[PW] Diagramming

[Jean Lowerison]

Here's an opinion from an English teacher on the Talk list. I'm with 
you, Dayle, I loved diagramming, but I don't think anybody does it 
anymore.

jean

Jean, I can tell you that diagramming a sentence does not happen 
routinely in 6-12 public or private schools. It does not fall under 
the state mandated guidelines or the private school guidlines (in my 
case, Diocese of San Antonio and Southern Association of Colleges and 
Schools). Most grammar is taught contextually (ala based on errors 
made in writing). Some old schoolers still teach grammar, but that is 
usually done via parts of speech and concentration on a particular 
part of speech based on consistent errors present in a majority of 
student writing. I can tell you back when I was getting my credential 
at Cal Poly (mid-80s), it was not part of the curriculum for Teaching 
and Organizing Grammar (an actual class). If I'd hazard a guess, 
maybe 5% high school, maybe 10% middle school currently, if that.

There are five of us in my English department. Our ages are 60, 49, 
45, 34, and 30. The 60, 49 and 45 year old (me) can diagram a 
sentence; the younger ones can't, and have only a very holistic 
knowledge of grammar (in other words, they know when something is 
wrong, but they don't know what to call it). I graduated high school 
in 1980, and I was probably among the last to do any active 
diagramming.

Hope this helps. I'm sure there's scholarship out there that 
discusses this with more authority than my experience.

Mary