interview

Dr. Hughes, when asked what she thought of Mulroy’s argument, that grammar instruction has become less common because, “the whole concept of literal meaning has fallen into disfavor in academia,” she replied with a good deal of distaste. While she is not against the individual learning of grammar, she does not feel that it is necessary to implement within the classroom. In her opinion, there is not a need for the students to know grammatical terms in order to adequately communicate. She gave the example of trying to explain to a student that there was a sentence fragment in their paper, but instead of using this term, which they didn’t know, she talked about sentence boundaries. The student still received the information and can apply that knowledge in the future, despite the fact that a different term was used to explain the concept. Dr. Hughes is aware of the decline in grammar instruction in the past few decades, but doesn’t feel that there is need for change. If any change needs to occur, she feels that students should read and write more. She feels that these are the keys to truly grasping the language and becoming a better writer. Dr. Hughes stated that, “Student’s must have pride in their writing first,” that is, before grammar instruction is even considered.