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Spartz reviews Teaching and Learning Grammar: The Prototype-Construction Approach by Arthur Whimbey and Myra J. Linden.
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Teaching and Learning Grammar: The Prototype-Construction Approach by Arthur Whimbey and Myra J. Linden. Chicago: BGF Performance Systems, 2001. 180 pp.
In Teaching and Learning Grammar: The Prototype-Construction Approach, Arthur Whimbey and Myra Linden attempt to provide insight to high school and early college English and composition teachers. Teaching and Learning Grammar describes the authors' "revolutionary" approach to grammar instruction, titled the Prototype-Construction (P-C) Approach, meant as a tool for improving student writing; in their text, Whimbey and Linden argue for a need for improved grammar pedagogy based on research studies and the experiences of students and teachers alike; in short, they believe there is significant failure in the current pedagogical methods of grammar instruction.
The P-C Approach employs distinct steps for attempting to teach grammar. It begins by introducing students to prototypes in the form of "prototype sentences." Each prototype sentence consists of three main parts: a subject that performs an action, a verb that expresses an action, and an object that receives the action. In the P-C Approach, students learn the prototypical grammar concepts prior to moving forward in their instruction. The authors' claim is that all grammatical concepts include "relatively simple, 'prototype' cases that can readily be defined and also more complicated, harder-to-find cases" (13). In theory, once students have entered the world of grammar through prototypes, they are ready to proceed to the construction aspect of the P-C Approach. Students are presented with exercises that represent the grammatical characteristics of the prototypes. They are then introduced to nonprototype cases through exercises that illustrate these more difficult cases along with their attributes that are similar to those of the prototypes. Because of this similarity, they belong in the same grammatical category. The exercises in the P-C Approach are almost strictly of the sentence-combining variety, asking students to "construct" sentences. The resulting sentences are nonprototypes that more clearly illustrate the studied grammar concept. This combining type of exercise, one that forces students to use prototype grammar concepts to forma complex, nonprototype sentence, is typical of what the P-C Approach requires of students during the construction phase.
Teaching and Learning Grammar is broken into four sections in an attempt to cover the scope of grammatical concepts. Section 1, consisting of Chapters 1 to 3, identifies the need for a new grammar approach. The P-C Approach is then identified in detail in response to that need. Section 2 contains Chapters 4 to 11, in which seven of the eight traditional parts of speech are covered, not including interjections. Section 3 includes chapters 12 to 18. In this sevenchapter segment, more advanced concepts are addressed: relative and noun clauses, modals, helping verbs, voice, the verb "do," and verbals. The final section of the book, chapter 19, contains an overview of the P-C Approach; this section also includes a bibliography and subject index for easy reference. This final section calls for a paradigm shift in grammar instruction, while advertising the authors' two more recent workbook publications.
In all, Teaching and Learning Grammar: The Prototype- Construction Approach has four distinct objectives: It attempts to introduce the P-C Approach, illustrate its use in coordination with grammar concepts, convince teachers that the P-C Approach has a positive impact on student writing, and sell classroom sets of Whimbey and Linden's P-C Approach workbooks.
As an introduction to and description of the Prototype-Construction Approach, Teaching and Learning Grammar contains a variety of helpful features. One of its most prominent is its coverage of relevant grammar concepts. In covering the parts of speech, conjunctions, and numerous more difficult concepts, the text provides a thorough examination of the traditional, semantic definitions of grammar. In doing so, it also illustrates the inherent deficiencies of these definitions and of the typical approaches to teaching them. As is the standard in Teaching and Learning Grammar, the authors describe the deficiencies of the commonly used definition of a grammatical structure and then present an alternative to it that encompasses all they deem necessary. This alternative theoretically makes teaching and learning the concept simpler. Another of its strengths is the types of sentences Teaching and Learning Grammar uses in its exercises and examples. Each sentence is what the authors consider to be a "prototype" sentence, one that consists of the three main parts previously outlined. The strength of these sentences is the authors' consistency in using them as a teaching device, as well as the simplicity of their structure. Whimbey and Linden's prototype sentences are further strengthened by the clear identification of each part of speech or grammar concept within each sentence, often demarcated with arrows and bold lettering. This characteristic of the P-C Approach is extremely user-friendly for students attempting to learn the basics of grammar with the hope of improving their writing. A final strong suit is the text's exercises, which are integral to its reception by the teaching community. Whimbey and Linden provide the reader with sample exercises that employ the P-C Approach. Additionally, selected exercises provide answers and explanations to more clearly illustrate the approach's function in teaching grammar. This allows teachers to see the P-C Approach in practice, while giving them an opportunity to "try it out" for themselves. In fact, in their opening chapter, the authors address teachers, suggesting that they "read the explanations and do all the exercises to obtain a firsthand view of how the various grammatical concepts are introduced to students and how the exercises reinforce students' functional understanding of the concepts" (2). The student exercises can be found in their P-C Approach workbooks, which their text later advertises. What is even more impressive in regard to the exercises is that they focus on sentence construction, disregarding the traditional "fill-in-the-blank" and "drill-and-kill" activities that most readers are familiar with. The product of such exercises will be a clear illustration of the function of the relevant grammar concept.
