oriented?
68.
Are the fi.ve ma,ior grarr:rr,gtical devices
of SnElish described?
69.
Is a di~lect described as the lanFuaFe
spoken in a specific speAch cOJ111llunitv?
I
2
2
2
2
1.
2
()
-
I
I
:,
I
2
!
t
2
2
I
70.
Is it clear that these djalects are dependent upon SUC,I features BS a;::e, f,eo"raphy, ee.ucstion, occupation, soci-:,.1 f:osition, seltlemen- history, ar.d cultural
spreadin;r?
!,, 2
2
2
()
!
1
1
I
2
i 2
J1
I
j
71.
Is it made clear that people can jelonq
to more thsn one speech communi ty?
2
2
C
83
P-..
5b
1
I
2
I
t
I--
Dictionaries
v~
~2
1
r, 5 I
71
<
1-----
I
i
I
i
72.
Is l"'xicp.l meanin::: distir:c<uished from
con~extuFl meaning?
!
!
2
2
1
2
2
i
73. Is it m~de clear that t~e dictionary
does not ma~e law but rathRr recorts usaqe?
2
1
I)
I
2
I
!,
i
I
l
I
1
0
2
!
74. Are chilrlren tauqht t~pt 1~ct~on~ries
T"rill p:-ovi' e ('r·""rr.T:atical c.esif7r.,,_tions?
I
2
2
2
...!-
2
1
I
I"
!
1
I
30
A
75.
Are cr.il':r"?n tau'1"ht tnat -::ictionCiries
several ~eH:ir.'"s for :rr:ost '.vords?
repo~t.
Are chil~rer. t3u~ht that diction~ries
often su~'est tne se:rr:antic histo~ies of
words?
2
Are chilc.rf;!'1 tau2:ht t,na t diction:;:ries
proviae etymolo,,-ies of wores?
:
B
C
D
:2:
.Ii
2
~,
"
2
2
2
2
0
2
0
I
76.
77.
,
!
2
!
!
1 ,,I
I
I
2
I
2
()
2
1
2
I..
')
1
2
2
I
78.
Are chil~r~n ~au~ht tnat
list and ciiscuss synonyms?
cict~onaries
79.
Are chil8rer. t:;:u~r.t t~gt dicticn:::ries
o~ovide oronu::-:ci" tior: clues?
~-:ethod
~~~
of Lin>!uistic
--
2
i
2
,!;
1
I
,:
2
2
16
15
-
,-
2
9
t4
')
2
2
11
13
!
,
--
-
,
Incui~v
i
80. Is it made cle~r th~t trc scientific
Y"ethod is e:ncloyed ir. the study of lan:?uaCJ'e?
2
1
0
1
2
1
61.
2
2
,-')
2
2
2
Is linquistic ter-inolofY used?
II
I
82. Is the lin("uistic
defined ::'n A Q'lossary?
83.
ter~inoloC'v
used
Are "informants" defined and explained?
1
1
'J
2
L
2
1
I)
0
2
:i.
i
I
1
!
I!
1
;
!
I
84.
Is i t clear that the result of' lino-uistic inquiry may 8e history or tr:e detection
of svster~ arlO tEe ',Torkin:- out of an adequfO:-e
explana~ion of tte svste:rr:?
I
1
1
8
(;
Is the irrpossibility of discoverinl! the
0: lar::,ua~e discussed?
~
Are l~nqu:;:qe fa:rr:ilies discussed?
2
ori~in
8(.
87. Are t~e ~istorical backgrounds of En~­
lish discussed?
88.
Is t:1e develonmen t of Sr.,1"lisn discussed?
1
j
3 i
c'
.-
1
I
9 i
!
Eistor" of Lar::guage
85.
I
1
{~
I
!
i
I
I
i
:+~
1
1
0
2
2
2
0
2
2
2
2
0
2
2
8
7
0
5
'?
1
!
2
2
2
I
2
8
!
