what was being observed and recorded on reservations. What followed was a
major reassessment of grammar and the development of new grammars that
provide insight not only into the structure of language but also into how peo-
ple use language.
But the new grammars also created a paradox. Today, language scholars
use the new grammars and fully embrace their descriptive orientation. Lan-
guage teachers, on the other hand, continue to use the prescriptive, Latin-
basedgrammarofthe19thcentury, as though the world has stood still for more
than a hundred years.
16 CHAPTER 1