Implementing restrictive and nonrestrictive elements into the composition classroom : re-inviting grammar into the writing curriculum /

Abstract

This thesis proposes a rejoining of process and product in the writing curriculum. As writing teachers, we have to acknowledge that there comes a time when we have to evaluate a written product. Before teachers can evaluate a product, however, they must first teach their students how to write better products using the writing process. To make this possible, teachers have to accept that because editing is a part of the writing process, grammar instruction has a rightful place in the composition classroom. Instead of using past approaches to grammar instruction that were difficult for both teachers and students, I present a new student-friendly grammar instruction that teaches students grammar in the context of several grammar concepts. In this grammar, I limit grammatical terminology and focus on helping students understand the concept rather than the terminology. In addition to the limiting of jargon, I use speech as a tool to help students further understand the grammar they are trying to learn. I offer applications for both native and nonnative students, and to illustrate more specifically how teachers can utilize this new grammar, I use restrictive and nonrestrictive elements, one of the more difficult grammatical concepts students have to learn.