31
Tabulation
01'
tne Scores
Textbook Series
:3
C
'D
:3
3
if,
4
6
6
5
6
5
30
30
2D
19
25
63
83
58
6'),-
71
16
15
9
11+
11
b
c
J
!"
9
6
7
0
5
7
150
98
136
132
A
I
J
Authorship
Fhilosoohv
I
I
The Nature of Lan"ua2:e
:
The Structure
~
0:'
2nglish
,Dictionaries
!
i
r1ethod of LinO'uistic Inouir,'T
i History
I
!I
0;'
langU3ge
To~<;,l
1.54
Points
Discussion of the
r
rtesearc~
1
E
I
F'
i
J
!
I,
i
,i
!
I
i
i
I
i
,
con~ideration.
Earlv in the
I
i
serrantics becarre appRrent.
ling'jistic traininG', some
fusin~.
process a
proble~
of
To t.he investigator, 12ci<in f ' exter.sive
o~'
thE questions weY'e misleadin2' and con-
Perhacs a trained linquist woule have had no difficulty dis-
cernina' whether or not certain concepTs were contained in the textbooks; however, to the investigat.or, sorre of the questions on :he
score card were so closely allied th-s. t evalua tim' the textbooks in
terms of each question was ext.remelv difficult.
Fhraseolo~y
of some questions, the very words chosen to rep-
resent the lin"uistic concept, was con:using in many cases.
De-
ciding whether a concent shoulci be int.erpretec Ii terally ';..ras a
65
13
t5
134
Data
eVRI~,gtion
34
6
Interoretat"on oC: tl-Je rese,grch results must be determined with
careful
:>
32
major factor in
deter~inin;J"
t~.a
asks, "Are childrer. taUp"h-+:
~ust
sorr:e scores.
t they are the only animals who talk?"
the concept that people are
in adai tton to the
e~Dhasis
Despi te the D!'oblems
or.
For example, one question
ani~Rls
t~;e
be included in the textbooks
uniqueness of human speech?
evaluatio!":, cert.?in general tendencies
01
can be noteo ir. the tabula tee research d'lta.
fln indication of
strengths and weaknesses in the various ar8as msy be deriyed.
Tte chart on which is recorded the various scores
0:'
the text-
0:
book series deterrr:ined by the current investLra tor in terlrs
questions on the
lin~uistic
the
score card, sup":'"ests some interes+in,<
trends.
1.
The collective authorship fTrOUD of
now incluoes sorre
lin;~uists.
lr;n~u~~e-arts
textbooks
Scholars 1.-iho know abo'.lt the l!:nFlish
l"..nguaQ"e, linFuists, are, at, last, sharin,.- that knowlBdr'e in the
textbooks of school children.
2.
3asically, the textbook authors
sistant in the st&.terrer.'
share sorr:e
3.
01
acknowledf~ment
o~·
philosoDhy.
all the series are eon-
In varvin>'" degrees they
lir.p·uis +ic rese, reh.
There are p"reat. differences
tl:'ie nature 0:' our hn,,-u'3.fYe.
OJ
a~on~
textbook series
concernin~
A wide ranfTe o· scores indicates a dif-
ference in philosoph,v anal or trea brent of t.his area.
4.
A ran;re 01 scores indicates ,J'reat differences a)";::>m" the
various textboo,< series concernir:,;" tr.e st::-ucture 0:' En;dish.
u~ilize ~he
theories
oj
the structuralists While othe-s utilize
generative-transform~tional
5.
Some
principles.
Differences in ?rarrmar orientation lead to d:Lfferences in
t.erminology.
Different terrrs are applied by the authors of the
various textbook series.
33
6.
Some differences in content
concernin~
a~out
information
dictionaries exist.
7.
A wide ran2e of scores indicctes ditferences in the
~et~od
of linguj_stic inquiry incorporated in tr-_8 text::.ook sel'ies.