Although one of its assets is its coverage of a wide variety of grammar concepts, Teaching and Learning Grammar is a bit off the mark in its treatment of parts of speech. To begin with, the order in which Whimbey and Linden present the standard parts of speech is desultory. With minor variations, most current grammar texts are at least consistent in their treatment of pronouns. Lester Faigley's Penguin Handbook, Robert Connors and Andrea Lunsford's St. Martin's Handbook, and John Warriner's Warriner's English Grammar and Composition all introduce pronouns immediately after nouns, which are typically either the first or second part of speech addressed. Whimbey and Linden, on the other hand, neglect to introduce pronouns until the end of Section 2, even after conjunctions. While it is clear that the P-C Approach is an attempt to redefine grammar instruction, this mistreatment of pronouns is confusing. The text's introduction of verbs is equally disconcerting. The authors claim that their text moves from simple to complex concepts, but in the opening chapter of the parts of speech section they contradict themselves. They do so not only in what they choose to introduce, the "be" verb family, but also in proposing that "the P-C Approach deals with this family of verbs separately because it is the most complicated [. . .] and therefore the most troublesome for many students" (15). What is even more disturbing is the lack of any extended discussion of main verbs. The authors briefly refer to the concept, but neglect to elucidate any further. This lack of attention to one of the most important parts of speech, verbs, diminishes the credibility of the text as a whole. Finally, in addition to the lack of verb treatment is the disregard for articles. The discussion of this concept is limited to one paragraph, consisting of little more than two sentences. When addressing articles, Whimbey and Linden report that articles are "so different that modern linguists give the, along with a and an, a separate category called articles. Furthermore, articles are part of another category that modern grammarians call determiners" (35). This is practically the only interchange about articles between the authors and reader, with no further elucidation. With this exclusion, the authors have ignored the most commonly used word in the English language. This is yet another clear shortcoming of their text.
Ultimately, though, the largest detriment to the text is the way that it unknowingly detracts from its own credibility in an attempt to achieve its objectives. One specific lacking element is a discussion of the relevant theory that precipitated the authors' "new" approach to grammar instruction. Any empirical data that these studies yielded was not discussed in their current text. So, if readers and teachers want to understand what precipitated the "revolutionary" P-C Approach, they will have to research beyond the text. This exclusion robs Teaching and Learning Grammar of its reliability.
Teaching and Learning Grammar is further compromised in its treatment of the impact that the P-C Approach has on the improvement of student writing. The authors claim that their approach has a positive effect on student writing, but then conclude that "a number of studies [...] have found that students who constructed sentences in exercises like those shown in this book improved significantly on standardized tests of reading skills" (79), and, later, that "other research studies [. . .] have found that having students construct complex sentences from simple ones improves their scores on standardized reading tests" (92). These two similar but independent references to the impact their approach has illustrates the reality of their findings: the P-C Approach has more of a proven effect on reading than on writing, which contradicts their earlier assertions. This discrepancy is a serious limitation of Whimbey and Linden's publication.
The culminating weakness of Teaching and Learning Grammar is the authors' repeated endorsement of their other products; they seriously detract from the book's more academic intentions. In nearly every chapter, Whimbey and Linden shamelessly promote their two grammar workbooks, Grammar for Improving Writing and Reading Skills and More Grammar for Improving Writing and Grammar Skills.
In all, although it has an ostensibly similar number of strengths and weaknesses, Teaching and Learning Grammar: The Prototype-Construction Approach does not achieve its intended objectives. As an introduction to a "new" approach to teaching grammar, the book is adequate. It clearly defines, explains, and puts the P-C Approach into practice. But it fails to provide the requisite information as to how the P-C Approach fills a gap in existing grammar pedagogy. In order for teachers to embrace a new pedagogical strategy, the theory behind the practice must be included. Furthermore, it is difficult to take what Whimbey and Linden purport seriously, considering the vested interest they willingly display for the sale of their workbooks. In the final analysis, Teaching and Learning Grammar might be used as a starting point for teachers who desire to depart from the traditional methods of grammar instruction, but only with the knowledge of its substantial imperfections.
reviewed by
John M. Spartz
University of Minnesota Duluth
Duluth, Minnesota
Copyright National Council of Teachers of English Sep 2005