Using Internalized Knowledge of Linguistic Structure to Develop Student Confidence.

Answers to questions asked of college freshman composition students indicated that one-third lacked confidence in their ability to write because of their ignorance of the rules of grammar and inability to use correct grammar. This may be a result of the textbook presentation of grammar as a straightforward set of rules to be mastered without discussing the incredible complexity of the language and acknowledging the students' internalized knowledge of linguistic rules. In order to give the students more confidence in their own linguistic abilities, the author devised an exercise consisting of a series of five sets of four sentences, each involving highly complex rules of pronominalization. For example, the first set of sentences requires that the students choose the sentence or sentences in which more than one person is referred to. Through class discussion, students attempt to construct a set of rules to explain their choice. Students then discover that they can understand pronominalization even though they have not received direct instruction in that aspect of grammar. (MKM)