S.
il'inile the overall r'n2:e of
lan'~ua,<:e
is larr:re, :'ive
rr.uch smaller rA.D:o-e.
o~
tent
~ne
9.
various
0:
for the htstory of
t:-:e six textbook series
This indica tes
se~ies
sco~im~
so~e
sc()~ed
correlation
wi thin a
Bl"On:?
t:le con-
in this area.
None of the textbook series exardned contain identicrtl in-
forna tion.
10.
None of the textbook series incl'.ldes all
eip'hty-ei'~ht
of
the ling'listic concents contained on the score card.
11.
seell'_S
The total Doints scored 8V e'lcn .')( the text'::J.:>ok series
,0
su'!ccest three division" oj' tree sAries accordinf" to lin-
fYuistic-orientation: (1)
One series ranked
10':
in linr:ruistic
content, (2) three textbook series ranked to'!etter with sip'ni1~cantlv hi~h
conte~t
t
scores to
in~icate
the
incorpo~ation
01
lin~uistic
and (3) b",o series r'lnked si:r:li T 'icant1v hi,erher than the
o+her four in linO'uistic cO:ltent.
12.
off'ers to
One textbook
war~A.n"...,
se~ies
l"J~t.her
r'lrked sicrnificantlv lower than the
investigation concerninp' its c1"5si1'i-
c3t';on as a linS"1.:isticallv-oriented lancrua""e-arts textbook.
Conclusions De:--ivod lrO!r t'le Study
As a result of
:~e r8se~rct
croject, rhese answers are offered
to t!"l8 questions outlined in CtlaDter I 0: this rape::-:
1.
To what extent is Ilm:;.:is-:ic conTent incorpora'teo. in each
of the new textbook series?
If the mClximum number of th"ee points were awarded for each of
the ei~hty-ei~ht questions on the score card a total of 264 points
WOUld be achieved.
this.
Every text':::look scored considerably Imler than
Nevertheless, the existim: scores do indicate a. hierarchy of
lin"uisticallv-oriented textbooks.
hi::-h-sco!'inc- series
sef:'~S
t~"e
tte charted fi:-:,ures, the
to be about 58% lina'uistical1y-oriented,
ana the lowest, about 37f,.
jooks :: or
lJsinlC~
The research also ir.dica ted
101,,'er ;:-rade levels contain a smaller
t~la t
nUJ'!~ber
text-
of iteMs
discussed in less detail.
2.
Is tr:ere sarre correlation ':::leb:eer. F:e conten+
01
all the
series?
Yes, all the
se~ies
incorporate some linc-uistic nrir.cinles
Gener;;;lly, ',he r"'sea:"ch cat'l shows
althou::rh in varyinp" deqrees.
that fundament11
dif~prences
exist
a~on~
the nature of lanqu'lP-e, the str;1Cture
linf!uistic inquiry.
01
t~e
se~ies
in the areas of
.:..n:o-l1. sh, anc the rr:ethoci of
The series also varied f!reatly in relation to
concepts included in the textbook content cor.cer:,ino- eiict:!
on~ries
and the history of 19 n,"-ua;::e.
J.
Have there been sicr.ificar.t changes in textbook cor.tent
since the last
st~te
adoptior.?
In contrast to the Lefcourt study '"hich conclucec: that there
was a 1m.;
correl~tion
jetr"een lin;7uist1c kno',.;led"'e ar.d textbook
content. t:-:is research indic8tes a marked chan"e.
Tl':e cur.rent ex-
amina tion and ev" lua t ion of textboo> series ard linFu:Lsi ie content,
utilizin;' the ssrre score card,
tion than the orL,.inal stuey.
r:2 s
inciic, tee a )ruc!:. higher. correla-
35
L!..
Are lini"uis:ic concepts incorporated in the text for stu-
dents or contained primarily in the teachers manual?
A conspicuous number of scores of two points in::::icates a basic
establishn:ent of lin;cuis+ics in each series.
Scorps
0:'
one point,
which occurred much more frequently in many cases, indic"tes a
reliance on teachers as a source of linvuistic concepts.
