All this talk about grammar led me to recall my experiences in ENG 314. I was amazed when I took that class at how many people actually stuggled with using the grammatical terms and defining them or with diagraming sentences. I thought this information was rather remedial for a college level course because I had been exposed to the same information early on in grade school. I am not saying that I have a full grasp of grammar though I am studying to be a teacher so that leads me to question how I am going to teach it to others when I do not consider myself to be a master in this area. I understand the basics, though I may need to be refreshed concerning some things, however what I was taught in a grammar class is now less important to me as writer versus what I have learned about grammar from reading literature.

This is not to say that grammar instruction is not helpful and shouldn't be taught because I believe that learning the structure of a sentence is vital if one is expected to write them later on. The problem I have is the way it is taught I guess because in my experience as a student there isn't always a correlation between grammar and writing. Lindemann brings up some good issues concerning the manner in which grammar is taught in terms only rather than collectively with writing instruction. The problem that arises is the students don't see a direct correlation between the two but hold them as separate and isolated so therefore it is hard for them to apply grammar instruction to their writing. I myself have also shared this same thinking at times, neglecting the value of understanding grammar when it comes to writing for when I write I am not thinking of the words I use as "nouns, verbs, or prepositions" but only as words.