Holt’sElements of Language(Odell, Vacca, Hobbs, & Irvin, 2001) takes a sim-
ilar approach, providing limited information about the history of language and
dialects. Both texts emphasize dialects without offering much discussion of
context. For example,Elementsstates that “everyone uses a dialect, and no dia-
lect is better or worse than another” (p. 692), but it does not adequately address
the question of appropriateness—important because in numerous situations
one dialectisbetter or worse than another. The overall impression is that these
texts include material related to the linguistic approach for political, not
pedagogical, reasons.
Glencoe/McGraw-Hill’sWriter’s Choice(2001) takes a more principled ap-
proach. It includes an essay by Mark Lester on teaching grammar and usage
that is both well informed and entirely congruent with the issues raised in this
chapter—particularly the need to differentiate between grammar and usage.
Moreover, he applied the linguistic approach to writing in effective ways, not-
ing that “good grammar programs constantly connect grammar to usage prob-
lems in the students’ own writing” (p. T28).
The Literacy Approach
The literacy approach, often associated with Constance Weaver (1996), is
grounded not only in linguistics but also in contemporary writing pedagogy.
Recall that language acquisition occurs when children are immersed in a lan-
guage environment. If we view writing (or formal Standard English) as a dia-
lect, then it is reasonable to conclude that students will acquire this dialect
when they are immersed in the language environment, which exists primarily
in texts (see Smith, 1983). What we know about language acquisition suggests
that reading immerses students in written language in the way that a child’s
family immerses him or her in spoken language. Reading leads to acquisition
of the features of language that characterize the formal standard of texts, which
in turn facilitates composing. For these reasons, the literacy approach views
reading as the most effective means of teaching grammar.
Reading activities lend themselves nicely to discussions of form and func-
tion as well as meaning. More important, they lend themselves toindirect,
rather thandirect,instruction. Indirect instruction is based on principles of lan-
guage acquisition, whereas direct instruction is based on language learning.
Specifically, indirect instruction involves embedding grammatical terms and
concepts in daily lessons and avoiding stand-alone units. To understand how
this works, we can envision a teacher who, while discussing a text, points out to
students an interesting word or a provocative phrase, naming the word or
phrase and explaining what makes it interesting. The cognitive process is simi-
lar to what we see when parents, playing with a child, hold up a ball and utter
44 CHAPTER 2