It is the
teacher 'Nho has access to tt.f3 teachf7r' s rr.anu8ls in the textbooks,
and it is the teacher's responsit")ili tv to make the lin:ruistic applications where the lin(:"uistic concept is only i!'T1plL3d.
5.
Does the reseArcn datA
for the future incoroo!'''!tion of
suq~est
any
lin;:-uist"c~
Dossi~le
in:plications
in elementary t.extbooks?
The relCl tively low nU'11-::er of scores of zero in t.::1e hiC'h-scorin=textboo'/ series inc:ie;;tes a ;rreat ceal of oro,ress in m8kin:r the
text.s linC'uistically-oriented.
If progress continues, future text-
book series pu'Jlished by these companies will contain similar concepts developea :0 a
~reater
extent.
E;ve0 the lm.;-renked textbooks have aChieved irrportBnt ch,Hlg;es
in subject matter
~ontent.
Current textbooks are '11uch mOre lin-
guistically-oriented thi;] for"er ly.
If this trend continues, even
grea ter f!ains may ap:;ear ir; the incornol"a tion of lin:ruistic c in
future textbooks.
IMDlications
At the conclusion
o~
tified in sugQesti!12' t r:e
Sug~ested
By the Stuev
her research, the
~'ol2_o1,inC"
investigato~
feels jus-
irr.uli2a t 'ar.s about th,,:, stUdY
itself.
1.
A trainee l:':n0'uist ,,'olJld be much oette" q'J.'11:Lfied to
deterrrir.e an accurate judf"'11ent o! the a]11oun~ ar:d/o:- quali ty of
36
linrYuistic conten"'- incorporatec in the textbook".
The ability to
textbooks is importar t to elerrent"lrv teach8:'s. bl:t the ab:l.::"i ty to
"8ar~icu11r
make decisi.ons And juC:7Fer.· s about
concepts
is much less acute iT". the untrained investip:ato:,.
are of this 1'1 t+ er ca te~o:,,'y. selections
o~
i~1
con'"ext
As most teachers
textbooks
~'or
a school
community mus+ often be su:oe:,ficial.
2.
lin~uistic
Since so mary
textbooks or contained in
tion in
=~;:n"ua'!e
teacne);'.
arts is
Ihis irnplies
~he
concepts are onlv iFplied in the
teac~~ers'
de~'enc'en-,
t::Cj -
"'
~0
manus.ls, lin!!uist:Lc ed'J.caa PTe 9. t extent, upon the
ea c:--.er-trainin:::- ins ti tu+ions must in-
clude lincruistic!?lly-o:'iented l.sn:-u!?rYe arts cou?:'ses in the curricu=ar offerin""s for eleJ'l'en+arv te-chers .'It both the Q'raduate and
'..mcerccraciuate levels.
3.
In comDliance wi t:;
CU1"ren~
trend s in e:-:uca tion
"T~~,ich
utilize new aDprO'lc!:es and methoGS of te.'lchinr:-, t:-.e l'iTI"u;c-e-arts
r-roar.:;r:
S[lOU".'-
utilize ,sn inductive approach.
encouraged and led in
discovprin~'
Studer." s sno'Jld be
facts about trlei?:' b
)'1'-U"
,'e and
the structured p3tteY'r.s iYl it, as well as in arrivinG' at their
own g-eneraliza tions and derini tions .
4.
Since no te:dbook se::ies incorno!"'ates all the li:~"uistic
concepts, a v!3.riety of' Textbooks anc other lin o uis':"ic"llv-o?:'iented
materials should ::e 1J.sec as supplemenT a ry backcr:,O'..md sources for
lanO"ua~e-arts
5.
learnin cr •
'"rhile the textbook
se~ies
h!3.ve incornoratec. so much more
conter!~
lin,-uistics ir! thei'" subji'Oc+ !'lClt+er
are still refinements to
~e rr~de
anc
orien-:-ec ideas to be developed enc
revisions
o~
the
lan~ua~e-arts
ti-'!".n forrre>-l", t:--.ere
~d~i~ianal li.n~uistically-
incorDor~ted
textbooks.
T"i"hin the next
37
c..
To some ext~)rt, tr:e effort to sirrpli .r· v t!1e scorinC! procedure
distortp,cl tne findin,'s of
sys~em Q
t~le
researc:C. cata.
Ihe three-point scoring
oes rcor rei'lect differences in the quali t;T of developrrent of
linguist.ic concept.s In t:'le textbooks an8./or the number of tiPl8S the
linguistic concept
ap~ears
in the series.
Articles
Ancersor., Wallace L. "Structural Lin2'uistics: SO!1:e I!~r::lications and
Applications ,II E!Flish Journal, 40, (October, 1957), 410-418.
SugCTest ionE' and idea s are provid ed for the :l!1:provement
of studer. t wri tin2' -r:hrouC"h B'A'RreneSS of rela ti on'ships betwes:; speec:, anG writinf!. Emphasis is on sentel"ee ns.tterns.
Conlin, David A. "Can Trqdi"ional ~ram~ar 3e
Jou::'nal, 47 (April, H51j), H;9-1~L~.
\o~ernized?H
Enalish
The au~hor sug~ests tnat concects ~ro~ s7r~ctural linguistics Cdn he~p bridccp t~e "aD ~etweAn traditional fTrammar anc !1:o(Jerr. aporoaches witholt di"cardin'~ t.he tradi'ional.
"The Dictionary in the ~le:rr:enta1'Y School" (theme O.c tl1e issue)
Elell'ientary t;nglish. XLT (April, 1 ':164) .
'Ir,e en:-i1'e issue eor.sists of arTicles w:cich in:licate
the scope 01 cietioni<ry stucv from U:e elementAry levels
throur:h ser:ior hi~-h sc::ool.
'Joldberg, L., and Rasmussen, L. "Lin:·uis-:-ics and Reactn", II Elementarv
Er.glish, 40 (Narch, 1963), 2'+2-247.
?~e authors recort Their exoerier:ces in The ir. 0 orooration
of linruistics in a beqinninq readin;> pro"ra:rr..
Postman, Nei].
"Cree tivp Inquiry and the Teaehin"" of Jral~rrar ,It
37 (t'ebruarv. 1960), p. 90-n.
El~'mentarv EnfYlish.
The author discusses lin:'uistjc'3 in terl"S of in::luctive
possibiliTies.
le~rnin~
Strickland.,
Ru~h
r;.
"Imr:lications of Rese!3rch in Lin'J'llisrics for
Elerr.ent.2.rv Er.:-lish, 40 (.r<ebrua.ry, 1963),
Slement",ry:e~chinry."
16t-171.
The author discus"es some is~ues concerni~- the teaching
of lini"uistics and incoroorates concrete sU2";.;"est:i.ons foY'
teacninQ" l~n~ua~e ar~s effectivply.
)C
)';:1
Books
Allen, Barold B., Readings in Apnliec LinQ"uistics, edited by Earold
3. Allen, Anpleton-Centurv-Crofts, Inc., New vork, 1958,
lb- editor has compiled a great collection of articles
written by lin~~istic scholars on a variety of topics related
to lan~u1Q"e arts. Articles bv Nelson ~. Francis, Geor~e P.
Faust, Earole 3. Allen, herbert Hackett, Sumner Ives, A. J.
i,>;alker. j: rc"b.i 8a1d A. :-:i11, John 3. Carroll, anc Donald J.
Lloyd are incluced.
DeLancey, ::r.obert ',";. Linf!uis lics ~ 'I'eachin,,: h.. t<:anua1 o~" Classroom
Practices. )-'lono2'raph I';o. 9 :tochester: ~"jew York State Ent"lish
Council, 1965. .
The au:hor incluc:es general back",round info"matton about
and an excellent biblioq-r' phy of refflrenees i'or
ot~er language ar:s ~ateri~ls.
lin;~uistics
Alexanrier. New Directions in Elerr:ertary ii:n(:lish. edited by
Alex:::nder i'razier, Nation'll Council o~ leachers of ::::np'lish,
Champ::lif!r.: 2\atioml I...ouncii 0:' leach"rs of Gn'lisn, 1967.
~'razier,
The articles by noted lincuistic scholars contained in this
book offer an overview of SOlT'e of the i!YlplicatioYls for linguist-ics
in education.
Gleason, E. A., Jr. Lin"uistics ar.d Enclish e:r6!IL."l1ar.
Holt, .iineh" rt g ',;ins ton, In~19{, 5.
Fe" York:
The author ~iscusses E',e histo~ical back:,,"'ounds of ":"n",lish
gramrr:ar, nrese~ts some ot "he r.ew icie1s about crr.smmar, and
rel'?tes ::rrammar:o other aSD',cts~! tt_8 lar:F'"ua,'e arts.
nall, Robert f...., Jr. Soune
Chilton 300ks, 1961.
~
Spell.i.2}£
Philadelphia:
The author rela tes spelling to s01.md and ~:d.ntatns that
in spellin~ ~nGlish phonemes should dete!'rrine
words used in ~e~innin~ readin'" ~r.d spellinG.
re~ularity
Hogan, Robert F. 'Ihs Enf;~ish ial}f!:uaf"e in trJ' i~hoollro!!ram, edited
2y rlobert t. Hogan, KelS, Champ~i~n: Kational Council of Teachers
o~ ~n~lish,
1966.
The wide scone 0:" the book !":akes it a valuable source of
ling-uistic knowledi?e. ~:any linguists hwe cont~"ibuted their
ide~s to chis publication.
Loban, 1,,,'a1 ter D. The Lan~ua.rre of BlerrentA.ry School Child~. l\CTE
aesearch Reuort No. 1. Ch'~paiqn: Kational Council of Teachers
of En~lish,-1963.
The i'i::din'-::s 0:' this research ,,'lie}: analyzed sub,i8ctS'
speech, have imnortar t imolications for l~n~uaqe ar~s teachinq.
This study soea~he!";.ded an extensive resesrch oro,4ec~ in Oakland, Calii'ornia of' elel"'1ert p.ry chi kr"n (K -6) of various
socio-economic levels.
r:aL"'nstro~,
Jea'1, and /\'1'1abel _".shle:'!.
Dialects--U.S.A.
by the Commission or tr:e ~n"ll.sh Lan[J'ua"e.
l\CTE.
i,a tionaJ. CounciL 8f Ie" chers 0' B::;:-lish, 19fJ.
Sponsored
C!1ampai2'n:
The 'oook cnntains .qn introduction to linf!uistic >7Bor-:raphy.
the "speech cOIlll"1unities" ai' the "l.Tnited States. It is c::n;cerned
wi t'1 lan:--u8!!e ch~n"'e. /, oibliap:ra phy of di~lfO,~t litera t11re is
also inclllded.
FetTy, '>'>'alter T. Issues and froblet"ls ir.
30ston: f.,llyn a>11 Bacon Inc., l~l,S.
t':-.B
Slementary
L~nf!ue.Q"e
Arts.
The broad scope 0:' tt.B book incorpora ted in the v,'ide raDOee
of t~pics m.qkes i t a :::rood source of oack!!round kno..rledrre in
many areas of linguistically-oriented lan~ua~e arts.
BIBLlffi?...4l-'HY
AlbauP'h, RalDh !>':. .i:!:np"lish: J:. Dictionarv Of' Grammar an
San ... ra~cisco: Chandler-Pujlishinp C;:-, 19M,.
St"'~:cture.
Allen, r:arold. 3. The :tole of Lan,,"uafJ'e in t.re Curriculum. in The
':::m:rlish Langu-;;;:; in the School CurMc~. Edi i ed bv Hobert
1'. J:Of'an.
Champ<;.ign: :\:::J.tional Council of Teachers of Ene:"lish, 1966.
Anderson, f'aul S. Le.n",ua;:-e Skills il"
York: facmillan Co., 1)67.
~lel1'1enta)"v
U:icc',tioQ'
IJew
Burns, faul C., anQ LO','8, .Alberta 1. The Langu.s.ge Arts in Childhood ;:;Cuc;,;, tion. ChicA§':o: dane ~'ic;.,ally & Co., 1966.-CaJ..iforr:ia i;.cvisory COPlmittee ro~ a~ i::n"'lish Lan~ua'-e framework.
En2'lish Lan", ua O'fJ rro.rnework 1'0::" Califor.!1ia Public 3chools.
---, f'
,
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t'
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Ca I 1.orn18
~~a0e ueparmen~ OI
~d.uca lon,
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T
Ii
Curriculu.'T'
Ele~entarv Gra~es.
f~r
!::nQ'iish; LanJ'ua",e Explorations for the
Lincnln: University of Kebraska Press, 1966.
Curriculu."'1 Laboratory. A Bibliography of Textbooks dased on LinQ:uistic Frinciples. Funcie: BaH Sb te universi~l968-.Danby, :to'::Jert V.
LinQ:uistics Instruction ir. SlePlenVu'v School
An KCT~/E~IC Repor~. 1allahassee: National
Council oi' '~'ea chers 0:' :C;r: 1 ish, 1969.
Classroo~s.
Friend, . Joseph::. An Intrcx::iuction to ~nd'lish Lini"uis tics.
b.nd: 'I\Orl:; Pub~ishin'" Co., 19"'7.
Gleason, Jr'., ::. A. Lin:ruistjcs 3n, ;:;n"lish
holt, Rineb=lrt :?r.~""'ir:ston. Inc., 1965.
~;'rammar.
'e',",
Cleve-
Yor~<::
:Jreene. iiarry J..., a!'1C Petty, Y'<alter 1. Developin,:r Lan;::-u",::::e Skills
in the ii;lerreYltarv ::ichools. [josten: Al 'In a.nc. 3acon, Inc., 1968.
2arris, :i.olano. Some Thou,h t s on ttesearch and t!:e Teachinr- oj
Emlish. inReSearch in the 'leachinG' 01 ErlisL An O:~ficia1
Bulletin of the ~ational Councilor Teachers of ~n~lish.
ChamoRi;m: [,ational Councilor leA-chet's 01 2n,""lish, 3DrinQ', ly~b.
Ki tzhaber, Albert R. Retninking: 1::. Prereo uisi te .!..2 RE:l:~or;"'. in Issues
and Problerrs in the Ele;ne 'tar-! La!l~uaf"e Arts. ~ii ted 0'//;a1 ter
T. Petty. Bosto~A11'ln am 1:acon, I"c., 19ft:.
Lefcourt, Arm Bur:ch. "Arc Exa!"'ination 0:: l'ive Elemer:tarv 8ncrlish
LaY1f-!ua:ce Textbook ~eries, ':;rades Iwo throu"h 2L!ht, Emnloying
a Linp"uistic Score Card Devised for tt:,,_ t PurDose." Unpublished
Ph .D. disserta t=-O!1, Gept. of icuca tion, 3all S-'-a te 'Jniversi ty,
1963.
Loban, '>'Ialter D. The La1.aua'e 0:' '::lel""ent'3rv:lchool Children.
pai,;"n: Lational Council of1eachers 0:' Enrlish. i963.
Cham-
O'Donnell, ~-~O~T C., Griffin, ;t.;illi.qrr: J. t an~ l"~orris, ~1~a:lrr:0!1d c. ~­
tax ~ :;inc.erf!arten ~?lep"e:'ltar'/ ':chool. ~hildren: ::1 Transfermat anal Ana'ysis. Charepaip"n: ~atjonal Council 01 Teachers
of ~nglish, 1967.
Petty, \~al ~er T. Is '~ues ~ i'robl';:,ms in thp E.lementar,y Lanp'uage Arts.
Boston: Allyn ana Bacon Inc., 1968.
PostMan, heil. Crea:ive Inquirv !!.!f:. t!-'.e leachin:::- 0:' Gramrr.ar. in
Issues anc: Problsms in tllp Slementarv LanfuB!!e Arts. wi ted
by tJalter T. ?etty. joste!'}: Allyn and 3acon, Inc., 1968.
Shugrue, .IoLchael. How the :,jevl indish ,',in Help 'lour Child.
lork:: Association Pres;-:-1966.
j';ew
Squire, ,John R. Ne1>.T Lirectjons in Lanaua"e Learning. i
Issues and
F-roblems in tr~e Elementarv Languar.e !~rts. Edited by \~:al ter T.
Petty. dos ton: Allyn anc nacon, Ir:c
96(;.
r
-:-:-T
Strickla!1c, J:t'J.thJ. The Co1".tribut~on of Structural Lintruistics to
the 'leachinf! ef Readin oc , "'iri tin::r, an-oj :Jrarr.mar in the ~lement~
Sc!1oo1. A Bulletin 0:' tr;e School o:~ uil,:cation, Inciana lJr:iversity. [noomin"'~oYl: Bureau 8£' t;duc3t'onal :3t'.Jc.ies a1".ci Testin?,
19f3.
Strick13nd. Ru~h G. Wnat Children heed to Know about Lan~ua~e.
in t~ew jjirections in t:le!11entary J:!.n,:'lish. ;C;di led b.v Alexander
t'razier. Cnarep'li"n: Nat-ional Council 0: Teac.'1ers 0: 6n;;lish,
1<)67.
Tiedt, Iris 1'1., an::: 'i'iedt, Si~1".ey '1". Contemporarv £:;1"."lish in the
.c;lerrentar'l School. im:lewood Cliffs: Prent ice-r:all, 19f.7.
Textbooks
Conlin, David A., ~ a1., Our Lan2"ua>O"e Today.
New lork: Arrerican. dook Co., 1967.
Teachers edition.
MaX'"rell' JOhn, et al., Ginn ;C;lementary ~r:glish Series.
eailion. Bosto'l.: ::iinn ami Co., l'J f ?
Teachers
Pollock, Thorras Clark, ~ a1., The Eacmillan Em!:lish .Series.
reaChers edi~lOYl. ~ew York: ~acrnilla:'l Co., 1967.
rtoberts, Paul. l~e ;';.oberts English Series:
Teachers eaition. New Yor~: narcourt,
!l
Lin "uistic l~rogram.
anD ~oclc, 1~b7.
~race
Sartain, :-iarry 't.., et al., E:.~-llSh Is Our Lar:Q"uOi.?"e.
30s::-on: G. C. r1eat:l anc; Co., l'1 l b-.-
Teachers edition.
Shane, Earolc 'Jrsy, et ai., usin,' ';000 Enflisn. leachers edi t.ion.
River rorest, Ii~lnois: L&~c~aw ~ros., 1j(7.
APP~j-~DIX
HUNTER COLLEGE IN THE BRONX
BEDFORD PARK BOULEVARD WEST
NEW YORK 68, N. Y.
20 May 1968
Department of Education
Miss Marcia Gevers
50 Warwick Road
Muncie, Indiana 47304
Dear Miss Gevers,
I should be very pleased to have you replicate my study as an
honors thesis.
I hope that the state adoption committee will be
interested in your results.
What series are you going to evaluate?
There have been such great changes in series since 1963.
If you should encounter any difficulties in using the linguistic
!'
~
score card, I shall be happy to help any way I can.
The transformational
series now available has gone so much further than I could have imagined
when the score card was devised.
Your letter was delayed in reaching me because I am only in the city
two days a week this year.
If you need to write again, please use the
address below.
Good luck!
Please give my best regards to Dr. Gale.
;;Z;::' ~af'
Dr. Ann Shubert
316 Wayne Avenue
Hawley, Pennsylvania
18428